PAUL AND CHRIST 
 
 J. M. 'cramp, D.D. 
 
 — -=S'3^^<^^&^-S-— 
 
 LONDON : YATES AND ALEXANDER, 
 
 SYMOKDS INN, CHANCERY LANE. 
 
 HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA : STEPHEN SELDEN. 
 ^MONTREAL : DAWSON BROTHERS. 
 
 1873. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " He made Havoc of the Church " 
 
 Chronology— Early Life of Paul— Residence at 
 Jerusalem— His Persecution of the Christians- 
 Conversion. , . ; 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "I LABOURED MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN THEY 
 A^L" 
 
 Early Labours at Damascus— Return to Jeru- 
 salem— Retirement to Syria and Cilicia— 
 Engagement with Barnabas at Antioch— Jour- 
 ney to Jerusalem— First Missionary Tour- 
 Supposed Council at Jerusalem— Second Mis- 
 sionary Tour— Third Tour— Visit to Jeru- 
 salem— Arrest there— Imprisonment at Casarea 
 —Voyage to Rome— Shipwreck— Detention at 
 Rome— Release— Last Labours— Second Im- 
 
 « prisonment — Martyrdom. 
 
 8 
 
Iv Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Who was Christ ? 21 
 
 Effects of the Vision on Saul's Mind — New 
 Thoughts of Christ — His Person — His Work 
 — Influence of these Thoughts on Paul's Labours. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 "The Faith of the Son of God".. ., 27 
 
 Saul's Pharisee-life — His remarkable Change of 
 Views — The Propitiation: how Contemplated 
 by him — His Exposition and Defence of the 
 Doctrine. 
 
 ■ " ♦ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " A New Creature " 38 
 
 Saul's Friendships in Jerusalem — The Influence of 
 Christianity in that respect — Constant refer- 
 ence to Christ in his Writings — His energetic 
 Love to the Saviour — Contrast between his 
 Early Life and his Apostolic Doctrines and 
 Habits — His Firmness — His Considerateness 
 and Gentle Spu-it— The Corinthians— Phile- 
 mon — His Humility. 
 
Contents, 
 
 " CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 "Changed into the samk Image".. .. 57 
 
 Union between Christ and Believers — Imitation 
 of Christ, a Christian Characteristic— Resem- 
 blance of Paul to Jesus — Piety — Meekness — 
 Anxiety for the Salvation of his Countrymen — 
 Hatred of Hypocrisy — Love of Goodness — 
 Poverty — Prayer — Special favour of Christ to 
 Paul — Illustrations — Paul's loving Trust in 
 Christ, and his singular Attachment to Him. 
 
 chapter vii. 
 
 The Letters 78 
 
 Portability of the Bible — Paul's Letters to the 
 Thessalonians — Corinthians — Galatians — Ro- 
 mans — Philemon — Colossians — Ephesians — 
 Philippians — Timothy — Titu*^ — ^Authorship of 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Paul's Theology ,. ., .... loi 
 
 Scripture — God — Angels — Sin — The Salvation — 
 The New Life— The Church— The Future 
 State. 
 
vi Contents, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 An Argument i34 
 
 Truth of the History—Paul was not Deceived— 
 He was not a Deceiver — Originality of his 
 Religious System — The History Intelligible, if 
 Christianity is True— Certainty of its Truth. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Difficulties and Objections . . . . 148 
 
 General Remarks— Was Paul a Member of the 
 Sanhedrim? — Alleged Discrepancies in the Ac- 
 counts of his Conversion — The Treatment of 
 Elymas— Paul's Conduct to Mark — Circum- 
 cision of Timothy— The Transactions at Jem- . 
 salem, when Paul last visited that City— Exami- 
 nation of Rom. ix. 3 ; i Cor. i. 1 7 — Supposed 
 Mistake respecting the Second Coming of the 
 Saviour — Examination of i Cor. v. 5 ; vii. 25 5 
 Acts XX. 25; 2 Tin?, iii. 8. _/ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I.— Paul's Voyage 176 
 
 II.— The Mamertine Prison 191 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus, in appearing 
 once more on the earth for the express pur- 
 pose of converting Saul of Tarsus, made a 
 deep and lasting impression on the heart of 
 that eminent man. As it was in itself a 
 most remarkable phenomenon, so it produced 
 remarkable effects. Paul the Apostle gave 
 himself to Christ. He studied with intense 
 earnestness the character of the Saviour, 
 and the redemption-work which he accom- 
 plished ; and he yielded to the holy influences 
 of the Gospel, in the spirit of full consecration. 
 " For me to live is Christ," was his motto. 
 And it was his history. It moulded his 
 theology. It shaped his conduct. 
 
vin 
 
 . Preface. 
 
 It was the design of the writer, in the 
 preparation of this volume, to furnish some 
 illustration of these views of Paul's character, 
 and to present the whole as an exhibition of 
 the power of Christianity, and an argument 
 for its truth. 
 
 J. M. C. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 8, line 7 from bottom, for "commenced" read "communed." 
 Page 10, line 5 from bottom (in the note), for " XfTi/AaWjaf " rejd 
 " XprifActriffau." ■ 
 
 Page II, last wc xl (In the note), for " ^rts " read " y^cts" 
 
 Pag" 32, line 8 from bottom, for "Bim'' read '* Aim." 
 
 Page 64, line 3 from bottom, for "moun " read "mount" 
 
 Page 77, line 10 from bottom, for ^'Him" read "/lim" 
 
 Page 85, line 10 from bottom, for "ingeniously" read ^* ingenuously " 
 
 Page 107, line 5 from bottom, for ^* privity" read ^* priority" 
 
 i*age 1 1 2. The Latin quotation should read thus — 
 
 *'.... video meliora, proboque } . » 
 Deteriora sequor . . . . " 
 Page 165. The maik of quotation (") shou'd be placed before the 
 paragraph beginning '* No doubt." 
 
 Page 168, line 10 from top, a colon should be inserted after the word 
 "partisanship." . ' 
 
 Page 181, line 10 from bottom, for "\ll^a" read "\t|3«." 
 
I I 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 )i 
 
 *'HE MADE HAVOC OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Chronology — Early Life of Paul — 'Residence at Jerusalem — His Persecu- 
 tion of the Christians — Conversion. 
 
 The year of Paul's birth is unknown. He was "a 
 young man" at the time of Stephen's martyrdom, 
 which occurred a.d. 36. He was "aged" when he 
 wrote the letter to Philemon, a.d. 62. The term 
 "young" was very loosely employed, both by the 
 Greeks and the Jews, and this increases the diffi- 
 culty. Various conjectures have been hazarded ; but, 
 as none of them rest on authority, the point cannot 
 be determined. Perhaps the most reasonable of the 
 suppositions is that which places the date of the 
 event at about the second year of the Christian era. 
 Assuming this, we may construct a chronological 
 table which will be sufficiently correct for our pur- 
 pose. The object we have in view will not require 
 
 B 
 
Chronological Table, 
 
 the application of minute criticisni or the indulgence 
 of antiquarian curiosity. 
 
 Chronological Tablk. 
 
 K.I). 
 
 14. 
 J7- 
 
 35- 
 36. 
 
 37. 
 
 Birth of Saul at Tarsus. 
 
 AuguiVui^ Emperor, 
 
 jinniui Rufus, Governor of Judaa. 
 
 Tiberius, Emperor, 
 
 Valerius Gratus, Governor of fudcea, 
 Saul's Education at Jerusalem commenced. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judaa, 
 Pentecost — Christian Church formed. 
 
 Marcellus, Governor of jfudaa. 
 Martyrdom of Stephen. 
 
 Marullus, Governor of Judaa, 
 
 Caligula, Emperor, 
 Persecution of Christians. 
 Conversion of Saul. 
 38 — 40. His residence in Arabia. 
 40. Return to Jerusalem. 
 Labours in Cilicia, &c. 
 
 Claudius, Emperor. 
 Saul joins Barnabas at Antioch. 
 Martyrdom of James. 
 Imprisonment and Deliverance of Peter. 
 Cuspius Fadus, Governor of Judtea, 
 Journey of Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem. 
 Residence at Antioch. 
 
 Tiberius Alexander, Governor of fudtra. 
 Missionary Journey of Saul and Barnabas. 
 Cumanus, Governor of fudaa, 
 
 50. The so-called Council at Jerusalem. C 
 
 51. Paul's Second Missionary Journey. 
 
 52. Expulsion of the Jews h-om Rome by Claudius. 
 
 53. Felix, Governor of "Judaa. 
 
 54. Paul's Third Missionary Journey. 
 Nero, Emperor. 
 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 -43- 
 41. 
 
 44. 
 
 45- 
 
 -47. 
 
 46. 
 
 48. 
 49. 
 
 fi 
 
Early Life of Saul. 
 
 58. Paul arrested at Jerusalem. 
 58 — 60. Imprisonment at Cxsarea. 
 
 60. Feitusy Governor of jfudaa. 
 
 60. Paul's Voyage and Shipwreck (Autumn). 
 61 — 6z. Imprisonment at Rome. 
 
 62. ^Ibinusy Governor of Judaa, 
 
 63. Paul released. 
 
 63-^68. His Labours in various parts of Europe and Asia. 
 
 64. The Great Fire of Rome — Persecution of the Christians there. 
 
 65. Gessius Floruiy Governor of Judaa, 
 68. Paul Imprisoned again at Rome. 
 
 His Martyrdom. 
 
 Saul was a native of Tarsus, in Cilicia, in which 
 city a large number of Jews had resided for many 
 years.* It was, probably, in consequence of some 
 public services rendered, which were deemed worthy 
 of reward, that his family enjoyed the rights and 
 privileges of Roman citizenship. Saul was "free- 
 born." 
 
 His father, as it should seem, was a man of good 
 property and enlightened views. He gave his son 
 the best education the times afforded. Having ac- 
 quired the elements of general learning at Tarsus, 
 where also he had the opportunity of becoming 
 acquainted with Grecian thoughts and subjects of 
 thinking, he was sent to Jerusalem, and placed under 
 the charge of Gamaliel, whose fame, as the most 
 
 • " No mean city " (Acts xxi. 39). The commerce was extensive, 
 and the culture of the inhabitants liberal. 
 
 B 2 . 
 
Early Life of Saul, 
 
 learned of the Jewish rabbis, was as wide as the 
 Roman Empire. 
 
 There was, perhaps, a reason for this removal to 
 the Jewish metropolis. Saul's father belonged to 
 the Pharisees, the " straitest sect" of the Jews. They 
 were scrupulously observant of every *' jot and tittle " 
 of the Mosaic institutions, and passionately attached 
 to the "traditions of the elders." Perceiving his 
 son's inquisitive turn of mind, the father feared that 
 a longer residence in Tarsus might be injurious to 
 his principles, as he might be likely to form ac- 
 quaintance with members of Greek families, and thus 
 be introduced to the follies, the philosophy, and, 
 possibly, the religion of heathenism. The danger 
 was to be avoided by exclusive devotion to Jewish 
 studies and separation fromi all but Jewish society. 
 
 The plan was successful. The young man '* pro- 
 fited in the Jews* religion above many his equals in 
 his own nation" (Gal. i. 14). His morals were so 
 well preserved that, "touching the righteousness 
 which was in the law, he was blameless " (Phil. iii. 6). 
 While his general proficiency was exceedingly grati- 
 fying to Gamaliel, the rabbi saw, with intense satis- 
 faction, the zeal of his pupil for the national religion. 
 The coldness and indiff'erence of many, who hoped 
 to advance their worldly interests by concessions to 
 the PvOmanF, had no effect upon him, but rather 
 tended to stir up the patriotic fire that burned in his 
 
His Residence at Jerusalem. 
 
 bosom. Other young men might be attracted by the 
 liberal views which were propagated by freethinking 
 spirits, but Saul was firm to Moses. His talents and 
 energy could not fail to be noticed. We may gather 
 from some expressions in his speech before King 
 Agrippa (Acts xxvi. lo, ii) that he had attained 
 official rank, and had some share in the councils of 
 the nation. 
 
 Jesus Christ repeatedly visited Jerusalem during 
 Saul's residence there. His teachings and the 
 miracles which He wrought were phenomena that 
 could not fail to attract the attention of such a man, 
 and presented problems very difficult of solution. 
 It is not at all unlikely that he engaged in the dis- 
 cussions to which the singular claims of the new 
 teacher gave rise, and warmly contended for Jewish 
 conservatism. The death of the Galilaean prophet 
 removed any doubts that might have troubled him ; 
 but the revival of His cause by His disciples, and the 
 extraordinary events which followed the day of 
 Pentecost, produced a disturbing effect. Yet, had 
 not God spoken by Moses ? Was there not irrefra- 
 gable proof that the Mosaic institute was divine ? 
 Who were those men of Galilee, — those unlettered 
 fishermen, — that they should dare to introduce in- 
 novations which, if successful, would overturn a 
 system that had been sanctioned and sustained by a 
 long succession of prophets, and upheld by the out- 
 
Persecution of the Chrtsimns. 
 
 stretched arm of the Almighty ? That system was 
 destined to perpetuity and universal influence over 
 men. The covenant with Israel was never to be 
 broken. Opposition to Moses was fighting against 
 God. So strong were these convictions that the 
 progress of the Christian Church and the " signs 
 and wonders done by the Apostles " served only to 
 strengthen the hostility which, from the beginning, 
 had taken root ''n Saul's mind. It seemed to him a 
 fit occasion for the execution of the law against false 
 prophets, and a sense of duty impelled him to action. 
 "I verily thought with myself," he said, many years 
 afterwards, " that I ought to do many things con- 
 trary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts xxvi. 9). 
 True, he was influenced by a foregone conclusion. 
 He lid not allow himself to investigate and inquire, 
 and, therefore, we condemn him, as, indeed, he him- 
 self subsequently confessed that he had grievously 
 sinned against God in the whole affair. But at 
 the time he was a conscientious bigot, a proud, 
 self-satisfied inquisitor. His proceedings were of the 
 severest character. He did not wait for information, 
 but broke into houses and invaded the sanctity of 
 synagogues. He was not coiitented with the arrest 
 of heads of families : the women must be snatched 
 from their children, and dragged with their husbands 
 to prison. Nor was it enough to imprison, and 
 fine, and confiscate. The utmost vengeance of the 
 
 j.i. 
 
Conversion, 
 
 law was invoked. Saul ** breathed out threatenings 
 and slaughter against the disciplcs of the Lord " 
 (Acts ix. i), and " when they were put to death, he 
 gave his voice against them" (Acts xxvi. lo). It 
 * was a reign of terror in Jerusalem. 
 
 Then he ** persecuted them even unto strange 
 cities" (Acts xxvi. ii). Christianity seemed in 
 danger of being crushed. But the Lord Jesus looked 
 on — and pitied — and saved. He suffered the man 
 of violence and blood to succeed so far as to bring 
 the Church to the very brink of ruin, and then, 
 when the Lord's servants were sinking into despair, 
 He stopped him — stopped him in His own way — 
 not by hurling him to destruction, but by pardoning 
 his sin, changing his heart, and enlisting him in His 
 service. ** He is a chosen vessel unto me," said the 
 Lord, " to bear My name before the Gentiles, and 
 kings, and the children of Israel : for I will shew 
 him how great things he must suffer for My name's 
 sake" (Acts ix. 15, 16). "Who is a God like unto 
 Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the 
 transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He 
 retaineth not his anger for ever, because he de- 
 lighteth in mercy" (Micah vii. 18). 
 
(< 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I LABOURED MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN THEY 
 
 >» 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Early Labours at Damascus — Return to Jerusalem — Retirement to Syria 
 and Cilicia — Engagement with Barnabas at Antioch — ^Journey to 
 Jerusalem — First Missionary Tour — Supposed Council at Jerusalem — 
 Second Missionary Tour — Third Tour — Visit to Jerusalem — Arrest 
 there — Imprisonment at Caesarea — Voyage to Rome — Shipwreck — 
 Detention at Rome — Release — Last Labours — Second Imprisonment 
 — Martyrdom. 
 
 After a short stay at Damascus, Saul withdrew into 
 Arabia for a time : the purpose of that retirement is 
 not mentioned ; but, from scattered hints in his 
 writings, it may be inferred that it was divinely 
 arranged with a view to preparation for his future 
 work. There he commenced with his own heart : 
 and there he received manifestations of the Divine 
 will. No previous Apostle instructed him in Chris- 
 tianity. He obtained his knowledge ** by the 
 revelation of Jesus Christ " (Gal. i. 1 2). How that 
 knowledge was communicated we are not informed ; 
 but Paul the Apostle vouches for the fact, and Paul 
 
the Apostle always spoke "vords of U'lth and 
 soberness" (Acts xxvi. 25). On his return to 
 Damascus he preached so zealously a.id effectively, 
 that the Jews resorted to the usual tactics of the 
 persecutor, and took measures to assassinate the 
 man whose arguments they could not answer. They 
 " watched the gates day and night to kill him " 
 (Acts ix. 24). By friendly intervention he was 
 enabled to make his escape, " through a window in 
 a basket," being ** let down by the wall " (2 Cor. 
 
 xi. 33)- 
 Repairing to Jerusalem, where he remained but 
 
 fifteen days (Gal. i. 18), the brethren found it ne- 
 cessary to advise his departure, in consequence of 
 another plot. The " Grecians," or Hellenists, — i.e. 
 Greek-speaking Jews, — " went about to slay him ; 
 which, when the brethren knew, they brought him 
 down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus 
 (Acts ix. 29, 30). 
 
 We hear nothing of him then for several years. 
 It was most probably at that period of his life that 
 he itinerated extensively in Cilicia, Syria, and the 
 neighbouring countries, and endured most of the 
 hardships and sufferings which he afterwards de- 
 scribed in his second letter to the Church at Corinth. 
 " Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save 
 one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I 
 stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a 
 
lO 
 
 Engagement with Barnabas* 
 
 day I have been in the deep" (2 Cor. xi. 24, 25). 
 During all those toils and trials, he was uncheered 
 by brotherly sympathy. But he was under training 
 for his life-work, the Lord himself superintending 
 the process. 
 
 While thus engaged, the way was being prepared 
 for him. Some of the disciples who had been " scat- 
 tered abroad '* preached the Gospel at Antioch to 
 the heathen as well as to the Jews,* " and a great 
 number believed, and turned unto the Lord " (Acts 
 xi. 21). Barnabas was immediately despatched by 
 the brethren from Jerusalem to Antioch. Under his 
 earnest preaching, large additions were made to the 
 new Church. More help was needed. Barnabas 
 went to Tarsus in search of Saul, who cheerfully 
 joined him. They jointly laboured there ** a whole 
 year," and great multitudes believed. But the world 
 treated the adherents of the crucified One with de- 
 rision. Christ'' s men were ridiculed and insulted ; 
 the name of the Saviour became a term of reproach, 
 and **the disciples were called Christians! first in 
 Antioch" (Acts xi. 26). ■ . 
 
 * The Authorised Version has "the Grecians," but the preponderance 
 of manuscript authority is in favour of "Exxni/ac, " Greeks." The 
 Church at Antioch was the first Church in which Gentiles were admitted. 
 
 f Xpy)yM.<xri(7a5. Th? use of this word has led some to suppose that 
 the Christians assumed the appellation by the Saviour's command ; but 
 the statement in the text is now generally accepted. '• The inhabitants of 
 Antioch were famous for their propensity to jeer and call names." — Dean 
 Alford^ in he 
 
First Missionary Tour. ii 
 
 There were several " prophets and teachers " in 
 the Church at Antioch. One day, " as they minis- 
 tered to the Lord and fasted," a divine communica- 
 tion was made. " The Holy Ghost said. Separate 
 me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 
 have called them" (Acts xiii. 2). Ready obedience 
 was paid to the command. Leaving Aniioch in the 
 spring of the year 48, the missionaries took ship at 
 Seleucia (the seaport of Antioch, now a heap of 
 ruins), and sailed for Cyprus, Barnabas' native isle. 
 7'hey traversed the island from east to west, apparently 
 without stopping to preach, till they reached Paphos 
 (now Baffa)^ where the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, 
 " desired to hear the word of God." He witnessed 
 the punishment inflicted on Elymas the sorcerer, 
 and *' believed," not because he saw the magician 
 struck with blindness, but " being astonished at the 
 doctrine of the Lord" (v. 12). Paul* and Barnabas 
 then crossed over to Pamphylia, and journeyed to 
 Antioch in Pisidia (supposed to be identified with 
 certain ruins bearing the name of YalobataK), where 
 
 • This is the first time the name ''Paul" occurs. Some have ima- 
 gined that it was adopted out of compliment to Sergius Paulus ; but it is 
 much more likely that the Apostle "acquired this name like other Jews in 
 that age, who, when they associated with foreigners, had often two names, 
 the one Jewish the other foreign. . . . Being a native of a foreign city, 
 as Lightfoot suggests, he may have borne the two names fi-om early life." 
 — Hackett en the Arts. 
 
12 Return to Antioch. 
 
 they preached, first to the Jews, and, on their re- 
 jection of the truth, to the Gentiles, and '* the word 
 of the Lord was published throughout all the region " 
 (v. 19). 
 
 Driven away by persecution, they proceeded 
 to Iconium (now Konieh). There also great suc- 
 cess attended their labours. At length they were 
 compelled to flee for their lives, and Lystra and 
 Derbe* were next favoured with the glad tidings. 
 At the former place, in consequence of the miracu- 
 lous cure of a cripple, the preachers were regarded 
 as deities ; but the mob soon changed their minds, 
 stoned Paul, and, dragging him out of the city, left 
 him for dead. At the latter place they "taught 
 many." On their return, they "ordainedf them 
 elders in every Church" (Acts xiv. 23). They then 
 proceeded to the sea-coast, embarked at Attalia (now 
 Satalia\ and reached Antioch in Syria in safety, 
 having been absent about a year. 
 
 Before engaging in his second tour, the Apostle 
 went to Jerusalem as a member of a deputation from 
 the Church at Antioch, sent to inquire as to the 
 
 • The sites of these towns are not satisfactorily determined. 
 
 t The word "ordained " does not refer to the ceremony of ordination, 
 but to the appointment. Whether the Apostles took the appointment, in 
 the first instance, into their own hands, or whether the Church, under their 
 instructions, chose the officers and presented them for ordination, is not 
 stated. 
 
course proper to be pursued with converts from 
 heathenism. Certain Jewish believers maintained 
 that such persons ought to be circumcised and 
 taught to observe the hiw of Moses. After much 
 disputing, it was resolved to refer the question to 
 "the apostles and elders" at Jerusalem. Their 
 meeting has been usually termed, but not very ap- 
 propriately, " the first Christian council ;" for a 
 council is a meeting of Churches by their delegates, 
 whereas this was a meeting of the Church at Jeru- 
 salem to receive a communication from the Antioch 
 Church and give advice. The Apostles might have 
 decided the case at once, but, in their humility, they 
 brought the matter before the whole Church ; and 
 the letter which was written at the close of the 
 meeting was sent in the names of *' the apostles and 
 elders and brethren" (Acts xv. 23). The Gentile 
 Christians were much gratified by the result. The 
 temporary obligation to "abstain from pollutions of 
 idols, and from things strangled, and from blood," 
 out of deference to Jewish prejudices, was not felt 
 to be burdensome ; and the command to observe 
 personal purity, so needful in heathen lands, where 
 transgressions of this law involved scarcely any sense 
 of guilt, was fully congenial with the feelings and 
 desires of the regenerate. 
 
 Paul's second missionary journey was commenced 
 soon after his return from Jerusalem, and occupied 
 
14 
 
 Second Missionary Tour. 
 
 him full three years. On this occasion Silas* was 
 associated with him, an unhappy dispute having 
 deprived him of the assistance of Barnabas. They 
 passed through Syria and Cilicia, '* confirming the 
 churches." At Lystra they engaged Timothy in the 
 work. The churches in Phrygia and Galatia were 
 *' established in the faith " by their joint labours, 
 and " increased in number daily." They would have 
 preached in the province of Asia (a small district, 
 so called, at the western end of Asia Minor), in 
 Mysia, and in Bithynia, but were mysteriously hin- 
 dered ; ** the spirit of Jesus suffered them not."t 
 Arriving at Troas (the ruins at Eski-Stamhoul are all 
 that is left of that place), they were guided by a vision 
 to Macedonia. At Philippi (now in ruins), they 
 laboured and suffered ; and when they departed 
 they left brethren there who nobly sustained the 
 cause. At Thessalonica and Beraea (now Verria) 
 many believed ; but Paul was so obnoxious to Jewish 
 bigotry that it was judged prudent to withdraw him 
 for a time from communication with his fellow- 
 countrymen in that quarter. He retired to Athens. 
 There, though he was alone and unbefriended, he 
 publicly declared the truth, to the Jews in their 
 
 * Silas was a prominent member of the Church at Jerusalem — one of 
 the '* chosen men " who accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Antioch 
 (Acts XV. 25 J xvi. 37). 
 
 t " So all the ancient MSS. ?.nd Versions " (Alford). 
 
Third Missionary Tour. 
 
 15 
 
 synagogue, to the Gentiles in the market-place. 
 His apt and admirable discourse before the court of 
 Areopagus was doubtless long remembered. Corinth 
 was next evangelised. Paul remained there a year 
 and six months, and the trophies of the grace of 
 God were numerous. At the termination of that 
 period the Apostle needed rest, having; worked at his 
 trade as a tent-maker, for the supply of his own 
 wants and those of his brethren, and spent the 
 Sabbaths, as well as much time in addition, in 
 teaching the Word of God. He, therefore, left 
 Corinth, and sailed for Syria. After a short stay at 
 Jerusalem, he once more visited Antioch. 
 
 A brief sojourn with his brethren served to recruit 
 his energies, and then he departed on a third 
 journey, accompanied, as it would appear, by several 
 disciples, among whom were Timothy and Erastus 
 (Acts xix. 22). First, he ** went over all the country 
 of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all 
 the disciples" (Acts xviii. 23). Then, having taken 
 a circuitous route, that he might preach the Gospel 
 in the northern regions of Asia Minor, he took up 
 his abode at Ephesus, and remained there upwards 
 of two years.. It was a bold step, for Ephesus was 
 the head-quarters of Paganism. But the power of 
 the Saviour was strikingly displayed. Great numbers 
 received the truth, and such was its influence that 
 those of them who had practised magical arts, and 
 
-'■■'■' 
 
 I, 
 
 1 6 Third Missionary Tour, 
 
 found the trade gainful, " brought their books 
 together, and burned them before all men : and 
 they counted the price of them, and found it fifty 
 thousand pieces of silver" — about £i,'T]o sterling, 
 or 8,272 dollars (Acts xix. 19). Demetrius, a silver- 
 smith, who seems to have been a wholesale manu- 
 facturer of models of the Temple of Diana, confessed 
 that Paul had "persuaded and turned away much 
 people," and that not only was there danger that 
 their "craft" would be "set at nought," but also 
 that " the temple of the great goddess Diana should 
 be despised, and her magnificence should be de- 
 stroyed " (Acts xix. 26, 27). From Ephesus the 
 Apostle went to Macedonia, preaching and teaching 
 in every place as he travelled along, till he reached 
 Greece, where he remained three months. He was 
 about to sail to Syria, probably from the Port of 
 Cenchrea, when he learned that his implacable 
 enemies, the unbelieving Jews, intended to waylay 
 and murder him ; in consequence of which he 
 changed his route, and returned through Macedonia. 
 Embarking at Philippi, in the spring of the year 58, 
 he passed over to Troas, spent seven days with the 
 Christians of that town ; at Miletus* met the elders 
 
 * Once a flourishing seaport. The silting up of the River Maeander, 
 at the mouth of which it lay, occasioned its gradual decay and ultimate 
 ruin. 
 
Arrest at Jerusalem . 
 
 17 
 
 ' I ■ > 
 
 of the Church at Ephesus, and delivered an affecting 
 farewell discourse (Acts xx. 18, 35), not expecting 
 to see them again. " They all wept sore, and fell 
 on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of 
 all for the words which he spake, that they should 
 see his face no more" (vv. 37, 38). 
 
 At Tyre, the disciples warned him not to go to 
 Jerusalem, for it would be walking into the very 
 jaws of danger. At Caesarea, the prophet Agabus 
 foretold the sufferings that awaited him. The bre- 
 thren entreated him not to proceed any farther, 
 But Paul replied, in the true spirit of Christian 
 heroism, "What mean ye to weep and to break 
 mine heart ? for I am ready not to be bound only, 
 but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the 
 Lord Jesus" (Acts xxi. 13). So he went up to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The predictions were fulfilled. Paul was accused 
 of profaning the Temple, of attempting to subvert 
 the Jewish worship, and of endeavouring to set up 
 Jesus as a pretender to the imperial throne. The 
 prosecution was persevered in, absurd as were the 
 charges, with a malignity characteristic of Jewish 
 bigotry in that age. Having learned that a con- 
 spiracy was formed against his life, he communi- 
 cated the information to the Roman commander, by 
 whose order he was conveyed to Caesarea, where the 
 governor of the province then resided. Felix coulJ 
 
 C 
 
iB Voyage to Rome — Shipwreck, 
 
 not condemn him, for he knew that he was inno- 
 cent ; and he was afraid to dismiss the case, because 
 the Jews would have made it a matter of complaint 
 to the Emperor. Money would have unfastened the 
 chain, but Paul rightly demanded to be dealt with 
 according to law. As there was no Habeas Corpus 
 Act in those days, he was kept in prison at the will 
 of the governor. At the lapse of two years, Felix 
 meanly and unjustly left him in bonds, because he 
 would ** shew the Jews a pleasure" (Acts xxiv. 27). 
 As soon as his successor, Festus, arrived, the case 
 was reopened ; but the prosecutors failed of success. 
 As a last resort, they required that there should be a 
 new trial, intending to procure Paul's assassination 
 on the road. He asserted his privilege as a Roman 
 citizen by appealing to the Emperor, and was sent 
 to Rome, where he arrived in the spring of 61, 
 after a perilous voyage, during which he was ship- 
 wrecked on the Island of Malta (see Appendix, 
 No. I.) At Rome he was treated with more kind- 
 ness and consideration than might have been ex- 
 pected, for *' he dwelt two whole years in his own 
 hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 
 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those 
 things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all 
 confidence, no man forbidding him " (Acts xxviii. 
 
 3o> 31). 
 There is some difference of opinion respecting 
 
His Second Imprisonment, 
 
 19 
 
 the subsequent history of Paul. The majority of 
 modern critics and theologians have come to the 
 conclusion that, at the end 'of his two years' im- 
 prisonment, he was hear ' before the Emperor, ac- 
 quitted, and released, and that he spent nearly five 
 years more in labouring for Christ. It is probable 
 that he visited Spain, and planted Christianity there. 
 Whether his labours extended to the north-western 
 shores of Europe is more doubtful. The scanty 
 notices contained in his letters appear to warrant 
 the supposition that, in the latter years of his life, 
 he was chiefly occupied in tours of apostolic in- 
 spection, for the purpose of regulating the affairs of 
 the Churches, and opposing the erroneous teachers 
 whose influence had already begun to be painfully 
 felt. Timothy and Titus received special commis- 
 sions ; the former was stationed for a time at 
 Ephesus, the latter in the island of Crete ; and the 
 object of both appointments was to preserve the 
 Christians of those districts from the snares of error. 
 In Macedonia, in Greece, and in Asia Minor, ** Paul 
 the aged" once more proclaimed the truth. But 
 the enemy was permitted to prevail. He was again 
 arrested, we know not on what charge, and conveyed 
 to Rome. This second imprisonment was more 
 rigorous than the first, for Christians were now gene- 
 rally hated, and Nero, the Roman emperor, perse- 
 cuted them with savage cruelty. No man's life was 
 
 c 2 
 
safe in those days. Paul soon learned that he was 
 doomed to die. At his first hearing he stood alone 
 before the tribunal. " All men forsook me," is his 
 affecting statement of the case (2 Tim. iv. 16). But 
 he gratefully records the Master's interposition on 
 his behalf (v. 17). It was but a short respite. He 
 was condemned and executed in the spring of the 
 year 68. Nero did not long survive his victim. (See 
 Appendix No. II.) 
 
 y ''' 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHO WAS CHRIST ? 
 
 Effects of the Vision on Saul's Mind — New Thoughts of Christ— His 
 Person — His Work — Influence of these Thoughts on Paul's Labours. 
 
