Watts - Houston-Packer Collection BX5207.W3 S4x 1805 v.3

DISC. II. EXAMINED AND ESTABLISHED. 1:iT 'ofSt. Paul's conversion, his faith, and his aposleship, and for this end we shall do well to remember these proofs and arguments which convinced him 'that Jesus was risen from the dead. Other holy writers have told us more of the life, actions, death, and resurrection of Christ, in the particular circumstances thereof : but St. Paul has told us more of the blessed consequences of these transactions. And let it be always kept in mind by us, that he was in a special manner the apostle to the gentile nations, of -which Great-Britain is a large province, and a remark- able part; so that, in his writings he speaks directly to us, and we are bound to attend to him. Remark S. It is very reasonable to conclude, we may safely believe what St. Paul believed and taught about this subject of the resurrection of Christ. For if we have but reason to believe that this was Paul's character, faith, and practice, and these are the reasons of his, be- lief, what should discourage or stagger us ? Let us sum up the force of this argument and put it 'together. Here is- a wise, learned, sincere, honest man, bred up a pharisee in a strong opposition to Christ, and the doe- .trine of his resurrection, zealous for another religion, even the religion of his fathers and his country, who yet saw reason to renounce all his ancient prejudices, and submit to receive this new and strange doctrine, who .believed and professed this gospel, which he once griev- ously persecuted, and afterwards preached it, with much fatigue, danger and suffering, supported it with courage, and A er constant divine zeal and piety, and the practice of every virtue ; through his whole life, glorified in his per- petual sufferings for it, lived upon the comforts derived from it, died in .defence of it, and sealed it with hrs. blood, and left it as a chief treasure to those whom he loved best in this world, even to the churches ofChrist. Now we have not this account of Paul from mere hearsay and tradition, but we have his own testimony to : all this in his writings, which have been' delivered' dówn to us through many ages : and no man of sensecan rea> sonablydoubt whether they are his writings-or no, any -more thanwe -can doubt the writings of Julius Caasar, or e,neca, Livy, or Virgil.. I add this further : C;oricern-

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