of their fervent love and affection, eminently calculated to remove from the minds of the Jews, any remains of jealousy, which might still exist, about the admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom of Christ. The religion of Jesus produces kindness and charity between its converts, how widely soever they may be separated in name or nation. The above instance presents a happy illustration of the spirit which prevailed among the primitive converts of the Gospel.

21. The following year, 45, Paul, in connection with Barnabas, both of whom were now solemnly recognised as apostles, by fasting and prayer, accompanied by the imposition of hands, (Acts xiii.) commenced his first apostolic journey; and after visiting Cyprus and the provinces of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, he returned to Antioch.

On leaving Antioch, Paul first came to Seleucia, fifteen miles below the former place, whence he sailed to Cyprus, a large island of the Mediterranean, about one hundred miles from the coast of Syria. Having landed at Salamis, he proceeded to Paphos, in the western extremity of the island, where he was instrumental of converting Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, and where he struck Elymas, a sorcerer, blind, for attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

Leaving Paphos, he next sailed to Perga, a town in Pamphylia, not far from the coast of Asia Minor, whence he passed to Antioch in Pisidia. To the Gentiles in this place, the apostles preached with success; but the unbelieving Jews exciting a persecution against them, they shook the dust from their feet, as a testimony against them, and came to Iconium.

Iconium was then the chief city of Lycaonia, and even to this day is a considerable town, under the name of Cogni, situated at the foot of Mount Taurus. Here, (Acts xiv.) a great multitude both of Jews and Gentiles believed the testimony of the apostles. But a division arising in the city, which was likely to result in an assault upon them, they prudently retired to Lystra and Derbe.

These were both cities of Lycaonia, and in both, the apostles preached the Gospel. In the former place, Paul, having restored a cripple to the perfect use of his limbs, the inhabitants, in a moment of surprise and ecstasy, declared the apostles to be gods; and were scarcely prevented from doing them divine homage. Here, also, a young man, by the name of Timothy, was converted, who afterwards became a minister, and to whom Paul addressed two of his epistles. While the apostles remained here, the adversaries who had persecuted them at Iconium, made their appearance, and seizing Paul, drew him out of the city and stoned him, leaving him, as they thought, dead.

They had not, however, accomplished their purpose; for while his friends stood round him, he rose up, and walked into the city, whence, the next day, he and Barnabas departed to Derbe. Having here, also, successfully proclaimed the name of Jesus, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, establishing the converts which they had made to the faith. Upon this second visit, they also ordained ministers in every Church. Hence they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia, preaching the word in Perga, and passing through Attalia, sailed for Antioch, whence they had set out.

22. While Paul and Barnabas were tarrying at Antioch, some Jewish Christians coming thither, taught, that circumcision and obedience to the laws of Moses were essential to salvation. A controversy on this subject, at length, arising in the Church, Paul and Barnbas were dispatched to Jerusalem, (Acts xv.) to refer the points in dispute to the decision of the apostles and elders. Accordingly, a council of the Church was at this time held, (A. D. 49,) by which it was unanimously decided, that neither circumcision, nor the observance of the law of Moses, could be of any avail in respect to salvation, but only the atonement of Christ. With this decision, the apostles returned to Antioch, and were happy in healing a division, which was likely to endanger the peace of the Church.

23. The above controversy having been thus amicably settled, Paul commenced his second journey, A. D. 50. In this journey, he went through Syria, Cilicia, Derbe, and Lystra; through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, and Troas. Thence sailing to Samothracia, he passed Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Thessalonica, and Berea, to Athens. Thence, the following year, to Corinth, A. D. 51, where he resided a year and a half. From Corinth, he departed to Cenchrea; whence, embarking for Syria, he touched at Ephesus and landed at Cæsarea. Thence, he went to Jerusalem for the fourth time since his conversion, and again returned to Antioch.

In this journey, Paul, having differed in opinion from Barnabas, as to the expedi ency of taking Mark as an assistant, separated from the former, and was accompanied only by Silas. On his arrival at Lystra, (Acts xvi.) finding Timothy, his former convert, commended for his gifts and zeal, he chose him as an associate in the work of the ministry, to which office he was now solemnly separated.

