and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, and his APOSTLES, &c. 345 run away from his mailer, and taken with him fome things ofvalue. Having rambled as far as Rome, he was nowconverted by St. Paul, and by him returned to his ma- iler, with a fhort recommendatory letter, earneftly'deliring him to pardonhim; and, notwithflanding his former faults, to treat him kindly, and ufe him as a brother, pro- mifìng withal, that if he had wrongedor owed him any thing, he himfelf would re- pay it for him. St. Paul's Epiftle on this fubje& may be confidered as a mailer-piece ofeloquence, in the perfuafive way ; for the apofllehas herein had recourfe to all the .confidera- tions, which friendfhip, religion, piety, and tenderness, can infpire, to reconcile a ma- iler to his fer,vant.; - and yet fome of the ancients were of opinion, that it did not deferve a place in the canon of Scripture, becaufe it was written on a particular oc- cafion, and with a defign not fo much to- intlrua Chriftians in general, as to recom- mend a poor fugitive fervant : but though the fubje& of this Epiftle be a private af- fair, yet it contains, amongft others, the following general inflru&ions : Firft, That no Chriffian, though of the meaneft condi- tion, is to be contemned. Secondly, That Chriflianity does not, impair the power of mailers over their fervants. Thirdly, That fervants oughtto make fatisfa&ion for any wrong or injury done to their :mailers. Fourthly, That mailers ought to be recon- ciled to their fervants, upon their repent-. ance and acknowledgment of their faults. And, Fifthly, That there is, at,all times, a love and affe&ion due from a mailer to a fervant. Who, therefore, would refufe to number an Epiflle fo profitable, and fo infirufiive, with the tell of the works of this learned apofle? The Philippians hearing of St. Paul's imprifonment at, Rome, and not knowing what !traits he might be reduced to,; railed a contribution for him, and lent it by Epa- phroditus their bifhop,by whom he re- turnedan Epiftle to them, wherein he gives fome account of the {late of his affairs at No. 29. Rome; gratefullyacknowledges theirkind- nefs to him ; warns them againft the dan- gerous opinions which the Judaizing teach- ers began to vent amongft them and advifes them to live in continual obedience to CHRIST ; to avoid difputations, delight in prayer, be courageous under affli&ion, united in love, and clothed with humility, in imitation of the blefled Jesus, who fo far humbled himfelf, as to become obedient unto death, even the death of the crofs, for the fins ofmen. The apoftle..had lived three- years at Ephefus, preaching the gofpel to the nu- merous inhabitants of that city, and was therefore well acquainted with the Rate and condition of the place ; fo that taking theopportunity of.Tychicus's going thither, he wrote his Epiftle to the Ephefians, wherein he endeavours to countermine the principles and praelices both of the Jews and Gentiles; to confirm them in the be- lief and pra&ice of the Chriftian dó&rine; and to inftru& them fully in the great myf- tories of the golpe] ; their redemption and juflification by the death of CHxtsT ; their gratuitousele&ion ; their union with the Jews inone body, of whichCHRIST is the head, and the -glorious exaltation of that head above all creatures both.fpiritual and temporal ; together with many excellent moral precepts, both as to the general . duties of religion, and the duties of their particular relations in life. Though St. Paul himfelf had never been at Coloffe,. yetEpaphras, Who was then at Rome a prifoner with him, had preached the gofpel there with good fuccefs; and from him he might .learn, that certain falfe teachers had endeavoured to perfuade . the people, that they ought not to apply to God by JESUS CHRIST, who, fince his afcenfion, was fo far exalted above them, that angels were now become the proper mediators between God and man ; and, therefore, in oppofition to this, as well as other feduftions of the fame nature, he wrote his Epiftle to theColoflìans; wherein he magnificently difplays the Metah,:and 4 P all
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