that of our Lord in the days of his flesh. The angel Gabriel had foretold of the fon of Zacharias, "that many of the children of Ifrael he fhould "turn to the Lord their God." Repentance was his theme, and by this he prepared the way of the Lord. Jefus himself condefcended in his fubordinate capacity of prophet and teacher to pursue the fame method, though no regular churches were yet formed. He promised that the gift of the Holy Ghoft fhould be vouchfafed to his difciples, and we have feveral intimations †, that a greater degree of fuccefs, of purity, of knowledge, and of glory, fhould attend his religion after he should leave this world, than during his perfonal miniftry .

Judea and Galilee being thus prepared for the gofpel, the bleffed tidings began to be spread through them, and to be attended with rapid fuccefs, foon after the first perfecution which arofe about Stephen. Thofe who had felt the flame of Divine Love in Jerufalem, being obliged to flee, preached through these regions, and many thoufands were converted, as we have feen. The mother church, no doubt, was the most numerous, but various churches in the country must have contributed to make up the fum. The fmall fize of Palestine may tempt fome to wonder, if many thousands became chriftians, how the main body of the nation could yet remain in infidelity. The amazing populoufnefs and fertility of the country accounts for this. The number of populous towns, in Galilee particularly, is aftonishing, as appears from Jofephus's narrative of the Jewish

Luke i. 2. John xiv. and xvi.

war.

† Let this account once for all, for the much greater ufe which I make of the Acts and of the Epiftles, than of the four Gofpels. These last are indeed ineftimable; but their uses are of another kind, and fall not within the plan of this work.

war. The fingle town of Gadara, near the lake of Gennezaret, by no means a town of the first magnitude, maintained two thoufand fwine*. If then the importance of regions be measured by the number of inhabitants, rather than by the extent of ground, this fmall country might vie perhaps with modern Ruffia.

Of thefe churches the firft inftruments were not the Apostles themselves, though they doubtless visited them afterwards, and confirmed them. James the fon of Zebedee would not confine his labours to Jerufalem, till the time of his martyrdom, no more than the rest of the twelve, if perhaps we except James the fon of Alpheus, who was the first standing Paftor of Jerufalem.

These churches, moft probably, followed the example of the Parent-church, both in its firft love and comfortable progrefs, and alfo in its unhappy declenfion. Peter's activity in establishing them was very confpicuous. "The Lord wrought effectually" in him for the conversion of the Jews all alongt. He paffed through all quarters, and vifited the places most remote from the capital, fuch as Lydda, Saron, and Joppat. In all these places the Spirit of God accompanied his work. It was in this last city that the Lord by him raised Tabitha from the dead. I fhould fcarce have mentioned this miracle, in a work which profeffes all along to record the ordinary, not the extraordinary operations of the Holy Ghoft, were not the woman diftinguished by " her good works and "alms-deeds which fhe did." All the widows stood by Peter weeping, and fhewing the " coats and gar"ments which the had made, while fhe was with "them." Thus had this woman's faith evidenced jtfelf by good works, and the Spirit of Piety and of Prayer

Mark v. 13. Gal. ii. 8. ↑ Acts ix.

Prayer had gone hand in hand with that of induf trious beneficence Hail, Tabitha! thou haft the highest glory, and of the most folid kind, which is attainable on earth. But the reader fees how fimple and low chriftian exploits muft appear in the eyes of worldly men. They are not like the fwelling deeds of heroes and statesmen, which have hitherto, for the most part, monopolized the hiftoric page. But the perfons who are influenced by the Spirit of Chrift, with Tabitha, will yet know with whom they would wish to be numbered. The female fex, almoft excluded from civil history, will appear perhaps more confpicuous in ecclefiaftical. Lefs immerfed in fecular concerns, and iefs haughty and independent in fpirit, they seem, in all ages, to have had their full proportion, or more than the other fex, of the grace of the gospel.

SECTION III.

Τ

SAMARIA.

HIS country lay in the midft between Judea and Galilee, though diftinguished from them both in its polity and religion. The inhabitants poffeffed a large part of the diftrict, which had belonged to the ten tribes, whom the kings of Affyria had carried into captivity. Thefe conquerors had filled their vacant place with various colonifts, who mixed the worship of Jehovah with their idols, vainly boafted of their relation to Jacob+, profeffed to regard the law of Mofes, and defpifed or at least depreciated the rest of the

Kings xvii. + John v. 12.

Old

Old Testament. Our Saviour clearly decides the conteft which for ages had been carried on between them and the Jews, in favour of the latter. But though the Samaritan was an idolater in his very foundation, yet in moral practice he appears not worse than the Jew. Both, indeed, were at this time extremely corrupted, and gloried in cherishing an enmity, which forbad them the exercise of common humanity to one another.

The Divine Saviour pitied this people. He vifited them himselft, and fome finners were converted. He made a fecond attempt, but the bigotry of the village to which he approached, prevented them from receiving him there, a circumftance which excited the fiery zeal of the two fons of Zebedee, and gave occafion to our Lord to fay, "The Son of Man is not come to de"ftroy men's lives, but to fave them." He meekly bore the repulfe, and went to another village. But the effufions of his kindness toward this unhappy people were now to appear in abundance.

The next person to Stephen among the feven deacons in zeal and activity, was Philip. Driven from Jerufalem by the perfecution, he was directed to go to Samaria, perhaps the fame as Sichar, where our Lord had converfed with the woman over Jacob's Well. There he preached Christ, and the gofpel entered the hearts of many, fo "that there was great joy in that city §." The inhabitants appear to have been a very ignorant fimple people, but now that the Spirit of God was poured upon them, none received the gospel with more cordial pleasure. One effect immediately appeared, which indeed never fails to attend the hearty reception of the gospel. Superftition

John iv. 22. t John iv. I Luke ix. 5a. Acts viii. 8.

tition and diabolical delufions vanifhed. One Simon had deceived this people with forceries, I dare not fay with pretended forceries: We fhall fee fufficient proof, before we have done with the apoftolical hiftory, that forcery was a real thing. For a long time they had been infatuated, but Phip's doctrine expelled their regard for these things, and numbers of both fexes were baptized. Simon himself, though a ftranger to the nature and power of Chrift's religion, was yet convinced, that christianity in general was true; and this feems the juft idea of a mere hiftorical believer.

The Apoftles hearing of the happy reception which the gospel met with at Samaria, fent down Peter and John, who prayed on their behalf, that the Holy Ghoft might be imparted through the impofition of hands. The Spirit was communicated, not only in extraordinary gifts, but alfo in an effufion of the fame holy graces, which had appeared in Judea. The former were thofe alone, which attracted the attention of Simon. His avaricious heart immediately conceiving the profpect of vast wealth to be acquired, were he once poffeffed of the power, he offered them a fum of money for the communication of the fecret. Peter, who faw at once his covetoufnefs, and his ignorance, rebuked him in the feverest manner, affured him that his heart was wrong altogether, and his ftate accurfed, notwithstanding his baptifm and profeffion of christianity. At the fame time he exhorted him to repent and to feek the Divine Forgiveness. Here we fee how fingularly remote the religion of Jefus is from all worldly plans and fchemes, and what an awful difference there ever is between a real and nominal chriftian. The confcience of Simon telt the reproof; he begged

the