 It is said that, when Saul was restored to sight, 
 after his entry into Damascus, and had been bap- 
 tized, he " straightway preached Christ in the syna- 
 gogues, that He is the Son of God" (Acts ix. 20). 
 This expression marks an era in the history of his 
 opinions and feelings. The Jews had long expected 
 the Messiah. They looked for Him, in accordance 
 with the prophecies, as a descendant from David. 
 " What think ;/e of Christ ? " our Lord said to the 
 Pharisees ; " v hose Son is He ? They say unto Him, 
 The Son of D.v/id " (Matt. xxii. 42). But they did 
 not understand how He could be at the same time 
 David's Son and David's Lord. Their expectations 
 were all centred on a governor and a general, one 
 who would lead their hosts to victory, and then pre- 
 
22 Effects of the Vtston on Saul's Mind. 
 
 side over the nation in wisdom and righteousness. 
 Their hopes were earthly. All they cared for was 
 plenty of silver and gold, and costly array, and over- 
 flowing stores of wine and oil, and all manner of 
 delicacies, with well-paid offices and appointments, 
 enabling them to live like princes. But the blind- 
 ing stroke that felled Saul of Tarsus to the earth was 
 followed by enlightening influences and visions of 
 spiritual glory. The first effect produced on his 
 mind was a total change of views respecting the 
 Christ. lie dropped all the wild fancies which had 
 amused and dazzled him ; he gave up his ambitious 
 longings. He bowed before the Son of God, and 
 meekly said, '* Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?' 
 As fast as he learned he taught. The disciple 
 quickly became a preacher. He went from syna- 
 gogue to synagogue, proclaiming with fervour and 
 power to which his countrymen were altogether un- 
 used — as far removed as possible from the drowsy 
 drawlings of the scribes — that the Christ had come, 
 and that He was not a man of war, but the Son of 
 God. That epithet awoke new thoughts. It is not 
 likely that its full import was at first apprehended, 
 either by Saul himself or by his hearers. But it con- 
 veyed grand and glorious ideas, pointing to gracious 
 purposes. Had ** the Son of God " come ? Surely 
 His errand must be befitting His glory. He had 
 "come down from heaven" (John ill. 13). He was 
 
New Thoughts of Christ, 
 
 "made of the seed of David according to the flesh " 
 (Rom. i. 3). He had walked the plain of Genne- 
 sareth and climbed the hills of Judaea, in all appear- 
 ance as a man, like those among whom He lived. 
 And He wasz. man — not a phantasm, as the Gnostics 
 afterwards dreamed, but really and truly " bone of 
 our bone and flesh of our flesh." Yet, hidden be- 
 neath the human exterior lay the divine. Every 
 action was a divine-human action. When the 
 leprosy disappeared at His touch, and the sightless 
 eyeballs were enlightened, and the waves were stilled 
 and the winds hushed, and the dead rose up at His 
 bidding, there was a flashing forth of the power and 
 goodness of God. He was " in very deed dwelling 
 with men upon the earth" (2 Chron. vi. 18). He 
 spoke and wrought by His Son. The Father and 
 the Son were "one" (John x. 30). 
 
 "The Son of God!" What did those words 
 mean ? Can anyone explain them ? Did the great 
 Apostle himself understand and know "the breadth, 
 and length, and depth, and height" ? (Eph. iii. 18). 
 Did he offer any explanation ? Did he define, dis- 
 tinguish, ojr prescribe hard and complicated forms ? 
 No I The days of Athanasius had not come. Chris- 
 tians had not yet learned to "darken counsel by 
 words without knowledge" (Job xxxviii. 2). Meta- 
 physical subtleties had not taken the place of Scrip- 
 ture. Paul's religion began with submission to the 
 
24 
 
 His Person. 
 
 will of the Lord. It characterised him all his life 
 long. He was content that God should make Him- 
 self known in His own way and to such an extent as 
 He pleased. He believed, adored, and loved. 
 Enough for him that the Son of God had come. 
 Thus he wrote of Him : " Who is the image of the 
 invisible God, the firstborn of all creation : because 
 in Him were all things created, the things in the 
 heavens, and the things on the earth, things visible 
 and things invisible, whether they be thrones, or 
 dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things 
 have been created by Him, and for Him : and He is 
 before all things, and in Him all things subsist. 
 And He is the head of the body, the church : who 
 is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that 
 in all things He may be the first" (Col. i. 15 — 18). 
 — Alford. 
 
 But why did He come ? That inquiry engaged 
 the Apostle's attention during the whole of his sub- 
 sequent life, and the solution is interwoven in the tex- 
 ture of all his writings. He seems to be continually 
 answering the question, " Why did Christ come ? " 
 and putting the reply into every possible shape. It 
 is reasonable to suppose — whatever was the method 
 of discovery, of which we know nothing^that the 
 first disclosures on this subject took place in the 
 desert of Arabia, or, at any rate, were mainly com- 
 pleted there. There God "revealed His Son in 
 
His Work, 25 
 
 him" (Gal. i. 16). The process of enlightenment, 
 which had been begun at Damascus, was carried on 
 in the wilderness " by the revelation of Jesus Christ." 
 When he returned to the city he had graduated in 
 Christ's college, and was prepared for any work 
 which his Master might assign him — while still con- 
 tinuing his theological studies — for Paul's life was 
 ever a student's life. 
 
 We see the exemplification of these peculiarities 
 in his early missionary labours. The longest report 
 we have of a sermon of his is that which was taken 
 at Antioch, in Pisidia, and transmitted by the his- 
 torian Luke. That sermon is an admirable com- 
 pendium of the Gospel. It is a plain statement of 
 facts. Jesus died. He rose again from the dead. 
 He was "delivered for our offences, and rose again 
 for our justification" (Rom. iv. 25). Those who 
 would be saved must not rely on obedience to the 
 law of Moses, although its precepts were divine. 
 There were some sins from which they could not be 
 justified by the law, and salvation, such as Moses 
 could not promise or procure, was provided in 
 Christ. " By Him all that believe are justified from 
 all things, from which ye could not be justified by 
 the law of Moses " (Acts xiii. 26 — 39). 
 
 On these points Paul loved to dwell. He looked 
 back on the Lord's life, so lovely, so pure, so self- 
 denying. He saw Him "fulfilling all righteousness* 
 
I6 
 
 Injlucncc on Paul's Labours, 
 
 (Matt. iii. 15). He watched His sinking into the 
 grave, and His revival, and His "ascending up 
 where He was before" (John vi. 62). He followed 
 Him into the heavenly glory, and saw Him by the 
 eye of faith sitting on the right hind of God, 
 making intercession for the Church and wielding the 
 sceptre of empire. He was calmed and comforted 
 by the sight. He felt that the interests of the 
 Church were safe in the hands of Christ. At one 
 time he had thought that the Lord would shortly 
 appear, to punish His foes and reward His friends ; 
 but he had been taught to expect a long series of 
 ages of apostacy, during which the Evil One would 
 make trial of all possible vexations and guiles, 
 thinking to " wear out the saints of the Most High " 
 (Dan. vii. 25), but without success. At length, the 
 Christ ** shall be revealed from Heaven, with His 
 mighty angels" (2 Thess. i. 7 — 10). "Then," said 
 the Prophet-Apostle, " cometh the end, when He 
 shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even 
 the Father" (i Cor. xv. 24). Yet, still, for untold 
 myriads of ages, will the development be going on, 
 and at the close of the longest period of which 
 created mind can have any conception, the question 
 will continue to be asked, " Who was Christ ?" 
 
 -'^<*;«Sr^5^1feS.dC>T^ 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 (( 
 
 THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 *> 
 
 Saul'i Pharisee Life — His Remarkable Change of Views — The Propitia- 
 tion : how Contemplated by Him — His Exposition and Defence of 
 the Doctrine. • 
 
 Nothing was so galling to the Pharisees of Jeru- 
 salem as to be classed with other people. They 
 claimed exemption from the ordinary evils under 
 which humanity groans. They judged themselves 
 to be better than other men. They magnified the 
 virtues which they affected, and concealed or denied 
 all immoral habits. The ignorant multitude were 
 despised by thiem because they were ignorant ("this 
 people who knoweth not the law are cursed " — ^John 
 vii. 49) ; but no attempts were made to enlighten 
 and reclaim them. Rulers and the ruled travelled 
 the broad road together, all imagining that some- 
 thing was to be done to inherit eternal life, and that 
 they were doing it, or supposing that they were safe, 
 because " Abraham was their father." 
 
28 
 
 Saul's Pharisee Life. 
 
 Such were the thoughts of Saul of Tarsus in the 
 early years of his history. Then he was "alive 
 without the law " (Rom. vii. 9), for he did not dis- 
 cern its spiritual meaning. He satisfied himself 
 with externals. He " paid tithe of mint, anise, and 
 cummin." He observed the days of worship and 
 the hours of prayer. He was scrupulously exact in 
 the performance of ceremonies, taking care that not 
 the smallest item should be neglected. All admired 
 him, for he was deemed without fault before men. 
 But "when the commandment came" (Rom. vii. 
 9) — probably during the memorable three days at 
 Damascus — his heart died within him. He saw sin. 
 He felt it. He " mourned apart ;" and " repented 
 in dust and ashes." "Sin revived, and I died" 
 (Rom. vii. 9). His earnest hopes were dashed to 
 the ground. He saw himself condemned, righteously 
 condemned. lie sunk down to the publican's level, 
 and while he excdmed, in the bitterness of his dis- 
 tress, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" he saw 
 not at first how mercy could be bestowed, and did 
 not venture to hope for the blessing. 
 
 But relief was at hand. The spirit convinced him 
 " of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 
 xvi. 8), and he learned to rejoice in the " faithful 
 saying," which is " worthy of all acceptation," that 
 " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners " 
 (i Tim. i. 15). He took no higher ground. That 
 
His Remarkable Change of Views, ig 
 
 was high enough. How astonishing the mercy that 
 permitted him to stand there ! Then came light, 
 and love, and largeness of heart. Not all at once, 
 perhaps, but as he was able to bear it. The begin- 
 ning was at Damascus. There were deep searchings 
 of heart in the desert. On his return to Jerusalem, 
 full of gratitude and zeal, the strong emotions o-f his 
 soul overpowered him as he prayed in the Temple, 
 and he fell into a trance, in which he saw in the 
 clearest light the sin of his former enmity to the 
 Lord, and longed for the opportunity of proclaiming 
 salvation to his former companions and friends. 
 How he pleaded ! The Lord said, ** They will not 
 receive thy testimony c jncerning Me." ** Lord," he 
 replied, ** they know that I imprisoned and beat in 
 every synagogue them that believed on Thee : and 
 when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, 
 I also was standing by, and consenting unto his 
 death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 
 . . . Let me go among them, and say, * Be ye 
 reconciled unto God.'" But it was not the 
 Master's will at that time. " Depart," he said, 
 " for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles " 
 (Acts xxii. 17 — 21). So he went forth. What, and 
 how did he preach ? And how did he instruct 
 believers ?■ 
 
 An answer to these questions would require a full 
 analysis of his writings. A general sketch only can 
 
30 His Remarkable Change of Views. 
 
 be given here. Some branches of the subject may 
 be considered hereafter more in detail. 
 
 David's words, " I have set the Lord always 
 before me " (Psalm xvi. 8), may be fitly applied to 
 Paul, in reference to Christ. From that wonderful 
 interview on the plain of Damascus to the day of his 
 death, he set the Lord Jesus always before him. He 
 lived as in the Great Master's presence. And he 
 lived for Christ. Eloquence, learning, all mental 
 and moral qualifications, were consecrated to one 
 object — the subjection of men to the Saviour. At 
 Corinth, at Ephesus, and wherever else he laboured, 
 he " shewed and taught publicly, and from house to 
 house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the 
 Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward 
 our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts xx. 20, 21). Other 
 teachers might seek praise and pelf, and take small 
 pains to disguise their selfishness. Paul said, and 
 his fellow-labourers caught his spirit, " We preach 
 not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and our- 
 selves your servants for Jesus' sake " (2 Cor. iv. 5). 
 
 Preaching Christ was more than telling the Story 
 of the Saviour's life. It included the purpose of His 
 coming. Paul could have described in the most 
 effective manner the scenes of the Lord's last suffer- 
 ings. Possibly he witnessed them — the mockings, the 
 scourgings, the brutal outrages. Perhaps he was pre- 
 sent when Peter denied his Master, and " the Lord 
 
The Propitiation. 3 1 
 
 turned, and looked on Peter." He saw Him " on 
 the cross uplifted high." Did he join in the revilings 
 that were poured on the Innocent One ? " I was a 
 blasphemer," he said, more than thirty years after- 
 wards (i Tim. i. 13). Be that as it may, he knew 
 all the facts ; but he had now learned to view them 
 in God's light. On man's part, that death was a 
 foul murder. On God's part, it was an act of mar- 
 vellous love. 
 
 The propitiation was a central truth in Paul's 
 system. He taught everywhere, that "all had 
 sinned, and come short of the glory of God" 
 (Rom. iii. 23). He saw clearly that no sinner could 
 save his own soul, and that man lay helpless and 
 hopeless at the feet of divine mercy. He beheld 
 in the death of the Lord Jesus that wondrous plan 
 by which God could be "just, and the justifier of 
 him which believeth in Jesus " (Rom. iii. 26) ; by 
 which jarring interests could be reconciled, and 
 seeming impossibilities accon .lished, without detri- 
 ment to principles and rights. The cross of Christ 
 was to him the meeting-place between heaven and 
 earth. The Saviour's death was that ** great public 
 transaction," as Bunyan was wont to call it, whereby 
 God became able to pardon sin without doing 
 injustice to law and government, and at the same 
 time to secure the obedience and submission 
 of the pardoned, and to "purify unto Himself 
 
32 
 
 The Propitiation, 
 
 a peculiar people, zealous of good works " (Tit. 
 ii. 14). 
 
 Men had gazed on the crucifixion with very dif- 
 ferent feelings. Some looked on savagely, and 
 cursed. Others, though they did not justify the 
 deed, feared to blame it. Those who ** mourned 
 and wept " were ready to abandon themselves to 
 despair. Saul himself, if present, as was hinted just 
 now, did most likely concur with the chief priests 
 and rulers of the people, comforting himself with 
 the assurance that by an act of necessary severity 
 the peace of society would be preserved, and injured 
 authority restored. 
 
 A few years passed away, and we find him again 
 at Jerusalem. But, oh, how changed ! With what 
 affectionate reverence does he now speak of Jesus ! 
 How eagerly does he question those who had seen 
 and heardHim, and who could repeat His "gracious 
 words " 1 And when he revisits Calvary, what emo- 
 tions crowd in upon his soul 1 The meek and lowly 
 One who bled there had died for Him ! In that 
 shameful death on the cross the price of his re- 
 demption was paid. Jesus was " delivered for his 
 offences." Others looked upon the cross as the 
 type of all ignominy. Paul saw in it nothing but 
 love and joy." "God forbid," he said, "that I 
 should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ" (Gal. vi. 14). His life-work, begun at 
 
His Exposition of the Doctrine. 
 
 33 
 
 Damascus, was the mission of the cross. How he 
 fulfilled it is well known to the world. 
 
 Let us gather together a few of those heavenly 
 utterances in which the Apostle set forth the truth 
 of the redemption, and magnified the grace of God. 
 
 " Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, 
 we should live together with Him." — i Thess. v. lo. 
 
 " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." — i 
 Cor. v. 7. 
 
 " Ye are bought with a price." — i Cor. vi. 20. 
 
 ** As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
 cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come." — 
 I Cor. xi. 26. 
 
 " Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip- 
 tures." — I Cor. XV. 3. 
 
 ** He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew 
 no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in Him." — 2 Cor. v. 21. 
 
 ** Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might 
 deliver us from this present evil world." — Gal. i. 4. 
 
 ** Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
 through faith in His blood." — Rom. iii. 25. 
 
 " Who was delivered for our offences, and was 
 raised again for our justification." — Rom. iv. 25. . 
 
 " Christ died for the ungodly." — Rom. v. 6. 
 
 ** By whom we have now received the atonement." 
 —Rom. v. II. 
 
 " What the law could not do, in that it was weak 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 The Propitiation, 
 
 through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the 
 likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin 
 in the flesh." — Rom. viii. 3. 
 
 " To this end Christ both died, and rose, and 
 revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead 
 and living." — Rom. xiv. 9. 
 
 ** In whom we have redemption through His 
 blood, even the forgiveness of sins." — Col. i. 14 : 
 Eph. i. 7. 
 
 ** Having made peace through the blood of His 
 cross." — Col. i. 20. 
 
 ** Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh 
 by the blood of Christ." — Eph. ii. 13. 
 
 " God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."— 
 Eph. iv. 32. 
 
 ** Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Him- 
 self for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a 
 sweet-smelling savour." — Eph. v. 2. 
 
 " Who gave Himself a ransom for all." — i Tim. 
 ii. 6. 
 
 The substance of the whole is, ** Christ is all, 
 and in all" (Col. iii. 11). Every blessing bestowed 
 on man, from the forgiveness of sin to the attain- 
 ment of life eternal, is traced to the redemption- 
 work. In what way that great transaction operated ; 
 how it was that ** God was in Christ, reconciling 
 the world unto Himself, not imputing their tres- 
 passes unto them" (2 Cor. v. 19), is nowhere stated 
 
with the scholastic precision of theology. Our 
 Christian classics are not composed in that style. 
 It was not invented in apostolic times. Had God 
 so pleased, it might have been then invented, and 
 then the authors of the New Testament would have 
 been tied and bound by the crude phraseology of 
 the schools. That misfortune did not happen to 
 them. The glorious old book is known by its 
 peculiar depth of thought and breadth of expression. 
 It has a method all its own, and refuses to be con- 
 fined within human limits. The Apostle Paul is the 
 most illustrious instance of this nobleness and free- 
 dom. Nothing can be grander than his delinea- 
 tions of the grace of God in Christ. He is a true 
 champion-knight, and will maintain the cause against 
 all comers. Yet he does not demand that everyone 
 shall adopt the same phrases, and measure words 
 and syllables by unchanging rule. His writings 
 afford examples of variety of statement combined 
 with unswerving zeal for truth ; in which respect it 
 would have been well if all who profess to admire 
 him had trodden in his steps. 
 
 The subject of this chapter is the representation 
 uniformly given by Paul of the purpose for which 
 the Son of God became incarnate. We have seen 
 that in his scheme of doctrine man appears as ruined 
 — self-destroyed — lost. But God " hath saved us, 
 and called us with an holy calling, not according to. 
 
 D 2 
 
our works, but according to His own purpose and 
 grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the 
 world began" (2 Tim. i. 9). In another place it is 
 thus powerfully expressed : — ** The grace of God 
 that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, 
 in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, 
 and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus ii. 11 — 13). 
 
 Some would have us believe that the death of the 
 Lord Jesus is an example of patience, and sub- 
 mission, and religious heroism ; but nothing more. 
 That, according to Paul, would be " another gospel." 
 He had not so ** learned Christ." " I delivered 
 unto you first of all," he said to the Corinthians, 
 ** that which I also received, how that Christ died 
 for our sins according to the Scriptures" (i Cor. 
 XV. 3). Yes ! He *• died for our sins." Such is 
 the Pauline doctrine. And Peter writes of the 
 ** precious blood of Christ " (i Peter i. 19), of which 
 John says that it ** cleanseth from all sin " (i John 
 i. 7). Conceited reasoners exclaim, ** How can 
 these things be ? " It is an easy thing, as some 
 think, for God to forgive sin : it would be strange if 
 He did not : He is so loving and kind that He cannot 
 find it in His heart to punish transgressors. There 
 is no such place as hell. It will be all heaven here- 
 
Jit's Defence of the Doctrine, 
 
 37 
 
 after, and all men will be there. " Nay but, O man, 
 wlio art thou that repliest against God ? " (Rom. ix. 
 20). He says, by the mouth of his servant Paul, 
 that there shall be ** indignation and wrath, tribula- 
 tion and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth 
 evil " (Rom. ii. 8, 9) : and He has expressly affirmed 
 that, in order to accomplish His merciful purpose 
 of salvation, there was a necessity for the sacrificial 
 death of the Son of God. (See Heb. ii. 10.) Jesus 
 died for our sins, that God " might be just, and the 
 justifier of him which believeth " (Rom. iii. 26). 
 So Christ Himself taught Paul, and Paul taught the 
 Churches. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 **A NEW CREATURE." 
 
 Saul's Friendships in Jerusalem — The Influence of Christianity in that 
 respect — Constant Reference to Christ in his Writings — His Energetic 
 Love to the Saviour — Contrast between his Early Life and his Apos* 
 tolic Doctrines and Habits — His Firmness— His Considerateness and 
 Gentle Spirit — The Corinthians — Philemon — His Humility. 
 
 While Saul lived in Jerusalem, and was "more 
 exceedingly zealous of the traditions of hiis fathers," 
 his friendships were governed by his peculiarly 
 Jewish tastes. He was an ardent devotee of Moses 
 and the elders, and his chosen companions were 
 found among the devotees. Those young men, who 
 endeavoured to curry favour with the Romans by 
 conforming to their modes and fashions, were never 
 admitted to his intimacy. But he ** walked to the 
 house of God in company " with the religious con- 
 servatives — perhaps, we might say, the ritualists — of 
 his day. Many and animated were their conferences 
 and discussions on ceremonial, methods of purify- 
 
Saul's Fr tends hips in Jerusalem. 39 
 
 ing, and topics of that sort. The more rigid the 
 adherence of his young friends to the strict letter of 
 the law or the tradition, the better he liked them. 
 The circle of his acquaintance was not large, but it 
 was well defined. In the centre stood the great 
 Rabbi Gamaliel, at whose feet he sat with reverent 
 attention, and by whose kindness and affability his 
 heart was deeply moved. He was enthusiastic in 
 his praises of the Rabbi. Gamaliel was not only 
 " had in reputation among all the people " (Acts 
 V. 34), but was well-nigh adored by his pupils, who 
 loved one another in proportion as each honoured 
 their master. 
 
 How. was all this changed when Paul transferred 
 his allegiance to Christ, and chose Him for his 
 teacher and Lord ! Thenceforth, men and things 
 were tried by another standard. He had friends 
 still : he could not live without friends. But they were 
 now taken from a very different class. Some were 
 Jews : some were Greeks : it mattered little to him 
 to what country they belonged, or by what national 
 name they were known. He had learned that in 
 Christ "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum- 
 cision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond nor free" (Col. iii. 11). His prayer was, 
 " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity " (Eph. vi. 24). If any man was 
 a friend of Christ, he was Paul's friend. His 
 
40 Saul's Friendships in Jerusalem. 
 
 brethren were endeared to him according as they 
 manifested sympathy with the Saviour and v splayed 
 activity in His cause. Hence it became customary 
 to advert to those characteristic features when he 
 had occasion to mention any of his Christian bre- 
 tliren, or to send his salutations. A striking in- 
 stance occurs in the Epistle to the Romans. The 
 last chapter contains numerous messages to believers 
 at Rome. Observe how he describes them. Pris- 
 cilla and Aquila were his ** helpers in Christ Jesus " 
 (v. 3) ; Epaenetus was " the firstfruits of Achaia* 
 unto Christ " (v. 5). Andronictis and Junia were his 
 " kinsmen and his fellow-prisoners, who were of 
 note among the Apostles, who also were in Christ 
 before him " (v. 7). Amplias was his " beloved in 
 the Lord," and Urbane his ** helper in Christ " 
 (vv. 8, 9). Apelles was undoubtedly an amiable, well- 
 principled, useful man, whom the brethren loved 
 and honoured ; but the highest distinction that man 
 could attain had fallen to his lot — he was "approved 
 in Christ" (v. 10). The household of Narcissus 
 were doubtless distinguished by excellent qualities, 
 and connected with good society in Rome : Paul 
 greeted them because they were " in the Lord " 
 (v. 11). Tryphena and Tryphosa are placed in the 
 honourable list for no other reason than that they 
 
 * It should be "Asia," according to the best authorities. 
 
Ilis Energetic Love to the Saviour, 4 1 
 
 * * 
 
 " laboured in the Lord " ; and ** the beloved Persis " 
 is singled out from the whole because she " laboured 
 much in the Lord" (v. 12). We know nothing of 
 Rufus, save that his father, Simon the Cyrenian 
 (" the father of Alexander and Rufus " — Mark xv. 21) 
 bore the Redeemer's cross on the way to Golgotha : 
 Paul knew — and that was enough— that he was 
 "chosen in the Lord" (v. 13). 
 
 Of whomsoever the Apostle spoke or wrote, the 
 connection which the individual had with Christ 
 was the uppermost thought in his mind. Apollos 
 and himself were " ministers of Christ " ( i Cor. iv. i ). 
 Timotheus was his "beloved son, and faithful in 
 the Lord" (i Cor. iv. 17). Tychicus, who was evi- 
 dently an estimable man, was especially so, inasmuch 
 as he was ** a faithful minister in the Lord" (Eph. 
 vi. 21). Epaphras is adverted to in a similar strain 
 (Col. i. 7). Fidelity to Christ was sure to win Paul's 
 affection. 
 
 It was not always so. When the first martyr 
 sealed the truth with his blood, being " faithful 
 unto death," the witnesses, on whom it devolved to 
 commence the process of the execution,* *' laid down 
 their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was 
 
 * The witnesses were Te(]uired to cast the first stone, the sufferer being 
 first thrown down. The rabbinical writers say that one of the witnesses 
 threw a large stone on the chest of the convict. If it did not cause death, 
 the bystanders proceeded to complete the sentence.— 5w»>A'* Dictionary. 
 
42 CGittrast between his Early Life 
 
 Saul " (Acts vii. 58), and who was well pleased to take 
 any share, however humble, in that murderous deed. 
 His hatred of Christ extended to all his followers, 
 and he placed before himself, as the work of his life, 
 the extinction of the Christian family. He would, 
 perhaps, hive succeeded, had not a mightier will 
 than his own interposed. Then, subdued by grace, 
 he gave his whole heart to the Redeemer, and che- 
 rished for Christ s people an affection as earnest 
 and powerful as his previous hate had been. Paul 
 did nothing by halves ; he loved with fervour, he 
 hated with intensity. Only there was this difference 
 between his Jewish and his Christian state — his love 
 while a Jew was lavished on those who agreed with 
 him in the forms of religion ; his Christian love was 
 given to character — it embraced all Christians. And 
 his hatred was quite a different thing. As a Jew, he 
 hated all Gentiles and all followers of Christ. When 
 he became a Christian., his fellow-countrymen hated 
 him, and plotted his death. But he did not recipro- 
 cate the feeling. He hated sin with all his might ; 
 he yearned over the sinner with tenderest compas- 
 sion. How sublimely touching his language ! " I 
 say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also 
 bearing me witness in the Hcly Ghost, that I have 
 great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart. 
 For I could wish that myself were accursed from 
 Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the 
 
And his Apostolic Doctrine, 43 
 
 flesh." ** Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to 
 God for Israel is, that they might be saved '* (Rom. 
 ix. I — 3 ; X. i). Then, again, speaking of some un- 
 holy professors of Christianity, he uses these re- 
 markable words : ** Of whom I have told you often, 
 and now tell you even weeping, that they are the 
 enemies of the Cross of Christ" (Phil. iii. 18). It 
 was their practical enmity to Christ that excited the 
 deep feelings of his soul ; but he did not curse them. 
 Jesus had taught him to pity, to pray, and to bless. 
 
 When the Apostle, defending himself against the 
 furious multitude in the court of the Temple, as- 
 serted that the Lord Jesus had said to him, " De- 
 part, for I will send thee far hence among the 
 Gentiles," it is stated by the historian that " they 
 gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted 
 up their voices, and said. Away with such a fellow 
 from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live " 
 (Acts xxii. 21, 22). What strange perversions and 
 contradictions are found in human character ! These 
 men had in their possession the books of the Old 
 Testament, or heard them read every Sabbath in the 
 synagogues. Their royal psalmist had foretold that 
 "all the ends of the world shall remember and turn 
 unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations 
 shall worship before him" (Psalm xxii. 27). The 
 prophet Isaiah had repeatedly described the kingdom 
 of the Messiah as intended to embrace all nations 
 
44 Obstinacy of the Jews, 
 
 (Chaps. XXV. 6, 7 ; xlii. i ; xlix. 9 ; liv. ; Ix.) Other 
 prophets had indited similar strains. As Simeon 
 held in his arms the infant Redeemer, he exclaimed, 
 " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, 
 according to Thy word ; for mine eyes have seen Thy 
 salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face 
 of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the 
 glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke ii. 29 — 32). But 
 the Jews misunderstood and misapplied their own 
 Scriptures. They would not hear of the union of 
 Jew and Gentile in God's Church. Nothing but 
 submission and conformity to Moses would satisfy 
 them. The Gentiles might be hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water, but members of God's family, 
 never ! This is represented as their crowning sin — 
 ** forbidding to speak to the Gentiles that they might 
 be saved" (i Thess. ii. 16). 
 
 It is so represented by one who was for many 
 years in full accord with them on that point. He 
 was as bigoted as any of them. But when the 
 Lord "by revelation made known unto him the 
 mystery . . . that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, 
 and of the same body, and partakers of his promise 
 in Christ by the Gospel" (Eph. iii. 3, 6), he de- 
 voted himself, without hesitation, to the special 
 mission of his life. He opened his commission in 
 the synagogue ("to you, first," as Peter said — Acts 
 iii. 26), and when it was rejected there he turned 
 
with mingled sorrow and gladness to the Gentiles. 
 In preaching to them, and afterwards, in his corre- 
 spondence, he manifested the utmost freedom. The 
 shackles of Judaism were entirely thrown off. He 
 was a citizen of the world, in the highest, purest 
 sense. He delighted to dwell on the participation 
 of all nations in the privileges of the Gospel. He 
 gloried in the fact, that the Church of Christ, 
 gathering in its ample embrace men of every land, 
 is one body, animated by one spirit. So impressed 
 was he with this, the peculiar excellence of Christi- 
 anity, that he rarely preached a sermon or wrote a 
 letter without a reference to it. He grieved over the 
 unbelief and hardness of heart of his fellow-country- 
 men, and would have done or endured anything for 
 the sake of their souls' health ; but he never forgot 
 the distinction which the Saviour had conferred 
 upon him, and, as " the Apostle of the Gentiles," he 
 "magnified his office" (Rom. xi. 13). What a con- 
 trast to the man who had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, 
 and prided himself on being ** of the stock of Israel, 
 of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews" 
 (Phil. iii. 5) ! What a mighty revolution had taken 
 place in his opinions, his feelings, and his habits ! 
 Verily, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- 
 ture" (2 Cor. v. 17). - 
 This inquiry may be pursued further. The ** elders " 
 who flourished after the Babylonish captivity had 
 
46 His Attachment to Jewish Rites, 
 
 added to the services enjoined in the law a vast 
 number of minor observances, which were regarded 
 as binding, and to which the Jews generally had 
 submitted. They were rigidly enforced by the Pha- 
 risees, in whose religious system they occupied a 
 prominent place (see Mark vii. i — 9). The result 
 was, as it has ever been, and the history of the 
 Church confirms the statement, that the Word of 
 God was slighted. Jesus sharply reproved the scribes 
 and Pharisees of His time : " Ye have made the 
 commandment of God of none effect by your tra- 
 dition " (Matt. XV. 6). 
 
 Young Saul was distinguished for his attachment 
 to all Jewish rites, ceremonies, and usages — the 
 human as well as the divine. He did not stop to 
 inquire whether there was any authority for the 
 later additions to the ritual and the code. The fact 
 that he found them in practice satisfied him. The 
 necessity of obedience was taken for granted. They 
 were fully developed in his religious life. He " made 
 broad his phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of 
 his garments" (Matt, xxiii. 5). He fasted at all the 
 prescribed times ; he observed the accustomed hours 
 of prayer ; he avoided all personal defilement by 
 contact with anything unclean, and washed his hands 
 and bathed, according to the commands of the 
 elders. 
 
 All this seemed to him very right and very re- 
 
Change of Views. 
 
 47 
 
 ligious, and Saul was regarded as a devout ai^d pro- 
 mising young man, who was likely to become a 
 rabbi. But he became a Christian, and obtained 
 holiness of another kind. Then, how different were 
 his views of human forms and ceremonies and pre- 
 sumed religious services ! With what pity did he 
 look down oji the weaklings who wished to intro- 
 duce will-worship into Christianity I And how did 
 he abhor the spirit by which many were actuated, 
 who were disposed to exact uniformity in such minor 
 matters, and to anathematise all who refused com- 
 pliance ! "The kingdom of God," he said, "is not 
 meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. xiv. 17). "Bodily 
 exercise profiteth little" (i Tim. iv. 8). He foretold 
 that the great apostasy would be distinguished by 
 such follies. At the same time, he was anxious to 
 preserve peace and union among the brethren, and 
 would rather that a Christian should indulge the 
 weakness of a feeble-minded one than offend him 
 by harsh behaviour (i Cor. viii. 9 — 13 ; x. 23 — 33). 
 
