Whether he thought that his Lord had not a right to do as he pleased with his own, or whether he confidered the ob jects of his Lord's benevolence as unworthy of his regard, in either cafe his dilatoriness must be acknowledged to have been unjuftifiable, admitting he fo firmly believed his Lord. to be indeed the Meffiah, and that the Father had given him power over all flesh." And if it may not be imputed to one of those causes- -as fo clear a manifeftation of the will of God concerning the nations had been made by his only begotten Son-and-as he was afterwards fo wonderfully qualified to accomplish that gracious purpose of announcing the redemption to mankind, by being endued with the gift of languages by the Holy Spirit, it will be no eafy matter to difcover the true caufe of his inactivity. And yet, it is much to be feared, left an undisguised recital of the feveral remarkable circumftances that relate to this tranfaction, may even render it queftionable whether either of thofe confiderations kept him from complying with his Lord's injunc tion. Let any one that doubts it only attend to the following account of the manner in which he was, at first, gradually initiated into this wonderful myftery-after that-confider the purpose for which the Holy Spirit was fent to him -and the gift he then received, and then-let him compare the refult of his obfervations with what is faid concerning the affair of Cornelius.

As a religious Ifraelite he must be supposed to have been in the habit of hearing the Prophets read in the fynagogues on the fabbath-days (among whofe predictions that relating to the return of the idolatrous nations to the fpiritual worship of the one true God through the mediation of their expected Meffiah feems to be the most remarkable)—he had been an intimate companion of one whom he knew by the nature and number of his works to be, at least, the greatest of the Prophets, and whom he firmly believed on the evidence of his own teftimony to be the Meffiah himself; (kk) -he had been apprised by that moft wonderful perfonage that the very prediction which must have appeared to him the most remarkable of all others would fhortly begin to be verified; he had very probably heard of, at least, and it is not improbable that he had been even an eye witness to a moft memorable inftance of that fame extraordinary perfon's condefcenfion, towards the fervant of one who appears to have been an alien to the common-wealth of Ifrael;-he

(kk) John vi. 68. 69,

cannot

1

cannot well be supposed to have been unacquainted with the parable of the marriage feaft (1) which was spoken by his Lord for the purpofe of giving his country-men to understand, that thofe for whom the feaft was originally intended would not be permitted to partake of it, and that "the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind," would be invited. in their ftead from the ftreets, the lanes, the highways and the hedges"-he had received a command from him, not many days after he had been put to death and reftored to life again, and but a very fhort time before he had afcended up to hea ven in the presence of himself and others, " to go and preach repentance in his name to all nations" as the only means by which they could obtain "remiffion of fins"-and-he had frequently heard the fame predictions that related to this event, read in the fynagogue on the sabbath for the space of feven (mm) years (if general report be true) after his understanding had been opened by his Lord, and the gift of tongues had been imparted by the Holy Spirit :-but notwithstanding all this-he flood in need of a vifion, it seems, to induce him to go to a fojourner among his own people, though in all probability he knew him to be generally efteemed by them;-Nay-fo little does he appear to have thought of all that had paffed as to declare before the firft Gentile company that he vifited, as foon as he was introduced to it, that he had been induced to take a flep fo notorioufly contrary to the practice of all his compatriots, by what God had intimated to him only two or three days before by an emblematical phænomenon, without adverting, in the leaft, to any thing that had been previously faid about the reconciliation of God to the Gentiles by him whom he fincerely believed to be his only begotten, his well-beloved Son.

Had the will of God not been intimated to him by what he faw in the trance, it is certain that he would not have thought himself at liberty to go to Cæfarea on fuch an errand; (nn)—that he would have ftill confidered Cornelius as an unclean thing:-To fay that he would have gone without it, what is it but to make God interfere in the matter unneceffarily. Nay it appears by all his introductory converfation

(1) Luke xiv. 16.

(mm) The conversion of Cornelius happened, as I suppose, in the year 41 of our Saviour's nativity, according to the vulgar computation. WATSON'S TRACTS, vol. ii. c. 6. P. 421.

(nn) Peter would not have conversed with him if he had not been directed by an express command. p. 412.

fation with Cornelius that he would not have thought of fetting out on fuch an expedition without it-he told him exprefsly that it was the vifion that had induced him to do it -he gave him to understand that he had prefumed to vifit him in direct oppofition to an established cuftom of his country; he did not omit to remind him "how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or to come unto one of another nation;-and-he feemed to intimate that "God had fhewn him," then as it were for the first time, "that he should not call any man common or unclean"-that he then only began " to perceive of a truth, that God is no refpecter of perfons.'

