■f'^-tlE 
 
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 'A- 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 No. Case, jp jf^. /\ 
 
 ■B R /i 5 .D35 170^1 ■~. 
 
 Bampton lectures 
 
 
THE EXPEDIENCY, PREDICTION, AND ACCOMPLISH- 
 MENT OF THE CHRISTIAN REDEMPTION 
 \ ILLUSTRATED, 
 
 I N 
 
 EIGHT SERMONS, 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 
 
 IN THE YEAR MDCCXCIV, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 LECTURE 
 
 FOUNDED BY THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A, 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 BY THOMAS WINTLE, B. D. 
 
 OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE, 
 RECTOR OF BRIGHTWELL IN BERKSHIRE. 
 
 OXFORD 
 
 M DCC XCIV. 
 
 SOLD BY J.COOKE; ALSO BY T. CADELL AND VV. CAVItS, 
 
 IN THE STRAND; F. AND C. RIVINGTON, ST. 
 
 PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD; AND T. PAYNE, 
 
 AT THE MEW'S-GATEj LONDON, 
 
IMPRIMATUR, 
 
 JOHAN. WILLS, 
 
 Vice-Can. Oxon. 
 
 V/adh. Coll. Sep""-^ 29. 1794. 
 
TO 
 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 AND HONOURABLE 
 
 SHUTE BARRINGTON, L. L. D. 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING WORK, 
 
 THE GENERAL PLAN OF WHICH 
 
 WAS HONOURED WITH HIS 
 
 APPROBATION, 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED; 
 
 IN GRATEFUL TESTIMONY OF THE MANY 
 
 INSTANCES OF ESTEEM AND REGARD, 
 
 WHICH HE HAS SHEWN TO 
 
 HIS LORDSHIP'S 
 
 OBLIGED AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TF we farvey the Religion of Jefus in its 
 nature, its principles, its motives, or its 
 end, we fhall find it in every view calculated 
 to promote all the focial and benevolent vir- 
 tues, to diifufe peace on earth, and good- will 
 amongft men. And yet that it has often not 
 been attended with thefe beneficial efFefts, 
 but has occafioned ftrife, feditions, fchifms, 
 herefies, a fpirit of pride, envy, and ill-will, 
 is too notorious from thofe unhappy ccntro* 
 verfies, which even from the firft ages of 
 Chriflianity have fadly divided and diflreiled 
 the Chriflian World. 
 
 The Author of this holy Religion, who 
 knew what was in man, his paffions, foibles, 
 prejudices, and infirmities, plainly forefaw this 
 accidental perverfion j and being fully con- 
 
 a 3 vinced 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 vinced how repugnant the tempers and dif- 
 poiitions of men would often be to the righ- 
 teoufnefs and the peace of God, he fuggefted 
 to his Difciples, that his Religion, however 
 deligned to encourage and recommend the 
 amiable Charities of Life, would in fad pro- 
 duce unnatural difcords and the keeneft ani- 
 molities. Suppofe ye^ that I am come to give 
 peace on earth ? I tell you ^ fiay, but rather di^ 
 vifion ; infomuch that a mans fc^s pall be 
 thofe of hh own houjhold^. 
 
 But thefe evils will arife, not from the 
 genuine influence, but the depraved perverfion 
 of the defign of the Gofpel. Men will fuffer 
 their natural principles and paffions to inter- 
 fere with the duties and dodlrines of Chrift ; 
 will not diveft themfelves of pride and preju- 
 dice, in order to qualify themfelves for a right 
 acquaintance with true Religion ; but will 
 fuffer their lufls too much to warp their un- 
 
 "^ Compare Matt. x. 34 — 36. with Luke xii. 51. 
 
 derflandings. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 derftandings, and to confine them under the 
 captivity of thofc corrupt inclinations, which 
 betray the reafon, pervert the rehgion, and 
 wound the foul, of a Chriftian. 
 
 To prevent thefe mifchiefs, the remedy, 
 that is commonly applied, often partakes too 
 much of the very evils which it is defigned to 
 obviate. Would men be perfuaded with gen- 
 tlenefs ana candour to confult the real welfare 
 and happinefs of their fellow creatures and 
 fellow Chriftians, much of that intemperate 
 warmth, with which controverfy too frequently 
 abounds, would be avoided. The principle 
 of love would warm their hearts, and give 
 energy to their counfels ; and thofe that they 
 would wifh to reform, would probably liften 
 to their inftrudions with more readinefs, and 
 receive their charitable endeavours with more 
 eagernefs. 
 
 Though it muil: be fometimes neceflary to 
 a 4 fearch 
 
viil PREFACE. 
 
 fearch deeply, and to probe the fore to the 
 bottom, yet perhaps it might be often ad- 
 vifeable to have recourfe to more lenient me- 
 thods, merely to point out the flaw without 
 aggravating it, and to propofe the remedy, 
 without marking the neceflity of the correc- 
 tion. Certainly there is fo much real and 
 vital energy in the true principles of Chrifti- 
 anity, that the very offering them in their 
 native and genuine luflre, muft ftrongly re- 
 commend them to impartial men, or rather 
 they enforce their own recommendation, and 
 the fober and candid mind mufl admit their 
 truth, and fufFer itfelf to be guided by their 
 influence , and even thofe who labour under 
 any wrong propenfity might mofl: probably 
 be won upon and recovered, from a right 
 view of things, hofi:ile only to error in gene- 
 ral, and favourable to univerfal truth. 
 
 It was chiefly from a fl:rong fenfe of the im- 
 portance of thefe conflderations, that the Au- 
 thor 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 thor of the following Work endeavoured to 
 <7lFer fuch a true ftate of the main points of our 
 holy Religion, as in his judgement the Scrip- 
 ture or Word of God hath clearly propofed for 
 our belief and praftice, hath manifeftly diredl- 
 ed for the due formation and improvement of 
 our hearts in the prefent life, in order to qualify 
 them for the perfed: felicity of the future one. 
 The grand dodlrine of the Chriftian fcheme is 
 the recovery of the human nature from Sin and 
 Death, and the reinftatement of it in grace and 
 favour with God by the all-povi^erful merits and 
 atonement of a Redeemer. It muft be enter- 
 taining as well as improving to reflecS, that this 
 comfortable defign has been carried on under 
 the guidance of Divine Providence through , 
 all ages of the world : infomuch that the efta- 
 blifliment and fall of empires, the whole 
 condud of the world, and the general fcheme 
 of things, the revelations of God's will, and 
 the manifeftations of his power, have all been 
 direded with a view to this great end, have 
 
 all 
 
X PREFACE. \ 
 
 all concurred in fulfilling the purpofe of Godj 
 as the true Chriftian acknowledges it, in Ujq 
 redemption of mankind through Chrift Jefus. 
 
 It were to be heartily wiflied, that men of 
 all defcriptions would duly weigh and contem- 
 plate thefe important Truths, would ftudy to 
 diveft themfelves of pride and partiality and 
 every fmifter attachment for this purpofe, and 
 would pray to God with the Pfalmift, that he 
 would open their minds, that they might fee 
 the wonders of his love, and of his law. To 
 minds thus prepared, I flatter myfelf the fol- 
 lowing Work, how manifold foever may be its 
 imperfections, would ftill be productive of im- 
 portant benefits. Throughout the whole I 
 have endeavoured always from the fuUeft con- 
 vidlion to adhere to the Truth of the Scrip- 
 tures, to fuch truth as is generally maintained 
 and taught in that excellent Inftitution, of 
 which I think myfelf happy in being a Mem- 
 ber, the reformed Church of England. If I 
 
 have 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 have fometimes given my own peculiar fenti- 
 ments, it has been only v^here it w^as con- 
 ceived the opinions of other men have not 
 been a fufficient guide, chiefly in the fenfe of 
 ibme obfcure paflages in the Old Teftament. 
 
 In my tranflation of the Prophecy of Ba- 
 laam in the fecond Difcourfe, the Reader may 
 poffibly find fome variations from the com- 
 mon tranflation, which he may be at a lofs to 
 account for. I can only obferve that I have 
 in general follov^ed the fenfe of the befl: Ver- 
 fions, and v^hat I have thought to be mofl: 
 agreeable to the rules of fair and true criticifm. 
 There is little doubt to whom the Star of 
 Balaam ought to be referred : That it has 
 been of old underfl:ood of the Mefllah mufl 
 be manifefi: from an obfervatlon of the learned 
 Bp. Patrick on the paflTage, who fays, that 
 fo long ago as the time of the Emperor Adrian, 
 this was underfl;ood by the generality of the 
 
 Jev^s, to be a Prophecy of the Mefliah. For 
 
 they 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 they followed one, whofe name was Choceb, 
 i. e. the Star^ to whom the famous Doftor^ 
 R. Akiba, applied thefe words of Balaam, and 
 calling him Barchoceb, or the Son of the Star, 
 anointed him their King, and carried a Sword 
 before him, crying, Behold the very King 
 Meffiah ; which is reported by the Jews in 
 feveral of their books. This proves at leaft 
 the fenfe they entertained of the paflage, 
 though they erred fo grofsly in the applica- 
 tion. 
 
 Some parts of the cxth Pfalm have gene- 
 rally been coniidered as extremely difficult, if 
 not inexplicable. For the fenfe that I have 
 affixed to the third verfe, the Reader will find 
 the chief of my reafons in the notes. But I 
 would beg leave to obferve here, that fince 
 that part of the work was printed oiF, I have 
 difcovered an interpretation in the expofition 
 of Father Houbigant, which tends to confirm 
 what I have advanced. I need not give the 
 
 whole 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 whole of his argument, but would refer for 
 this to his own Note. In feveral points 
 however he feems to agree with me in the 
 letter, and fometimes in the interpretation of 
 the Original Text ^. I will juft add his tranf- 
 lation of the vcrfe, from whence his emenda- 
 tions may be more apparent. " Tecum mag- 
 *' nifice egi in die virtutis tuas, in monte fandlo 
 ** meo 'y ex utero ante Luciferum genui te." 
 
 Whoever would rightly interpret this Pfalm 
 ihould duly and carefully attend to the nature 
 of the Compofition, to the change of Perfons 
 or Speakers introduced in it, and the dired 
 application of it to the Lord of Glory, or to 
 Ghrift. I conceive, that Jehovah, who is in- 
 
 ^ In particulir he confiders the word nm3 as a verb of the 
 firll perfon, and adds a Jod at the end. Alfo he reads with Sy- 
 machus nin2 in 7ny mountainy or in the mountains of holinefs, 
 meaning Sinaand Horeb, inftead of mnn in the Jplendors or 
 beauties. The difficulty in the laft line of '^D "^ he feems to 
 cut off, rather than reconcile, by fuppofing, and attempting to 
 account for it as an interpolation. 
 
 troduced 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 troduced as folemnly declaring the prlelWy 
 office of the Meffiah in the fourth verfe, hath 
 alfo intimated his Covenant with him> and his 
 extraordinary quaUfications for the Mediato- 
 rial authority in the third. As this expofi- 
 tion appears to be important, it is hoped it 
 will be fairly and candidly examined. I am 
 not aware of any objedlions to it, but what 
 may be eafily reconciled with that inattention 
 to grammatical accuracy, which is obfervable 
 in the Oriental writings ; and there are other 
 paffages in the Old Teftament, which are ap- 
 plicable to the Meffiah only, as well as this. 
 Origen recounts feveral of this fort, fuch as 
 Gen. xlix. lo. Pfalm xlv. Ifa. lii. and liii. 
 Micah v. 2. to which may be added Daniel's 
 Prophecy of the LXX weeks in the three laft 
 verfes of ch. ix. and feveral paffages in the 
 xxiid. and Ixixth Pfalms. Having had occalion 
 to enlarge the third Difcourfe, where this fub- 
 
 jea 
 
P R E F x\ C E. XV 
 
 jed Is treated on, very much with Notes, for 
 this as well as other obvious reafons, I have 
 taken the liberty to divide it into two parts, 
 
 I might have illuftrated feveral other pro- 
 phecies more fully, and perhaps completed the 
 whole Work in a better manner, if I had had 
 more time allowed me. But my Work was 
 brought forward by an unexpedled emer- 
 gency a twelvemonth fooner than was origi- 
 nally defigned. On this account I truft the 
 Reader will not be too rigidly exadl in criticif- 
 ing it, nor expedt more copious illuftrations 
 or more minute remarks, than the flraitnefs 
 of the time, together with my other engage- 
 ments, would admit, I hope the real interefts 
 of Chriftianity may in fome fmall degree be 
 promoted by thefe Difcourfes 3 and if we re- 
 fled: on the tempers and difpofitions of multi- 
 tudes around us, on the lukewarmnefs and 
 indifference of fome, the intemperate zeal and 
 
 forward 
 
xvi PREFACE. ; 
 
 i 
 
 forward vanity of others, the innovating and . 
 licentious fpirit of a third clafs, perhaps the 
 Minillers of the Gofpel were never more 
 loudly called upon than at prefent, to be ex- ; 
 plicit and zealous in the true caufe of Chrift, 
 to endeavour to promote it upon Chriftian 
 principles and motives, and to maintain that 
 his Gofpel is the power of God unto Salvation \ 
 to every one that believeth^. \ 
 
 ^ Rom. i. i6. i 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY, 
 
 *' I give and bequeath my Lands and 
 
 *« Eftates to the Chancellor, Mafters, and 
 ** Scholars of the Univerfity of Oxford for 
 ** ever, to have and to hold all and fingular 
 " the faid Lands or Eftates upon truft, and to 
 ** the intents and purpofes hereinafter men-» 
 ** tioned; that is to fay, I will and appoint 
 " that the Vice-Chancellor of the Univerfity 
 " of Oxford for the time being fhall take and 
 
 b *' receive 
 
( xviii ) 
 
 *' receive all the rents, iffues, and profits 
 " thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations and 
 '' necefiary dedudtions made) that he pay all 
 <' the remainder to the endowment of eight 
 *« Divinity Le(5lure Sermons, to be eftabhfh- 
 *' ed for ever in the faid Univerfity, and to 
 " be performed in the manner follov^lng ; 
 
 «« I direft and appoint, that, upon the firft 
 '' Tuefday in Eafter Term, a Lefturer be 
 " yearly chofen by the Heads of Colleges 
 *« only, and by no others, in the room ad- 
 '' joining to the Printing-Houfe, betv^een 
 '' the hours of ten in the morning and two 
 '' in the afternoon, to preach eight Divinity 
 " Ledure Sermons, the year following, at St. 
 " Mary's iii Oxford, between the commence- 
 <« iTient of the laft month in Lent Term, and 
 ** the end of the third week in Act Term. 
 
 ** Alfo I direfl: and appoint, that the eight 
 '' Divinity Ledure Sermons fnall be preached 
 ^* upon either of the following fubjeds — to 
 " confirm and efiablifli" the Chriftian Faith, 
 " and to confute all heretics and fchifmatics 
 
 <^ — upon 
 
( xk ) 
 
 i( — upon the divine authority of the Holy 
 «^ Scriptures — upon the authority of the 
 *^ writings of the primitive Fathers, as to 
 " the faith and pradlice of the primitive 
 <* Church — upon the Divinity of our Lord 
 '* and Saviour Jefus Chrift — upon the Divi- 
 " nity of the Holy Ghoft — upon the Arti- 
 *« cles of the Chriftian Faith, as compre- 
 *' hended in the Apoftles' and Nicene Creeds. 
 
 " Alfo I dired:, that thirty copies of the 
 
 *' eight Divinity Lefture Sermons fhall be 
 
 ** always printed, within two months after 
 
 ** they are preached, and one copy fhall be 
 
 *' given to the Chancellor of the Univerfity, 
 
 *' and one copy to the Head of every Col- 
 
 " lege, and one copy to the Mayor of the 
 
 '^ city of Oxford, and one copy to be put 
 
 " into the Bodleian Library ; and the ex- 
 
 " pence of printing them fhall be paid out 
 
 *' of the revenue of the Land or Eflates given 
 
 '' for eftablifhing the Divinity Ledure Ser- 
 
 «« mons ; and the Preacher fhall not be paid, 
 
 *« nor be entitled to the revenue, before they 
 
 ** are printed. 
 
 b 2 " Alfo 
 
( ^^ ) 
 
 *' Alfo I direft and appoint, that no per- 
 " fon fliall be qualified to preach the Divi- 
 ** nity Ledture Sermons, unlefs he hath taken 
 '' the Degree of Mafter of Arts at leaft, in 
 *« one of the two Univerfities of Oxford or 
 " Cambridge ; and that the fame perfon 
 ^' fhall never preach the Divinity Ledlure 
 *^ Sermons twice.*' 
 
^T^Ii^eBTOS ^^ 
 
 CON ^^"1^ T S, 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 The Inability of the human Nature to dlf- 
 cover a DeHverance from the fatal Confe- 
 quences of Sin. 
 
 Romans vii. 24, 25. 
 
 O wretched man that I am^ who Jloall deliver 
 
 ^, me from the body of this death'? I thank 
 
 God through fefus Chriji our Lord^ — p. i. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 Intimations of a Deliverer ia the early Ages 
 of the World. 
 
 Romans xi. 26. 
 
 — There Jhall come out ofSion the Deliverer^ 
 andjhall turn away ungodlinefs from Jacob. 
 
 p. 29. 
 
xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 Predictions of the Meffiah during the regal 
 Government of the Jews. 
 
 Acts iii. 24. 
 
 Tea, and all the prophets from Samuel, a7id 
 thofe that follow after, as ?nany as have fpo- 
 ken, have likeidfe foretold of thefe days, 
 
 p. 97. 
 
 S E R xM O N IV. 
 
 The Time of the Meffiah's coming, as noted 
 by the later Prophets. 
 
 Malachi iii. I. 
 
 Behold, I %mllfnd my Mefenger, and he Jhall 
 prepare the way before me -, and the Lord, 
 •whom ye feek, JJjall fuddenly come to his tem- 
 ple ', even the Mefjenger of the covenant, 
 whom ye delight in ; behold he Jhall come, 
 faith the Lord of hofs, p. 109. 
 
 SEPv- 
 
CONTENTS. xxlii 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 The Infufficiency of former Revelations, and 
 the Delay of the Chriftian confidered. 
 
 Romans viii. 3. 
 
 For what the Law could not do, in that it 
 
 ' .was weak through the flefi, God fending hts 
 
 -I. own Son in the likenejs offinfulfiefi, and for 
 
 fin, condemned fm in theflejh. p. HS- 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 The Death of Chrift an expiatory Sacrifice. 
 
 Hebrews ix. 26. 
 ^He appeared, to put away fn by thefacrifice 
 of himfelf P- *75• 
 
 S E R M O N VII. 
 
 The Influence of the Gofpel on the ChriRiaii 
 Life. 
 
 John xv. 3. 
 
 l^ow ye are clean through the word ■which I 
 havefpoken unto you. p. 2 1 1. 
 
xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 The EiFeds of Chriil's Interceffion. 
 
 Hebrews vii. 25, 
 
 Wherefore he is able alfo to fave them to the 
 uttermojly that come unto God by him^ fee^ 
 ing he ever livetb to make intercejjion for 
 them. p, 245. 
 

 PvOM ANs vii. 24, 25. 
 
 O wreu/jed man that I amy who fldall deliver 
 me from the body of this death ? I thank 
 God through Jefiis Chrijl our Lord. 
 
 SAINT Paul in this part of his Epiftle, 
 
 addreffing himfelf to the Jews at Rome, i 
 
 vindicates the Law of Mofes from any unjuft \ 
 
 imputation, on account of the ceremonial \ 
 ufages which it recommended, and which are 
 
 aboHflied by the purity of the Gofpel. Is the j 
 
 Law Sin, which direded thefe obfervances ? 1 
 
 ■i 
 
 God forbid^! Nay, fome moral duties are en- ] 
 
 forced by the legal rites and the fuperadded 
 precepts in fo convincing a manner, that in 
 a comparative fenie at leaft, the Sin, or tranf- ; 
 
 greffion of them, without the Law, would 
 
 « Ver. 7. \ 
 
 B have 
 
t SERMON I. 
 
 have been confidered as dead. Hence thofe 
 who were ignorant of the Law, or the Jews 
 in their priftine ftate, fo far as they were un- 
 acquainted with it, may be prefumed to have 
 lived without it. And to thefe the Apoftle 
 feeins to allude, when he fpeaks thus in his 
 own perfon ; / ^-uoas alive ^without the Law 
 once, that is, before it was given by Mofes ; 
 hit when the commandment came, Sin revived, 
 andldied^. 
 
 Yet the Law, which introduced this fenfe 
 of things, was in itfelf perfedlly right and 
 holy; and it was Sin only that made it produc- 
 tive of nufchief. It was Sin which perverted 
 the inflitutions of Heaven, the perfed: will of 
 God, and thereby wrought death in men. 
 And that Sin fhould thus gain the afcendancy 
 over us, and render us obnoxious to death, 
 cannot appear ftrange in this fallen ftate of 
 our nature, if v/e refied: on the oppofition 
 which is between the natural man and the 
 Lav/. For we know, that the Law is Jpi- 
 ritual, are fully convinced that it is pure^ 
 
 ^ Ver. 9. 
 
 and 
 
SERMON I. 3 
 
 and quite averfe to all iniquity; but I am 
 car?7aly fold under Jin'' : fuch is the nature of 
 the merely natural or carnal man, that he is 
 an habitual flave to his corrupt aftedtions and 
 finful inclinations, even againft the dictates of 
 the Law, and the better fuggeftions of his 
 own mind. 
 
 Sin is evidently the malignant poifon, whofe 
 pernicious influence is traced in this whole 
 chapter ; a contagion with which the human 
 race, even from our primeval ftate, has ever 
 been fadly infefted. \i will be unneceffary to 
 follow the Apoflle's argumentation farther, cr 
 to purfue the Qonflid:, which he fo minutely 
 marks, between the power of lin, and the 
 checks of confcience, or the remonftrances 
 of the better principle in the mind. It may 
 be more to our purpofe to obferve, that his 
 reafoning has by fome interpreters been un- 
 derflood literally, and as meant chiefly of him- 
 lelf; by others, though fpoken of himfelf, 
 yet applicable to another defcription of men. 
 Some refer it altogether to the carnal ftate j 
 
 <^ Ver. 14. 
 
 B 2 others 
 
4 SERMON I. 
 
 others extend it in part at leafl to the regene- 
 rate : fo that the alluiion may be prefumed 
 to intend the general condition of human na- 
 ture, affeded either in a greater or lefs degree 
 by the perplexing influence of Sin. 
 
 I rather favour this latter opinion ; not 
 only from the general fcope of his reafon- 
 ing, and the expreffions which he ufes, fuch 
 as, It is no more I that do it^ but Si/i that 
 divelleth in me ^y and / delight in the Law of 
 God after the inward man^ y and with the mind 
 Iferve the Law of God^ \ but even from the 
 refult of it in the queftion of the text. 
 Since certain it is from the context, that the 
 mifery here lamented is that wretched thral- 
 dom to which the hum.an nature is fubjed: 
 from the power and confequences of Sin : 
 which, however it may be mortified or kept 
 under in our renewed natures, cannot be fo 
 intirely fubdued, but that fome rem^ains will 
 adhere to the very beft of us, whilft: we con- 
 tinue in the body: enough to induce us feri- 
 ouily to diftruft ourfelves under the juft go- 
 
 ^\ti. 17. ^ Ver. 22. *" Ver. 25. 
 
 vernment 
 
SERMON I. 5 
 
 vernment of an infinitely wife and holy God, 
 and with an earnefl and thankful perfeverance 
 to feek after the full benefit of that deliver- 
 ance, which He hath wrought for us through 
 Jefus Chrift our Lord. 
 
 To under ftand the nature of this deliver- 
 ance, it will be neceflary to advert briefly to 
 the poignancy and baneful efFedls of the evil, 
 from which we would defire to be delivered ; 
 to t/je body of this deaths or, according to the 
 marginal reading, this body of deaths involving 
 in it a combination of the occafion, as well as 
 of the eiFefl and prelTure of this aggravated 
 calamity. 
 
 And here the firft refledion that will offer is, 
 that Sin is the caufe of death ; for the diflblu- 
 tion of our bodies, however we call it a pay- 
 ment of the debt of nature, is more properly 
 our receiving the wages of Sin ^ -, inafmuch as 
 we are affured by the holy Scripture, that man 
 created for immortality was placed in the Para- 
 dife of God 5 till by his tranfgreffion he fell 
 
 s Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 B ^ from 
 
6 SERMON L 
 
 from that happy ftate, v/as caft out to labour 
 and forrow, and doomed to return to the dufl 
 from whence he was taken ^. 
 
 To this might be added, that as by the Sin 
 of one man Death firft entered into the world, 
 and the inexorable decree palled upon us alL 
 fo we too often haften the execution of it by 
 our feveral offences. Would we efchew evil, 
 a-nd do good\ length of days might yet be the 
 portion of many among us. But by indo- 
 lence and intemperance, by anger, envy, and 
 lewdnefs we contradt our fpan ; and, though 
 our life be ' indeed Chort enough for the bufi- 
 nefs we have to do, render it much fhorter, 
 either by doing nothing, or by doing what 
 oug:ht not to be done. And hence alfo we 
 frequently craze a healthy conftitution, lay 
 in food for reftlefs thoughts and diflempered 
 humours, and treafure up forrows to aggra- 
 vate the infirmity of our latter days. Thus 
 is Sin the caufe of death, and of its ufual 
 
 ^ Gen. iii. 19. * 1 Pet. iii. 1 1. 
 
 harbingers. 
 
SERMON L 7 
 
 harbingers, decay and difeafe, and ail the 
 affliding preparatives of our diffolution^. 
 
 But this is not all ; for under t/je body of 
 this death we muft confider Sin efpecially, as 
 that pernicious bane which arms death with 
 its terror, upon account of which its ap- 
 proaches are generally fo dreadful to mankind; 
 as that which gives it a power to pierce even 
 to the inmoft receffes of their minds, to 
 overwhelm them in the extreme agony of 
 nature with the infupportable burden of a 
 wounded Jpirit^y and threatens them with a 
 feparation infinitely more grievous than a bare 
 difuniting their fouls from their bodies, an in- 
 tire feparation of their fouls from God. So 
 that they are through the fear of death all 
 their life- time fubjeB to bondage "" ; and, when 
 the laft ftruggle for life is over, depart with 
 an anxious diftruft that the bitternefs of death 
 
 ^ I need not add, fays Bp. Patrick on Gen. il. 17. that 
 difeafes, fickneiTes, and pains, the forerunners of death, are 
 included in this threatening, ** Thou fhalt farely die." 
 
 ^ Prov. xviii. 14. 
 
 "Heb. ii. 15. 
 
 B 4 is 
 
8 SERMON I. 
 
 is " not yet paji ; but that there may ft ill be a 
 final deftrudion both of foul and body, called 
 in the language of Scripture the Jecond death % 
 or death eternal. 
 
 Had we no deliverance given us by God, 
 this triumph of death over human nature 
 would be but an uncomfortable fubjedl. But 
 fince we are now enabled by Him to become 
 indeed more than conquerors p, we may with- 
 out horror furvey the various fcene of our 
 conflidt and defeat; from the time when 
 men were firft expofed naked to- the aflaul ts 
 of the grand adverfary of mankind ; what 
 arts have been applied to elude or alleviate 
 their thraldom, what efforts to recover their 
 liberty; and how Sin has ever baffled their 
 attempts, and driven them from all the con- 
 fidence in which they trufted, till through 
 Jefus Chrift our Lord they were reftored to 
 the glorious freedom of the fons of God, and 
 invited to a better Paradife, to an eternal in- 
 heritance referved in heaven for us. 
 
 ^ I Sam. XV. 32. ° Rev. xx. 14. p Rom. viii. 37. 
 
 Nor 
 
SERMON I. 9 
 
 Nor will this view of our natural condition 
 be an unprofitable amufement ; from the fight 
 of our danger we fhall difcern the greatnefs 
 of our deliverance, from the fenfe of human 
 weaknefs we fhall be led to admire the power 
 of divine grace ; and the more deeply we are 
 convinced that our own arm could not help 
 us, the more eff'edtually we fliall b^ excited to 
 return our praifes to Him, whofe right hand 
 hath wrought for us Jo great falv at ion ^. 
 
 Let us then confider death, as what it muft 
 appear to all men, the period of the prefent 
 ftate of our exifl:ence; and remark what con-^ 
 fequences they have drawn, and with what 
 confolations they have endeavoured to fupport 
 themfelves, under the exped:ation of fuch an 
 important event. 
 
 L,et us eat and drinks and enjoy the day, 
 for to-morrow isce die\ This is the conclufion 
 
 «i Heb. ii. 3. 
 
 ' I Cor. XV. 32. The fame expreflion is ufed by Ifaiah, 
 ch. xxii. 13. The prophet intimates, that, inflead of looking 
 up to the Maker of their city in the time of its fiege, the Jews 
 would indulge every kind of riot and excefs : when he called 
 to weeping and mourning, behold joy and gladnefs^JIaying cxen, 
 
 killing 
 
10 SERMON I. 
 
 of men of fuperficial thoughts, ungoverned 
 appetites, and degenerate minds; whofe only 
 method of loofing themfelves from the ties of 
 religion is, tamely to fubmit to the chain of 
 neceffity; and when they have firft difcarded 
 their reafon, that they may live like brutes, 
 fuborn their reafon to give evidence, that 
 like brutes they fhall perifh. " Our life is 
 *^ fhort and tedious, fay they, and in the 
 " death of man there is no remedy, neither 
 ** was there any man known to return from 
 ** the grave. For we are born at all adven- 
 '* ture; and we iliall be hereafter as though 
 **' we had never been: for the breath in our 
 
 killing Jheep \ or their conduft would be altogether like thofe 
 Pagans who looked for death, as the final termination of all 
 their hopes and enjoyments, as well as of their prefent exillence. 
 Such principles are generally afcribed to the Epicureans : and 
 Cicero, in defcribing the Epicurean tenets, thus obferves; Nul- 
 lam enim noviftis, nifi profeftam a corpcre, et redeuntem ad 
 corpus, animi voluptatem. De Nat. Deor. 1. i. 40. But, ac- 
 cording to Herodotus, vve find the like notions entertained in 
 the more cultivated parts of Egypt long before the time of 
 Epicurus. Ele tells us, b. ii. 78. that, at their convivial enter- 
 tainments, the Egyptians introduced the figure of a dead man, 
 which was carried round on a bier to each of the guefts; who 
 was reminded to look on it, and drink and enjoy himfeif, as 
 he was to become, after his death, like that wooden image. 
 See alfo the fpccch of Vibius Gallus. Liv. i. 26. 13. 
 
 <« noflrils 
 
SERMON L II 
 
 ** noftrlls is as fmoke, and a little fpark in the 
 ** moving of our heart: which being extin- 
 '* guiflied, our body fliall be turned into afhes, 
 ** and our fpirit fhall vanifh as the foft air. 
 '* Our time is a very fhadow that pafleth 
 *^ away ; and after our end there is no return- 
 ** ing: for it is faft fealed, fo that no man 
 *' Cometh again. Come on therefore, let us 
 '• enjoy the good things that are prefent; let 
 ** us fill ourfelves with coflly wine and oint- 
 ** ments; let us crown ourfelves with rofe-buds 
 ** before they be withered, and let none of us 
 " go without his part of voluptuoufnefs^ for 
 '* this is our portion, and our lot is this/* 
 
 Thus are they reprefented by the author of 
 the book of Wifdom ', reafoning with them- 
 felves, as he expreffes it, but in a manner 
 which the very nature of the rational faculty 
 immediately evinces not to be aright. And 
 fliould it at laft appear that, fhort as our life is, 
 we have no lefs than an eternal intereft at ftake, 
 of all men moft miferable are thefe pretenders 
 
 s wifdom ii. i — 9. 
 
 to 
 
12 S E R M ON I. 
 
 to gaiety and pleafure. It is deplorable to be in 
 fuch a cafe as to be forced to wifh the contrary; 
 and then it is intolerable to find that the con- 
 trary is impoffible to be proved. Nay, it may 
 be queflioned whether the higheft attainments, 
 the foul of man is capable of receiving in the 
 prefent life, be a flronger argument, that the 
 pre fen t life is not all its portion, but that there 
 mufl: be a future reckoning, than the cor- 
 ruption and bafenefs of fuch groveling minds^ 
 For why fo much pains to degrade and vilify 
 human nature ? Is it not, that they may give a 
 full fwing to the brutal pafiions, that they may 
 lilence the reproaches of confcience, that they 
 may fin without fhame, relu(ftance, or regret ? 
 Whence it muft needs follow, as furely as fin 
 implies guilt, and guilt an obligation to pu- 
 
 * This opinion, fays Bp. Wilkins, is fo very grofs and ig- 
 noble, as that it cannot be fafficiently defpifed. It doth debaie 
 the underllftnding of man, and all the principles in him that 
 are fublime and generous, extinguiiliing the very feeds of ho- 
 nour, and piety, and vii-tue, affording no room for aclions or 
 endeavours that are truly great and noble ; being altogether 
 unworthy of the nature of man, and doth reduce us to the con- 
 dition of beafts. Nat, Rel. p. 35 u 
 
 nifliment. 
 
