The fawning crowd thinking to ingratiate themselves, and please the tyrant's pride with flattering applause, rent the sky with their noisy shouts, crying out," It is the voice of a God, and not of a man." Herod, with secret pride and vanity assumed that praise to himself which belonged only to God; and this blasphemy, added to his bloody persecutions and other sins, rendered him ripe for divine vengeance, which immediately seizing him with inexpressible torment in his bowels, terminated in a speedy mortification, and deprived him of * life: a just reward for affecting the titles due to God, from the clamorous and undiscerning populace.

This tyrant thus removed, the gospel flourished and increased, new converts being daily added to the faith, Barnabas and Saul, having discharged their trust, in carrying the necessary provision appointed for the relief of the poor Christians at Jerusalem, and other parts of Judea, returned from thence to Antioch, and took along with them John, whose surname was Mark.†

In the church at Antioch there were several prophets and teachers of eminence; and as they were ministering to the Lord in public, and joined prayer to fasting, the Holy Spirit, by immediate revelation, directed them to appoint Barnabas and Saul to the extraordinary work of preaching the gospel among the Gentiles, for which God had already designed them. In order to this, they appointed a solemn day of fasting and prayer, and by imposition of hands ordained them to the work for which God had appointed them. Having thus received their

This was the end of Herod Agrippa, grandson of that inhuman tyrant Herod the Great, the destroyer of the infants of Bethlehem: his father Alexander, born of Mariamne, was put to death with his brother Aristobulus many years before, by Herod, whose whole posterity was finally exterminated; and Herod Agrippa, who killed James, the Lord's brother, and first bishop of the church of Jerusalem, fell in the manner here related, by the just vengeance of heaven.

Mark. This appears to have been a different person from Mark the Evangelist, who was the convert and companion of Peter. This John Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, who had a great affection for him, and took him with him in several of his journies.

commission from God himself, they set out for Seleucia, and from thence sailed to Cyprus, where, in the city of Salamis, they publicly preached the gospel in the synagogues of the Jews, having Mark with them as their attendant. From Salamis they travelled through the island to Paphos, another city of Cyprus, where the temple of Venus was. Here they met with Barjesus, a magician* and false prophet, who being intimate with Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, a prudent and virtuous man, who was inclinable to receive the faith, did all he could to divert him from the conversation of these two apostles. But Paul, being in an extraordinary manner under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in a holy rage, fixing his eyes on Barjesus, he thus expressed his abhorrence, "O vile sorcerer! Like the devil, by whom thou workest, thou art an enemy to all goodness; wilt thou persist in defiance of the faith of Christ, which comes armed with a much greater power of miracles than those to which thou falsely pretendest? Thou shalt soon feel the vengeance of heaven upon thyself; for thou that perversely opposest the light of the gospel shalt lose thy sight, which by the immediate power of God shall be taken from thee for a time." And immediately he was struck blind, imploring the aid of some kind hand to lead him. This miraculous act upon the sorcerer convinced the proconsul, and he was converted to the faith.

• Magician. The word elymas, in the Arabian language, signifies knowing and skilful, and is applied to those that know things divine and human. So the word magos, with the Greeks, is the title of their wise men skilled in the seeret learning, and whom we originally call Magicians. Others derive this name from the Arabic word alaim, which signifies one acquainted with hidden secrets.

But the most pro

+ Paul. There are several accounts of Saul's two names. bable of them is that of Origen, in the Preface of the Epistle to the Romans; where he saith, that Saul being a Jew born in a city of the Romans, had at his circumcision two names, Saul a Jewish, and Paul a Roman name. And this is agreeable to the form of speech in Acts xiii. 9, "But Saul, who is also Paul," noting him to have had two names at once, and not to have changed one for the other.

