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THE CRAFTSMEN.

I SHALL not, as the usual manner is, accost you with the scraps of a verse, or only with a whole verse, out of the gospel, which method is often made use of purely to avoid telling what goes before or comes after; but shall choose for my text the greatest part of the nineteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. In discoursing upon this portion of Scripture, so fruitful in good instructions and examples, I shall follow this method.

I. I shall make some general observations upon the behaviour of the Apostle Paul in his ministry.

II. I shall discourse more particularly upon the history. III. I shall draw some useful and seasonable inferences.

I. I shall make some general observations upon the Apostle Paul, who made the greatest change that ever man did, even from a persecutor to an apostle; two characters as opposite as is that of Lucifer to an angel of light. As soon as light from the Lord fell upon him, he no longer breathed threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, as he had in fore-time, nor put in execution the orders he had about him from the highpriest, or arch-bishop of the Jews, to bring the first Christians and dissenters of those days, bound to Jerusalem. On the contrary, though he was just before a hardhearted persecutor for the church by law established, on a sudden he became a lover of the saints; and "behold, he prayeth!" Acts ix. 11.

Learn hence, that as soon as the fear of the Lord en

tereth into a man's heart, the sword of persecution droppeth out of his hand. Peace, which is the badge of the gospel, and cruelty, which is the coat of arms of satan, cannot dwell together. "Behold, he prayeth!"

When a zealot leaves his party, and turns Christian, the high party are very apt ungratefully to forget all his former wicked merit, which made him dear to them, and to persecute him for apostatizing into mercy and grace. While Paul continued the fiery flail of the godly, the priests held him in high favor, and trusted him with their ecclesiastical commission; and for what? To bring bound to Jerusalem all those of this way. All who forsook the established synagogue and followed Christ.

Conscience and non-conformity had the powers of the world against them seventeen hundred years ago. Paul, the blasphemer, had a post; but Paul the convert, Paul the saint, was allowed no toleration. "They watched the gates day and night to kill him; for, behold, he prayeth !"

The grace of God makes a man both meek under sufferings, and bold for Christ. Here the convert neither returns the injury, nor slacks his pace in planting the gospel; both hard tasks! He risked his life and labored in the vineyard without pay;—a rare thing in our day! when the first motive for overseeing souls, is so much a year. The apostle drove no bargain about preaching, nor made a market of salvation!

Oh! how many dignified drones have we in our time, who set up for a likeness to the apostles, without any likeness; who take great sums for mock apostleship, when nothing thrives by their ministry, but their bellies! This is lamentable, but it is lamentably true.

II. I will discourse particularly upon the history.

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And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God."

He went into the synagogue. Observe, that great bigots as the Jews were, and great a dissenter as Paul was, yet

they suffered him to preach in their synagogues, or churches. He had a clear stage, though perhaps not equal favor. If the same apostle should come among us in London, at this time, he would not be permitted to preach in his own church, unless he first qualified himself according to the forms and ceremonies of the church of England by law established! Nor would he get any preferment that the black dons could hinder him from, in case he persisted to preach what his master preached before him, that Christ's kingdom was not of this world! The great point of Paul's preaching,-he disputed and persuaded the things concerning the kingdom of God. Not a word of his own spiritual dominion; not a word of episcopal sovereigns, who were to descend from his loins, and who, without his inspiration or miracles, were to succeed him in what he never had,-worldly wealth, worldly grandeur, and wordly power; things which always mar the kingdom of God, instead of promoting it; there being no fellowship between Christ and Belial.

"But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus."

The priests, who traded in ceremonies, and knew nothing of Jesus Christ, or of holiness, were nettled at a new religion which taught men a plain path to heaven, without the incumbrances of sacrifices, or priests, or fopperies; a religion that had a professed enmity to all secular gain and all holy trifling.

Marvel not at it; a religion without a hierarchy, and godliness without gain, will never please any set of highpriests. Nothing will go down with them but pride and grimace, and the ready penny. Poor Paul had nothing about him of all this, nor did he teach a religion that had. All that he brought was a Christ crucified, and salvation in and through him. They therefore spake evil of that way before the multitude; that is, the priests told the people that Paul was a heretic, and his doctrine was

schism: but for themselves, they had antiquity and the fathers on their side, with an orthodox church full of decent types and ceremonies.

There needed no more to prevent the apostle from doing any good among them; so he departed. That was all the punishment he inflicted on them. He who had the Holy Ghost, could have inflicted death or misery on them; but it was opposite to the genius of his religion, which allows spiritual pastors to feed their flocks, but not force them, nor to punish them if they refuse to feed. If a man has not a mind to be saved, he has the worst of it himself; and what is it to the priests?

This was the primitive excommunication. If you could work no good upon a man, or if that man worked mischief to you, or gave you scandal, you would not keep company with him. But to give him to the devil, because he was already going to the devil of himself, is to be a minister of Christ the backward way. Besides, there was no need of it. The apostle neither curses these unbelieving highchurchmen, who hardened themselves against him, nor censures them, nor fines them; all which, he who had the power of miracles could have done, had he liked it. He barely departed from them. And if he did not damn them for the sake of their souls, so neither did he surren der them to Beelzebub for the sake of their money. He demanded not a groat of them; so far was he from telling them, I am your spiritual prince, pray pay me my revePaul was a witness of the resurrection, a disinterested witness, and claimed no dues; though others since do in his name, without being real witnesses of the resurrection, or disinterested witnesses of the resurrection, or disinterested witnesses of any thing else about it. "Disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Both schools and synagogues, or churches, were open to him, though he was but a new comer, and a non-conformist. He barely disputed or reasoned. He was a stranger to the doctrine of compulsion. He was an apostle, by virtue of whose words and power, all clerical acts are pretended to be

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done ever since and yet he himself did none, satisfying himself with saving souls, by exhortation and the assistance of the Spirit, which are not clerical acts. He was the chief pastor upon earth, and held his commission immediately from God; but he imposed nothing but his advice, reason, and good words upon those that heard him. He could have forced them, had the Spirit so directed, to have swallowed implicitly all that he said; and either destroyed or distressed all who refused. But the Lord Christ, in his dealings with human kind, never uses means that are inhuman.

Here you may distinguish the spirit of Christ from the spirit of high-church. Christ or his apostles never delegated to weak and passionate men, powers and privileges, which, infallible and inspired as they were, they never assumed to themselves. Let us wonder at the impudence of some men in black!

"And this continued for the space of two years." It is not said that he kept a curate all the while.

"And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul; so that from his body were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out from them.'

Here are certain signs of a power from God; and they who pretend a power from him, without manifesting the same by certain signs, are certainly cheats and impostors. For a power given by the all-wise God, must be given for some certain end, which will infallibly be brought about. It is not consistent with his wisdom and goodness to give it, and yet leave uncertain that he has given it, when a plain manifestation of it is of the utmost importance to the world, and to the purposes for which it is given. If a man bring not infallible proofs of his power, how shall I know that he has it? Demonstration must go before conviction, and conviction before consent. We cannot embrace for truth, what we take to be a lie.

"Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits, the

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