 We might have expected that, whatever course of 
 life he chose to adopt, he would be known by de- 
 termination, energy, disregard of the opinions and 
 feelings of others, a fierce wilfulness, verging on 
 oppression. Now, Paul could be firm on all proper 
 occasions, and he was not s'ow to exercise apostolic 
 authority. If Peter himself temporised, Paul did not 
 
spare him (Gal. ii. ii — 21). If Judaisers sought to 
 "pervert the Gospel of Christ," he was prompt to 
 repress them : "Though we, or an angel from heaven, 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that which 
 we have preached unto you, let him be accursed " 
 (Gal. i. 8). If immoralities were connived at, he 
 commanded the instant application of the knife of 
 discipline (i Cor. v. i — 5). If Christian professors 
 were found feasting in an idol's temple, they were 
 sternly told that they " could not be partakers of the 
 Lord's table and of the table of devils " ( i Cor. x. 2 1 ). 
 If a Christian ordinance was corrupted, the offenders 
 were reminded that " whosoever shall eat this bread 
 and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be 
 guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (i Cor. 
 xi. 29). ' 
 
 But, on the other hand, there was a considerate 
 gentleness of spirit which we should not have looked 
 for in such a man. He was indignant at the conduct 
 of the Corinthians in suffering a man who was guilty 
 of an act of gross immorality to remain in member- 
 ship ; yet when, as afterwards appeared, the man 
 was smitten with sorrow and gave proof of repent- 
 ance, and the Church had manifested meek submis- 
 sion to the apostolic command, he hastened to 
 assure all parties of his forgiveness, and to direct 
 the restoration of the penitent to his position in the 
 Church. Nothing could be more offensive to him 
 
His Gentleness. 49 
 
 than the deviation from the truth which had taken 
 place in the Churches of Galatia, and they were 
 severely dealt with accordingly. Nevertheless, what 
 fatherly love appears in the very mode of address 
 adopted by him (** My little children, of whom I 
 travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you " 
 — Gal. iv. 19) I He had been calumniated at Corinth, 
 and violent efforts were made to damage and destroy 
 his influence in that Church. It was necessary to 
 defend himself, and he did so most triumphantly. 
 Who has not noticed and admired the dexterous 
 mildness of his defence ? He was almost ashamed, 
 he said, to write as he did ; it was egotistical ; it 
 looked like " folly " and ** confidence of boasting." 
 And was it not an exquisite turn when he said, 
 ** What is it wherein ye were inferior to other 
 Churches, except it be that I myself was not burden- 
 some to you ? Forgive me this wrong" (2 Cor. xii. 
 
 13—15). 
 He was sometimes placed in circumstances which 
 
 required the exercise of what we may call Christian 
 
 adroitness ; and he was equal to the emergency. He 
 
 displayed so much judgment in his address to the 
 
 Athenians on Mars' Hill, so carefully abstaining from 
 
 all offensiveness of manner,* that he was dismissed 
 
 * Our Authorised Vt^sion represents him as telling them that they were 
 " too supentitious." Dean Alford's translation, " very religious," will be 
 now preferred. " Irop devots." — Btausobre et VEnfantC\ 
 
 £ 
 
$0 Hh Adroitness, 
 
 without even a reproof. At Philippi, when the magis- 
 trates had exceeded their powers, he so skilfully 
 managed the affair that they were glad to escape a pro- 
 secution by respectfully requesting the outraged mis- 
 sionaries to go quietly away. At Jerusalem, he re- 
 fused to be illegally scourged, asserting his rights and 
 privileges as a Roman citizen, and successfully main- 
 tained his protest. And then, with what address he 
 spoke to the raging mob ! How anxious he was, 
 by adopting a conciliatory tone, to gain a hearing ! 
 ** I am verily a man which am a Jew," he said, '* born 
 in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this 
 city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to 
 the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and 
 was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day" 
 (Acts xxii. 3). Speaking of Ananias, who restored 
 his sight at Damascus, he is careful to describe him 
 as ** a devout man according to the law, having a 
 good report of all the Jews which dwelt there " 
 (Acts xxii. 1 2). On his appearance the next day before 
 the Sanhedrim, where an act of violence like that by 
 which Stephen lost his life would not have been at 
 all unlikely to occur, he diverted the attention of his 
 judges from the real point at issue by exclaiming, 
 "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee ! " (Acts 
 xxiii. 6), and thus exciting the fury of hostile sects, 
 who were content for that time to abstain from 
 further proceedings, or rather prevented by the 
 
Philemon, 5 1 
 
 judicious interference of the Roman commander of 
 the forces. 
 
 Once more. This man, who was so fond of 
 power, and would press through all difficulties to 
 accomplish his will, could be as gentle as a child if 
 in that way his object might be more easily gained. 
 Did he not, with consummate tact, plead with the 
 Corinthians for a liberal contribution to the collec- 
 tion for the poor saints ? He reminded them of 
 ".the grace of God bestowed on the churches of 
 Macedonia" (2 Cor. viii. i) ; and then he told them 
 that this liberality of the Macedonians had been 
 mainly produced by the report which he himself had 
 conveyed to them respecting Achaia (2 Cor. ix. 2 — 4). 
 The inimitable letter to Philemon affords another 
 illustration. He had a favour to ask. He might 
 have exerted apostolic authority, but he preferred, 
 '* for love's sake," to beseech rather than to com- 
 mand ; and in placing the object of his request 
 before his friend, he so constructed the sentence 
 that Philemon, as we may well believe, was prepared 
 to grant all that the Apostle asked before the name 
 of him on whose behalf he was entreating met his 
 eyes : " I beseech thee, for my son, whom I have 
 begotten in my chains, Onesimus" {Cojiybeare and 
 Howson)* Surely the lion was changed into a lamb ! 
 
 • "A son 
 
 of mine 
 
 , whom I have begotten 
 
 in my bonds, 
 
 Onesimus " 
 
 {Doddridge). 
 
 Dr. 
 
 D. 
 
 observes : 
 
 "Thus the words stand in 
 
 the 
 
 onginal ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 E 2 
 
 
 
 
52 On Humility, 
 
 Some observations may be introduced here on 
 gratitude and humility as constituent elements of 
 Paul's character. They are coupled together, because 
 they are generally found in union. A proud man 
 magnifies himself, and loathes obligation. Grateful 
 acknowledgment of indebtedness to another be- 
 tokens and expresses humility. 
 
 A consciousness of intellectual power sometimes 
 begets vanity and pride. The exalted one looks 
 down upon his fellows, and ** his heart is lifted up." 
 Like the Prince of Tyre, he is *' full of wisdom, and 
 perfect in beauty" (Ezek. xxviii. 12). But true 
 greatness is allied with modesty and humble bearing, 
 and these are invariably the fruits of piety. 
 
 The life of Paul furnishes striking illustrations of 
 these tendencies and effects. He was one of the 
 great men of his age — great in talent — great in 
 moral qualities — great in goodness of disposition — 
 and withal one of the most humble-minded. 
 
 The mercy of God in pardoning his sins, convert- 
 
 and I thought it incumbent on me to preserve that order, because it keeps 
 the mind in an agreeable suspense, and has a fine eft'ect, which every 
 reader of taste will quickly perceive." 
 
 " Onesimus may have been standing in person before his master, and 
 yet Philenr.on never have surmised the object of the letter till he reached 
 the name so skilfully introduced. Supported by such an advocate, and 
 knowing the character of the man in whose hands he had consented to 
 place himself again, the fugitive could present the letter in silence, and 
 await the result without anxiety." — Dr, Hacketty in Lange*s Commentarj, 
 
Paul's Gratitude, 53 
 
 ing his soul, and especially in employing him in 
 Gospel labour, made a deep and permanent impres- 
 sion. He retained the feeling to the last, and 
 delighted to confess ** the grace of the Lord," 
 which was "exceeding abundant" (i Tim, i. 14). 
 Thus humbly, within a year or so of his death, does 
 he speak of that wonderful event — unspeakably 
 wonderful to him, because he was brought into 
 *' marvellous light " (i Pet. ii. 9). ** I thank Christ 
 Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he 
 counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 
 who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 
 and injurious" (i Tim. i. 12). And how many 
 desponding souls have been relieved and comforted 
 by the declarations next following : " This is a faith- 
 ful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom 
 I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained 
 mercy, that in me first ("ax chief — Ellicotf) Jesus 
 Christ might shew forth all longsufFering, for a 
 pattern to them which should hereafter believe on 
 Him to life everlasting" (i Tim. i. 15, 16). 
 
 All graces shone in Paul : He " came behind in 
 no gift," for he " spake with tongues more than " all 
 others, and " the signs of an Apostle," the " signs, 
 and wonders, and mighty deeds," attested the reality 
 of his divine call (i Cor. i. 7 ; xiv. 18 ; 2 Cor. xii. 12). 
 The brightness of his Christian character, too, called 
 
54 m^ Humility, 
 
 forth admiration. At the beginning, Christian men 
 who saw the astonishing change that had been 
 wrought, ** glorified God in him " (Gal. i. 24) : and 
 tnroughout his whole life the esteem in which he 
 was held by the brethren was unmistakably dis- 
 played. But, while others gazed and admired, what 
 were the convictions of the good man's soul ? We 
 find them recorded in his letter to the Church of 
 Ephesus : " Unto me, who am less than the least 
 of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach 
 among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ" (Eph. iii. 8). Was ever self-abasement 
 more emphatically expressed ? There is another 
 instance of his humility, scarcely less striking, in 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 9 : " I am the least of the Apostles, that 
 am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I 
 persecuted the Church of God." 
 
 He vas '* in labours more abundant " (2 Cor. 
 xi. 23). He undertook cheerfully the most toilsome 
 duties. No danger appalled him. He shrunk from 
 no suffering. There is an unexampled catalogue in 
 
 2 Cor. xi. 24. — 27. Did he boast of all this? Did 
 he set himself up as a pattern of ardour and endur- 
 ance } Was he like Jehu, who exclaimed, *' Come, 
 see my zeal for the Lord of hosts " (2 Kings x. 16) ? 
 So far from it, he writes in the humblest strain : 
 ** Not I, but the grace of God which was with me " 
 (i Cor. XV. 10). Did he speak well and wisely, with 
 
Ill's Humility, 53 
 
 sanctified, spirit-stirring eloquence ? It was " Christ 
 speaking in him " (2 Cor. xiii. 3). Did he bear 
 privations and pains without murmuring ? He gives 
 a Christian explanation of it : "I can do all things 
 through Christ which strengtheneth me " (Phil. iv. 
 12, 13). Did the "thorn in the flesh" pierce him ? 
 And was it the Master's will that it should remain ? 
 That same Lord graciously supported His servant, 
 and then he could say, " Most gladly, therefore, will 
 I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of 
 Christ may rest upon me : I take pleasure in infirmi- 
 ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in 
 distresses, for Christ's sake ; for when I am weak, 
 then am I strong" (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10). Many years 
 afterwards, when he was in bonds at Rome, he 
 writes in the same undaunted spirit : " Who now 
 rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that 
 which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my 
 flesh* for His body's sake, which is the Church" 
 (Col. i. 24). /" 
 
 At length the hour of martyrdom drew near. 
 He stood before the imperial tribunal. Nothing 
 abashed, he boldly proclaimed the truth, and 
 
 * " The personal sufferings of Jesus are over, but His sufferings in His 
 people still continue. They are still defective : for much remains to be 
 endured in this world. The Apostle, in suffering for the sake of the 
 Church, felt that he was filling up the measure of those afflictions." — 
 Eadicj in loc. 
 
56 His Htimility, 
 
 preached the Gospel before the full court. His last 
 letter to his beloved Timothy (probably the last 
 effort of his pen) records the fact, and unconsciously 
 chronicles apostolic lowliness. It was not Paul. It 
 was Christ. ** The Lord stood with me, and 
 strengthened me ; that by me the preaching might 
 be fully known " (2 Tim. iv. 17). 
 
 This was the man who had ** breathed out threat- 
 enings and slaughter against the disciples of the 
 Lord " (Acts ix. i). But he " obtained mercy." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ** CHANGED INTO THE SAME IMAGE. 
 
 Union between Christ and Believers — Imitation of Christ, a Christian 
 Characteristic — Resemblance of Paul to Jesus — Piety — Meekness — 
 Anxiety for the Salvation of his Countrymen — Hatred of Hypocrisy — 
 Love of Goodness — Poverty — Prayer — Special favour of Christ t j Paul 
 — Illustrations— Paul's loving Trust in Christ, and his singular attach- 
 ment to Him. 
 
 In several passages of his epistles the Apostle speaks 
 of Christ and believers as ineffably united, as con- 
 stituting one body, and so identified with each other 
 that their interests are the same. He goes so far as 
 to affirm that the Saviour's death was their death — 
 that they died in Him — and that, consequently, 
 when He rose from the dead, they rose in and with 
 Him — His resurrection was theirs. He acted and 
 suffered as their representative. His work was their 
 work, and the blessing and the reward are theirs, 
 because they are His. These statements appear to 
 be justified by the following expressions : — " dead 
 with Christ ;" *' God . . . hath quickened us together 
 
58 Imitation of Christy 
 
 with Christ;" ** Christ's love constraineth us, having 
 judged this, that One died for all, therefore all 
 died ; and He died for all, that they which live 
 should live no longer unto themselves, but unto Him 
 which died and rose again for them " — Alford (Rom. 
 vi. 8 ; Eph. ii. 4, 5 ; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15). The meaning 
 is, that those on whose behalf the Lord died, died 
 in Him. The law was satisfied in the work of the 
 Mediator, and the application of the benefit took 
 effect when they believed. So it is stated in Rom. 
 iii. 25. The propitiation was made when the Re- 
 deemer died ; it becomes ours ** through faith in 
 His blood." It is not merely true that the believer 
 is pardoned for Christ's sake, although that is the 
 fact ; but the atonement which He accepts is His 
 own. It is as if He Himself had met the demands 
 of the broken law, and accomplished the reconcilia- 
 tion. When Christ died, he died in Christ. "He 
 hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
 Him" (2 Cor. v. 21). 
 
 The personal restoration of '-, "inner to God is the 
 work of the Holy Spirit. It is "the washing of 
 regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" 
 (Tit. iii. s). Now, the gift of the Spirit was the 
 result and the reward of the redemption. Jesus 
 promised to send the Spirit after His ascension, and 
 the promise was fulfilled. All holy dispositions and 
 
A Christian Characteristic. 59 
 
 habits, constituting Christian character, are fruits of 
 His gracious operation, and are, therefore, properly 
 represented as life from Christ, since they are the 
 effects of faith in Him, which purifies the heart and 
 "worketh by love" (Gal. v. 6). Hence the Apostle 
 utters those remarkable words — " I am crucified with 
 Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the 
 flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who 
 loved me, and gave Himself for me " (Gal. ii. 20) ; 
 see also Rom. vi. 9 — 11. 
 
 We imitate those whom we love. Paul exhorts 
 Christians to imitate God Himself ("followers of 
 God," Eph. V. i). The effect of Divine grace is 
 represented as appearing in the resemblance of its 
 subject to the Saviour. ** Whom He did foreknow, 
 He also did predestinate to be conformed to the 
 image of His Son " (Rom. viii. 29). The Spirit that 
 dwelt in Him dwells in them. They experience a 
 holy sympathy with the Redeemer, which influences 
 them to live as He lives, for the advancement of the 
 same objects. When they are exhorted to ** seek 
 those things which are above, where Christ sitteth 
 on the right hand of God" (Col. iii. i), the purpose 
 of the inspired writer is to urge them to copy Christ. 
 He, living in heaven, is ever acting on behalf of His 
 Church on earth ; they, living on earth, are bidden 
 to emulate the Lord's life, and, in like manner, to 
 
6o Imitation of Christy 
 
 be ever acting for the Church, so that their powers 
 and opportunities may be constantly devoted to its 
 interests. ** He that is joined unto the Lord is one 
 spirit" (i Cor. vi. 17) ; that is, he is animated by the 
 same motives and pursues the same ends. The 
 Christian desires to be employed as his Heavenly 
 Master is ; in other words, to set one thing before 
 him as the great object of life. That this was the 
 endeavour of the Apostle will be confessed by all 
 who have studied his life and writings. Christ lived 
 in him; and he could say, in all sincerity, ''for me 
 to live is Christ" (Phil. i. 21). 
 
 The union between the Lord Jesus and the Church 
 is frequently represented in the New Testament as 
 similar to that existing between the head and the 
 members (see Eph. iv. 15, 16; Col. ii. 19). The 
 Spirit of Christ, bestowed on the Church, supplies, 
 animates, preserves. The Lord lives /^r the Church ; 
 the Church lives hy the Lord. The Lord and the 
 Church constitute one glorious body, and there is a 
 divine sympathy between the Head and the mem- 
 bers, and between all the members respectively. On 
 the one hand it is said, "We are members of His 
 body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Eph. v. 30) ; 
 on the other, " Ye are members one of another " 
 (Rom. xii. 5). There is, so to speak, a mutual pro- 
 perty. Each claims the other. Jesus says, ^^My 
 Church" (Matt. xvi. 18). The Church replies, in 
 
A Christian Characteristic, 
 
 6i 
 
 the person of Thomas, when restored to faith, " My 
 Lord and wy God " (John xx. 28). Even now, 
 believers " sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus " (Eph. ii. 6). And they are provided for, 
 through all time, and throughout eternity. "All 
 things are yours ; whether *^aul, or Apollos, or 
 Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things 
 present, or things to come ; all are yours ; and ye 
 are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (i Cor. iii. 21 — 
 23). "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and 
 joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with 
 Him, that we may be also glorified together " (Rom. 
 viii. 17). 
 
 It may be said of every believer, that he is " in 
 Christ." It is equally true that Christ is ** in him." 
 That heavenly life is maintained by faith. Be- 
 lieving and loving, the Christian eats the flesh and 
 drinks the blood of the Saviour, and thus the spiri- 
 tual strength is sustained, Christ communicating 
 Himself to His people. It is going on continually. 
 •* Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for 
 grace" (John i. 16). The fountain is always flow- 
 ing, and it will never cease to flow. The happiness 
 of the Church is secured. Her life is bound up in 
 the life of her Lord, and He says, ** Because I live, 
 ye shall live also" (John xiv. 19). Even death will 
 not separate them ; for ** he that believeth in Me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whoso- 
 
 u 
 
62 
 
 Resemblance of Paul to Jesus. 
 
 ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die *' 
 (John xi. 25, 26). When the believer dies, he goes 
 to be *• with Christ ;" and at the last day Jesus will 
 *' change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
 like unto His glorious body" (Phil. iii. 21). Then 
 the union will be completed. Christ will " present 
 the Church unto Himself a glorious Church, not 
 having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Eph. 
 V. 27) ; and at the ** marriage supper of the Lamb" 
 there will be "joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
 The guests will live for ever, and the feast will be 
 everlasting. 
 
 These habits and these hopes were beautifully 
 exemplified in Paul. He studied Christ intensely, 
 and the effect was love and likeness. The likeness 
 may be traced in a variety of respects. 
 
 Contemplating the Saviour's character as a man 
 of God, apart from the consideration of His divine 
 glory and the work of redemption, we cannot but 
 note the deep emphasis of His piety. It was one 
 unvaried flow of devotion. It was a perpetual stream 
 of love. " I do always the things that please Him ; " 
 " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, 
 and to finish His work ; " " Father, glorify Thy 
 name" (John viii. 29; iv. 34; xii. 28). The lan- 
 guage of the prophetic psalm was fully verified — 
 *' I delight to do Thy will, O my God : yea, Thy 
 law is within my heart " (Psalm xl. 8). 
 
Piety — Meekness, 
 
 63 
 
 Was not Paul animated by the same spirit ? What 
 else was meant when he exclaimed, " Whether we 
 be beside ourselves, it is to God. . . . The love of 
 Christ constraineth us" (2 Cor. v. 13, 14)? When 
 he described the experience of Christians generally 
 (Rom. xiv. 7 — 9), he described his own. And then, 
 again, with what profound humility and holy fervour 
 does he speak of his attainments and desires 1 ** Not 
 as though I had already attained, either were already 
 perfect ; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend 
 that for which also I am apprehended of Christ 
 Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have appre- 
 hended ; but this one thing I do, forgetting those 
 things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
 those things which are before, I press toward the 
 mark for the prize of the high calling of God in 
 Christ Jesus" (Phil. iii. 12 — 14). 
 
 *• Learn of me," said the Saviour, " for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. xi. 29). Gentle- 
 ness was eminently characteristic of the Lord. And 
 there was a tender considerateness in His demeanour 
 which could not fail to move the hearts of men. 
 When the paralytic was placed on his bed before 
 Him, He addressed Himself first to the most pressing 
 want, and comforted the poor man's soul before He 
 healed his body (Matt. ix. i — 7). As the funeral 
 procession passed by Him, when ** there was a dead 
 man carried out, the only son of his mother, and 
 
64 Piety — Meekness, 
 
 she was a widow ; " the Lord knew the anguish of 
 that mother's heart, and proceeded at once to 
 assuage it by words of power and soothing kindness, 
 which prepared her to receive with calm joy her son, 
 so wonderfully restored to her (Luke vii. ii — 15). 
 Paul had meditated on these things. He had 
 observed the fulfilment of the prophecy, ** A bruised 
 reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall 
 he not quench " (Isa. xlii. 3). " I beseech you," he 
 said, " by the meekness and gentleness of Christ " 
 (2 Cor. X. i). Such "meekness and gentleness" 
 he also displayed, amidst unfeeling neglects and 
 gross provocations. " Out of much affliction and 
 anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears ; 
 not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might 
 know the love which I have more abundantly unto 
 you ; " "I will very gladly spend and be spent for 
 you ; though the more abundantly I love you, the 
 less 1 be loved" (2 Cor. ii. 4 ; xii. 15). 
 
 A good man, who died threescore years ago, 
 observed : — ** There is a true apostolicism in the 
 character of St. Paul. It is a combination of zeal 
 and love. 
 
 ** The zeal of some men is of a haughty, unbend- 
 ing, ferocious character. They have the letter of 
 truth, but they moun the pulpit like prize-fighters- 
 It is with them a perpetual scold. This spirit is a 
 reproach to the Gospel. It is not the spirit of 
 
Jesus Christ. He seems to have laboured to win 
 men. f 
 
 *' But there is an opposite extreme. The love of 
 some men is all milk and mildness. There is so 
 much delicacy, and so much fastidiousness ! They 
 touch with such tenderness ! and, if the patient 
 shrinks, they will touch no more ! The times are 
 too flagrant for such a disposition. The Gospel is 
 sometimes preached in this way, till all the people 
 agree with the preacher. He gives no offence, and 
 he does no good 1 
 
 '* But St. Paul united and blended love and zeal. 
 He MUST win souls : but he will labour to do this by 
 all possible, lawful contrivances. / am made all 
 things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 
 Zeal, alone, may degenerate into ferociousness and 
 brutality; and love, alone, into fastidiousness and 
 delicacy : but the Apostle combined both qualities, 
 and, more perfectly than other men, realised the 
 union of iht fortiter in re with the suaviter in modo"'**' 
 
 Akin to this was the impassioned earnestness and 
 agonising desire manifested by the Saviour, when He 
 beheld Jerusalem, and "wept over it, saying. If 
 thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
 day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but 
 now they are hid from thine eyes " (Luke xix. 41, 42). 
 
 -- ■ • Cecil's Works, ills 15. Edition 181 6. 
 
 F ' 
 
66 //is Sclf-DcniaL 
 
 Here also we find a counterpart in Paul. Who 
 would have thought that the hard - hearted per- 
 secutor could be so changed ? Who would have 
 looked for tears from the eyes of Saul of Tarsus ? 
 We may note again some passages that have been 
 already referred to, and admire the grace of God. 
 (See Rom. ix. i ; x. i ; Phil. iii. i8 ; 2 Cor. xi. 29.) 
 
 Jesus might have enjoyed this world's comforts. 
 He might have been surrounded by kind friends, 
 and might have prosecuted His God-like mission 
 without difficulty or exposure to ill-treatment. But 
 He " took upon Him the form of a servant " 
 (Phil. ii. 7), and " became poor" (2 Cor. viii. 9), in 
 the most liicral sense. He had no house to live in, 
 and depended on charity. The self-denial which 
 He enjoined on His followers He practised in His 
 own person. Notwithstanding a life of unvaried 
 and marvellous benevolence, and of spotless purity, 
 he was slandered, mocked, derided, and at last 
 put to death — the slave's death — the " death of 
 the cross" (Phil. ii. 8). Paul, too, had learned, 
 thoroughly learned, the lesson of self-denial. He 
 worked with his own hands, and earned his daily 
 bread ; lest any should think that he was influenced 
 by selfish or sordid principles. He endured hard- 
 ships of the severest kind, of which we have an 
 affecting catalogue, as before noticed, in 2 Cor. xi. 
 25 — 27. To this must be added the shipwreck, so 
 
Hatred of Hypocrisy, 6; 
 
 graphically described by Luke in Acts xxvii. And 
 he died by the hand of the executioner. 
 
 Our Lord unsparingly exposed the hollownoss 
 and hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and insisted on the 
 spiritual nature of real religion, in opposition to the 
 formality which everywhere prevailed in his time 
 (Matt, xxiii. 2 — 33 ; Luke xvii. 20, 21 ; John iv. 23, 
 24). Paul followed his Lord's example. He re- 
 garded religion as a transaction between God and 
 the soul of man, and warned the people against 
 delusions and makeshifts. ** The kingdom of God 
 is not in word, but in power" (i Cor. iv. 20). "That 
 we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and 
 carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the 
 sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby 
 they lie in wait to deceive ; but speaking the truth 
 in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which 
 is the head, even Christ " (Eph. iv. 14). 
 
 One day, when the multitude thronged around 
 Jesus, and the press was so great that ** they could 
 not so much as eat bread," some of his friends and 
 kindred took umbrage at it, and actually concerted 
 measures for his apprehension as a lunatic. They 
 approached the house where He was engaged in 
 giving instruction, but the crowd about the door 
 prevented their entrance. A message was sent — 
 "Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for 
 Thee." How Christ-like was the answer! "He 
 
 F 2 
 
68 His Praycr/ulness, 
 
 looked round about on them which sat about Him, 
 and said, Behold My mother and My brethren 1 For 
 whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My 
 brother, and My sister, and mother " (Mark iii. 20, 
 2 1 , 31 — 36). This is the true spirit of Christianity — 
 the love of God, and the love of goodness, where- 
 ever exhibited. It is not the family — the clan — the 
 nation. There is nothing earthly in this fellowship. 
 It is the union of hearts steeped in divine love, and 
 regardless of worldly considerations. The Apostle 
 entered into this feeling with his whole soul. The 
 once frigid, haughty Pharisee, yielded to the blessed 
 influence. (See i Cor. xii. 13; Gal. iii. 28, vi. 16; 
 Eph. vi. 24; Col. iii. 11.) 
 
 Once more. This great man resembled the Saviour 
 in his prayerful ness. We learn from the Evangelists 
 that Jesus ** dwelt in the secret place of the Most 
 High" (Psalm xci. 1). He lived in the constant 
 habit of communion with His Heavenly Father. 
 His nights were sometimes spent in that com- 
 munion. He sought refreshment and strength in 
 prayer. It was not merely at the close of His 
 mission, but throughout its exercises, that He could 
 say, '• I am not alone, because the Father is with 
 Me" (John xvi. 32). 
 
 The Apostle of the Gentiles was a close imitator 
 of his Lord — he felt the power and preciousness of 
 prayer. It was his refuge in danger, his solace in 
 
sorrow, the habitual expression of his sympathy and 
 br:5therly love. With what earnestness did he pour 
 out his desires for the spiritual progress of his 
 children in the faith, and for the welfare of the 
 Churches, " praying always " for them I Surely, he 
 must have spent much of his time before the mercy- 
 seat, so numerous are the references in his writings 
 to his devotional remembrance of his brethren. 
 And as, when they were nailing Him to the Cross, 
 the Saviour said, "Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do " (Luke xxiii. 34), so Paul, 
 when he tells us that " at his first answer no man 
 stood with him, but all men forsook him," adds, ** I 
 pray God that it may not be laid to their charge "♦ 
 (2 Tim. iv. 16). He had " beheld the glory of the 
 Lord," and was " changed into the same image " 
 (2 Cor. iii. 18). 
 
 There was more than this. As it pleased the 
 Lord that one of the twelve should be known as the 
 disciple "whom Jesus loved" (John xiii. 23), so it 
 seems that there was a special union between Christ 
 and the new Apostle. Jesus had said, " I will show 
 him how great things he must suffer for My name's 
 sake" (Acts ix. 16). Pauline suffering would need 
 peculiar care and comfort. He should have it. 
 The whole history illustrates the Lord's plan. 
 
 ♦ More correctly, " May it not be laid to their charge." — Alfard, 
 
We have seen how the young convert was prepared 
 for his extraordinary career ; that he was sent into 
 the wilds of Arabia, and placed under Christ's own 
 training, so that Paul was indebted to no man for 
 his theological culture, the Great Master Himself 
 having undertaken the task. 
 
 When he returned to Jerusalem he was soon in- 
 volved in peril for which he was wholly unprepared. 
 The very sight of him was hateful to his former 
 companions in violence. To hear him " preach the 
 faith which once he destv )yed " must have been 
 maddening. They plotted against his life. The 
 brethren did not discover the plot. But the Lord 
 revealed it to His servant in the hour of prayer 
 (Acts xxii. 1 8). Prompt measures were resorted to 
 accordingly, and *' the prey was taken from the 
 mighty." 
 
 He bore the Gospel to that hotbed of frivolity 
 and debauchery — Corinth. The devil raged at him, 
 and mustered his forces in strengt' The missionary 
 was threatened with violence. £ven Paul's brave 
 heart was near to quailing. The Saviour saw the 
 danger, and interposed for his help. There was to 
 be a large ingathering of souls at Corinth, and 
 Satan's . fforts to prevent it must be defeated. 
 " Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a 
 vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy 
 peace ; for I am with thee, and no man shall set 
 
special Favour of Christ to Pant. 7 1 
 
 on thee to hurt thee : for I have much people in 
 this city" (Acts xviii. 9, 10). Thus far ran the 
 supernatural. The object was accomplished. As, 
 at Jerusalem, the divine warning prepared the 
 way, and human prudence and promptitude did 
 the rest; so at Corinth, when the heavenly vision 
 had reassured the failing heart of the Lord's 
 messenger, he engaged in his work with re- 
 doubled vigour, and " continued there a year 
 and six months, teaching the word of God among 
 them" (Acts xviii. 11). God's interference on 
 behalf of His people is always well and wisely 
 timed. It is not intended to supersede their own 
 efforts, but rather to guide, stimulate, and encourage 
 them. 
 
 Statistics and chronology often fail us in connection 
 with the sacred history. Sometimes, when we seem 
 to be nearer exactitude than usual, we are as much 
 at fault as ever. But it is not worth while to vex 
 ourselves about it. A little variation, one way or the 
 other, will be of no consequence. We are thinking 
 just now of a remarkabK^ event in Paul's life. ** I 
 knew a man in Christ," he says, "about fourteen 
 years ago." This is precisely put. It was "about 
 fourteen years ago." But the word "about" may 
 carry us a year back or a year forward ; and we 
 ought to be quite certain of the date of the letter in 
 whii.h the account is given, wuich can only be 
 
approximately fixed.* After all, what does it matter ? 
 There is no doubt about the event itself; the exact 
 time is of little moment. The event is another of 
 those opportunities which are presented to us in the 
 life of Paul, showing the tender care of the Lord. 
 He was affected by something which he calls "a 
 thorn in the flesh " (2 Cor. xii. 7.). What it was is not 
 stated, and the omission has grievously perplexed 
 the commentators. It appears to have been a bodily 
 ailment of some kind. A conjecture which has been 
 hazarded by some, that it was a chronic affection of 
 the eyes, which impaired his vision (the effect of the 
 shock which he received on the road to Damascus), 
 is as consistent with probability and with the known 
 facts of the case as any other. It seems to be ad- 
 verted to in Gal. iv. 14, 15. The expression, "ye 
 would have plucked out your own eyes, and have 
 given them to me," is easily explicable on the sup- 
 position that has now been mentioned. It is con- 
 firmed by another circumstance, recorded by Luke 
 (Acts xxiii. I — ^4). The word translated " earnestly 
 beholding" {dreviora's, fixing his eyes — Al/ord) im- 
 ports the effort of a man who strains his eyes in order 
 
 ♦ The word "above," instead of *' about," occun in the original 
 edition of the Authotised Version, published in i6ll, and also in the 
 earlier translations of Tyndale and Cranmer. It is the proper translation 
 of the Greek text — v^o. Some critics treat it as an expletive, and omit it 
 altogether. In Lange's Commentary we find the note, ** omit ^ above.'' ^* 
 Beausobre and L'Enfant translate the clause — ^* il y a quatorze ans." 
 
special Favour of Christ to Paul. 73 
 
 to see clearly an object at a distance. Paul stood at 
 the lower end of a spacious hall, where, on account 
 of his weak eyesight, he could not fully discern the 
 countenances of those who were opposite to him. 
 This prevented him from recognising Ananias, and 
 accounts for his saying, " I wist not, brethren, that 
 he was the high priest" (Acts xxiii. 5). 
 