Having performed great things, and converted many, he with his company, except John, who returned to Je rusalem, went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia, and from thence to Antioch in Pisidia,* where, on a sabbath-day, going into a synagogue, they sat down; and after the lessons, one out of the law, the other out of the prophets, it being the custom for the Jewish doctors to expound some part of the scripture for the instruction of the people, the chief persons of the assem bly which were present sent to Paul and his companions, to know whether they were disposed to speak to the congregation. Whereupon Paul gladly embracing this op portunity, and beckoning with his hand for silence, thus addressed himself to the congregation: "Attend ye men of Israel, and all you that fear God. It was your God, the God of Israel, that chose Abraham, and promised to bless and multiply his seed, and accordingly performed it, increasing them to a great number, even when they were slaves in a strange land, from which he miraculously delivered them and for forty years, though they murmured and rebelled against him, he treated them with paternal care, destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan to make room for them. After that, for the space of four hundred years, he gave them a series of judges, by whose heroic interposition, he delivered them from those repeated oppressions and miseries which their fre quent revolts to idolatry had brought upon them; this sort of government lasted till Samuel's time, who being a prophet, ruled them in God's name and stead for a time; of whose peaceful government being weary, they desired a king; upon which God gave them Saul the son of Kish, who governed them two and forty years: and when God in his displeasure had removed him, he gave them David to be their king, who, God promised, should rule his people after his own will. From this man's posterity, as he promised, did Jesus descend, appointed by God to

This is called Antioch in Pisidia, to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria, se frequently mentioned in this history.

be the Saviour of Israel. This is the illustrious person whom God so often promised to send into the world; and John the Baptist having been sent before as his herald, and having preached, to introduce his appearance, the baptism of repentance, declared that he was not the Messiah, but his forerunner, and not worthy to be even his menial servant.

"And now, brethren, this gospel, which Christ brought into the world, is sent to be proclaimed and made known to you. For the Sanhedrim and people of Jerusalem, notwithstanding the prophecies which foretold his coming, the many miracles he wrought, and the good he did * among them, adjudged him to death, and so have fulfilled the prophecies concerning him. And though he was perfectly innocent, no just accusation being brought against him, yet by clamours and threatenings they never ceased importuning Pilate till they crucified him. And when they had fulfilled the scripture concerning him, by exerting their malice against him, they took him from the cross, and burying him in. a sepulchre, they set a watch to guard it, and prevent his resurrection. But after all their vigilance, God raised him from the dead. Forty days after this he continued upon earth, and was seen several times to converse with his disciples, and others, who from the beginning had attended on him, and who do now testify the truth of all these things to the Jews. And the subject of this gospel, which we preach to you, is the promise made to our fathers, which God hath now fulfilled in raising Jesus from the dead. Of which also that in the second Psalm was a prophecy, when it was said, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." To the same purpose also, that God should not only raise him from the dead, but also secure him never any more to die, are those two other prophecies; one of Isaiah lv. 3, "I will give you the sure mercies of David:" the expression of an everlasting covenant, spoken literally to the people of Israel, that God would perpetuate to them the mercy promised to David, that of giving one of his seed to sit on his throne; but here accommodated to Christ, that though he were crucified, yet he should rise again, and never VOL. II.

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die more. And to this most clearly belongs that other prophecy of David, Psalm xvi. 10, "Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Which words cannot be applied personally to David, because he having lived his term of natural life, died, and never rose again, but his body putrified in the earth. But he in whom that prophecy was completely fulfilled, being sent by God into the world, and crucified, and by the power of God raised from the dead, never perished at all, but ascended into heaven. This therefore, brethren, is the message which we bring, the gospel that by him, even by this glorious and exalted person, the remission of sins is published unto you, even the full and assured pardon of all your offences, be they ever so great and aggravated. And by him, every one who believeth in him, is freely and fully acquitted before God, not only from the guilt of smaller miscarriages, but even from the guilt of all those things which are in the highest degree criminal, and for the pardon of which no provision was made in the Mosaic law. See to it, therefore, I earnestly beseech you, that what is spoken in the prophets as the fatal consequence of rejecting the gospel, come not upon you-particularly what Isaiah says, "Behold! ye despisers, and wonder, and perish! for I perform a most amazing work in your days, even a work which ye shall not believe if any one tell it to you."

Such was the substance of St. Paul's plain and faithful address to the Jews at Antioch, to which, for the present, they made no reply: but while they were going out of the synagogue, the Gentiles, who happened to be present, desired that the apostle would repeat on the next sabbath what he had then delivered, promising to attend themselves, and bring their friends with them.

The assembly being broken up, several of the Jews, that believed, and Proselytes, followed Paul and Barnabas, who preached to them, and by way of exhortation confirmed them in the faith of the gospel. The next sabbath the people came in great crowds to hear the apostles. With this expectation then, all that could, came to the synagogue, which having a tumultuous appearance in the eyes of the Jews, they soon discovered their malice, and not only con