see, in the succeeding chapter to that now commenting upon, how Paul justified to himself the glorying in his experience of DIVINE Communications, and in his participation in Spiritual Concerns.—THE GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST is the Appellation and Term of Address, that so impressively Associates the Twofold Nature, DIVINE and Human, of our Blessed SAVIOUR: an Association, Which was never otherwise than Supportingly and endearingly present to the mind of Paul, as It should be to that of every professing Christian. And as CHRIST was Emphatically The Life, The Way and The Truth, so None but the Lovers of Truth and Adherers to its principles could confidently appeal to Him for Confirmation of their doctrine; this Paul did with the most unbounded reliance on the Omniscience of GOD, and of His Perfect Righteousness in His Judgment. A Judgment upon Which Paul knew and felt that his own Eternal Destiny, to the unspeakable Bliss of an Endless Communion with his Adorable SAVIOUR, The Incarnate SON of GOD, Depended. In his opening address to the Galatian Converts the Apostle, when invoking DIVINE Grace and Spiritual Peace, prayerfully seeks Them from GOD, The FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS CHRIST-Gal. i. 3; thus using a variety of expression, but equally bearing on the Twofold Nature of CHRIST. In the Apostle's deeply interesting and affecting expression of anxiety for the Israelites, whom he styles his Brethren according to the Flesh, he adds, as the strongest asseveration he could make of our SAVIOUR's Divinity, of whom, as concerning the Flesh, CHRIST Came, Who is Over All, GOĎ Blessed for Ever, Amen!- Rom. ix. 4, 5.—The Apostle's sacred observance of Truth is most obvious through his Writings, as when addressing the Thessalonians, after adverting to his sufferings and shameful treatment at Philippi, he adds, We were bold in our GOD to speak unto you The Gospel of GOD with much contention; declaring, that the exhortation was not of deceit, nor in guile; but as we were Allowed of GOD to be put in Trust with The Gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing, (or seeking to please) Men, but GOD, Which Trieth our hearts; not using at any time flattering words, nor a cloke of covetousness; as GOD is Witness-1 Thes. ii. 2, 5.

VERSES 32 and 33-Ju Damascus the Governor under Aretas, the King, kept the city of the Damascenes with a Garrison, desirous to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

At the very outset of Paul's Mission under The DIVINE Appointment, after receiving his sight at Damascus, and having intercourse with the Disciples there, he preached CHRIST in the Synagogues, that He is The SON of GOD; and though the Jews were confounded by the power of his reasoning and the Scriptural Proofs he adduced, that JESUS was The Promised MESSIAH, they nevertheless, in the pride and malignity of their hearts, even took counsel to kill Paul; and watched the gates day and night to accomplish their hellish purpose. But under the Protecting Hand and Guidance of A Merciful and All-Sufficient PROVIDENCE, the Disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket, and he escaped to Jerusalem-See Acts ix. 19 to 26.

CHAPTER XII.

VERSES 1 to first part of 5.-It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to Visions and Revelations of The LORD. I knew a Man in CHRIST above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; GOD Knoweth :) Such an One Caught up to the Third Heaven. And I knew Such a Man, (whether in the body, or out of the body I cannot tell: GOD Knoweth ;) How that he was Caught up into Paradise; and heard Unspeakable Words; Which it is not lawful for a Man to utter. Of Such an One will I glory.