 It is natural to suppose that this imperfection of 
 sight was a real trouble to the Apostle. It occa- 
 sioned mistakes, and sometimes exposed him to 
 ridicule. He feared it would lessen his influence 
 among the people. He asked the Lord Jesus that 
 ** it might depart from him." No answer came. He 
 asked again. Still no answer. Nothing daunted, 
 he repeated his request ; for he remembered that the 
 Lord had said that " men ought always to pray, and 
 not to faint" (Luke xviii. i). It was not the 
 Saviour's will that the affliction should be removed, 
 but that its continuance should be the occasion of 
 special interference for His servant's relief and help, 
 and, therefore, of marked manifestation of His own 
 faithful care. " My grace is sufficient for thee, for 
 my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 
 xii. 9). How did it soothe his perturbed spirit! 
 Christ would be more glorified by the continuance 
 of the thorn than by its extraction. That satisfied 
 the saint. "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather 
 glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ 
 
may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in 
 infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in perse- 
 cutions, in distresses for Christ's sake : for when I 
 am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10). 
 
 Several years after, when the Apostle was in the 
 custody of the Roman soldiers in the castle Antonia, 
 and it appeared doubtful whether they would be able 
 to protect him from the violence of the Jerusalem 
 mob, the sympathy of the Saviour was again dis- 
 played. " The Lord stood by him, and said, Be 
 of good cheer, Paul ; for as thou hast testified of Me 
 in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome" 
 (Acts xxiii. 11). How did these words console him } 
 How was he supported by them on his night- 
 journey to Coesarea — during his two years' imprison- 
 ment there — when he was tossed about on the 
 Mediterranean in the fourteen days* storm, and the 
 vessel was expected every moment to founder — and 
 while sojourning for three months among the •* bar- 
 barous people" (Acts xxviii. 2) of Melita? Death 
 stared him in the face repeatedly (see Acts xxvii. 20). 
 But he was quite safe ; Jesus had said that he should 
 " bear witness at Rome," and Jesus would keep His 
 word. He did : Paul bore witness at Rome. 
 
 One more scene remains. Near the close of his 
 second imprisonment, he was summoned to appear 
 at Nero's tribunal. Whether it was the Emperor 
 himself or the Praetorian Prefect who occupied the 
 
Illustrations. 75 
 
 seat of justice on that occasion, we are not informed ; 
 but it was a " lion-like " man, whose character was 
 so well known that the Christians dared not encounter 
 him. He was of the Jeffreys stamp. When it was 
 found that he would preside at the hearing, no one 
 ventured to accompany the venerable prisoner to the 
 hall. *' Paul the Aged " stood there alone and un- 
 bcfriended. " No man stood with me." But there 
 was One by whom he was not forgotten — One who 
 had said, " Ye shall be brought before governors 
 and kings for My sake .... but when they 
 deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall 
 speak ; for it shall be given you in that same hour 
 what ye shall speak" (Matt. x. 18, 19). He was 
 there, and His promise was fulfilled. The prisoner 
 "opened his mouth boldly" (Eph. vi. 19), and 
 faithfully preached the Gospel before the Roman 
 officials, and the heathen multitude who crowded 
 the hall. "The Lord stood with me, and strength- 
 ened me, that by me the preaching might be fully 
 known, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and 
 I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion" 
 (2 Tim. iv. 17). He adds: "And the Lord shall 
 deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me 
 unto His heavenly kingdom." That, too, was shortly 
 after accomplished. When the sad procession wended 
 its way to the place of execution, amid weeping 
 brethren and raging foes. He who " hath the keys 
 
76 Paul's Loving Trust in Christ, 
 
 of hell and of death " (Rev. i. i8) was by the side 
 of His servant, administering strength and consola- 
 tion. The warfare was ended. He had " finished 
 his course." He had " kept the faith." The ** crown 
 of righteousness " was just in sight. When the 
 Roman sword did its office, the door of heaven was 
 opened, and the angel-guards attended the ransomed 
 one to his eternal home, where he heard the words 
 of welcome, " Well done, thou good and faithful 
 servant ; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord " (Matt. xxv. 2 1). 
 
 The loving care on the Lord's part was met by 
 loving trust on the part of Paul. If the Saviour was 
 always watchful over his servant, the servant was 
 continually mindful of his Lord. Did he ever pass 
 an hour without thinking of Christ } Did he ever 
 begin or close a letter without mentioning His name 
 or expressing in some way their endeared connec- 
 tion ? He, Paul, who wrote the epistle, was " a 
 servant of Jesus Christ," and he invoked on his 
 correspondents "grace and peace from God our 
 Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." The best wish 
 he could utter for them, when about to sign his 
 name to the letter, was that " the grace of the Lord 
 Jesus might be with their spirits ; " and in all his 
 communications some reference to Christ was 
 found interwoven with statements of truth, exhor- 
 tations to duty, or descriptions of character — in 
 
A nd his A ttachment to Him. 7 7 
 
 fact, with everything that fell under notice. His 
 intention to take a journey was prefaced by the 
 Christian phrase, " if the Lord will" (i Cor. iv. 19). 
 He could not remind Christian husbands and wives 
 of their obligations without showing them that the 
 marriage union symbolised the union between Christ 
 and His Church (Eph. v. 22 — 32). The very slaves 
 were told to discharge their duties " as to the Lord " 
 (Eph. vi. 6 — 8) ; and to Christians of every class he 
 said, " Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col. iii. 17). In the 
 most literal and emphatic sense of the words, Christ 
 was to him "all, and in all" (Col. iii. 11). 
 
 At his conversion, " the grace of the Lord was 
 exceeding abundant " (i Tim. i. I4). All through 
 his life Christ's love was signally displayed towards 
 him. Devoted love to Christ was manifested in 
 return. If any man loved his master, Paul loved 
 Him, But in what fearful style did he speak of 
 those who refused to love his Lord ! "If any man 
 love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema 
 Maranatha" (i Cor. xvi. 22). To give more effect 
 to it, he wrote this malediction, if we may so call it, 
 " with his own hand," and then, immediately after, 
 as if unwilling that his letter should close in the 
 language of thunder and storm, he added, " The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My 
 love be with you all in Christ Jesus" (vv. 23, 24) 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE LETTERS. 
 
 Portability of the Bible — Paul's Letters to the Thessaionians — Corin- 
 thians — Galatians — Romans — Philemon — Colossians — Ephcsians — 
 Philippians — Timothy — Titus — Authorship of the Epistle to the 
 Hebiews. 
 
 It seems to have been the purpose of God that 
 Christianity should be portable. Jesus promised 
 that the Holy Spirit should "teach" the apostles 
 "all things, and bring all things to their remem- 
 brance, whatsoever He had said unto them " (John 
 xiv. 26). Yet how small a portion of His sayings 
 has been recorded ! And, of His wondrous deeds 
 of love, how few are distinctly and separately nar- 
 rated 1 They are told in the mass. (See Matt. iv. 
 23, 24.) The individual instances that appear in 
 the narrative are set before us in all the beauteous 
 simplicity of truth, and we long for more lengthened 
 details. But the history would have been too 
 cumbrous. The book must be the world's book, 
 
Portability of the Bible. 79 
 
 which everybody may possess and read. It was, 
 therefore, wisely ordered that it should contain such 
 a selection of narratives and discourses as would 
 comprise all that was necessary to be known on 
 earth, and would not be burdensome by its prolixity 
 and abundance of weighty matter. (See John xx. 
 30, 31 ; xxi. 25.) We may, therefore, suppose that 
 the pens of the sacred writers wdre held in check. 
 They knew a great deal more than they were per- 
 mitted to tell. It was not of their own will that they 
 were so chary of their information. They would 
 have given the reins to diffusiveness, and written 
 volume after volume, as the schoolmen did in the 
 Middle Ages, who wrote huge books that no one 
 reads. But they were prevented. The Church 
 must have a handy, usable volume. And what if 
 there are many blqnks and omissions ? Shall we 
 not, if we are God's servants, see the prophets and 
 apostles in Heaven, and learn from their own lips 
 the story of their services and their sufferings ? Is 
 it not said that ** the Lamb which is in the midst of 
 the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
 living fountains of waters" (Rev. vii. 17)? And 
 does not that include knowledge — the foundation of 
 love, and joy, and holiness ? 
 
 We have thirteen of Paul's letters in the New 
 Testament — fourteen, if the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 be included, about which there has been much 
 
8o Paul's Letters to the Thcssalonians, 
 
 dispute. But we cannot believe that these fourteen 
 letters (if there were fourteen) were all the public 
 letters that Paul wrote during the thirty years of his 
 ministry. He had "the care of all the churches" 
 (2 Cor. xi. 28), and that must have involved an ex- 
 tensive correspondence. The letters to the Church 
 at Thessalonica are considered the earliest written 
 of any of those which have been preserved. It 
 evidently appears from these letters that he was 
 accustomed to correspond with the Churches, and 
 that so frequently that his style of writing was 
 known, and some unprincipled persons had forged 
 letters in his name (2 Thess. ii. 2). To prevent the 
 success of such impositions he gave them a " token." 
 His letters were written by an amanuensis. But the 
 ** salutation " at th6 close of his letters was now to 
 be written "with his own hand" (2 Thess. iii. 17). 
 It was a peculiar handwriting, and difficult to be 
 imitated. " Ye see," he said to the Galatians, in 
 writing to whom he had dispensed with the services 
 of the amanuensis, " how large a letter I have 
 written unto you with mine own hand ;" or, as it 
 was translated by the late Dean Alford, " See in how 
 large letters I have wruien unto you with mine own 
 hand." Whether it was from his eyesight being 
 defective, or from his being accustomed to write in 
 Hebrew, the shape of the letters in which language 
 differed greatly from the Greek, he had acquired the 
 
Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians. 8 1 
 
 habit of scrawling in large characters, perhaps not 
 always well-shapen. Everyone could recognise a 
 letter of Paul's, though everyone could not read it. 
 These "large letters" were a sure "token." The 
 forger could scarcely succeed in deceiving the 
 Churches after this intimation. 
 
 " His letters," said the Corinthians, "are weighty 
 and powerful" (2 Cor. x. 10). This indicates that 
 they had already received letters from him ; but only 
 two of those letters have escaped the fate of such 
 articles. In Col. iv. 16 there is probably a reference 
 to a letter written by the Apostle, and then in the 
 possession of the Church at Laodicea, which is now 
 lost. We may infer also from i Cor. v. 9, that one 
 of the lost letters is there alluded to. Peter, too 
 (2 Pet. iii. 15, 16), intimates his knowledge of Paul 
 as a Iptter-writer. 
 
 But let us be thankful for those that are left, and 
 which contain " all things that pertain unto life and 
 godliness" (2 Pet. i. 3). They are a precious trea- 
 sure, of priceless value. 
 
 The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written 
 at Corinth in the year 52. It is rather didactic than 
 doctrinal. It may be characterised as an effusion of 
 fervent pastoral love, an outpouring of tenderness, 
 for which we should have found it difficult to give 
 credit to Saul of Tarsus. We should have thought 
 that it was not in him — that he was a good hater, 
 
 G 
 
82 Paul's Letters to the Thessalomans, 
 
 and nothing more. But the severe and the soft not 
 unfrequently meet in the same person. Pharisaism 
 had chilled the gentle feeling in Paul. The Gospel 
 warmed it into life, and gave it a development which 
 nothing but the grace of God could produce. We 
 cannot read this affectionate letter without admira- 
 tion of the writer. The very egotism, as some 
 would call it, possesses a charm which works upon 
 our souls with indescribable power, and we rise 
 from the perusal wondering at the change that had 
 taken place in him, and emulous of the spirit by 
 which he v/as moved. 
 
 We gather from the exhortations contained in this 
 document that some of the professing Christians at 
 Thessalonica found it hard to observe the personal 
 purity required of believers, and that antinomian 
 idleness had crept in among them. It was not 
 surprising. The Gospel was as "marvellous" in 
 its holiness as in its •* light," The corrupting 
 tendencies of heathenism had induced a laxity of 
 morals which nothing short of divine influence 
 could correct. That it was corrected, and that in 
 places and under circumstances most unfavourable 
 to such a result, abundantly justified the triumphant 
 tone of address in another letter, when, having 
 enumerated the vicious classes which thronged 
 Pagan cities, the Apostle adds, " And such were 
 some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sancti- 
 
Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians. 
 
 83 
 
 fied, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God " (i Cor. vi. 1 1). 
 
 It is noticeable, too,, that the exhortations, 
 cautions, and precepts in this epistle relate entirely 
 to the holy n orals of Christianity, the peculiar 
 sanctity which is the embodiment of Christian prin- 
 ciples. There is not a word about forms and cere- 
 monies and modes of service". Believers in those 
 days understood that ** the kingdom of God is not 
 meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost " (Rom. xiv. 17). 
 
 The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was also 
 written at Corinth, in the following year. Some 
 expressions in the first had been misunderstood. 
 The second coming of the Saviour was thought to 
 be near at hand, and some disorderliness had arisen 
 in consequence, tending to bring reproach on the 
 cause. " If Christ may be expected any day " — so, 
 it seems, they argued — ** where is the need of care, 
 and toil, and forethought ? The avails of labour 
 may never be realised. It will be wiser to obey, 
 in the most literal manner, the Saviour's injunction 
 to ' take no thought for the morrow.' " This appa- 
 rently plausible, but mischievous, reasoning was 
 sorely demoralising in its eff"ects. The Apostle 
 shows his brethren that they were under a great 
 mistake, and that the Lord would not come till there 
 had been a " falling away," which he predicts and 
 
 G 2 
 
describes. It has taken place, and is still in opera- 
 tion, in various forms and disguises. Genuine New 
 Testament Christianity is confined within narrower 
 bounds than some are willing to admit. 
 
 Three years after, when the Apostle was at 
 Ephesus, he wrote his First Epistle to the 
 Corinthians. That Church was torn by dissensions. 
 Violent party spirit prevailed, and was characterised 
 by sinful folly and wilfulness. The names of Paul, 
 Apollos, Peter, and even that of Christ Himself, 
 were made the watchwords and war-cries of parties. 
 Ambition and envy had been allowed to bear their 
 bitter fruits, in connection with the supernatural gifts 
 of the Holy Spirit, which had been plenteously be- 
 stowed on the members of the Church. Gross depart- 
 ures from morality were suffered to pass unreproved. 
 Heathen magistrates were called in to settle con- 
 tentions among Christians. The supper of the Lord 
 was turn^jd into an uproarious feast. Unbelief had 
 gone so far that some denied the resurrection of the 
 dead, thereby striking a deadly blow at Christianity 
 itself, which rested on the fact of the resurrection 
 of the Lord. All these evils required to be dealt 
 with firmly and prudently. Paul was equal to the 
 occasion. He rebuked the delinquent Church with 
 the authority of an Apostle. He commanded them 
 to proceed at once to the exercise of discipline, and 
 to cut off the offending member. He pleaded for 
 
Gospel holiness. He inculcated meekness, love, and 
 forbearance. The digression on "charity," in the 
 thirteenth chapter, is the gem of the epistle. He 
 taught them that Christianity is utilitarian, and that 
 ** the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 
 man to profit withal " (chap. xii. 7.) He exposed 
 and rectified the abuses which had so unaccountably 
 prevailed in their worship. He expounded at length 
 the Christian doctrine of the resurrection, and the 
 discussion was turned to practical account, in his 
 wonted manner. " Therefore, my beloved brethren, 
 be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in 
 the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that 
 your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (chap. xv. 58). 
 A few months only had elapsed when Paul re- 
 ceived more encouraging news from Corinth. His 
 letter had proved effectual. The diseased limb had 
 been cut off. Sorrow for their offence was inge- 
 niously expressed by the Church ; though there were 
 still some among them who did not scruple to speak 
 disparagingly of the Apostle, as of one who in 
 power and authority was inferior to Peter and other 
 members of the apostolic band. In his second 
 Epistle, written, probably, at the same place 
 (Ephesus), he maintains the honour of his apostle- 
 ship, showing how, in labours, miracles, and suffer- 
 ings, he was " not a whit behind the very chiefest 
 apostles " (chap. xi. 5), and setting forth the prin- 
 
86 
 
 Galatians. 
 
 ciples which actuated him in his public career. It 
 is a magnificent apology, distinguished by bursts of 
 fervid eloquence, and by profound conceptions of 
 truth, embodied in his own peculiarly terse style. 
 In his plea for liberal contributions in aid of the 
 poor saints at Jerusalem, and in his explanation of 
 the mode of self-defence adopted, which largely 
 consisted of statements of facts in his official life, 
 there is a fine display of Christianised tact and 
 clearness. " ■ ■-■'■- ■•■-'■ ■ "'^' 
 
 The Epistle to the Galatians was written about 
 the same time, and exhibits the Apostle in quite 
 another light. Tidings had reached him to the 
 effect that Judaising teachers had entered the 
 country, and were busily employed in persuading 
 the people to submit to circumcision, and to 
 observe the rites and ceremonies enjoined by the 
 law of Moses. And they represented all this as 
 necessary to salvation, thus completely nullifying, as 
 far as in them lay, the Gospel of Christ. Paul's 
 indignation was roused. He charged these in- 
 truders with perverting the Gospel (chap. i. 7). 
 **Ye observe days, and months, and times, and 
 years," he said ; " I am afraid of you, lest I have 
 bestowed upon you labour in vain " (chap. iv. 10, 11). 
 It was not, in his view, a mere difference of opinion 
 on unimportant points, for it involved the abandon- 
 ment of the essential truths of Christianity. The 
 
Galatians. 87 
 
 Apostle used stronger language than is used in any 
 other epistle. "Though we, or an angel from 
 heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that 
 which we have preached unto you, let him be 
 accursed " (chap. i. 8). There is an abruptness of 
 manner in some parts of the epistle which shows 
 that he wrote in great perturbation of spirit. But 
 the message to the Galatian Church was adapted 
 for all time. The self-righteousness and depend- 
 ence on outward services which it condemns have 
 been upheld by unconverted men and worldly- 
 minded ministers in every age. The readers of the 
 Epistle to the Galatians will learn that pardon, and 
 soul-freedom, and holiness are the gifts of the grace 
 of God, through the atonement of the Lord Jesus, 
 and, receiving the truth, will adopt the words of the 
 writer — " God forbid that I should glory, save in 
 the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
 world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world " 
 (chap. vi. 14). 
 
 Luther's exposition of this epistle was one of the 
 most valuable contributions to Protestant theological 
 literature in the sixteenth century, and dealt heavy 
 blows at the heresies of Papal divines. 
 
 Paul had not visited Rome when he wrote his 
 letter to the Church in that city in the year 58. 
 He alludes repeatedly to the fact, and to the longing 
 desire to see the Christians there, which he had for 
 
88 
 
 Romans. 
 
 many years cherished. The statement made by 
 many ecclesiastical historians, that the Apostles 
 Paul and Peter jointly founded the Church at Rome, 
 has not the shadow of a foundation. The founders 
 of that Church are not known. We can only con- 
 jecture that some of the " strangers of Rome " (Acts 
 ii. lo), who shared in the Pentecostal blessing, con- 
 veyed the Gospel to the imperial city on their return. 
 The Church appears to have become quickly large 
 and distinguished. Their " faith " was " spoken of 
 throughout the whole world" (Rom. i. 8). 
 
 It was manifestly important that the Church of 
 the metropolis should be well instructed in Christian 
 faith and practice. The Epistle to the Romans is a 
 body of divinity in miniature. The universal preva- 
 lence of depravity among men is stated and proved ; 
 the Jews, notwithstanding their peculiar distinctions 
 and advantages, being included in the same con- 
 demnation as the Gentiles. The way of salvation, 
 through the ** propitiation " of Christ, and " faith in 
 His blood," is clearly set forth. The privileges and 
 blessings bestowed on all believers are described in 
 animated and glowing language, and the sanctifying 
 influences of the Gospel are insisted on as essential 
 to the exhibition of Christian character. The ser- 
 vant of God is represented as delivered from ** con- 
 demnation" (viii. i), as "freed from sin" (vi. 7), as 
 walking " not after the flesh, but after the Spirit " 
 
Romans, 89 
 
 (viii. 4), as having " received the Spirit of adoption " 
 (viii. 15), as "rejoicing in hope" (xii. 12), as being 
 "called " according to the divine "purpose," and as 
 so united to God in Christ " that neither death, nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- 
 rate him from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord" (viii. 38, 39). 
 
 The rejection of the Gospel by the Jews, gene- 
 rally, gives occasion to the expression of deep 
 grief on their account, and ardent anxiety for their 
 salvation. While, in the sovereignty of God, they 
 were then without the Christian fold, their conver- 
 sion at some time future is prophesied. " Blindness 
 in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of 
 the Gentiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be 
 saved" (chap. xi. 25, 26); which can only mean, it 
 is apprehended, that God's people, gathered from 
 " Israel after the flesh," as well as from " the sinners 
 of the Gentiles," will be ultimately blended into 
 one body, dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem for 
 ever. 
 
 The remainder of the Epistle, from the twelfth 
 chapter, contains a code of Christian law, including 
 individual believers and churches, with special refer- 
 ence to the manner in which weak and tender con- 
 sciences should be treated. Those who live in 
 
90 Philemon, 
 
 harmony with these instructions will be exemplars 
 of pure and lovely Christianity. 
 
 As far as is known, Paul's pen lay idle for four 
 years. That period includes his imprisonment at 
 Caesarea, his voyage to Rome, and the first year of 
 his residence there. That he wrote no letters during 
 those years is hardly to be imagined ; for a man 
 whose letters were ** weighty and powerful " would 
 not be likely to spend such a space of time in 
 inactivity. But no public or official communications 
 were transmitted to the Churches, or, if any were, 
 they have not been preserved. It was mercifully 
 ordered. Had all apostolic documents been kept on 
 file, the Church would have been overloaded with 
 volumes, which would have required a fortune to 
 purchase and a life to read. When we look at the 
 heaps of letters which c»-owd the pages of eccle- 
 siastical history, and which only here and there a 
 resolute antiquarian can venture to examine, we may 
 be thankful for the restraining influence which rested 
 on the ancients, both prophets and apostles, and 
 prevented them from committing to publication the 
 letters and literary fragments, which would have 
 made our Bible too bulky a book for the use of 
 ordinary Christian readers. 
 
 In the year 62 the Apostle sent a short letter to 
 Philemon, a Christian gentleman of Colosse, whose 
 slave, Onesimus, had absconded, and found his way 
 
Colossians, g i 
 
 tc Rome, where he fell in with Paul, by whose 
 preaching he was converted. Under apostolic 
 direction, he returned to his master, bearing with 
 him the letter, which has been admired in all ages 
 as a model of Christian courtesy and kindness, and 
 a fine specimen of benevolent ingenuity. 
 
 The Epistle to the Church at Colosse is ascribed 
 to the same year, and was probably conveyed to the 
 city by Onesimus. There is a loftiness of thought 
 in the letter which cannot fail to impress the reader. 
 The Apostle seems to have been on some mount of 
 transfiguration, where he had gazed, adoringly, on 
 the glory of the Lord. In transferring his concep- 
 tions and feelings to paper, he labours for utterance. 
 Every word is emphatic. His style — always terse — 
 is here so terse as to border on the obscure. At 
 the same time, it is distinguished by majesty and 
 power peculiarly Pauline. He who reads this Epistle 
 as if it were a common letter will suffer great loss. 
 It should be " read, marked, learned, and inwardly 
 digested." 
 
 There are references to the dreamy notions of 
 some religionists who had already begun to trouble 
 the Churches, and in confutation of whom Irenaeus, 
 Hippolytus, and others in subsequent centuries, wrote 
 many hundreds of pages, which it is now a sore 
 weariness to read. They were men who " intruded 
 into those things which they had not seen, vainly 
 
92 Ephesians^ 
 
 puffed up by their fleshly minds" (ii. i8). They 
 sought to form an alliance between the mysticisms 
 and profane darings of certain would-be philo- 
 sophers and the pure sublimities of the Gospel, and 
 only succeeded in bequeathing to the world theories 
 at once unintelligible and useless. It would have 
 been well if theologians had not sometimes bor- 
 rowed from their vocabularies. 
 
 Personal and practical godliness, as depicted in 
 this epistle, and enforced by solemn exhortations, 
 must have shed a bright light on Colosse. A society 
 composed of persons whose conduct exemplified the 
 principles inculcated in the third and fourth chapters 
 must have extorted general admiration. They were 
 "men wondered at" (Zech. iii. 8). 
 
 In the Epistle, ascribed to the same period, and 
 generally supposed to be written to the Church at 
 Ephesus, though some think that it was a circular 
 addressed to several churches, Paul repeated some 
 expressions which he had used when addressing the 
 Christians at Colosse. The Epistle itself is superbly 
 grand. Going back to the old eternities, the 
 Apostle contemplated God planning the salvation 
 "before the foundation of the world" (i. 4), and 
 providing a remedy for sin's sickness before the 
 disease existed. The description of Christianity, in 
 its ennobling, sanctifying efficacy and world-wide 
 beneficence, is rendered the more interesting by the 
 
Philip f tans. 93 
 
 use of splendid imagery, apparently suggested by 
 the architecture of the temple of " the great goddess 
 Diana," in the porticoes of which the writer had 
 often walked, and perhaps " disputed daily " there, 
 as well as in " the school of one Tyrannus ** (Acts 
 xix. 9). The practical portion of the Epistle is 
 unusually full and minute in delineations of character 
 and exhortations to the performance of duty, while 
 it displays an accurate acquaintance with Grecian 
 modes of life. 
 
 The Church at Philippi had sent a liberal contri- 
 bution to the Apostle, which was not only acceptable 
 in itself, in his ** necessity," but especially so when 
 he was undergoing the inconveniences and privations 
 of prisonlife ; for, though they were partiallyalleviated 
 by the permission to hire and occupy a house, he 
 was still a prisoner, being confined to that house, 
 and condemned to the enforced companionship of 
 a Roman soldier, who had in his hands the power of 
 annoyance. Under such circumstances, the mani- 
 festation of sympathy and love by the Philippian 
 Christians had a soothing, gladdening effect. His 
 letter of acknowledgment, ascribed also to the year 
 62, glows with apostolic affection. It exhibits the 
 warm breathings of the heart. There is less of the 
 didactic than in the Epistles toColosse and Ephesus. 
 There is none of the stiffness of discussion. The 
 Apostle pours out his soul to his brethren — ^admits 
 
them to fellowship with his own inner life — and 
 shows how the glorious truths which he published 
 to the people furnished food to his spirit, and satis- 
 fied his hungerings and thirstings after righteous- 
 ness. To the spiritually-minded Christian the 
 Epistle to the Philippians must ever be a rich source 
 of light and consolation. 
 
 The letters written at Rome, doubtless by the 
 inspiration of the Holy Spirit, present to us an 
 illustration of a principle of the divine government. 
 It is the principle of compensation. A seeming 
 defect is often balanced by a peculiar excellence in 
 some other respect. A loss is made up by a new 
 blessing. So here. Restrained from his usual 
 activities, deprived of the social enjoyments for 
 which the Gospel makes provision, the Apostle was 
 blessed with unwonted insight into " the deep 
 things of God," and richer experience of the pre- 
 ciousness and power of the truth. Christ was very near 
 to His servant. It was a confirmation of His own 
 words of comfort, spoken years before — *' My grace 
 is sufficient for thee." And in blessing Paul, the 
 Lord blessed all Christians who would read those 
 letters, in every age and in every place. 
 
 Several years passed away before another public 
 letter was issued. They were spent, according to 
 ecclesiastic tradition, in apostolic labour. Possibly 
 the journey to Spain, hinted at in Rom. xv. 24, was 
 
Tunothy — Titus, ^5 
 
 undertaken, and Christianity planted in that country; 
 but authentic memorials are wanting. This, how- 
 ever, is certain — that the Churches of Asia Minor 
 and Greece were revisited. Subsequently, the Island 
 of Crete received evangelising attention. Resuming 
 his missionary work on the Asiatic Continent, the 
 Apostle wintered at Nicopolis, in Epirus, where it is 
 probable that he was apprehended, we know not on 
 what charges, and conveyed to Rome, "suffering 
 trouble, as an evil-doer, even unto bonds " (2 Tim. 
 ii. 9). His martyrdom soon followed. 
 
 The precise dates of the last three letters bearing 
 the Apostle's name cannot be ascertained ; but it 
 seems evident that they were written in the last year 
 or two of his life. The first Epistle to Timothy 
 and that to Titus contain directions to those evan- 
 gelists in the discharge of the important duties 
 entrusted severally to them. They were called on 
 to exercise a ywaj-Z-superintendence of churches in 
 large districts of country, involving the responsibility 
 of the appointment of pastors and other church 
 officers. The choice of those officers, there is good 
 reason to believe, rested with the people, though 
 under advice ; but their induction into office required 
 the action of an Apostle or his substitute. When 
 the Apostles died, the vacancies in the pastorate 
 and other offices were filled up by the Churches 
 in the ordinary way, according to the methods 
 
of choice and appointment then in use among 
 them. 
 
 These " pastoral epistles," as they are now called, 
 are remarkable in another respect. They indicate 
 the intrusion of disturbing elements into the 
 Churches. Jewish visionaries troubled the people 
 of God by ** endless genealogies" and "old wives' 
 fables" (i Tim. i. 4; iv. 7). Sciolists in philosophy 
 sought to attract attention by "oppositions of 
 science " ( i Tim. vi. 20). The sober realities of the 
 Christian faith were abandoned for mischievous 
 novelties, conveying neither instruction nor com- 
 fort. True godliness was seemingly withering under 
 the blasts of a moral simoom. But the Lord pre- 
 served His Church, and " the gates of hell did not 
 prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 18). 
 
 One Epistle remains to be noticed — that to the 
 Hebrews. It is difficult to believe it to be the composi- 
 tion of the Apostle Paul. His customary salutation 
 is wanting. The name of the writer is studiously 
 withheld. The style of the document differs re- 
 markably from that of the letters acknowledged as 
 the Apos:le*s. It is repeatedly quoted by the early 
 fathers, but without any author's name. The author- 
 ship of the Epistle has been ascribed to Barnabas, 
 to Luke, to Apollos. Certainty is unattainable. 
 Perhaps the most probable theory is that which 
 ascribes the composition of the letter to one of the 
 
The Epistle to the Hebrews, 9^7 
 
 brethren who had been frequently in attendance on 
 the Apostle, and who undertook to commit to 
 writing the expositions which he had often heard 
 from his lips. 
 
 Then the question of inspiration occurs. Here is 
 an anonymous Epistle. What guarantee have we 
 for its divine origin ? Confessedly, we must rely, 
 not indeed on the authority, but on the testimony of 
 the early Church. The Gospels were anonymous — 
 that is, no name of the writer appears on the face of 
 either of them. Yet they were universally received 
 as genuine and authentic books by those who lived 
 at the time of their publication, and who were also 
 satisfied, from internal evidence, that the authors 
 were divinely inspired. The grounds of their belief 
 may not be altogether patent to us in these days. 
 But the case is this : the books have been handed 
 down to us by the first Churches, with their attesta- 
 tion to the effect that, when they appeared, the 
 proofs of their divine authorship were satisfactory, 
 and they were placed on the list accordingly as 
 divine productions, the works of " holy men of 
 God," who wrote as they were "moved by the Holy 
 Ghost" (2 Pet. i. 21). The Epistle to the Hebrews 
 must be judged in the same way. At first there 
 were doubts respecting it, chiefly on account of its 
 anonymous character. Those doubts were removed, 
 and the Epistle has since appeared in its proper 
 
 H 
 
place among apostolic productions. The date as- 
 signed to its publication is the year 68, shortly after 
 the death of the Apostle Paul.* 
 
 But, whatever hesitation may be felt with regard 
 to the authorship of the Epistle, the divine excel- 
 lence of its contents cannot be doubted. In matter 
 and style, like the other books of the New Testa- 
 ment, it stands immeasurably above all merely 
 human productions. It bears the stamp of divine 
 authorship. It is an inspired commentary on the 
 Book of Leviticus. 
 