Nay though it may be thought to appear from the queftion which he put to Cornelius and his company on his introduction to them at Cefarea, "I ask therefore for what intent ye have fent for me," (oo) that he was not even then fully fatisfied for what particular purpose the Centurion had fent for him, notwithflanding he had before asked the meffengers of Cornelius, on their admiffion into the house of the tanner. with whom he lodged at Joppa, "what is the cause wherefore ye are come ?" (pp)—And though he may, of course, be fuppofed to have been all the while under a dreadful apprehenfion of being preffed to partake of an unholy entertainment, or of being otherwife polluted; yet when the purport of the inftruction which was conveyed to the Centurion by the heavenly meffenger is attended to, by a perfon inclined to believe that a vifion was neceffary to induce St. Peter to comply with the petition which the Centurion was directed to fend to him, fuch an one may then think it by no means an unnatural fuppofition, that the Apoftle did not confider himself as being at liberty to go to any Gentile whatever, however respectable, though for no other purpose whatever but to converse with him,-and-that the Almighty knew that he would not prefume to do so if the divine permiffion were not notified to him in fome extraordinary manner. For when Cornelius "was warned from God by an holy angel to fend for Peter into his houfe," it was not that he might then take the opportunity of requesting him to remain a few days in it-nor-to partake of a fingle repaft-it was " to be told by him what he ought to do"" to hear words from be

(00) Acts x. 29.

VOL. XIV.

Chm. Mag. Feb. 1808.

(pp) Acts x, 21.

P

him whereby he might be faved." And as fuch feems to have been the fole purport of the meflage delivered to Cornelius, if the interference of the Almighty was really fo very neceffary to prevail on St. Peter to comply with it,the effect, which all the pains that his Lord had taken to teach him this part of the will of God, had produced in his mind, feems to be pretty evident.

66

And as

Moreover, That St. Peter would not have to Corgone nelius even for the purpofe of converfing, with a special license from the Almighty, will appear to any one who will attend to the detail of the Apoftle's preliminary conference with Cornelius, as given us by St. Luke. For as foon as St. Peter had made that remark, "ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or, to come unto one of another nation," to the Centurion and his friends, he immediately added "But God hath fhewed me that I fhould call no man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you as foon as I was fent for without gain faying." He then, and not before, proceeded to afk for what intent they had fent for him." foon as Cornelius had anfwered that it was to afford him an opportunity" of speaking" to him-and had fubjoined, "Now therefore we are all here prefent before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.-Then Peter opened his mouth and faid-Of a truth I perceive that God is no refpecter of perfons: But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteoufnefs is accepted with him." After he had faid this, he began his difcourfe, and when he had ended it," then prayed they him to tarry certain days." The behaviour of the other Apoftles feems to have been in every respect very like that, of Peter on this occafion.They, it feems, were no better acquainted either with the law, or the prophets, or the example, or the command of their Lord, than Peter himself had been. They seem to have thought it a very unwarrantable piece of prefumption for a fon of Abraham to converse with any Gentile whatever. They, we are told, were so offended at Peter's profane intercourse with men uncircumcised that they contended with him" about it, (qq) as foon as he returned to Jerufalem; fo much indeed, that he seems to have thought it necessary to fet about justifying his conduct in a formal

manner.

86

That

(99) Both St. Peter, and the Apostles, and the Brethren, evidently mean the same thing. DODD, on Acts x. 34, 35.

That the other Apoftles were of the party that contended with Peter on his return to Jerufalem will appear, not fo much from the beginning of the chapter which contains the account of this tranfaction, as from certain other particulars which are recorded in it-viz.-from the words with which St. Peter concluded his rehearsal of what happened during the interview: "As I began to fpeak the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning",-from the manner in which he fpake of that prediction of his Lord which immediately occurred to him on his beholding fo unexpected a manifeftation of the Spirit-viz.-as being well known to the perfons before whom he was juftifying his conduct: "then remem bered I the word of the Lord; how that he faid John indeed baptized with water, but YE fhall be baptized with the Holy Ghoft not many days hence,"-and from the expoftulation with which he concluded the vindication of his conduct in this affair, “forafmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jefus Chrift, what was I that I could withstand God ?"-From these feveral particulars it may fafely be inferred that they of the cir cumcifion who contended with Peter on this occafion, were, at leaft, fome of the company on whom the Holy Ghoft defcended on the day of Pentecoft.

Since then the Apoftles and brethren are mentioned together in the first verfe as having heard of the conversion of Cornelius, his kinfman, and near friends;-and-as it appears that they of the circumcifion, who were spoken of in the fecond verfe as having contended with Peter, were at leaft fome of the company that were affembled together on the day of Pentecoft, it will be no easy matter to acquit the Apoftles of having taken a part in reprehending him.-Indeed whoever confiders the manner in which St. Peter was at firft prevailed on to go to Cornelius, the tenor of his converfation with him,-and-the formal manner in which he thought it neceffary to juftify himself "by rehearfing the matter from the beginning, and expounding it to them in order," will think it by no means an extravagant or unwarrantable fuppofition that the other Apofties (rr) may have been capable of contending with him about it.

That

(rr) But I do not suppose, that the Apostles, like many other of the Jewish believers, were OFFENDED at what Peter had done. Or if they were at first SOMEWHAT OFFENDED, they were soon

and