The apostle's stay at Phrygia and Galatia was short. Passing Mysia, he next came to Troas, where he was joined by Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles. At Troas, Paul had a vision in the night. There stood beside him a man of Macedonia, and besought him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Interpreting this as a divine call to preach the Gospel in Greece, he loosed from Troas, with his companions, and sailed for Samothracia, an island in those seas; passing which, however, he came to Neapolis, a sea-port of Macedonia, and immediately proceeded to Philippi.

Philippi was the chief city of that part of Macedonia. Few Jews, it appears, were resident here, since we find no mention made of any synagogue in the city. Here Paul was instrumental in converting Lydia and her household, and in ejecting an evil spirit, which had taken possession of a damsel, who was employed by certain persons as a fortune-teller for the sake of gain. For this act, Paul and Silas, besides being treated with other marks of severity, were cast into prison, and secured in the stocks. (Acts xvi. 23.)

The consolations of the Gospel were not wanting to the apostles in this season of distress. They could pray, and even sing, in their dungeon, and that, too, at the hour of midnight. Nor were their prayers unanswered; for while they were in the midst of their devotions, God caused an earthquake to occur, by which their fetters fell from their feet, and their prison doors were opened.

To add to their joy, the hard-hearted jailer fell before them convicted, humbled, and repentant; and, to complete their triumph, the apostles received an apology from the magistrates in the morning, accompanied, however, by a request that they would depart out of the place. It may be added that the seed sown by the apostles in this city afterwards sprang up, and a Church was gathered, which was highly distinguished for its order, peace, and affection.

Leaving Philippi, as requested, the apostle proceeded through Amphipolis and Apollonia, to Thessalonica. (Acts xvii. 1.) This was now the metropolis of all the countries comprehended in the Roman province of Macedonia. It was the residence both of the proconsul and quæstor, so that, being the seat of government, it was constantly filled with strangers. The success of the apostles among the Thessalonians may be gathered from his first epistle, which he wrote not long after to this Church, in which he reflects, with the highest emotions of joy, upon the cordiality with which the Gospel had been received by them.

Paul and Silas, great as had been their success, were at length driven from Thessa lonica, in consequence of a persecution, raised by the envious and unbelieving Jews; upon which they came to Berea.

To the honor of the Bereans, it is recorded, that they received the doctrines of the Gospel with the utmost readiness of mind, and daily searched the Scriptures, whether the things declared by the apostles were so, or not. Intimation having reached Thessa lonica, that Paul was preaching with great success at Berea, his enemies there followed him to Berea, from which he now departed to Athens. (Acts xvii. 5.)

Although the political splendor of Athens, when Paul visited it, had passed its zenith,

it was still as famous for learning as it had ever been. It was full of philosophers, rhetoricians, orators, painters, poets, and statuaries; it was full of temples, and altars, and statues, and historical monuments. But, with all the advantages arising from a refined taste and a highly cultivated literature, the Athenians were, in a spiritual view, in a condition the most deplorable, since they were ignorant of the true God.

Early discovering their ignorance as to this cardinal doctrine, the apostle aimed to enlighten their minds on the subject. But no sooner did he attempt to direct them to the Creator of all things, than he was brought before the court of Areopagus, on a charge of being a setter forth of strange gods. His defence, though an admirable specimen of reasoning, (Acts xvii.) failed to convince the proud philosophers of Athens. Dionysius, however, one of the Areopagite judges, and Damaris, a woman of some note, became his converts. These, with a few others, consorted with Paul during his stay, and were the beginning of a Church in that city, which, at a later period, became numerous and respectable.

From Athens, the apostle proceeded to Corinth. This city was situated on a narrow neck of land, which joined the Peloponnesus to Greece; in consequence of which, it commanded the commerce of both Asia and Europe. It was nearly as famous for learning and the arts as Athens itself. In luxury and profligacy, it even exceeded.