 Contemplating the writings of the Apostle of the 
 Gentlies on the human side — that is, as literary pro- 
 ductions, apart from their divine character — we 
 cannot fail to be struck with the indications of great 
 mental power. They are the works of a profound 
 thinker. The writer was one of those who do not 
 take opinions on trust. He thought for himself. 
 Nor is that statement contradicted by his own 
 declaration, that he received his knowledge of 
 Christianity ** by the revelation of Jesus Christ." 
 That which the Lord gave him became his own, 
 
 * The fullest investigation of the authorship of this Epistle may be 
 found in Dean Alford's " Prolegomena." His conclusion is that, 
 though the Epistle was not written by Paul, ** we yet conceive ounelves 
 perfectly justified in accounting it a portion of the New Testament canon, 
 and in regarding it with the same reverence as the rest of the Holy 
 Scriptures" (Greek Testament, iv. p. 67). 
 
Pauls Mental Power. 99 
 
 emphatically, and, like knowledge of other kinds, 
 underwent the ordinary mental processes, and was 
 variously presented and illustrated, as his genius 
 enabled him. We know very little of the nature of 
 inspiration. The fact is certain ; but it is equally 
 certain that each writer has his peculiar style and 
 mode of thought and expression, with which inspira- 
 tion did not interfere, save to preserve from error. 
 Hence the diversities of the inspired books. Isaiah 
 greatly differs from Amos, and both from Jeremiah 
 or Ezekiel. Peter could not write like Paul. John's 
 style resembles neither. 
 
 Paul was more famous for logic than for rhetoric, 
 though there are some fine touches of pure 
 eloquence in his speeches and writings. His 
 defence before Agrippa is a masterpiece. He is 
 sometimes oppressed by weighty thoughts, which he 
 scarcely knows how to express. He is, for the most 
 part, clear and forcible, yet occasionally (as has 
 been already observed) bordering on the obscure. 
 There are some long parentheses in his writings, in 
 which, when the thread of thought has been 
 dropped, it is, now and then, difficult to find it and 
 take it up again. But his admirers (and where are 
 they not to be found in Christian lands ?) are not 
 repelled by these peculiarities, which are rather 
 incentives to diligence. They are stimulated to 
 laborious search. They ponder the meanings of 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO 
 
 Paul's Menial Power, 
 
 sentences and of words. Like the fortunate gold- 
 diggers of Australia, they seldom work long without 
 finding Kuggets of inestimable value.* 
 
 * " I have often thought that St. Paul was raised up peculiarly to be 
 an example to others, in labounng to discover the wisest way of exhibiting 
 the Gospel : not only that he was to be a great pattern in other points, 
 but designedly raised up for this very thing. How does he labour to 
 make the truth keasonably plain ! How does he strain every nerve 
 and ransack every comer of the heart to make it reasonably palat- 
 able ! We need not be instructed in his particular meaning when he 
 says, / became all things to all merij if by any meant I might save some. 
 His history is a comment on the declaration."— OaTi Remains, 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAULS THEOLOGY. 
 
 Scripture—God— Angels— Sin— The Solvation— The New Life— The^ 
 Church— The Future State. 
 
 Incidental notices of the Apostle's views and 
 teachings have been given in the preceding chapters. 
 It is intended to present in this chapter a com- 
 pendious statement of Pauline theology, as far as 
 regards the principal topics of religious thought and 
 inquiry. 
 
 I. Scripture. 
 
 The Old Testament was Paul's Bible. He re- 
 ceived it as God's Word. He regarded it as God's 
 own account of His dealings with men, and of the 
 principles of His government. It was a true record 
 and an instructive history. "Whatsoever things 
 were written aforetime were written for our learn- 
 ing" (Rom. xv. 4). But it was more. That volume 
 contained " the Holy Scriptures," which were ** given 
 by inspiration of God," and were "profitable for 
 
10 2 Scripture, 
 
 doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
 in righteousness ; that the man of God might be 
 pc feet, throughly furnished unto all good works" 
 (2 Tim. iii. 15 — 17). 
 
 What was Paul's theory of inspiration, we do not 
 know. There is not a word in his writings bearing on 
 the subject. Whether he held with " superintend- 
 ence," or ** elevation," or '* suggestion," or whether 
 the verbal theory was preferred, we know not. All 
 we can say is that he agreed with Peter, who affirmed 
 that "holy men of God spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. i. 21). He believed 
 that the minds of the writers were so directed and 
 influenced that they wrote what was *' profitable." In 
 the passage just quoted from the Epistle to Timothy 
 we have his tests of the Divine. He had been 
 taught from childhood to reverence the Scriptures. 
 He referred to them as authoritative, and commonly- 
 used the well-known formula, ** it is written." See 
 Acts xiii. 33, 35, 48; xvii. 2; xxviii. 23 — 27; Rom. 
 iii. 10 — 18 ; iv. 3, 6 ; ix. 13 — 33 ; x. 15 ; xi. 2, 8, 26 ; 
 xii. 19; XV. 9—12; I Cor. i. 31; ii. 9; iii. 19, 20; 
 ix. 9 ; X. I — 1 1 ; 2 Cor. iv. 13 ; viii. 15 ; ix. 9 ; Gal. 
 iii. 10; iv. 22—30. 
 
 But there was this singularity in the matter. Paul 
 was making Scripture all the time. The " revelation 
 of Jesus Christ" was a continuous blessing to him. 
 He claimed to be constantly taught of the Lord. If 
 
diff'O'lties came in the way, whether relating to faith 
 or duty, he depended on the ^* light within^* in the 
 highest sense of those words. " I think also that I 
 have the Spirit of God " (i Cor. vii. 40). His letters 
 were written under that impulse, and he expected 
 that his written messages, as well as his spoken dis- 
 courses, would be received with the deference due to 
 to an Apostle of the Saviour. It was " Christ speak- 
 ing in him" (2 Cor. xiii. 3). 
 
 His letters constitute now a large portion of the 
 didactic department of the new law. They are 
 ranked by the Apostle Peter with ** the other Scrip- 
 tures" (2 Pet. iii. 16). How wonderful that the 
 virulent persecutor should become one of God's 
 writers, and that one of the most bigoted of the 
 ** straitest sect " should be everywhere known as the 
 large-hearted Apostle of the Gentiles ! ** This also 
 Cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts, which is won- 
 derful in counsel, and excellent in working" (Isaiah 
 xxviii. 29). 
 
 It is noticeable that Paul never quotes from an 
 apocryphal book. The allusion to "Jannes and 
 Jambres," in 2 Tim. iii. 8, is to an unwritten Jewish 
 tradition, which might have some foundation in 
 truth. None but canonical books, as they are con- 
 tained in our Protestant editions of the Bible, were 
 regarded as authorities by the Apostle. This is the 
 more remarkable, since there is reason to believe 
 
 i 
 
that the books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus were in 
 high repute among the Jews of his time. But there 
 is no reference to those books in his Epistles. 
 
 II. God. 
 
 The creation declares the Creator. His works 
 proclaim " His eternal power and Godhead " (Rom, 
 i. 20). That is the argument from design. Paul 
 adopted it and felt its force. It is not obsolete yet. 
 
 God is "the King eternal, immortal, invisible" 
 (i Tim. i. 17). His "judgments" are "unsearch- 
 able," and His "ways" are "past finding out" 
 (Rom. xi. 33). He "giveth to all life, and breath, 
 and all things" — "rain from heaven, and fruitful 
 seasons" (Acts xvii. 25 ; xiv. 17). We are reminded 
 of the " riches of His goodness, and forbearance, 
 and longsuifering " (Rom. ii. 4). Here is no trace 
 of the abstract or the metaphysical. Paul was a 
 matter-of-fact man ; his theology is a collection of 
 facts. 
 
 There is but one God. Judaism and Christianity 
 are at one on that point. "To us there is but one 
 God, the Father, of whom are all things ;" " God 
 is one;" "One God and Father of all;" "One 
 God, and one Mediator between God and men" 
 ( I Cor. viii. 6 ; Gal. iii. 20 ; £ph. iv. 6 ; i Tim. 
 
 »• 5). 
 
 " God our Father " is a favourite expression with 
 
the Apostle. It is found at the beginning of all his 
 Epistles, in the formula, '* Grace be unto you, and 
 peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." Is it not a peculiarly Christian appellation, 
 derived from the act of grace whereby all believers 
 are constituted " the children of God, by faith in 
 Christ Jesus " (Gal. iii. 26) ? 
 
 Christ is *' the image of the invisible God, the 
 firstborn of all creation ; because in Him were all 
 things created : the things in the heavens, and the 
 things on the earth, things visible and things in- 
 visible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or 
 principalities, or powers : all things have been 
 created by Him and for Him ; and He is before all 
 things, and in Him all things subsist" (Col. i. 
 15 — 17) — Alford. He was '* manifest in the flesh " 
 (i Tim. iii. 16), an affirmation which could be made 
 of no human being-, and which clearly points to a 
 previous mode of existence. He, "being in the 
 form of God, deemed not His equality with God a 
 thing to grasp at, but emptied Himself, taking upon 
 Him the form of a servant, being made in the like- 
 ness of men" (Phil. ii. 6, i)-^Alford.^ "Though 
 He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor " 
 (2 Cor. viii. 9). He is even styled " God over all. 
 
 * *< Esteemed not the bang equal with God a prize to be seized on, 
 but empded himself." — Ellicott. 
 
blessed for ever" (Rom. ix. 5); "the great God 
 and our Saviour" (Tit. ii. 13).* 
 
 Surely the force of these statements cannot be 
 evaded. If, on the one hand, the unity of God is 
 maintained, as an incontrovertible truth of natural 
 and revealed religion, it is, on the other, as clearly 
 taught that the Lord Jesus Christ is equally with the 
 Father the source of all blessing. Christians are 
 described as those who " call upon His name " 
 (i Cor. i. 2).^ " The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy 
 spirit," the Apostle said to Timothy (2 Tim. iv. 22), 
 in his last letter, and at the close of it. It was his 
 dying attestation to a peculiarly Christian truth, not 
 often set forth in express terms, but implied in all 
 his writings. 
 
 At the same time, let it be observed that the dry 
 and hard technicalities of systematic theology are 
 not derivable from Paul's religious style, nor can 
 their use be justified by any utterances found in his 
 discourses or letters. It was thought necessary, 
 when the great councils met, in the fourth centur}', 
 to fence the Church's faith by hard words, and to 
 bind all its members to unity by enforced subscrip- 
 tion to human creeds (which subscription was to be 
 taken as proof that the subscribers believed them) : 
 but experience contradicts theory. There is most 
 true faith where there is the greatest freedom. 
 
 * ** Our great God and Saviour." — Ellicott. 
 
Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit as the fountain of 
 spiritual life. All Gospel blessings are the results 
 of His influence on the soul. He teaches, regene- 
 rates, dwells in the renewed, sanctifies, seals " to 
 the day of redemption." See Rom. viii. 8, 26 ; xv. 
 13;! Cor. iii. 16; vi. 1 9 ; 2 Cor. i. 2a ; iii. 1 8 ; Gal. 
 V. 5, 15 — 25; Eph. iii. 16; iv. 30; v. 9; i Thess. 
 i. 5, 6; 2 Thess. ii. 13. 
 
 In the apostolic benediction (2 Cor. xiii. 14), now 
 used in all Christian assemblies, we have the three- 
 fold manifestation of God (stated, but not explained, 
 for Athanasius was not yet born), which came after- 
 wards to be called the doctrine of the Trinity. How 
 Paul would have expressed himself on this subject, 
 if the impugners of the faith had appeared in his 
 time, it is, perhaps, useless to inquire. It is certain, 
 however, that he ascribe ! the same powers and 
 blessings to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Spirit ; but he avoided definitions and distinctions. 
 
 The words of Jeremy Taylor are much to the 
 point ; " He who goes about to speak of the mystery 
 of the Trinity, and does it by words and names of 
 man*s invention ; talking of essences, and existences, 
 and personalities, privity and co-equality, and unity 
 in pluralities, may amuse himself, and build a taber- 
 nacle in his head, and talk something, he knows not 
 what ; but the renewed man, that feels the power of 
 the Father, and to whom the Son is become wisdom, 
 
sanctification and redemption, in whose heart the 
 love of the Spirit is shed abroad, — this man, though 
 he understand nothing of what is unintelligible, yet 
 he alone truly understands the doctrine of the 
 Trinity." 
 
 III. Angels. 
 
 The references to those heavenly beings are but 
 few, and the knowledge derived from Paul's notices 
 of them is not extensive. The passages in which 
 those references are found are allusive rather than 
 explanatory. They only serve to show that the 
 Apostle regarded angels as superior beings, as he 
 had learned from the Old Testament, while he de* 
 precated paying them divine honour, which some, 
 even at that early period, were disposed to do (Col. 
 ii. 1 8). He recognised their ministration at the 
 giving of the law, which was " ordained by angels " 
 (Gal. iii. 19). He asserts that he himself at one 
 time of his life received a consolatory message from 
 an angel (Acts xxvii. 23, 24). In the phrase " elect 
 angels," which occurs i Tim. v. 21 and nowhere 
 else, there is probably a reference to the angels who 
 " sinned," and " kept not their first estate " (2 Pet. 
 ii. 4; Jude 6), the "elect" ones being specially 
 preserved by the grace and power of God. Our 
 Lord calls them "the holy angels" (R*t.tt. xxv. 31). 
 In some mysterious way, not clearly explained. Chris- 
 tians will "judge angels" (i Cor. vs. 3.) 
 
Paul regarded Satan, the devil, as the great foe of 
 God and holiness, who, in the inexplicable dispen- 
 sations of the Almighty, had acquired such influence 
 as to be fitly styled the " god of this world " (2 Cor. 
 iv. 4). The " snares " of the devil, his " wiles," and 
 ** devices," are spoken of (2 Tim. ii. 26 ; Eph. vi. 
 II ; 2 Cor. ii. 11 ). He is represented as always en- 
 gaged in resisting the progress of true religion. 
 The Apostle's "thorn in the flesh" is called a 
 ** messenger of Satan " (2 Cor. xii. 7). He would 
 have visited the Church at Thessalonica on more 
 than one occasion, but "Satan hindered" h\i^ 
 (i Thess. ii. 18). Elymas the sorcerer, who withstood 
 him in Cyprus, was a " child of the devil " (Acts 
 xiii. 1 0). The incestuous person at Corinth was to 
 be "delivered unto Satan" (i Cor. v. 5), as were 
 " Hymenaeus and Alexander," who had "made ship- 
 wreck concerning faith" (i Tim. i. 20). This, pro- 
 bably, included some supernatural punishment, as 
 well as excommunication. 
 
 The Apostle mentions only one being to whom 
 the appellation " Satan " or " devil " is applied. 
 The inferior spirits (referred to by our Lord in the 
 phrase "the devil and his angels" — Matt. xxv. 41) 
 are not called " devils," but " demons," as the word 
 should have been rendered in i Cor. x. 20, 21 ; 
 I Tim. iv. I ; and in all the narratives of " casting 
 out devils." Of their nature, powers, history, &c., 
 
we are profoundly ignorant ; nor does Paul enlighten 
 
 us. He deals with facts, and does not suffer himself 
 
 to be carried away by the "cunning craftiness" of 
 
 speculations. 
 
 IV. Sin. 
 
 Paul taught the unity of the human race, and the 
 superintending providence of God in all human 
 affairs (Acts xvii, 26). 
 
 The original, first transgression is alluded to. 
 Our parents were " deceived " (or, rather, the 
 woman was " deceived," i Tim. ii. 14, and the 
 man, as Milton says, was " fondly overcome by 
 female charm "), and thus ** by one man sin entered 
 into the world, and death by sin" (Rom. v. 12). 
 Fact again — terrible fact — yet nothing but fact — not 
 a word about the mode of transmission. Pauline 
 theology has no dreaminess in it. Something has 
 been done — and such-and-such results have fol- 
 lowed ; and thus moral history is constructed. 
 
 Universal sinfulness is a prominent article in the 
 Apostle's Creed. In the case of the Jews, who had re- 
 ceived a divine revelation, the sinner was *' a breaker 
 of the law" (Rom. ii. 25). In the case of the Gentiles, 
 sin was a rejection of the claims of God to exclusive 
 worship, and turning a deaf ear to the remon- 
 strances of conscience (Rom. ii. 15). The sinner 
 " worshipped and served the creature more than the 
 Creator" (Rom. i. 25), and indulged in unholy lusts 
 
and passions. None were free from the charge : 
 " all have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
 God " (Rom. iii. 23). The picture drawn in Rom. i. 
 21 — 32 shows the hand of a master. It was taken 
 from the life. ^ 
 
 Sin deserves punishment. " The wrath of God is 
 revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness of men" (Rom. i. 18), and the 
 effects of that wrath will be ** tribulation and 
 anguish" (Rom. ii. 9). Whatever partial experience 
 of divine indignation may be suffered in this world, 
 its full issues will appear in ** the day of wrath " 
 (Rom. ii. s), when " God shall judge the secrets 
 of men" (Rom. ii. 16). 
 
 God's judgment is just. The conscience of man 
 discerns and decides on the right and the wrong, 
 even without the help of revelation. But he did not 
 obey conscience. He " did not like to retain God 
 in his knowledge" (Rom. i. 28), and "walked in his 
 own ways " (Acts xiv. 1 6). The corruption became 
 so awful that God gave them up to " vile affections " 
 and to a ** reprobate mind," and the melancholy 
 result was that all, Tews and Gentiles, had become 
 *' children of wrath" ^^Eph. ii. 3). 
 
 There were varieties and degrees of depravity, 
 and, consequently, of guilt. Some plunged into all 
 evil, without struggle or remorse ; their consciences 
 were "seared with a hot iron" (i Tim. iv. 2). 
 
Others, who discerned and acknowledged duty, 
 offered feeble resistance, and alternately rose and 
 fell, falling deeper and deeper at every turn. Their 
 state is described in the seventh chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Romans. It was the old story — 
 
 '*.... video meliora 
 Proboque, deteriora sequor." * 
 
 There was no remedy. The Jew, who " made his 
 boast of the law," and who was convicted as a 
 transgressor, could not regain a sinless position, for 
 by the law there was evermore "a knowledge of 
 sin " (Rom. iii. 20), Outward acts of conformity 
 were not sufficient: for "the law is spiritual" 
 (Rom. vii. 14), claiming nothing less than the love 
 of God ** with all the heart, and with all the soul, 
 and with all the mind " (Matt. xxii. 37). Such love 
 was nowhere found ; and when once it was wanting, 
 the guilt which that want revealed could not be 
 removed by any human device or effort. Such was 
 the state of the Jews. The state of the Gentiles 
 was equally hopeless. Paul taught everywhere that 
 men should "repent, and turn to God, and do 
 works meet for repentance " (Acts xvii. 30 ; xxvi. 20) ; 
 but he never told them that by repentance and good 
 works they might obtain pardon. No " works of 
 righteousness " could save a soul. Man could not 
 
 * " I see and approve better things : I follow the worse;*' 
 
The Salvation. , 113 
 
 effect his own deliverance. That could only be 
 accomplished by divine mercy and divine power, if 
 by any means those attributes could be exercised for 
 the deliverance, so as not to conflict with the claims 
 of justice. 
 
 V. The Salvation, 
 
 The key-note of the Apostle's theology is given in 
 Rom. xi. 36 — ** Of Him, and through Him, and to 
 Him, are all things." It is God who ** worketh all 
 things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. i. 11), 
 foreseeing the ruin, providing for the recovery, 
 laying deep the foundation of a mighty plan. It 
 was conceived in the eternal ages, and was no after- 
 thought. It preceded the existence of sin in the 
 world. All the arrangements and provisions were 
 included in it. The whole moral scenery was be- 
 held at once by the Omniscient eye ; for, as James 
 said, ** Known unto God are all His works from the 
 beginning of the world " (Acts xv. 1 8). The " pur- 
 pose and grace " were " given in Christ Jesus before 
 the world began " (2 Tim. i. 9). He Himself was 
 ** the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world " 
 (Rev. xiii. 8), and " eternal life " was " promised 
 before the world began " (Tit. i. 2). That the pur- 
 pose or choice applied to individual cases, and was 
 not merely a general measure, available under given 
 circumstances, is clear from the current phraseology 
 
 I 
 
114 1^^^^ Salvation. 
 
 of the apostolic letters. (See Rom. viii. 29, 30 ; 
 Eph. i. 3 — 6 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13.) 
 
 While the nations generally were given up to 
 idolatry and its accustomed vices, one family was 
 withdrawn from the rest, and separated for higher 
 purposes. The ulterior object was dimly indicated 
 in the promise to Abraham, that in him and his seed 
 all the nations of the earth should be blessed (Gen. 
 xii. 2 ; xxii. 18), which is intelligible to us^ however 
 obscure it might have been to the patriarch and his 
 immediate descendants. More than two thousand 
 years elapsed, during which the line of succession 
 was preserved ; and at length, Jesus of Nazareth, 
 the Son of Mary, and in her the Son of David, the 
 Son of Abraham, ** according to the flesh," made His 
 appearance in Judaea. As man, He was perfect ; as 
 prophet, unequalled. But He was more than man, 
 more than prophet. He was God's own Son, sent 
 into the world for its salvation ; and yet, while He 
 was God's gift. He came voluntarily, and "laid 
 down His life of Himself" (John. x. 18). ,/ " 
 
 In the death of Christ, the Apostle saw the won- 
 drous provision made by Divine mercy for the pardon 
 of sin — the restoration of the soul of man, the im- 
 plantation of holy principles, the formation of holy 
 habits, and the preparation of the saved for an 
 exalted state of bliss and purity. No wordo but his 
 own can adequately convey his meaning. The sub- 
 
The Salvation. 115 
 
 stitution of modern phraseology for apostolic style 
 ought not to be regarded as an improvement. The 
 words of the first century are clearer and more 
 emphatic than the words of the nineteenth. Com- 
 mentaries and inferences not unfrequently becloud 
 rather than enlighten. > 
 
 A collection of texts, containing the Apostle's 
 views of the redemption wrought by Christ, was 
 given in the fourth chapter. We gather from those 
 passages that the Son of God in human nature died 
 in the place of sinners ; that the effect of His death 
 is such that, in pardoning those who believe, the 
 righteousness of God is declared. He is "just, and 
 the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus ;" that 
 Jesus is now ** at the right hand of God," where He 
 •*maketh intercession for us" (Rom. viii. 34); and 
 that, in consequence of His work of redemption, 
 *' God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a 
 name which is above every name" (Phil. ii. 9), 
 actual and universal sovereignty being exercised by 
 Him, in subordination to the interests of righteous- 
 ness, which are the highest of all interests (" Head 
 over all things to the Church " — Eph. i. 22). That 
 redemption is the greatest and most wonderful 
 transaction in the history of the universe — the 
 greatest in itself, and the most wonderful in its 
 results, embracing all happiness, all holiness, all 
 duration. 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 The New Life. 
 
 VI. The New Life. 
 
 The redemption-work being accomplished, the 
 next inquiry is, how it is to be carried into effect. 
 The reply is, principally by the ordinance of preach- 
 ing. The Sovereign of the universe having made 
 provision for the pardon and restoration of men, on 
 principles of strict equity, commands proclamation 
 to be made '* to all nations for the obedience of 
 faith " (Rom. xvi. 26). The " unsearchable riches 
 of Christ" (Eph. iii. 8) are to be freely and fully 
 set forth. The preachers are required " by manifes- 
 tation of the truth to commend themselves to every 
 man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. iv. 2), 
 to "warn every man, and teach every man in all 
 wisdom" (Col. i. 28), and to teach everywhere 
 ** repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord 
 Jesus Christ" (Acts xx. 21). 
 
 From the beginning the effects were various. To 
 some the "preaching of the Cross" was "foolish- 
 ness (i Cor. i. 18); to others, it was "the power of 
 God unto salvation" (Rom. i. 16). ■ 
 
 Paul did not prescribe the amount of feeling 
 which should precede peace of conscience in an 
 awakened one, nor did he demand uniformity of 
 experience. Neither was he satisfied with a bare 
 admission of the truth of the Gospel. Many a 
 Nicodemus would say, "We know that thou art a 
 
teacher come from God ;" to whom it would be 
 necessary to reply, "Except a man be born again, 
 he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John iii. 2, 3). 
 When the Apostle said to the jailor, " Believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" 
 (Acts xvi. 31), he expected more than an assent to 
 the truth that Jesus could save him ; he looked for 
 personal acceptance of the salvation. In some cases 
 the acceptance was prompt, and then the convert's 
 peace flowed "as a river." In others there was 
 demur, and difficulty, and doubt, and consequent 
 delay, till the submission of the soul was complete. 
 Then, when the sinner was satisfied with Christ, and 
 became of the same mind toward Him as God Him- 
 self, the work was effected. He " passed from death 
 unto life." He was "justified by faith." The con- 
 demnation was annulled. Christ, in whom he be- 
 lieved, had borne his sins, and he stood before God 
 clothed in the Lord's righteousness (2 Cor. v. 21), 
 for the propitiation was eff"ectual " through faith in 
 His blood" (Rom. iii. 25). Hence the work of the 
 Saviour became, in a certain sense, the sinner's own. 
 It was as if he had died. "I am crucified with 
 Christ" (Gal. ii. 20). Christians are "quickened 
 together with Christ" (Eph. ii. 5). They are 
 " dead with Christ, and believe that they shall also 
 live with Him " (Rom. vi. 8). 
 
 There was more than this. Not only was the 
 
ii8 The New Life, 
 
 believer represented as being, in Christ, a parti- 
 cipator in all the benefits and blessings of His death 
 and resurrection ; but Christ was represented as 
 being in him. The divine life of the Saviour, so to 
 speak, is reproduced in His people, and the pur- 
 poses of His redemption-work are so far accom- 
 plished as they themselves become like their Lord. 
 Christ lives in His Church. lAiQ/rom Him produces 
 life like Him, by the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 As the believer is "crucified with Christ," so, by 
 another form of representation, the "old man is 
 crucified with Him " (Rom. vi. 6). The flesh, in 
 Him, suffered and died ; and the Spirit of Him who 
 raised up Christ from the dead dwells in the renewed 
 man, who is " created in Christ Jesus unto good 
 works" (Eph. ii. lo). Good works are useless in 
 regard to the acceptance of the soul before God ; 
 trusted in, they may sink it in perdition ; but good 
 works are necessary, as evidences of sincerity and 
 fruits of union with the Saviour. ' 
 
 In Christian character and conduct every virtue is 
 to be exemplified. "Whatsoever things are true, 
 whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are 
 just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things 
 are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report" 
 (Phil. iv. 8). Paul's morality was as comprehensive 
 as his theology, and the Christian's obligations to 
 duty were enforced by considerations of which 
 
The New Life. 1 19 
 
 philosophy was altogether ignorant. He was "a 
 member of Christ," and could not dishonour his 
 Lord. Every form of evil was to be abandoned, and 
 all fellowship with evil renounced (i Thess. v. 22 ; 
 Eph. v. 11). Nor were unholy actions only for- 
 bidden ; Christian purity was inconsistent with *' all 
 filthiness of the flesh and spirit," with " foolish 
 talking," and " jesting " (2 Cor. vii. i ; Eph. v. 4). 
 
 Communion with God in prayer and praise was 
 enjoined by the Apostle as a constant practice. He 
 was himself a bright exemplar. He taught Chris- 
 tians to "pray without ceasing," and " in everything 
 to give thanks " (i Thess. v. 17, 18 ; Phil. iv. 6, 7). 
 
 Brotherly love was declared to be the special duty 
 and distinction of all believers, and whatever was 
 contrary to it was indignantly condemned. The 
 beautiful description of this virtue, or Christian 
 grace, in the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle 
 to the Corinthians, can never be sufficiently admired. 
 Perhaps it is not always remembered that the 
 Apostle's own character was a living commentary 
 on his description, and that the existence of such a 
 character, in his case, was a remarkable manifesta- 
 tion of the mighty influence of the grace of the 
 Lord Jesus, by which the transformation was eff"ected. 
 Surely, that was a wonderful change ! The man 
 who had raged like a wild beast against the Church 
 became exemplary for tenderness of affection ! 
 
1 2 o The New L t/e. 
 
 Nothing gave him so much pleasure as to witness or 
 hear of practical displays of love to the brethren 
 (2 Thess. i. 3; Philemon 7). But, however dis- 
 tinguished these manifestations were, his ardent 
 soul was not satisfied : he desired that they might 
 " abound more and more " (Phil. i. 9 ; i Thess. iv. 
 9, 10) ; and he laboured in his Epistles to impress 
 on Christians the importance of union, forbearance, 
 and a forgiving disposition. Christianity, in his 
 view, was a religion of love, and all Christians were 
 equal. 
 
 The possession of spiritual gifts was the distinction 
 of the Church in those days. It was a distinction 
 not unconnected with peril, exposing the possessor 
 to the temptation of pride and boasting. Believers 
 were warned against it. Paul instructed them that 
 utility is the test of value ; that ** the manifestation 
 of the Spirit " was given for useful purposes ; and 
 he assured them that, for his own part, he would 
 " rather speak five words with his understanding, 
 that by his voice he might teach others also, than 
 ten thousand words in an unknown tongue " 
 (i Cor. xii. 7 ; xiv. 19). 
 
 Christians in apostolic times shared the common 
 sorrows and trials of life, and suffered, in addition, 
 the indignities of persecution — the world's mode of 
 conducting its controversy with the Church. None 
 looked for exemption. " All that will live godly in 
 
The Church. 121 
 
 Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution " (2 Tim. iii. 12). 
 How they were instructed to bear it — how manfully 
 they endured — and with what joy they looked for- 
 ward to the " blessed hope " and the " crown of 
 glory," the record of the Apostle's personal experi- 
 ence testifies. " Persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast 
 down, but not destroyed ; " *' Though our outward 
 man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by 
 day. For our light affliction, which is but for a 
 moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory ; while we look not at the 
 things which are seen, but at the things which are 
 not seen : for the things which are seen are tem- 
 poral, but the things which are not seen are eternal ;" 
 " There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness " 
 (2 Cor. iv. 9, 16 — 18; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). Hear, too, 
 his triumphant appeal : " Who shall separate us 
 from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or dis- 
 tress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
 peril, or sword ? As it is written. For Thy sake we 
 are killed all the day long; we are accounted as 
 sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we 
 are more than conquerors through Him that loved 
 us " (Rom. viii. 35 — 39). 
 
 Vn. The Church. 
 
 Paul's theology, it has been observed, was taught 
 him by Christ Himself. It is, therefore, peculiarly 
 
122 The Church, 
 
 desirable to ascertain his views and practices re- 
 lative to the management of Christian affairs in the 
 Churches. The voice of the Lord should prevail 
 over the deafening din of contention, and the strifes 
 of sects. 
 
 The converts to Christianity under Paul's preach- 
 ing were baptized, according to the Saviour's com- 
 mand ; but the Apostle himself rarely administered 
 the ordinance. He followed the example of Peter, 
 who ** commanded " the converts at Caesarea " to 
 be baptized in the name of the Lord " (Acts x. 48 ; 
 I Cor. i. 14 — 16 ; Gal. iii. 27) ; and it is evident that 
 he regarded it as a very solemn transaction, in- 
 volving serious obligations (Rom. vi. 3, 4).* 
 
 Those who, like the Corinthians, heard, believed, 
 and were baptized, became, by that act, professors 
 of Christianity, and were constituted as churches in 
 the places in which they lived. We have no know- 
 ledge of any form or ceremony observed at the 
 
 * When a convert was baptized he separated himself from the world, 
 and **put on Christ." He professed to be "dead unto sin" and 
 '^ alive unto God." As in his baptism the death and resurrection of the 
 Saviour were symbolically represented, he was henceforth expected to 
 appear among men as a risen one, '* risen with Christ." "The 
 plunging into the water signifieth that we die, and are buried with Christ, 
 as concerning the old life of sin, which is Adam. And the pulling out 
 again signifieth that we rise again with Christ in a new life, full of the 
 Holy Ghost, which shall teach us and guide us, and work the will of God 
 in us, as thou seest in Rom. vi." — William TyndaU. 
 
