wants and relieve all our miseries. The fitness of his office to our situation, and his complete competence to discharge these offices; the richness and perfection of that provision which there is in Christ is a principal part of what the Spirit reveals in conversion. In consequence, the soul is imboldened to venture upon him, and, extinguishing all other hope and confidence, to rely upon him alone. This is that reception of Christ which, whosoever gives, is entitled to the privilege of becoming the child of God.

III. We proceed to remark the effect of St. Paul's conversion. Immediately, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." He was not "disobedient to the heavenly vision." He set himself, without hesitation or demur, to discharge the duties of his heavenly vocation.

1. His compliance with the will of Christ was instant, immediate, not like the eldest son in the parable, whom the father commanded to work in his vineyard.*

2. It was universal and impartial. He did not make choice and selection of the more easy duties and less costly sacrifices, but engaged in the service thoroughly and conscientiously. He spent his life in a series of most laborious, painful, and self-denying services, not living to himself. spent his life in publishing the name of the Saviour who had been revealed in him.

He

3. His compliance was constant and persevering.

*Matt. xxi. 28, 29.

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XIV.

ON THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.

ACTS xxvi. 9-18.—I verily thought with myself, that I ought

to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, at mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

THE Conversion of St. Paul is one of the most extraordinary facts recorded in the sacred Scriptures; and, whether we consider it as affording a demonstration of the truth of christianity, or as illustrating the power of divine grace, it is deserving of most deep meditation.

So sudden a transformation of character as this narrative presents, must surely be acknowledged to deserve a thorough investigation by all who conceive the principles of human conduct a proper object of attention and inquiry. It is surely natural to look into the cause of such a change, as well as to consider the effects which it produced, and the issue to which it tended.

Every christian is so well acquainted with the sufferings and labours of this chief of the apostles, and has contracted so sacred a friendship with the name of Paul, that the circumstances which led to so great a revolution in his character, cannot fail to be interesting.

Let us then, in dependence on divine assistance, take a review of the most striking particulars of this transaction, and endeavour to raise such reflections as the subject may naturally suggest.

I. Let us consider his previous character and conduct, and the actual state of his mind immediately before the change took place.

1. Of the incidents of his early life, we are not furnished with very full and distinct information. We learn that he was a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a city famous for its schools of philosophy, as well as for having given birth to some of the most eminent philosophers. His extraction, both on the side of his father and mother, was purely Jewish; but, owing to some benefit conferred on his ancestors, he was entitled by his birth to the privileges of a Roman citizen. His education was learned; for

he was born at Tarsus, and spent his first years there. He came at an early period to Jerusalem, and was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrim, and a celebrated doctor of the law. This was that Gamaliel who, by his temperate and judicious advice, restrained the violence of the Jewish council, who were determined to put Peter and John to death. His young disciple, Saul, seems to have imbibed nothing of his moderation, but to have been uniformly instigated by a most implacable fury against the christian cause. From his earliest youth he was of the "strictest sect of the Pharisees," who were not satisfied with complying with every punctilio of the Mosaic law, but adopted a multitude of traditions and ceremonies, of human invention, which they placed on the same footing, and deemed equally certain.

In common with the greater part of his countrymen, he held the perpetual and eternal obligation of the Mosaic law, and depended on his legal performances entirely for salvation. Though the sacrifices ordained under the law pointed to the atonement of Jesus Christ, he overlooked this reference; and, full of a confidence in his own rectitude, abhorred and disdained the idea of being indebted for salvation to a crucified Messiah. The poverty and meanness of Christ was an offence to his proud and haughty spirit; and the cross, which he endured for the expiation of sin, was a stumbling-block. He believed, no doubt, in a Messiah;

but the person he expected under that character was a great and victorious prince, invested with secular pomp and glory; who was to break asunder the Roman yoke, and raise the Jews to the pinnacle of human greatness: and therefore, when he observed that Jesus was so far from accomplishing these hopes that he died the death of the meanest malefactor, he regarded him as a mean and detestable impostor. When he heard the apostles testify his resurrection, assure him that he was exalted at the right hand of God, and that salvation and the remission of sins were to be. sought solely through his blood, his prejudices rose to the utmost violence; and he resented a doctrine which he considered as offering an insult to the whole Jewish nation. As he was taught to look upon the Jews as the distinguished favourites of the Most High, while he considered the Gentiles as reprobate and accursed; he abhorred the thought of that new doctrine which threatened to break down the "wall of partition," and to admit Gentiles and Jews to participate in the same privileges. He knew that the apostles were wont to denounce the judgements of God on the Jewish nation, for their rejection of Christ; and though they would naturally maintain a prudent reserve on the subject of their approaching calamities as a nation, they must have been well aware, from several of our Lord's parables, and particularly from his last prophecy, that the time. was approaching when the temple at Jerusalem