pagation of The Gospel, whether at home or abroad.St. Paul's inquiry, on the Heavenly Illumination and Communication he experienced on his journey to Damascus, Which Wrought his conversion and Laid the foundation of his forward zeal in the cause of Christianity through all his after Life, 'Who art Thou, LORD?' was met by the Answer, I am JESUS, Whom thou persecutest! Acts ix. 3, 5. It was then he saw JESUS in the Spirit, though struck with corporeal blindness for a period of three days as a consequence; and then was it that he derived his Office, (peculiar to himself and Matthias or Barnabas,) of an Apostleship after The Ascension of their LORD.-Elsewhere Paul calls his Converts his Children; here he speaks of them as his workmanship: seeking to influence them to feel the reality and the kindly and valuable Relationship, into which he had, by such strenuous and unwearied efforts, brought himself towards them. St. Paul's independance is thus avowed in his 2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians, saying, Yourselves know how ye ought to follow us; for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any Man's bread for nought, but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you; not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us-iii. 7, 9.—St Peter's exhortation to the Elders, in the Christian Community he addressed, was, to feed the Flock of GOD, which was among them, taking the oversight thereof; not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being Lords over GOD's Heritage; but being Ensamples to the Flock; adding, as the true and exhilarating encouragement so to do, "And when The Chief SHEPHERD shall Appear, ye shall receive a Crown of Glory, that fadeth not away-1st Pet. v. 1 to 4. The Spiritual Office, though it may be attended with temporal benefit, and be entitled to even more than the mere necessaries of life, should never be entered upon primarily for that object; but principally and prominently be sustained for the advancement of the Immortal Interests of Those, committed to its charge. And awful is it to contemplate, that there are Wolves, who, entering into the Fold of CHRIST, principally, if not solely, for filthy lucre, and thus gaining this World's imagined good, will, from such a sensual attachment, lose all the Treasures and the Crown of Glory in the World to Come.The Mosaic Law, written for the kindly treatment of the Beasts of the Field, as well as for Human welfare, is quoted by St. Paul, from Deut. xxv. 4; and much may its principle be beneficially acted upon by Christians in the treatment of all the inferior orders of Creation, with considerateness and kindness and becoming care. The Husbandman, that laboureth, must first be Partaker of the fruits of his labour; as on another occasion St. Paul wrote, (2 Tim. ii. 6.) So should it be indeed, and thus is his spirit sustained amidst his toils, and exposure to the various changes in the elements through the varying seasons of the year; and thus does he both plow and sow in hope, that his reward may be with him. So does the truly Spiritual Labourer, looking forward with the fulness of faith in the Promises and Providence of GOD, through the Interceding Love of His SON, that the final Gathering of the Harvest will Enrich him in the Love of That SON as his Peace-MAKER through all Eternity in the Realms of Spiritual Blessedness.Though St. Paul declined receiving recompence for the dedication of his own time and talents in so extraordinary and influential a manner, yet he encouraged by commendation a Spirit of liberality towards the necessities of Others; speaking in commendation of Some in Macedonia and Achaia, whom it had pleased to make a certain contribution for the poor Saints which were at Jerusalem; and the Apostle's comment on the transaction is this, It hath pleased them verily, and their Debtors they are; for, (adds he,) if the Gentiles have been made Partakers of their Spiritual Things, their duty is also to minister

