about departing for Macedonia, concluding with certainty that the Lord called us to preach the gospel to them. Lydia,-whose heart the Lord opened. She entreated us, saying, If ye have judged me faithful to the Lord. Crispus the president of the synagogue, with his whole house, believed on the Lord. And the Lord, by a vision in the night, said to Paul, Fear not, but speak and be not silent: because I am with thee, and no one shall assail thee so as to hurt thee : for I have many people in this city. Take heed then, to yourselves, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit hath appointed you overseers, to feed the church of the Lord, which he hath acquired by the blood which is his own. When they had heard, they glorified the Lord. In the following night, the Lord stood before him and said, Take courage: for, as thou hast borne witness to the [truths] concerning me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness also at Rome."*

In these passages we oberve that not only is the appellation THE LORD currently given to the Redeemer, but that it is combined with a peculiar and exalted knowledge, authority, power, and influence, for the advancement of his kingdom and the protection of his servants; and that both the appellation and the attributives are in

Chap. xiv. 23. xvi. 7. IIveμa 'Inoov, Beza, Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, Heinrichs, &c. "The words of Jesus, are introduced into the text upon the most approved authorities." Impr. Vers. xvi. 10, 14, 15. xviii. 8. xx. 28. See Note [B] at the end of this Chapter. xxi. 20. xxiii. 11. See Griesbach.

the usual style and manner of scripture, when it speaks of the Great Jehovah as the Protector, Guide, and Saviour of his people.

Upon the ground laid by the preceding passages, of the application to Christ of these characters of care, power, and protection on the behalf of the Christian interest, I think that there is a balance of probability in favour of a similar interpretation of the term, "the Lord," in the narrative of Peter's deliverance from prison.* It is also proper to be considered, that the superior orders of intelligent beings are called "HIS mighty angels ;"t and that he elsewhere declares, “I Jesus have sent MINE angel to testify unto you these things."+

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VIII. We have before adverted to the ideas of majesty and dignity which are attached, in the scripture idiom, to the term, "the Name of the Lord;" as an established expression to denote the revealed perfections and character of God. Accordingly in the phraseology of the Old Testament, pious dispositions and exercises are expressed by the terms of " knowing, fearing, loving, glorifying, praising, confessing and trusting in the Name of Jehovah :" and, to perform any act in this Name, was to do it as a religious act, a profession of devout homage and obedience. Now, this mark of an exalted regard we find paid to the NAME of Christ, in different passages of the book of Acts; besides somet

* See Chap. xii. 7-17. † 2 Thess. i. 7.

Rev. xxii. 16.

Let it be

which have been before mentioned. observed also, that I do not pretend each one of these instances to be a decisive proof of the superhuman dignity of the Messiah; though some of them cannot but be admitted by any unprejudiced mind, to carry with them the very strong implication of divine power and greatness. But I conceive that the weight of the argument lies in the multitude and frequency of the instances, shewing this to have been an established phraseology; and in the conformity of this phraseology with that of the Old Testa

ment.

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Repent, and be baptized each of you, upon (r) the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, arise and walk! His name, upon the faith of his name, hath restored this man, whom ye see and know. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the, dead; in this [name] this man stands before you sound: and in no other is there salvation; for there is not another name under heaven, given among men. in which we must be saved. That signs and miracles may be done through the name of thy holy Son Jesus! They went rejoicing from the presence of the Sanhedrim, because they were honoured by being reviled for the sake of the name. This man is to me a chosen instrument, to bear my name before nations and kings and the children of Israel: for I will shew to him what sufferings he must undergo, for the sake of

my name. To him all the prophets bear witness, that, through his name, every one who believeth on him shall receive the forgiveness of sins. Barnabas and Paul, men who have exposed their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. I am ready, not only to be put in chains, but to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus!*

IX. This book of Acts represents the first Christians as paying religious worship to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that this was a known and acknowledged characteristic of their profession.

i. "Here he hath authority to put in chains all who call upon thy name. Is not this he who, in Jerusalem, pursued to ruin those who call upon this name? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon his name."+

The Calm Inquirer, with the general body of those who hold the same system, besides some other writers of lax opinions, affirms that “these words may be rendered, who are called,' or who call themselves, after thy name;' i. e. who profess themselves thy disciples."t

* Chap. ii. 38. iii. 6, 16. iv. 10, 30. v. 41, see Griesbach. ix. 15, 16. x.43. XV. 26. xix. 17. xxi. 13. † Chap. ix. 14, πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους τὸ ὄνομά σου. ver. 21, τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο; xxii. 16, ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

Page 367. I am compelled to remark on the partial manner in which the Inquirer cites Schleusner, so as to produce the impression upon the reader's mind, that his own interpretation of the phrase is unequivocally supported by that eminent biblicist: "Hine factum est, ut formula éπıxaλeto◊as évoμá Tivos signiVOL. II.

2 H

It is scarcely agreeable to fact, to say that believers, at the time to which these passages

ficaret in universum, profiteri religionem alicujus."-That the reader may judge of the equity and candour with which this citation is made, I subjoin the whole of the lexicographer's 4th and 5th significations.

"4. To call upon; because one who is called upon is usually mentioned by name. 2 Cor. i. 23. ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπικαLovμaι ÉTÌ TÙY 4vxv μov, I call upon, or make, God the witness against my own soul; or, I appeal to God as the witness against me, that I may awfully perish by some judgment from God, that he may take away my life, if I do not speak the truth. So Xenophon, Hist. Grec. II. iii. 23, καὶ θεοὺς ἐπεκαλεῖτο καὶ ἀνθρώπους, καθορᾷν τὰ γιγνόμενα, Theramenes invoked both gods and men to behold these wicked deeds. See Wetstein's N. T. vol. ii. p. 180.

"5. To pray, by religious invocation to implore the aid of any one. Acts vii. 59, καὶ ἐλιθοβόλουν τον Στέφανον, ἐπικαλούμενον καὶ λéyovτa, and they stoned Stephen as he was thus praying to God. 1 Pet. i. 17, Harépa èπmaλeïode. [Hinc factum est, ut formula ἐπικαλεῖσθαί τινα, vel ὄνομά τινος, significaret in universum, profiteri religionem alicujus, aliquem verè, sanctè et pié colere.] Hence it has come that the form of expression ἐπικαλεῖσθαί τινα, or ὄνομά TIVOS, generally signifies, to profess the religion of any one, to worhip any one in a sincere, holy, and pious manner. Act ii. 21. πᾶς ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου σωθήσεται, every person soever, that shall have, with unfeigned piety, embraced the Christian religion, shall be finally happy, ib. ix. 14. xxii. 16, éπinaλeσáμevos To ovoμd avtov, [ita, ut Christo nomen des] so as to become a disciple of Christ. Rom. x. 12, 13, 14, πῶς ἂν ἐπικαλέσωνται ; 1 Cor. i. 2. 2 Tim. ii. 22. In the same sense the expression TM DV Xp occurs. Genesis iv. 26. xii. 8."

Whether the reader concurs in the opinion, taken by Schleusner from some preceding writers, or whether he may acquiesce in the reasons which are advanced in these pages against it, he cannot fail to perceive that the learned author considers the formula, in this very signification, as derived from and including the more general idea of religious invocation, or adora