Boasting is unbecoming in every One, and egotism injudicious, as generally

offensive; but in an especial degree is boasting unfitting the character and situation of a Minister of the Church of CHRIST. St. Paul boasted not; but he relates, under the deepest Spiritual impressions and conviction, of the experience he had had of a Spiritual State above this Earth; to the knowledge of which he had been brought (probably) at the time of his Conversion, and which must have both Confirmed him in the faith of JESUS, and Sustained him in the arduous contest he had to enter on prophetically, and encounter practically, throughout his beneficially extended existence. Had he been an Impostor he would have conjured up some imagined picture of his asserted interview; but Truth was his, as it was the Motto and the moving Principle of the Apostles generally-the Disciples of The GOD of Truth as Revealed to them in CHRIST JESUS. And what is the encouragement here held out to the faithful Followers of The LAMB! How more than equal to their fondest and fullest hope is this Prospect to the Spiritual eye of an Eulightened Faith in Gospel Revelation; though eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of Man to conceive the Things Which GOD hath Prepared for them, that love Him. Unspeakable Words! Unutterable! because Unintelligible, but to a Spiritual Nature, Elevated to the Paradisaic Realms, and Clothed with the Righteousness of the Saints in Heaven by The SPIRIT of HOLINESS. Great is the Joy on Earth of Those, who feel the Assurance of Salvation and Sanctification under a conviction of the Effectual Mediation of The Incarnate SON of GOD; He being All their desire and All their hope; but Rich as the Measure of that Rejoicing of their hearts is, in the Life that is, how faintly must it but shadow forth the Unceasing Exultation they will experience, when The KINGDOM of GOD and The LAMB is Fully Laid Open to them; and Perfect Purity, and Fulness of Spiritual Knowledge, and a Communion and Fellowship with All, that are happy, because All There are Holy, will be their Allotted Portion, with only increasing Privileges and Blessings throughout the Endless Life to Come.St. Paul frankly admits, that it might have been but a Vision of the Night, and not an actual entry of his Spirit into Paradise. But to so Gifted and Chosen a Servant of The HOLY JESUS, Such a Vision doubtless would have Emanated from The SPIRIT of Truth; and the Communication, thus Graciously Imparted to him, had All the Effect which a Spiritual Ascension would have had, if the Body at the time had been conscious of the descent again to Earth and the trials thereof. -St. Paul elsewhere speaks of Some, who he admits were in CHRIST before him-Rom. xvi. 7. But though Called comparatively late into the Field of Gospel labour, and under a most Signal Providence and Selection, his labours were more abundant than they All; night and day dedicating himself unweariedly and unfeignedly to the Ministry; GOD, Knowing them that are His, Knowing the strength of his zeal and its fitness to be converted and dedicated to the Cause of Truth and Righteousness in the wider diffusion of Gospel Light and Love.- -Of the Existence of Paradise we have our SAVIOUR's Own Testimony amidst the Anguish of His last moments on the Cross, when the penitent Thief, who was suffering by His Side, was Assured, that his Spirit should be with That of The SAVIOUR on that day in Paradise-Luke xxiii. 43. And again, amidst the Revelations Made to St. John This gratifying Assurance is Made to every penitent Believer in CHRIST JESUS. He, that hath an ear, let him hear What The SPIRIT Saith unto the Churches. To him, that overcometh, will I Give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the Midst of The Paradise of GOD-Rev. ii. 7. Indeed, Wherever our SAVIOUR is, in the Endearing Attractions of His Love and Communion, There must be Happiness, and that immensely and immeasurably beyond our fondest, boldest imagination. And how can Man be so infatuatedly blind and deaf and indifferent to Such High and Invaluable and Immortal Privileges! And what Worlds,

if he had them, would he freely give, and what Earthly pleasures or attractions cheerfully relinquish, and instead, even embrace all self-denial and devotedness to the Will of GOD and the service of his Fellow-Creatures, could he, after having had opened to his full apprehension These Heavenly Blessings in the instant of his death, and separation of his Soul from its Earthly Tabernacle, be Permitted to regain the irretrievable Loss his folly and wickedness in this life had subjected him to, in defiance of the Mercies and Warnings of An All-Gracious GOD, and the Interceding Offering of His Blessed SON, and the Stirring and Striving Influence of The HOLY SPIRIT Acting on his conscience. But the Day of Probation will then have past, and the Light of Heaven, if seen, will be so only to be Withdrawn and to yield in his view to utter and impenetrable darkness and despair-no Sun, no Moon, no Stars: Whilst the Spirits of the Just Made Perfect, through the prevalence of their faith, will not need them; for The LAMB will be The LIGHT of their Abode in the Mansions of Everlasting Felicity.

VERSES, Second part of 5 to first part of 9.-Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities; for though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a Fool: for I will say the Truth; but now I forbear, lest any Man should think of me above that, which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me and, lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations, there was Given to me a thorn in the Flesh, the Messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought The LORD thrice, that it might depart from me; and He Said untome, My Grace is Sufficient for thee: for My Strength is Made Perfect in weakness.'