unto them in carnal things-Rom. xv. 26, 27.- In his after Letter to the Corinthians Paul renews the subject, saying, When I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no Man; in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself 2 Cor. xi. 9; See also 2 Cor. xii. 14.- -The meat offerings and holy oblations reserved from the fire were, by Special Ordinance of JEHOVAH, Appointed for the Sustenance of the ministering Priests, as detailed in Numbers xviii. 8, &c. The Levites, which was the Order of Priesthood, had no lot or portion in the Inheritance of the Promised Land; and consequently this reasonable and suitable Provision was made for them, as mentioned also in Deut. xviii. 1, &c. Our SAVIOUR, when He Sent forth His Disciples, seventy in number, two by two, Injoining them to carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor even shoes, Added, Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this House! And if the Son of Peace be there, your Peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall turn to you again: and in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give! for the Labourer is worthy of his hire. And into whatsoever City ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you! He that heareth you, heareth Me; and he, that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he, that despiseth Me, despiseth Him, That Sent Me. And the Seventy returned again with joy, saying, LORD, even the Devils are subject unto us through Thy NameLuke x. 1, 3, 4 to 8, 16, 17. To withhold the reward of such labour, which endureth unto the Eternal Peace and Exhaustless Riches of Others, is to forfeit this proffered Immensity of Good. And though the return of reasonable wages may be meekly and modestly sought, or not sought at all, yet this is no justification for a return being withheld or niggardly rendered. All we have we owe to the Goodness and Providence of GOD, through the Love of CHRIST, and Gratitude should influence us to return to Him of His Own, by the support of Such as give their Lives and labours to His Honour and the promotion of our own Immortal Interest, even if Selfregard, with a view to that Interest, did not prompt to the act and the desire; remembering the further admonition of this our goodly-guiding Apostle, Let him, that is taught in the Word (of Life) communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived! GOD is not mocked; for whatsoever a Man soweth, that shall he also reap; for he, that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he, that soweth to The SPIRIT, shall of The SPIRIT reap Life Everlasting; and let us not be weary in well-doing! for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not-Gal. vi. 6 to 9.

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VERSES 15 to 19.- But I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me; for it were better for me to die, than that any Man should make my glorying void; for though I preach The Gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not The Gospel! for, if I do this thing willingly, have a reward; but, if against my will, a Dispensation of The Gospel is Committed unto me; what is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach The Gospel, I may make The Gospel of CHRIST without charge, that I abuse not my power in The Gospel: for though I be free from all Men, yet have I made myself Servant unto All, that I might gain the More.

The perfect independance of Paul, not only openly, and without the slightest reservation or mental equivocation, is remarkable; and though urging on Others for their own conscience sake, as well as for the reasonable recompense to the Ministers of GOD's Word, to withhold not, when in their power, and according to their means, some return to these Instruments of DIVINE Mercy and Love, he felt that, whilst he had power, by the mechanical labour and skill of his own hands, to support himself, he could thus most effectually manifest his honest and earnest zeal to lead Others to the gain of Spiritual wealth; and thereby the more