SERMON I. 13 
 
 niiliment, that the more freely they have gra- 
 tified their vicious inclinations, the more fuc- 
 cefsful they have been in ftifling the inward 
 forebodings of an hereafter, thofe natural at- 
 tendants and firft avengers of fm in this life, 
 the greater probability, nay, if there be a juft 
 God in lieaven, the greater neceffity there 
 fhould feem to be, of their undergoing the 
 whole burden of the punifliment due unto it 
 in a future flate. 
 
 And though they may for a v/hile by thefe 
 mean artifices defer or beguile the fear of dy- 
 ing; yet the more they have fixed their affec- 
 tions on the things here below, the lefs they 
 will be able to endure the thought that they 
 muft ihortly leave them. When they have 
 had their fhare even to fatiety; when they are 
 convinced, as moft before their departure hence 
 are by fad experience convinced, that this is 
 not the place of their refl; they will with im- 
 potent longings flill hover over their beloved, 
 their only, treafure. What, though they can- 
 not find reft here, Ihould they be taken hence, 
 they can promife themfelves reil no wlierc, 
 
 having 
 
i4 S E R M O N L 
 
 having no defire, no relifb, fcarcc any notion 
 of fuperior fpiritual enjoyments* 
 
 But to difmifs thefe, who, after all their 
 fwelling words of liberty, are the moft ab- 
 jed: and confeffed flaves both of fin and death, 
 and the fecurity of whofe hope is no better 
 than the extremity of defpair; — 
 
 Others have fought for fuccour againft the 
 fear of death from the power of fame, the 
 views of a pofthumous reputation, and com- 
 forted themfelves with the apprehenfion of fur- 
 viving the fliort period of their nature in the 
 more durable annals of time, in the admiration 
 and applaufe of diftant generations. This, it 
 muft be acknowledged, is the effed: of a noble 
 inflind:, has been the caufe of many glorious 
 atchievements, is no inconfiderable proof, or 
 rather is an aufpicious prefage, of a more real 
 immortality. 
 
 Yet how miferably has this excellent prin- 
 ciple been perverted by fin to the worft pur- 
 pofes of a criminal am.bition, nay of a fordid 
 
 avarice! 
 
S E R M ONI. 15 
 
 avarice! The darling profpcct of being eter- 
 nized by a folemn deification with all the pomp 
 of ftatuesand vidtims, was an irrefiftible temp- 
 tation to the great giants of violence, thofe 
 men of renown " in ancient days. The more 
 humble imagination of having their titles de- 
 livered down to future ages with the flattering 
 addition of mighty conquerors, has been for 
 heroes of later date a fufficient motive to juf- 
 tify their divefting themfelves of all humanity, 
 and facrificing multitudes to the idol of their 
 honour. And if we turn our eyes upon cha- 
 racters in lower life ; why this penurious gri- 
 ping, this oppreflion and defrauding even in 
 thofe who are paft the feafon of enjoyment? 
 but to raife a family, or a fumptuous fabric, 
 to fay their hoiifes fiall continue for ever^ to 
 call their lands after their own names ""y or to 
 
 " Gen. vi. 4. 'which tvere rf oU, men of renonjjn. The expref- 
 fion £Zj-?l3;n, trar.fiated cf old, properly denotes the cbfcurity of 
 any diliant period of time, and may refer to what is future, as 
 well as what is paft. The men of renc<von need not therefore be 
 confined to the generations before the flood. 
 
 * Pf. xlix. II.'* This their Vjjay is their folly, and thofe that 
 " fee it are fuch fools to take after them.'* So Bp. Lloyd on this 
 place. See his funeral Sermon at the end of Wilkins's Nat. 
 Reb p. 9; where are many judicioui remarks on the fubjeft we 
 are here treating. g^^ 
 
i6 SERMON I. 
 
 find a refuge from the obfcurity of the grave 
 in the flateHnefs of a fepulchre. So that per- 
 haps it were better men could be contented 
 to be forgotten, than thus labour to refcue 
 themfelves from oblivion by fuch infamous or 
 ridiculous memorials. 
 
 But let us fuppofe this principle to take its 
 right direftion, to fpur men on to diftinguifh 
 themfelves by the invention or improvement 
 of ufeful arts, by the atchievements of virtuous 
 bravery, and works of a true magnificence. 
 A good name indeed thus acquired is as precious 
 ointment ^ , will embalm their memory, and 
 tranfmit it with a grateful odour to fucceeding 
 times. 
 
 Yet ftill a few dead flies ^ W\\\ taint this 
 precious ointment ; a man's vices will probably 
 be remembered at leafl as long as his virtues ^ 
 and what though his public condud: has gained 
 him the moft favourable verdict at the tribu- 
 nal of fame, if his fecret fins condemn him 
 ^t the bar of his own mind ! A good charac- 
 
 J^ Ecclef. vii. i. * Ecclef. x. i. 
 
 ter 
 
SERMON L ,17 
 
 ter without a good confcience will be but a 
 forrowful comforter at the hour of death ; and 
 after all, how much foever men may triumph 
 in the thoughts of having purchafed a bright 
 reverfion in futurity, and boafi: that their better 
 part is placed beyond the power of the grave, if 
 this better part be nothing but a Name, here 
 is only the empty (hadow of a deliverance. 
 
 Still, there are thofe whofe refearches and 
 penetration have opened the way to a more 
 fubftantial conqueft: the body, it is true, they 
 yield up to corruption -, that material building 
 they perceive too weak to withftand the per- 
 petual ihocks of time 3 they know it muftfoon 
 be reduced to a ruinous heap, and fubmit to 
 the common viciffitudes of the material world. 
 But that which thinks and wills, which re- 
 flefts and reafons within them, this they can 
 demonftrate muft be in its nature an indivifible 
 being, and exempt from all poffibility of fuf- 
 feringby any diffolution. This they experience 
 in its operations unconfined to the narrow li- 
 mits of place and time, capable of extending 
 
 C its 
 
i8 S E R M O N I. 
 
 its ideas beyond the bounds of matter, of ab- 
 ft rafting itfelf from the objedts of fenfe, of 
 converfing in an intelledtual world, and gradu- 
 ally advancing, and therefore why not eternally 
 advancing ? in the increafe of wifdom and vir- 
 tue. This they feel ever reftlefs and diflatif- 
 iied with all things here below, its defires dif- 
 proportioned to temporal enjoyments, its hopes 
 full of immortality. This then they conclude 
 muft remain unhurt by the ftroke of death 3 
 and when that enemy has feized their earthly 
 tabernacle, this, their fouls, all that is pro- 
 perly themfelves, fhall retire, only lefs grofs 
 and encumbered, to wander at large in the 
 great world of fpirits, or to be more intimately 
 united to their pure Original. 
 
 Thefe are certainly refledlions of great 
 v/eight, confidered in themfelves, to banifh 
 the fear of dying; yet is the force of them 
 very much weakened, or rather I might fay, 
 the argument is turned with its whole force 
 againft us, by our fins. Were we defiled by 
 no finful corruption, were we to account for 
 
 no 
 
SERMON L 19 
 
 no perfonal tranfgreffion, had we always em- 
 ployed our faculties according to the will of 
 our Creator, our improvement in every en- 
 nobling quality would then have kept pace 
 with our duration ; and the confcioufnefs that 
 our better part had drawn vigour and bright- 
 nefs from that time, which wears out the 
 ftrength and beauty of the body, and was 
 Hill bringing forth more fruit in our age, 
 might rationally preclude every mifgiving ap- 
 prehenfion, that a foul thus ardent with con- 
 firmed love, adorned with increafing graces, 
 and afpiring to the perfection of virtue, could 
 fuffer any difadvantageous change from the na- 
 tural diffolution of our material frame. Could 
 we thus maintain the integrity of our ways 
 before God, we might well fay with holy 
 Job, T!hough he Jlay me, yet will I truji in 
 Him\ 
 
 But now if the very beft amongft us muft 
 
 take up thofe other words of his, I have Jin- 
 
 nedy what fiall I do unto thee^ O thou Pre- 
 
 Jerver of men ^ ! where is the mighty point 
 
 * Job xiii, 15. b ch, vii. 20. 
 
 C 2 gained 
 
20 SERMON I. 
 
 gained by conjeduring, or even by demons 
 ilrating, that the period of our prefent ftatc 
 will only be the commencement of another 
 kind of exiftence, if we mufl ftill doubt, 
 whether it will be a happier, if we may juftly 
 dread, it will be a more miferable kind of 
 exiftence. Men may difcourfe as they pleafe 
 upon the excellence of the human foul 5 the 
 more excellent a being the foul of man is, 
 the greater is the bafenefs and ingratitude of 
 Sin : and let the foul be as excellent as they 
 pleafe, yet happy it cannot be without the 
 favour of God; and God is of purer eyes than 
 to behold iniquity'^. And if even here^ wheit 
 He turns his face from usy we are troubled^ -^ 
 though here the common blefiings of his Pro- 
 vidence, and the bufinefs and amufements of 
 life, prevent our being thoroughly fenfible of 
 the mifery of that derelidtion; when we go 
 hence, fhould Sin then feparate between us 
 and our God, we may endure, but we muft 
 be undone, for ever. 
 
 Thus if with the eve only of natural rea- 
 
 <^ Kab. i, 13. ** Pfal. XXX. 7, 
 
 fon 
 
SERMON I. 21 
 
 hn we look toward t^e valley of the Jhadow of 
 death *, where clouds and darknefs do not en- 
 tirely intercept a farther profpedl, righteoufnefs 
 and judgment will meet our view^ a righteouf- 
 nefs by which no man living can be jujlifed^y 
 a judgment, in which the moft perfedl of the 
 fons of men muft ftand condemned. Having 
 all finned and fallen fiort of the glory of God ^, 
 if the flrength of our excellency be not 
 wholly departed from us, it remains only like 
 the Jlaff of a bruifed reedy on which if a man 
 Uany it will go into his hand and pierce it ^ : 
 even fo is the immortality of the foul with 
 the defilement and guilt of Sin. 
 
 Since then our own reafon is thus deficient, 
 our own natural powers thus incapable of af- 
 fording us any fufficient fupport, to whomfloall 
 we go * for aid, or whither ihall we fly for 
 relief? If we have recourfe to the ages that 
 are pa ft for inftrudion, we fhall find that the 
 general bent of human nature has always 
 
 * Pfal. xxiii. 4. ^ Pfal.cxliii. 2. 
 
 % Rora. iii. 23. ^ Ifa. xxxvi. 6. 
 
 > John vi. 68. 
 
 C 3 ' been 
 
22 S E R M O N I. 
 
 been to call in the aids of religion to affift our 
 reafon ; or to apply to the Author of our 
 nature for help, where we are fo plainly un- 
 able to help ourfelves. Religion in its very 
 name implies a profeiTed relation to the divine 
 Being, and if it be founded upon true prin- 
 ciples, mull reprefent Him under the notion 
 of an Almighty Rewarder to them who di-' 
 ligently feek him ^. But if this reward be a 
 deliverance from death, from what has been 
 before laid down, it will follow, that the re- 
 ligion which propofes it, fhould propofe alfo 
 fome method of deliverance from Sin. 
 
 Now if we take a brief furvey of the chief 
 religions that have appeared in the world, we 
 may foon difcover what meafures have beert 
 purfued in this important refped:. 
 
 As for the pagan fuperftition, which claims 
 for its followers fo large a fhare of the human 
 race, it is notorious that their religious cere- 
 monies, however diverlified, wxre in general 
 difgraced with fad corruptions and the wildeft 
 extravagancies. The worfliip they paid their 
 
 ^ Heb. xi, 6. gods 
 
SERMON I. 23 
 
 gods was replete with abfurdity, was dif- 
 honourable to the divine nature as well as 
 their own. The light that was in them was 
 darknefs, and the dodlrines they taught were 
 polluted with the groflefl errors and mofl 
 abominable idolatries. ProfeJJing themf elves 
 wife they became fools y and changed the glory 
 of the incorruptible God into an image made like 
 to corruptible man^ and to birds y and the four^ 
 footed beafts^ and reptiles ^ of the earth. 
 
 Wherefore God gave them up unto vile affec- 
 tions y to work all iincleannefs with greedinefs ^: 
 fo that their practice was altogether of a caft 
 fuitable to their darkened minds and erroneous 
 principles. They were even dead in trefpaffes 
 and fins ^ "y and the moft enormous crimes 
 were fometimes recommended by the example, 
 and confecrated by the authority of their lead- 
 ing men. We muft not look therefore to the 
 worfhippers of Baal for a remedy againft Sin, 
 nor where men degrade themfelves below the 
 beafts of the earth can we expedt to learn the 
 
 ^ Rom. i. 22, 23. " Rom. i. 26. Ephef. iv. 19. 
 
 " Ephef, ii. I . 
 
 C 4 methods 
 
24 SERMON I. 
 
 methods, by which we may be reconciled to an 
 offended Deity. 
 
 If we confult the Law of Mofes, we lliall 
 difcover greater Hght indeed, but fhall ftill be 
 at a lofs for a real deliverance from Sin. As I 
 mean to advert to this inquiry in a future dif- 
 courfe°, I need only to obferve here, that the 
 tenour of this Law required a perfed: and un- 
 fmning obedience, intimating that the man who 
 doeth thefe things y that is, obferves the precepts 
 of moral and original righteoufnefs, J/jould live 
 by them ^, and that curfed is every one that con- 
 tinueth not in all things that are written in the 
 book of the Law to do them '^. Hence it could ^ 
 never make the comers thereunto perfeB as 
 pertaining to the confcience '; but the cominand- 
 ment, which was ordained to lifcy through the 
 corruption and depravity of our nature, was 
 found to be unto death \ 
 
 From this fhort view then it appears, that 
 Sin was generally encouraged by the Heathen 
 
 ° See Le£l, v. p Lev. xviii. 5. Rom. x, 5. 
 
 1 Gal. iii. 10. ' Heb. >:. i. ix. 9. * Rom. vii. 10. 
 
 v/orihip ^ 
 
SERMON I. 25 
 
 worfhip; was condemned indeed, but rather 
 aggravated than aboHfhed, by the Jewifh Law; 
 and^ as we fhall fee hereafter, was fully expi- 
 ated and perfedly atoned for only in the Chrif- 
 tian inftitution '. 
 
 I would by no means be thought to intimate, 
 that all men under the former difpenfations, 
 though they hired in the fear of God, yet died 
 without hopes of his favour. No, the imma- 
 culate Lamb was Jlain in the divine decree even 
 from the foundation of the world "• Abraham 
 believed God, and reUed on his promifes, which 
 was imputed to him for righteoufnefs^ ^ Many 
 
 * I have taken no notice h^re of the religion of Mahomet, 
 becaufe our concern is chiefly with thofe fchemes of religion, 
 which were prior to the Chriftian difpenfation. Our inquiry 
 being only after a remedy for fm, when that remedy is dif- 
 covered, the purfuit is of courfe at an end. It may be proper 
 however juft to obferve with refpeft to the Mahometan delufion, 
 that among other Urong arguments againfl it, derived from the 
 inconfiflencies, falfehoods, and ridiculous fables that are to be 
 found in the Koran, we may add the mean and carnal gratifica- 
 tions, which it propofes as its rewards. The low indulgence 
 of the fenfes is a purfuit, which tends to debafe the mind, and iink 
 it into the mere animal nature, and confequently mull be 
 favourable to the caufe of fm, inllead of affilling to relieve us 
 from it. 
 
 " Rev. xiii. 8, ^ Rom, iv. 22, 
 
 of 
 
26 SERMON I. 
 
 of the Jewifli nation carried their views beyond 
 the land of Canaan to better things in another 
 country ; nor can it be doubted but fome even 
 of thofe v^ho were ftrangers to all covenanted 
 promlfes, if they did not live without God in 
 the world, might take fanduary in that mercy 
 and compaflion, which appear in all his works. 
 But then the method in which that compaflion 
 fliould be applied, the price by which thofe 
 better things fhould be purchafed, the ground 
 of thofe mighty hopes on which the patriarchs 
 relied, was a myflery of godlinefs hidden in a 
 great meafure from the preceding ages and ge- 
 nerations, till, the work of our Redemption 
 being actually accomplifiied, it became a prin- 
 cipal part among the dillinguifhing articles of 
 the Chriftian Faith. 
 
 There were indeed before fome bright con- 
 jeftures, fome dawnings of a glorious expec- 
 tation. And it will be the next part of our 
 defign to point out fome of thefe gradual dif^ 
 coveries ; not only to demonflrate the attention, 
 which was paid to the earlier ages of the world, 
 
 but to convince thofe who live in thefe latter 
 
 days. 
 
SERMON I. 27 
 
 days, that all the fchemes of Providence from 
 the beginning of things were working together 
 for their convidlon and benefit. 
 
 But whatever favours were granted to thofe 
 of old time, they were only as a light JJmiing 
 in a dark place"" y and life and immortality were 
 never brought into open light, till the Sun of 
 righteoufnefs2i^'^Q2iV^iwith healing in his wings^. 
 And He alone was worthy to bring thefe tidings 
 to a finful world, who alone was able to make 
 them good tidings of great joy ^y becaufe he 
 alone was able to take away the fins of the 
 world : who died for our offences y and rofe 
 again for our jujiif cation * ; and to whom all 
 judgment being committed, there can be no 
 condemnation for thofe who truly are in him ^. 
 Nor hath he only delivered us from the terrors 
 and confequences of death, but opened to us 
 the blifsful treafures of eternity 3 even of that 
 eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, pro- 
 
 ^ 2 Pet. i. 19. y Mai. iv. 2. 
 
 ^ Luke ii. 10. * Rom. iv. 25. 
 
 ** Rom. viii. i. 
 
 mlfed 
 
28 SERMON I. 
 
 mifed before the world began % but in due time 
 manifefted through the preaching of the Gof- 
 pel. 
 
 It muft fuffice at prefent to ofFer only thefe 
 general hints of our deliverance by Chrift, as 
 the more full illuftration of them in the ex- 
 pediency, prediction, and accomplifliment of 
 our Redemption, is the chief defign of the 
 work in which we are engaged. 
 
 * Tit. i. 2. Seealfo i Pet. i. 20. and 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
 SE R. 
 
SERMON TI. 
 
 Romans xi. 26. 
 
 ' — T'here fiall come out of Sion the Deliverer^ 
 ajid Jhall turn away ungodlinefs froin Jacobs 
 
 IF we attend to our beft refledions and 
 pureft fentiments, we Ihall readily per- 
 ceive that the mind of man is much delighted 
 with order and beauty, and greatly diffatisfied 
 with irregularity and confufion. The truth 
 of which obfervation is no lefs manifeft in 
 the difpofition of things according to their 
 moral charadter, than in the conftitution of 
 them in the natural fyftem. Every rational 
 and thinking perfon mufl look with pleafure 
 and admiration on the beauty of HoHnefs, and 
 with equal dlfgufl and averiion on the de- 
 formity of Sin. 
 
 Now 
 
30 S E R M O N II. 
 
 Now as thefe oppolite qualities appear | 
 either amiable or odious to our own nature, I 
 to our own unprejudiced and difpaffionate \ 
 minds, we may reafonably conclude they will i 
 appear in like manner to the moft perfedl ; 
 underftanding of the Author of our nature, ; 
 to that all-wife Being, who hath formed ' 
 the conftitution of us and of all things. God i 
 muft delight in the contemplation of virtue, ] 
 or in feeing his rational creatures perform the \ 
 ends and purpofes for which he defigned : 
 them ; and He mufl: be oj^ purer eyes than to | 
 behold evily or with any degree of compla- 
 cence to look upon iniquity *. ; 
 
 \ 
 And yet we find the difpofition of man far i 
 
 departed from moral redtitude, and quite un- i 
 
 like what it maufl have originally been, when 
 
 it proceeded from the hand of its wife Mafter- 
 
 builder and gracious Archited: ; our under- ; 
 
 {landings oftentimes betrayed by prejudice, 
 
 and our wills milled by caprice and humour ; ] 
 
 reafon too frequently fubjefted to pafiion, and 
 
 the rule of right compelled to yield to the ' 
 
 * Hab. i. 13. 
 
 impulfe 
 
SERMON II. ji 
 
 impulfe of appetite or inclination. Nor can 
 we be otherwife therefore, whilft in this ftate 
 of deformity, than objeds of difpleafure to 
 Him, who hath declared his wrath by various 
 notices againjl all ungodlinefs and imrighteoiif- 
 nefs ofmen^. 
 
 That in this deplorable condition of our 
 being our own arm could not fave us, or 
 that the beft powers of the human mind by 
 their unaffifted exertions could avail but little 
 in difcovering a deliverance from Sin, hath 
 been evinced in my laft Difcourfe. From 
 whence alfo was manifefted the neceffity of 
 fome fuperior Aid, fome fupernatural De- 
 liverer, to refcue us from that guilt and pol- 
 lution, which have proved io general and 
 dreadful to mankind. 
 
 Indeed all ages have perceived and bewailed 
 this degeneracy ; and as all have needed, fo 
 all have in confequence been felicitous for a 
 remedy. From God alone our relief muft 
 proceed : and from his bounty we may con- 
 
 ^ Rom. i. I 8. 
 
 elude. 
 
32 SERMON IL 
 
 elude, and have {ctn fome general intimations, 
 that none of the generations of men were left 
 without a fuitable recourfe to that relief, which 
 his wifdom would defign, and his goodnefs 
 provide, for the diflreffes of his creatures. 
 
 To the earlier ages this remedy was dif- 
 covered imperfedily and gradually. But yet 
 no fooner had our fir ft parents revolted and 
 apoftatized from God, than fome dawnings 
 appeared of a reconciliation. When the curfe 
 was pronounced on the original feducer, the 
 caufe and the fource of all our woe, it was at 
 the fame time intimated, that the Seed of the 
 woman fhould bruife the Serpent's head*". 
 Implacable enmity was to fubfift between 
 them, between Satan and the human race ; 
 but one born of the woman at length fhould 
 conquer ; or however affailed in the attempt, 
 Ihould completely triumph, and bring falva- 
 tion to the whole of Adam's pofterity. The 
 promife was now general, when no diftindions 
 could have occurred, when none of his de- 
 fcendants were born, and the tradition would 
 
 ^ Gen. iii. 1 5, 
 
 doubtlefs 
 
SERMON II. 33 
 
 doubtlefs be handed down to all fucceeding 
 generations. So that as foon as in Adam all 
 died^ intimation was given of a covenant, that 
 in the Seed of the Woman all fiould be made 
 alive •*. 
 
 Nor let It be conceived, however favour- 
 able to the deceit of a vain philofophy, that 
 the curfe then expreffed in fuch full and 
 folemn language was meant to be confined to 
 the mere animal only, to the averfion which 
 is commonly obferved between man and the 
 ferpent race. Even in that concife hiftory 
 fuch circumftances are related, as cannot be 
 underftood in a literal fenfe, and a comparifon 
 of the paffage with other portions of Scrip- 
 ture muft compel us in many parts of it to 
 adopt the figurative or myflical. For we read 
 that the Serpent beguiled Eve through his 
 Jiibtilty ^ 5 and that the Woman being deceived 
 
 ** I Cor. XV. 22. 
 
 ^ Gen. iii. 13. 2 Cor. xi. 3. It is probably for this reafon, 
 that our Saviour fays of the Devil, he ijjas a murderer from 
 the beginnings and a Jiar, and the father of it. John viii. 44, 
 St. John obferves likewife, that the De'vil Jtnneth from the be- 
 ginning ; and immediately fubjoins, as if he had an eye to the 
 firft fedudlion, and the promile in confequence of it : For this 
 
 D purpofe 
 
34 S E R M O K II. 
 
 ijoas in the tra7ifgre£ion ^. In the book of the 
 Revelations it is the old Serpent that was 
 called the Devil and Satan^ that deceiveth the 
 whole world -y who was cajl out into the earths 
 and his Angels were cajl out with him ^. 
 
 In what fenfe alfo we are to interpret the 
 Seed of the woman, may be learnt from the 
 ufe of the expreffion in fubfequent parts of 
 the book of Genefis \ as well as from its 
 general turn and fcope in other parts of the 
 
 ■purpofe the Son of God nAjas 7nanifejled, that he might dejiroy the 
 'works of the Dcuil. i John iii. 8. And as our Lord had power 
 over the wicked fpirits in himfelf, fo he appears to have con- 
 ferred it on his faithful fervants, on thofe that fpoke in his name, 
 and a6led under his immediate commiffion. Which confidera- 
 tions will help us to explain thatpafTage of St. Luke x. i8, 19. 
 / beheld Sata?7, fays Chrift, as light }iing fall from heaven, de- 
 throned of all his dominion and foverelgnty in the world by the 
 manifeftation of the Son of God ; fo that, as we read in the 
 book of the Revelations, xii. 8. no more place ivas found in 
 hea'ven for the Dragon and his angels. He then adds. Behold , 
 I gi<ve unto you povjer to tread on ferpents o'nd fcorpions, and over 
 all the force of the enemy. Evil fpirits were to be difpofrelTed 
 by them ; and all the malice of the Devil, and of the ferpents 
 and fcorpions, his infernal coadjutors, was to be fubdued, and 
 made fubjetfl unto them. From all thefe con fi derations there 
 can be little doubt of the true fenfe of the allufion before us. 
 
 ^ \ Tim.ii. 14. g Ch. xii. 9. 
 
 ^ See ch. iv. 25. xv. 3. xxxviii. 8, 9, See alfo Gal. iii. 16. 
 
 Bible, 
 
SERMON IL 2S 
 
 Bible. And indeed unlefs we underfland the 
 paflage alluded to in the fenfe of a predidiion, 
 or, that in the combat Chrift ihould defpoil 
 the Bevil of his fovereignty, it is fcarce poffi- 
 ble to give it any meaning, fuitable to the lan- 
 guage in which it is delivered, much lefs to 
 the awful interpofition of that Almighty Be- 
 ing, whofe oiFended majefty occaiioned its 
 deliverance. 
 
 During the continuance of the old world 
 we have perhaps no other diredt Revelation 
 recorded, of the defign of God by an atone- 
 ment to reftore man to his favour. But yet 
 we read that facrifices * were offered to the 
 Almighty, which were doubtlefs intended to 
 deprecate his wrath, and as preludes of his 
 future mercy ; and that, out of tender love to 
 fhan, provifion was made for his clothing^, 
 probably from the ikins of thofe beads which 
 
 * Sacrifices feem to have been inflituted, as fymbols of the 
 covenant made with man : and from flaying the vi6lim, the 
 making a covenant is exprefled by the word rniD, to cut it, 
 or cut it off. So o^x»« T£wv£»i', and ferire fcedus. 
 
 ^ Gen, iii, 21. 
 
 D 2 were 
 
36 SERMON IL 
 
 were flain in facrifices \ Men were alfo en- 
 gaged to call on the name of the Lord^ ; and 
 one of the patriarchs, the feventh from Adam"", 
 was exempted from the common lot of mor- 
 tality °, immediately accepted of God, and 
 tranflated into the regions of the blefled. 
 
 After the flood we find early inftances of 
 God's renewing his gracious promife of re- 
 conciliation, as well as more particular dif- 
 coveries of the mode in which it would be 
 conveyed. The chief of thefe difcoveries were 
 made to a feled:ed race of men, but fome were 
 of a more general communication, as intended 
 for all men. It may be proper in the firft 
 place to attend to the more diflinguifhed of 
 the former ; and then, fecondly, to take a view 
 of the latter. And I fhall confine myfelf 
 chiefly to thofe that were prior to the full 
 
 * The expreffion to Cain, Gen. iv. 7. probably looked at 
 an expiation : If thcu doejl 'welly Jhalt thou not he accepted ? or 
 as it is rendered in Jonathan's Targum, Ihalt not thy fin be 
 forgiven thee ? And if thou deft not 'well, fn lieth at the door, 
 thy fin is referved for punifhment at the day of Judgment, will 
 remain unexpiated, and be chargeable to thee at the final 
 account. 
 
 "* Gen. iv. 26. " Jude 14. ° Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. 
 
 eftablifhment 
 
SERMON 11. 37 
 
 cftablifhment of the Jewifh commonwealth 
 in the prefent Difcourfe ^. 
 
 I. The promife, that was originally made 
 to the Seed of the woman, was afterwards 
 limited to the Seed of Abraham. With this 
 holy man the Almighty appears to have often 
 converfed by the Word of his majefty, or the 
 Son of his love, imparting unto him his coun- 
 fels and the defigns of his providence; to have 
 
 P It is hoped no perfons will conceive difguft at any of the 
 topics here alledged, becaufe they may have been often han- 
 dled by other writers. For if the prefent call of their form, 
 and call of the argument, will not fufficiently plead in their 
 favour, I would beg leave to fubjoin a paflage taken from a 
 Difcourfe of one of my predeceflbrs in this Ledure, the learn- 
 ed ProfefTor White. *' It is not neceifary," fays this ingenious 
 writer, ** in the prefent fituation of things, to attempt any new 
 •' arrangement of proofs, or fyftem of evidence. It will be time 
 *' enough to invent fome frelh modes of demonllration, when ic 
 ** is found that the old are incapable of affording convidion to 
 '* the honell and impartial enquirer after truth. The nature of 
 ** evidence however depends in a great meafure on the manner 
 ** in which it is confidered ; and the fame arguments and il- 
 ** luftrations will appear in very different lights of ftrength and 
 ** convidtion, according to our various modes of Iludy and 
 " habits of refleftion." P. 40. — As old and often refuted ob- 
 jedlions are continually vamped up, with fome fmall alterations 
 in their drefTes, it is furely enough, if the anfwers be fo far 
 varied, as to reach the objedions in every fliape. 
 
 D 7 entered 
 
38 SERMON 11. 
 
 entered into a facred covenant or engagement 
 with him, promiling him, as a reward for his 
 pipty, various diftinguifhed and appofite blef- 
 lings, that he would take his pofterity alfo 
 under his pecuUar care, in order to oblige 
 the whole family from the profped: of their 
 comforts to a fincere and perfevering obedience. 
 
 But the moft valuable confolation of all 
 was, that /;/ his feed fiould all the nations of 
 the earth be hlefjed"^ ^ becaufe he had obeyed 
 the voice of the Almighty, in not withhold- 
 ing his only fon from him ; becaufe he was 
 ftrong in faith, and even againfl hope believed 
 in hope\ being confident that God v/ould 
 fulfil his promife which he had made, that in 
 Ifaac fdall thy feed be called \ The fenfe of 
 Vv^hich paiTage the Apoftle St. Paul will lead 
 us thus to interpret : Now imto Abraham and 
 his feed were the promife s made ; He faith not^ 
 unto feeds, as of many, but as of one^ and to 
 thy feed, which is Chriji\ So great indeed 
 was the confidence of this pious patriarch, as 
 
 *! Gen. xxii. i 8. ' Rom. Iv. 1 8. 
 
 ^ Gen. xxi. 12. * Gal. iii. 16. 
 
 to 
 
SERMON II. 39 
 
 to enable him to look forward to the expefted 
 bleffing, and to exult in it 3 for he rejoiced to 
 fee the day of the Deliverer, and he Jaw it^ 
 and was glad"". 
 
 The hiftory of Abraham contains many fig- 
 nal notices of the promifed redemption. The 
 birth, the intended facrifice, and the efcape of 
 Ifaac, with the concomitant circumftances, 
 are fach manifeft types of the Meffiah, that 
 they can fcarce be miftaken by any, who have 
 lived "in thefe latter days, and have impartially 
 confidered the events which they were meant 
 to forefhew. And however it may be con- 
 ceived that thefe types were but of little be- 
 nefit to the times in which they were tranf- 
 aded, yet if we confider the conviftion that 
 was wrought in Abraham, and his paternal re- 
 gard to the inftrudion of his dependants ; if 
 we refled: alfo on the general ufe of fymboli- 
 cal reprefentations^ and the conftant mode of 
 
 " John viii. 56. 
 
 ^ Having juil: touched on fymbols, and being fenfible that the 
 frequent ufe of them in the earlier, and their abufe in the later, 
 times of the OldTellament, may make it expedient to take fome 
 little notice of them, I fhall here fubjoin the following remarks. 
 
