"ed in all the gifts of the Holy Ghost,” fo as "to be inferior to no church, or to come “behind no church in them;" and by this power he proves, that he came behind none of the apoftles, fince that truly the figns of "an apostle were wrought among them"in all figns and wonders, and mighty "deeds." And this is what he points at, as the feal of his apostleship among them, when he fays", "if I am not an apoftle to others, "yet doubtless I am to you; for the feal of "my apostleship are ye in the Lord;" that is, in my conferring, and your receiving the gifts of the Holy Ghoft, you have received the mark or proof of my apoftlefhip to you; the most peculiar and distinguishing, and the leaft liable to any fufpicion of being counterfeited, of any other whatsoever. The Corinthians, indeed, abounded in fpiritual gifts, which he had imparted, and that, therefore, must be the seal of his apostleship. For they were so far from excelling other churches in holinefs and virtue, that they feem, by both St. Paul's epiftles to them, to have had more faults, diforders, and vices among them, than any of the reft; fuch as had kept him a great while from coming among them, left he fhould have been forced to have ufed too great fharpness and severity, instead of the gentle I 2 Cor. xii. 13. # 2 Cor. xii. 12. S • I Cor. i. 7. nefs ness and meeknefs that he defired to exprefs toward them. I must refer my reader to the First Effay, where he will find several things faid, which may ferve to prove what I am af ferting here; though I alledged them there, to prove that all believers, where the apostles came, had thefe gifts imparted to them. But most of those texts will fhew, that it was fome of the apostles who imparted them. And though we do not read of any of the apoftles conferring the gifts of the Holy Ghost befides Peter, John, and Paul; yet there is no room to doubt, but all the reft exercised that power as well as they. From thefe confiderations, I think, it appears very plainly, that the conferring the gifts of the Holy Ghoft, by the laying on of hands, was peculiar to the apoftles, and the most distinguishing badge of their office. But there feem to be two objections against it, which deserve our attention. The first is, that "Saul has been generally thought to "have been filled with the Holy Ghoft, by "the laying on of the hands of Ananias;" because Ananias fays, that Christ sent him, that "Saul might receive his fight, and be «filled with the Holy Ghoft "." Yet this, in my opinion, is very far from making it clear, that Ananias conferred the Holy Ghoft on Saul, if we confider the whole matter. For the orders which Ananias receives in a vifion, and that he is acquainted Saul had had notice of in a vifion also, were, that he (Ananias) was to come to him (Saul) "to put his hands on him, that he might re"ceive his fight"." If Ananias was to come to him, that by putting his hands on him, he might receive the Holy Ghoft, it is furprizing, that fo fuperior a gift to that of the imparting fight, fhould not have been mentioned. And when St. Luke introduces Paul himself as giving an account of this tranfaction; he fpeaks only of receiving his fight from Ananias: and one Ananias, (fays he,) came unto "me, and stood, and faid unto me, Brother "Saul, receive thy fight;" but fays nothing of his receiving the Holy Ghost from him. And that he did not receive the Holy Ghost at least by that laying on of the hands of Ananias that restored Saul's fight, is plain from hence; that after Saul had received his fight, by the laying on of Ananias's hands, "he "arofe, and was baptized"." And in the account that Paul himself is introduced, as giving of this tranfaction; he says, that after Ananias had faid to him, " Brother Saul, re“ceive thy fight, and that he looked up upon "him," and that Ananias had delivered him a farther meffage, he was baptized.” 66 y Ibid. xxii. 12, 13. All this this fhews, that he was not baptized, until after he had received his fight, by Ananias's laying on his hands. Now the Holy Ghost fell always after baptifm, unless in the cafe of Cornelius and his family, for a reason that did not hold in the cafe of Saul; fee the First Effay. From hence then we may conclude, that Ananias did not confer the Holy Ghost on Saul, by that laying on of his hands, by which he gave Saul his fight. And as we have no account that he laid his hands on him a fecond time, it is plain, that the text does not affert that Ananias gave Saul the Holy Ghost. Perhaps, therefore, all that Ananias did, was to put his hands on him, in order to give him fight; that so, when he received it, and had been baptized, he might fee the Holy Ghost defcend on him in a cloven tongue, as of fire; as it did on the other apostles and their company, at the beginning: especially fince Paul afferts, that he was not one whit be"hind the very chiefeft apoftles ";" and that in other cafes, what happened to them in the course of things, happened to him alfo, though "out of courfe;" as to one "born "out of due time." For as they faw the Lord, fo did he; and it is very probable, therefore, that as the Holy Ghost descended on them, fo it did on him alfo. And, I think b 2 Cor. xi. 5. this is plainly implied, in its being said, that "he was to be filled with the Holy Ghost ";" and in its being afterwards faid, that he “was "full of the Holy Ghost "" Nay, as I apprehend, he refers to the "immediate descent of the Holy Ghost on " himself," Tit. iii. 5, 6. where, speaking of the Holy Ghoft, he fays, "which he fhed on us "abundantly." Now that phrase, as I have obfeved in the Firft Effay, denotes the immediate descent of the Holy Ghost; or his falling down without the intervention of hands. The only queftion here is, whether St. Paul fpeaks of himself in this place; which I apprehend he does: for taking this to be the connexion and the fenfe of it, he is directing Titus what he should teach the Cretans f; and proceeds thus: "Put them in mind"to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, "but gentle, fhewing meekness to all men.' And to fhew how reasonable it was for him to direct Titus to teach this doctrine of gentleness and meeknefs to all men, even to the worst; where the best may, perhaps, think themselves the most justified in fhewing a fierce and bitter zeal; he adds ", " for we "ourselves," that is, I myself, "was fome"times foolish", not knowing the truth, but c Acts ix. 17. A Ver. 3. 4 Ibid. xiii. 9. ignorant |