Mat. iii.

Q. What Effect had the heavenly Vision upon him? A. The great Splendour of it made him blind for three days; but he did not, with Elymas the Sor-Acts xiii. cerer, pervert the right Ways of the Lord, nor with his Brethren the Jews resist the Evidence of a Voice 17. from Heaven, which testified to our Saviour's Divinity at his Baptism: but became obedient to the heavenly Vision, and upon this Discovery of his Saviour, diligently enquired his Will and Pleasure, and immediately followed the Directions he received. Q. Who admitted St. Paul into the Christian Church?

A. After St. Paul had fasted three Days, and Acts ix. humbled his Soul under the Sense of those Cruelties 10, &c. he had committed against the Church of God; Ananias, a devout Man, supposed to be one of the Seventy Disciples, and though a Christian, yet well esteemed of among the Jews, having been admonished by a Vision, went to St. Paul, and entering into the House, brought him the good News, that the same Jesus that appeared to him in the Way, had sent him to him; and laying his Hands upon him, he received his Sight, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and was made a Member of the Church by Baptism. Q. What Reason may be assigned for the miraculous Manner of his Conversion?

A. That St. Paul, who was to be the Apostle of the Gentiles, might in his own Person be a remarkable Instance of the Power of God's Grace, and of his Readiness to receive the worst of Sinners upon their Repentance: He obtained Mercy, that Jesus 1 Tim. 1. Christ might shew forth first in him all long-suffering, 16. for a Pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to Life everlasting. Besides, this gave great Authority to the Apostle's Testimony; which was necessary, considering the great Share he was to have in planting Christianity through the World. Add to this, that St. Paul appeared to have a very honest Mind, and to be influenced with a Regard only to what he thought Truth; but being prejudiced by Education, and pushed on by the Heat of

his natural Temper, was transported with furious Zeal, and that therefore God was pleased to shew 1 Tim. i. Mercy to him, because what he did was done ignorantly, in Unbelief; and in a miraculous Manner to convince him of the Truth of that Religion which he persecuted.

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37, 29.

Q. How did St. Paul demonstrate the Sincerity of his Conversion?

A. By preaching that very Jesus whom he had persecuted; confounded the Jews who dwelt at Acts ix. Damascus, in proving him to be the true Messias, the Son of God; in labouring to establish the Church which he had made Havoc of, in comforting and confirming the Faithful whom he had haled to Prison, exposing himself to those Dangers and Difficulties for the Faith which he had endeavoured to bring upon others.

Clem. Epist. ad Corinth.

Q. Where did St. Paul bestow his apostolical Labours?

A. Whereas the other Apostles chose this or that Province as the main Sphere of their Ministry, St. Paul over-ran, as it were, the whole Roman Empire, seldom staying long in a Place; from Jerusalem, through Arabia, Asia, Greece, round about to Illiricum, to Rome, and even to the utmost Bounds of the Western World. The greatest Part of his Travels are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; and in this Course he was discouraged by no Dangers nor Difficulties, for he frequently suffered severe Scourgings and Imprisonments, and was brought even to the Confines of Death, both at Sea and Land; neither was he tired out with any Troubles or Oppositions that were raised against him; but for the Space of five and thirty Years was indefatigable in preaching the Gospel, and in writing Epistles for 2 Tim. iv. the confirming those Churches he had established; thus persevering in the good Fight of Faith, till he had finished his Course.

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Q. Having extended his Labours to the utmost Bounds of the Western World, may we not reasonably suppose he planted a Church in this our Island?

A. There is very good and sufficient Evidence, built on the Testimony of ancient and credible Writers, with a concurrent Probability of Circumstauces, That there was a Christian Church planted in Britain during the Apostles' Times. Eusebius, a Lib. 3. c. learned and inquisitive Person, affirms, in his third 7 Tom. 1. Book of Evangelical Demonstration, That some of the Apostles preached the Gospel in the British Islands. Theodoret, another learned and judicious Historian, In Psal. expressly names the Britons among the Nations cxvi. converted by the Apostles; and says, in another Place, that St. Paul brought Salvation into the Islands that lie in the Ocean. St. Jerom testifies that St. Hieron. in Paul, after his Imprisonments, preached the Gospel in Amos. c. the Western Parts. By which the British Islands were especially understood; as will appear by the following Testimony of Clemens Romanus, who saith St. Paul preached Righteousness through the whole Epist. ad. World, and in so doing he went to the utmost Bounds Corinth. of the West; which necessarily includeth the British Islands, as is plain to those who know how the Phrase, the utmost Bounds of the West, was used by the Historians and Poets of those Times.