 D 4 The 
 
40 SERMON II. 
 
 inflrufllon by fignificant emblems in thofc 
 early ages, we iliall probably be inclined to 
 
 The defcriptlons of things appear to have been at firft very 
 fimple, and there were probably but few words to denote them; 
 rot more fimple words, or poflibly not fo many, as individual or 
 fmgle images. But human nature being fond of novelty, or tired 
 with the repetition of the fame found, began to vary the ex- 
 prefTion by the fubflitution of complex charaflers. Refemblances 
 alfo furnifhing a chief fource of variation, hence proceeded the 
 analogy of metaphor, cr allegory. Allegories were often inti- 
 mated by fymbols; and the variety at length was probably fo 
 great, that through the inattention of men, or fuch like caufe, 
 the primitive ideas were fometimes fo far afFeded, as to be mif- 
 taken, changed, or loft. 
 
 From this abufe of things, evidently defigned for the relief 
 and comfort of mankind, many fad evils may be fuppofed to 
 have taken their origin ; and among the reft, that pernicious 
 and fatal one of transferring the honour and reverence, due only 
 to the Creator, to thofe figns or reprefentations of him, which 
 the fancy or imitative faculty of man had fubftituted in his ftead. 
 The undiftinguiftiing vulgar paid the honour to the fubftitute, 
 which by the prieft or the philofopher was meant for the Deity ; 
 till the original objedl was loft in the emblem, the divine na- 
 ture forgotten or funk in the idol, and the Creator excluded 
 by the worihip of the creature ; which was at lirft meant only 
 as his reprefentative. 
 
 But notwithftanding this accidental perverfion and abufe, in 
 compliance wi.h the general bent of the early ages, we find in 
 Scripture many very important events denoted by fymbols, and 
 conveyed in types and prefignifications, calculated not only for 
 the benefit of thofe perfons to whom they were immediately 
 communicated, but chiefly with a reference to future and diftant 
 times, and io as to become of perpetual ufe and advantage. 
 
 think 
 
SERMON II. 41 
 
 think them of conliderable advantage to ani- 
 mate the hope of thofe generations, vvhofe 
 faith was refted on the expeftation of a deli- 
 verer to come. 
 
 To Jacob, one of the grandfons of Abra- 
 ham, the family appears to have been again 
 fpecified, with fome peculiar additions and ad- 
 vantages. T'hyfeed fiall be as the dujl of the 
 earth, and thou jhalt Jpre ad abroad to the weji, 
 and to the eajl, and to the 7iorthy and to the 
 Jouth ; and in thee and in thy feedfldall all the 
 families of the earth be blejfed^ . This was 
 part of the revelation communicated to this 
 renowned patriarch by God's own declaration. 
 And near the clofe of his life he bequeathed 
 the like fpiritual bleffing in more ample terms, 
 and with minuter appropriations to one of his 
 fons. He faith to Judah, T!hou art he, whom 
 thy brethren Jhall praife 5 thy hand Jh all be on 
 the neck of thine enemies ; thy father s children 
 
 y Gen. Xxviii. 14. The blefling was alfo promifed to IHiac, 
 and this reafon afligned for it. Gen. xxvi.5. * becaufe that Abra- 
 * ham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my command- 
 ' ments, my llatutes, and my laws.' 
 
 JJjall 
 
42 SERMON II. 
 
 JJ^all how down before thee. T'he fcepter Jhall 
 not depart from jfudah^ nor a law-giver from 
 between his feety until Shiloh come ; and untQ 
 him Jhall the gathering of the people be"^. 
 
 Judah fhall fubfift as a tribe, having dif- 
 tinguifhed honours, and a conftitution of go- 
 vernment or dominion belonging to it, at leaft 
 of a juridical nature, until the Meffiah come : 
 for fo is the word Shiloh underftood by almoft 
 all interpreters, by the earlier Targums, the 
 Talmud, and general acceptations of the Jews, 
 and according to the beft fenfes Vv^hich can be 
 affixed to it in the ancient verlions. It is de- 
 rived indeed from various fources ^ ; but all 
 feem to agree in affigning to it fome property 
 or attribute, correfponding with the high dig- 
 nity or merciful charader of the Saviour of 
 the world. To v/hom fhall be the gathering 
 or obedience of the people, or the peoples 
 and nations ihall be gathered to his obe- 
 dience. 
 
 ^ Gen. xlix. 8. lo. 
 
 * See Bp. Newton en the Prophecies, DllT. iv. 
 
 It 
 
SERMON 11. 43 
 
 It cannot fall v/ithinthe compafs of my de- 
 fign to point out a minute illuftration of the 
 various particulars in thefe feveral prophecies, 
 or to infift on them farther than may ferve to 
 evince the truth and meaning of the predic- 
 tions, the ground of that expectation which 
 was afforded to the old world, and their gene- 
 ral reference to the times of the Gofpel. 
 
 In what manner this particular prophecy 
 hath been fulfilled has been often fhewn by 
 able and judicious writers. Some even of the 
 modern Jews allow, that it relates to the 
 Meffiah; though they will not acknowledge it 
 to have been fulfilled in Jefus. The extraor- 
 dinary care, that was taken to keep Judah a 
 diflind tribe, appears from various paffages in 
 the Old Teftament, from that attention which 
 was paid to their regifters and genealogies, and 
 the mufler or enrolment of their foldiers ''. 
 And yet thefe genealogical books are now loft; 
 and there is fo far from any dominion or ju- 
 ridical authority left among the Jews, that 
 
 ^ See I Sam. xl. 8. 2 Sam. xxiv. 9. 2 Chron, xii. 15. and 
 Bp. Kidder's Dem. P. iii. p. 132, &c. 
 
 they 
 
44 SERMON II. 
 
 they are every where a vague and difperfed 
 people, and even the difl:in6lion of their tribes 
 can be afcertained no longer. That they have 
 long continued, and muft ftill remain, in this 
 ftate of diftrefs and exile, is well known to 
 Chriftians, who are able to affign for it a moft 
 juft caufe. They nuiil: be fadly perplexed in 
 accounting for the appearances of things in 
 the Jewifli hiftory, as well as for the fenfe and 
 words of this prophecy, who will not confefs, 
 that it has a moft manifeft reference to the ap- 
 pearance of the Meffiah, to that promifed 
 feed, which was to be derived from Jacob in 
 the line of his fon Judah, who in confequence 
 hereof gave name in aftertimes to the defcend- 
 ants of Ifrael, and from whofe loins according 
 to the flefii Chrift came, who broughty^/W- 
 tion to the ends of the earth ^ 
 
 Should we defcend ftill lower to the times of 
 Mofes, we fhall difcover frelli and farther ma- 
 nlfeftations of God's gracious intentions to re- 
 deem his people, and to reftore mankind. From 
 
 ' Acls xlil. 47. 
 
 the 
 
SERMON 11. 45 
 
 the perfon of the DeHverer, if we advert to his 
 offices, his prophetic charafter is thus foretold 
 by this man of God. ** The Lord thy God 
 " will raife up unto thee a prophet of thy 
 ** brethren, like unto me ; unto him fhall ye 
 *' hearken : and I will put my words in his 
 " mouth, and he fhall fpeak unto them all 
 ** that I command him; and whofoever will 
 *^ not hearken unto my words which he fhall 
 " fpeak in my name, I will require it of 
 " him*^ /' or, as the Seventy read, take ven- 
 geance of him. 
 
 It has been attempted "^ to jQiew, by an 
 unwarrantable perverfion of a very fimple con- 
 ftrudlion, that the word here rendered pro- 
 phet muft have a plural fenfe ; and mean 
 a fucceffion of prophets, which after Mofes 
 did arife in the church of God, and con- 
 tinued to reveal the knowledge of his will to 
 the Jews. But let it be remembered, that the 
 primary and moft natural interpretation is 
 ufually the beft; and that we ought not furely 
 to apply a plural fenfe, unlefs in a fecondary 
 
 * Deut. xviii. 15. 18, 19. 
 
 * See Scheme of Literal Prophecy cor.fidered, p. 241. 
 
 manner. 
 
46 SERMON IT. 
 
 manner, to a paflage which is wholly fingular, 
 and capable of a very juft explanation as fuch. 
 If any doubt can remain, of whom the di- 
 vine oracle fpeaks in this place, the language 
 of St. Peter in the third chapter of the Adls 
 of the Apoftles muft intirely remove it; for 
 he quotes this prophecy of Mofes, almofl: in 
 the very words, and direftly refers it to Chrift^ 
 
 Moreover this prophet was to be like unto 
 Mofes ; which none in the whole fucceffion 
 of prophets perhaps was, in any fuch degree, 
 as to call for a particular notice of the fimili- 
 tude ; certainly none in which it was fo ob- 
 fervable and exadl, as it was in Chrift. Ac- 
 cordingly we find not only at the preaching of 
 John the Baptift a general expedation of a 
 prophet, peculiarly prepared to teach and re- 
 form mankind ; but upon our Saviour's feed- 
 ing the multitudes, and difplaying the power 
 of his mighty works, this was fo like the mi- 
 raculous fupply of manna in the wildernefs, 
 and the flreams iiTuing from the ftony rock, 
 that the people imm.ediately exclaim, T'&is is 
 
 ^ See alfo Ads vii. 37. John i. 45. 
 
SERMON IL 47 
 
 of a truth that prophet that Jhould come into 
 the world ^. 
 
 Other offices of the Meffiah were prefigured 
 at leaft in or before the times of Mofes. But 
 he is particularly inlifted on as a prophet by 
 this great lawgiver, and in that charadter 
 moft explicitly promifed by him to the Jews : 
 a characfter of the higheft importance, which 
 was not only to difclofe the myfterious events 
 of futurity, but to reveal to finful men the 
 whole will of God, and inflruft them in the 
 way that would lead to endlefs happinefs. 
 
 We have hitherto ittn fufficient traces 
 marked out of that particular line, in Vv^hich 
 the promifed feed Ihould defcend, and one of 
 the principal characters of the Meffiah deli- 
 neated. And though it was undoubtedly evi- 
 dent, that the Deliverer fiould come out 
 of SioUy or the intended Salvation he of the 
 feii^j ^, yet it was as clearly intimated, that 
 
 £ John vi. 14. See alfo Luke vii. 16, 
 ^ John iv. 22. 
 
 in 
 
48 SERMON IL 
 
 in Its effeds it was meant to be extended to 
 the uttermoft parts of the earth. 
 
 Nor was the revelation fo far confined to the 
 pofterity of Judah, but that other nations 
 might alfo enjoy the benefits of its difcovery; 
 which truth I fhall now in the fecond place 
 proceed to eftablifh. 
 
 II. Not to repeat that the mercy was clearly 
 foretold to Abraham, and of courfe would be 
 tranfmitted to all his defcendants ; even fome 
 manifeflations of that covenant, which had 
 been promifed to our earlieft anceflors, appear 
 to have been again renewed in the firft ages 
 after the flood. A Revelation was probably 
 made to Shem, and communicated in the 
 blefiing of Noah, the firji preacher of right e- 
 oufnefs \ to the new world. *^ Bleffed be Je- 
 *' HovAH, the God of Shem, and Canaan 
 *' fliall be their fervant. God will enlarge 
 ** Japheth, but will dwell in the tents of Shem, 
 " and Canaan fliall be their, fervant''." Je- 
 
 * 2 Pet. ii. 5. ^ Gen. ix. 26, 27. 
 
 HOVAH 
 
SERMON II. 49 
 
 HovAH was to be the God of Shem in a pe- 
 culiar fenfe; and he undoubtedly was fo, fmce 
 he dwelt or tabernacled amongft his pofterity. 
 To his defcendants as the Meffiah was to be- 
 long, fo all the fons of Noah might from 
 hence be made acquainted with it. And how- 
 ever concife was the tradition, yet it was fo 
 pregnant with important confolation, that for 
 this reafon it was probably conveyed down to 
 diftant ages, and propagated with the fons of 
 men to the remote corners of the earth. 
 
 In later times we have upon record fome 
 ftrong intimations of this expefted favour, dif- 
 tinguifhable for their extraordinary light and 
 clearnefs, and predidled by infpired men, who 
 were not of the race of Jacob. The land of 
 Uz was probably a part of the ftony Arabia, 
 and peopled by the fons of Efau, if not by fome 
 of the defcendants of Ham. And yet Job, a 
 perfect and an upright * inhabitant of this coun- 
 try, comforts himfelf in the midft of his fore 
 diflrefs, with the firm faith that his Pvedeemer 
 
 ' Job. i. 8, 
 
 E , liveth. 
 
50 SERMON II. 
 
 liveth, in this triumphant language; Oh! that 
 my words were now writteriy oh! that they 
 were printed in a book ; that they were graven 
 with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 
 For I know that my Redeemer ^ or Deliverer, 
 liveth y and hejhalljiand at the latter day upon 
 the earth : and though after myfkin this body be 
 d^Jlroyedy yet from my fiefh jhall I fee God"^. 
 The paflage is fo folemnly introduced, and of 
 fuch ftrong import, fo fully expreffive of the 
 life of the Deliverer, and the exercife of his 
 glorious prerogative, to fummon mankind after 
 their refurrecftion from the dead before his tri- 
 bunal, that though the moft refined wit of man 
 may have been exercifed in the acuteft man- 
 ner to pervert its fenfe, or evade its force, it 
 has been quite in vain. There feems to be 
 no other juft and confiftent fenfe, w^hich 
 the v^ords v^ill bear, confidered in their de- 
 tached, and more efpecially in their conneded 
 flate ". 
 
 ^ Ch. XIX. 23 — 26. 
 
 " See Bp. Pearfon on the Creed, Art. XI. See this point 
 alio mofl fully proved by Mr. Peters, in his Diflert. on the book 
 of Job, part ii. (t&.. v. 
 
 I Ihall beg leave to fubjoin Mr. Peters*s Paraphrafe of the 
 
 25 th 
 
SERMON II. 51 
 
 The time when Job lived is generally reck- 
 oned to have been fomewhat prior to Mofes ; 
 an opinion w^hich is not objected to even by 
 fome of thofe who difallow the early date of 
 his book. Now if Job himfelf was the au- 
 thor of it, as the beft authorities agree, it is 
 evident that his knowledge of the Redeemer 
 could not have proceeded from the writings 
 of Mofes : which prefumption is farther 
 Arengthened by his intire filence with refpedt 
 to the Mofaic Law, and its modes of facri- 
 ficing. And yet as his work carries evident 
 marks within it of fuch communications and 
 modes of inftrudtion % as were vouchfafed to 
 the other writers of the Old Teftament, the 
 conclulion is natural, if not neceflary, that 
 the author was divinely infpired, and there- 
 
 25th and 26th verfes. ** For I know, the Vindicator of my 
 ** innocence and reputation, which you have thus inhumanly 
 ** attacked, now liveth, and fhall live for ever ; and that in fome 
 ^* grand future period, he Ihall arife to judge the dead. — And 
 '* though after my ikin, which you fee fo miferably affeded, 
 " this whole frame (hall be difTolved and turned to dull ; yet 
 " I believe, that I fhall live again hereafter, as truly and cer- 
 ** tainly as I do now, and Ihall appear perfonally before my 
 ** Judge.** 
 
 * See efpecially ch. xxxviii. i. xlii. 5, 
 
 E 2 fore 
 
j2 S E R M.ON 11. 
 
 fore that the knowledge of the Mefiiah was 
 revealed to perfons, who did not belong to 
 the families of Ifrael, in the earlier ages of 
 the world. 
 
 But there is a well known prophecy, or 
 rather a feries of prophecies, in the book of 
 Numbers, which will place this matter in an 
 inconteftible light. The paffages I allude to 
 contain the predictions of Balaam, who was 
 not only fprung from a pagan nation, and 
 therefore a Jlranger to the covenant of pro^ 
 mife^'y but who was .alfo a man of a very 
 wicked heart ; who preferred the wages ofun- 
 righteoufnefs "^ to the didates of his confcience, 
 and the expectation of temporal honours to the 
 fuggeftions of his underftanding, though aid- 
 ed and ftrengthened by various impulfes and 
 illuminations from God. This prophet came 
 from Aram or Mefopotamia, near the borders 
 of the Euphrates, out of the mountainous 
 countries of the Eaft, at the in {ligation of the 
 king of Moab and the elders of Midian % with 
 
 P Ephef. ii. 12. ^2 Pet. ii. 15, 
 
 ^ See Numb. xxli. 5 . and xxili. 7. 
 
 very 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 53 
 
 very wicked intentions againft the people of 
 the Lord. He was yet a worfhipper of the 
 true God, and acknowledged himlelf fo far 
 under his authority, as to be unable to go 
 beyond the commandment of the Lord^ to do any 
 thing as of his own mind\ He was indeed a 
 fuperftitious worfhipper, and a wretch of the 
 moft inconfiftent conduft : though unable to 
 difobey the divine command, defirous to do 
 it; devout himfelf, yet ftudious to make 
 God's people rebellious ; mercenary, fo as to 
 labour to proftitute to the purpofes of gain the 
 greatefl favours of Heaven ^ and, under the 
 full profpecfl and deiire of a future ftate of 
 happinefs, a hypocrite. Yet the Almighty 
 was pleafed to make ufe of fuch an inftrument 
 as this foothfayer, to convey even to the hea- 
 then nations, the difcoveries of his love, and 
 the manifeftations of his fwour through a 
 pow^erful Redeemer. 
 
 The part of his predictions, which I v/ould 
 notice, as more immediately relating to our 
 prefent purpofe, commences at the 15th verfe 
 
 = Ch. xxiv. 13. 
 
 E 3 of 
 
54 SERMON II, 
 
 of the xxivth chapter ; where Balaam, after 
 he had been ordered to flee from Balak, is 
 defirous to advertifc the king of Moab what 
 the defendants of Ifrael Jkould do to his people 
 in the latter days \ in fome diftant ages of the 
 world, or as the exprellion is obferved rnofl 
 commonly to denote, in the times of the 
 Mefliah. And he took up his parabky his au- 
 thoritative or commanding fpeech, and /aid:, 
 " Balaam the fon of Beor fpeaketh, yea the 
 *^ man^ who clearly difcerneth, fpeaketh, he 
 " fpeaketh having heard the words of God^ 
 ** and been i?iJiruBed in the knowledge of the 
 '< mojl High, who faw the vifion of the AU 
 ** jnighty^'* and though finking under it, yet 
 with his eyes open^ or a clear convidlion of 
 the truth : *^ / will manifef him, but not now, 
 ** / will make him a blejjingy but not nigh ; 
 ^' a far goeth forth from Jacob, and afcepter 
 " fjiall rife out of Ifrael, which pall fmite the 
 << princes of Moab, and have dominioJi over 
 ** all the children of Seth. And Edom pall 
 ** be a poffejjion, Seir alfo pall be a poffeffion 
 
 » Ver. 14, 
 
 '' of 
 
SERMON II. 55 
 
 <* of his enemies y a7id Ifrael Jhall do valiantly^ 
 « Tet though " he Jhall defcend from Jacoby 
 ** he /hall dejiroy the furvivors of the city.'* 
 
 Several parts of this diftinguifhed prophecy 
 have a reference probably to David in the 
 firft place. But the v^hole is referred by the 
 Chaldee paraphraft, by all the Targums, and 
 many of the Jews unto Chrift, the fon of 
 David, the king of Ifrael, in whom alone as 
 the whole is capable of a fair illuftration, fo 
 the moft confiderable particulars were ftriftly 
 verified. He it was, that fhould be mani* 
 fefted in God*s due time, and become a blef- 
 fing to mankind ; who is called by St. Peter 
 the day-Jiar *, and who exprefsly ftyles himfelf 
 in the book of the Revelations, the root and 
 the offspring of Davids the bright and the 
 morning'Jiar ^ ; whofe celeflial origin alfo, as 
 
 ^ The vau at the beginning of each of the claufes in this 
 verfe, may be rendered in this manner. The verfions difter in 
 their fenfe of the verb 1""i'^ ; but the moft ancient derive it 
 from T"i* ft? defcend. So LXX. Targ. Cnk. Samar. and Syr. 
 But Vul. Arab, and the more modern ones tranflate as from 
 HTI to hanje dcminicn ever, 
 
 * 2 Pet, i. 19. y Rev, xxii. 16, 
 
 E 4 well 
 
56 8 E R M O N IL 
 
 well as his coming in the fle{h was made 
 known by the appearance of a ftar^: He it 
 was who fhould rife triumphantly over all his 
 enemies, and fhould have dominion over all 
 the fons of -men, or the children of Beth'": 
 For the diftindtion between Jew and Gentile 
 fhould ceafe under his government, which 
 lliould comprehend the kingdom of the faints 
 of the moft High, of which the prophet 
 Daniel fpeaks ; when the true Ifraelites (hould 
 finally enjoy the empire under the whole hea- 
 'vejiy and all the potentates jhould be JubjeEi and 
 obedient unto it ^ : And laftly it was He> who 
 as the defcendant of Jacob fliould by his^ Ro- 
 man agent at length deftroy thofe inhabitants 
 of Jerufalem, who had furvived the former 
 evacuations of that city% and were over- 
 
 ^ See Matt. il. 2, 9. 
 
 * Seth was the ancellor of Noah, and confequently the pa- 
 rent of" all the inhabitants of the new world ; and this I take to 
 be the proper fenfe of the expreluon. 
 ^ ^ Ch. vii, 27. 
 
 ^ Bp. Patrick thus obferves on ver. 19 : *' It Is likely, he, 
 ** that is Balaam, particularly aims at fome great city, and 
 " beft fortiiied, the metropolis, and the flrongeft hold in the 
 '* kingdom.'* This city I take to be Jerufalem, and fee no 
 reafon that militates againft this application. On the contrary, 
 tivedifperfion of the Jews fe^ems plainly pointed at in another 
 
 part 
 
SERMON 11. ^^ 
 
 whelmed with a complete deftrudtion in its 
 iinal cataftrophe. 
 
 Of a very Angular nature is the whole of 
 this prophecy delivered by Balaam. It is 
 perhaps in its compafs more wide and com- 
 prehenfive, if not more extenfive in its pro- 
 fpedl, than any that had been hitherto deli- 
 vered to the world ; it is therefore defervedly 
 recorded by Mofes, and finds a valuable place 
 amongft: his writings. That it fhould be de- 
 part of the prophecy, ch. xxiii. 9. " Lo, the people fhall 
 ** dwell alone, and fhall not be reckoned among the nations." 
 And in neither inilance was Balaam lingular ; for both the de- 
 ftruclion of the city, and the difperfion of the people, on their 
 impenitence and unbelief, were likewife foretold about the fame 
 period by Mofes. See Deut. xxviii. 
 
 In what manner the Edomites, or defendants of Efau, inti- 
 jnated in this predi6lion by Edom and mount Seir, triumphed 
 in the dellruftion of this city, may be learnt from Pfal. cxxxvii. 
 7. Refnemher, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jeru- 
 falem, '^hofaid, rafe it, rafc it, e^ven to the foundation thereof. 
 See alfo the like hiilory more largely explained in the prophecy 
 of Obadiah, ver. 10—17. The prophecy before us appears to 
 look through the feveral prior devaftations of the holy city to 
 that final one, when it Ihould be entirely deftroyed by the fub- 
 ordinate agent of the Mefliah. The prophecy of Obadiah is 
 extended farther, to that period, when thofe that efcaps, or 
 the difperfed of the Jews, fhall return to mount Zion, to judge 
 the mount of Efau, and the kingdom Ihall be the Lord's. 
 
 livered 
 
58 SERMON IL 
 
 livered by this ftrange diviner at fo early a 
 period, and fo many centuries before the 
 Meffiah appeared, is an argument of the good- 
 nefs of God, which is infinite, and his mer- 
 cies extended to all his works : who, though 
 he limited the promife to the feed of Jacob 
 and the family of Judah, yet would not that 
 the reft of mankind £hould be unacquainted 
 with the gracious purpofes of his general 
 defign to redeem and fave them, and to re- 
 cover all that were loft. 
 
 Nor is it lefs obfervable that He had this 
 gracious defign in view, when he fuffered his 
 chofen people the pofterity of Jacob to be car- 
 ried into Egypt, and to fojourn there fome hun- 
 dreds of years. Egypt was at that time the flou- 
 rifhingmart of a widely-extended commerce''. 
 
 "^ See Gen. xxxvli. 25, 28. and ch. xli. 42, 56, 57. The 
 
 ftores of AjTyria and even of India were probably conveyed to 
 Egypt by the Arabians, or merchants of Midian, or poflibly 
 by fome of the Indians ihemfelves. Greece was peopled in 
 a great meafure by migrations from Egypt ; as Mr. Bryant 
 has illuftrated in his Obferv. on the Plagues. The fame author 
 alfo thus remarks, at p. 130: ** The ruin of their barley was 
 " fatal, in refpeft of their trade ; for Egypt feems very early 
 '* to have been the granary of the world." 
 
 llither 
 
SERMON 11. 59 
 
 Hither probably the ftores and riches of 
 India were conveyed, if not through the Red 
 Sea, at leaft by the channel of Niniveh, and 
 the territories of Affyria, or of the ancient 
 Elamites. In this country what lefs could be 
 expected than that thofe who inherited the 
 promifes Ihould raake known the will of God's 
 favour to men, fliould publi(h his faviftg 
 health among all the nations ^ ? 
 
 Many very remarkable events took place, 
 vvhilft the Ifraelites were detained in this feat 
 of bondage. In this time Jofeph lived, and 
 difcovered in fundry traits of his own charac- 
 ter a lively type and figure of the future de- 
 liverer. In this time Mofes was born, and 
 miraculoufly preferved from death by a hea- 
 then princefs, and trained up under her foftering 
 care, fo as to be properly qualified to become 
 the deliverer of his people. In this country 
 alfo many mighty works were performed, 
 which difplayed the fovereign hand of God, 
 diftinguifhed in fparing and relieving his fer- 
 vants, and punifliing his enemies. Here that 
 
 « Pfal. Ixvii. 2. 
 
 fignal 
 
6o S E R MO N II. 
 
 fignal miracle was exhibited, which gave oc- 
 cafion for the inftitutioii of the paflbver ; and 
 in Egypt was flain the firft pafchal lamb, on 
 the evening that preceded the departure of 
 the Ifraelites from the land of their flavery ^ 
 This facrifice, it is true, was exprefsly ap- 
 pointed with a reference to their efcape ; yet 
 the Jews themfelves confidered it with a pro- 
 fpe6t to a future enlargement, a more glorious 
 deliverance by the Meffiah ; and the redemp- 
 tion itfelf, with moft of its appendant circum- 
 ftances, received a full and genuine illuftration 
 in the facrifice of our paffover Chrift. 
 
 What new fcenes of protedion and wonder 
 were continually difplayed fooh after the de- 
 parture of the Ifraelites from Egypt ? when 
 God divided the fea, that his people might 
 pafs through, and brought back the accumu- 
 lated waters on the heads of their enemies ^ ; 
 when he conducted them in the wildernefs, 
 and carried them to mount Sinai, to be wit- 
 neffes at the grand folemnity of the manifefta- 
 tion of his law, at the diflance of juft fifty 
 
 5 VhL Ixrviii. 13, 53. 
 
 days 
 
SERMON II. 6i 
 
 days from the inftltution of the paffover ; 
 when the whole mountain was in a fmoke, 
 and felt a violent concuffion in the midft of 
 thunders and Hghtnings and voices ^ ; when 
 the divine Majefty condefcended in this awful 
 manner to accommodate himfelf to the fenfes 
 of his people, and to be prefent at a con- 
 ference with them, in order to bring them 
 to the knowledge of his truth and the obe- 
 dience of his will. 
 
 In this great defert which the Jews had now 
 entered they were fufFered to wander forty 
 years * ; where they had encounters of various 
 forts with the neighbouring nations, where 
 they had alfo frequent manifeftations of the 
 divine prcfence and power, and at feme times 
 of fo tremendous a nature, that Mofes was 
 obliged to interpofe as a mediator between God 
 and them. And before their efcape from this 
 terrible wildernefs, one fevere calamity befell 
 the people, from which they were relieved by 
 
 ^ Exod. xix. 
 
 * See Numb, xiv. 33. Pfal, xcv. 10* Deut. viii. 4. 
 
 a remedy. 
 
62 SERMON II. 
 
 a remedy, which could not but remind them 
 of their fo often promifed remedy againft fin. 
 l!he Lordfent Jiery ferpents among the people^ 
 which wounded them with a mortal bite. 
 And when the people confefled their fin, and 
 prayed that the ferpent might be removed; 
 the Lord diredted Pv4ofes to ereB a Jiery ferpent 
 upon a lofty pole ^^ that all the people of the 
 camp might fee it, and that every one that 
 looked to it fhould live. 
 
 The ferpent was an emblem of the firft 
 deceiver of mankind : and the lifting up of 
 this ferpent ^ according to our Saviour's in- 
 fallible interpretation, was a type of the man- 
 ner in which the Redeemer of the world would 
 be lifted lip y to dejlroy the works of the devilry 
 and to draw all men unto him "", And as the 
 author of the book of Wifdom obferves, <* He 
 *« that turned himfelf towards it, was not 
 " healed by the thing which he faw, but by 
 '' tliee, that art the Saviour of air." This 
 
 ^ Numb, xxi- 6: S, ^ John. ili. I4. 
 
 '•-» I John. iii. 8. * John jcii, 3.2. 
 
 «» Ch. xvi. 7. 
 
 fad 
 
SERMON II. 63 
 
 fad: feems to have been fo well known and un- 
 derftood by the neighbouring nations, that the 
 worfhip of the ferpent became prevalent and 
 general ; and in India, as an ingenious tra- 
 veller relates, they fet up an idol, in the form 
 of a wreathed ferpent, upon a pole fix or feven 
 feet in height, which was folemnly worfliipped, 
 and carried with the people in their travels, as 
 an objedl of their conftant and daily ado- 
 ration ^. 
 
 Upon the whole, from a review of that 
 providential fcheme which has been hitherto 
 touched upon, it appears, that in the earlier 
 ages of the world a remedy was difcovered 
 for Sin, and this difcovery made known in a 
 competent meafure to mankind. After the 
 difperfions of the fons of men it is probable, 
 that, from the ignorance, inattention, or favage 
 barbarity of fome of the diftant emigrants, 
 the chief of thefe traditions might have been 
 obfcured, forgotten, or loft. And this muft 
 
 P See Tavermer*s Travels in India, and Patrick on Num- 
 bers xxi. 9, 
 
 make 
 
64 S E R M O N IL 
 
 make it feam expedient, that the memory of 
 them ihould be revived by fubfequent re- 
 peated revelations, ferving to atteft and con- 
 firm the former, and communicated to fome 
 perfons, either as a reward for their virtue, 
 or rather as being beft adapted, from their 
 connexions, habits, fituation, or other cir- 
 cumllances, to convey and perpetuate the 
 merciful intentions of Providence to the reft 
 of the world. 
 
 To us on whom the light hath fhone in its 
 full luftre, and compared with whom the for- 
 mer ages lay in darknefs, if our gratitude 
 Ihould in any proportion be commenfurate 
 with our benefits, our light v^oxAdifo Jloine before 
 men, that they might from hence be induced 
 to glorify our Father who is hi heaven ^. But 
 to thofe who lived in the comparatively dark- 
 ened times, :f they duly improved the know- 
 ledge and talents, which '^t^' y were, or might 
 have been, pollefled lufiiclent intimations 
 
 of a happy deliverance yvcre probably given to 
 
 ■ . ^ Ma-. V. i6. 
 
 all. 
 
SERMON II. 65 
 
 all, either by the traditions of God's word, 
 the manifeftation of his wonders, or at leaft 
 by that fhelter, which every good man might 
 take, in the due contemplation of thofe mer- 
 cies difplayed in the common bleffings of 
 his Providence, in the ordinary works of his 
 hand. v 
 
 SKR-^ 
 
amBsmaasmBt 
 
 SERMON III, 
 PART I. 
 
 Acts iii. 24. 
 
 Tea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and 
 thofe that follow after y as many as have 
 fpoken, have likewife foretold of thefe days. 
 
 7 
 
 "^ H E ftate of the people of God before 
 the coming of Chrift will naturally 
 fall under a threefold divifion ; the former of 
 which may terminate vv^ith the giving of the 
 law of Mofes and the eftablifliment of the 
 Jewifli commonwealth ; the fecond with the 
 Babylonian captivity and the extinftion of the 
 kings ; and the third may be carried on till 
 the fettlement of the Meffiah*s kingdom, 
 when the Jewifh polity ceafed, at the utter 
 everfion of the city and temple of Jerufalem. 
 
 F 2 We 
 
68 SERMON III. 
 
 We have already feen, that the prophets 
 before Samuel, or of the firft period, have 
 fpoken of the days of the Meffiah ; and have 
 contemplated thofe earlier intimations of the 
 deliverance from fin, which fhould be effeft- 
 ed by that illallrious prophet, who was to 
 defcend from the feed of Abraham in the line 
 of Judah. 
 