efficiently promote the Honour of That MASTER, Whom from his inmost Soul he adored, and gloried at every sacrifice indefatigably to serve; abundantly Enriched in the inward assurance of the Unfailing Love of That MASTER, Who had Laid down His Life, that through His Death All, who serve Him faithfully, might have Life and Peace and Joy unspeakable and Full of Glory, through an endless Communion with Him, amidst the contemplation of Those Excellencies, to Which He Arose by His Power over Death and the Grave, on His Ascension into Heaven. Paul's deep and just sense of the sacredness of a Ministerial Engagement under CHRIST was, that every thing, in conduct as in conversation, should be subservient to the Honour and Advancement of So Holy and Gracious A MASTER; and that proof of a sincere devotedness to That Privileged Service should be uniformly and in every possible way afforded. So strong was this disposition in Paul, that he would at the hazard of his life have persisted in acting upon this Principle--no compromise would have met his view. And though benefits might, from the occasional impulse of gratitude and admiration of his conduct and the philanthropy of his labours, have been offered to him, doubtless he diverted their channel unto the treasury for the Christian Community, either present on the occasion, or in quarters where he knew distress might prevail amongst Others.-Paul felt himself the Appointed Delegate of HEAVEN. His Mission was from On HIGH; from The Very FOUNTAIN of Wisdom, and Goodness, and Power; and, though thus pre-eminently Gifted, and pouring forth from his lips and from his Writings Such Doctrine, as Emanated from Such An Exalted SOURCE, he disclaimed all Personal tribute of homage to himself; CHRIST was to him All in All; and he wished and laboured faithfully to bring Others into the same mind with himself in that all-important respect. And is not necessity laid on All, who hear the glad Tidings of The Gospel, to talk of them in their goings out and in their comings in, amidst their Families, and amongst their Neighbours, that the real Gladness, which Those Tidings of A SAVIOUR's Love and Sacrifice should Occasion, may warm the hearts of Others and manifest that feeling, if it exist, as even above all other feelings it should do, in ourselves? And, though the extent of our knowledge be confined, and the measure of our eloquence small, yet as those feelings prompt us to use the simple though sublime Language of Scripture, so intelligible in Its Leading and Essential Truths to All, who receive It in singleness of heart, much may be imparted by the faithful Observer, whether young or old, learned or unlearned; and this privilege, under the piously sought for Grace and Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT, may be becomingly and beneficially employed, though the Ministerial Character be not professed or assumed; for the Time we may trust is advancing, when, according to the Sure Word of Prophecy, All shall know The LORD from the Least unto the Greatest. To Such, as lay claim to the Preacher's Office, the necessity is most obviously and urgently presented, in the solemnity of Ordination, to declare the Whole Word of GOD-to lay open both the Will and the Way of The CREATOR of All Things, and to exhibit the nature and effect of the Promises and Threatenings, Which That Word Reveals, and the Great and Gracious End, to Which They Point; and for Which They are in Mercy Brought to our knowledge; that our Lives and conversation may take their colour Therefrom, and conform themselves to the aim They pursue, in seeking to Raise us from Death unto Life, and from the Rejection to the Reconciliation of GOD. How impatient of restraint is the Natural Man! even in Childhood and Infancy this quality of the disposition in us too often exhibits itself; but Paul undertook, and that without wages or remuneration, the office of Servant of All, who would accept those services, ever labouring in a vocation surrounded with peril, even at the hazard not only of much privation, but of

bodily suffering, and even of death itself; and all this that he might bring Others into the ways of inward pleasantness and peace, by the adoption of A MEDIATOR, to Rescue from the stain as well as the slavery of Sin, and to Propitiate Conciliation with The Great DISPOSER of Eternal Life, and of the Future Destiny of every Human Soul.-In St. Luke's Narrative of the Acts of St. Paul, as of the other Apostles, he relates this avowal of him as made to a Congregation at Ephesus, I have coveted no Man's silver or gold or apparel: yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them, that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the Weak; and to remember the Words of The LORD JESUS, how He Said, It is more blessed to give than to receive-Acts xx. 33, 35; See also 2 Thes. iii. 8. And in the opening of that address he said, Ye know from the first day, that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving The LORD with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews; and how I kept back nothing, that was profitable unto you; but have shewed you, and have taught you 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. And, though declaring that The HOLY GHOST Witnessed in every City, that bonds and afflictions abided him, he asserts, that none of those things moved him; and that he even counted not his life dear unto him, so that he might finish with joy his course, and the Ministry, which he avowed he had received of The LORD JESUS to testify The Gospel -THE ALMIGHTY's Mandate to of the Grace of GOD-Acts xx. 18 to 24.the Prophet Jeremiah was, Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise and speak unto the Inhabitants of Jerusalem All That I Command thee; be not dismayed at their faces, lest I Confound thee before them!—i. 17. St. Paul's knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was deep; from his youth he had studied Them; and, even under the influence of his mistaken zeal before his conversion to Christianity, his thought and purpose were at every personal Sacrifice to fulfil what he then imagined to be the Will of The LORD. When the Light of Revealed Truth, That Heavenly Truth, as It is in JESUS, Broke upon his wondering sense, his zeal only changed its course into a rightful path, and he acted upon the conviction of the necessity, which was Graciously Laid Open to him, to do The LORD's Work unflinchingly, and under the deepest and most abiding conviction of the Blessings, That awaited Its fulfilment, both to himself and Ŏthers; grateful in every reflection at the Mercy Bestowed upon him, and glorying in the Nature of that Holy Work, to Which he was so Peculiarly Appointed. The Object and Subject of his Ministry are feelingly and forcibly illustrated in the opening of his Epistle to the Colossians, which, if GOD Permit, will be touched upon in its turn.- Here Paul professes himself to be the Servant of All, through CHRIST JESUS. In another place he describes himself to be the Debtor of All, both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the Wise and to the Unwise; for (adds he) I am not ashamed of The Gospel of CHRIST : for It is the Power of GOD unto Salvation to every One, that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: for Therein is the Righteousness of GOD Revealed from Faith to Faith-Rom. i. 14 to 17. Such is the Exalting Service of our Heavenly MASTER, and Such the Blessed Fruit of that labour of love, which seeks, in every way and by all means, to promote His Glory and the Advancement of Mankind to more than Primeval Happiness.