Q. What probable Circumstances concur to incline us to think that St. Paul was the Person who planted a Christian Church in Britain?

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A. The Leisure and Opportunity he had for this Purpose; it being about eight Years between the Time of obtaining his Freedom at Rome, and his Return thither again: in which time he preached the Gospel in the West, according to the common and received Opinion of all the Fathers: It being not likely that a Person so indefatigable in his Labour before his Imprisonment at Rome, should lie still afterwards; and it is probable he did not return to the East, having so solemnly taken his Leave of those Churches, saying, That they should Acts xv. see his Face no more. St. Paul might have Encou-25. ragement to this Undertaking from the great Number of the Inhabitants, and from the Settlement of

Colonies, both Trading and Military, here by the Romans. And from Pomponia Græcina, who was probably a Christian, and Wife to A. Plautius, the Roman Lieutenant in Britain. And it is not unlikely but that some of the British Captives, carried over with Caractacus and his Family, might be among the considerable Converts St. Paul made at Rome; who would certainly promote the Conversion of their Country, by so great an Apostle. None of the Rest of the Apostles stand in any reasonable Competition with St. Paul for this Mission, but St. Peter whose Business lay quite another Way; being the Apostle of the Circumcision, he was to attend the Jews, and consequently his chief Employment must be where the greatest Numberof the Jews were: And the Historians that affirm St. Peter's coming into Britain, are of no great Authority, being often slighted by those that produce them. A more exact and full Account of this Matter may be found in Bishop Stilling fleet's Orig. Brit.

Q. Where did St. Paul suffer Martyrdom?

A. At Rome, under Nero, in that general Persecution raised against the Christians, under Pretence that they fired the City. Some of the Ancients affirm he drew upon himself the Fury of that cruel Emperor, by joining with St. Peter in procuring the fall of Simon Magus; others by converting a Concubine of Nero's, that he extremely loved and caressed. He was beheaded in the Sixty-eighth Year of his Age, and from the Instrument of his Execu tion, the Custom arose always in his Pictures to draw him with a Sword in his Hand.

Q. What Writings did St. Paul leave behind him? A. Fourteen Epistles, which were not only instrumental in confirming the Churches at first, but they have been highly useful ever since, to the Service of Religion in all Ages. These holy Writings must be read with Humility and Modesty, because St. Peter hath long since observed, that in them are some

Things hard to be understood, which the Unlearned 2 Pet. iii. and Unstable wrest to their own Destruction.

Q. What Controversies exercised the Church in this Apostle's Time?

A. The damnable Heresies of Simon Magus and his Followers, who were afterwards known by the Name of Gnostics, who placed the Main of Religion in Knowledge, neglecting the Practice of it; and who, in Times of Persecution, thought it lawful to deny the Faith. But the most considerable Controversy was, whether Circumcision and the Observation of the Mosaic Law, or only the Belief and Practice of Christianity, be necessary to Salvation ; the last was maintained by the Apostles, the former by the Judaizing Christians. And St. Paul's Discourses about Justification and Salvation immediately refer to this Controversy.

Q. How was this Controversy determined?

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A. By the apostolic Synod at Jerusalem; where Acta xv. it was declared, that the Gentiles were under no 28, 29. Obligation to observe the Jewish Law: God having clearly manifested his Acceptance of them. Yet not to provoke the Jews, the Gentile Converts were somewhat restrained in the Exercise of their Christian Liberty.

Q. What may we learn from the Commemoration of St. Paul's Conversion?

A. To adore that miraculous Grace which called him to be an Apostle. To bless God for the Advantages we have had from his laborious and indefatigable Pains. And though we have been great Sinners, to encourage ourselves from his Example with Hopes of Acceptance, provided we sincerely repent. That the best Way to shew the Sincerity of our Conversion, is by Actions opposite to our former Sins, that those Virtues may be most conspicuous in our turning to God, which have been most neglected in our State of Folly. That when we charge ourselves with the Breaches of God's Law, we always remember that Guilt which we

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