 About the time that the law of Mofes was 
 communicated to the Ifraelites, or between 
 that time and their fixed fettlement in Canaan, 
 the interpofitions of the Almighty were fo 
 frequent, his wonders fo mightily difplayed, 
 and the continuance of his extraordinary 
 favours fo perm.anent, that during the prefi- 
 dency of Jofhua and of the Judges, God him- 
 felf might be confidered as in a more efpecial 
 manner the governour of the people ; and no 
 nev/ arguments of difiant redemption or com- 
 fort could feem wanting to thofe, who lived 
 under fuch an immediate theocracy. How- 
 ever therefore the Mefliah might be fhadow- 
 ed forth in the images of perfons, whofe lives 
 and charafters correfponded in many inftances 
 
 with 
 
SERMON III. 69 
 
 with his ; and however the general fcheme 
 of God's difpenfations might have been car- 
 ried on, as it all along appears to have beem 
 through the times of the Old Teftament, 
 with a view to the great delign of his appear- 
 ance, yet we are not to wonder, if during this 
 term the exprefs predictions concerning him 
 are lefs frequent, than in thofe that preceded 
 or followed it. 
 
 But in the days of Samuel, Vv^hen the word 
 of the Lord had begun to be precious and 
 rare% this rebellious progeny of Abraham, 
 difcontented with their prefent government, 
 and eager perhaps for a premature enjoyment 
 of their promifed bleffing, defired a king. 
 So God gave them a king in his anger, and 
 took him away in his wrath ^. Yet in his ftead 
 he raifed up another, his chofen fervant Da- 
 vid, who fhould fulfil all his will ; whom he 
 took from the humble occupation of a fhep- 
 herd, that he might y^£'^ Jacob his people , and 
 Ifrael his inheritance ^. 
 
 » I Sam. lii. i. 
 
 bHof.xiii. II 
 
 . See Ads xiii. 22. 
 
 ^ Pfal. Ixxviii. 71. 
 
 F 7 
 
 An<J 
 
^o SERMON III. 
 
 And now the defigns of Providence con- 
 cerning the future redemption of mankind 
 appear to have been farther unravelled. That 
 the Mefliah Hiould hold a fcepter, and reign 
 as a mighty fovereign, had been readily con- 
 ceived and admitted by thofe, w^ho had i^zvi 
 their victorious leaders furmounting all oppo- 
 fition, and entering triumphantly into a land 
 overflow^ing with the richefl plenty. But 
 they had received as yet only imperfed: hints, 
 that He fliould live in a humble and abjedl 
 ftate, be obliged to undergo many hardfhips, 
 and fuffer many indignities, before he could 
 arrive at his glory. In order to reconcile 
 them to thefe things, here is a powerful mo- 
 narch exhibited before them, paffing through 
 the loweft abyfs'of trouble and mifery, before 
 he could reach the fummit of his dignity; 
 and even when vidorious, and feated on his 
 kingdom, iliil expofed to infults, reviled, and 
 curfed by thofe, who enjoyed his protediion, 
 and were favoured with his love. 
 
 What can be a more convincing argument 
 than example P What more likely to prepare 
 
 the 
 
SERMON IIL 71 
 
 the mind for the reception of unv/elcome 
 truths, than to fee the force of them adually 
 difplayed in the Hfe of a perfon, trained to 
 rule by fubjedion, and raifed to the higheft 
 honours by fubmitting to the moft painful 
 and degrading diftreffes ? The minds of the 
 people were to be conciliated to this cbntraft, 
 and therefore, to convince his fubjeds, how 
 great a favourite of Heaven tnis prince was, 
 27?^ Lord hath fworn to him in truths Of the 
 fruit of thy body will Ifet upon thy throne ^. 
 
 Accordingly we find the name of David 
 afcribed by feveral prophets in the Old Teila- 
 ment to Him, who in the New is called the 
 Son of David \ And the parent or anceftor 
 was fo lively a type and emblem of this Son, 
 that the facred oracles, when they fpeak of 
 the form.er, are frequently to be underftood, 
 as prediding truths applicable to the latter. 
 Many paflages in the book of Pfalms are thus 
 applied by the writers of the New Tefla- 
 
 *^ Pfal. cxxxii. 11. See alfo Ifa, xi. i. Jer. xxiii. 5, Pfal. 
 i:cxxix. 3, 4. 
 
 ^ Matt. ix. 27. X7. 22. Mar. xii. 35, 
 
 F 4 ment : 
 
72 SERMON III. 
 
 ment : And our Saviour himfelf, when ex-«^ 
 piring on the crofs, adopted thofe emphatical 
 words of David at the beginning of the xxiid 
 Pfalm, My Gody my God, why haft thou for ^ 
 faken me ? 
 
 Indeed, the vv^hole of this and of fome other 
 Pfalms, where David is fpeaking of his fuf- 
 ferings, and where alfo he is fpeaking of the 
 glories that would attend himfelf or his Son, 
 muft be prefumed to look beyond the firft 
 application, beyond the then king of Ifrael, or 
 his fon Solomon, to Him whofe kingdom 
 fliould not be confined to Ifrael, but extend- 
 ed yri?/^;^^^ tofeay and from the river unto the 
 ends of the earth^. So that although thofe 
 that faw him in his affliiled ftate fliould laugh 
 him tofcorn ^, fhould give him gall for meaty 
 and vinegar to drink \ and infult him with 
 cruel mockings ; yet in the reverfe of the 
 icQnQ all kings Jljould fall down before him, all 
 nations fl;)ould ftrve him : His name fhould en- 
 
 f Pfal. Ixxii. 8. e Pfal. xxii. 7. 
 
 '^Pfal.lxix. 21. 
 
 dure 
 
SERMON III. 73 
 
 dure for ever ; and all nations Jloould be blefjed 
 in him, and fiould call him blejjed\ 
 
 The ancient Jews jftill conceived and ever 
 entertained great prejudices againft a lufFer- 
 ing Meffiah, which rendered them unable to 
 difcern the true meaning of thofe paffages 
 which related to his afflidions. But they 
 could readily difcover the myftical fenfe of 
 the oppofite fort that fpoke of his glories. 
 They could moreover apply them conftantly 
 to his exaltation, and eagerly feek after fym- 
 bolical expofitions ^ for this purpofe ; as the 
 
 ^ Pfal. Ixxii. II. 17. 
 
 ^ Dr. Barrow has fome very judicious obfervations in his 
 2d vol. Ser. XIX. on the Nature of Types and Prefignifica- 
 tions of the Meffiah ; from which I have extradled the follow- 
 ing paffage, as more immediately relating to our prefent 
 purpofe : 
 
 *' Neither are thefe things only faid according to fuppofi- 
 '' tions affumed in the New Teftamerit, but they agree (as 
 " to their general importance) to the fenfe of the antient 
 ** Jews, who did conceive fuch myllerious references often to 
 *•' lie couched under the letter of the Scriptures. They fuppofed 
 " a Midralh, or myftical fenfe of Scripture, which they very 
 *' ftudioufly (even to excefs commonly) did fearch after. It 
 " was, as Lud. Capellus affirms, a confident and confiant 
 *• opinion of their Dodtors, that all things in the law of Mofes 
 •* were typical, and capable of myftical expofition. And 
 '* Philo's writings, compofed in, or immediately after our 
 
 ** Saviour's 
 
74 SERMON III. 
 
 writings of the earlier times abundantly de- 
 monftrate ; and as the applications in the 
 -New Teftament muft alfo make probable ; 
 lince the Apoftles and Evangelifls would fcarce 
 have ufed the feveral citations in the {qhCc 
 they did, unlefs they had known fuch inter- 
 pretations to be approved by thofe to whom 
 they addreffed themfelves. 
 
 But though fome of the v/ritings of David 
 are applicable to the Meffiah, chiefly in a fe- 
 condary fenfe, or looking through the type or 
 copy, are confirmed and fully fubftantiated 
 only in the grand original j yet there are others 
 that look forward directly to that glorious 
 King, who was in a moft peculiar fenfe the 
 anointed of God ; and which, difdaining as it 
 were the help of a refemblance, trace out the 
 unveiled flate and moft appropriated charac- 
 ters of the Redeemer. Of this fort I take to 
 be the whole of the cxth Pfalm ; which, as it 
 defcribes tv/o of the moft diftinguiflied offices 
 
 ^' Saviour's time, are a plairx connrmatlon of what he faith i 
 ** we have alfo feveral inllances and intimations thereof in the 
 "*' New Teilamerit.'^ See Matt. xxi. 9. 42. and xxii. 32. 42. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IIL 7^ 
 
 of the Meffiah, as it fpcaks of him in fuch 
 varied terms, of the mofl honourable dignity 
 and profound humiliation, and as it may give 
 us an opportunity of throwing fome light on 
 his high original, I fliall beg leave to offer in 
 the following expofition and comment. 
 
 The former part of this Pfalm is afcribed 
 by Chrifl: himfelf to David in the xiith chapter 
 of St. Mark \ and therefore we cannot hefi- 
 tate to pronounce him the author of it ; and 
 though fome few Chaldaifms are difcoverable 
 in it, as w^e fhall prefently fhew, we muft 
 prefume they crept in at later times. As little 
 doubt alfo can be made in the application of 
 it, fince our Lord " hath declared that it was 
 fpoken of Chrift, and his Apoflles St. Peter " 
 and St. Paul ° ^pply it in the very fame 
 manner. 
 
 The Pfalmift begins with proclaiming the 
 royal majefcy and tranfcendent dignity of the 
 Meffiah ; for though he was to be the Son of 
 
 * Ver. 36. ^ Matt. xxli. 43, Sec, 
 
 » Adi n, 34, 35. " I Cor. XV. 25. Heb. i. 13. and v. 6. 
 
 David, 
 
76 SERMON III. 
 
 David, yet David himfelf ftyles him his 
 Lord, faying, 
 
 I. Jeuovau /aid io my Lord,^/ onmy right 
 handy 
 T'ill I make thine efiemies thy footJiooL 
 
 To fit on the king's right hand denotes the 
 higheft place of worldly honour; and w^hat 
 honour can be comparable with his, who is 
 feated at the right hand of the Ki7ig of all kings ^ 
 and Governour of all things ^ ? In fuch incon- 
 ceivable ftate the Meffiah was to be placed, 
 to receive his invefliture into his mediatorial 
 kingdom ; and in this fupereminent dignity 
 he was to continue, till all things ihould be 
 fubdued unto him, and all enemies fhould be 
 put under his feet ; till he fhould refume that 
 fovereignty, of which the Pfalmill: fpeaks thus 
 In the xlvth Pfalm, T'hy throne, O God, is for 
 ever and ever ''. 
 
 The aftual commencement of this kingdom 
 upon earth fhould be among the Jews ; 
 
 P Prayer in time of war and tiwnults. ^ So Heb. i. 8. 
 
 For 
 
SERMON III. 77 
 
 For 2. jEUOVAuJendetb the rod of thy power 
 out of ZioUy 
 Which ruleth in the midjl of thine enemies : 
 
 Here the ftaff or enfign was to be fet up, 
 from whence fhould iffue all that virtue or 
 fovereign grace, which fhould crufh the whole 
 kingdom of the powers of darknefs ; from 
 whence he (hould fmite the earth with the rod, 
 or blaft, of his mouth, and with the breath of 
 his lips Jlooidd he fay the wicked one ^ 
 
 But though his dominion upon earth fliould 
 begin at Zion, the influence of his covenant 
 and grace would commence in the eternal de- 
 cree before the world began : for thus I ap- 
 prehend we fhould tranflate the next verfe. 
 
 3. With thee do I make a 'voluntary offering in 
 the day of thy power on the ' mountains 
 of holinefs, 
 
 ' Ifa. xi. 4. 
 
 ' On the mountains. ^'^^n3. So upwards of forty MSS, 
 and among them the ancient Bodleian : the prefent text has 
 
 '"'1115 in the beauties. 
 
 Before 
 
78 SERMON III. 
 
 Before the womb\ before the breaking of 
 the morning "", I begat thee. 
 
 I muft beg leave to obferve on this difficult 
 paffage, that there are two words in this 
 verk ulually rendered as nouns, which I take 
 to be ver;:s of the firft perfon in the preterit 
 tenfe j the latter "* is fo rendered by the Sep- 
 tuagint ; and the former, I make a free-will 
 offering ^, I conceive to be of the fame form, 
 
 * See a like exprefljon, Jer. i. 5. 
 
 " See lia/xliii. 13. There the expreffion is CDm, * before 
 
 ' the day was ;' here 'inii'D, * before the inorning.* 
 
 * "jrn^* lyivvncra, ai. * I begat thee.' Very many MSS. and 
 fome ancient agree with LXX in this word, and read "J^nt^*. 
 
 y ri'2.11. In both thefe words the MSS. labour very much; 
 and in both a Vau is introduced before the laft letter by a mul- 
 titude of MSS. efpecially in the prefent word. The late learn- 
 ed J. D. Michaelis once thought that this word ought to be 
 pointed as a verb in the fecond perfon fmgular, Hp"^-^, ^^d 
 rendered ccm^ccas : but on feeing that 179 copies in Kennicott's 
 collation had Vau before the laPc letter, he changed his 
 opinion : See his Suppl. part v. Now I fufpecfl the Vau is 
 only the Jod mifplaced and lengthened, and that inftead of 
 rn:jn3 we Ihould read *nm3, if any alteration is neceffary ; 
 but if we can allow the Chaldee form, the verb maybe con- 
 fidered in the fj^rfr perfo.i as it now Hands. 
 
 That the Reader may fee a few other inilances in which the 
 formative Jod is dropped, 1 will beg leave to offer the follow- 
 ing. Pfal. Ixxxviii. 8. T/;j> <-wrath lieih hard upon me, and nvith 
 
 all 
 
SERMON III. 79 
 
 though the formative letter 'Jod in both in- 
 fiances is loft. But this is a common idiom 
 in the Chaldee language, and may be obferved 
 in feveral parts of the Chaldee of Daniel ^. 
 And when the form of the letters was 
 changed, and the Chaldee charadler fubfti- 
 tuted for the ancient Hebrew, I fufpcdt this 
 change was at the fame time introduced. 
 
 There is, I conceive, a very fmall error in 
 the prefent Hebrew text, which I have ven- 
 tured to corred: from the Greek verfion in the 
 beft manner I am able, and which, together 
 with the reafons of it, may be i^tn below '• 
 
 all thy nvaves, or breakers, / a?n afliBed, Vs'V^i which is ren- 
 dered ufually as the fecond perfon, and pointed as fuch by the 
 Mafora, * Thou hall aiHifted ;;;^.' So again, Prov. viii. 13. / 
 fear Jehovah, / hate e<vily pride and arrogance — do 1 hate. 
 The laft verb has the Jod at the end ; in the two former it is 
 dropped, and therefore they are miiiaken for nouns by our tranf- 
 lators, and pointed alfo as fuch. 
 
 ^ See ch. il. 25, 26. iii. 14, 15. iv. 5, &c. 
 
 * Inllead of ^D "I^, I would read in one word b'O'dhi ' for an 
 * interruption,' by a change of the letter Caph for Beth, which, 
 before final letters were introduced, would be confidered from 
 their fimilarity as a very fmall alteration j and there are multi- 
 tudes of inftances in which thele letters are miflaken for each 
 other. One MS. has bO'D, which muH make the change appear 
 mere eafy. 
 
 The verb 71^2 is ufed very feldom in Hebrew, but often in 
 
 Chaldee : 
 
8o SERMON III. 
 
 With this little alteration the expreffion may 
 be thus rendered, * before the darknefs was 
 * broken through/ interrupted, or ceafed, that 
 is, agreeably to the reading of the Seventy, 
 
 Chaldee : and in Ezra iv. 24. it occurs twice in a fenfe not unlike 
 what I have here given it. Then njoas interrupted the ivork of 
 the houfe of God at ferufalem : and the intermption continued to 
 the fecond year of the reign of Darius king of Ferfia, The proper 
 fenfe of the verb is to ceafe or refi ; fometimes continually, but 
 rather occafotially ; and hence it fignifies to intermit, or he in- 
 terrupted. See Call. Lex. And the word 701^, if the prefix 
 b be retained, may be either a gerund, or a noun. But I fufpe(^ 
 the true reading is ^D3 'in'ii'D, "iniy in its f ridl and proper 
 fenfe denotes blacknefs, darknefs, or duikinefs, pnd hence is 
 applied to the dawning or opening of the day. And the whole 
 expreffion I would refer, with LXX. to the interruption of the 
 darknefs on the rude chaotic matter, when the firll dawn of 
 light firuck through it. 
 
 That the prefent text is faulty I have no doubt, as it is quite 
 irreconcileable with the ancient verfions, and affords no good 
 fenfe in the modern ones 5 and perhaps the myflerious nature of 
 the fubjeut contributed not a little to the embarraflinent which 
 might occafion the corruption. The emendation here fuggefl- 
 ed is the befl that occurs to my mind ; and whether the letter 
 of the text is rightly reflored or not, I am of opinion, from its 
 agreement with the LXX. that the general fenfe is right. 
 
 I would jufl remark farther the difference of the expreffion, 
 when an ordinary dawning is alladed to, and this original in- 
 troduftion of it. We read *^.ni:'n n^p ^VJ^. till the afcending of 
 the mcrningt Gen. xxxii. 24. and "^ntiTI nV?],'D, frcm the af~ 
 chiding of the moruing^ Neh. iv. 21. and ""iniL' "D^^D^H on the 
 eyelids of the m-rniiig^ job iii. 9. But here the allufion is to 
 the interruption of the original darkncf., at the firil eruption 
 oi" the dawn. 
 
SERMON IIL 81 
 
 *7rpo Eu(r(po^ouy before the bringing^ or bre-^king^ 
 in of the morning. 
 
 With this conflruftion there is I conceive 
 a confiftent and well-connefted fenfe ; and I 
 confefs I know not how to make any fuch 
 fenfe from the words, as they now ftand, or 
 as they are rendered in any of the verfions. 
 The former part of the verfe alludes to the 
 voluntary offering, or facrifice of the Meffiah, 
 on the mountains of Jerufalem ^ on which 
 occafion the day of his power w^ould fliine 
 forth in its greateft luflre, when through 
 death he JJjould dejlroy him who had the po^ver 
 of death f and deliver thofe who through fear of 
 death were all their life-time fiihje5l to bond^ 
 age^. And the latter claufe is expreffive of his 
 eternal generation, whereby he was the Son 
 of God before all worlds ; that all powerful 
 wifdomy erected fro7n everlajlingy whom the 
 Lord poffeffed in the beginning of his waj/y be- 
 fore his works of old'' -, who alfo in the divine 
 decree was adopted as a Mediator, long before 
 
 ^ Heb. ii. 15. * Prov. viii. 22, 23, 
 
 G he 
 
82 SERMON III. 
 
 he was conceived in the womb ; who fhould 
 be made perfedt through fviffering in God's 
 due time, and, after having made his foul an 
 offering for fin, regain his original dignity. 
 
 In confequence of this the Pfalmift pro- 
 ceeds in the next verfe to the prieftly office of 
 the Redeemer, to point out in the moft fo« 
 lemn manner, that he was to be a prieft in a 
 peculiar fenfe ; for he would put away Jin by 
 ihefacrifice of himfelf^. 
 
 4. Jehovah hath Jworn and will not re* 
 
 penty 
 T'hou art a prieft for ever, after the order 
 of Melchifedec ^ 
 
 He could not be a prieft in the Le- 
 vitical line, or after the order of Aaron, 
 fince He as well as his anceftor David were 
 to defcend from the loins of Judah. But he 
 was to have an unchangeable priefthood, of an 
 earlier order than that transferred to Aaron; 
 
 ^ Heb. ix. 26. 
 
 * In Kennicott's Coll. this line is divided thus ; v 
 
 Thou art a prieft for ever, 
 
 i\fter the order of Melchifedec. 
 
 not 
 
SERMON III. 83 
 
 not fubjed: indeed to the ordinary viciffitudes 
 of time, bat without beginning of days, or 
 end of life \ without predeceffor or fuccelTor, 
 and annexed to the royal dignity ; fuch as was 
 fuited to him, who was to bring a bleffing to 
 all nations, to be the King of righteoufnefs 
 and peace, in a fenfe far fuperior to Melchife- 
 dec or Solomon ; fince he fhould not only of- 
 fer a fatisfadtory atonement, but live for ever 
 to make inter cefjioji for ^ mankind. 
 
 The Pfalmift would now intimate the 
 triumphs of this vidlorious Priefl and King, 
 in an addrefs directed apparently to Jehovah ; 
 and one ancient MS. fupplies this word at the 
 beginning of the 5 th verfe : 
 
 5. Jehovah, the Lord is on thy right handy 
 Who woundeth kings in the day of his (or 
 thy) wrath. 
 
 No temporal power fhall be able to Hand 
 before him, but the greateft potentates on 
 earth, who refift him, and provoke his anger, 
 
 ^ Heb. vii. 3. § Heb. vii. z^^ 
 
 G 2 " ihall 
 
84 SERMON IIL 
 
 fhall be fubdued unto him, fliall be bruifed as 
 with a rod of iron, and broken in pieces like 
 the fragile veffel of the potter ^. , 
 
 Moreover his power fhall not be confined 
 to the prefent tranfitory fcene of things, but 
 fhall be awfully difplayed in the final diftribu- 
 tion of their proper lots to the righteous and 
 the wicked, when he fhall have completed 
 the exercife of his fovereign authority upon 
 the earth : 
 
 6, He fiall judge the full number of th§ 
 
 dead ' among the nations ^ 
 
 ^ See Pf. ii. 9. 
 
 * Verfe 6. JIVU N^O. LXX. 'K'K^aaix i^u^citoi,. The word 
 K^D is confidered as a verb by the Verfions, which appears ra- 
 ther from the general conftruc^ion of the Pfalm to be a noun. 
 As fuch, according to Buxtorf, it is rendered //^;;///^^(5, multi- 
 tudoy or, with a view to both fenfes, may mean the full mulii-^ 
 tilde. The other word, rendered by LXX. Tflcjixarot, is miftaken 
 by their tranflators and the Vulg. for rulnas ; but in the Syriac 
 and Arabic is tranflated by cada^vera : fo that the fenfe of thefe 
 Verfions as well as the LXX. may nearly agree with what I 
 have offered. He Jh all judge among the nations, he Jh all Jill up 
 the dead carcafesj by infufmg their fouls or fpirits into them at 
 the refurredlion. 
 
SERMON III. 85 
 
 Who hath /mitten the chiefs ^ over many a 
 country. 
 
 After he hath finally fubdued all his ene- 
 mies upon earth, and the prince as well as the 
 potentates of this darkfome world, thefpirit 
 that worketh in the children of difobedience * , 
 then fliall the end be ; when the dead carcafes 
 of all men fhall be raifed to life, and ftand to- 
 gether for judgment before the Son of God, 
 
 To qualify himfelf for thefe folemn pur- 
 pofes, the clofe connexion is finally pointed 
 at between the prieftly and the royal charac- 
 ters, or the humiliation of the Meffiah is 
 confidered as a prelude to his exaltation, and 
 
 ^ Smitten the chiefs. Ii♦^?-| f HD. * He hath fmitten the chief.* 
 The term is fingular, and is ufed in the like form and import 
 by the prophet Habakkuk, ch. iii, 13, X underftand it either 
 of the Prince of the powers of darknefs, called in the New 
 Teftament 'nov^o^ the wicked one, and Satan, or, of the 
 apoftate fpirits in general; vvhofe influence prevailed over many 
 countries, and kept them bound in the chains of idolatry, till 
 the kingdom of Chrift came, and was ellabliihed on the ruins 
 of the ufurpation of the Devil. 
 
 » Ephef. ii."2. 
 
 G 3 that 
 
^6 SERMON III. 
 
 that the latter would be the merited reward, as 
 well as fbitable confequence of the former, 
 
 7. Of the brook in the way hejlmll drinks 
 Therefore JJoall he exalt his head. 
 
 Like his predeceflbr and emblem Elijah, he 
 fhould drink of the moft ordinary rivulet, 
 fhould be reduced to the loweft dcpreffion of 
 temporal diftrefs, that he might follow him 
 alfo in his triumphant afcenfion to glory ". 
 
 In this view of the pfalm, the outlines of 
 two principal charafters of the Meffiah are 
 ftrongly drawn; and we mull be convinced 
 that his facerdotal office and regal dignity were 
 predicted by David, as his prophetical charac- 
 ter was forefliewn by Mofes. 
 
 I do not mean to Intimate, that either of 
 thefe charaders was In no degree difcovered to 
 the world, till the times, in which we have 
 
 "* The reader may perhaps like to fee the tranflatlon of the 
 Pfalm without the comment, which I fliall fubjoin at the end of 
 this firll part of the Difcourfe. 
 
 marked 
 
SERMON III. 87 
 
 marked their prefignification. My defign was 
 to ihew, that they were clearly foretold in the 
 early ages. And to evince that they were to 
 belong to the Mefliah, I have felefted thefe 
 pafTages, as affording a ftrong and undeniable 
 evidence. The predidion of Mofes is very 
 clear and decifive with regard to the prophe- 
 tical charafter, and the two others may ba 
 fufficiently collected from the pfalm w^hich we 
 have juft explained, whatever may be the 
 fenfe of the more difficult paffages^ I rather 
 infift on thefe offices, as they are doubtlefs 
 the diftinguifhing charafteriftics of the Mef- 
 fiah. And as they are of fuch great impor- 
 tance, it will be our bufinefs to point out 
 their farther manifeftation, together with 
 other tokens of the promifed Meffiah, in the 
 latter part of this difcourfe. 
 
 ' Anthony Purver obferves on the third verfe, " there 
 " doubtlefs may be a more exad, nay ought to be a better and 
 *' truer tranflation." He fuppofes LXX underltood ^D "]V to 
 be VSl the morning ftar. 
 
 For an ingenious explanation of the latter line of this verfe, 
 as it now ftands, fee Bp. Lowth de Sacr. Foef. Heb, Pr^sl. x, 
 p. 88. 
 
 PSALM 
 
88 SERMON III. 
 
 PSALM CX, 
 
 Jehovah faid to my Lord, Sit on my right hand. 
 
 Till I make thine enemies thy footftool. 
 Jehovah fendeth the rod of thy power out of Zion, 
 
 Which ruleth in the midft of thine enemies. 
 With thee do I make a voluntary offering in the day 
 of thy power, on the mountains of holinefs ; 
 Before the womb, before the breaking of the morn^ 
 ing, 1 begat thee. 
 Jehovah hath fworn, and will not repent. 
 Thou art a priefl for ever, after the order of Mel- 
 chifedec. 
 O Jehovah, the Lord is on thy right hand. 
 
 Who woundeth kings in the day of his wrath. 
 He fhall judge the full number of the dead among 
 the nations. 
 Who hath fmitten the chiefs over many a country^ 
 Of the brook in the way he fhall drink. 
 Therefore fhall he exalt his head. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON IIL 
 
 PART IL 
 
 F^ ROM the early predidions of the Old 
 Teftament, we have already been able 
 to afcertain three diftinguifhed characters of 
 the Meffiah, that He was to be a Prophet, a 
 Prieft, and a King. The two latter offices 
 have been illuftrated from a view of the cxth 
 Pfalm in the former part of this difcourfe ; and 
 if the interpretation which we have given of 
 fome of the more difficult paffages of that 
 pfalm be juft, thefe offices will receive fuch 
 additional light, as muft recommend them 
 with very ftriking notice and very convinc- 
 ing evidence. In what light thefe peculiar 
 difcoveries were underftood by the gene- 
 rality of the people, to whom they were im- 
 mediately 
 
90 SERMON III. 
 
 mediately made, or how far they were any of 
 them fuftered to penetrate into the depths of 
 thefe fublime myfteries, there can be no ccca- 
 Con for us to enquire. Probably the true fcnfe 
 and full interpretation of this, and the like 
 paflages, was refervedfor thofe later ages, who 
 fliould have feen and enjoyed the accomplifli- 
 ment of the bleffings. Yet even thofe earlier 
 generations, to whom they were originally 
 revealed, were doubtlefs fafliciently enlight- 
 ened, to eftablifli their faith, and encourage 
 their hope, in a merciful Deliverer; to whom 
 a great cloud of witneffes % as we fhall prefently 
 fee, bore fuch ample teftimony, that nothing 
 but extreme wickednefs, grofs dulnefs, or the 
 moft determined obduracy of heart, could en- 
 tirely refift. 
 
 Soon after the reign of David, Solomon his 
 fon built a houfe or temple unto the Lord; in 
 which were introduced, under a kind of veil, 
 many emblematical exercifes and fymbolical 
 offerings, deiigned to fliadow forth the office of 
 a Mediator; as in the lawof Mofes many 
 
 ^ Heb. xii. I. 
 
 expiatory 
 
SERMON III. 91 
 
 expiatory rites and propitiatory facrifices had 
 been inflituted for fin, which were types of 
 the truly efficacious facrifice, to be offered up 
 in the fulnefs of time by the Redeemer, 
 Both thefe charadleriftics of God's tender love, 
 together with their adjunds, dependencies, 
 and confequences, were farther manifefted by 
 the predications of feveral holy men, whom 
 God raifed up as prophets in the fubfequent 
 ages, to keep up among his people the con- 
 ftant memory of his loving kindnefs, and 
 through them to communicate to the nations 
 his gracious difpenfation of mercy to mankind. 
 By thefe prophets he /pake at Jundry times and 
 in divers manners ^, yet fo as in the end to 
 leave no traces unmarked, that might be ex- 
 pedient to difcover the true Deliverer, who 
 fhould appear among men, to thofe that with 
 unprejudiced minds and integrity of heart 
 ihould feek after the knowledge of Him. 
 
 It is our prefent defign to attend farther to 
 fome brighter illuftrations of thofe general 
 and more diftinguiihed offices, which have 
 
 «» Heb. i. I. 
 
 been 
 
92 SERMON IIL 
 
 been already notified, as well as to the 
 lefler manifeftations of his perfon, chiefly 
 under the reign of the kings ; or to view the 
 prophets exulting in their vivid difplay of the 
 future tokens of the Redeemer of Ifrael. 
 
 It was neceflary that the promifed Seed of 
 the woman fliould be free from human defile- 
 ment; for He muft be holy^ undefiled, and 
 Jeparatefromjinners % v/ho ihould be qualified 
 to make an atonement for the fms of the 
 w^orld. Accordingly it v/as foretold by the 
 prophets Ifaiah and Jeremiah, that the Mefliah 
 fhould be born in a fupernatural manner. T^he 
 Lordy faith the latter, createth a new thing 
 in the earthy a woman fid all compafs a man^ : 
 
 « Heb. vii- 26. 
 
 ** Ch. xxxi. 22. I am aware that fome commentators have 
 i2nderftood this paiTage in a very diiTerent fenfe : but as the ge- 
 nerality of Chriftian interpreters have referred it, with the vul- 
 gate Latin, to the miraculous conception of the blefied Virgin, I 
 have therefore mentioned it. And I confefs, there is fuch ftrength 
 and force in Tome of the terms, that I cannot but think fome- 
 thing more is meant than a mere proverbial fpeech, that the 
 Kveaker Jhall dijccmfit the Jircnger, A new creation in the earth 
 feems language of flrong import, as if feme very extraordinary 
 event would follow ;>• at leaft more uncommon than what might 
 be intimated by an ordinary proverb. The word ")3J, ajirong 
 
 many 
 
SERMON III. 93 
 
 And this new creation may be thus illuftrated 
 in cleareft language by the former ; Behold^ a 
 Virgin Jhall conceive and bear a Son, and Jhall 
 call his na?ne Immamiel^. So very expreflive 
 is the name of this child, and fo peculiar the 
 language of the prophecy, that it muft evi- 
 dently relate to fome great Deliverer, expecft- 
 ed to fpring from the family of David ; v^hich 
 could not be Hezekiah, as he was born feve* 
 ral years before the prophecy was delivered ^i 
 
 many may mean alfo a perfon of difllnguifhed excellence, and 
 thus is applied to Chrift, Zech. xiii. 7. Pfal. xlv. 4. And 
 the term 7\^^1, a ivoman, is obferved to be no where ufed in 
 a plural fenfe in fcripture, but always to denote an individual ; 
 and, as a miracle is here evidently intended, may fairly be ap- 
 plied to ihe Virgin Mary. Nor has the verb HDD an improper 
 reference to the comprehenfion here meant, if the expreffion 
 relate to the conception of Chrift. See Pool's Syn. However, 
 if fome perfons of deferved reputation may be difpofed to give 
 up this palTage, as thinking it neither, in a primary or fe- 
 condary fenfe, to intend the immaculate conception ; the other 
 from Ifaiah mull clearly demcnftrate it. I have placed them 
 both together, as in my opinion they may ferve to illuilrate or 
 ftrengthen each other. 
 
