、 A. The angel of the Lord sent him to meet a great officer of the queen of Ethiopia upon the road, as he was returning from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship as a proselyte, v. 25, 27.

39 Q. How was he employed when Philip met him?

A. He was sitting in his chariot, and reading the 53d chapter of Isaiah, where it is written, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter," &c. v. 28-32.

40 Q. In what manner did Philip preach the Gospel to him?

A. Upon his inquiry, “Who was the person of whom the prophet spake ?" Philip preached Jesus Christ.the Saviour to him, v. 34, 35.

41 Q. What success had this discourse of Philip? A. He professed his faith that Jesus is the Son of God, and was baptized as soon as they came to any water, ver. 36-38.

42 Q. What became of Philip afterwards?

A. The Spirit of the Lord caught him away, and carried him to Azotus; whence he travelled to Cesarea, and preached to all the cities upon the road, v. 39, 40.

43 Q. What are the next remarkable actions of Peter?

A. He went down to Lydda, and cured Eneas, who had kept his bed eight years with the palsy; and he went to Joppa, and raised Dorcas from the dead, Acts ix. 32-41.

44 Q. Who was this Dorcas ?

A. She was a woman full of good works, and who made garments for the poor, v. 37-39.

45 Q. What was the effect of these miracles? A. Many at Lydda and Joppa believed and turned to the Lord, v. 35, 42.

46 Q. What message did Peter receive while he was at Joppa ?

A. Cornelius, a centurion that feared God and prayed to him daily, was ordered by an angel in a

vision to send to Joppa for Peter, that he might teach him the way of salvation, Acts x. 1-6.

47 Q. Did Peter readily go upon this message, and preach to Cornelius, who was one of the Gentiles?

A. Peter, being a Jew, would have thought it unlawful to keep company with the Gentiles; that is, to go and sojourn, and eat with them in a familiar manner, as thinking them unclean; but God forewarned him in a vision, just before the messengers came to him, that he should freely go and preach to the Gentiles, who sent for him, v. 19, 20, 28, 29.

48 Q. What sort of vision was this whereby God forewarned Peter that the Gentiles should not be judged unclean any longer?

A. While the messengers of Cornelius drew near the city, Peter went upon the house-top to pray; and a great sheet appeared to be let down from heaven, with all manner of unclean beasts and birds, and creeping things; and a voice bade Peter kill and eat, nor call those things unclean which God hath cleansed, v. 9-20.

Note, By this vision Peter seems to have been taught these two things at once; namely, he was taught literally and expressly, that there were no more Jewish distinctions of meats to be observed; and he was taught, by way of emblem, that the Gentiles should no longer be counted unclean, or unfit for Jews familiarly to eat and converse with.

49 Q. How did Peter begin his sermon to Cornelius and his friends?

A. Thus: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but, in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," Acts x. 34, 35.

50 Q. What was the chief substance of his discourse? A. He preached the life and death and resurrection of Christ; and that he was ordained to be the Judge of the world; and that whosoever believeth in him should have remission of sins, v. 36-43.

51 Q. Had this sermon of Peter any remarkable success?

A. While Peter spake these words, "the Holy Ghost fell on all those that were present; and they spake with tongues, and were baptized in the name of the Lord," v. 44—48.

52 Q. How did Peter defend himself for conversing and eating with the Gentiles, when the Jewish believers reproved him for it?

A. Peter related the whole story, both of his own vision upon the house-top, and of the angel that was sent to Cornelius, and the wonderful success of his sermon; upon which they held their peace, and glorified God, Acts xi. 1-18.

53 Q. Were the disciples of Christ free from persecution at this time?

A. They had been free from persecution for a considerable time in Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, till Herod killed James, the brother of John, with the sword, and put Peter in prison, Acts ix. 31. and xii. 1-4.

54 Q. How did Peter escape from his hands?

A. Prayer was made by the church without ceasing for him; and while he was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the sentinels kept the prison door, at night a light shone in the prison, and the angel of the Lord awakened him, the chains fell from his hands, the gates opened of their own accord, and the angel brought him into the street, and departed, Acts xii. 5— 10.

55 Q. Whither went Peter after his release from prison?

A. To the house of Mary, the mother of John or Mark, where the disciples were met together for prayer, and he ordered them to acquaint the brethren of his miraculous deliverance, v. 12-17.

56 Q. How did Herod show his rage at his disappointment?

A. He commanded the keepers of the prison to be

put to death, being exceedingly vexed that Peter had escaped his hands, ver. 19.

57 Q. What remarkable judgment of God fell upon Herod?

A. Upon a special occasion, sitting on his throne in his royal robes, he made a speech to the people; upon which they cried out, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man:" and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and died, v. 21-23.

58 Q. What further account is there given of Peter in Scripture?

A. He preached the Gospel to the world; he encouraged the receiving the Gentiles into the church without circumcision, by his own example; he wrote letters to encourage the believers under persecution; till at last he was crucified, as Christ had foretold him, Acts xv. 7-11, first and second Epistle of Peter. John xxi. 18, 19. 2 Pet. i. 13-15.

59 Q. Is there any thing else recorded concerning the apostle John?

A. He also preached the word, and wrote the history of the life and death of Christ, which is called the Gospel: he wrote several Epistles to the Christians: he was banished to the isle of Patmos, for the sake of Christ, where he wrote the book of the Revelation in what order he wrote these things does not appear from Scripture.

:

60 Q. You have informed us what were the doctrines, and what was the religion that the apostles and disciples taught after Christ went to heaven; but how comes it to pass that, among these doctrines, we do not find them insisting more expressly on that great article of the Gospel, the redemption by Christ's death, and the atonement made for sin by his sufferings?

A. It is sufficiently evident that this doctrine was taught the world by Peter and John, as well as by Paul, since there is frequent mention of it in their Epistles, as well as that it shines every where through the Epistles

of St. Paul; nor can we suppose their preaching utterly forgot or neglected what their writings abound with. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. ii. 24. iii. 18. and iv. 1. 1 John i. 7. ii. 2. iii. 16. and v. 6. and therefore it is possible they might preach it sometimes at first, though it be not expressly recorded in such short abstracts of their sermons, as we find in the book of Acts: or, if this doctrine was not published at first with frequency and freedom, there seems to be a very good reason for it, namely, because neither the Jews nor Gentiles could well bear it so soon: for it was "a stumbling-block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks," 1 Cor. i. 23. And they were to be led by degrees into a full acquaintance with the mystery of the Gospel; even as Christ himself led his own disciples by slow degrees into the knowledge of this and other things, "as they were able to bear them," John xvi. 12.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE ACTS OF PAUL THE APOSTLE, HIS TRAVELS AND SUFFERINGS, HIS LIFE AND DEATH.

1 Q. Who was Paul?

A. He was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, born at Tarsus, his name at first was Saul, he was brought up in the strict sect of the Pharisees, a man of good morals, and exceedingly zealous for the traditions of the Fathers, Acts xxiii. 6. and xxi. 39. Phil. iii. 5, 6. Gal. i. 14. Acts vii. 58.

2 Q. What was his behaviour towards the Christians while he continued a Pharisee?

A. He was a very great persecutor in his younger years, he made havoc of the Church every where, sending men and women to prison, and he encouraged those who stoned Stephen, Acts viii. 1, 3.

and vii. 58.

3 Q. How came he to become a Christian?