The success of the apostle at Corinth was so small, that he was about to take a speedy departure from it; but in a vision he was directed to prolong his stay. Thus encou raged, he continued there a year and six months, during which, he gathered a numerous Church, enriched with a plenitude of spiritual gifts. While here, he wrote his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, which is generally thought to have been the first written of all his fourteen Epistles. By some, however, it is thought that he had previously written his Epistle to the Galatians, and that he did it at Antioch, before he left that city to take his present journey into Greece.

During the period the apostle continued at Corinth, it seems probable that he made an excursion from that city into Achaia. While in this latter region, his enemies forming a conspiracy, seized him, and dragged him before Gallio, the deputy of Achaia. The deputy, however, had no dispositon to listen to the charge, and therefore drove his accusers from the judgment-seat. (Acts xviii. 12.)

Returning to Corinth, he continued there sometime longer; but, at length, sailed for the port of Cenchrea, whence the vessel proceeded to Ephesus. Quitting this city, with a promise to return to them when the Lord should permit him, he landed at Cæsarea; whence he proceeded to Jerusalem to perform a vow, after the form of a Nazarite, (Intro. Sec. 11,) which he had made at Cenchrea; which, having accomplished, he once more came to Antioch.

24. During the year 51, while Paul was on his second journey, the emperor Claudius was poisoned by his wife, for the purpose of placing Nero, her son by a former husband, on the throne.

The education of Nero had been committed to Seneca, the philosopher; and at the commencement of his reign, he acted in some respects not unworthily of the wise maxims which he had received from his preceptor. But his natural depravity and ferocity soon broke forth, and he surpassed all his predecessors in every species of profligacy. During a part of his reign, Christians suffered a most dreadful persecution, as will be seen in a future page.

25. Having spent a short season with his friends at Antioch, Paul again took leave of them, A. D. 53, and commenced his third journey, (Acts xviii. 25,) in which he visited Galatia, Phrygia, and Ephesus, at which last place, having resided for three years, (till 56,) he proceeded thence by Troas to Macedonia. In the year 57, he journeyed through Greece to Corinth, and returned through Macedonia, Philippi, Troas, and Assos. Thence sailing by Mitylene, Chios, and Samos, he touched at Trogyllium, Miletus, Coos, Rhodes, Patara, Tyre, and Ptolemais, and landing at Cæsarea, proceeded to Jerusalem for the fifth time since his conversion, A. D. 58.

Little is recorded of the apostle during his journey through Galatia and Phrygia, until he came to Ephesus. This was at that time the metropolis of the province of Asia, and an exceedingly populous city. It was famous for an immense temple dedicated to the goddess Diana.

This edifice was four hundred and twenty-five feet long; two hundred and twenty broad; supported by one hundred and twenty-seven stately pillars, each of which was sixty feet high, the work of a king who erected them as a token of his piety and magnificence. The entire structure was two hundred and twenty years in building, and was ranked among the seven wonders of the world. It had been twice destroyed by fire previously to its present enlarged and improved state; the first time, on the day that Socrates was poisoned, and the second time, on the night in which Alexander the Great was born. In this latter instance, it was set on fire by one Erostratus, who, being condemned to death for the crime, confessed that he had destroyed this exquisite structure, solely "that he might be remembered in future ages."

The temple was, however, again rebuilt and most magnificently adorned by the Ephesians. When Paul visited the city, it was in all its glory; and was the resort of multitudes, some of whom came to worship the goddess, and others to learn the arts of sorcerey and magic, and for other purposes.

It should be added concerning Ephesus, that, at this time, Satan seems to have erected in that city his very throne of idolatry, superstition, and magic; and to have reigned over the minds of his deluded subjects with uncontrolled sway. Happy was it that the apostle now visited the place, to invade this empire of darknesss, and to storm the strong holds of wickedness it contained. Here, for the space of three years, the apostle continued to labor with his characteristic zeal and fidelity. Signal success attended his preaching; for God wrought special miracles by his hands," and "fear fell on them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." Such was the power of divine truth upon many who had been engaged in the devices of exorcism, conjuration, and magic, that they brought their books, in which were prescribed the various forms of incantation, and in the presence of the people committed them to the flames. The estimated value of the books consumed, was fifty thousand pieces of silver, exceeding three hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

Notwithstanding the success of Paul's ministry in Ephesus, he found many powerful adversaries in that city. Many of the inhabitants derived considerable wealth by manufacturing miniature representations of the temple of Diana, and of the image of that goddess, which was said to have fallen down from Jupiter. To these the apostle was particularly obnoxious; and fearing lest his preaching would ruin their trade, they made an assault upon his companions, whom they would probably have murdered, had not the authorities rescued them from their hands.