 * Ifa. vii. 14. See Bp. Lowth on the place, and Mic. v. 3. 
 
 ^ The prophecy was delivered in the 'reign of Ahaz, who 
 reigned fixteen years, (2 Kings xvi. 2.) and was fucceeded by 
 his fon Hezekiah, who was twenty-five years old when he 
 began to reign, {2 Kings xviii. 2.) and therefore was boni 
 many years before thefe words were fpoken. 
 
 and 
 
94 SERMON III. 
 
 and could relate only to him, who is con- 
 fidered afterwards as the Lord and Prince of 
 the land of Judah, or, according to the appli- 
 cation of St. Matthew, to Christ: Con- 
 cerning whom the fame prophet fpeaks foon 
 after in terms of the moft ample magnificence; 
 Unto us a child is born, unto us a Jon is given , 
 and the government Jh all be upon his jhoulder : 
 And his name Jhall be called Wonderful^ Coun-* 
 fellor^ the mighty God, the Father of the ever ^ 
 lajling agey the Prince ofpeace^. 
 
 But the falvation wrought by this wonderful 
 Prince was to be, or arife, among the Jews -, 
 and it was foretold by the prophet Micah, 
 that this Child fhould be born in Bethlehem; 
 a circumftance fo well underftood by the Jews, 
 that when Herod had gathered all the chief 
 priejis and fcribes of the people together^ and 
 demanded of them where Chrijifiould be born ^ 
 they all agreed that it would be in Bethlehem 
 in the land of Judah, and quoted the pro- 
 phecy of Micah ' in confirmation of it. Nor 
 
 8 Ch. ix. 6. ^ Matt, ii, 4. 
 
 i Ch.v. 2. Malt, ii, 6, 
 
 can 
 
SERMON III. 95 
 
 can I forbear to hint in how remarkable a 
 manner, and by what unexpected and impro- 
 bable means, this circumftance was accom- 
 pli(hed; which muft be notorious to every 
 one, who has reflec^led on the hiftory record- 
 ed in the former part of the fecond chapter 
 of St. Luke. 
 
 Yet ftill the nations were to behold the 
 brtghtnefs of bis rifing^ y and thus it was pre- 
 dicted by the prophet Hofea, and verified ia 
 as ftriking a manner. Out of Egypt have I 
 called mjf Son "". 
 
 Moreover, the manner of life of the Mef- 
 fiah, as well as the circumftances of his birth, 
 were minutely defcribed by the prophets. He 
 fiould grow up like a tender fucker ^ and like a 
 root from a thirjiy foil: He hath noform^ nor 
 any beauty that we Jhould regard him ; nor is 
 his countenance fuch that we fioiild dejire hi?n ; 
 defpifed and rejedled of men, a ma?2 of fur ^ 
 rowsy and acquainted with grief \ fo that we 
 thought him judicially Jiricken, fmitten of 
 
 ^ Ifa. Ix. 3. «^ Ch. xi. 1. 
 
 God, 
 
g6 SERMON III. 
 
 God, and offliBed''. He would be treated as 
 a worniy and not as mariy be the reproach of 
 tneriy and defpifed of the people ° ; infomuch 
 that he fhould become a Jiranger to his bre^ 
 threny and an alien to his mother s children **. 
 And yet, fo commanding was his influence, 
 that his force fliall not be abated, nor broken> 
 until he hath firmly feated judgment in the 
 earth, and the diftant nations fhall earneftly 
 wait for his law '^. 
 
 Ifaiah likewife fpeaks in the mofl beautiful 
 imagery of the frultfulnefs and profperity, 
 which {hould arife from this rod out of the 
 Hem of Jefle, this branch of David; when 
 the fpirit of Jehovah (hall reft upon him, 
 and the earth fiall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord, as the waters cover the depths of 
 the fea\ 
 
 In another place he thus defcribes his pro- 
 phetical charader; '' Jehovah hath anointed 
 
 ^Ifa. liii. 2, 3. ^Pfal. xxii. 6. 
 
 P Pfal. Ixix. 8. '^ See Bp. Lowth on Ifa. xlii. 4. 
 
 *" Ch. xi. in Lowth's Tranllatioa. 
 
 *' me. 
 
SERMON IIL 97. 
 
 ^' me, to publifli gl.id tidings to the meek hath 
 '« he fent me; to bind up the broken-hearted; 
 *' to proclaim to the captives freedom, and 
 ** to the bounden perfedl hberty, to proclaim 
 " the year of acceptance with Jehovah % At 
 *' which time {hall be unclofed tlie eyes of 
 ** the blind, and the ears of the deaf (hall be 
 *^ opened, when the lame fliall bound like the 
 ** hart, and the tongue of the dumb fl:iall fmg*," 
 In like manner the prophet Jeremiah defcribes 
 him, as introducing new overtures of grace to 
 mankind : Behold ^ the days comey faith Je- 
 hovah, that I will jnake with the houje of 
 Ifrael a new cGvena7it ; and I will put ?ny law 
 into their inward parts^ and upon their hearts 
 will I write it ; and I will pardon their ini- 
 quity ^ and remember their fn no ?nore ". The 
 prophet Ezekiel feems to have added the rite 
 of initiation into this new covenant ; T^hen 
 will I fpr inkle clean water upon youy and ye 
 P^all be cleanfed from all your deflements'' -, I 
 
 ^ Ch.lxL 1,2. « Ch.xxxv. 5, 6. 
 
 " Jer. xxxi. 31. Dr. Bbyney's Tranfl. 
 
 '^ So Ifa. lii. 15. He fb all fpr inkle many nations. Ths lejal 
 puriiicadons ara probably alluded to in the firft place ; as when 
 the Levitcj were feparated and cleanfed by the water of puii- 
 
 H ficadon. 
 
98 SERMON III. 
 
 110111 alfo give you a new hearty and a newfpirit 
 will I put within youy and caufe you to walk 
 
 fication. Num. viii. 6, 7. or, when the water of feparation 
 was fprinkled upon the unclean perfon to cleanfe him. Num. 
 xix. 18, 19. But by comparing the pafTage with thofe in the New 
 Teftament, where mention is made of baptifm, in order to 
 wafh away our fins, and as a facramental inflitution previoufly 
 requifite to the remiflion of them, there can be little doubt, 
 but this facred rite was alfo here intimated. And probably 
 th^ Apoftle alludes to this palTage, Heb. x. 22, 23. where hs 
 exhorts believers to hanje their hearts fprinkled from an e'vil 
 ccnfcience, and their bodies lAjaJhed H.vith pure ivafer : or, as the 
 words may more llridly be rendered, * fprinkled as to their 
 
 * hearts from an evil confcience, and wafhed as to the body 
 
 * with pure water.' The expreffions in both claufes I conceive 
 to be nearly equivalent : for there is certainly as much reafoa 
 that the heart fhould be thoroughly cleanfed, as there is for 
 the cleanfmg of the body. The prophet's exprelTion feems to 
 comprehend both, * Ye fhall be cleanfed from all your defile- 
 
 * ments.' And I imagine the Apofde means to allude to the 
 twofold method of baptizing in the church of God, either by 
 putting the body into water^ or by fprinkling or pouring wa- 
 ter upon it. * 
 
 The moil general fenfe of the word 'Ba.TmZa is to nvafh. See 
 Mar. vii. 4. Luke xi. 38. Heb. ix. 10. and it may be ap- 
 plied either to the walhing the whole body, or a part of it ; 
 either to a total immerfion, or a more fparing ufe of water. 
 Nor am I aware, that it can be proved from any direftly de- 
 ciHve words of fcripture, that either mode of Baptifm Ihould 
 be adopted in preference to the other. Though I am ready to 
 allow, that as the baptifm of adults or new converts to ChriHi- 
 anity, was doubtlefs the more frequent in the Apoftles' times, 
 the method by immerfion was probably mcft ufual. Yet it 
 ftiould f«em that we need not to be very felicitous, and efpecially 
 
 in 
 
SERMON IIL 99 
 
 in myjiatufes, and to keep my jiidgmeiit s ^ and 
 do them ''. 
 
 The language in which the prophets de- 
 fcribe a fuftering Meffiah is fo very full and 
 particular, that as the defign of it is nothing 
 lefs than to manifeft God's averfion to fin, 
 and his wonderful difpenfation of mercy 
 to finners, fo neither can the exadtnefs and 
 ftrength of the features fufFer the portraiture 
 to be miftaken. We all of us like Jheep have 
 Jirayed, we have turned ajide every one to his 
 own way-, and ]eiiova.u hath made to light 
 upon him the iniquity of us all. It was ex^ 
 aBedy aud he was made anfwerable : as a 
 lamb that is led to the /laughter, and as a 
 
 in thefe cold northern countries, about the quantity of water, 
 when we confider that the baptifm ^^hich fa^vcth us, is net the 
 putting a^.vay the filth ofthefiefp, but the anfwsry or ftipulation, 
 of a good confcience toiuards God, i Pet. iii. 21. 
 
 ThoCe who would wilh to fee this controverfy treated at large 
 may confult Mr. Wall's Hi:l:ory of Infant Baptifm ; and fuch 
 as defire to perufe a fhorter, but fatisfadlory, view of the fub- 
 jeft, may find fuch a one in Archbifhop Seeker's XXXVth 
 Left, on the Church Catechifm. What I have here ciFered 
 will, I trufl, be fufficient to juftify the application of the pro- 
 phecy to the baptifmal rite. 
 
 y Ez. xxxvi. 25. See Bp. Newcomels Tranflation. 
 
 H 2 f^eep 
 
100 SERMON III. 
 
 jJdcep before her Jfjearers is dumb, fo he open^ 
 ed not his mouth. By an opprejive judgement 
 he was taken off: and yet if his foul Jh all make 
 a propitiatory facrifce, He Jljall fee a feed 
 which pall prolong their days^. 
 
 And as the hiflory of his life, fo likewife 
 the circumftances of his death are minutely- 
 foretold : They pierced my hands and my feet % 
 faith the Pfalmift ; which the prophet Zecha- 
 riah in later times thus confirms : Tihey Jhall 
 look upon me who?n they transfixed ov pierced^ ^ 
 for whofe price, as he elfewhere obferves, 
 they weighed thirty pieces of filver^. And 
 Ifaiah faith. He was numbered with the tranf-- 
 grefforsy and made intercefjion for the tranf-^ 
 greffors. And yet after all, though his grave 
 was appointed with the wicked, yet with the 
 rich man was his tomb ^ His continuance 
 in the grave was fhadowed forth, or rather 
 exemplified, in that remarkable hiftory of the 
 prophet Jonah j who was three days and nights 
 
 ^ Ifa. llli, 6, 7, 10, Bp. Lowth. * Pfal. xxli. i6\ 
 
 ^ Zech. xii. lo. ,. ^ Lb. xi. j2. 
 
 d Ch. liii. 12. 9. 
 
 m 
 
SERMON III. loi 
 
 in the whale's belly, to reprefent the time 
 that the Son of Man fhould continue in the 
 heart of the earth*". A circumftance that 
 was intimated like wife by the prophet Hofea 
 in the following language : After two days will 
 he revive usy a?id in the third day he will raife 
 us up ^ : which words, though fpoken of the 
 deliverance of the Ifraelites, muft probably 
 have been meant as a type of him, who was 
 to rife the third day from the dead. The re- 
 ception of him after his refurredlion into the 
 everlafting manfions of peace and glory is alfo 
 forefhewn in that animated apoflrophe of the 
 Pfalmift at the clofe of the xxivth Pfalm, 
 Lift up your heads y O ye gates, even lift them 
 npy ye everlajiing doors, and the King of Glory 
 Jhall come in. Who is this King of Glory ? T^he 
 Lord of hojisy he is the King of Glory. 
 
 The confequences that will enfue after thefe 
 laft illuftrious events are defcribed by the 
 prophets in the moft triumphant language. 
 Then it fhall follow, that the root of Jejfe 
 
 * Matt. xii. 40. *" Hof. vi. 2» 
 
 H 3 will 
 
102 SERMON Iir, 
 
 will Jland for an enfign to the people " 5 to 
 whofe banner they fhall repair, and his reft- 
 ing-place fhall be glorious. T!hat the moun^ 
 tain of the Lord's houfe fiall be ejiablijloed in 
 the top of the ?notmtains, and all nations Jhall 
 flow unto it "^ J that the Mefliah fhould fit on 
 his throne, to reign continually over the houfe 
 of Jacob \ that of the increafe of his govern-* 
 ment and peace there fljall be ?2o endy upon the 
 throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order 
 it 9 and to eflablijlo it with judgment and with 
 jujlicefrom henceforth even for ever \ When 
 from the rifng of the fun to the going down of 
 the fame, my ?2ame Jhall be great amojig the 
 GejztileSy and in every place incenfe fljall be 
 offered unto fny name and a pure offering ; for 
 tny name Jhall be great among the heathen, faith 
 the Lord of hofls ^. 
 
 Thefe feveral predidions, and many more 
 that might be adduced, have an evident relation 
 to the Meffiah, to the deiign of his appear- 
 ance, and of his kingdom. The completion of 
 
 sifa. xi. 10. * Ifa. ii. 2. 
 
 Ufa. ix. 7. J^Mal. i. 11. 
 
 fome 
 
SERMON III. 103 
 
 Ibme of them has been pointed at, as they have 
 been offered 3 of others, in the notices we have 
 already taken, and will be ftill farther in thofe 
 we may hereafter take, of the charadter and 
 offices of Christ. And if the limits of our 
 work would permit us to attend to the hif- 
 tory of the completion of the whole, and to 
 obviate the cavils of the infidel, they would 
 furnifh a mod irrefragable argument of the 
 certainty of our holy religion, from the dif- 
 covery of diftant contingent events, in a moft 
 w^onderful variety of modes and circumftances, 
 yet all, however diverfified, 'concurring to de- 
 monftrate the divine interpolition, in the 
 eftablifliment of the truth as it is in Jefus. 
 
 What has been already fuggefted will fatisfy 
 the candid, the believing mind, and may help 
 to confirm it in the faith \ And if the un- 
 
 ' I think it proper to intimate here, that the argument from 
 prophecy, as well as other religious arguments, fhould be con- 
 fidered with a twofold intention, either to confirm the believer, 
 or to refute the iniidel. There are many paflages, often un- 
 derftood as prophecies, which are of doubtful interpretation : 
 though thefe would be of Utile ufe, conlidered in themfelves, 
 and without a reference to more clear and exprefs predidlions, 
 yet they may receive fuch light fromthefe, and in return add 
 H 4 fuch 
 
I04 SERMON III. 
 
 believer would take a fair and full view of the 
 whole magnificent fcheme in itfelf, and in its 
 parts, efpecially in its long continued feries 
 of growing evidence, all uniting in one point, 
 and terminating in the fame grand objeft, it 
 plight overrule his minute objedlions, ftrike 
 
 fuch ftrength to them, as may give additional convidion and 
 incieafing iatisfaflion to believers, and confequently may ferve 
 to confirm their minds in the true faith. One would not there- 
 fore too readily give up a paiTage, which has been commonly 
 received as a predi6lion, and which may have many good and 
 juft reafons to fupport it as fuch. Whatever indeed cannot be 
 fupported by fair argument, or is at all inconfiftent with the 
 truth, muft undoubtedly be reje6led ; but fome things may be 
 true and certain, which we may not be able rightly to account 
 for, or under ihi prefent appearances with eafe to explain. 
 
 However, in our commerce with unbelievers a different me- 
 thod mull be purfued, and we raufl always choofe themoU te- 
 nable ground, and indeed fhould fix on no other, but what has 
 been proved, oris manifeftly fafe and fecure, that we may not in 
 any refpefl expofe our holy religion to the infults of the fcoifer, 
 the ridicule of the libertine, or the contempt of the infidel. 
 
 It can be fcarce necelTary to add, that difcourfes from the 
 pulpit muft furely have a more efpecial regard to the former 
 clafs of men than to the latter, to the friends rather than the 
 enemies of Chriilianity. Where we have opportunity, we 
 lliould endeavour to do good to all men ; but our chief atten- 
 tion mull: be to thofe who are of the houlhold of faith. 
 
 For a copious and able illuftraticn of the antient types and 
 predidi&ns, in the pen'bn and offices of Jefus, fee Dr. Barrow's 
 Works, Vol. II. Serm. XVIL &c. 
 
 his 
 
SERMON III. 105 
 
 his philofophy filent, and convince him on 
 the principles of juft reafoning, or of his fo 
 much boafted philofophy itfelf. 
 
 From the compendious glance we have 
 hitherto taken of this great and important 
 fubjedl, wc cannot but difcern and admire the 
 wonderful love as well as wifdom of God, in 
 thus gradually unfolding his gracious defigns 
 of mercy to his people ; we cannot but have 
 reafon to exclaim with the prophet. How 
 beautiful are the feet of the joyful mejjenger of 
 good tidings y of him that announceth falvatioriy 
 of him that faith unto Sion, thy God reigneth^. 
 
 To the chofen people in the firft place this 
 difpenfation of mercy was announced ; to the 
 children of the flock of Abraham, in its earlier 
 notices, as well as in its fuller promulgation, 
 the word of this falvation was fent. But 
 though the primary language of prophecy 
 was, Jehovah hath comforted his people, he 
 hath redeemed Ifrael'' \ though it was judged 
 
 » Ifa. lii. 7. '" Ifa. lii. 9. 
 
 expedient. 
 
io6 S E R M O N III. 
 
 expedient, that this people fhould be thus 
 fupported and cherifhed, in order to preferve 
 the knowledge and worfhip of Jehovah, or 
 a purity of religion and morals, amidft the 
 general contagion of impiety and idolatry ; 
 yet ftill through the myfterious depths of the 
 divine counfels, the difcoveries made to the 
 Jews were extended widely over the face of 
 the earth, and the diftant nations were pro- 
 bably favoured with renewed atteftations of 
 die intended falvation of God. 
 
 For when the reign of the kings was efta- 
 blifhed, and the temple completed at Jerufa- 
 lem, ten of the tribes, by an unnatural fchifm, 
 foon revolted from the true worfhip of God, 
 and fettled themfelves under another ruler in 
 Samaria. Not many years after which fepara- 
 tion, Samaria was reduced and taken by the 
 Aflyrians, and the Ifraelites were made cap- 
 tives and difperfed among the nations. By 
 thefe means the knowledge of God's gracious 
 purpofes of favour to mankind was diffufed 
 alfo with the difperfions of his people ; and 
 the traditions which had been brought down 
 
 to 
 
SERMON III. 10/ 
 
 to the nations from earlier times, might have 
 been correfted and ftrengthened by frefh com- 
 munications, received from thefe later de- 
 fendants of Jacob. 
 
 Moreover, as amongft the remnant of 
 Judah iniquities were predominant, and the 
 idolatries of the Jev^s ftill called for vengeance 
 from Heaven ; after Jerufalem, the holy city, 
 had fuffered various diftreffes from Egypt, 
 the king of Babylon at length came up againft 
 it, and fubdued it ; the people v^ere led away 
 into captivity at different times, and in fuch 
 vaft multitudes, that there were not enough 
 left for the ordinary purpofes of life, or to 
 cultivate the land. Even feveral of their pro- 
 phets were conveyed to Chaldea, during the 
 period of this general difperfion; and they 
 delivered their predidions there ; and fome of 
 them were publifhed in the language of that 
 country. From hence the knowledge of 
 God's merciful intentions was widely fpread- 
 abroad amongft the various fubjeds of the 
 Aflyrian empire, and communicated probably 
 wherever the fame of Babylon might extend, 
 
 which 
 
io8 SERMON IIL 
 
 which was at that time as the moft ftately, 
 fo one of the moft commercial cities in the 
 world. 
 
 Thus whilft the chofen people were efpe- 
 cially remembered, the whole race of man- 
 kind were not forgotten ; the Jewifh com- 
 monwealth, and even its overthrow, had con- 
 tributed to difleminate the knowledge of a 
 Saviour -, and his merits were doubtlefs fo 
 far beneficial to the falvation of thofe, who 
 had only obfcure notices of him, that through 
 him in every nation, he that feared God, and 
 wrought righteoufnefs, was accepted of Him °. 
 
 '^ Aas X. 35. 
 
 SER. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 Ma LAC H I iii. I, 
 
 Behold^ I will fend my fnejfejtger, and he Jhall 
 prepare the way before me; and the Lord 
 whom ye feeky floall fuddenly come to his 
 Tiejnple 5 even the Mefenger of the Covenant ^ 
 whom ye delight in ; behold y he Jhall come^ 
 faith the Lord of hofs. 
 
 TT had been foretold by the prophet Ifalah, 
 '^ long before the commencement of the 
 Babylonian captivity, that a prince, called ex- 
 prefsly by the name of Cyrus *, how little io- 
 
 * If it be urged againft this nominal precliion, that the name- 
 of Cyrus is a fort of appellative, which was borrowed, accord- 
 ing to Plutarch, from the Sun : Ky^ov ya.^ y.a.>^iiv re^ Tls^ira,); ti>9 
 UXicv. In Artax. p. 1012. It may be replied, that moft of 
 the antient names of princes or fovereigns aielionourablc dif- 
 tini^ions, derived from Tome eminent quality of light, heat, 
 
 power. 
 
no SERMON IV. 
 
 ever acquainted with the attributes and wor- 
 ihip of the true God, fhould yet perform all 
 his pleafure ; of which a confiderable part 
 was manifefted, in faymg to Jerujalemy Thou 
 fjak be built y and to the T^empky thy founda-' 
 tionjhall be laid^* 
 
 This prince, who, "about the expiration of 
 the feventy years of captivity, had obtained 
 the full fovereignty over that ftate into which 
 the Jews were exiled, by the divine inftigation 
 
 power, or the like ; but that this name was fo peculiarly ap- 
 propriated to this prince, that he does not appear to have been 
 known by any other. 
 
 ** Jfa. xliv. 28. It is obfervable that the prophecies of the 
 Old Tellament are of two forts, either fuch as looked to the 
 Meffiah, to a great redemption at a very confiderable diftance, 
 which they forefhewed in a variety of views ; or elfe fuch as 
 had an earlier reference, and were fulfilled by events, more 
 near, or more remote, according to the purpofes of Providence. 
 The dedgn of which latter appears to have been, either to 
 eiiablifh the authority of God's melTenger, and the difcove- 
 ries of his truth, or to encourage the hopes of thofe perfons to 
 whom they were delivered, and to raife their expectations to 
 the future redem-ption, to which fome of thefe prediftions often 
 looked forward. If we contemplate prophecy in this twofold 
 afpeft, what a magnificent idea will it give us of the general 
 defign of the Almighty's tender regard for his rational crea- 
 tures in all ages of the world, and of his wonderful mercies 
 continually difcovcred in the grand fcheme of man's redemp- 
 tion I 
 
 pub- 
 
SERMON IV. Ill 
 
 publiflied a proclamation * throughout his do- 
 minions, exhorting the people of Ifrael to 
 leave his kingdom, and go up to Jerufalem, 
 in order to build there a houfe or temple for 
 the Lord. For which purpofe he not only re- 
 commended to his fubjeds to fupply them 
 with immenfe treafures of various forts ; but 
 he himfelf alfo reftored to them a great abun- 
 dance of very coftly veffels, which Nebuchad- 
 nezzar had facrilegioufly carried away with the 
 plunder of that afflided city ^ 
 
 But the Jews having been deprefied by a 
 long flavery, and after they were releafed from 
 their bondage, diilieartened through much op- 
 pofition from neighbouring invaders, were 
 fadly remifs in the execution of this great de- 
 fign^; although furnlfhed for it with fuch 
 munificent fupplies by the Emperor of the 
 earth, and directed in it by the oracles of God, 
 Whereupon the prophets Haggai and Zecha* 
 riah ^ were fent to them with new commiffions 
 from Heaven, to urge them to the completion 
 of this pious work; and the Lord Jlir red up 
 
 ^ Ezra i. I, 3. ^ V'er. 7— 11. 
 
 * Ch. iv. 4, 5. Hag. i. 6, 9. ^ Ez. v. i. 
 
 the 
 
112 SERMON IV. 
 
 thefpirit of Zerubbabel the governour of Ju' 
 dahy and the fpirit of Jofiua the high-priejl^ 
 and the fpirit of all the remnant of the people ^ 
 and they came and did work in the houfe of the 
 Lord ofhojis their God^» %^ 
 
 Yet notwithftanding the cojftly gifts and 
 large treafures, with which the people were 
 fupplied for the rearing and furnilTiing this 
 fumptuous edifice, thofe antient men, who 
 had feen the firft Temple, and remembered the 
 former glory of this houfe, when they faw the 
 foundations of this new one, wept over them; 
 for in their eyes the latter in comparifon of 
 the other appeared as nothing^. Left they 
 fhould be difcouraged from this difparaging 
 view of things, the prophet Haggai exhorts 
 them ftill to perfeverance 5 and alledges an ar- 
 gument for it the moft convincing, the moft 
 forcible, and the moft exhilarating, that could 
 influence or captivate the heart of man. It 
 was nothing lefs than the adlual prefence of 
 the Saviour of the world, of whom all their 
 prophets had fpoken; the coming of the 
 
 » Hag, i. 14, ^ ^'^^g- ii. 3. Ez. iil. 12. 
 
 . Mes- 
 
SERMON IV. 113 
 
 Messiah, the Lord of Glory, to this latter 
 Houfe; that glorious Deliverer in whom they 
 trufted; in whofe day there ficuld be a foun- 
 tain opened y not only to the houfe of David, and 
 to the inhabitants of Jerifalem/out to all the 
 families of the t2iVih, for fn and for unclean- 
 7iefs ' ', behold He Jhall come to his Temple, faith 
 the Lord of Hojh. 
 
 In our review of the prophecies relating to 
 the perfonal appearance of the Meffiah, there 
 is one very material circumftance, to which 
 we have not hitherto duly attended ; and 
 which, though hinted in more general terms, 
 even before the eftablifliment of the Jewifli 
 commonwealth ^, was referved for a more full 
 manifeftation to later ages ; I mean, the time 
 of his coming. And this v/as to be, whilil 
 the renewed Temple flood, and a little before 
 its diffolution. It was pointed out likewife 
 with fuch minute exadnefs in other refpe(5ts, 
 that this one argument, furveyed in itfelf, and 
 with its concomitant appendages, mufl fervs 
 
 ^ Zech. xiii. 1. ^ Gen. xlix. 10. 
 
 I as 
 
114 SERMON IV. 
 
 as an inconteftible clue to impartial minds, to 
 lead them to the difcovery of the true Re- 
 demer, that fhould come to Sion, and fhould 
 turn away ungodlinefs from Jacob \ 
 
 To prove this, I ihall endeavour to illuf- 
 trate a few predictions of a more recent date, 
 or that were delivered after the termination of 
 the reign of the kings of Judah, in the earlier 
 part of that term, which may be called the 
 third period of prophecy. And the firfl: of 
 thefe Hiall be the prophecy of Haggai jufl: 
 alluded to, in his fecond chapter, from the 
 fixth verfe to the ninths which I fhall beg 
 leave to read in the following tranflation: 
 
 " For thus faith Jehovah God of hofls — 
 " Yet once, it is a little while, ere I fhake the 
 <* heavens, and the earth, and the fea, and the 
 *^ dry land; and I will fhake all the nations; 
 ** and there jfhall come the defire of all the 
 *' nations; and I will complete upon this houfe 
 " GloeV, faith Jehovah God of hofls. 
 '* Mine is the filver, and mine is the gold, faith 
 
 * Rom. xi. 26. 
 
 '* Jeho- 
 
SERMON IV. 115 
 
 «< Jehovah God of hojfts. Great fhall be the 
 *' Glory of this houfe, the latter beyond the 
 " former, faith Jehovah God of hofls: Even 
 ** in this place will I give Peace, faith Jeho- 
 ** VAH God of hofts." 
 
 The great folemnity with which this paiTage 
 is introduced, and the frequent repetition that 
 they are the wordsof Jehovah, muft furelyin- 
 timate, that fome farther meaning is intended, 
 than the mere conveyance of ftores, however 
 valuable or coflly, for building. Alfo the word 
 tranflated * Ihake* is of ftrong import; and there 
 feems to be meant fuch a concuffion or fliaking, 
 as we read of in the nineteenth chapter of Exo- 
 dus, when at the delivery of the Law of Mofes 
 t/je whole mountain quaked greatly ^ ; and the 
 repetition of the word adds not a little to its 
 energy. The like expreffion occurs at the 
 twenty- firft verfe of this chapter of Haggai, 
 and again in Ezekiel's prophecy concerning 
 
 ^ Ver". 18. Thus Capellus ; Ad EvangellcD^ tubae clan- 
 gorem totus terrarum orbis concuflus ei\, Gentefque omnes corn- 
 mots, fadaqiie ell in ipfis mira animorum converfio, quum ab- 
 jedto Gentilifmo fidem Chrillianam (ant amplexcg. 
 
 I 2 Gog 
 
ii6 SERMON IV. 
 
 Gogof the land of Magog, (chap, xxxviii.) in 
 both which paffages the concuffions foretold, 
 whether in the form of earthquakes ", or in 
 the general convulfions of nature ^ , indicate 
 fome extraoi-dinary changes and revolutions in 
 the political or moral world ; which fhall pro- 
 bably come to pafs at fome future period, when 
 the Lord Ihall reftore his chofen people to his 
 favour, and perhaps reinftate them in their 
 own land. 
 
 It is faid at ver. 7. " iVnd I will fill, or 
 " fully introduce, glory upon this houfe /' a 
 confideration, which might afford fufficient 
 fatisfaQion to thofe old men, who were able 
 to remember this Houfe in its former glory, as 
 it was finifhed by Solomon, and v/ho obferved 
 with tears the commencement of its renewed 
 ftate. They could not expedl to fee again thofe 
 myfterious decorations of the former temple, 
 fuch as the Urim and Thummim, the Ark of 
 the Covenant^ the Glory of the Shechinah 
 between the Cherubims, or the Cloud which 
 
 " See Rev. vi. 12. ** Heb. xli. 26. 
 
 over- 
 
SERMON IV. 117 
 
 overfhadowed the mercy- feat, and was a fym- 
 bol of the Divine Prefencc; but yet Jehovah 
 proniifes that he will complete Glory upon 
 this Houfe, or fill it with the fulnefs of Glory, 
 than which nothing farther could be wanting, 
 to fatisfy the minds and expedations of good 
 and reafonable men. 
 
 At verfe 8. I would follow the interpreta- 
 tion of thofe who underftand the paffage, as 
 if the Almighty intimated, that he flood in 
 need of none of the things there mentioned ; 
 or that his treafures were of a higher and more 
 valuable nature, than the moft magnificent 
 fhrines, with their moft fumptuous furniture ^ 
 Thus this folemn apparatus feems defigned to 
 uflier in the declaration, or perhaps prophetic 
 benedidion, contained in v. 9. the caufe of 
 which was previoufly intimated at v. 7. T!he 
 defre, or delight '^, of all the nations jhall come *y 
 
 P See Pf. 1. 10—12. 
 
 •1 Whether the word be fingular or plural, it may have one 
 of thefe fenfes ; deliciaj humani generis. Here the bieffing is 
 promifed to the Houfe in general ; the limitation comes after- 
 wards. 
 
 I 3 and 
 
m8 sermon IV. 
 
 and I willfully brhig upon this Haufe Glory. 
 IJiand 7iot in need of the fiver and the gold ' : 
 17/ great fjall be the Glory of this Houfe^ the 
 latter above the former \ 
 
 The comparifon has ufually been referred 
 to the Temple of Solomon with the new one 
 of Zerubbabel that was now building. And 
 it muft be confefied that the fimilarity of the 
 expreffion at v. 3. of this chapter, *< Who is left 
 *^ among you that faw thisHoufe * in itsfirft or 
 <* former glory ?'* feems to favour this interpre- 
 tation. But furely enough was faid at v. 7, to 
 fatisiy the finking fpirits of thofe old men, 
 that were able to make the comparifon. And 
 as no unneceffary redundancy is ufually difco- 
 verable in the language, which the propiiets 
 afcribe to Jehovah, I rather think the ex- 
 preffion before us has reference to the new 
 Temple at different periods of its exiilence. 
 
 By the latter y I would underftand the period 
 
 ^ See Bp. Lowth's Ifaiah. c. xl. 16. 
 