Adam, Job, JESUS, were severally tempted by Satan; and why should not Paul have had his peculiar conflict with the Arch-Enemy of all Immortal Souls? Various have been the conjectures as to what this peculiar temptation was, to which Paul was subjected. Passions and affections are inherent in our Nature; and the Sexual attachments are amongst those influences, requiring to be curbed and directed by reason and prudence. Such a desire may have been the thorn, that Satan strove to fix and work with to his own hellish purposes, striving by every art and inducement to draw Paul into such an unbridled indulgence of a natural and legitimate propensity, as to render his social intercourse with the confiding Females he met with, a snare to the purity of his morals and the sacredness of his Office. Of all endearments in this present life, Conjugal attachments, wisely formed and religiously observed, are the greatest; and It is not good for Man to be alone was the Admission of The CREATOR on Adam's Formation, though in the maturity of manly power and of reason, and amidst the beauty and the wonder of animal and vegetable Being, Made subservient to him and his gratification. The Companion Selected for him was not a Fellow Man, to interchange the delights of Wisdom's intercourse; but Woman, with all her loveliness and all her fondness. Paul could not but have delighted to have shared in such a Companionship; and his natural desire could not but have leaned towards it. Perhaps Satan sought to make that feeling tributary to his eagerly aimed-at object, the Apostle's overthrow. But Paul knew that the moral course of abstinence, under the peculiar situation in which he stood, and the all-important duties of the Office, to which he was Called, at that immediate juncture of the Dawn of Salvation on an otherwise benighted World, left him not free to yield to Personal indulgence; and that the success of his Glorious Mission, as the Messenger of DIVINE Mercy in proclaiming the Mediation of The Incarnate SON of GOD, mainly depended on his undivided attention and devotedness in body, mind, and Soul, to its Progress amongst Millions of Immortal Souls. Wedlock's blandishments in an Era of such relentless persecution of the Cause, Committed to his charge, he knew could not be consistent with Its Support; and strong as might

have been his natural desire, (which his physiognomy bespoke,) and conscious as he was of its oft-stirring influence within him, as an infirmity with which Satan ceased not to strive for his Spiritual ruin, he yet found as the fruits of his earnest and effectual prayer to The ALMIGHTY, in Whom is all our Spiritual Strength, a Power within him more than equal to the conflict. And the Answer Given to him, and received by him in all the manifestation of a Saving Faith, My Grace is Sufficient for you, is The Answer, Which will be Given as Graciously to every Suppliant for It at the Throne of Grace. To be relieved from the power of temptation is less a Christian's object, than to be Fortified by DIVINE Interposition against it. St. Paul, though thus feeling his infirmities amidst the hostile Power working with all subtilty within him, was yet Upheld, in his state of otherwise so fearful a contest, by That Power Emanating from The GOD of Purity, Which is Ever Ready and Willing to Give Effectual Succour to All, who in a truly prayerful spirit seek, and in a grateful spirit, will use It.The thorn in the flesh, when sent by Satan, must have a malicious and diabolical tendency. There are National Visitations under DIVINE Condemnation for idolatry and perverseness in the ways of Communities, which are characterized by the same piercing and painful figure of a thorn; but which are Sent in Mercy to Reclaim, as Wisdom is often most effectually learnt in the School of Affliction. JEHOVAH, in Foretelling by His Prophet Ezekiel the ultimate Release of His People from the oppression of their Enemies, thus uses, in some variety of construction, the same figure, Thus Saith The LORD GOD, 'There shall be no more a pricking brier unto the House of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them'-Ezek. xxviii. 22, 24.- On another occasion St. Paul, in writing to the Galatian Converts, said, Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached The Gospel unto you at the first; and my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an Angel of GOD, even as CHRIST JÉSUS-Gal. iv. 13, 14. There are shades and characters of temptation; and probably the Apostle had not on this occasion in his mind's eye the Satanic thorn; but a feebleness of body and general ailments might have been uppermost in his mind.- -In the history of the Patriarch Job we have a record of the restless and malignant Spirit of Satan, who, under DIVINE Permission and under his own persuasion, that all that a Man hath will he give for his life, smote Job with every embitterment and suffering that fiendish and serpentine cunning could apply with the view of involving the Patriarch's Soul in an enmity against his CREATOR, and to cause him to make shipwreck of his interest in REDEEMING Love, and in Sustaining and Sanctifying Grace-Job. ii. 4, &c. The Woman too, who was One amongst the many Instances of our SAVIOUR's Merciful and Miraculous Offices of Relief from suffering, had been bound up by Satan in infirmity for eighteen years-Luke xiii. 11 to 16.- -A direct prayer to The ALMIGHTY, flowing from the heart, is ever attended with salutary effect, though it may be Answered differently from what might seem, at first conjecture, the more probable or desired result. The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous Man availeth much. When Moses besought The LORD, saying, O LORD GOD, Thou hast Begun to Shew Thy Servant Thy Greatness, and Thy Mighty Hand. I pray Thee, Let me go over and see the good Land, that is beyond Jordan, that goodly Mountain, and Lebanon.' And The LORD Said unto me, Let it suffice thee: speak no more unto Me of this matter: get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward; and behold it with thine eyes! for thou shalt not go over this Jordan'—Deut. iii. 23, 25, 27. Moses' prayer was not Granted to its letter; but after The DIVINE Assurance of the Fulfilment of the Promise, and the expanded terrestrial scene spread before the eye of Moses, he was in his Spirit Raised to a Celestial state of Instantaneous