The Church, 123 
 
 constitution of a church, or the admission of 
 members. At first, as may be supposed, the 
 methods were of the simplest kind. In process of 
 time, it became necessary, or was deemed necessary, 
 to adopt regulations as guides and safeguards ; but 
 what they were, if any existed in apostolic days, is 
 not recorded. 
 
 The purposes for which churches were established 
 were twofold : first, mutual help ; secondly, the 
 spread of Christianity. The first was sought to be 
 accomplished by meetings at stated times for train- 
 ing in knowledge and piety, and by such practical 
 exemplifications of brotherly love as the various 
 conditions of the members, their wants or their 
 sorrows, required. The second called into exercise 
 the gifts of the members for the furtherance and 
 defence of the Gospel, and led them to " adorn the 
 doctrine," by the avoidance of vice, and by such 
 acts of benevolence and holiness as could not but 
 excite the wonder of heathen observers, and stimu- 
 late them to inquire into the claims of the system 
 which produced those effects. 
 
 The religious services of the Churches were 
 mostly celebrated on the first day of the week — the 
 ** Lord's Day." It was recognised by Paul as the 
 Christians* holy day. He waited at Troas a week 
 that he might meet his brethren at the usual time 
 (Acts XX. 6, 7), and directed the Corinthians to "lay 
 
124 The Church. 
 
 by them in store " on that day, as they might have 
 prospered, that they might be ready for the collec- 
 tion when it should be called for (i Cor. xvi. 2). 
 Those services seem to have been at first of a 
 very miscellaneous character. At Corinth, where 
 spiritual gifts abounded, " every one had a psalm, 
 had a doctrine, had a tongue, had a revelation, had 
 an interpretation " (i Cor. xiv. 26). The greatest 
 freedom prevailed, and it was found necessary to 
 admonish them that all things should be done in a 
 becoming manner. But there, as well as in all other 
 places, the elders or bishops instructed, admonished, 
 and in other ways endeavoured to edify the Churches. 
 The order of the exercises is not known. In 
 addition to the teachings, there were prayers and 
 praises, and, probably, reading of the Scriptures. 
 The celebration of the Lord's Supper was an 
 integral part of the service ; indeed, it seems to have 
 been regarded as the chief object of their assem- 
 bling (i Cor. xi. 20). In this way they ** shewed 
 the Lord's death," and declared their union with 
 one another (i Cor. xi. 26 ; x. 17). 
 
 "Elders" have been mentioned. It was Paul's 
 practice to " ordain elders " in every place where a 
 Church was established. The qualifications of these 
 officers are enumerated in i Tim. iii. 2 — 7, and Tit. i. 
 6 — 9. While such men presided over the Churches, 
 safety and progress might be confidently expected. 
 
Their temporal support was guaranteed (i Cor. ix. 
 14; I Tim. V. 17). 
 
 The only other officers spoken of in Paul's 
 writings are deacons and deaconesses. The former 
 are noticed in Phil. i. i, and i Tim. iii. 8 — 13 ; the 
 latter in Ropi. xvi. i, and probably in i Tim. iii. 11.* 
 The duties of the deacons are not defined. If their 
 office originated in the appointment of the seven at 
 Jerusalem (Acts vi. i — 6) to "serve tables," the 
 secular was assigned to them, as the spiritual was to 
 the elders or bishops. f To the deaconesses were 
 naturally entrusted many cares not easily to be 
 specified or enumerated, which the supervision of 
 the female members of the Churches rendered 
 necessary. 
 
 In order to carry into effect the purposes for 
 which Churches were constituted, there must have 
 been meetings and places of meeting. We know 
 but little of either of them. The transaction of 
 Church business gradually grew up into an orderly 
 
 • ** Their wives." — y^uthor'ned Venion. 
 « The women also." — Alford. 
 *' The women in like manner." — Ellicott. 
 ** Mu/!eres"—rulgate. 
 The Greek Fathers almost unanimously consider the reference to be to 
 deaconesses. 
 
 •f These two words were used to denote the same officers. The Jews 
 called them " elders " j the Greeks " overseers," or " bishops " (Acts xx. 
 17, 28 } Tit. i. 5, 7). 
 
126 The Church. 
 
 shape. But it does not appear that Paul was 
 desirous of rigid formal observances, or of uni- 
 formity in all outward things. He wished every- 
 thing to be done (i) "with charity," (2) "unto 
 edifying," (3) " decently, and in order," (4) ** in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus," (5) "to the glory of God" 
 (i Cor. X. 20; xiv. 26, 40; xvi. 14; Col iii. 17). 
 These were the five primitive apostolic canons. Nicaea 
 did not improve upon them. 
 
 All Church duties were summed up in one 
 expression — "brotherly love." Whatever was con- 
 trary to brotherly love was to be deprecated and 
 avoided. It was to be manifested by relief of tem- 
 poral necessities — by sympathy with the sorrowful — 
 by tenderness to the weak — by forbearance and 
 forgiveness. Even the discipline of the disorderly 
 was one form of Christian love ; for it aimed at the 
 true welfare of those concerned, and therefore 
 sought the general good. Exact rules were not 
 given, except in regard to breaches of public 
 morality, which were to be visited by prompt 
 exclusion from the Church. In other cases, admo- 
 nition or reproof would ordinarily be effectual. The 
 management of aflfairs was left in the hands of each 
 Church. There was no graduated scale of punish- 
 ments. The laws of Christ would be enforced with 
 Christian firmness, exercised under the influence of 
 love, guarded by purity. If an offender repented, 
 
The Church, 127 
 
 he was to be restored to his place. Love and holi- 
 ness ruled in everything. 
 
 All the Churches were independent of each other. 
 No Church could dictate to any other Church, nor 
 require that its modes of worship or government 
 should be adopted. All were free from outside 
 interference. Uniformity was not then born. It is 
 true that the Apostle adverts to his ** ways which 
 were in Christ, as he taught everywhere in every 
 Church" (i Cor. iv. 17); and declares that "the 
 care of all the Churches " lay upon him (2 Cor. xi. 
 28). But the authority which he assumed as an 
 Apostle of the Saviour did not vexatiously inter- 
 meddle with Christian freedom. General principles 
 were inculcated, which were to be applied by the 
 Churches as circumstances required, in which appli- 
 cation there might be much variety of method. 
 Minor details were left to choice. "As God hath 
 distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called 
 every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in 
 all Churches" (i Cor. vii. 17). This was not an 
 ordination of uniformity, but of freedom. 
 
 The adherents of priestcraft will get no encourage- 
 ment from Paul. In his view, the Lord Jesus was 
 sole Head of the Church, the source of power, the 
 fountain of the gifts by which the Church was 
 supplied and governed. Apostles, prophets, and 
 evangelists were extraordinary officers ; the elders. 
 
128 The Church. 
 
 bishops, ** pastors and teachers " were Christ's ser- 
 vants, and, under Him, ministers to the Churches. 
 There were no priests, properly so-called. The 
 Christian priesthood was universal. Believers had 
 *• gifts differing according to the grace that was 
 given to them " (Rom. xii. 6). In exercising those 
 gifts they co-operated with the elders and helped 
 them, "esteeming them very highly in love, for their 
 work's sake" (i Thess. v. 12, 13). The elders ruled, 
 yet not without the suffrages of the members. 
 Together they " warned the unruly, comforted the 
 feeble-minded, supported the weak" (i Thess. v. 14). 
 The Churches were self-governed, yet they respected 
 and observed the teachings of the elders, who ex- 
 pounded the laws of Christ. Love bound them in 
 holy union. A Christian Church was neither a 
 monarchy, an aristocracy, nor a republic ; it com- 
 bined the excellencies of all. Christ was the Head 
 of the Church universal. The Apostles might be 
 termed the Christian nobility. The members of 
 individual Churches were free subjects. The laws 
 were Christ's laws, communicated through the 
 "tweWe," and carried into effect by the whole 
 body, in its several communities, each exercising 
 independent power and authority, and all respon- 
 sible to the King, 
 
 Men have busied themselves and perplexed one 
 another by the invention of numberless complex. 
 
The Future State. 129 
 
 and often contradictory canons and decrees. If a 
 Christian Church wishes to prosper and grow, let 
 the teaching of the Master and His Apostles be 
 followed, and nothing else. Every case, however 
 intricate and difficult, will be found to be provided 
 for, either by express precept, by example, or 
 by the primitive apostolic canons already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 VIII. The Future State. 
 
 The Christian's life was a journey to heaven. He 
 was taught, from his conversion, to look forward to 
 union with Christ in the next world as the consum- 
 mation of bliss and purity. Under the teaching of 
 Paul, he believed that, when he died, he should go 
 to be with Christ, and that, at the resurrection, the 
 Saviour would "change his vile body, that it might 
 be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. i. 
 23; iii. 21). Little was said respecting the inter- 
 mediate state ; it was enough to know that, when 
 "absent from the body" he would be " present with 
 the Lord " (2 Cor. v. 8), and, therefore, that ** to die 
 would be gain" (Phil. i. 21). 
 
 The second coming of Christ was, at first, daily 
 looked for, and it seems probable that some were so 
 influenced by the prospect as to neglect their earthly 
 affairs, which were so soon, as they imagined, to be 
 altogether abandoned. The Apostle found it neces- 
 
 K 
 
130 The Future State, 
 
 sary to undeceive them by showing them that 
 "the day of Christ," instead of being "at hand," 
 would not come till an awful and lengthened 
 apostasy had taken place (2 Thess. ii. i — 3). The 
 apostasy has appeared, and the mystery of iniquity 
 (2 Thess. ii. 7) is still working ; but the day of 
 Christ is not yet ** at hand." 
 
 The Apostle does not particularise circumstances, 
 nor fix dates. We learn from his letters and dis- 
 courses that at the last day the Lord Jesus will 
 " descend from heaven ; " that "the dead in Christ" 
 will be first raised ; that those who shall be then 
 alive will undergo a change equivalent to death ; 
 that the united Churches, including the changed 
 living and the raised dead, shall then ascend to 
 " meet the Lord in the air" (i Thess. iv. 14 — 17); 
 that there will be a resurrection of the " unjust " as 
 well as of the "just" (Acts xxiv. 15) ; that we must 
 all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ (2 Cor. 
 v. 10) ; and that, after the solemn adjudication, God's 
 servants w411 enter into " glory, honour, and peace " 
 (Rom. ii. 10), while His enemies will endure the 
 extremity of His righteous displeasure against sin. 
 The Apostle's words are terribly plain — " everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of His power" (2 Thess. i. 7 — 9). The 
 word " hell " is not found in his writings, but the 
 punishment of the ungodly is adverted to in Ian- 
 
The Future Stite. 131 
 
 guage of tremendous power, although we know not 
 where nor how it will be experienced. 
 
 He enters more into detail on one subject. We 
 refer to the resurrection-body of the saints. No- 
 thing is said of the raised body of the wicked. That 
 it will be capable of enduring "tribulation and 
 anguish " is plainly stated (Rom. ii. 9 ; see also our 
 Lord's words, Matt. x. 28) : how they can endure, we 
 are not told. Nor are we much more clearly en- 
 lightened respecting the bodies of the saints, though 
 many more particulars are mentioned. Here, again, 
 as in all the salvation, Christ is the centre, the 
 pattern. Everything is comprised in the declaration 
 already quoted from Phil. iii. 21 — "all things unto 
 Himself" — body as well as soul. Of the nature and 
 constitution of that new body, we know nothing* 
 It will not be earthly flesh and blood. It will be a 
 " spiritual boc'.y." It went down to the grave in 
 " weakness " ; it will be raised in " power." It was 
 •* corruptible " ; it will be raised in " incorruption." 
 It sunk into the earth helpless and dishonoured ; it 
 will rise up " in glory," quickened — ethereal — im- 
 mortalised — ever fresh 'and young. "As we have 
 borne the , image of the earthy, we shall also bear 
 the image of the heavenly" (i Cor. xv. 49). It is 
 useless to speculate. Another Apostle expresses the 
 same thought, but goes no farther : " We shall be like 
 iri. 1, for we shall see Him as He is " (i John iii. 2). 
 
 K 2 
 
1 3 2 The Future State, 
 
 The Lord Himself included all in a sentence, when He 
 said, "Neither can they die any more" (Luke xx. 36). 
 Then, "when this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
 mortality, shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
 written. Death is swallowed up in victory" (i Cor. 
 XV. 54). " And so shall we ever be with the Lord " 
 (i Thess. iv. 17). That will be the consummation 
 of all wishes and hopes. There and then will be 
 the best society — the best employment — the highest 
 bliss — and all without change, without end. 
 
 All the family will be there ; all who " love His 
 appearing " (2 Tim. iv. 8). " Joint heirs with 
 Christ" (Rom. viii. 17), they will enter into posses- 
 sion of the inheritance. Here, they ** groaned 
 within themselves " (Rom. viii. 23) ; there, the 
 •* manifestation of the sons of God will be Seen in 
 its full glory," and they will ** know even as also they 
 are known" (i Cor. xiii. 12). 
 
 The great rebellion is put down. God's authority 
 is vindicated. A holy family, gathered from all 
 nations, has assembled in the heavenly palace. In 
 their happiness and purity Christ will be " glorified " 
 and " admired " (2 Thess. i. 10). Yes ! " glorified " 
 and " admired " : for it will be seen that His grace 
 triumphed over every form of opposition, and sub- 
 dued all enmities ; that no foe finally prevailed 
 against Him ; but that He had " put down all rule. 
 
and all authority and power " (i Cor. xv. 24). The 
 millennial glory has come and gone. The bright 
 visions of prophecy have seen their accomplishment. 
 The purpose for which the Son of God became 
 incarnate has been amply realised. The incarnation 
 has fulfilled its mission, and in its manifested and 
 visible form is no more needed. The Son with- 
 draws from the voluntary union with the human, 
 which no longer requires to be sustained, now that 
 the object has been entirely and for ever secured. 
 He " delivers up the kingdom to God, even the 
 Father" (i Cor. xv. 24). The glory of the Deity, 
 which seemed to be obscured by the rebellion, is 
 restored, and God is " All in All " (i Cor. xv. 28). 
 Quietness, peace, purity, and bliss unspeakable 
 reign throughout the universe. 1 he history of the 
 conflict is reviewed with grateful emotions. The 
 doubts and misgivings that were so often mingled 
 with faith have ceased for ever. God's policy in the 
 management of affairs during the rebellion, and in 
 His modes of dealing with the rebels, is contem- 
 plated with unmingled admiration. If such a fee''"»g 
 as self-reproach can be indulged in heaven, it is m 
 the recollection of the distrust and unbelief which 
 were too often yielded to on earth. But now the 
 scales have fallen from all eyes. On every hand the 
 acclaim is heard — " O the depth of the riches both 
 of the wisdom and knowledge of God 1" (Rom. xi. ^$). 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AN ARGUMENT. 
 
 Truth of the History — Paul was not Deceived — He was not a Deceiver — 
 Originality of his Religious System — The History Intelligible, if 
 Christianity is true — Certainty of its Truth. 
 
 The conversion and history of the Apostle Paul 
 furnish a powerful argument in favour of the Divine 
 origin of Christianity. 
 
 There can be no question as to the truth of the 
 history, which is admitted on all sides. It is a fact 
 that Saul of Tarsus left Jerusalem, bearing a com- 
 mission to arrest Christian Jews who might be found 
 at Damascus. It is a fact that he was not merely in 
 the employ of the Jewish authorities on that occa- 
 sion, but that he was also a voluntary agent, carrying 
 into effect their purposes with a willing mind. It is 
 a fact that he failed in the execution of his intention. 
 It is a fact that the reason assigned by himself for 
 his failure was that Jesus Christ appeared to him on 
 his journey in miraculous splendour, and commanded 
 him to engage in His service. It is a fact that a 
 
Paul was not Deceived, 1 3 5 
 
 wonderful change instantly appeared in his character 
 — a change which neither friends nor enemies could 
 account for. It is a fact that his subsequent life 
 exhibited an unvarying course of devotion to the 
 Saviour, which exposed him to privations and suffer- 
 ings of no common kind, issuing in his public 
 execution as a malefactor. 
 
 Now, our first inquiry may be, was all this real ? 
 or was Paul the victim of some delusion — practised 
 upon by a skilful master of trickery ? Several con- 
 siderations may be adduced in favour of a negative 
 reply to the last question. 
 
 Paul was not a man of soft, impressionable tem- 
 perament— likely to be wrought upon by an appeal 
 to the imagination, or to be easily beguiled or over- 
 reached. He was distinguished by strong common 
 sense. He would consider a subject understandingly, 
 and know the reasons of things. Although liable 
 to occasional excitements, springing from just and 
 adequate causes, he was far from being governed by 
 impulses ; nor was he apt to be frightened into a 
 course of action by seemingly strange phenomena. 
 It was more likely that he would speculate on the 
 wonderful, or frame theories respecting it, than allow 
 himself to be alarmed by any mysterious manifesta- 
 tions or appearances. His habit was to require 
 grounds for faith, to demand evidence, and to look 
 for realities. 
 
136 Paul was not Deceived. 
 
 Such a man was not to be imposed upon. His 
 was not a temperament that would invite the prac- 
 tisings of an impostor. If in his life there were 
 witnessed any sudden changes of purpose or action, 
 all who knew him would take for granted that reason- 
 able ground for such changes existed, and could be 
 adduced for the satisfaction of inquirers. 
 
 The nature of the effect or change must also be 
 considered. If it were merely physical, it would in 
 all probability cease to operate in a few days, or at 
 most in a few weeks. In Paul's case, the effect was 
 twofold — partly physical, partly mental, or, to speak 
 more correctly, moral. The physical, his blindness, 
 was the natural effect of ** the glory of that light" 
 (Acts xxii. 1 1), and would have shortly subsided had 
 it not pleased God to remove it by the intervention of 
 his servant Ananias. But what explanation can be 
 given of the mental or moral phenomena ? How 
 shall we account for the altered feeling — the sub- 
 missive tone — the protracted prayer? When he 
 was smitten to the ground, he was within sight of 
 Damascus, and was going there ** to bind all that 
 called on the name " of the Lord ; and now he him- 
 self is heard engaged in the invocation. The bodily 
 pain, if any were endured, was nothing in comparison 
 s f the tumult of the soul. There was evidently a strange 
 revolution of thought — a mighty revulsion — the effect 
 of an all-powerful influence. And it had a permanent 
 
He was not a Deceiver, ' 137 
 
 issue. The hand of Ananias removed the blindness, 
 but his words confirmed and deepened the inward 
 impression. That was not temporary. It resulted 
 in permanent habit, which, as years rolled on, grew 
 stronger and stronger, in spite of all the eiforts of 
 men and demons to destroy it. There was a mar- 
 vellous consciousness, tinging deeply and lastingly 
 his whole character, arid shaping all the future of 
 his life. Is it reasonable to ascribe such remarkable 
 effects to an illusion } Paul believed that he had 
 actually seen the Lord Jesus. More than twenty 
 years afterwards we hear him asking, ** Have I not 
 seen Jesus Christ our Lord .'^" (i Cor. ix. i.) He 
 traced his religious experience to that event. The 
 Lord's look penetrated him. The Lord's words 
 always rung in his ears. Strong conviction fastened 
 on his soul. All his subsequent history tended to 
 prove the genuineness of that conviction, and the 
 certainty of the event itself. 
 
 And if it be admitted that Paul was not deceived, 
 it is surely equally clear that he was not a deceiver. 
 He had no intention to change sides. Nothing 
 could be farther from his mind on the morning of 
 that memorable day. What inducement was there ? 
 He was on the road to worldly honour and dis- 
 tinction, and would sacrifice his temporal interests 
 and bring a dark blight on his prosperity if he 
 stopped in his career. All earthly considerations 
 
united in persuading him to continue in the course 
 he had marked out for himself. To suppose that he 
 suddenly abandoned his purpose and joined the 
 hated sect, without promise or prospect of advan- 
 tage, and that, to justify himself, he invented the 
 story of Christ's appearance to him, is to charge 
 him with folly and dishonesty, accusations which 
 nothing in his life can warrant. For, we ask again, 
 what were the inducements } What could he gain 
 by it ? Ambition could not be pleaded ; for, if he 
 might hope to obtain a prominent place among the 
 leaders of Christianity, which was hardly probable 
 as long as the original Apostles lived, there would 
 be small honour in standing at the head of a de- 
 spised society, which all the world had united to 
 crush. As little room was there for the imputation 
 of avarice. No one could expect to get rich, at any 
 rate, in Jerusalem, by becoming a Christian ; for 
 Peter had not a penny to give a beggar (Acts iii. 6). 
 **As many as were possessors of lands or houses 
 sold them, and brought the prices of the things that 
 were sold, and laid them down at the Apostles* feet : 
 and distribution was made unto every man according 
 as he had need" (Acts iv. 34, 35) ; and in the next 
 generation, "the poor saints" of that city were 
 thankful for help from abroad (Rom. xv. 25 — 27). 
 Paul's own experience shows that, if he had ever 
 entertained the expectation of deriving material 
 
Originality of his Religious System. 139 
 
 benefit from the adoption of the profession of Chris- 
 tianity, he was miserably disappointed. He had to 
 work for his living, and not unfrequently he was 
 in a state of absolute destitution, having "no certain 
 dwelling-place," " in hunger and thirst," " in cold 
 and nakedness " (iCor. iv. 11 — 13 ; 2 Cor. xi. 27). 
 The religious system taught by the Apostle, and 
 exhibited in his writings, furnishes a powerful cor- 
 roboration of the argument now before us. A brief 
 sketch of that system has been given. Let it be 
 carefully and impartially examined. Does it not 
 reveal a complete antagonism to the Judaism of that 
 age } We may safely assert that no religious Jew, 
 being still a member of the synagogue, could have 
 written those letters. The sentiments they express, 
 the feelings described, the hopes indulged, are those 
 with which Jews could have no sympathy. Not to 
 mention other points, the largeness of heart ex- 
 hibited towards the Gentiles, and the satisfaction 
 with which their equality with the Jews in the 
 Church of God was contemplated, was altogether 
 peculiar. In nothing was the narrow-mindedness 
 of the Jewish people of those times more strikingly 
 displayed than in their determination to withhold 
 the blessings of the new covenant from the Gen- 
 tiles. They would not touch nor eat with them on 
 earth ; they wished to keep them out of heaven, that 
 they might not be compelled to admit them to the 
 
140 Th& History Iiitelligihley 
 
 holy brotherhood there. In direct opposition to all 
 this was the Christianity of Paul. Whence was it 
 derived ? How came it to pass that the man who 
 had " made havoc of the Church " was changed 
 into a tender-hearted and liberal messenger of divine 
 benevolence ? It was a moral revolution. In what 
 way was it brought about ? 
 
 There is but one answer to these questions : 
 "This also cometh of the Lord of Hosts." And 
 the same explanation must be given of the entire 
 religious system taught and advocated by the 
 Apostle. He did not invent it ; he could not invent 
 it. He did not learn it of Gamaliel, who was equally 
 incapable of inventing it. No Jewish book con- 
 tained his doctrines. They were so spiritual, so 
 sublime, as to be out of the reach of the Jewish 
 mind of that century. Surely, we are shut up to the 
 Apostle's own conclusion : ** I certify you, brethren, 
 that the Gospel which was preached of me is not 
 after man" (Gal. i. ii). Of the manner in which 
 the revelation was made to him we have no know- 
 ledge. But the fact is clearly stated. Paul is a 
 trustworthy witness. He writes as a man who ought 
 to be believed, and his whole life is a guarantee for 
 his sincerity and truth. The Pauline theology is of 
 God, and, being so, Christianity is divine. 
 
 Admit this, and everything is accounted for. If 
 Christianity is true, Paulas history is intelligible. 
 
If Christianity is 2 rue. 141 
 
 Wonderful as it is, in all respects, it harmonises 
 with the wonderful system with which it is asso- 
 ciated. We can understand the phenomena of the 
 Apostle's life, which is seen to be the natural 
 development of Christian principles. We feel no 
 surprise at the disinterestedness, the self-denial, 
 the patient endurance of manifold suffering, the 
 willing surrender of social comforts and ambitious 
 hopes, the companionship of the despised and per- 
 secuted followers of the Nazarene, the enthusiastic 
 attachment to the " Man of Sorrows," for whom he 
 had "suffered the loss of all things" (Phil. iii. 8). 
 This, and much more not necessary to be detailed, 
 was the natural fruit, springing from the heavenly 
 seed which was sown in Paul's heart when Christ 
 met him in the neighbourhood of Damascus. We 
 see in him the regeneration, the new life, the devoted 
 love, the burning zeal, the contempt of pain and 
 shame, the calmness in the prospect of death, the 
 joyful outlook on the heavenly land, which Chris- 
 tianity, and Christianity only, produces. Christ's 
 Gospel is the text, and the history of Paul is the 
 commentary. The text deserved the commentar}' — 
 the commentary is worthy of the text. They are 
 fitted to each other. 
 
 But take the contrary view. Say that Christianity 
 is not true — that the Gospel history is a legend or a 
 myth — and that the system which claims to be 
 
142 The History Intelligible ^ 
 
 divine is a tissue of fraud, or an outburst of fana- 
 ticism. Tlien, how are we to account for the 
 conduct of the man of Tarsus ? He was no simple- 
 ton, no ignorant clown or barbarous Bedouin, who 
 might easily become the victim of plausible super- 
 stition. He was one of the best educated men of 
 his age and nation. There was no tendency to the 
 credulous in him. An impostor would not have 
 deemed him a likely subject for his operations, but 
 would rather have been repelled by his stern and 
 stately bearing. Besides, he was placed in circum- 
 stances eminently favourable to the detection of the 
 supposed imposture. He had been living for years 
 in Jerusalem, and was personally cognisant of all 
 that had taken place in that city during his residence 
 there. Nor was he an unobservant spectator. He 
 was a warm partisan, deeply concerned for the 
 perpetuity of the national system, and opposed to 
 any innovation, " being more exceedingly zealous 
 of the traditions of his fathers" (Gal. i. 14). 
 On the first appearance of the Christian mis- 
 sionaries he seems to have contented himself 
 with quiet observation. At any rate, he took 
 no active steps till the persecution and murder 
 of Stephen roused the wrath within him. He 
 then became an accomplice in that violence, 
 and did all he could to perpetuate the cruel 
 policy. Not because he looked on Christ and 
 
If Christianity is True. 143 
 
 his Apostles as impostors, whose pretensions 
 he was bound to expose. There is no hint of 
 that. But it was because he foresaw that, if 
 Christianity prevailed, Judaism must fall ; and 
 Judaism, he was assured, was of God. True, 
 it was corrupted and overlaid by the " traditions 
 of the elders," which had, in fact, superseded 
 Moses. But that had escaped his notice, nor 
 had he so carefully studied the prophets as to 
 sympathise with the expectations of the submis- 
 sion of the Gentiles to God which their pre- 
 dictions warranted. One kind of submission 
 only was thought of by the Jews — the sub- 
 jugation of all nations to Israel by the sword. 
 Union and incorporation were abhorrent to them. 
 Paul suspected that, if the new doctrine prevailed, 
 Moses would be thrust aside, and Christ exalted. 
 But Moses* law was destined, as he believed, to 
 perpetuity, and the Jews were to be universal 
 conquerors. Hence his hatred and malice. He 
 regarded the Christians as enemies to the country, 
 and therefore to be uprooted and destroyed. The 
 facts could not be denied : the miracles were patent 
 to all men. There was but one course to be 
 adopted. It was relentless hostility, aiming at 
 nothing less than extermination without mercy. 
 Christianity was treated as a rival system, doomed to 
 destruction ; for two systems, each claiming to be 
 
144 The History Intelligible y 
 
 divine, could not exist together. One or the other 
 must die. 
 
 Such was Paul's view of the case. He abandoned 
 it, and joined the hated sect. He devoted all the 
 energies of his energetic soul to the advancement of 
 the sect, and became Christianity's champion, sacri- 
 ficing all his earthly hopes, and exposing himself to 
 losses, perils, and pains, terminating at last in the 
 public death of a criminal. Now, if he knew that 
 Christianity was an imposture, this conduct was 
 unaccountable ; and the more so, because he not only 
 lost all, in a worldly point of view, but did not gain 
 the pre-eminence and power which an ambitious 
 demagogue would have accounted a sufficient reward. 
 The heathen looked on him as an incorrigible 
 fanatic, and drove him from city to city. The Jews 
 detested him as an apostate. By many, even among 
 the Christians, he was disliked, and they sought to 
 blacken his character and diminish his influence. 
 The "perils among false brethren" (2 Cor. xi. 26) 
 affected him, it cannot be doubted, much more 
 painfully than all other forms of suffering. In 
 short, on the supposition that Christianity was a 
 mere human invention, Paul's history is inexplicable. 
 He must have known it, and, knowing it, would 
 have dissolved his connection in disgust. Admitting 
 that he had become a Christian in the hope of 
 making use of the new system as a means of his own 
 
if Christianity is True. 145 
 
 aggrandisement, the complete disappointment of 
 that hope would have induced him to leave the 
 party. But he persevered, notwithstanding all. That 
 perseverance proved his sincerity. It did more ; it 
 proved that Christianity was what it professed to be; 
 for, if not, such a man as Paul, whose opportunities 
 for inquiry were so complete, would not have been 
 deceived. It is contrary to all human experience 
 that such 9, history as his should be associated with 
 juggling and trickery. 
 
 The conclusion is, that the conversion and Christian 
 life of the Apostle furnish a powerful argument in 
 favour of Christianity, — an argument, the force of 
 which must be felt by all ingenuous reasoners. It is 
 presumptuous, indeed, to pretend to fathom the 
 counsels of the Most High, or to assign the reasons 
 of his conduct on any given occasion. But, if it was 
 God's purpose to present to the world, in one 
 character and life, such an example of the power of 
 the Gospel, and such a demonstration of its truth 
 and divine origin, as would put infidelity to the 
 blush, it could not have been more happily accom- 
 plished than in the history of this renowned Apostle. 
 And if the Lord intended to give to the Church a 
 system of belief and practice, tersely expressed, 
 orderly arranged, complete in general principles, 
 without descending to minuteness of detail, so as to 
 form a code of faith and religion, binding on all, 
 
 I, 
 
146 Certainty of its Truth, 
 
 and yet leaving scope for freedom of thought and 
 variety of illustrations and uses, it must be granted 
 that in the Pauline Epistles we see the intention fully 
 carried out. Those Epistles have instructed and 
 nurtured the Church in all ages. True godliness has 
 always flourished in proportion as they were esteemed 
 and studied. When they were kept out of sight, as 
 they were during the ages of darkness (miscalled by 
 some " the ages of faith "), piety became sickly — 
 the manliness of Christian character was dwa'fed— 
 and the old idolatries crept in again under a religious 
 garb. Luther, Tyndale, an^ their coadjutors, effected 
 a blessed restoration in the sixteenth century. Paul 
 was brought out of the obscurity in which he had 
 been long hidden, and became once more the great 
 light of the Church. In saying this, we have no wish 
 to detract from the merits of the other writers of the 
 New Testament. The severe morals of James — the 
 evangelical discussions of Peter — the loving letters 
 which John wrote, are indispensable supplements to 
 the treatises of the former disciple of Gamaliel. 
 Those treatises, nevertheless, are the fountain of the 
 theology of the New Testament ; while, in connec- 
 tion with the other apostolical writings, with which 
 they are in full agreement, they are " profitable for 
 doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
 in righteousness *' (2 Tim. iii. 16). "One star dif- 
 fereth from another star in glory" (i Cor. xv. 41) ; 
 
but they all derive their light from the same source. 
 We shall not be understood to speak disparagingly 
 of others when we affirm that in the Christian firma- 
 ment the Apostle Paul shines as a star of the first 
 magnitude. 
 
 L 2 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 General Remarks — Was Paul a Member of the Sanhedrim ? — Alleged 
 Discrepancies in the Accounts of his Conveni^n — The Treatment of 
 Elymas — Paul's Conduct to Mark — Circumcision of Timothy — The 
 Transactions ai': Jerusalem when Paul last visited that City — Examina- 
 tion of Rom. ix. 3 J I Cor. i. 17 — Supposed Mistake respecting the 
 Second Coming of the Saviour — Examination of i Cor. v. 5 } vii. 25 j 
 Acts XX. 25 } 2 Tim. iii. 8. 
 