 * So LXX. Miyoi'KY, e$-ai v ^o^a t» o'Us Tbra, *} ii^arr, vTZi^ rr,v 
 
 ^ l^his Hou.e ; for it was the Temple of God, in whatever 
 ilate of the flrudure. 
 
 after 
 
S E R x\I O N IV. 119 
 
 after the rebuilding the Temple by Herod the 
 Great. The former glory fliall be conliderable, 
 or the glory of Zerubbabel's Temple before 
 the time of Heiod, when it fliall be enriched 
 with abundance of filver and gold, and a va- 
 riety of valuable treafures ; but the latter glory 
 fhall exceed it -^Jbr in this Place, not in this 
 House, will I give Peace. The change of 
 the term Houfe for Place feems intended in 
 the divine Prefcience to point at the alterations 
 or renovation by Herod " 5 and whether the 
 Temple was rebuilt entirely from thefounda- 
 
 " I cannot forbear tranfcribing part of a very judicious note 
 of the learned Bp. of Waterford on this paffage. ** It feems 
 ** to me \}ti2Xy fuppcfing theMeiTiah to be prophefied of v. 7, 9. 
 ** greater precifion in the language would not have been ufed : 
 ** for this would have led the Jews to expeft a demolition of the 
 *^ Temple then building, and the eredion of another in its 
 ** flead. And, as Herod's rebuilding of the Temple was a gra- 
 ** dual work of forty-fix years, (John. ii. 20.) no nominal 
 ** diilindlicn between Zerubbabel's and Herod's Temple feems 
 *' to have been ever made by the Jews ; but in popular lan- 
 *' guage, thefe ftruftures, though really different, were fpoken 
 ** of as the fame. On one occafion, Jofephus himfelf mentions 
 ** only two buildings of the temple ; a former in the time of 
 " Solomon, and a latter in that of Cyrus. B. J. vi. iv. 8." 
 
 He has alfo coliefted many other valuable remarks from Abp. 
 Seeker and other writers on this interefling paffage, I'or which 
 I mull refer the Reader to his Explanation of the Minor 
 Prophets. 
 
 I 4 tions, 
 
120 SERMON IV. 
 
 tions, or whether only enlarged to its former 
 fize in the time of Solomon, or in whatever 
 fhape it was renewed ; ftill it was in the fame 
 flacCy and was the Houfe which the prophecy 
 had probably in view; and which was to be 
 adorned, not with the fymbolical refidence^ of 
 the divine Majefty, but with the full, the 
 excellent. Glory of the Lord, the real and per- 
 fonal prefence of that Prince of Peace, who 
 was the bright nefs of his Father s glory ^^ and 
 in whom dwelt all the fulnefs of the Godhead 
 bodily ^ , 
 
 I know of no fenfe in which the term peace 
 is fo juftly applicable to the reftored Houfe or 
 Temple of God, as that which underftands it 
 of the Meffiah's appearance. If it be confi- 
 dered as denoting contentment, or peace of 
 mind, for a poffeffion, to every one that affifted 
 in building this Houfe, according to the LXX/ 
 this in general would be the ordinary refult 
 
 " Heb. i. 5. ^ Col. ii g. 
 
 rov vaov ratoy. Thele words are found in the Trahfiadoti of 
 LXX. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IV. 121 
 
 of a due obfervance of all the divine com- 
 mands: and if any thing farther ihould be 
 prefumed to be here intended, we read of no 
 particular advantages of this fort, at leaft none 
 that might be conlidered as at all corre- 
 fponding with the folemn circumftances and 
 language of this prophecy. Some promifes or 
 predications of profperity and plenty ^ may feem 
 to favour this interpretation; but as they do 
 not appear to have been aftually completed 
 by any peculiar mercies then conferred on the 
 Jews, they had more probably an eye to thofe 
 abundant bleflings that were to be introduced 
 into the world by Chrift. And indeed this 
 explanation of the LXX. has been juftly con* 
 lidered as an interpolation, that accidentally 
 crept into their verfion ^. Moreover, the early 
 and dangerous oppofition in building their 
 wall, the frequent interruptions to their 
 Temple-worfhip, and the continual wars in 
 which the Jews were involved during the 
 
 y See Hag. ii. i8, &c. Zech. viii. 12. 
 
 ^ See an able Difcourfe on the fubjedl of this Prophecy, 
 preached at Oxford in 1788, by the Rev^ Dr. Blayney, Canon 
 of Chrift Church. 
 
 greater 
 
122 SERMON IV. 
 
 greater part of the period in which this fecond 
 Temple flood, until its final demolition and 
 extirpation by Titus, muft exclude the inter- 
 pretation of national peace. 
 
 But if it be underflood of the blefnngs 
 which the Meffiah fhould bring into the world, 
 it accords with other predidllons and tefti- 
 monies concerning him ; as with that of the 
 Prophet Micah, who declares that he, that 
 is, the Ruler *• that w^as to come forth 
 ** from Bethlehem-Euphrata, at the time 
 ** that fhe that travaileth hath brought forth, 
 •' fhall fhand and feed his flock in the ftrength 
 *' of Jehovah, in the majefty of the name of 
 ** Jehovah his God ; for now fliall he be great 
 «* unto the ends of the earth, and He iliall 
 ** be Peace *" By Ifaiah he is alfo ftyled 
 the Prince of Peace, and he that publilheth 
 peace: in whofe days, as the Pfalmift foretold, 
 the righteous JJoall fiourijh^ and there Jhall be 
 abundance of peace Jo long as the moon en- 
 durefh '\ This Vvas the fubflance of the joy- 
 
 * Mic. V. 4, 5. S;^e Bp. Newcomers Tranflation. 
 »> Pr.lxxii. 7. 
 
 ful 
 
SERMON IV. 123 
 
 ful fong, when the heavenly Hoft ufhered the 
 Meffiah into the world : " Glory to God in 
 the higheji, and on earth peace y good will to^ 
 wards ??ien ". Our Lord hinifelf alfo tells his 
 difciples, juft before he is leaving the world. 
 Peace I leave with youy my peace I give unto 
 you ^ And it is this peace, which by St, Paul, 
 in his ufual energy of expreffion, is called the 
 Peace of God which pajfeth all iinderjlanding \ 
 
 Moreover who could fo properly be entitled 
 to the charader of a meffenger of peace, as 
 Jie who was to reconcile man to God, to de- 
 ftroy the enmity betwixt them that was oc- 
 cafioned by fin, to blot out the hand-writing 
 that was againft us, to break down the wall 
 of feparation, and extend his bleffings to all 
 nations, to overthrow every adverfary, open 
 to mankind the door, and affift them in the 
 way to eternal life and happinefs ^ ? 
 
 * Luke ii. 14. ** John xiv. 27. * Phil. iv. 7. 
 
 ^ Pax quam Deus hie pollicetur non eH: pax qua fruiti fiint 
 Judaei fub Perfarum imperio, vel fub Affamonasorum regno ; 
 
 non 
 
124 S E R M O N IV. 
 
 And this expofition feems confirmed by the 
 Prophet Malachi in the paffage of the Text. 
 ^/je Lo?-d, whojn yefeek, Jhallfuddenly come to 
 his Temple^ even the Mefenger of the Cove- 
 nant, in whom ye delight: behold y he jhall come^ 
 faith Jehovah God of hofis. He who fhall 
 eftabhfh a new covenant between me and all 
 mankind, whom the houfe of Ifrael fhall 
 earneflly exped:, and whom all the nations of 
 the earth fhall in fome fenfe defire, or at leafl 
 be convided of their want of him, he fhall 
 come on a fudden, or without any faftidious 
 parade or fiiperb preparation, into his Temple, 
 the joy and delight of all mankind ; behold, he 
 fball come, faith "Jehovah God of hojis. 
 
 Accordingly, when the Saviour of the v/orld 
 was prefented in the temple foon after his 
 birth, good old Simeon embracing him faid. 
 Lord, new lettejl thou thy fervaiit depart in 
 
 non enlm tanti fuit pax ilia: fed ell vera fpiritualis et interna 
 pax, quam Chriflus EccleficC fuas acqiiifivit, per reconciliatio- 
 nem noflri cum Deo in fanguine fuo, quasque earn fequitur 
 tranquillitas et fecuritas confcientia?, qua^ omnem fuperat in- 
 telleclum. Capellus in loc. 
 
 Peace 3 
 
SERMON IV. 125 
 
 Feace ', for mine eyes have feen thy faha^ 
 tion ^. And at the age of twelve years, our 
 Lord went up with his parents to Jerufalem 
 at the feaft of the paffover, and was prefent 
 in the Temple \ fitting among the leaders 
 of the great Sanhedrim, and difcharging the 
 bufinefs of his Father, and part of the errand 
 which he was fent into the world to perform. 
 
 There is another circumftance that flioukJ 
 attend his coming, which is alfo mentioned 
 by the prophet in the text, and which is of 
 too great importance to be difregarded in the 
 prefent argument ; namely, that his herald, 
 or mefTenger, fliould precede him, who fliould 
 prepare the way before him. This, accord- 
 ing to Ifaiah, was part of thofe comfortable 
 words, which were fpoken to Jerufalem, 
 when the intimation was given, that her war- 
 fare was fulfilled, and the expiation of her 
 iniquity accepted ; this was that voice which 
 cried in the wildernefs. Prepare ye the way 
 ^Jehovah, make Jlraight 171 the defer t a 
 
 s Luke ii. 29, 30. *» Ver. 46. 
 
 hh^h' 
 
126 SERMON IV* 
 
 high-way for our God-, for the glory ofjEUO^ 
 vAuJhall be revealed^ and all jiejh jhall fee 
 together the falvation of God *. The Saviour 
 of all men was to be introduced into the world 
 in the manner of an eaftern monarch ; and 
 however mean his own appearance might be, 
 his harbinger fhould be fent before him, in 
 the fpirit and power of Elijah "^^ to open a 
 way, and prepare all things for his paffage ; 
 who fliould foften the hardnefs of men's hearts, 
 and diredl to the due cultivation of their minds, 
 by exhorting them to fubdue every proud im- 
 pediment, by encouraging them to repentance, 
 and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance^. 
 
 Thus was the Meffiah to enter upon his 
 important errand with the real dignity of a 
 
 ^ Ifai. xl. 3, 5. 
 
 ^ See Mai iv. 5, 6. '' After me, fays the learned Grotius 
 ** on this paffage, you fnall have no prophet for a long time. 
 *' The next fhall be the harbinger of the Mefiias, in whom 
 " prophecy fiiall revive. Ke fnall be another Elias for zeal> 
 '* and courage, aufcerity of life, and labour for reformation." 
 John the Baptiil therefore, in whom this gift did revive, mull 
 be the Elias here meant. For all the people held John as a 
 prophet. Matt. x:d. 26. 
 
 ' Matt. iii. 2, 8. 
 
 fovereign. 
 
SERMON IV. 127 
 
 fovereign, though at the fame time without 
 any ordinary pomp or fplendour in his own 
 perfon. He v/as to be a King, though his 
 kingdom was not of this world^ ; he was to 
 be the King of righteoufnefs and of peace; and 
 that his kingly power might be manifefted, 
 fo minute a circumftance as his royal entry 
 into Jerufalem is likewife foretold by another 
 prophet in thefe remarkable words : *^ Rejoice 
 ** greatly, O daughter of Zion, fhout, O 
 *' daughter of Jerufalem ; Behold, thy king 
 " Cometh unto thee ; he is righteous and a 
 *^ Saviour, lowly, and riding upon an afs, and 
 *' upon a colt the fole of an afs "." 
 
 At this folemn entry the laft king of the 
 Jews made his appearance ; for now was Shiloh 
 come, the triumphant meflenger of peace, the 
 Lord of life and glory. And when the Jews had 
 put him to death, and^ according to his own 
 predidion, whilfl: he was exercifing his royal 
 authority in his Father's houfe, had deftroyed 
 the Temple of his body ""^ foon after, the ruin 
 
 "" John xviil. 36. " Zech. ix'. 9 See Ifa. Ixii. 1 1. and 
 
 Matt. xxi. 5. ° John ii. lo, 21. 
 
 of 
 
128 SERMON IV. 
 
 of their Temple and whole ftate fo completely 
 followed, that there was not left one ftone 
 upon another in Jerufalem, becaufe fhe knew 
 not the time of her vijitation ^. 
 
 The concurrence of thofe various notices, 
 which have been already prefented to your 
 view, mufl undoubtedly carry with them fuch 
 ftrength of evidence, as could fcarce be re- 
 fifted by candid and impartial minds. But as 
 the necelTary obfcurity in which the feveral 
 prediftions of future events muft be frequent- 
 ly involved, and fome other circumftances in 
 our prefent imperfed: view of things, may 
 leave ftill room for cavil ; the exa6t time in 
 which the Meffiah fhould appear, and lliould 
 be cut off, is pointed out by the prophet 
 Daniel with fuch precifion, as fills the mind 
 of every one, who has duly furveyed it, with 
 wonder and aftoniflmient. 
 
 The defign of his predidion at the clofe 
 of t]ie ninth chapter, amongft other things, 
 
 ? Luke xix. 44. 
 
 was 
 
SERMON IV. 129 
 
 was to point out the fate of Jerufalem, the com- 
 mencement and the downfall of that renewed 
 flate. And from a certain definite period, at 
 which the proper building of the city fhould 
 commence, feventy weeks of years, or four 
 hundred and ninety years, were to intervene, 
 till the feveral events foretold in the angelic 
 meflage were fully accomplifhed. The mef- 
 fage feems to have been communicated to this 
 highly- favoured prophet, juft feventy weeks 
 of days, before the termination of the Baby- 
 lonian captivity, and the deliverance of the 
 Jews by the order of Cyrus : and this pe- 
 riod was probably meant to be confidered as 
 typical of that greater deliverance and redempn* 
 tion, that fhould be wrought by Christ. 
 Thus was the difcovery made to Daniel in 
 this vifion, analogous to thofe that were given 
 to the other prophets, who often furvey the 
 reftoration from the captivity, as typical of 
 the redemption of the purchafed pofTeffion, 
 and look through it to the ellablifhment of 
 the Meffiah*s kingdom. 
 
 After the iirft mercy had been unfolded, 
 K and 
 
130 SERMON IV. 
 
 and in which the greater and more fubftantial 
 one was adumbrated, the fubfequent part of 
 the meflage is introduced with a folemn pre- 
 caution in thefe authoritative words: " Tef 
 *' know and underjimid,'' It is probably the 
 fame exprellion, which our Saviour adverts 
 to, when he cites this prophecy, in the 
 New Teftament^ Whofo readethy let him 
 underjiand. 
 
 This folemn notice is followed by the dis- 
 tribution of the feventy weeks into fuch dif- 
 ferent portions, as the events required, whofe 
 accompiifliment is predidled. For during this 
 term, the city was to be rebuilt, according 
 to the edidt of a monarch, who ilfued an 
 order to a wife governour of the Jews to fuper- 
 intend it '. At a farther period the Meffiah 
 was to appear on earth, to finifh his work, 
 and to be cut off in a mioft ignominious man- 
 ner. And finally, when the whole plan was 
 completed, and the bufinefs that he was fent 
 to perform fully executed, then would follow 
 
 ^ Matt. xxiv. 15. Mar. xiii. 14. 
 ' See Nehem. ii. 5 — 8. 
 
 the 
 
SERMON IV. 131 
 
 the nun of the devoted city ; for it ifliould 
 become defolate, and remain fo, as to its 
 antient poffefTors, till the fulnefs of God's 
 vengeance had been poured upon the guilty 
 ftate, or the defolated race that fhould defcend 
 from its difperfed inhabitants. 
 
 Our prefent concern is with that period, 
 which defcribes the appearance of the Meffiah 
 and his death ; and this has been in fuch a 
 variety of ways ' illuftrated, and proved to 
 agree with the advent and death of Jefus 
 
 ' If any attempt fhould be made or fuggefled, from the uncer- 
 tainty or variety of the computation, to invalidate the exadl pre- 
 cifion of this prophecy ; as Bp. Chandler has well obferved, ** it 
 " is rather to be wondered, how at this diftance of time learned 
 " men have been able to come to any exaftnefs in thefe mat- 
 ** ters." As the completion may be evinced by almoft any of 
 the modes of reckoning, at leaft in fome eminent degree, the 
 defign of the predi6\ion is fuiliciently anfwered ; and when the 
 fame truth arifes from fuch varied computations, it is doubtlefs 
 a prefumptive argument in its favour, rather than againft it. 
 The nature of antient predictions appears to be fuch, as was 
 meant to exercife the underftandings, and engage the labours 
 of men ; and it would be afort of blameable fupinenefs to le- 
 jeft or difregard a generally received prophecy, becaufc its 
 full and exad fenfe was not yet afcertained to the conviction of 
 all men. For a farther illuftration of my fenfe of this predic- 
 tion, I muft beg leave to refer to my Notes on Daniel. 
 
 K 2 Chriil, 
 
132 SERMON IV. 
 
 Chrift, that however men may have differed 
 in fixing the commencement of the date, or 
 the mode of calculation of thefe years, yet 
 the general concurrence of their termination 
 in fome or other of the diftinguifhed events 
 relating to his life and pafiion, is a ftriking 
 proof, that the fpirit and chief end of this 
 prophecy was the immediate teflimony of 
 Jefus '. 
 
 There are other predidicns of this highly^ 
 favoured prophet, that plainly point at the 
 MefFiah's kingdom ; his appearance in the 
 world, and his future dignity. But having 
 already confidered thefe in another work ", 
 I may be the more readily excufed for not ad- 
 verting to them now. Let me only obferve, 
 that his pafTion, and the glory that iLould 
 follow, appear to have been fo particularly 
 noticed in the fevcnth chapter, that if there 
 could remain any doubt in the application of 
 the aftonifliing predidlion which we have juii 
 attended to, the language of the prophet in 
 
 * See Rev. xix. lo. ^ See ray Nctes on Daniel. 
 
 this 
 
SERMON IV. 133 
 
 this part of his work muft tend ftrongly to 
 confirm its reference to Chrift. ** I con- 
 '< tinned feeing,'' fays he, at the 13th verfe, 
 ** in the vifions of the night, when behold, 
 ** in the clouds of heaven was coming One 
 " like the Son of man, who advanced even 
 " to the Antient of days. And when they 
 " had brought him near before him," or ac- 
 cording to the fenfe of the verfions, " when he 
 ** had offered himfelf unto God, He gave him 
 ** dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that 
 " all peoples, nations, and languages, fhould 
 ** ferve him : his dominion is an everlafting 
 " dominion, which (hall not pafs away, and 
 ** his kingdom fuch as fliall not periih." 
 
 The One like the Son of man was the 
 ftone that ftruck the image in the fecond 
 chapter, or the Meffias ; and the defcription 
 of this Son of man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven, is exadly what our Saviour ap- 
 plies to himfelf, when folemnly adjured by 
 the High-prieft to declare, whether he was 
 the Chrift, the Son of God\ The other 
 
 ^ Matt. xxvi. 64. 
 
 K 3 charaderiftlcs 
 
134 S E R M O N IV. 
 
 charaderiftics alfo are fully explained in the 
 New Teftament, by that dominion which is 
 attributed to our Saviour, who is fet above 
 all principality and power, that at the name 
 o/yefus every knee jJjould bow, of things in 
 heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
 the earth ^ -, and who muji reign till he hath 
 put all enemies under his feet "". 
 
 Now it is but natural to conclude, that the 
 prophet, whofe capacious mind, enriched and 
 favoured with heavenly illuminations, could 
 point out the exaltation of the Meffiah, after 
 he had been made perfeft through fufFering, 
 in fuch fublime language, and fo ftrongly ex- 
 preffive of his elevated dignity, muft be con- 
 ftantly filled with earneft afpirations after a 
 full acquaintance with this great myftery of 
 godlinefs, muft have it fo continually in his 
 views, and in his prayers, that even his foul 
 might be fitly qualified for the reward of that 
 completeft revelation, and the favour of the 
 minuteft difcoveries of that glorious expedla- 
 
 y Phil. il. 10. '^ I Cor. xv. 25. 
 
 tlon. 
 
SERMON IV. T35 
 
 tion, which the providence of God fhould 
 think fit to forefhew, for the confolation of 
 his faithful and afflidted fervants. 
 
 Having thus taken a compendious view of 
 the antient predidlions relating to the Meffiah, 
 fo far at lead as they tend to illuftrate the gra- 
 cious defign of his coming to deliver and re- 
 deem mankind, I cannot entirely clofe the 
 fubjed: without offering a few fhort inferences 
 or dedudions by way of application to my 
 general argument. And, 
 
 I, It is evident, that in no age of the 
 world did the Almighty Governour ever leave 
 himfelf without witnefs. The depravity of 
 the human nature could not but be feen and 
 felt by men of thought and refledion from 
 the earlieft times. And fuch m^en mufl, on due 
 inquiry, have known the gracious intention of 
 Providence, though not in its full extent, yet 
 in a meafure fuiiicient for a foundation of 
 their faith, and to awaken their hope. In 
 fa (51, we find that fome imperfed: traces of a 
 deliverance were often found in the pagan 
 
 K 4 world ; 
 
136 S E R M O N IV. 
 
 world * ; and that the wifer heathens Jived, 
 not without hope, that they fhould be reco- 
 vered from the darknefs of ignorance, the per- 
 plexity of doubt, and the thraldom of fin ; and 
 that God would at fome time or other reftore 
 and redeem his people. The light indeed 
 that they had was dim, imparted to them in 
 gradual advances, and probably derived in its 
 befl luftre by fecondary communications from 
 the original fource. Nor from the natural 
 imperfections of the human underllanding, 
 as well as the correfpondent defigns and coun- 
 fels of God, could it ever be received in its 
 full fplendour, till the appearance of Him 
 who brought life and immortality to light. 
 
 * The Sibylline verfes were held in high efteem long before 
 Chrill, and probably communicated the expeftation of him 
 among the Greeks and Romans. VofT. de Sibyl. Orac. c. 4. 
 Prodiit Sibyllinum illud oraculum, Regem populo Romam 
 naturam partnrire. Hence thofe expreflions, Dominum terra- 
 rum orbi natum, folis jubar exortum. See alfo Virg. Eel. iv. 
 and ^n. vi. 
 
 Pererebuerat Oriente toto vetus et conflans opinio effe in 
 fatii>, ut eo tempore Judaea profefti rerum potirentur. Suet, in 
 Vefp. Pluribus perfuafio inerat, antiquis facerdotum Uteris 
 contineri, eo ipfo tempore fore, ut valefceret Oriens, profec- 
 tique Judasa rerum potirentur. Tacitus Hilt. V. 
 
 II. And 
 
S E Pv M O N IV. 137 
 
 II. And hence it is, as I would obferve in 
 the fecond place, that to us only who live in 
 thefe latter days, the former revelations can 
 ihine in their true luftre, as the word of pro- 
 phecy is rendered more fure from being con- 
 firmed by the event. 
 
 Sundry deliverances were promifed to God's 
 chofen people, as from the bondage of Egypt, 
 the captivity of Babylon, and the tyranny of 
 Satan. But the promife was ordinarily made 
 in fuch a latitude, that the event alone could 
 clearly determine the precife reference. And 
 though enough was difcoverable to enable the 
 fmcere worfhipper to confide in God, to avail 
 himfelf of the propofed remedy, and to par- 
 take of the promifed favour ; yet it was not 
 till the grand fcheme was accomplifhed, that 
 the feveral parts and portions of it could be 
 fairly afligned to their due allotments, or the 
 unfathomable mercy be properly explored. 
 
 It may probably aflift us in forming fome 
 judgement of the light, which men enjoyed 
 before the coming of Chrift, to refled: on the 
 
 obfcurity 
 
138 SERMON IV. 
 
 obfcurity that envelopes the prophecies which 
 are yet unfulfilled. There is very little doubt 
 but that at fome future period of the v^orld 
 t/je fulnefs of the Gentiles will come in ^, the 
 Jews be reinftated in the favour of God, and 
 all be received within the pale of his Church, 
 and the kingdom of the Saints be eftablifhed. 
 But of the exad: nature of this kingdom, or 
 the time of its appearance, or when or in 
 what manner God's gracious purpofes of uni- 
 verfal redemption ihall be accomplifhed, we 
 can difcover but very imperfed: traces, or 
 rather are quite in obfcurity; though we have 
 feen fo much larger a draught of the general 
 fcheme, have been enlightened by him who 
 fpake as never man fpake, and enjoy a conti- 
 nual illuftration of new myfteries, and the 
 affiftance of the divine Word and Spirit. We 
 may profitably indeed contemplate the grand 
 defign, and avail ourfelves of any frefli mani- 
 feftations; but v/e muft not expeft to unravel 
 it fully, till the plan of providence? fliall be 
 completed, and the events fliall give us light, 
 
 '' Rom, xi. 25. 
 
 or 
 
SERMON IV. 139 
 
 or till that glorious period arrives, when we 
 jhall no fnore htow m party but kjiow even as 
 we a7'e knowii". 
 
 Laftly, It is to us apparent, even from the 
 antient types and predidlions, that the chief 
 end of the Mefliah's appearance was to make 
 an atonement for the fins of the world. The 
 great variety of figns and emblems, of offer- 
 ings and facrificcs, the delineation of the 
 charader and offices of the Deliverer, of the 
 condition of his life, and the circumftances of 
 his death, all looked forward to this great 
 end, the turning away ungodlinefs from Jacob, 
 from the whole number of the true Ifraelites, 
 whether belonging to that flock by nature, or 
 ingrafted into it by faith. In what mode this 
 would probably be effeded, or at leaft what 
 provifion would be made for the vindication 
 of fubflantial juftice, and the recovery of fin- 
 ful men, might be deduced in a great meafure 
 from the preceding obfervations, if we fhould 
 not thereby anticipate what is defigned to be 
 
 '^ I Cor» xiii. 12. 
 
 evinced 
 
I40 SERMON IV. | 
 
 evinced more amply in our fubfequent dif-* 
 courfes. | 
 
 I 
 The whole world was become guilty be- : 
 fore God; and by the rule of reafon, and even .; 
 by the law of Mofes, as will be explained I 
 more fully hereafter, no flelli could be juflified. j 
 And as without ihedding of blood was no re- ; 
 miflion, an expiation muft confequently be 
 requifite. The Saviour of the world was i 
 therefore to be confecrated through fuffering, 
 that he might become our High-prieft. He i 
 was to give his foul an offering for iin, that 
 he might atone for our demerits ; as well as ; 
 reveal unto us the whole will of God, that I 
 he might become the guide of our life. He 
 was not only to be a Prophet to inflrud, but 
 a Prieft to* ranfom us, and a King to fubdue' I 
 all the enemies of our falvation. j 
 
 ! 
 
 It is true, the old world, either from the : 
 obfcurity and perplexity of fome parts of the 
 manifeftation, or the blindnefs and prejudice 
 of men's hearts, did not rightly comprehend \ 
 
 thele 
 
SERMON IV . 141 
 
 thefe merciful defigns : yet they catched a 
 view darkly as through a glafs^-^ and to as 
 many as duly improved the glances which they 
 obtained, greater communications of know- 
 ledge were probably made, fo as that the 
 mercy of God was always manifefted, in the 
 defire that none fhould of neceffity perifh, but 
 that all fliould come to a competent know- 
 ledge of the truth, 
 
 ^ I Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 ■MB 
 
 Ro MANS viii. 3. 
 
 For what the Law could not doy in that it 
 was weak through the fiejl^^ God fending his 
 own Son in the likenefs of Jinful fleJJo^ and 
 forfin^ condemned fn in the fejh. 
 
 IT will perhaps ceafe to be matter of won- 
 der, that the human wifdom could dif- 
 cover no remedy for fin, when we refleft that 
 the divine wifdom has been exercifed in fo il- 
 luftrious a manner from the creation of the 
 world, to prepare men for that extraordinary 
 deliverance from it, which hath been wrought 
 for us by Jcfus Chrift our Lord. 
 
 But an inquiry will naturally occur to the 
 mind, from what caufes it is, that as God 
 
 had 
 
144 SERMON V. 
 
 had often revealed his will to men, long ~be- 
 fore the Chriflian covenant, none of thofe 
 prior revelations fliould have been fufficient 
 to deliver them from . this deftrudtive evil ; 
 but that the chief of them, the Mofaic Law, 
 fhould rather feem to be reprefented by the 
 beft authority, as heightening it. 
 
 The infufficlency of human abilities may 
 be allowed, and that the powers of our own 
 reafon are darkened ; fuch is the general im- 
 becillity of our nature, that there will be a 
 law in our members warring againft the law 
 of our minds. The checks and remonftrances 
 of natural confcience cannot terminate this 
 confli6l. They may convince us of our 
 wretchednefs, and incite us to inquire after a 
 remedy ; and when it is difcovered, they may 
 difpofe us to accept and improve it. But 
 they are unable of themfelves to refcue us 
 from the captivity of fin ; to prevail upon us 
 altogether, either to turn afide from the wrong 
 path, or to purfue the right ; to forfake the 
 evil, or adhere to the good. 
 
 Yet 
 
SERMON V. 145 
 
 Yet ftill, if the law which God hath im- 
 planted within us, through the perverfioa 
 and depravity of our nature, is incompetent 
 for thefe purpofes, is infufficient to be the 
 guide of our life ; wherefore is it, that a 
 fubfequent revelation from the Father of mer- 
 cies hath not pointed out to us the right and 
 perfect way, and fo as to enable us to walk 
 therein ? When the great Lawgiver himfelf, 
 the founder of the Jewi(h code, challengeth all 
 the nations of the earth, to produce a fyflem 
 of commandments and ordinances, equal to 
 that which God had dired:ed him to fet before 
 the people", might we not expedt to find 
 herein fome methods, by which mankind 
 fliould be enabled to conquer their natural 
 degeneracy, and furmount thofe reluciances, 
 which proceed from the dominion of iin ? 
 
 Now to obviate this apprehenfion, which 
 may appear at firft view to have no incon- 
 fiderable weight, it will be proper to divide 
 the inquiry into two parts ; and to refled, 
 
 « Deut. iv. 8, 
 
 L Firft, 
 
146 S E R M ON V. 
 
 Firft, on the nature of the Mofaic Law, 
 or the defign and end of its inftitution : and 
 then, 
 
 Secondly, to advert to the prefumed de- 
 lay of the only efficacious remedy for fin. 
 
 I. Amidft the lamentable profligacy in 
 principles and manners, in which the whole 
 human race was too rapidly finking, the di- 
 vine Providence thought fit to feparate a pe- 
 culiar people, in order to preferve the know- 
 ledge and worfhip of the one true God in the 
 v/orld. For this purpofe he refcued fome of 
 the pofterity of his fervant Abraham, as a 
 reward for his fidelity, from the general con- 
 tagion ; and, by figns and wonder^ continually 
 manifefied among them, preferved and kept 
 alive the knowledge of his nature, and the 
 communications of his will. 
 
 ' The Law which he gave them by Mofes 
 was defigned to promote this end. It was to 
 teach them a fcheme of moral duties as well 
 as pofitive precepts, and the whole of thofe 
 
 obfervances 
 
S E R ]VI O N V. 147 
 
 obfervances which the Lord their God re- 
 quired of them. It propofed alfo motives for 
 their obedience, and denounced avenging ter- 
 tors for their difobedience ; but they were 
 chiefly of fuch a nature, as were calculated 
 for that ftiif-necked race to whom they were 
 addreffed, and were fo limited and reftrained 
 by local and national peculiarities, that they 
 could not be defigned for the univerfal in- 
 fluence of mankind. Many ritual infi:itutions 
 and external ordinances were alfo enjoined in 
 it, which could fcarce be difcerned to have 
 any real ufe confidered in themfelves, and 
 which were only of advantage as they recom- 
 mended inward righteoufnefs, or rather, as 
 they looked forward to fome better things to 
 come. 
 
 In fadt, the Law contained onlv a rude 
 fketch or unfinifhed drauo-ht of thofe future 
 good things, and is reprefented as fuch, or as 
 having only a fhadow of thofe bleflings, by 
 the Apofl:le to the Hebrews \ The real 
 
 ^ Ch. X. I. 
 
 L 2 image, 
 
148 SERMON V. 
 
 image, or faithful copy of them, was referved 
 for a future difpenfation, for that laft and 
 beft covenant, which brought down to us the 
 words of everlafting life. The defign of the 
 Law was therefore to be only temporary, or 
 preparatory to the Gofpel. It might ferve as 
 a fhadow, and was excellently adapted for its 
 proper ufes : but the reality, the fubftance, 
 the body was of Chrijl ^ This was the ultimate 
 end to which the former inftitutions looked, 
 the grand defign that was to be anfwered ; 
 and the Law ferved to train on the world for 
 this glorious final difpenfation, and, as the 
 Apoftle has juftly ftated, was their Jchool* 
 m after to bring them unto Chrijl ^ 
 
 But when the church of God was grown 
 to a proper maturity, the ftate of tuition 
 ceafed. When the end was anfwered, and 
 the defigned inltitution obtained, or when the 
 juftifying faith of Chrifi: came, it could be no 
 longer under a fchool-majler^ . The Law in con- 
 fequence, as it merely adumbrated the good 
 
 *= Col. ii. 17. ^ Gal. iii. 24. « Vcr. 25. 
 
 things 
 
SERMON V. 149 
 
 things of the Gofpel, or the Law of com- 
 mandments contained in ordinances \ maft be 
 difannulled or fuperfeded, when this kingdom 
 of God is come. But as it relates to moral 
 condud, and the influence of its precepts 
 may afFed: the hearts and lives of all men, it 
 is flill in force, and is fulfilled, or fully com- 
 pleted in the Gofpel. In this refpedt the 
 Law is ever holy, juji, and good^ -, and not a 
 tittle of this part of it will fail. For as it is 
 a tranfcript of that primitive law, which was 
 implanted originally in the human heart, fo it 
 hath received its confirmation and perfedion 
 in that excellent fyjftem, which w^as ordained 
 by him, who came to fulfil all right eoufnefs^ . 
 
