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Chrift crucified was a stumbling-block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness. 1 Cor. i. 23. He afterwards found by experience, that in all parts of the world, contempt was the portion of whoever engaged in preaching a mystery fo unpalatable to the world, to all its paffions and pleafures, and so irreconcileable to the pride of human reafon. We are made (fays he to the Corinthians) as the filth of the world, the off-fcouring of all things unto this day. 1 Cor. iv. 13. Yet he went on as zealously as he fet out, and was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Certainly then the defire of glory, the ambition of making to himself a great name, was not his motive to embrace christianity. Was it then the love of power? Power! over whom? over a flock of fheep driven to the flaughter, whofe fhepherd himself had been murdered a little before. All he could hope from that power was to be marked out in a particular manner for the fame knife, which he had feen fo bloodily drawn against them. Could he expect more mercy from the chief priests and the rulers, than they had fhewn to Jefus himself? Would not their anger be probably more fierce against the deferter and betrayer of

their cause, than against any other of the apostles. Was power over fo mean and defpised a set of men worth the attempting with fo much danger? But ftill it may be faid, there are fome natures fo fond of power, that they will court it at any risk, and be pleased with it even over the meaneft. Let us fee then what power St. Paul affumed over the chriftians. Did he pretend to any fuperiority over the other apoftles? No; he declared himself the least of them, and less than the least of all faints. Ephef. iii. 8. 1 Cor. xv. 9. Even in the churches he planted himself, he never pretended to any primacy or power above the other apostles; nor would he be regarded any otherwise by them, than as the inftrument to them of the grace of God, and preacher of the gospel, not as the head of a fect. To the Corinthians he writes in these words: "Now this I fay, that every one of you faith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Chrift. Is Chrift divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye bap tized in the name of Paul?" 1 Cor. i. 12, 13, 14, 15, 17. And in another place, "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but minifters by whom ye believed, even as

the Lord gave to every man ?" I Cor. iii. 5. "For we preach not ourselves, but Chrift Jefus the Lord, and ourselves your fervants for Jefus fake." 2 Cor. iv. 5.

All the authority he exercised over them was purely of a spiritual nature, tending to their inftruction and edification, without any mixture of that civil dominion in which alone an impoftor can find his account. Such was the dominion required and exercised through the pretence of divine infpiration, by many ancient legiflators, by Minos, Rhadamanthus, Triptolemus, Lycurgus, Numa, Zaleucus, Zoroafter, Xamolxis, nay even by Pythagoras, who joined legislation. to his philofophy, and like the others pretended to miracles and revelations from God, to give a more venerable fanction to the laws he prefcribed. Such, in latter times, was attained by Odin among the Goths, by Mahomet among the Arabians, by Mango Copac among the Peruvians, by the Sofi family among the Perfians, and that of the Xeriffs among the Moors. To fuch a dominion did alfo afpire the many falfe Meffiahs among the Jews. In fhort, a fpiritual authority was only defired as a foundation for temporal power, or as the fupport of it,

tance the whole community was hardly fup `plied with the neceffaries of life. And even in churches he afterwards planted himself, which were much more wealthy than that of Jerufalem, so far was St. Paul from availing himself of their charity, or the veneration they had for him, in order to draw that wealth to himself, that he often refused to take any part of it for the neceffaries of life.

Thus he tells the Corinthians: "Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour, working with our own hands."

xv. 8.

I Cor.

In another epiftle he writes, "Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burthenfome to you, for I feek not yours but you; for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children." 2 Cor. xii. 14.

To the Theffalonians he fays, "As we were allowed of God to be put in truft with the gospel, even fo we speak, not as pleafing men, but God, which trieth our heart For neither at any time ufed we flatter words, nor a cloak of covetoufnefs, G

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witnefs; nor of men fought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we' might have been burthenfome, as the apoftles of Chrift. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: For labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God." And again in another letter to them, he repeats the fame teftimony of his difintereftednefs: "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." 2 Theff. chap. iii. 8. when he took Ephefus, to fhould fee b

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