mined to impute them to the worst of causes. "He casteth out devils:" there was no denying that; but then, added they, "through Beelzebub the prince of the devils." Thus they spoke when they beheld the wonderful works of Christ: and thus too they made the Son of God the minister of hell. Insisting on the divinity of their law, the authority of their priesthood, the efficacy of their sacrificial worship; they denied that Jesus was the Messiah, and laughed to scorn the claims of His Apostles.

St. Paul, whose object was to conciliate as well as to convince, admitted the truth of some of their assertions; but by this concession, he established his own pretensions :-proving from the very sources whence the Jews drew topics to subvert the authority of his mission, and the divinity of his doctrine, that the design of their ritual worship was fulfilled in Christ; that the ceremonies of their temple were abolished, and that the order of their priesthood had closed. Reasoning with them out of their own sacred books; from declarations which themselves deemed infallible, he convinced them that Jesus Christ was the Son of God-the promised Messiah.

But the line of defence which he took towards the Jews, would be unavailable with the Greeks. They were not in possession of the oracles of God. Accordingly, we find, that when St. Paul rea

soned with the Athenians, he chose such grounds of argument as the frame of the universe supplied. Observing as he passed through Athens, an altar inscribed "To the Unknown God," he took occasion to declare the nature of the Divine Being, and expose the futility of their national superstitions. "Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us-for in Him we live, and move, and have our being." Then, from expressions of their own poets, convincing them that they had fallen into an egregious error in supposing that the Deity could be likened to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device, he asserts the fact of the resurrection of Christ from the dead; assuring them that He is appointed to be the judge of all mankind :-as though by this declaration he would prompt them to consider

how great the importance of his doctrine was, and how essential that they should by embracing it now be prepared to meet their Judge hereafter.

Thus, then, with the Athenians, the Apostle employed such arguments as Reason furnished:with the Jews such as the Scriptures offered; contending with both that "Christ is all in all," "the only Mediator between God and man;" that neither the worship of the Jewish nor of the Pagan Temple could avail; but, that all men, everywhere, are commanded to repent:-that "the name of Christ is the only name under heaven given among men by which they can be saved." A doctrine like this appeared as strange to the Greeks, as it did unintelligible to the Jews. To the latter it was a stumbling-block; for they could not imagine that a poor despised Nazarene was the promised Messiah :-that personage who had been depicted by their prophets in colours so bright and vivid. To the former it was foolishness; seeming, altogether, beneath the consideration of men whose wits had been sharpened by acute investigation and philosophical enquiry. It was, consequently, for the most part, contemned and rejected by both. And how then did this great man act when he found that the doctrine of the Cross met with so ungracious a reception? Did he forbear to assert its impor

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tance and dignity? Did he decline its defence when thus opposed? No.-The Jew might remain fortified in the prejudices of his law; the Greek intoxicated by the pride of his philosophy; St. Paul would still glory in the Cross. might look upon the new religion with scorn; they might consider him as beside himself, and report that "much learning had made him mad;" that his ideas were chimerical, and his preaching foolishness. But, what of all this? Should he be daunted by such discouragements?

Should

he be bantered and rallied out of his faith-made to blush for the cause he had so warmly espoused, so cordially advocated? No.-He was immovable as a rock. He had devoted himself to the Gospel; and to the sharpest of his opponents, to the most pointed of their sarcasms, the most violent of their invectives, he had but one answer: -an answer, as noble as it was eloquent; and as honourable to the heart of a man, as it was worthy the spirit of an Apostle. It was this:-"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."

III. While St. Paul discovered such spirit and decision in defending the doctrine of the Cross when it met with opposition, he never forsook it;

never flinched from its support, when threatened with distress and persecution.

Having so many foes to contend with, he had made up his mind to suffering. In his retirement, on reviewing his destiny, he had the strongest reason to suppose that he should meet with continual hostility and reproach. Indeed, it should seem, that he had secret monitions from heaven intimating that his life would be filled with affliction. "And now I go, bound in the spirit, unto Jerusalem and know not what shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me." When he received his commission to proclaim the Gospel, he laid his account with difficulty; and, having fairly and fully counted the cost, was prepared to endure all things. His zeal and resolution were more remarkable than the same qualities in any of the other apostles; and although not disposed to make a parade of his own virtues; not to boast of what he had suffered for the Cross; occasion sometimes required that he should recount his distresses to justify and prove his claim to Apostleship and a divine commission. Thus, when writing to the Corinthians to show that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the Apostles, he details the trials he had borne.