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This is the last recorded address of Paul to his dear brethren after the flesh; that is, the Jews. It was an address which must have been accompanied with a blessing, for we are told that the Jews had great reasonings among themselves; and wherever there is a spirit of inquiry, no matter what temporary inconveniences may be experienced by the circumstance of controversy, truth must and will finally prevail to the praise and glory of God.

The history tells us, that Paul remained two whole years in his own hired house. How was he employed? Let it be remembered, all the while, that he was a prisoner, though allowed to occupy his own apartments. How was he employed? His time was continually occupied in two great departments of his master's business-writing and preaching. During his two years imprisonment, he wrote the following epistles, or letters, in the order in which they will be named.

1. The Epistle to the Ephesians, to establish them in the Christian faith, by describing in the most animating language, the mercy of God in the calling of the Gentiles, through faith in Jesus Christ; and to enforce upon

them that holiness and consistency of conduct which is required of all who receive a knowledge of the gospel salvation. This epistle he sent by Tychicus, who carried it to Ephesus, for the purpose of giving the Christians there personal assurances of Paul's welfare and affection for them.

2. Next he wrote an epistle to the Philippians, to comfort them under the concern they expressed on the subject of his imprisonment, and to exhort them to continue in union and mutual love. Also, to caution them against the seductions of false teachers, who had begun to introduce themselves among them.

3. He next wrote an epistle to the Colossians, in answer to a message which they had sent by Epaphras. His object in this epistle was principally to prove, that the hope of man's salvation is founded exclusively on the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ; also to set them right in relation to some Jewish and heathen opinions which were industriously propagated. This epistle also appears to have been sent by Tychicus.

4. The next epistle which he wrote was to his friend Philemon, who lived in Colosse.

This epistle was to intercede for a slave named Onesimus, who had run away from his master to Rome, where he was converted, and sent back by Paul.

But besides this, Paul was engaged in preaching during the two years of his confinement. This we are distinctly told in the last verse of the Acts of the Apostles. As he had a hired house, he preached to all who would come to see him, and his great subject was Jesus Christ-"teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." These three words are very important. Paul preached Christ as Lord; that is, the sole potentute, as upholding all things by the word of his power, governing the world and the Church; having all things under his control; in short, the maker and upholder of all things, and the Judge of all men. He preached him as Jesus, that is, the Saviour; he who saves, delivers, and preserves, and especially who saves his people from their sins. He also preached him as Christ, that is, the Messiah, or anointed one; he who was apointed by God to this great and glorious work. Paul proved him to be the Messiah, foretold by the prophets, and ex

pected by the Jews. And more than this, when we are told that Paul spent his time in "teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ," it includes, besides the things above mentioned, his incarnation, his preaching, his miracles, persecutions, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, intercession, &c. These were the subjects on which the Apostle preached during his two years' imprisonment at Rome, which doubtless he preached to the end of his life, and which are preached in their fulness, by all true ministers of Jesus Christ.

The history contained in the Acts of the Apostles here closes. Thus far, therefore, and no farther, are we led on the authority of the word of God. Το carry the life of Paul down to the time of his death we have no materials on which we can positively depend. Still we can ascertain a good deal which we have every reason to believe to be true; and hoping that the reader will bear in mind, that all has now been said which the word of God contains, the next chapter will close the account with information derived from other sources.

CHAPTER XXI.

Travels of Paul, after his release from his first imprisonment in Rome-His subsequent imprisonment and death.

AFTER Paul was released from his confinement, as mentioned in the last chapter, he remained a short time in Italy, waiting for Timothy to come to him from Philippi, where it would appear he had been sent by Paul, just before his release, as you will see in his letter to the Philippians, chap. ii. 19-23. During the time in which he waited for Timothy, Paul is supposed to have written his epistle to the Hebrews, which is intended to prove to the Jews, from their own scriptures, the Divinity, humanity, atonement, and intercession of Christ-the superiority of the Gospel to the law, and the real object and design of the Mosaic institutions. After the finishing of this epistle, it is generally supposed that Paul visited those places which, in several of his epistles, he had promised to visit. Thus, in his epistle to the Romans, he intimated his

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