and Complete Enjoyment, beyond what his natural eye could have seen, or his imagination could have pictured; and when The SON of GOD was on the Earth, that Spirit of Moses descended at its SAVIOUR's Transfiguration in a state of such palpable Glory, that the Apostle, who witnessed it, doubted whether DIVINE honour should not be paid to it. The Psalms of David are full of intercommunion by prayer with The GOD of All Power, and Whose Ear is ever Open to the supplications of the Penitent and Believing. Watch and pray! was our SAVIOUR'S Repeated Admonition; and, with all deference to The DIVINE Will, we should ever bear in remembrance, that The LORD not only Knoweth What we have need of, before we ask Him; but equally Knows What it is most Fitting for Him to Grant with a View to our Spiritual Benefit; to Which all Dispensations, whether seeming to the Natural Man either joyous or grievous, may well be Made Subservient.

VERSES, Second part of 9 to 12.-Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that ▲ the Power of CHRIST may Rest upon me: therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for CHRIST's Sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. I am become a Fool in glorying; ye have compelled me; for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest Apostles; though I be nothing. Truly the Signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in Signs and Wonders and mighty Deeds.

The endurance of trials, when in the Cause of CHRIST, not only may and should be, with patience, but with pleasure; for the very feeling is of Heavenly origin, and full of Consoling Assurance of Heavenly Support and Favour. And what can be a more justifiable cause of glorying in the Hope, That is Set before us, than under the conviction, from daily and hourly experience, that Mercy and Loving-Kindness from The DISPOSER of all Things and of All Events, are continually Awaiting us, whatever may be the measure of the enmity, which the Enemy of all Souls may pour out, by Permission, upon us; but only to prove our faith, and manifest the Strength of JEHOVAH Imparted to us amidst our own great and manifold infirmities. When our Beloved SAVIOUR was reviled, though Seeking the Eternal Salvation of His immediate Persecutors, He Reviled not again; and, though Gifted with Omnipotence, so that Legions of Angels would have come at His Bidding to spread Desolation amongst them, He yet Forbore the Outpouring of the Phial of Wrath in the Hand of His Justice; and Prayed even for His Murderers: Thereby Teaching us, as St. Paul has elsewhere done in his delineation of the attributes of Christian Charity, to bear all things. Amidst outward troubles an inward peace may be preserved, through faith in The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, That PRINCE of Sufferers, A SUFFERER for Righteousness and Truth's sake; and that He might Overcome evil with Good. In our prayer for the increase of Faith within us, we should include the prayer for the perfection of our practice, in accordance with the Strength Freely and Graciously Tendered to us by The SAVIOUR; Who, by The SPIRIT of Holiness, is Ever Ready and Willing to Inspire us with Fortitude and Clad us in all the Christian's Armour and Panoply of Defence.The Apostle doubtless felt, that his ceaseless labours and unwearied efforts to impart Spiritual Health to them, and diffuse amongst them the Inestimable Blessings of Gospel Light, intitled him to be regarded as a Minister from GOD; and that he should have been reverenced and esteemed and gratefully and generously dealt by; and his praise have been in their mouths; for even in that stage of his DIVINELY Missioned Toils he felt that other Ministers, however Gifted from On HIGH, had not surpassed him : and he justly refers to the manifestations, which had been made amongst them, or of which they must have heard, of his DIVINE Commission by the obvious effect of the more than Mortal energy he had displayed, and the more than Human

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