 But yet the Law, as the Apoftle elfewhere 
 obferves, made nothing perfeB ' ; could not 
 purchafe for us the pardon of our fins, could 
 not procure for us thofe efFedual bleffings, 
 which were referved for the tia:ies of the 
 Gofpel. It did indeed point the attention of 
 men to that blefl^ed hope, which was to be 
 
 ^ Ephef. ii. 15. e Rom. vii. 12. 
 
 ^ Matt. iii. 15, » Heb. vii. 19. 
 
 L 3 fuperinduced 
 
J to SERMON V. 
 
 fuperinduced on the former promifes and ex- 
 pecftations -, but it could not realize thofe glo- 
 rious promifes, nor fatisfy the defires, the 
 wants, the capacities of men. Nay, the 
 defign of the Law was to convince them 
 chiefly of their need of thefe bleflings, of the 
 grand obftacle, the infurmoun table bar, that 
 interpofed between God and them, and oc- 
 caiioned their want of them. For the Law 
 was addedbecaufeof tranfgrejjions^^ was given to 
 convince them of their fin and of their guilt, 
 to lay open the oppofition between them and 
 a Being of the purefl holinefs in a more deeply 
 afrecfting manner, and thus to awaken them 
 to feek after a remedy. 
 
 And hence we find that a variety of cha- 
 raders are afl^igned to the Law, which, with- 
 out attending to the confiderations above fpe- 
 cified, we might be unable properly or fully 
 to explain. Thus in the third chapter of the 
 Epiftle to the Romans it is afl^erted, that by 
 the Law is the knowledge of fm ^ There 
 
 ^ Gal. iii. 19. ^ Ver. 20. 
 
 mufl: 
 
S E R xM O N V, 151 
 
 muft be fome moral rule to dired: our con- 
 dudt, before we can be confcious of any aber- 
 ration from moral reftitude ; for where no 
 haw isy there is no trafj/greffion"^ : this is 
 very evident. Again, there is a like expref- 
 lion in the feventh chapter ; / had not known 
 fmy but by the Law; which is thus illuftrated, 
 for I had not known liijiy except the Law had 
 Jaidy Thou fialt not covet "". The delire is 
 natural, and the criminal part of it is evinced 
 from that Law, which prohibits all inordinate 
 defires and irregular gratifications : and the 
 clearer and ftronger is the prohibition, the 
 more notorious Vvill be the guilt. Nor does 
 the Apoftle's language appear to be confined 
 in either paflTage to the fimple adt of finning, 
 or to that deviation which the very dependant 
 ftate of our nature argues to be faulty ; but 
 muft probably be extended to the power, the 
 greatnefs, and the dominion of fin ; all which 
 are made known to us in a fuller manner by 
 the Law, as it acquaints us more minutely 
 
 " Rom. iv. 15. " Vcr. 7. 
 
 L 4 with 
 
152 SERMON V. 
 
 with the circumfcances and aggravations of 
 our guilt and iniquity. 
 
 In another place we read, that by the "works 
 of the Law pall no Jlefi be jujlijied ° 3 and 
 again, ^hat the haw worketh wrath ^. That 
 is, no one can be juftified in the light of God, 
 by obferving the Mofaic inftitutions -, not 
 only from the obvious inutility of fome of 
 them, and the neceffary imperfedion alfo of 
 our beft fervices ; but becaufe there is no 
 remedy in the Arid: letter of the Law provided 
 for our fins. Without the mercies of God 
 in the, new covenant all hopes of j unification 
 are groundlefs. The Law without thefe only 
 ferves to make our offences appear more 
 grievous, and therefore worketh wrath ; re- 
 prefenting our faults in a ftronger and more 
 offenfive light, impreffing our minds with a 
 deeper fenfe of their guilt, and thereby con- 
 vincing us more fully of the punifhment that 
 is due unto them, as having forely provoked 
 
 ** Gal. ii. 16. P Rom. iv. 15. 
 
 the 
 
SERMON V. 153 
 
 the wrath and indignation of God ; fo that^?// 
 by the commandment is become exceeding Jinfuh, 
 
 Hence the Apoftle to the Galatians de- 
 clares, that as many as are of the "works of the 
 Law are under the curfe \ They muft be 
 obnoxious to the curfe whilft they rely on 
 thofe works, having no remedy in which they 
 can truft, and being guilty of notorious breaches 
 of that rule, which God had ordained for 
 their obfervation, and threatened a curfe, or 
 fentence of condemnation, on the violation of 
 it : for fo it is written, Curfed is every one, 
 that continueth ?iot in all thi?2gs which are 
 written in the hook of the law to do them. 
 How fadly deplorable therefore is the cafe of 
 the finner, whofe hopes are confined to this 
 flrid: inftitution ^ living under a law that 
 offers life indeed to the complete and conftant 
 obfervers of it, but which threatens a fevere 
 condemnation for thofe that violate it, and 
 yet confcious that he breaks it almoft every 
 day ! 
 
 ^ Rom. vll. 13. ' Ch. iii. 10. 
 
 ^ Thus 
 
154 SERMON V. 
 
 Thus though the Law in itfelf was good, 
 furnifhed an excellent rule of life, which in 
 its proper tendency would enlighten the un- 
 derftanding, and convert the foul'; yet its 
 very excellence might be urged as a reafon 
 why it was defedtive, as it was too perfed; for 
 man to obferve, and yet fupplied no relief for 
 his deficiencies, no pardon for his faults -, it 
 gave therefore no real confolation in the pre- 
 fent life, becaufe offering no well-founded 
 truft in a better. In itfelf confidered, it was 
 confequently weak and unprofitable^ and could 
 never make the comers thereunto perfedi \ It 
 was weak through the flelh, the carnal defires 
 and natural inclinations of men, which too 
 frequently would precipitate them into fin, 
 regardlefs of the prohibitions of the legal com- 
 mandments. The lufts of the flefh they 
 v^ould follow ; fo ih^tfm would even reig7j in 
 their mortal bodies ", ufurp a dominion there, 
 lujl againfi the Jpirit "", and war agai7ijl the 
 Joul^, And however good men were pre- 
 
 » See Pfal. xix. 7, 8. * Heb. x. i. 
 
 " Rom. vi. 1 2. ^ Gal. v. 1 7. 
 
 y I Pet. ii. II 
 
 vented 
 
SERMON V. 155 
 
 vented from ruinous excefles, and recalled to 
 the knowledge and purfuit of their duty, yet 
 they were not indebted for their recovery to 
 the terms of the Law, but to that faith, 
 which always influenced the lives of the jufl;% 
 and which fupplied the defedls of the Law, 
 by carrying on their views to the bleffed hoj]^ 
 of the Gofpel. 
 
 It is this bleffed hope, which alone can 
 truly reftore the human nature, fo as to enable 
 us to perform the good, and acceptable, and 
 perfedt will of God. What the Law of Mofes 
 could not doy in that it was weak through the 
 JieJJji the law of the fpirit of life in Chriji 
 yefus ^ enables us to execute. ChriJI hath 
 redeemed us from the legal inability, and the 
 curfe of the LaWy he'mg made a curfe for us ^. 
 For this end God fent his own Son in the 
 likenefs of fnfiil fefoy clothed with a mortal 
 body, which became fuch from the taint of 
 original imperfedlion, yet free himfelf from 
 
 ^ Hab. ii. 4. Rom i. 17. Gal. iii. 11. 
 * Rom. viii. 2. '^ Gal. iii. 13. 
 
 all 
 
156 SERMON V. 
 
 all defilement; fo i\\2itforJin\ or by his be- 
 ing made a facrifice for fin, he condemned fm 
 in the jiejh. The body of Chrlft was fub- 
 je6led to that punifhment of death, v/hich 
 was the juft wages of fin ; and which he un- 
 derwent, that he might fuffer the condemna- 
 tion due to finners, and thereby make an 
 atonement for the fins of the world, mieht 
 redeem us from the guilt of fin, and de- 
 
 * Tor Jin. The word a/xaprta, <?/;?, is often ufed in the Old 
 Teftament for a facrifice for fin ; as in Lev. iv. 3. v. 6, 7. 
 x'iii. 2, 14. Pfal. xl. 7. It is not unlike the Hebrew nJ^CH, 
 which denotes Sin, and the punifiiment of it, as well as the 
 purification from it. Nothing is more ufual, as Dr. Ham- 
 mond obferves, than this fcnfe of the word, both in the LXX. 
 and the Chaldee paraphrafe. The exprcinon -jrEp a/xaprja; is 
 ufed in like manner in the New Teilament, for an offering or 
 facrifice for iin, as in Heb. x. 6. xiii. 11. And in the in- 
 ftance before us, Chrill being appointed ttj^j ct/xa^Tfia? means, 
 his being made an offering for fm, or a propitiatory facrifice ; 
 whereby he took away the condemning power of Sin. " Sicut 
 " hoflias, quas pro peccato oiferebantur in lege, peccati no- 
 ** mine vocabant ; fic et Chrifli caro, qus; pro peccatis nollris 
 ♦* oblata eil, peccati nomen accepit." Hieron. 
 
 There is an exprelTion of a fmgular nature in Kof. iv. 8. 
 They eat the Jin , or fms, rf my people. The word in the He- 
 brew is riNIDn, and in LXX. a/xa^-ta?. The allufion is to the 
 pricils eating the vidims that were offered for fm ; and the 
 meaning of the paffage feems to be, that they encouraged and 
 partook of the iniquity, in order to gratify their avarice. 
 
 feat 
 
SERMON V. 157 
 
 feat its influence. Hence we are reconciled 
 unto God by the death of his Son ; and we 
 confeqiiently joy in God through our Lord 
 Jefus Chrijl^ by whom we have now received the 
 atonement^ , For the Law, or the ftri(5l rule, 
 was given by Mofes, but grace and truth came 
 by J ejus Chriji \ And if right eoufnefs be by 
 the Law, or we can ftill be juflified by the 
 mere obfervances of any Law, then Chriji is 
 
 dead in vain 
 
 The defign of the prior revelations was to 
 ufher in the Gofpel, and the end of the 
 Law for righteoufnefs is Chrift^. The antient 
 Scriptures have concluded all under Si?i ^, under 
 the dominion as well as the guilt of it : and 
 it feems to have been a manifeft intention of 
 the old Law, to difcover to us its inability to 
 deliver us from the ruins of fin, that the pro- 
 mife by the faith of Jefus Chrift might be a 
 more valuable gift to them that believe. 
 
 t>' 
 
 ^ Rom. V. 10, 1 1. * John i. 17. 
 
 ^ Gal.ii. 21. s Rom. x. 4.. 
 
 * Gal. iii. 2^, 
 
 The 
 
158 SERMON V. 
 
 The law or religion of nature, we have 
 before feen, was unable to refcue us from the 
 miferies introduced into the world by the 
 venom of this malignant evil; nor can the 
 Law of Mofes, however juft and good in its 
 inftitutes, fupply this deficiency. So that 
 from the view of things in their naked con- 
 ftitution, or even aided and ftrengthened by 
 the earlier manifeftations of God's will, there 
 is no redrefs for fm, no deliverance from 
 death ; but rather an aggravation of our of- 
 fences, and of courfe a fearful looking for of 
 judgement, till we come down to the terms 
 of the nev^ covenant, to the beneficial influ- 
 ences of the religion of Chrifl. And thus 
 the expediency, at leaft, of our redemption 
 w^ill be demonftrated, as there was no know- 
 ledge of pardon, of juftification, or of falva- 
 tion to be obtained without it. All which 
 bleflings, and indeed all the beft comforts in 
 the prefent life, as well as hopes in a future 
 one, were made known to us by the Gofpel. 
 
 // is theji a faithful Jayingy and worthy of 
 all acceptation^ that Chrijl Jefus came into the 
 
 "world 
 
SERMON V. 159 
 
 world to fave Jimiers ' ; Or, that God was in 
 Chrijl reconciling the world unto himfelfy not 
 imputing unto them their trefpaffes ^. Having 
 fent his own Son, in the likenefs of linful 
 flefli, and condemned lin in that fame nature 
 in which it was committed, He entered into a 
 new covenant wuth man; and Chrift is become 
 the Mediator of this new Teftament, that by 
 the redemption of the tranfgrejjions that were 
 inder the jirjl T^ejlamenty they which are 
 called might receive the promife of eternal in" 
 heritance^. The call is general, not only to 
 the Jew, but alfo to the Gentile , and all that 
 will duly receive it may come and take of the 
 water of life freely "" ; for as by the offence of 
 one, judgement came upon all ?ne7i to condem- 
 nation ; even fo by the righteoufnefs of one, the 
 free gift came upon all men unto jujlification of 
 Ife ". The rigorous terms of the law are 
 abated, and we have now the promife of par- 
 don of fins, of the grace of God's fpirit, and of 
 eternal life, upon conditions, to which our abi- 
 lities are made quite adequate. If we deeply re- 
 
 * \ Tim. 1. 15. ^ z Cor. v. 19. 
 
 * Meb, Ik. 15. "^ Rev. xxii. 17, " Rom. v. 18. 
 
 pent 
 
i6o S E R M O N V. 
 
 pent and truly amend, our fins will be blotted 
 out ; if we are confcious of our own weak- 
 nefs, and apply with humility and fervency for 
 the divine aid, it will be granted us ; and if 
 we perform the will of God from the heart, 
 if we iincerely and earneftly endeavour to 
 pleafe him, to do his will, and to keep his 
 commandments, he will accept our fervices 
 through faith in Chrill Jefus, through a reli- 
 ance on the merits and interceffion of his Son. 
 
 Thus hath he given unto us all things that 
 pertain unto life and godlinefs ; and to encou- 
 rage us to improve thefe excellent gifts of his 
 divine power, to excite us to purity of heart 
 and holinefs of life, he hath fuperadded ex- 
 ceeding great aiid precious promijesy that by 
 theje yoii might be partakers of the divine na- 
 ture y "who have efcaped the corruption that is 
 in the world through hijl °. And if Chrift be 
 effectually formed in us^, and we faithfully im- 
 prove thefe benefits of his Gofpel, it will be- 
 come the power of God unto falvation to 
 every one that believeth'^. V/e fliall by this 
 
 • 2 Pet. i. 3, 4. P Gal. iv. 19. <i Rom. i. 16. 
 
 means 
 
SERMON V. i6t 
 
 means be enabled completely to retrieve the 
 ruins of the fall and the lofs of paradife. For 
 though the body be dead becaufe of firiy our 
 bodies are flill mortal and fubjecfl to death, 
 their common lot from original imperfecftion ; 
 yet the fpirit is life becaufe of righteoufnefs ' ; 
 we ihall through the fpirit be reftored to a nevv^ 
 life of righteoufnefs, and be finally raifed up 
 again to an eternal ftate of happinefs. 
 
 So that whatever may be the power or do- 
 minion of fin, however the floods of iniquity 
 may rage and fwell, or how great foever may 
 be the temptations of the world and the ma- 
 lice of the devil, yet f God be fo?" us, it mat- 
 ters not what combination of forces may be 
 again ft us. He that f pared not his own Son^ 
 but delivered him up for us all, hath hereby 
 given us the moft fatisfad:ory affurance, that 
 he will with him alfo freely give us all thi?2gs\ 
 
 IL But ftill another part of the enquiry will 
 recur, namely, that admitting the Law of 
 Mofes to have not been defigned as an ultimate 
 
 ^ Rom. \iii. 10. * Ver. 31, 32. 
 
 M revela- 
 
i62 S E R .M O N V. 
 
 revelation, and to have no farther views than 
 have been above hinted, yet v/hy v^as the 
 world luffered to continue fo long without its 
 necefTary information ? or wherefore was the 
 coming of this auguft perfonage, the Saviour 
 of the world, fo long delayed ? The Apoftle 
 to the Hebrews obferves, that 07ice in the end 
 of the i£Qrldhath he appeared^ : Why was his 
 coming therefore poftponed to fo late a feafon? 
 As this delay has been one of theftrong holds 
 of infidelity, I muft not fuffer it to pafs alto- 
 gether unnoticed, although the objection has 
 been often refuted by learned men "• 
 
 * Heb. ix. 26. 
 
 " Dr. Lardner, fpeaking of an objeftion of Celfus the Epi- 
 curean to the Chriftian religion, taken from the late appearance 
 of Jefus in the world, has the following juft remarks, vol. viii. 
 p. 42, *' God never negleiled mankind ; he was conllantly 
 *• teaching them in the works of creation, and in the ordinary 
 **■ methods of his providence. Extraordinary methods are a fa- 
 ** vom- : feveral fuch had been fent of old to the Jews, and be- 
 ** fore their time to the patriarchs : at lall he fent Jefus Chrift-. 
 '* We have certain proofs of his miffion and great charafter. 
 '* The feafonablenefs of his coming, and the wifdom offending 
 ** him at the time he came, ought not to be difputed : but the 
 ** favour Ihould be thankfully received, and carefully improved 
 *' after due examination, and obferving the evidences of his 
 •' miffion." 
 
 Ksc eft igitur animse liberandce univerfalis via^ id eft, uni- 
 
 verfis 
 
SERMON V. 163 
 
 In anfwer to it then let it be obferved, that 
 the expreffion in the end of the worlds fhould 
 rather be rendered, the confummation or per- 
 fection of ages, meaning with reference to the 
 fenfe which the antient Jews entertained of 
 the world*s ftate, the lafl ages, the latter days, 
 or the times of the Mefliah. The feveral pe- 
 riods that had gone before were fo many dif- 
 ferent ages, according to the different difpenfa- 
 tions of God's favour, which had been difco- 
 vered to the world. The laft age, or the clof- 
 ing of the ages, was that in which the Son 
 of God was manifefled. And if we knew no 
 reafons to affign for this late manifeftation, we 
 might ftill with thankfulnefs acquiefce in the 
 meafiire, and with due humihty look up for 
 the propriety of it to the wifdom of God. For 
 it is not for us to know the times or thefea- 
 fonSi which the Father hath put in his own 
 power ^. His counfels in general are un- 
 
 verlis gentibus divina miferatione concefTa. — Nee debuit, nee 
 debebit ei did : Quare modo, et quare tarn fero ? quoniain 
 mittentis confilium non eft humano ingenio penctrabik. 
 
 Aug de Civ. Dei, 1. x. eap. 32. 
 
 "" ACis i. 7. 
 
 M 2 fearchable. 
 
i64 SERMON V. 
 
 fearchable, and his ways paft finding out. 
 Who can underftand his way, or who can de- 
 clare the works of his righteoufnefs ? Hhy 
 mercy y O Lord^ is m the heavens ^ and thy 
 faithfuhiefs reacheth unto the clouds, "Thy 
 righteoufnefs is like the Jlrong 7nountainSy and 
 thy judgements like the great deep^ . Who hath 
 known the niind of the Lord ? 
 
 Still however there are reafons, and very 
 ftrong ones, for this meafure of God's provi- 
 dence, which we may be able to aflign, and 
 that whether we attend to the evil which oc- 
 cafioned it, or the remedy. 
 
 I. With refpeil to the evil. That fin had 
 reigned in the world, had diflurbed the peace 
 of men's minds and confciences, and filled 
 them with dreadful forebodings of a flate of 
 mifery; and that the human wifdom had la- 
 boured, long laboured, in vain, to find out a 
 fatisfaftory relief from this univerfal evil, are 
 truths which we have already eftablifhed in 
 
 ^ Pf. xxxvi. 5, 6. 
 
 the 
 
S.E R M O N V. 165 
 
 the former part of this work. And hence we 
 may readily difcern one coniiderable advantage 
 that muft arife from the delay of Chrift's 
 coming; to convince mankind of their own in- 
 fafficiency, of the univerfal prevalency of this 
 evil, and that after fo long a trial they were 
 ftill unable to relieve themfelves. And as their 
 own beft efforts could not eifedl a deliverance 
 from that fad degeneracy in which they were 
 involved, they could not but acknowledge the 
 neceffity there was of flying to fome better 
 power, of having recourfe to the divine aid, 
 for flrength to fubdue this their innate and in- 
 veterate foe. 
 
 That, for this purpofe, the MeiTiah fhould 
 come into the world, to fave his people from 
 their fms, had been intimated to the whole race 
 of mankind in a variety of ways, long before 
 his adlual appearance. Indeed the whole oeco- 
 nomy of the Jews, of the chofen people, muft 
 be confidered, as having a principal reference 
 to this coming of Chrift. The ritual of their 
 worfhip, the great variety of offerings and fa- 
 crifices, the fervice of the Tabernacle and of 
 
 M 3 the 
 
i66 SERMON V. 
 
 the Temple, the folemn day of expiation, the 
 feaft of the Paffover, moft of the ufages and 
 mofl: ot ?:he laws of the people of Ifrael ^, 
 feem to have been defigned, as fo many pre- 
 vious indications of the redemption, that 
 fhould be purchafed for us by the merits and 
 atonement of Chrift Jefus our Lord, 
 
 The old world therefore had experienced 
 confiderable benefit from the profpedl of his 
 coming, chiefly by a reliance on the various 
 intimations of God's gracious intentions, as 
 well as the aftual difcoveriesand renewed con- 
 firmations of his promifed mercies. Nor had 
 they fufi^ered any hardfhip by the delay, as 
 his redeeming influence reached to all, who 
 lived by the faith of the anointed of God, 
 either before or after his appearance. They 
 could not indeed but feel and lament the fad 
 calamity and fatal tendency of fin, and this in 
 a greater and more alarming degree, the more 
 notorious it was made to them by the awful 
 
 y Quern Chriflum-yomnia gentis illius promifla, omnes pro- 
 phetise, facerdotia, i'acrificia, templum, et cunda omnino facra- 
 meiua fonuerunt, Aug, ad Voluf. Ep. 3. 
 
 and 
 
SERMON "v. 167 
 
 and infallible revelations of God's will. And 
 h^nce they muft wifli, the wifer and more con- 
 fider'^'^e at \c?J\ . muft earneftlv wifh, for the 
 mar.ittilation of that ;^lorious Light, which 
 ihouid remove all their difmal apprehenfions, 
 difHpate 2)] thefhudows of prior difpenfations, 
 and fhine out to the world in perfed day. But 
 flill the longer the expectation continued, the 
 ilronger the malignancy of the evil, and of courfe 
 the value of the remedy, appeared. And there- 
 fore the generations of old might feel wuthin 
 themfelves this farther advantage by the delay, 
 namely, that whilft the whole creation was 
 groaning and travailing in anxious expedation, 
 the increafe of their faith, cherifhed by this 
 earneft and bleffed hope, would fill them with 
 the more comfortable affarance, not only of a 
 releafe, but of a reward. 
 
 But if we proceed to refleCl on the remedy, 
 we fhall have abundant reafon to admire the 
 wifdom of God, in having taken every ima- 
 ginable precaution for the convi(flion and the 
 welfare of his reafonable creatures. Great 
 and aftonilhing were the purpofes, which 
 the Son of God in the likenefs of our flefh 
 M 4 was 
 
i68 S fi R M O N V. 
 
 was dcfigned to accornplifh. He was indeed 
 openly ^ to appear for thele ends but once ; 
 but by his one offering he "was to perfeB for 
 ever them that are JanEiiJied ^. And therefore 
 when the world was grown to a proper matu- 
 rity, when every thing was prepared which 
 
 * Though Chrifl appeared openly in the human nature but 
 once, yet he feems to have appeared often before in the world 
 as an Angel or MefTenger. Inllances of this are frequent in the 
 Old Teflamert. Without recurring to any earlier notices, it was 
 he probably, that ftrove with Jacob at Peniel, when he faw God 
 face to face, and was bleiTed by him. Gen. xxxii. 24. It was 
 this Angel of Jehovah, that appeared to Mofes in a flame of 
 fire in the bufh, E:-:od. iii. 2. which on another occafion went 
 before the camp of the Ifraelites in the wildernefs, and together 
 with the pillar of the cloud removed and flood between them 
 and the Egyptians, ch, xiv. 19. that came down alfo in the 
 fight of all die people on mount Sinai, when Mofes fpake, and 
 God anfwered him by a voice, ch. xix. 11, 19. See alfo A6ls 
 vii. 3?* It was probably the fame Angel, that appeared to 
 Balaam, as he went with the princes of Moab, and who ailured 
 him, "the word that I iliali fpeak unto thee, that fhalt thoa 
 ** fpeak" Num. xxii. 35. And the man that appeared to 
 JoHiua as captain or prince of the hoft of the Lord, whom 
 Jofhua worfliipped, ch. v. 13, 14, was probably the fame 
 with the Arjgei of the covenant, mentioned by the prophet 
 Malachi, or t/je Lord that foould come to his Temple. In Ifaiah 
 Ixiii. 9. He is llyied the Angel of God's prefence, who faved 
 and redeemed his people in their afili£^ion ; and it was this di- 
 vine Aoyof, whom thejenxii tempted in the nxiildernefs^ and thereby 
 in the Apoille's language tempted Chrijl. 1 Cor. x. 9. 
 
 Keb. x. 14, 
 
 th( 
 
SERMON V. 169 
 
 the wifdom of God faw fit, either with a re- 
 ference to the ages that were paft, or a pro- 
 fpedl to thofe that were future, when the ap- 
 pointed hour in which all things that were 
 written of the Meffiah Ihould receive their 
 completion, or thefulnefs of the time ^ was come^ 
 God fent forth his forty made of a woman *", 
 born into the world after the ordinary manner, 
 and under the LaWy fo that he fhould befub- 
 jed: to all the cuftoms and ordinances of that 
 Law, fhould be qualified to fulfil all the types 
 of him contained or intimated therein, become 
 the feed of the woman that ihould bruife the 
 ferpent's head, as well as the feed of Abraham, 
 in whom all the families of the earth fhould 
 be bleffed. 
 
 The world was generally united at Chrift's 
 appearance under one great empire, and con- 
 fequently the means of conveyance of impor- 
 
 ^ Tn I Tim. ii. 6. the expreffioxi is, atellimony In due time, 
 or /;/ the proper Jeafon ; in 2 Cor. vi. 2. it is, in an accepted 
 iimcy the day offahcition., Tuch as had been long before predi(fled 
 by Ifaiah in like words, ch. xlix. 8. 
 
 * Gal. iv. 4. 
 
 tant 
 
ijo SEP. M ON V, 
 
 tant information were more cafy and ready, 
 than when it had been in a more divided ftate. 
 The intelligence therefore of the birth of a 
 Saviour could be much more expeditlouily 
 communicated, and more widely diffufcd 
 amongfi; the bulk of mankind. And as this 
 empire now enjoyed a ftate of peace and free- 
 dom from long and diftreffing v/ars, it was on 
 this account a period better calculated for the 
 appearance of the Prince of peace, and the 
 propagation of thofe bleffings, which were to 
 be introduced with him. 
 
 Learning alfo and a thirft for knowledge had 
 overfpread the countries fubjeft to the Roman 
 nam^e, and hence men were better prepared to 
 examine into the reafons and grounds of this 
 falvation brought by the Son of God, as well 
 as to iift and fcrutinize the evidence for the 
 truth of it. AviA it is remarkable that in the 
 feat of empire, where every fort of learning 
 flione in its fulleft luftre, even here the religion 
 of Chrift had the fureft hold, and was em- 
 braced and dillem-inated with the greateft zeal 
 and affiduity. St. Paul fpeaks of the Saints 
 
 that 
 
S E R M O N V. 171 
 
 that were in Ccjefars boitjljold^^ and intimates 
 that his bonds in Chrift v/ere manifejl in all 
 the palace i to all the judges in the emperor^s 
 courts, as well as to all other perfons^ Nei- 
 ther learning, power, or intereft could make 
 any fuccefsful oppofition to the reception and 
 progrefs of the Gofpel. 
 
 Nor muft we forget to obferve that at this 
 very period a general expedation of a Meffiah 
 prevailed^: fo that feveral falfe pretenders 
 arofe, fuch as were Theudas and Judas of Ga- 
 lilee ; who boafted themfelves to be perfons of 
 mighty confequence, and drew after them a 
 confiderable number of followers ^. Under 
 
 ^ Phil. iv. 22. ^ Phil. i. 13. 
 
 ^ That it prevailed among the Jews, fee the following paf- 
 fages, Mat. iii. 2, 3. Luke ii. 25. iii. 15. xix. 11, John i. 19, 
 20. Afts xxvi. 7. And we may conclude that the like expefta-. 
 tions prevailed among the Samaritans, a nation hoflile to the 
 Jews, or who had no dealings with them, from John iv. 25, 
 29, 42. See Bp. Chandler's Vind. b. ii. ch. i. and the note at 
 Sermon IV. p. 136. 
 
 s Hegefippus, as appears from his fragments in Eufebius, 
 reckons Simon Magus, as one of the falfe Chrills of that age : 
 and Origen in the fecond century mentions him and Dofitheus, 
 as the two that afTumed the title of Meflias in the Samaritan 
 nation. Chand. Vind. p. 383. 
 
 this 
 
172 S E R M O N V. 
 
 this ex peculation alfo the eaftern magi came to ' 
 
 Jerufalem, when they faw the ftar ^ at our 1 
 
 Saviour's birth ; and undertook a journey from i 
 
 a very remote country, to difcover the King j 
 
 of the Jews, and to worfhip him. : 
 
 He was to be a King indeed, but advanced 
 with honours and dignities very unfuitable to 
 the monarchs of this world ; yet ftill the 
 wifeft of men w^ould bear teftimony to his 
 
 magnificence. He was to be a Priell alfo as | 
 well as a King, the chief end of whofe facerdotal 
 office was to expiate cur iniquities. His cha^- 
 radler had been foretold by the prophets long 
 
 before he adually appeared; the feveral offices ' 
 
 alfo that he was to fuftain, and the feveral '■ 
 
 engagements that he was to fulfil. A great i 
 
 variety of palTages in the Old Tejftament have- j 
 
 been applied by the Evangelifts to the hiftory ; 
 
 of our Saviour ; and thofe feveral predictions ! 
 
 which fpeak of the birth, the education, the i 
 
 courfe of life, the nature of the doClrine, the ] 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 ^ Some of tae Fathers, and efpecially Chryfoftom, intimate, ; 
 
 that it was rv« «r>;? y (^vcrei, or that the luminous body had the i 
 
 appearance of a ftar, bir. not the r,ru;h of its nature. | 
 
 circumftances i 
 
SERMON V- 173 
 
 circum fiances of the paffion, death, and re- 
 furredion of the Meffiah, fome of which have 
 been cited in my former Difcourfes, have been 
 with the greateft pundtuaHty verified in Jefus 
 Chrifl. Truths thefe, which I now mention, 
 chieiiy to remark upon them, how flrongly 
 they evince that time to be the beft, in which 
 fo many concurrent proofs of the reafons of 
 his miffion agree and are united. 
 
 From all thefe con fiderat ions, and many 
 more that might be fuggefled, it muft abun- 
 dantly appear, that the time, in which the 
 Saviour of the world was manifefled, was the 
 befl that could be devifed according to human 
 apprehenfion ; and therefore Vv^e have the 
 greatefl reafon with firm convidion to ac- 
 quiefce in the meafure, and with the fulleft 
 gratitude to accept the mercy, when recom- 
 mended to us by the wifdom of God. 
 
 SE R. 
 
SERMON VI, 
 
 He LR E WS iX. 26. 
 
 'He appeared^ to put awayf^n hy ihejcicrijice 
 of himfelf. 
 
 "^ H E fundamental principle of true re- 
 ligion is humility. We mufl be con- 
 fcious of our depraved and finful ftate, before 
 we can with any fort of reafon expevfl or look 
 for a deliverance from it. The Ibber mind 
 is naturally cautious, and the humble mind 
 diftruftful. This cautious diffidence v/ill 
 quickly bring us to a conviiftion of our 
 impocence and fin. And he that is truly 
 fenfible of thefe failures, will not only in 
 earneft feek after a deliverance, but v/hen it 
 is offered, v/ill ftudy to qualify himfelf for 
 the due reception of its benefits. Our minds 
 
 thus 
 
176 SERMON VL 
 
 thus affedled will be fitly prepared for a can^ 
 did examination of any new light, and a right 
 improvement of any additional information, 
 that with fufficient authority fhall be recom- 
 mended to our notice. For it is a vain ima- 
 gination to conceive, that the goodnefs of 
 God was ever meant to fuperfede our own 
 endeavours ; whereas on the contrary it was 
 gracioufly defigned to relieve, aflift, and 
 ftrengthen them. The riches of his for- 
 bearance and loving kindnefs fhould have fuch 
 a commanding influence on our gratitude, as 
 to lead us to repentance from dead works, and 
 toferve the living God^. 
 