 Our Lord said, " It is impossible but that offences 
 will come" (Luke xvii. i); that is, human nature is 
 so perverse, that it will either reply against God, or 
 find lault with Him, or captiously criticise His words. 
 If the doctrine of plenary and verbal inspiration be 
 maintained, it is objected that man's mind is fettered, 
 that he is used as a mere machine to record the 
 dictations of the Holy Spirit, and that this state of 
 things differs very little from that of the subjects of 
 the Papacy, who acknowledge an infallible master, 
 and are forbidden to think otherwise than as he 
 directs them, on pain of excommunication. If, on 
 the contrary, it be held that, while the thoughts are 
 
General Remarks. 149 
 
 God's, the words and the manner are special to the 
 writer, and reflect his individual peculiarities, there 
 a:e some who are ready to exclaim, " How loose 
 and uncertain are the utterances of these books I 
 Either the readings vary, so that we often know not 
 whether we have the right text or not, or the inter- 
 pretations differ to such a degree, that it is next to 
 impossible to decide which deserves the preference." 
 Or a despondent feeling may take possession of the 
 mind, under the influence of which a man sits down 
 in moping melancholy, making no effort, but re- 
 signing himself to inactivity, it may be to despair. 
 
 All this is wrong. God's Word is not a riddle or 
 a paradox. It is ** very pure," and, for the most part, 
 very plain. That there are mysteries and deep things 
 in it — " high as heaven " — ** deep as hell " — defying 
 all human power to reach or to fathom, must not be 
 wondered at. It was to be expected. There must 
 be marks of God in a Divine book. If the path is 
 generally straight and plain, as it is, we must expect 
 it to be now and then covered with mists or plunged 
 in thick darkness — a " darkness which may be felt." 
 Nor is this any unkindness on God's part. It is 
 the offspring of necessity. He is the All-wise 
 Creator ; we are fallible, weak creatures, yet sadly 
 prone to think of ourselves "as gods, knowing good 
 and evil " (Gen. iii. 5). That presumption must be 
 checked and mortified, and nothing is so wefl adapted 
 
150 General Remarks. 
 
 to produce those effects as a stiff struggle with diffi- 
 culties. We must sometimes be perplexed, baffled, 
 overcome, driven to our wits' end, and it shall be "to 
 humble us, to prove us, to know what is in our 
 hearts" (Deut. viii. 2). 
 
 Nevertheless, let the inquirer be of good cheer. 
 Very suitable and very precious are the words of the 
 wise man : — " If thou criest after knowledge, and 
 liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou seekest 
 her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid 
 treasures ; then shalt thou understand the fear of the 
 Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord 
 giveth wisdom : out of His mouth cometh knowledge 
 and understanding" (Prov. ii. 3 — 6). And so are the 
 words of our Master : — ** Ask, and it shall be given 
 you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
 opened unto you : for every one that asketh 
 receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him 
 that knocketh it shall be opened " (Matt. vii. 7, 8). 
 And the connection is observable. '* Ask " is first, 
 for wisdom cometh from God. Then follows seeking, 
 as the miner laboriously pierces the earth, in his 
 search for the hid treasures, or as the importunate 
 applicant, who is not repelled, but continues knock- 
 ing till the door is opened. Let a man pursue his 
 biblical studies in such a spirit, and he will be 
 rewarded with success. 
 
 Certain difficulties have been alleged, or fancied, 
 
in the life and letters of the Apostle Paul. It may 
 be useful to notice some of them. 
 
 I. In his defence before King Agrippa, he said, 
 " Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having 
 received authority from the chief priests ; and when 
 they were put to death, I gave my voice against 
 them" (Acts xxvi. lo). 
 
 Some find a difficulty here, arising from the fact 
 that the ** elders," or members of the Sanhedrim, 
 were generally men advanced in years. Saul was a 
 "young man;" it is not likely that he was much 
 more than thirty years old at the time of Stephen's 
 murder. Hence, it is argued that he could not be a 
 member of the Sanhedrim, and that the expression 
 ** gave my voice " must be understood figuratively — 
 ** exerted all my influence " {Dr. Adam Clarke). 
 
 But the phrase is a technical phrase, and simply 
 means "I voted." Tyndale, Cranmer, and the 
 Geneva English translate it, " I gave the sentence ; " 
 Dean Alford, in his revised version, "I gave my 
 vote." It occurs nowhere else in the New Testa- 
 ment, and it would certainly appear ,ery strange if, 
 in the only place in which it is found, it should 
 be figuratively understood. The Apostle says, "I 
 voted." If so, he had a right to vote, and that 
 implies membership of the Court by which the sen- 
 tence was passed. As to the necessity, for such 
 members being men in years, it is sufficient to reply 
 
152 Alleged Discrepancies in the 
 
 that the original meaning of official designations 
 soon fades away. The "alderman" was originally 
 an *' elder man } " but the appellation now imports 
 office, not age. 
 
 There are some religious denominations in which 
 the pastors are styled " elders." The practice pre- 
 vails extensively in British North America. A young 
 man of twenty-one is ordained ; he is immediately 
 dubbed " elder." We have known the appellation 
 applied to licentiates — incipient " elders." 
 
 But it is affirmed that the Jews required their 
 " elders " to be married men, as they would be less 
 likely to be harsh in their treatment of criminals ; 
 and Paul, it is said, was not married. That c^not 
 be proved ; we have no evidence either way. He 
 may have been married, and lost his wife, either by 
 death or by desertion after he became a Christian. 
 His unsettled mode of life and the troubles of the 
 times (i Cor. vii* 26) prevented him from marrying 
 again, though he had full power to do so (i Cor. 
 ix. 5). 
 
 It must be remembered that the Jews were not 
 permitted to execute a sentence of death (John xviii. 
 3 1). They could only find a man guilty. The case 
 was then to be reported to the Roman governor, in 
 whose hands was the power of life and death. 
 
 n. There are three accounts of the Apostle's con- 
 version : one by Luke, and two by Paul himself 
 
(Acts ix. 3 — 18 ; xxii. 6 — 16 ; xxvi. 12 — 18). Objectors 
 maintain that there are variations and discrepancies 
 in those accounts. There are no other variations in 
 them than such as are likely to occur in all inde- 
 pendent narratives. There are variations in the 
 Gospels, each being written from the author's own 
 standpoint ; but the history is one and the same. So 
 it is here. The only discrepancy, or seeming one, 
 relates to the companions of Paul. Luke says that 
 " they stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing 
 no man." Paul himself states that " they saw the 
 light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice 
 of him that spake to me." These accounts are easily 
 reconcilable. The men heard, and yet did not 
 hear ; it was a sound that struck their ears, but they 
 could not distinguish any words ; — ^and what wonder ? 
 The dazzling light — the violent fall — the invisible 
 speaker — all conspired to terrify them. They were 
 so confused that they could not give i\ straightforward 
 account of what took place. All they could say was 
 that they heard a strange noise as of some one 
 speaking, but they saw no speaker, and 'they were 
 too much alarmed to pay such attention as to under- 
 stand what was spoken. 
 
 III. The judgment on Elymas, the sorcerer, is 
 complained of, as contrary to the spirit of the 
 Gospel and the teachings of the Saviour (Acts xiii. 
 8— II). 
 
154 The Treatment of Elymas, 
 
 Our Lord's miracles were miracles of goodness. 
 The only act of judgment was the cursing of the fig- 
 tree; for the expulsion of the traders from the 
 temple precincts was an act of authority, and so 
 manifestly suitable and just, that it excited no sur- 
 prise, and brought down upon Him no censure. But 
 after He had left the world the aspect of affairs 
 changed. It was not to be expected that men would 
 show the same reverence for the servants as they had 
 shown to the Master. It was useless to attempt to 
 deceive Him, for " He knew what was in man " 
 (John ii. 25). But success was to be hoped for in 
 an attempt to overreach Peter or to withstand Paul. 
 It was desirable that such purposes should be nipt in 
 the bud. The Lord saw fit to interpose specially for 
 the vindication of apostolic honour. Ananias and 
 Sapphira had no imitators for a long while. That 
 double burial within three hours was a crushing blow 
 to the trade in hypocrisy. And it will be confessed, 
 we think, that it was highly proper to signalise the 
 commencement of Paul's more public career by such 
 a display of divine approval as might at once confirm 
 the confidence of his brethren, and admonish 
 opposers of the peril of their course. God's judg- 
 ments are always just. He does not ask us to excuse 
 Him for the exercise of severity. He knows best 
 when it is required. And it is wiser, more reasonable, 
 and more pious, to submit to His will than to pre- 
 
Paul's Conduct to Mark. 155 
 
 sume to murmur at His arrangements. ** Shall not 
 the Judge of all the earth do right ?" 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that mercy 
 was mingled with judgment. Elymas's blindness 
 was a temporary infliction ; he was not to " see the 
 ^MXifor a season" We know not how long it lasted. 
 But he ** saw the sun " again ; and we may indulge 
 the conviction that, whether he became a believer 
 or not, he refrained thereafter from attempts to turn 
 others from the faith. 
 
 IV. Some see much harshness in Paul's treatment 
 of Mark. 
 
 That young man accompanied his uncle Barnabas, 
 and the Apostle, on their missionary tour. ** They 
 had John to their minister " — that is, their attendant 
 (Acts xiii. v). But after they had passed through 
 Cyprus, and were about to rough it in the regions 
 of Asia Minor, his heart failed him, and he " de- 
 parted from them from Pamphylia, and went not 
 with them to the work" (Acts xv. 38). Barnabas, 
 who was much attached to his nephew, wished to 
 take him with them on their second journey, but 
 Paul objected to it. His former conduct had shown 
 a want of courage, which might reappear, and would 
 then be more injurious ; for they were about to " visit 
 the brethren in every city where they had preached 
 the Word of the Lord," and an example of unsteadi- 
 ness, not to say cowardice, might have a disastrous 
 
156 Paul's conduct to Mark. 
 
 efifect. Mark, too, was a stranger to the disciples. 
 They would be likely enough to make inquiries 
 respecting him, so that the story of his weakness 
 would leak out, to his disparagement and to their 
 grief and loss, since his influence among them 
 would cease when the facts became known. Bar- 
 nabas failed to see the reasonableness of Paul's 
 decision, and " the contention was so sharp between 
 them, that they departed asunder one from the 
 other" (Acts xv. 39). 
 
 Barnabas does not reappear in the history. When 
 he separated from Paul he went to his own country, 
 Cyprus, taking Mark with him. The sacred nar- 
 rative mentions him no more. 
 
 But Mark reappears, and in connection with Paul. 
 The Apostle harboured no resentment. Though he 
 judged it inappropriate that his young friend should 
 accompany him on that journey, he recognised his 
 qualifications for Christian work, and admitted him 
 afterwards among the workmen. Writing from Rome 
 during his first imprisonment, he speaks of Mark as 
 one of his " fellowlabourers " (Philemon 24), and 
 directs the Colossians to " receive him " (Col. iv. 10). 
 Some years afterwards, when imprisoned again, and 
 uncertain as to the issue, he was desirous of the 
 assistance and relief which Mark might render him. 
 He had proved his assiduity and kindness. " Take 
 Mark," he said to Timothy, " and bring him with 
 
Circumcision of Timothy. 157 
 
 thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry " 
 (" he is serviceable to me for ministering " — Ellicotf) 
 — 2 Tim. iv. II. 
 
 V. The circumcision of Timothy has been a 
 stumbling-block to many. 
 
 The facts are thus narrated : *' Then came he to 
 Derbe and Lystra : and, behold, a certain disciple 
 was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain 
 woman which was a Jewess, and believed ; but his 
 father was a Greek : which was well reported of by 
 the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him 
 would Paul have to go forth with him; and took 
 and circumcised him because of the Jews which 
 were in those quarters : for they knew all that his 
 father was a Greek" (Acts xvi. i — 3). It was a 
 peculiar case. On his mother's side, Timothy was 
 a Jew ; on his father's, a Greek. Consequently, he 
 had been brought up as a Greek. Having become 
 a Christian, and evincing excellent qualities for the 
 ministry, Paul determined to secure him. But the 
 Jewish element was strong in that quarter. The 
 employment of an uncircumcised man would have 
 been so offensive to some, that it would not be 
 prudent to risk their displeasure. ** Circumstances 
 alter cases." When Paul could " become a Jew," 
 without the sacrifice of principle, he was willing to 
 do it, " that he might gain the Jews" (i Cor. ix. 20). 
 But when certain contentious men insisted on 
 
15^ The Tranmctions at Jerusalem 
 
 submission to circumcision, as essential to a valid 
 Christian profession, or even to salvation, he stood 
 firm as a rock. To such men he ** gave place by 
 subjection, no, not for an hour" (Gal. ii. 5). The 
 Galatians were told that they must choose between 
 Christ and Moses; salvation could not be shared 
 between them. "If ye be circumcised, Christ 
 shall profit you nothing" (Gal. v. 2). In circum- 
 cising Timothy, he condescended to weakness, 
 and sought to conciliate prejudice ; in withstand- 
 ing the demand for the circumcision of Titus, he 
 was the champion of Christian truth and Christian 
 freedom. 
 
 IV. The transactions at Jerusalem, on the Apostle's 
 last visit to that city, require explanation. 
 
 The Christian Jews at Jerusalem were numbered by 
 myriads. They were all " zealous of the law " 
 (Acts xxi. 20), and in fact seem to have united law 
 and gospel in a somewhat strange way. The propo- 
 sition made to Paul by the elders, that he should 
 assume the expenses of the four men who had a 
 Nazarite vow upon them, so that the people might 
 see that "he himself walked orderly and kept the 
 law " (Acts xxi. 24), must have been almost too much 
 for even his charitableness ; that he yielded, must 
 be considered as a strong proof of his determination 
 to go to the very verge of consistency, if by any means, 
 within the limits of right, he might further the 
 
On PauVs last Visit there. 159 
 
 interests of Christianity. Still, it must be confessed 
 that the words of the elders can scarcely be justified. 
 They wished the people to be convinced that Paul 
 "walked orderly." Now, he did not so walk, in 
 Gentile countries ; he claimed and exercised freedom. 
 If he chose, in compliance with the elders, to " walk 
 orderly " in Jerusalem, that fact would not bear the 
 large inference which they connected with it. It is 
 not worth while to defend them, nor is it necessary 
 to utter unqualified condemnation. More informa- 
 tion is needed : in its absence, wc must place this 
 matter among undecided questions. Yet, as far as 
 Paul is concerned, there is no need of a laboured 
 defence. His meaning was clear : he was willing to 
 conform to Jewish ceremonial for the time being, if 
 in so doing no Christian principles were compromised. 
 If others put a construction on his conduct which 
 it would not fairly bear, that was their fault, and he 
 was not accountable for it. 
 
 It is not unusual for persons to draw hasty con- 
 clusions from results. Paul's action on the occasion 
 now under notice led to his imprisonment, and that to 
 his voyage to Rome, and his residence in that city, 
 with its momentous consequences. So God o\erruled 
 man's evil designs, for the good of His Church. But 
 that does not change the character of those designs, 
 nor lessen the guilt of the parties. Our Lord's 
 death was brought about ** by the determinate 
 
counsel and foreknowledge of God ;" but " wicked 
 hands" slew him (Acts ii. 23). 
 
 VII. The Apostle's refusal to undergo the punish- 
 ment of scourging is represented by some as an 
 act of disobedience to our Lord's injunction in 
 Matt. V. 38 — 41. 
 
 Religion has suffered great injury from injudicious 
 interpretations of Scripture, and especially from 
 literal applications of passages which were only 
 intended to inculcate general principles. The Lord 
 taught that if the right hand, the right foot, or the 
 right eye caused a person to offend, the eye was to 
 be plucked out, and the hand or the foot cut off. 
 Now, if that was meant for a law, it became a dead 
 letter as soon as it was issued. Origen, it is true, 
 yielded literal obedience ; and Cranmer, in his 
 martyrdom, punished " that unworthy right hand ; " 
 but the spiritual rather than the literal submission 
 is generally held by Christians to be the result of 
 correct interpretation. 
 
 The Saviour forbade retaliation. " Ye have heard 
 that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth 
 for a tooth : but I say unto you. That ye resist not 
 evil." Retaliation is useless, and it is endless, 
 creating fresh offences and exciting new crimes. 
 The blood-feuds of the Arabs are perpetual sources 
 of misery. Jesus says, " Rather suffer wrong than 
 do wrong : shun contention : do not provoke an 
 
adversary, but soothe and soften him by a gentle 
 spirit. Obey at all times, and in regard to all 
 persons, the * royal law.* " 
 
 But this does not touch the question of public 
 rights. The Christian is a citizen, and his privileges, 
 as such, are of great value. The welfare of society 
 depends on the preservation of civic rights. The 
 Christian may sometimes care but little for the 
 personal annoyance or injury which may be inflicted 
 on him ; but the rights of his fellow-citizens are to 
 be guarded as well as his own ; and he may find it 
 to be his duty to resist oppression for the sake of 
 the community, when, on his own account, he might 
 not have taken the trouble to leave his threshold for 
 the purpose. Christianity is not only " consistent 
 with the love of freedom," as Robert Hall eloquently 
 pleaded, but is its surest guarantee. 
 
 The Apostle Paul thoroughly understood this, and 
 shaped his course accordingly. He submitted, at 
 one time ; he protested, at another. At Philippi he 
 was scourged, and " thrust into the inner prison," 
 where he quietly waited the Lord's deliverance. 
 Those magistrates, however, had suffered themselves 
 to be overborne by a mob, and had broken the law. 
 They were liable to prosecution. Paul combined 
 the meek and the firm. He forbore to prosecute, 
 and thus gained favourable consideration for the 
 Christians whom he was leaving at Philippi ; he 
 
 M 
 
1 6 2 Paul's opportune Protest, 
 
 compelled the officials to apologise, and taught them 
 a salutary lesson, which they were not likely to forget 
 on other occasions. ' 
 
 The incident at Jerusalem was of a different 
 complexion. Obtaining evidence by torture was a 
 barbarism, which it was very desirable to expose. 
 An opportunity was offered. They bound the 
 Apostle 10 the whipping-post, to be ** examined by 
 scourging." ** Take care," said he to the centurion : 
 "mind what you are about. You have a Roman 
 citizen before you, who has been neither tried nor 
 judged. Examination by torture is bad enough in 
 all cases; but beware how you touch a Roman 
 citizen." -"Why," said the chief captain, "you 
 don't look like a rich man : that citizenship cost me 
 a large sum of money." " It cost me nothing," 
 replied the Apostle ; " I was free born." The 
 torturers slunk away : " and the chief captain also 
 was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and 
 because he had bound him " (Acts xxii. 29). Nor 
 can it be doubted that many a Roman citizen who 
 afterwards fell into Lysias* hand was saved from 
 scourging by Paul's opportune protest : and so the 
 Apostle was a benefactor to the community. 
 
 The wise man says, " There is a time to every 
 purpose under heaven" (Eccles. iii. i). A strict ob- 
 servance of the letter may be required to-day — and, 
 in some instances, is the requirement — as in all 
 
His Address to Ananias* 
 
 163 
 
 positive institutions ; a liberal interpretation, accord- 
 ing to the spirit^ may meet the case to-morrow. 
 Happy is he who has the wisdom that is " profitable 
 to direct" (Eccles. x. io)f 
 
 VIII. The Apostle's address to Ananias, the high 
 priest, has been censured as wanting in the respect 
 due to constituted authorities (^Acts xxiii. 3). 
 
 The Apostle knew the men before whom he ap- 
 peared, and hoped, by appealing to their better 
 feelings, to stop the prosecution. ** Men and bre- 
 thren," he said, " I have lived in all good conscience 
 before God until this day." He wished them to 
 understand that his course, all his life long, had 
 been guided by conscientious conviction. It was 
 no freak of fancy, no burst of fanaticism. When he 
 was leagued with them in the persecution, he " verily 
 thought that he ought to do many things contrary to 
 the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts xxvi. 9). 
 When he was better informed, and joined the Chris- 
 tians, his new mode of life was governed in the 
 same way. It was not hatred of his countrymen, or 
 hostility to their religion. He was convinced that 
 Jesus of Nazareth was the jMessiah, and that it was 
 his duty to advance the interests of Christianity. 
 He had no worldly ends in view, nor did he wish to 
 disturb the peace of society. He only asked to be 
 unmolested in serving God. 
 
 " Stop his mouth ! " said the high priest. It was 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Hts Address to Ananias . 
 
 done accordingly, though not with a gentle blow.* 
 It was an act of illegal violence, far below the 
 dignity of a high priest. Paul's indignation was 
 roused. He broke forth in burning words, and in 
 true Eastern style — "God shall smite thee, thou 
 whited wall I " (See Matt, xxiii. 27.) 
 
 Some think that Paul spoke prophetically, pre- 
 dicting Ananias*s death, who was assassinated some 
 years afterwards, and, therefore, that he was 
 authorised in addressing the high priest in that 
 manner. — Dr. Adam Clarke^ in loc. 
 
 But as Moses "spake unadvisedly with his lips" 
 (Psalm cvi. 33), and Peter betrayed unmanly weak- 
 ness, we need not be surprised that even Paul should 
 yield to provocation ; and it is not necessary to 
 defend him in such a case. " There is not a just 
 man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not " 
 (Eccles. vii. 20). 
 
 Dr. Hackett observes : *' Paul admits that he had 
 been thrown off his guard ; the insult had touched 
 him to the quick, and he had spoken rashly. But 
 what can surpass the grace with which he recovered 
 his self-possession, the frankness with which he 
 acknowledged his error ? If his conduct in yielding 
 to the momentary impulse was not that of Christ 
 
 * This mode of enjoining silence is still practised in Persia. Some 
 offenders were beaten ; " when they attempted to say anything in their 
 defence, they were struck on the mouth." — Hackett^ in he. 
 
Himself under a similar provocation (John xviii. 22, 
 23), certainly the manner in which he atoned for his 
 fault was Christ-like." — In loc. 
 
 Dean Alford says : " Our blessed Saviour is to us, 
 in all His words and acts, Wi^y. perfect pattern for ally 
 under all circumstances; by aiming at whatever He 
 did in each case, we shall do best : but even the 
 greatest of His Apostles are so far our patterns only, 
 as i\iey followed Him, which certainly in this case Paul 
 did not. That Paul thus answered, might go far 
 to excuse a like fervid reply in a Christian or a 
 minister of the Gospel, — but must never be used to 
 justify it : it may serve for an apology , but never for 
 an example^* — Greek Testament , ii. 233, Second 
 Edition. 
 
 No doubt when Paul's conduct is compared with 
 the calmness, gentleness, and self-denial of Jesus 
 (John xviii. 23), his warmth of temper becomes 
 evident. Still, we ought not to be too rigid in form- 
 ing a judgment respecting the Apostle. It is true 
 that, in our excessively refined age, the servants of 
 Christ cannot commit a greater sin than when they 
 exhibit impetuosity : the remark is at once made that 
 they should have been more circumspect. This may 
 be true ; but then, let it be considered that they have 
 exposed themselves to every danger, and, weak is 
 they are, chose their position in front of the army. 
 It is surely Letter to be unskilful advocates of the 
 
1 66 Exammation of Rom, ix. 3. 
 
 Lord, than, through excessive caution, to resign the 
 whole work to others. It may be also remarked, 
 that if Luther, for instance, had been in Paul's place, 
 he would have spoken with far more severity." — 
 Langis Commentary — Acts — p. 411. 
 
 IX. It is objected that when the Apostle said, " I 
 am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee " (Acts xxiii. 6), 
 he took unworthy advantage of his opponents. 
 
 By no means. Paul knew that his case was pre- 
 judged, and that before that tribunal he could not 
 expect a fair hearing. Herod and Pilate became 
 friends when Jesus was to be put to death. Pharisees 
 and Sadducees, mortally as they hated each other 
 could agree in persecuting Christ's servant. If they 
 could be divided, it might be possible to save him. 
 It was skilfully done. Paul saw his opportunity, and 
 was not slow to embrace it. By claiming union with 
 the Pharisees on one important point, he engaged 
 their sympathy, and set them at variance with the 
 other party. The object was gained for that time. 
 In the confusion and uproar the Apostle was safely 
 conveyed away. 
 
 X. How shall those strange words be explained — 
 " I could wish th.'^t I myself were accursed from Christ 
 for my brethren, n:y kinsmen according to the flesh " 
 (Rom. ix. 3) ? 
 
 There are two principal explanations. The first 
 supposes a mistranslation, and would render the 
 
Examination of \ Cor. i. 17. 167 
 
 phrase thus — ** For I myself did wish to be accursed 
 from Christ : " as if the Apostle should say — " I 
 was myself utterly estranged from Christ. Had I 
 died in that state, I must have been lost for ever. I 
 know the peril of that condition. Such is the con- 
 dition, and such the danger of my countrymen. O 
 that I could save them ! " 
 
 The second admits the common translation to be 
 correct, and holds the meaning to be — *' I would 
 endure anything for the salvation of my countiymen. 
 If it were possible, I would be willing to be lost, 
 that they might be saved." But it was not possible. 
 ** The objective impossibility did not destroy the sub- 
 jective intensity of feeling. And although he may 
 not have actually formed the wish, still any student 
 of human nature knows that feelings often exist, 
 never taking shape in definite wish, which are con- 
 trary both to what is possible, and what is actually 
 wished."— Z<2«^^'j Commentary. 
 
 The second explanation is now generally adopted. 
 
 XI. Paul says, that Christ "sent him not to 
 baptize, but to preach the Gospel" (i Cor. i. 17). 
 How is that to be understood ? • 
 
 In the same way as the Lord's words (John vi. 27), 
 " Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for 
 that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." 
 They evidently mean, ** Labour not so much for the 
 meat which perisheth," &c. So here : " Christ sent 
 
1 68 Supposed Mistake respecting 
 
 me not so much to baptize as to preach the Gospel." 
 When Cornelius and his friends were converted, 
 Peter ** commanded them to be baptized in the name 
 of the Lord " (Acts x. 48). Paul seems to have 
 adopted the same course. He preached : God 
 blessed the word : his companions baptized the 
 converts. And there was a special reason for it — 
 '* Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine 
 own name;" for the Corinthians were noted for 
 partisanship ** every one of you saith, I am of 
 Paul ; and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas ; and I of 
 Christ. Is Christ divided ? Was Paul crucified for 
 you ? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ? " 
 We smile at their folly; but human nature in the 
 nineteenth century is as weak and foolish as it was 
 in the first — as numberless miserable splittings 
 clearly show. 
 
 XIL Was not Paul himself mistaken respecting 
 the second coming of the Saviour ? Did he not, at 
 first, look for that event as likely to occur in his own 
 lifetime ? 
 
 Admit it. What follows ? Nothing more than 
 this, that the will of the Lord was gradually made 
 known, even to inspired men. All truth was not 
 revealed at first. From the Lord's last teachings it 
 might be inferred that His return to earth, to com« 
 plete His triumphs and punish His foes, would not 
 only take place suddenly, but might occur at any 
 
The Second Coming of the Saviour, 1 69 
 
 time, so that Christians should expect it, as we find 
 in fact that they did. The Corinthians are described 
 as " waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ" (i Cor. i. 7). Five years or so before that 
 letter was written, Paul had assured the Thessalonians 
 that " that day would not come, except there come 
 a falling away first" (2 Thess. ii. 3). The preliminary 
 sign, the revelation of *' the man of sin," had not 
 appeared ; but the time of His appearance was not 
 revealed, nor the length of His continuance. The 
 time might be long, or it might be short. No one 
 could tell, and therefore Christians might very pro- 
 perly be spoken of as " waiting." Eighteen hundred 
 years have passed away since then, and the Lord has 
 not yet come. Some Christian brethren profess to 
 be looking for Him daily ; but others think that 
 though He will certainly come " as a thief in the 
 night," the predictions of the Word of God must be 
 first fulfilled,, and great changes be experienced, both 
 in the world and in the Church. Those revolutions 
 will require the lapse of many centuries ; or, on the 
 other hand (who can tell ?) — in the latter times—" a 
 nation may be born in a day." *' A is not for you," 
 said the Redeemer, "to k: the times or the 
 seasons, which the Father hath put in His own 
 power " (Acts i. 7). Let us work and wait. " The 
 vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it 
 shall speak, and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it ; 
 
lyo Examination of i Cor. v. 5. 
 
 because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 
 ii. 3). The glorified Church is waiting and wonder- 
 ing (" How long, O Lord ?") — apostles and martyrs 
 are astonished at the delay (Rev. vi. 9 — 1 1). But — 
 
 *' God is His own interpreter, 
 And lie will make it plain." 
 
 XIII. What shall be said of the " delivering unto 
 Satan " (i Cor. v. 5 ; i Tim. i. 20) ? 
 
 That it was no arbitrary, unfeeling act, importing 
 malice, or passionate fury, but a solemn adjudication 
 of judgment, by apostolic authority, for immoral 
 conduct, or departure from the faith. Expulsion 
 from Christian fellowship, by the vote of the Church, 
 was probably a part of the infliction. It certainly 
 was, in the case reported in the First Epistle to the 
 Corinthians. But the bodily chastisement was of the 
 miraculous kind ; and if the words used are to be 
 literally interpreted, the apostles, who often rescued 
 some from Satan, delivered others into his power, 
 though only as regarded their bodies ; the declared 
 object of the punishment being " that the spirit 
 might be saved." We may be assured that the 
 exercise of this tremendous power would be guarded 
 by prudence, and checked by charity ; but it must be 
 granted that there are difficulties connected with the 
 subject, which in the present state of our knowledge 
 it is hardly possible to remove. Happily, they affect 
 no important truth or branch of Christian law. 
 
Examination of i Cor, vii, 6, 25. 171 
 
 XIV. Paul, it is affirmed, disavowed inspiration, 
 in I Cor. vii. 6, 25 : the question then is, How does 
 that disavowal affect his inspired authority at other 
 times ? 
 
 If it should appear that he did disavow inspiration 
 in regard to the particular matter in hand, the only 
 inference would be that it was a case of exception. 
 On other points he was taught by the Spirit of God, 
 and infallibly guided. In this case he was left to the 
 exercise of his own judgment. 
 
 There is no need, however, to resort to such an 
 explanation. Inspiration, whatever may be the true 
 and full meaning of the word (which is greatly dis- 
 puted), does not deprive a man of the use of his own 
 mental powers, nor release him from the obligation 
 to inquire and examine. He is called on to use his 
 best endeavours to discover truth or duty (as the 
 prophets " enquired and searched diligently "— • 
 I Pet. i. 10), with the promise of the special aid of 
 the Holy Spirit, to preserve him from mistake. 
 Accordingly, when a question arose respecting un- 
 married young females, Paul examined the records 
 of the Saviour's life, and the history of supernatural 
 communications, as far as they had then been 
 delivered ; and the conclusion was, that there was 
 " no commandment of the Lord." It was a case 
 not provided for. Reflecting on all the circumstances, 
 and looking to the Lord for light and guidance, he 
 
1 7 2 Examination of A ds xx, 2 5 . 
 
 judged that " in the present distress " a single life 
 was the preferable state, unless, indeed, any of them 
 felt under a necessity, and could not control them- 
 selves. Having adverted to some special features of 
 these phenomena, and given advice accordingly, he 
 declared his satisfaction with the result, in the 
 sentence, " I think also that I have the Spirit of 
 God " (i Cor. vii. 40). 
 
 XV. Paul told the Ephesian elders that they would 
 " see his face no more " (Acts xx. 25) ; but it seems 
 highly probable that he revisited Ephesus after his 
 first imprisonment (2 Tim. i. 18). How shall we 
 reconcile these things ? 
 
 It may be remarked, in the first place, that the re- 
 visiting of Ephesus, though it bears the appearance 
 of probability, cannot be taken as a fact. 
 
 But, in the second place, it is not to be supposed 
 that inspiration reached to every event and circum- 
 stance in the inspired man's life. All appearances 
 were against that second visit. So assured was the 
 Apostle that martyrdom awaited him, that he bade 
 farewell to his brethren, under the impression that 
 their next meeting would be in the better world. 
 His deliverance from the existing peril, and his re- 
 sumption of apostolic labour, were as unexpected to 
 himself as they were gratifying to the churches and 
 favourable to Christian interests at large. It was no 
 disparagement to his inspiration that he could not 
 
foresee that which proved to be really his last visit 
 to Ephesus. 
 
 XVI. The reference to " Jannes and Jambres," 
 the magicians who "withstood Moses" (a Tim. iii. 8), 
 but whose names do not appear in any inspired 
 narrative, has been considered by some as scarcely 
 consistent with the Apostle's inspiration. 
 
