CHAPTER XI: 367 might be proselytes of the Jewish gates, and who all owned the one true God. Cornelius and his house seemed to be the first fruits of this rank of converts, at the preaching of St. Peterin Cesarea ; Acts x. 44, 48. After which, the gospel was preached also to these devout Gentiles, at Tarsus in Cilicia, at Antioch in Syria, and other places. VII. And by degrees, St. Paul, having further and speedier light given him, than the rest of the apostles had, andbeing emi- nently made the apostle of the Gentiles, preached Christ to the idolátriotts Gentiles, for their conversion. Perhaps Sergius Paulus the governor of Cyprus, was the first fruits of the con- verts of this rank ; and the first great harvest of the conversion of the idolatrous heathens, was probably at Antioch in Pisidia ; Acts xiii. 7, 14. VIII. Though the apostles themselves, as well as other converts, might have learned by the many parables of Christ, and by the express words of their great commission at first, that the gospel should be preached to all nations, even to all the heathen world : and though it was foretold by so many of theprophets, yet the prejudices of theJewish nation, cleaved so close to some of them for a season, that they could hardly tell how to admit the thought, that the idolatrous Gentiles should receive the gospel, or be received into full communion with christian churches ; or even that the gospel was designed for them, at least till they were first made Jews, or proselytes to Judaism : But by much conversing with Barnabas and Paul, and by many glorious successes of the word, among the idolatrous Gentiles, and the influences of the blessed Spirit on their minds, they were convinced and encou- raged at last, to let the gospel of Christ have this general flow, and spread among all the heathens. IX. All this while, many ofthe Jewish converts tochristianity, though they were bound to practise all the Jewish ceremonies ; for they imagined that whoever would come into the church or kingdom of the Messiah,they must come by the way of Judaism, that is, they must becircumcised, and become Jews first, and prac- tise the law of Moses, in order to be christians, though in reality, at thattime, it was almost going so far out of the way. And this was what occasioned the great debate in the synod of Jerusalem, * It bas been generally taken for granted, that the distinction between the proselytes of the gate, and the proselytes of the temple, or of righteousness, was begun many ages before, and was maintained among the Jews in our Saviour's time, and the next following ages: If this should prove to be a mistake, it will make no important difference in the scheme I babe proposed. The,gospel was first proposed to the Jews, then to the devout Gentiles, who owned the true God, whether they were proselytes in any sense or no, and then to the idolatrous Gentiles; for it is evident, that the devout Gentiles were nearer to the faith of Christ, and might reasonably attend to, and accept the gospel much sooner than idolaters.
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