of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 17. I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19. Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. “Ye Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul says,1 know what manner of men we were among you for your sake: for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Ye know how by mighty signs and wonders I displayed the power which accompanied me. He would not dare to speak of things not wrought by him :-nay, by himself nothing was wrought it was not he, but the power of the Spirit of God:-but he might speak of the things which Christ wrought by him, by word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient. Others had preached the Gospel in Italy and at Rome: he would not speak of that: but he might speak of the manner in which throughout all Greece and Asia the Gentiles had heard the word of God by his means: he might show how from Jerusalem in the east, round about unto Illyricum in the west, he had fully preached the Gospel of Christ. He had fulfilled the commission entrusted to him, "Behold, I send thee far hence unto the Gentiles;"2 "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness unto light, from the power of Satan unto God." And Acts xxii. 21; xxvi. 18. 1 1 Thess. i. 5. this he had so done, that there could be no doubt to whom they owed the blessing. 20. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: 21. But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. The duties of a missionary and of the pastor of a flock are different. One invites into the fold: the other feeds those who are collected. Paul was a missionary. He chose rather to go where Christ was yet unknown; was not named; lest he should build on another man's foundation: like Solomon, of whom we may say that he built the temple on the foundation which had been laid by David, and executed the work which his father had designed. Paul preferred to raise the building from the ground; to fulfil the prophetic promise, that a light should lighten the Gentiles; that they who had not heard should understand. Had Barnabas remained at Antioch, whither he had been sent to examine and confirm the infant church there, he would have been building on the foundation laid before by the men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, "when they had come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus." But it was not so when he came with Paul to Lystra; when the heathen natives called him Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius: had never heard the true God spoken of. As at Athens afterwards: when Paul began by say 3 See 1 Chron. xxviii. xxix. 4 See Acts xi. 19-25. 5 ing, Whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you:"6 that ye who have not heard, may understand "how God commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained: whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." This, then, was the reason why Paul had not yet visited Rome. The importance of the city, and the number of disciples it contained, would have called him thither: but jealousies might have arisen among the teachers already there, who might accuse him of desiring to reap the fruit of their labours: and, at all events, other wants were greater, the wants of those still lying in heathen darkness, and worshipping the work of men's hands. 22. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. 23. But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; 24. Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. Such was the plan in his own mind. God ordered it otherwise. He did indeed come unto them: but as a prisoner. He was not conducted by them in his way towards Spain; but he was conducted by them into Rome, when they met him on his journey, and comforted him by showing that the Lord had much people, and faithful people, in that city. 6 Acts xvii. 23-31. 7 Acts xxviii. 15. This change, however, though not revealed to him, did not take him by surprise. He had said whilst on his way, "Now I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befal me there; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me.' "8 Bonds and afflictions awaited him on earth. "But none of these things moved him." Here was not his rest: neither was his hope here: for he knew that what awaited him hereafter, was "the crown of righteousness," and the blessed sentence, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 9 LECTURE XLIII. PAUL PURPOSES TO CONVEY TO JERUSALEM A CONTRIBUTION FROM THE CHRISTIANS OF MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA. ROMANS XV. 25-33. 25. But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. We are told, Acts xix. 21, that "Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have 92 Tim. iv. 8; Matt. xxv. 23. 8 Acts xx. 22-23. The reason is been there, I must also see Rome." not there added, why he must first pass through Macedonia and Achaia. Here it appears that one at least of the reasons which induced him, was to receive the contribution which these Gentile Christians had made, that he might be the bearer of it to Jerusalem. We learn, too, in his epistle to the Corinthians, in what way the "alms and offerings" had been collected. (1 Cor. xvi. 2.) "On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him; that there be no gatherings when I come." It was a novel thing. Some years before, the very name of Jerusalem could have been hardly known to the people of Corinth, or Philippi, or Thessalonica. They were separated from its inhabitants by all those things which make one nation separate from another. A sea lay between them. They spoke a different language. Many provinces must be passed over, before one from Judea could reach Philippi, or one from Corinth could reach Jerusalem. There had, too, been that which beyond other things makes a separation: there had been on the one side idolatry; on the other, the worship of the one true God, eternal in the heavens. That, however, which before had set them asunder, had now become their bond of union. Religion had connected them, and given them a mutual interest. They were alike trusting in the Son of God, as their Deliverer from the wrath to come. And the knowledge of that Saviour had come to them from Jerusalem. It was at Jerusalem that he had died, to whom they owed their spiritual life. The poor saints that dwelt there, were of the |