 Why not ? It is true that the names of those men 
 were not recorded by Moses. But they were handed 
 down by a very ancient Hebrew tradition, the truth 
 of which was maintained by the Jews. Bishop 
 Ellicott remarks : — " Objections urged against the 
 introduction of these names, when gravely con- 
 sidered, will be found of no weight whatever. Why 
 was the inspired Apostle not to remind Timothy of 
 the ancient traditions of his country, and to recite 
 two names which there is every reason to suppose 
 were too closely connected with the early history of 
 the nation to be easily forgotten ?" {In loc.) 
 
 In conclusion, it may be observed that the existence 
 of difficulties in Scripture records, some of which 
 cannot possibly be removed, in the present state of 
 our knowledge, ought not to be regarded as sur- 
 prising. It is common to all ancient productions. 
 The authors wrote for the times in which they lived, 
 and for the people of those times. Many expres- 
 sions which are now obscure were plain to the first 
 readers. Many allusions, the pertinence of which 
 
cannot now be discerned, were perfectly well under- 
 stood when the books were published. If the works 
 in question were originally characterised by brevity, 
 the difliculties are increased in proportion to the 
 distance from the time of publication, and we are 
 reminded of the remark so often made by Bishop 
 Butler, that if we knew all the facts of the case we 
 should be better able to form a judgment. But our 
 ignorance is the barrier, and we cannot remove it. 
 As was said before, this is not peculiar to the 
 Scriptures, but is common to them and all works of 
 antiquity. God might have prevented it, as far as 
 relates to the inspired volume, by enabling His 
 servants to write so as not to be misunderstood, 
 either through obscure diction or defective state- 
 ments. But this would have been excessive inter- 
 ference, unlike the ordinary practice of the Divine 
 Being. In the preparation of the books of the 
 Bible, the usual laws of composition were observed ; 
 and whatever guidance or restraint the writers 
 experienced as to the matter of their writing, it seems 
 evident that in regard to the manner they were left to 
 the freedom of their own minds, and the intellectual 
 habits of the times and countries in which they 
 respectively lived. 
 
 Once more. The sacred writers did not anticipate 
 difficulties or objections. They were conscious of 
 truthfulness and integrity, and could not write as 
 
Conclusion, 175 
 
 persons who were under suspicion, and who felt that 
 they must malce an effort to be believed. They com- 
 posed their books in their own way, expecting them 
 to be received according to their merits. When 
 handed down to posterity, the books were liable to 
 the same accidents as other books. The lapse of 
 centuries has thrown a mistiness over the writings of 
 all ancient authors ; but it may be confidently affirmed 
 that the tracts which compose the Bible, and which 
 were written at different periods, and by men dif- 
 fering greatly from one another in mental powers 
 and acquirements, during a space of about fifteen 
 hundred years, arc freer from the dark and unintel- 
 ligible than the compositions, generally, of the same 
 ages, issued in the countries of heathendom. We 
 might safely go much farther, and challenge for the 
 Bible the highest rank, in a literary point of view. It 
 stands alone, like the diamond amongst gems, spark- 
 ling in its own brilliance. 
 
 •*&?!? 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^:^^ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 V ■ No. I.' ■ 
 ^ Paul's voyage. 
 
 Luke's truthfulness as a historian, and his mar- 
 vellous accuracy in the use of words, especially 
 geographical and nautical terms, and terms denoting 
 official distinctions, have been admitted by all im- 
 partial critics His history of the Acts of the Apostles 
 has been subjected to rigid scrutiny, without in the 
 least impairing its credit, or shaking the confidence 
 of the friends of revelation. On the contrary, 
 modern research has removed difficulties which had 
 perplexed early inquirers, and shown Luke to be an 
 honest and correct writer, whose statements may be 
 received without hesitation, and implicitly relied on. 
 One portion of the book has been selected by a 
 modern author as the subject of a distinct treatise. 
 The reference is to the excellent monograph on 
 ** The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," by " James 
 
Paul's Voyage, 177 
 
 Smith, of Jordanhill, Esq., F.R.S., &c.," to which 
 recent commentators on the New Testament have 
 been greatly indebted. It is a work which should 
 find a place in every biblical student's library, being 
 not only a triumphant vindication of the sacred 
 historian, but also a model of thorough and fair 
 inquiry. 
 
 The author is chiefly indebted to Mr. Smith's 
 volume for the materials of the following notes on 
 the record of the Apostle's voyage, as contained in 
 the twenty-seventh chapter of the Acts. 
 
 Verse I. "The next day we touched at Sidon." 
 The distance from Caesarea to Sidon is about sixty- 
 seven miles — a moderate day's sail for an ancient 
 ship, with a fair wind. 
 
 Verse 4. "We sailed under Cyprus, because the 
 winds were contrary." The ship belonged to Adra- 
 myttium, which lay to the north-west of Sidon ; 
 but, as westerly winds prevail in the Mediterranean 
 at that season of the year, it was impossible to take 
 a' straight course to Adramyttium. They deter- 
 mined, therefore, to sail in a northerly direction, 
 which led them to the east of Cyprus. " In pur- 
 suing this route, they acted precisely as the most 
 accomplished seaman at the present day would have 
 done under similar circumstances ; by standing to 
 the north till they reached the coast of Cilicia, they 
 might expect, when they did so, to be favoured by 
 
 N 
 
the land wind, which prevails there during the summer 
 months, as well as by the current, which constantly 
 runs to the westward, along the south coast of Asia 
 Minor" {Smith, t^. 67). 
 
 Verse 6. At Myra, they ** found a ship of Alex- 
 andria sailing into Italy." Myra lay almost due 
 north of Alexandria, and the whole breadth of the 
 Mediterranean was between them. It might have 
 been thought that the ship was out of her way, but 
 it was evidently the best course that could be 
 adopted ; for it was easy, with a westerly breeze, to 
 run across to Myra, and there they might hope for a 
 change of wind. * 
 
 Verse 7. "And when we had sailed slowly many days, 
 and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind 
 not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against 
 Salmone." "An inspection of the map will show 
 that their course hither from Cnidus must have 
 been nearly south. The wind drove them in this 
 direction. It has been said that they avoided the 
 northern side of Crete, because it furnished no got)d 
 ports ; but such is not the fact. Soodra and Longa 
 Spina are excellent harbours on that side of the 
 island. Having passed round Salmone, they would 
 find a north-west wind as much opposed to them in 
 navigating to the westward as it had been between 
 Myra and Cnidus; but, on the other hand, they 
 would have for a ti'me^ a similar advantage : the 
 
south side of Crete is a weather-shore, and with a 
 north-west wind they could advance along the coast 
 until they reached that part of it which turns de- 
 cidedly towards the north. Here they would be 
 obliged to seek a harbour, and wait until the wind 
 changed. The course of movement indicated by 
 Luke tallies exactly with these conditions " {Huckelt 
 on the Acts). 
 
 Verse 8. ** A place which is called the Fair Havens ; 
 nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea." Dr. Pococke 
 says {Travels in the East, ii. 250): "In searching 
 after Lebena farther to the west, I found out a place 
 which I thought to be of greater consequence, be- 
 cause mentioned in Holy Scripture, and also hon- 
 oured by the presence of St. Paul — that is, the Fair 
 Havens, near unto the city of Lasea ; for there is 
 another small bay, about two leagues to the east of 
 Matala, which is now called by the Greeks, Good or 
 Fair Havens." In a book of old sailing directions, 
 published in 1621, the place is thus referred to: 
 " Right to the east of Cabra (an islet) lies a fair bay, 
 where there is good anchorage ; there is also one, 
 immediately to the west of it, where there is also 
 good achorage" (quoted by Mr. Smith). Mr. Smith 
 observes : " Its position is precisely that where a 
 ship, circumstanced as St. Paul's was, must have put 
 in. I have already shown that the wind must have 
 been about N.W. ; but with such a wind she could 
 
 N 2 
 
not pass Cape Matala ; we must therefore look near, 
 but to the eastward of this promontory, for an 
 anchorage well calculated to shelter a vessel in 
 north-west winds, but not from all winds, otherwise 
 it would not have been, in the opinion of seamen, 
 an unsafe winter harbour. Now, here we have a 
 harbour which not only fulfils every one of the 
 conditions, but still retains the name given to it 
 by St. Luke" (p. 82). 
 
 The city Lasaea was long lost to the world, and 
 has only of late been rediscovered. *' Four or five 
 years ago" (Dr. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible is 
 now quoted) " it would have been impossible to give 
 any information regarding this Cretan city, except 
 indeed that it might be presumed to be identical 
 with the * Lisia* mentioned in the Pentinger Table as 
 1 6 miles to the east of Gortynse. This corresponds 
 sufficiently with what is said in Acts xxvii. 8 of its 
 proximity to Fair Havens. The whole matter, how- 
 ever, has been recently cleared up. In the month 
 of January, 1856, a yachting party made inquiries at 
 Fair Havens, and were told that the name Lasaea 
 was still given to some ruins a few miles to the 
 eastward. A short search sufiiced to discover these 
 ruins, and independent testimony confirmed the 
 name. A full account of the discovery, with a plan, 
 is given in the second edition of Smith's Voyage and 
 Shipwreck 0/ St. Paul, app. iii., pp. 262, 263." 
 
"The travellers were not only directed to the 
 place for which they inquired, but on asking the 
 peasants on the spot what the place was called 
 were told * Lasaece.' It lies just east of Fair Havens, 
 and shows traces of an important town. Two white 
 pillars, masses of masonry, and ruins of temples are 
 found there " {Hackett^ in loc). 
 
 Verse 12. "The haven was not commodious to 
 winter in." There is good anchorage ground at 
 Fair Havens, but the bay, as Mr. Smith remarks, is 
 "open to nearly one-half of the compass," and, 
 therefore^ "could not have been a good winter 
 harbour" (p. 84). 
 
 Ibid. " Phenice .... an haven of Crete, and lieth 
 toward the south-west and north-west." There is 
 some difference of opinion as to the meaning of this 
 phrase. Mr. Smith says : "I apprehend it means 
 ' in the same direction as ' (in Latin, secundum) ; if I am 
 right, /SXcTToura Kara \lt,a does not mean, as is gene- 
 rally supposed, that it is open to the point from 
 which that wind (libs) blows, but to the point 
 towards which it blows — that is, it is not open to 
 the south-west but to the north-east " (p. 86). This 
 explanation is applicable to Lutro, the modern name 
 of Phenice. Captain Spratt, R.N., writing to Mr. 
 Smith, says: "Having in 1853 examined generally 
 the south coast of Crete, I was fully convinced that 
 Lutro was the Phenice of St. Paul, for it is the only 
 
bay to the westward of Fair Havens in which a 
 vessel of any size could find any shelter during the 
 winter months." The health officer of the port 
 stated that " though the harbour is open to the east, 
 yet the easterly gales never blow home, being lifted 
 by the high land behind, and that even in storms 
 the sea rolls in gently ; he said, it is the only secure 
 harbour in all winds on the south coast of Crete.''* We 
 may add that the name of Phenice is still pre- 
 served by the natives {Smith, p. 89). 
 
 Phenice was but about half-a-day*s sail from Fair 
 Havens, and when they left the latter place they 
 expected to be in a safe winter harbour before night. 
 ** But not long after there arose against it (" there 
 blew from the shore " — Al/ord) a tempestuous wind, 
 called Euroclydon" (v. 14). This frequently happens 
 in that part of the Mediterranean. Captain Spratt 
 gives the following account : " In respect to the 
 gale of wind I met with after starting from Fair 
 Havens for Messara Bay, we left with a light southerly 
 wind and a clear sky — every indication of a fine day, 
 until we rounded the cape (Matala), to haul up for 
 the head of the bay. Then we saw Mount Ida 
 covered in a dense cloud, and met a strong northerly 
 breeze — one of the summer gales so frequent in the 
 Levant, but which in general are accompanied by 
 terrific gusts from those high mountains, the wind 
 blowing direct from Mount Ida." Another naval 
 
Pauls Voyage. 183 
 
 officer, Capt. J. Stewart, in his remarks on the 
 Archipelago, observes : '* It is always safe to anchor 
 under the lee of an island with a northerly wind, as 
 it dies away gradually ; but it would be extremely 
 dangerous with southerly winds, as they almost in- 
 variably shift to a violent northerly wind." {Smith, 
 
 PP- 97» 99)- 
 
 Verse 17. "They used helps, undergirding the 
 ship." It is probable that the ship had sprung a 
 leak, and showed such symptoms of weakness in her 
 hull, that if some means of strengthening her could 
 not be devised, she would founder at sea. "To 
 pap a ship " (the technical term for undergirding), 
 says Falconer, in his Marine Dictionary, "is to pass 
 four or five turns of a large cable-laid rope round 
 the hull or frame of a ship, to support her in a great 
 storm, or otherwise, when it is apprehended that she 
 is not strong enough to resist the violent efibrts of 
 the sea ; this expedient, however, is rarely put in 
 practice." But though it is rarely put in practice, 
 several instances of the adoption of this expedient 
 are on record. It is sufficient to quote one. Captain 
 Back's ship, when he returned from his Arctic voyage 
 in 1837, was in such a damaged state that it was 
 found necessary to resort to undergirding. It was 
 done in this way: — "A length of the stream chain- 
 cable was passed under the bottom of the ship four 
 feet before the mizen mast, hove tight by the capstan. 
 
1 84 Appendix. 
 
 and finally immovably fixed to the ring-bolts on the 
 quarter-deck. The effect was at once manifested by 
 a great diminution in the working of the parts 
 already mentioned ; and in a less agreeable way, by 
 impeding her rate of sailing ; a trifling consideration, 
 however, when compared with the benefit received." 
 (Quoted by Smith, pp. 105, 106.) 
 
 Verse 17. ** Strake sail, and so were driven." 
 Mr. Smith remarks that this is an erroneous transla- 
 tion. " It is, in fact, equivalent to saying that, fear- 
 ing a certain danger, they deprived themselves of the 
 only possible means of avoiding it. It is not by 
 striking mast or sail that such dangers are to be 
 avoided " (p. 1 06). He renders the phrase, '* lowered 
 the gear." Dean Alford's version is, ** lowered our 
 top-gear," that is, brought down on the deck all the 
 spars and sails that could be conveniently removed. 
 
 Verse 19. ** And on the third day we cast out with 
 our own hands the tackling of the ship." Mr. Smith 
 supposes that " the main-yard is meant ; an immense 
 spar, probably as long as the ship, and which would 
 require the united efforts of passengers and crew to 
 launch overboard. The relief which a ship would 
 experience by this, would be of the same kind as in 
 a modern ship when the guns are thrown overboard " 
 (p. 112). Perhaps the word includes everything 
 movable, and which was not absolutely necessary to 
 be retained. 
 
Paul's Voyage, 185 
 
 The scene next descibed by Luke is one of the 
 finest instances of the moral sublime ever placed on 
 record. The wind was howling through the rigging ; 
 the waves bore the vessel on their crests, and then 
 hurled her down with such violence that it seemed 
 impossible for her to right herself again ; so much 
 water was shipped every time that they were all 
 drenched ; it was impossible to cook food for any 
 regular meal ; " neither sun nor stars for many days 
 appeared ;" they could not tell where they were, for 
 no shore was in sight; in short, their condition 
 seemed hopeless, and they were resigning them- 
 selves to utter despair, expecting, every time the ship 
 plunged, to go to the bottom with her. It was under 
 such circumstances that " Paul stood forth in the 
 midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have 
 hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, 
 and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I 
 exhort you to be of good cheer : for there shall be 
 no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. 
 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, 
 whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, 
 Paul ; thou must be brought before Caesar : and, lo, 
 God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 
 Therefore, sirs, be of good cheer : for I believe 
 God, that it shall be even as it was told 
 
 ME." 
 
 Noble man ! All around him were helpless and 
 
1 86 Appendix, 
 
 hopeless ; death stared them in the face ; but 
 " I BELIEVE God ! " There was the victory of faith — 
 the ** perfect peace " — the " peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding." Nothing can equal 
 this I 
 
 Verse 27. " When the fourteenth night was come." 
 So long they had been " exceedingly tossed with a 
 tempest." The gale was blowing from the E.N.E., 
 and the only method by which they could avoid being 
 driven on the quicksands on the coast of Africa was 
 that which is always practised in a storm at sea. The 
 ship was " hove-to " — "with her head to the N." — 
 and storm-sails set — and suffered to drift. The 
 direction of the drift, if the storm continued, would 
 be to Malta, and there, accordingly, the shipwreck 
 occurred. # 
 
 Malta is 476 miles from the island of Clauda, near 
 which they were when the storm began. How long 
 would it take a ship, drifting in a gale, to pass over 
 that space ? Mr. Smith furnishes some curious 
 information on that point. • • 
 
 " In order to ascertain what might be supposed to 
 be the mean rate of drift of a ship circumstanced 
 as that of St. Paul's was, I consulted two nautical 
 friends, both of them at the time commanding ships 
 in Valetta harbour, and both of them familiar with 
 the navigation of the Levant, To the first of these 
 officers whom I met with (the late Captain W, 
 
McLean, R.N.), I put the question, *What would 
 you say would be the probable rate of drift of a ship 
 hove-to in a gale of wind ? * His answer was, ' That 
 depends on the force of the gale and the size of the 
 ship.' Upon explaining that I considered it a large 
 ship, even as compared with modem merchantmen, 
 and that the gale might be reckoned as one of mean 
 intensity, he said, after considering the matter, that, 
 speaking in round numbers, forty miles in twenty- 
 four hours might be reckoned a fair allowance. I 
 put the same question to Captain Graves, R.N., who 
 replied, * From three-quarters of a mile an hour to 
 two miles an hour.' The mean of these extremes 
 is thirty-three miles in twenty-four hours, and the 
 mean of both estimates is thirty-six and a half miles 
 in twenty-four hours. 
 
 "I come now to the time elapsed. It is quite 
 clear, from the narrative, that St. Luke counts the 
 time from the day the ship left Fair Havens. We 
 hear of the 'third day' (v. 19); the preceding is 
 termed ' next day,* which brings us to the first day, 
 both of the gale and the voyage. It is also clear 
 that the events of that day must have occupied a 
 large portion of it. The time consumed in driving 
 through the Sea of Adria, from the time they left 
 the island of Clauda till they became aware of the 
 vicinity of land at midnight of the fourteenth day, 
 is, therefore, thirteen days complete, and a small 
 
1 88 Appendix, 
 
 fraction. But the distance of Clauda to the point 
 of Koura, where I suppose that this happened, is 
 476-6 miles, which, at the rate as deduced from the 
 information of Captains McLean and Graves, would 
 take exactly thirteen days, one hour, and twenty-one 
 minutes. ... 
 
 " A ship, starting late in the evening from Clauda, 
 would, by midnight on the 14th, be less than three 
 miles from the entrance of St. Paul's Bay [in Malta]. 
 I admit tL:;t a coincidence so very close as this is, is 
 to a certain extent accidental ; but it is an acci- 
 dent which could not have happened had there been 
 any inaccuracy on the part of the author of the narra- 
 tive with regard to the numerous incidents upon 
 which the calculations are founded, or had the ship 
 been wrecked anywhere but at Malta ; for there is no 
 other place agreeing, either in name or description, 
 within the limits to which we are tied down by calcu- 
 lations foindedupon the narrative" (pp. 121 — 124). 
 
 At the entrance to St. Paul's Bay, within which 
 the shipwreck took place, the coast is rocky, and the 
 noise of the breakers gives warning of danger. So 
 we are told that ** about midnight the shipmen 
 deemed that they drew near to some country" 
 (v. 27). On sounding, they found a depth of twenty 
 fathoms. When " they had gone a little farther " 
 (v. 28) the depth had decreased to fifteen fathoms, 
 and the dashing of the waves on the rocks showed 
 
them that it was high time to take measures for their 
 safety. " They cast four anchors out of the stern ;" 
 by doing which the ship was in the best position for 
 being run ashore, because, as soon as the foresail 
 was hoisted and the cables cut away, she could be 
 easily directed in the proper course. 
 
 On the supposition that St. Paul's Bay was the 
 scene of the shipwreck, all these statements agree 
 with the existing facts : the good holding ground for 
 anchorage at the entrance of the Bay — the rocky 
 coast — the *' place where two seas met," that colli- 
 sion being occasioned by the water rushing through 
 the channel that separates Selmonetta Island from 
 the coast, and meeting the main stream down the 
 bay: — these, and other particulars that might be 
 mentioned, will satisfy the inquirer that the twenty- 
 seventh chapter of the Acts is a narration of facts 
 by a trustworthy historian. 
 
 Once more. " They ran the ship aground, and 
 the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, 
 but the hinder part was broken with the violence of 
 the waves " (v. 41). As Mr. Smith observes, ** This 
 is a remarkable circumstance, which, but for the 
 peculiar nature of the bottom of St. Paul's Bay, it 
 would be difficult to account for. The rocks of 
 Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of 
 sand and clay, which, when acted upon by the cur- 
 rents, or surface agitation, form a deposit of tenacious 
 
1 90 Appendix. 
 
 clay ; but, in still water, where these causes do not 
 act, mud is formed ; but it is only in the creeks where 
 there are no currents, and at such a depth as to be 
 undisturbed by the waves, that the mud occurs. In 
 Admiral Smyth's chart of the bay the nearest sound- 
 ings to the mud indicate a depth of about three 
 fathoms, which is about what a large ship would 
 draw. A ship, therefore, impelled by the force of a 
 gale, into a creek with a bottom such as that laid 
 down in the chart, would strike a bottom of mud» 
 graduating into tenacious clay, into which the fore 
 part would fix itself, and be held fast, whilst the 
 stern was exposed to the force of the waves" (p. 139). 
 Surely, an impartial reader cannot resist the con- 
 clusion that this is a true narrative, and that the 
 writer actually witnessed the whole transaction and 
 shared the peril. It is very rarely that such an accu- 
 mulation of proofs and illustrations is furnished. 
 The description is throughout so natural and so 
 graphic, that a conviction of the writer's veracity is 
 unavoidable. Even sceptics will admit that we have 
 here a true story. That there is more than truth — 
 that is, that Luke enjoyed the guiding influence of 
 the Holy Spirit, every Christian believes. 
 
The Mamertine Prison. 191 
 
 No. II. 
 
 THE MAMERTINE PRISON. 
 
 " EccLESiATiCAL tradition " is in many respects but 
 another expression for forgery and falsehood. The 
 last Apostle had been dead scarcely a century when 
 men began to lie and invent in the interest of reli- 
 gion, and fiction often took the place of history. 
 Hence the misrepresentations with which church 
 records abound. As an instance, reference may be 
 made to the statement that the Church at Rome was 
 founded by the joint labours of the Apostles Peter 
 and Paul, which is repeated by all Roman Catholic 
 historians, and believed by Roman Catholics gene- 
 rally. The first author in whose works it appears is 
 Irenaeus (Advers. Haeres. Lib. iii. cap. 3), who wrote 
 towards the end of the second century. But the 
 assertion is contradicted, as far as the Apostle Paul 
 is concerned, by his own declaration, in his Epistle 
 to the Roman Church, written about a.d. 58. The 
 declaration is couched in these words : — ** I would 
 not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I 
 purposed to come unto you (but was let hitherto), 
 that I might have some fruit among you also, even 
 as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the 
 Greeks, and to the Barbarians ; both to the wise, and 
 to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready 
 
*. 
 
 to preach the Gos^ J to you that are at Rome also " 
 (ch.i. 13 — 15). That quotation is decisive. 
 
 The supposition that Peter had anything to do 
 with the establishment of the Church at Rome is 
 entirely inconsistent with the evidence of Scripture, 
 and cannot be made to harmonise with the known 
 facts of the Apostle's life. It is, besides, very 
 unaccountable, if Peter was bishop of Rome (that 
 is, pastor of the Church in that city), that Paul, in 
 his Epistle to the Church, does not allude to it, and 
 that the name of the senior Apostle is not once 
 mentioned. The current traditions are fabulous. 
 There is no proof that Peter w?i at Rome, except, 
 perhaps, for a short time previous to his martyrdom, 
 and even that is doubted by many learned men.* 
 
 This joint ministry of the Apostles was also 
 claimed for the Church at Corinth, in open defiance 
 of the Scripture record. It is referred to by Euse- 
 bius, in the fourth century (Hist. Eccles. Lib. iii. 
 cap. 25). 
 
 Another Church tradition is that the two Apostles 
 were confined together in the Mamertine Prison, 
 from which they were taken to martyrdom. The 
 prison is thus described : — "A modern staircase leads 
 to the horrible dungeon of Ancus Martins, sixteen 
 feet in height, thirty in length, and twenty-two in 
 
 * There is an elaborate discussion of this subject in the Bibliotheca 
 Sacra for July, 1858. 
 
The Mamertine Prison. 193 
 
 breadth. Originally there was no staircase, and the 
 prisoners were let down here, and hence into the 
 lower dungeon, through a hole in the middle of the 
 ceiling. The large door at the side is a modern 
 innovation, having been opened to admit the vast 
 mass of pilgrims during the festa. The whole 
 prison is constructed of huge blocks of tufa without 
 cement. Some remains are shown of the Scala 
 GemonicE — so called from the groans of the prisoners — 
 by which the bodies were dragged forth to be exposed 
 to the insults of the populace or to be thrown into 
 the Tiber. It was by this staircase that Cicero came 
 forth and announced the execution of the Catiline 
 conspirators to the people in the Forum, by the 
 single word Vixerunf, * they have ceased to live.* 
 Close to the exit of these stairs the Emperor 
 Vitellius was murdered. On the wall by which you 
 depcend to the lower dungeon is a mark kissed by 
 the faithful, as the spot against which St. Peter's 
 head rested. The lower prison, called Rohur^ is con- 
 structed of huge blocks of tufa, fastened together by 
 cramps of iron, and approaching horizontally to a 
 common centre in the roof. It has been attributed 
 from early times to Servius Tullius ; but Ampere 
 argues against the idea that the lower prison was of 
 later origin than the upper, and suggests that it is 
 Pelasgic, and older than any other building in Rome. 
 
 It is described by Livy, and by Sallust, who depicts 
 
 •■ ■• -0:. . ■ ^. ■, . 
 
194 Appendix, 
 
 its horrors in his account of the execution of the 
 Catiline conspirators. The spot is shown to which 
 these victims were attached and strangled in turn. 
 In this dungeon, at an earlier period, Appius Claudius 
 and Oppius, the decemvirs, committed suicide 
 (B.C. 449). Here Jugurtha, king of Mauritania, was 
 starved to death by Marius. Here Julius Caesar, 
 during his triumph for the conquest of Gaul, caused 
 his gallant enemy, Vercingetorix, to be put to death. 
 Here Sejanus, the friend and minister of Tiberius, 
 disgraced too late, was executed for the murder of 
 Drusus, son of the emperor, and for an intrigue with 
 his daughter-in-law, Livilla. Here, also, Simon Bar 
 Gioras, the last defender of Jerusalem, suffered 
 during the triumph of Titus. 
 
 "The spot is more interesting to the Christian 
 wo. Id as the prison of SS. Peter and Paul, who are 
 said to have been bound for nine months to a pillar, 
 which is shown here. A fountain of excellent water, 
 beneath the floor of the prison, is attributed to the 
 prayers of St. Peter, that he might have wherewith 
 to baptize his gaolers. Processus and Martinianus ; 
 but, unfortunately for this ecclesiastical tradition, 
 the fountain is described by Plutarch as having 
 existed at the time of Jugurtha's imprisonment 
 [B.C. 103."]* 
 
 * Harii Walki in RomCf i. laS — 130. 
 
I 
 
 The Mamertine Prison, 195 
 
 This tradition is by no means ancient. Its origin 
 is unknown. The early historians of the Church 
 take no notice of it. And it is observable, that 
 Alban Butler, in his *' Livi39 of the Saints," omits to 
 mention it, which is a cLar indication that he did 
 not acknowledge its truth. 
 
 Recent investigations have thrown the matter into 
 utter uncertainty. It now appears that the Mamer- 
 tine prisons were connected with other structures, 
 built for the same purposes, by corridors of con- 
 siderable length, the whole constituting one large 
 prison. An intelligent correspondent (Mr. C. J. 
 Hemans) writes to the London AthencEum, under date 
 of April 6, 1872, in the following terms : — 
 
 ** Twice within the last fortnight have been opened 
 and illuminated, for the public benefit, the Mamer- 
 tine Prisons under the Forum, the other vaulted 
 chambers below the adjacent Via Ghettarello, and 
 the long corridor forming a communication between 
 these two sets of subterranean interiors, now 
 identified as belonging in fact to the same chief 
 prison of ancient Rome. Most important have been 
 the results of the researches commenced by Mr. J. 
 H. Parker in 1868, with the assistance of Signor 
 Gori, a well-known Roman archaeologist; for it is 
 now made evident that the theory which limited 
 these prisons to the small dark chambers, one above 
 another, below the churches of the Crocifisso and 
 
 o 2 
 
196 Appendix, 
 
 S. Guiseppe dei Fulegnami, is utterly untenable ; 
 and that a place of durance for offenders of every 
 class had the extent manifestly requisite for such uses 
 in the capital of the empire. Livy says of one of 
 the unfortunate victims confined here, ut in carcere 
 instans furis et latronis — includatur. The long cor- 
 ridor, in two branches, of different directions, one 
 lined with brick, the other with lithoid tufa — this 
 last (obviously the most ancient) eighty yards in 
 length — has at last been cleared out and made per- 
 meable. ... In no other character can we 
 now regard that ponderous structure, of which so 
 little remains, than as one of the sides of the far- 
 extending prisons, the principal front of which, on 
 the Forum, was restored, as we now see it under the 
 two superimposed churches, by the Consuls, whose 
 names are still read on the stonework — Vibius Ru- 
 finus and Cocceius Nerva, a.d. 22. The tradition of 
 custodi^ that the subterranean way led from the prison 
 to the catacombs of S. Sebastian, is now fully 
 refuted. This discovery, establishing the real extent 
 of those Mamertine prisons, throws back into 
 regions of uncertainty the supposed confinement of 
 the two Apostles — at least, the exact site, hitherto 
 confidently assumed, of their incarceration up to the 
 day of their common martj'rdom. Such a step in 
 archaeological progress seems the more appropriate, 
 and at the right moment, just after the novelty, 
 
The Mavtertine Prison, 197 
 
 unprecedented in Rome, of a public discussion on 
 the reality, boldly and leani^dly denied, of the arrival 
 of St. Peter, and the tenure of his pontificate here.* 
 The arguments of those who find no proof that the 
 Apostle could even have set his foot in this city, are 
 published for sale in the streets, and discussed by 
 journals on both sides. Well would it be if thought- 
 ful minds of the Roman Catholic communion were 
 led to own the subordinate importance of vague 
 
 * Five years ago it would not have been believed that this subject 
 could be publicly discussed at Rome. But it has been. On the evenings 
 of Feb. 9 and lo last, meetings were held in the hall of a Pontifical 
 Academy, attended by Roman Catholics and Protestants in equal num- 
 bers, admitted by tickets. Four presidents were appointed, two on each 
 side. The disputants were — on the Roman Catholic side. Canon Fabiani, 
 Signor Cipolla, a pnest, and Signor Guidi, a learned man \ — on the 
 Protestant side^ Sciarelli, a Neapolitan, formerly a Franciscan monk; 
 Ribetti, a Waldensian pastor, and the well-known Gavazzi. 
 
 Sciarelli undertook to prove that St. Peter did not come to establish his 
 see in Rome from 42 to 66 of the Vulgar era ; and that not having come 
 during this time he could not have held the Pontificate here for the space 
 of twenty-five years, nor here have suffered martyrdom in the same year 
 of 66, in the time of the Emperor Nero." He was supported by Ribetti 
 and Gavazzi. Fabiani, on the other hand, undertook to prove that Peter 
 did establish his see in Rome, according to the Catholic belief, and he was 
 followed by Cipolla and Guidi. 
 
 The meetings were conducted in a very orderly manner, and profound 
 impressions were produced. But it is stated that a prohibition of such 
 meetings has been since issued by the authority of the Pope. John iii. 
 20, 21. 
 
 An ** Authentic Report " of the discussion has been published at the 
 Wesleyan Conference Office, London. 
 
198 • Appendix, 
 
 legends regarding one Apostle, as compared with the 
 historical realities, the acts and writings, which make 
 known to us, in sunlight clearness, the intellectual 
 supremacy of another, whether or not he was the 
 companion of St. Peter in any imprisonment amidst 
 the horrors of the IVJamertine dungeons." — Alhenccum^ 
 April 13, 1872. 
 
 
 TAXES AMD ALEXANDEB, FKINTERS, EYMOITD8 IXM, CHANCEBY LANE. 
 
ll