Having been thus signally blessed in his labors, not only in respect to collecting a Church and ordaining its proper officers in Ephesus, but in communicating the Gospel to many parts of Asia by means of strangers, who, while visiting the city, had been

converted by his ministry, Paul departed; and, after spending three months in Greece, he rapidly journeyed towards Jerusalem by the route already mentioned, where he arrived, A. D. 58. (Acts xxi. 15.)

26. Soon after the arrival of the apostle at Jerusalem, his life was greatly endangered by a party of Jews, who found him in the temple with several Greeks, purifying themselves according to the Jewish law. He was, however, rescued at this time, and from a further plot against him, by Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison; who, at length, for the safety of the apostle, found it necessary to send him to Felix, at that time governor of Cæsarea.

The hatred of the Jews to Paul arose from his having taught the Gentiles, in the countries in which he had preached, that it was not necessary for them to practise circumcision, nor to observe the Jewish customs. The apostle had indeed thus instructed the Gentiles, although he permitted the Jews to follow their own inclination on this subject, and did himself, from respect to their prejudices, conform to the Mosaic rites. The Jews, however, were not contented, so long as Paul did not teach the Gentiles, that these rites were essential to salvation.

To prove to the Jews his willingness to respect their prejudices, he went into the temple with several Greeks, to purify himself with them, according to the law. The presence of Greeks in the temple, being Gentiles, was supposed by the Jews to pollute it; hence, they came upon Paul, who would probably have fallen a victim to their blind zeal, had not Lysias interposed, and taken him into his own custody.

On the succeeding day, the apostle was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, with a view of having his conduct investigated by that great national council. (Acts. xxii. 30.) But a contention arising among its members, who were partly Pharisees, and partly Sadducees, Lysias deemed it prudent to withdraw Paul, and bring him into the castle. The life of Paul, however, was now in still greater danger, by reason of a conspiracy formed by a company of forty Jews, who had bound themselves by an oath, not to eat or drink, till they had killed him. The plot, however, coming to the knowledge of Lysias, he sent Paul to Felix at Cæsarea, under an escort of two hundred soldiers, as many spearmen, and seventy horsemen, with a letter explanatory of the whole affair.

27. Felix thus having jurisdiction of the case, gave it a partial hearing, but dismissed it with a promise of a further investigation at another time. (Acts xxiv.) Being succeeded, however, in the government by Porcius Festus, Paul, who had been retained a prisoner, was at length summoned to trial by the governor; but waiting for a decision, he took advantage of his privilege as a Roman citizen, and appealed to Cæsar's judgment-seat. (Acts xxvi.)

During Paul's detention at Cæsarea, Felix and his pretended wife Drusilla, having a curiosity to hear him on the subject of his religion, called him before them. The topics upon which the apostle insisted, were admirably adapted to the case of his distinguished auditors, living as they did in an adulterous connection. So exact was the portrait which Paul drew of the governor, and so faithful was conscience to apply the apostle's discourse, that Felix trembled. He dismissed the apostle, saying to him, "Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." The governor did indeed again send for him, and communed with him often, but it was under a hope of obtaining from his prisoner a sum of money to purchase his release.

Not less bold and interesting was the apostle, on a subsequent occasion of addressing Festus and Agrippa. In this latter instance, he gave a succinct account of his birth, education, and miraculous conversion. Kindling, as he proceeded, into an ardor for which the apostle was peculiar, Festus, in the midst of his defence, interrupted him and pronounced him, "mad." Courteously denying the charge, the apostle appealed to Agrippa for the truth of what he spake. This appeal forced from the king an acknowledgment, that he was almost persuaded to become a Christian. Happy for him, had his persuasion, at this time, been complete.