VERSES 20 to 23.-And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews: to them that are under the Law, as under the Law, that I might gain them, that are under the Law: to them, that are without Law, as without Law (being not without Law to GOD, but under the Law to CHRIST), that I might gain them, that are without Law: to the Weak became I as weak, that I might gain the Weak: I am Made all things to all Men, that I might by all means save Some; and this I do for The Gospel's Sake, that I might be Partaker Thereof with you.

The all-absorbing impulse with the zealous Apostle was, by every effort and faculty of ingenuity and contrivance, to seek the Salvation of the Souls of All, with whom he could by any means either by discourse or writing hold Communion; utterly regardless of the perils and privations to which he might be thereby exposed; and, knowing that the Only and the Sure Way to That Salvation was by penitence for past errors both of heart and head, and sincere belief in and devotedness to the Faith, as resting on the Incarnation and Intercession of The SON of GOD, it was This Dispensation of DIVINE Mercy and Love That he strove to bring Others to the knowledge of, and to fix It in their hearts, that they might not only believe with the understanding, but heartily as unto The LORD, to the Saving of their Souls. Therefore, and to accomplish so desirable and desired an End, he conformed himself, as far as he consistently could, to Jewish ceremonies and peculiarities, that he might gain access to a freer communication with them; to the Greeks in their high order of civilization, and to the Heathens amidst their barbarous customs, he accommodated his conduct and conversation, so as to obtain a hearing, and doubtless varied his reasoning and his arguments appropriately and discreetly to each. And such seems to be the part of true wisdom in a Christian's deportment towards the different ranks and grades of Society, in reference to the intellectual attainments or deficiencies in each.The being without Law must be understood in a qualified sense, as being without a knowledge either of the Jewish or Christian Dispensation; for there is a law of conscience in every heart which, quickly and from the opening consciousness in Infancy, prompts to a discernment between right and wrong; and which Mercifully is the First-Fruit of DIVINE Love in the Mediation of JESUS CHRIST at the first fall of Man; being the Remnant of the Power and Influence of the Light and Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT, Which were all but Quenched and Withdrawn on the demonstration of Self-will and Self-direction by our first Parents in Paradise. This Influence through the conscience is still the Preservative against much of wickedness and folly, that would otherwise obtain in Countries and among Communities, where the Brighter Light of Revelation has not yet reached. No greater joy could St. Paul propose to himself than that he might be Permitted, as the willing Servant of The HOLY and Adored JESUS, to win the Souls of Others to a Participation in That Pardon and Reconciliation and Eventual Glory, Which are Reserved, in the Great Day of The SAVIOUR's Judgment upon all Mankind, for Such as shall be found to be His at His Coming. Paul's concession to the Jews, as far as consistency would admit. of, was proved in the case of Timothy, who, though the Convert to Paul's teaching, and the Son of a Grecian, was suffered to be circumcised, his Mother being a Jewess, Paul attaching Timothy to him on his journeying into the Jewish Territories, after his visit to Derbe and Lystra-Acts xvi. 1, 3; and when at Jerusalem, finding that the Jewish Converts there were all zealous for the Law, he consented to purify himself after the custom of the Jews, joining in that ceremony with Four, who had a vow upon them; and this was done to disabuse the minds of the Prejudiced against him, that he came to destroy the whole Law of Moses; for he, like his Great MASTER, came not to destroy, but to confirm All, that was in harmony with Christian principle and practice--Acts xxi. 23, &c.