 Both the confidence then and the indolence 
 of pride will prevent men from becoming the 
 true difciples of the holy and the humble Jefus. 
 And on this account it was, that at the firft 
 preaching of Chriftianity, not many wife men 
 after the fefi, not many ?nighty, not many noble, 
 were called^. Self-importance muft always offer 
 an infuperable impediment to the felf-denying 
 influence of the religion of Chrifl. But to the 
 
 * Hcb. ix. 14. ^ I Cor. i. 26. 
 
 poor 
 
SERMON VI. 177 
 
 poor in fplrit, to thofe, who from a deep infight 
 into the human nature are convinced of their 
 wretchednefs and fin, and their need of a 
 Saviour, we may hope with fuccefs to preach 
 Chrijl crucified 'y to the men of this world, 
 even yet in its defign and benefits, either 
 a fiumbling block or fooUpmefs j but to the 
 meek and teachable, the modeft and impar- 
 tial mind, Chrijl the power of God, and the 
 ivifdom cf God"". 
 
 In difcourfing on the expediency and pre- 
 diftion of our redemption, it Vv^as fcarce pofll- 
 ble to avoid frequent intimations of the ge- 
 neral plan in which it was accompliflied. But 
 in order to do jufl:ice in fome fuitabls degree 
 to this mofi: important part of my fiibjedl, I 
 muft now proceed to a m.ore diftindl view of 
 the methods of our deliverance, as efFedled by 
 our Prieft, our Prophet, and our King. And 
 in the prefent Difcourfe I fliall propofe to 
 fliew how the guilt of fin hath been expiated, 
 and our pardon procured; how^ the finner 
 
 ^ I Cor. i. 23, 24* 
 
 N hath 
 
178 S E R M O N VL 
 
 hath been triumphantly freed from that con- 
 demnation, which in common juflice was 
 due, and by the revealed law of God threat- 
 ened, to the revolters from his authority, and 
 the oppofers of his will. 
 
 Now the Text tells us, that Chrift appear- 
 ed to put away Jin by the facrifice of himfelf. 
 He was therefore to be put to death, and his 
 death was to be a facrifice. As his death is an 
 event of fuch vaft importance, the grand 
 hinge on which the whole fabrick of our re- 
 demption turns, it will be proper to offer a 
 few fuitable reflexions on the circumftances 
 of it, before we advert to this great defign 
 of it. 
 
 That the Meffiah fliculd fuffer and die for 
 pur fins, was almoft as clearly foretold in the 
 Old Teilament, as the fufferings and death of 
 Chrift are recorded in the New. Every thing 
 that was thus written of him was puncftually 
 fulfilled in Jefas. His whole life was a con- 
 tinued fcries of afflictions ; and though after 
 he had entered on his public miniftry, he went 
 i about 
 
SERMON VI. 179 
 
 about everywhere continually doing good, his 
 virtues were calumniated, and his beneficence 
 requited with the moft ungrateful returns. 
 But his diftreffes were greatly multiplied, and 
 forely aggravated, toward the concluding fcene 
 of it. The malice of his enemies was bitter 
 and diftrefling to a very great degree ; the 
 defertion of his friends fiiould feem not lefs 
 fo, for all his difciples forfook him a7idfed^\ 
 
 But all this was as nothing, compared with 
 the great grief which he endured, when his 
 Father's difpleafure lay heavy upon him. 
 What a load of trouble was the Saviour of 
 the v^orld to fullain, when God laid on 
 bim the iniquities of all men ! The appre- 
 henfion of this heavy burden occaiioned that 
 violent conflict between his human nature 
 and his fenfe of duty, which St. John hath fo 
 finely drawn in his twelfth chapter : Now is 
 my foul troiibledy and what Jlmll I fay ? Fa- 
 ther y fave me from this hour : but for this 
 caufe came I u7ito this hour. Father, glorify 
 
 ^ Mark xlv. 50. 
 
 N 2 > thy 
 
i8d SERMON VI. 
 
 thy name''. So great alfo is his agony repre- 
 fented by St. Luke, when near the mount of 
 OUves he prayed that the cup of his fufFer- 
 ings might pafs from hlm> yet in full refigna- 
 tion to the will of his Father, that his fweat 
 was fo large and copious, as to refemble great 
 drops of blood falling down to the ground ^ 
 
 Yet wherefore fhould the apprehenfion of 
 death be fo very affliding to this great and 
 exalted charad:er ? There muft have been 
 fomething peculiarly grievous and embittering 
 in his laft fufferings, or we can fcarce con- 
 ceive he would ever have difcovered fuch fore 
 amazement at their approach. Look at the 
 conftancy and refolution of the m.artyrs for 
 his faith, how little they regarded their lives 
 in his caufej and we muft furely conclude, 
 that the captain of our falvation had fome- 
 thing much more heavy and diftrefling on his 
 mind, to have been at any time fo ftruck 
 with difmay at the profpedl of his fufferings, 
 as to need the fupport of angels to ftrengthen 
 
 « Vcr. i"], 28.. ^ Luke xxii. 44.. 
 
 him. 
 
SERMON VI. i8i 
 
 him. But the unparalleled poignancy of his 
 fuiterings will be readily explained, when we 
 come to contemplate the defign of his death. 
 
 At length arofe the whole multitude of the 
 Jews, of his own nation, and his brethren, 
 to whom efpecially was the word of his fal- 
 vation fent, and led him away to the Roman 
 governour. And when Pilate himfelf had 
 examined him, pronounced him innocent, and 
 wifhed to have nothing to do with this juft 
 man, the people were inflant with loud 
 voices, foliciting and importuning that he 
 might be crucified. Notwithflanding the re- 
 monflrances of the governour, and the inno- 
 cence of the Saviour, the voices of them and 
 of the chief priejls prevailed''^. And after he 
 had' been fcourged, he was, in confequence 
 of a moft unjuft fentence, led away, bearing 
 his crofs, to be crucified. And they crucified 
 fefusy and with him two others, inalefadiors, 
 one on his right hand, and the other on the 
 left ^. That the fcripture might be fulfilled, 
 
 2 Luke xxiii. 23. ^ Ver. 33. 
 
 N 3 which 
 
i82 SERMON VI. 
 
 which faith, aj^d he was numbered with the 
 tra/ifgrejjors \ 
 
 Indeed, {o many antient predldlions were 
 fulfilled in him, whiift he hung upon the 
 crofs, that the feledion of thefe, and the 
 illuilration of their accomplifhment, might 
 be fufRcient to convince us, that Jefus was 
 that fufferino; Meiliah, to v/hom 2:ave all the 
 prophets witnefs ; though he was alfo, what 
 the fuperfcription that was written over him 
 denoted, the king of the Jews^. 
 
 It has been already obferved in the courfe 
 of this work, that the twenty-fecond Pfalm 
 had a peculiar reference to Chrift, and fome 
 parts of it are flridlly applicable to no one 
 but him. To confirm this obfervation, it 
 may not be amifs, as we proceed, to take no- 
 tice of thofe inflances in which the application 
 is made by the Evangclifls, and to point alfo 
 at other references which they make to paf- 
 fages in the Old Teilament, as this may ferve 
 
 Mfa. liii. 12. Luke xxii, 37. '^ Luke xxiii. 38. 
 
 in 
 
SERMON VI. 183 
 
 in fome refpedls as a key, by which v/e may 
 interpret the antient allufions. All they that 
 fee me laugh me to fcorrii fays king David, 
 they Jhoot out the lip, and Jloake the head, fay^ 
 ingy He relied on Jehovah, that he would 
 deliver him, let him deliver him- if he delight in 
 him^. T^hey that pajfed by, faith St. Matthevi^, 
 reviled him, wagging their heads, and repeat- 
 ing, among other reproaches and calumnies, 
 thefe very words : He trujled in God, let him 
 deliver him now, if he will have him : for he 
 faid, I am the Son of God"^. In another 
 place we read, that they parted his garments, 
 cafiing lots " -, and St. John particularly points 
 at the reafon why they caft lots for one of his 
 garments, becaufe the coat was without f earn, 
 woven from the top throughout °. And thus 
 they fulfilled what was prophetically fpoken 
 in the fame Pfalm, 1^ hey parted my gamients 
 among them, and upon my vejlure did they caft 
 lots P. They filled alfo a fpunge with vinegar, 
 and put it upon hyiTop, and offered it to his 
 
 * Ver. 7. "^ Ch. xxvii. 39, 43. 
 
 " Matt, xxvii. 35. ° Ch. xix. 23. 
 
 P Ver. 18. 
 
 N 4 mouth : 
 
184 SERMON VI. 
 
 mouth "" : by which was verified another paf- 
 fage, in the fixty-ninth Pfalm, fpoken of 
 David in the firft place, but, agreeably to our 
 Lord's own intimation, mofl properly applied 
 by the Evangelifl: to Chrift. 
 
 Whilft our blelTed Lord was hanging upon 
 the crofs, two inftances of his loving-kind- 
 nefs were difplayed, which cannot fail to 
 engage our peculiar notice : one was, the re- 
 commendation of his mother to the regard of 
 his beloved difciple, which f]:iewed his atten- 
 tion to the real concerns of this life ; the other, 
 his accepting the repentance of the penitent 
 thief, and declaring that he fliould be with 
 him that day in Paradife, which manifefted 
 his influence in the interefts of a better life. 
 
 And now when all things Vv^ere nearly ac- 
 ccmpliihed, which he himfelf knew were 
 defigned to be fulfilled in his death, about 
 the ninth hour he cried out with a loud voice 
 in thofe words at the beginning of the fame 
 
 ^ John xix. 29. 
 
 twenty- 
 
SERMON VI. 185 
 
 twenty- fecond Pfalm, My God, my Gody why 
 haji thou forfaken me! Then conimending his 
 fpirit to his Father, and having declared, it 
 is Jinifloedy he bowed his head, and gave up the 
 ghoJl\ 
 
 What aftonifhing wonders followed this 
 awful event ! The veil of the temple was 
 rent in the midft, the fun was darkened, and 
 the darknefs was continued ; the earth quaked, 
 the rocks rent^ the graves were opened, 
 and many bodies of the faints arofe. So that 
 when the centurion, and the foldiers that 
 watched Jefus, faw the earthquake, and the 
 courfe of nature thus convulfed, they were 
 ftruck v/ith great confternation, and made 
 this voluntary confeffion, Iridy this was the 
 Son of God'. 
 
 It is not improbable that thefe convuliions 
 might be fome of thofe fhakings and commo- 
 tions, to which the prophecy of Haggai in the 
 fecond chapter alludes. For though they 
 
 *■ John xix. 30, * Mat. xxvii. 54. 
 
 did 
 
i86 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 did not precede the manifeflation of Chrift^ 
 or his appearance in the Temple, they werd 
 the folemn confequences of it, exhibited at 
 that completion of the bleffing of peace, 
 which the defire of all nations was to effecSl 
 through his death ; v/hereby he laid open the 
 innermoft veil of the Temple, that by it he 
 might prefignify his triumphant entry into the 
 Holy of Holies above. 
 
 To have fuffered death in any fliape might 
 have been deemed fufficiently grievous for this 
 innocent perfon : but to be expofed to a death 
 fo painful and ignominious as crucifixion, a 
 puniChment inflicted only on the lov/eft and 
 vileft malefacflors, was a moft fevere indignity 
 on the Lord of life and glory. And yet this 
 fort of death appears to have been marked out 
 for him in the divine prefcience and defign 
 long before. As the afflided people looked 
 at his emblem, the ferpent in the wildernefs, 
 fo it was foretold, that they would look at 
 him whom they pierced '. And this circum- 
 
 ' Zech. ::ii. lo. 
 
 ftance 
 
SERMON VI. 187 
 
 fiance was noticed by the Evangelift, and re- 
 ferred to the infult which the cruel foldier 
 oiFered, when he pierced his body, jufl: dead, 
 with a fpear ". Tliey were, according to the 
 w^ords of the fame twenty-fecond Pfalm, to 
 pierce his hands and his feet "" ; and St. John 
 obferves in the Apocalypfe, that when he 
 Cometh in the clouds, every eye fliall fee him, 
 and they alfo that pierced him ^. It was in- 
 timated in the inilitutions of Mofes, that not 
 a bone of him Ihould be broken ^ And 
 when the foldiers found that he was dead 
 already, they declined breaking his legs, al- 
 though they brake the legs of both the male- 
 faftors that were crucified with him. In a 
 great variety of other inftances his death cor- 
 refponded with that lignal type of it, the fa- 
 crifice of the pafchal Lamb ; but more efpe- 
 cially in the time in which he was offered, 
 which was on the fourteenth day of the 
 month at even, or between the evenings, be- 
 twixt the declining and the fetting of the fun. 
 
 « John xix. 37. "" Ver. 16. y Ch. i. 7. 
 
 * See John xix. 37. Exod. xii. 46. Numb. ix. 12. 
 
 Indeed 
 
iSS SERMON VI. 
 
 Indeed it is obfervable, that moft of the 
 inflances of correfpondence with the previous 
 intimations noted by the Evangelifts, relate 
 either to the pafchal Lamb, or the declara- 
 tions of king Davids as if it was meant, that 
 by his fufferings Ihould chiefly be indicated 
 his facerdotal and regal characters, or that 
 royal and unchangeable priefthood, in which, 
 through death, he was to continue for ever. 
 For I muft juft add, that it was not poffible 
 that He fhould be holden of death, and there- 
 fore on the third day he was reftored to life ; 
 hereby ratifying and confirming the defign of 
 his death, verifying the predidlions alfo that 
 had been fpoken of his releafe from it, and 
 thus exhibiting the moft convincing proof 
 and fenfible demonftration of his divine mif- 
 fion ; for he was declared to be the Son of 
 God wit/j power by his refurreBion from the 
 dead*'. 
 
 But I muft dwell no longer on this cir- 
 cumftantial account of Chrift's death, how- 
 
 * Rom. i. 4. 
 
 ever 
 
SERMON VI. 1S9 
 
 ever important in itfelf, or in the extended 
 chain of God's providence; but muft pro- 
 ceed to explain the chief defign of it, which 
 was, that he fhould be a facrifice for fin. 
 
 As all men had Jinnedy they had co77ie fiort 
 of the glory of God ^ ; and whilft the guilt of 
 fin was uncancelled, and the dominion of fin 
 unfabdued, there could be nothing lefs than 
 an irreconciieable feparation between God and 
 finners, between a Being of unfpotted purity 
 and perfed holinefs, and fuch as had eflranged 
 themfelves from holinefs, and had been en- 
 tangled in the fnares and fafcinations of fin. 
 Nov/ it was the primary defign of the Saviour 
 of the world to cancel the guilt of fin, by 
 making an atonement for the finner, to re- 
 move his obligation to punifliment by fufter- 
 ing in his fi:ead, to bear the weight of our 
 fins in his own perfon, or to put away fn by 
 the facrifice of himfeJf This is the explana- 
 tion, which is fuggefted by the faith of every 
 true and orthodox Chrifi:ian. 
 
 ** Rom. iii, 23. 
 
 But 
 
ipo SERMON VI. 
 
 But the Socinian herefy recoils at this mea- 
 fure, and labours to interpret the Scriptures 
 in a quite different manner, rejefting the 
 myfterious .nature of the doctrine, or rather 
 ftriving to conform it to the narrow compre- 
 henlion of the human mind. It is allowed, 
 indeed, that the Son of God fuitered and 
 died, to put away fin, yet not in the proper 
 acceptation of a facrifice ; but only that we 
 might enjoy the benefit of his fufferings, by 
 a due improvement of his example. 
 
 That Chriil died for our benefit is then 
 acknowledged on both fides; but that the 
 Socinian notion doth not exprefs the full 
 defign of his death will be evident, if we only 
 Hate the plain fenfe of that defign according 
 to the Scriptures. So that we may advance in 
 the difcuflion of our general fubject, whilft 
 we combat an antient error, revived in fome- 
 what difterent flmpes in m.odern times, but 
 which in every form tends to diminifh the 
 value of the Chriftian atonement, and even 
 ultimately to reduce the Author of our falva- 
 
 tion 
 
SERMON VL 191 
 
 tion to a rank far below the real dignity of 
 his highly exalted nature. 
 
 Now that the death of Chrift was a facri^^ 
 flee or atonement for our fins, is, I fay, by 
 plain intimation, or direcft affertion, confirmed 
 in the Scriptures. It was thus foretold of 
 the Mciliah by the Evangelical prophet : 
 ** Surely He hath borne our griefs, and car- 
 " ried our forrows ; and by his flripes v/e 
 *^ are healed :" and aeain, ** If his foul fliall 
 *^ make, or fhall be made, a propitiatory fa- 
 ** crifice, he fliall fee a feed, which fliall 
 *^ prolong their days, and the gracious pur- 
 ** pofe of Jehovah fhall profper in his 
 ** hands \" And it is recorded of Chriil in 
 the New Teflament, that He was manifejled 
 to take away ourjins % and therefore gave his 
 life a ranfom for mafiy, for all * ; that be bore 
 our fins in his own body on the tree ^ ; and that 
 He was madefmy or a facrifice for fin, for us, 
 who kjiew 720 fm - : and this in confequence of 
 
 ^ Ifa. liii. ic. ^ I John iii. 5. 
 
 ' hvr^'hvT^Qv. Compare Mark x. 45. with i Tim. ii. 6. 
 
 ^ I Pet. ii. 24. 5 2 Cor. v. 21. 
 
 a voluntary 
 
192 SERMON VL 
 
 a voluntary acceptance of his Father's propo*- 
 fal, intimated in thofe remarkable words, Lo, 
 I come to do thy willy O God ^ I The Father 
 provided the facrifice, and the Son freely ac- 
 cepted the undertaking, and laid down his 
 life for his friends ' : For he had power to lay 
 it dowfii and poiver to take it again ^, And, 
 as he loved tis, fo he gave himfelf for usy an 
 offering and a facrifice to God for a fweet fmell^ 
 vig favour ^ : who therefore faved us, not for 
 works of righteoufnefs that v/e have done, 
 but of his own love and free mercies in Chrifl 
 Jefus. 
 
 St. Paul, in his Epiftle to the Romans, 
 hath placed this mercy in a ftill more valuable 
 light. For Gody faith he, commendeth his 
 love towards usy in thaty while we were yet 
 fnnersy Chrifi died for us "" ; that is. He died 
 in the ftead of finners, in the fame kxiky as 
 is intimated in the preceding verfe, that one 
 maa dies for another. And St. Peter alfo 
 tells us, ihdit Chvi^fiffer ed for f?iSy the jiijl 
 
 ^ Heb. X. 9. * John xv. 13. ^ John x. 18. 
 
 ^ Ephef. V. 2. «« Ch. v. 8. 
 
 fof 
 
S E R .M O N VI. 193 
 
 for the unjujly that he might bring us to God^. 
 So that, when we were enemies, we were 
 reconciled unto God by the death of his Son : 
 who, as St. John obferves, is the propitiation 
 
 for our fins y and not for ours only^ but alfofor 
 thofe of the whole world"". As the fentence of 
 death had pafled upon all men, for that all 
 had finned, fo hath he reconciled us all in 
 the body of his flejh through death ** 5 having 
 thereby aboliflied death, and deftroyed him 
 that had the power of it, that is, the DeviK 
 
 It may greatly help to illullrate the na- 
 ture of the Chriftian facrifice, to compare it 
 in various particulars with the facrifices of 
 the Old Teftament. In every facrifice amongfl 
 the Jews, the offering was always to be with- 
 out fpot or blemiih, the very beft and mofl 
 perfedt in its kind. Thus a lamb was to be 
 of the firft year, and without any fort of de- 
 fed: "^ j a male without blemiih w^as to be the 
 offering of the herd and of the flocks ' ; the 
 meat-offering was alfo to be of fine flour un- 
 
 « I Pet. iii. 18. ° I John ii. 2. P Col. i. 22. 
 
 "J Lev. ix. 3. *■ Lev, 1. 3, 10. 
 
 O leavened. 
 
194 S E P. M O N VI. 
 
 leavened', and a young bullock without ble- 
 mifh v/as to be chofen for a lin-ofFering \ In 
 conformity with thefe, Chrift our facrifice, as 
 to his human nature, was /jofy, harmlefsy un- 
 defiled y andJeparatefromfinners''-y and in his 
 divine nature was the eternal Son of God, 
 which added fuch efficacy and dignity to the 
 facrifice, as to make it of the mod confummate 
 purity as well as infinite extent. The chief 
 of the gifts and facrifices were offered by the 
 High Prieft under the lav/ for the errors of 
 the people : and our High Priefl is the La?nb 
 of God that taketh away the Jin of the world^ , 
 The High Prieft alone went into the fecond 
 tabernacle once every year into the holieft of 
 all, not without blood ^. Chrift our High 
 Prieft of good things to come, by his own 
 blood entered in once into the holy place, having 
 obtaSned eternal redemption for us "" ; the price 
 of which redemption was his blood, which 
 he fhed for the life of the v/orld : for as almoft 
 all things by the Law were purged with blood ; 
 
 « Lev. ii. I, 4. ^ Ch. iv. 3, 
 
 " Heb. vii. 26. ^ John i. 29. 
 
 ^ Ex. XXX. 10. Heb. ix. 7. *Heb. ix. I2» 
 
 fo 
 
SERMON VI. to5 
 
 lb without fliedding the blood of Chrift there 
 would have been no remiilion under the Gof- 
 peh Thofe iacrifices indeed v/ere offered 
 year by year, and w^ere only the patterns of 
 the true ; but Chrifl: was once offered really 
 to bear the fins of many, and I>y his one offer- 
 ing hath he perfeuled for ever theiii that are 
 fanBified^ . 
 
 In the Levitical Law the offender wa^ to 
 put his hand upon the head of the burnt- 
 offering, and it (hould be accepted for him 
 to make atonement for him "" ; and thus was 
 he to transfer the guilt from himfelf to the 
 facrifice : and on the great day of general ex- 
 piation, the Prieft folemnly transferred the 
 acknowledged fins of the people on the exiled 
 goat, whilft the other was retained to make 
 the due fatisfadlion with his blood \ In hke 
 manner Chrifl came to fudain, as well as to 
 bear away, our iniquities, and to fuffer and 
 die for our fins : \vho, though at his firfl ap- 
 pearance he was loaded w^ith fin, yet u7ito 
 
 y Heb. X. 14. * Ley. i. 4. » See Lev. xvl. 
 
 O 2 them 
 
196 SERMON VI. 
 
 them that look for him fiall appear the Jecond 
 time without Jin unto falvation ^. His appear- 
 ance the fir ft time was without fin in himfelf, 
 as well as it will be the fecond ; but at the 
 firft time he was burdened with our fins, and 
 fuftained them in his own body, when he 
 laid down his life for all men, and died in 
 their ftead. 
 
 Juftly therefore might St. Paul contemplate 
 Chrift as our paflTover, becaufe he was facri- 
 ficed for us % His death was a real facrifice, 
 with more extenfive eifedl, and beneficial in- 
 fluence, but in as proper a fenfe, as the facri- 
 fices under the legal ceconomy. It was an 
 expiation, or propitiation through faith in his 
 blood, for all our fins ; and the free gift of 
 his meritorious atonement came upon all 7nen 
 to juf if cation of Ufe^. For he died for our 
 oifenccs, and rofe again for our juftification*. 
 His life was that voluntary ranfom, whereby 
 the world fliould become reconciled unto God, 
 and their trefpafles not imputed to them, that 
 
 •» Heb. ix. 28. *= I Cor. v. 7. 
 
 ^ Rom. V. 18. * Ch. iv. 25. 
 
 being 
 
SERMON VL 197 
 
 being jiijlijied by his blood they ?mght be faved 
 from wrath through him\ And his refur- 
 recSion plainly evinced, that he had made full 
 fatisfadion for the iins of thofe for whom 
 he died. 
 
 ^here is therefore now no condemnation for 
 them which are in Chriji fefus^ who walk not 
 after the Jle/h, but after the fpirit ^ ; who, 
 relying on his meritorious facrifice, endeavour 
 to live as becometh the Gofpel of Chrift, in 
 conftant obedience to his laws. For who 
 Jhall lay any thing to the charge of God's ele6i ? 
 It is God that jujlifieth ; Who is he that con-- 
 demneth ? It is Chriji that died^y who as our 
 mighty Redeemer hath fullained the weight 
 of his Father's refentment againft our fins, 
 hath expiated our iniquities, hath blotted out 
 the hand- writing of ordinances that Vv^as againft 
 us, having nailed it to his crofs'. 
 
 To convince us of the reality of this atone- 
 ment, the Almighty appears to have conde- 
 
 *■ Rom. V. 9. 2 Ch. viii. i. 
 
 ^ Ch. viii. 35, 34. » Col. ii. 14. 
 
 O '\ fcended 
 
io8 SERMON VI. 
 
 fcended to accommodate his mode of ading 
 to the ordinary forms of commutative juftice 
 among men. Our redemption was purchafed, 
 the terms propofed and accepted, the price of 
 the redemption paid, the covenant fealed with 
 blood, the deed that was adverfe to us can- 
 celled, by being bored through with a nail, 
 according to antient cuftom, and faflened to 
 the crofs ; new conditions appointed, and new 
 powers were given : every thing was done by 
 our furety, which either ftrid: juftice or legal 
 ufage could reafonably exadl, and therefore a 
 full and fufficient fatisfadtion was made^. 
 
 ^- I am aware itKas been objeded to this fcrt of reafoning, 
 that it reprefents the method of God's dealings with men in 
 the light of atraffick or merchandize. And perhaps the fa- 
 miliarity of the terms may have had fufficient influence with 
 fome minds, to induce them to confider the meaiiires as un- 
 worthy of the divine ?vlajeil:y, and that every fort of fatisfac- 
 tion mui^ be altogether unnecefTary for a Being of unlimited 
 power and goodnefs. This objedion is very ably refuted by 
 the prefent learned Bifhop of St. Afaph in his fifth Sermon at 
 the Warburton Leclures. To aili^ '^ wiat need there any fa- 
 ** tisfaftion to the divine Nature, would be in eftefl: to 3.{k a 
 *' reafon why the conftitution of things is what it is. There 
 " is nothing in fuch an arrangement inconfiftent with the 
 *' perfect re(5litude of the divine Nature, and many good pur- 
 ** pofes may be conceived to be ani'wered by it, even vyithin 
 ** the fphere of our own obfervation. That God does re- 
 
 ** quire 
 
SERMON VI. 199 
 
 And hence the Gofpel of Chrift, which con- 
 tained! thefe glad tidings of our redemption, 
 is called the New Teftament or Covenant; 
 the blood by which it was ratified, is the 
 blood of the everlajling Covenant ^ ; and the 
 Surety, who brought thefe wonders down to 
 us, is in the book of the Revelations Jflyled, 
 the faithful and true Witnefsy or the Martyr'". 
 
 Nor let the myftery of a vicarious facrifice 
 ftagger the faith of the honeft inquirer, or 
 perplex the impartial mind. In all the ways 
 and works of God, whether of nature or of 
 grace, there are myfteries. The religion of 
 nature, as well as the revelation of the Gof- 
 pel, is in many points myfterious : and our 
 knowledge muft be very confined, and our 
 faith very contracted, if we will admit no 
 
 *' quire fach a {litis fa 6lion, has been the {^\\{'z of mankind m 
 ** all ages, however acquired. And this opinion is confirm - 
 *' ed by the revealed word of God, from one end to the other 
 *' of the Old Teftament." See Bagot's Serm. p. 132. I 
 would only add, that we fhould be careful not to be deceived 
 by mere words, as the very beR things may be fometimes 
 difparaged by degrading terms and vulgar analogies. 
 . ^ Heb. xiii. 20. "■• Ch. iii. 14. 
 
 O 4 truths 
 
200 SERMON VI. 
 
 truths but what we can fully comprehends 
 In whatever method it fhould pleafe God to 
 fave us, we fliould thankfully acquiefce at leaft 
 in the favour; in whatever way he will reveal 
 to us the words of eternal life, we fhould 
 accept them as his words, acknowledge the 
 benefit, and comply with the conditions. 
 
 We know, indeed, that the Lord delight- 
 eth in goodnefs, that his mercies are infinite, 
 and we continually experience the mofl con- 
 vincing as well as amazing proofs of his be- 
 neficence. But we might as well fuppofe 
 God not to be, as not to be jufl, as not to be 
 the Almighty Rewarder of thofe that diligefitly 
 Jeek him ", as well as an Avenger of thofe that 
 negledt or difobey him. The voice of nature 
 as well as his revealed word flrongly attefl, 
 that He interefls himfelf in the moral govern- 
 ment of his rational creatures, and that He 
 w^ill by no means fpare the guilty. And what 
 then could a guilty creature exped: from in- 
 finite Juflice, but the forer marks of his dif- 
 
 « Heb* xi. 6. 
 
 pleafure ? 
 
SERMON VI. 201 
 
 pleafure ? Now were we fummoned to plead 
 our own caufe, or to vindicate our innocence, 
 we know that every mouth would be Jlopped, 
 and all the world be acknowledged guilty be^ 
 fore God"". Could any mode of recovery be 
 fuggefted by our own efforts, it muft be our 
 repentance. But being forry for our fins is 
 not being innocent i and though it is the 
 utmoft which our own reflexion could fuggeft 
 towards pacifying the offended Majefty of 
 Heaven, yet it could give us no affurance of 
 his reconciled favour. Nay, in the very heft 
 of us it is fo very imperfeft, as to make us 
 juftly dread his difpleafure, and to be deeply 
 apprehenfive, that, inftead of being a repent- 
 ance unto falvation, it would be unaffifled, 
 but of little avail in his fight, who fearcheth 
 the heart, and knoweth all things. 
 
 It is true, the men of Niniveh appear to 
 have had lecourfe to this remedy even from 
 natural principle, and vt^ith good fuccefs : but 
 then they were doubtful of its efficacy. Who 
 
 * Rom. iii, 19, 
 
 can 
 
202 SERMON VI. 
 
 can tell if God will turn and repent ^ ? That 
 He could not accept of our repentance, or that 
 his j uflice muft indifpenfably require other terms 
 for our pardon, we dare not venture to affirm^. 
 But when he has propofed to us a fatisfad:ion, 
 when he has contrived an atonement for fin, 
 
 P Jonah iii. 9. 
 
 ^ It would be great prefamption in man to attempt to limit 
 the omnipotence of God, or to fix any bounds to his agency, 
 except abfolute impoiTibiiities, or things which cannot be done. 
 Yet as the human nature is under his moral government, we 
 may form fome judgement as to moral poffibilities, from oar 
 obfervations and refledtions on thofe appearances, which recom- 
 mend themfeives to our beft notice. Can we then think that he 
 hath implanted the knowledge of his will in our hearts, and 
 confirmed it by additional revelations ; that he has by the fame 
 methods encouraged us to the obfervance of his will, and 
 threatened to puniih our difobedience ; that we feel the influ- 
 ences of his refentment in ourfelves, and behold the effeds of 
 it in thofe around us : and can we think, that all thefe precau- 
 tions were of {o little ufe, that we might reflore or recover 
 ourfelves from tranfgrellions, without even fuch compenfations, 
 as the ordinary ideas of jufiice among men would require? 
 Would not fuch fentiments tend to make the Law of God of 
 TiOne eiFeft, and even to evacuate it ? to incline us to believe 
 that the fandions of the divine Laws would be of lels force and 
 eihcacy than of thofe amcngft ourfelves ? 
 
 Men may frame for themfeives new notions of the diviiiC 
 jullice, and either explain it away, or confound it in fanciful 
 refinements and unintelligible explanations of benevolence. 
 But it muft be better to acknowledge the weaknefs of their 
 own underftandings, than to involve themfeives in inex- 
 tricable perplexities by attempting either to unfold the fe- 
 
 vcral 
 
SERMON VI. 203 
 
 when he has intimated this his defign by varied 
 refemblances, and declared it in pofitive affur- 
 ances, we are not to enquire what he could do, 
 but accept with thankfulnefs what he has done. 
 What if God was willing to exhibit his irre- 
 concileable averfion to fin and love of holinefs 
 in the ftrongeft manner, or to make known 
 the riches of his grace and abundant favour 
 to mankind ! What if on thefe accounts he 
 fent his deareft pledge, the fon of his love, into 
 the world, a voluntary offering, to put away 
 Jin by the facrifice of himfelf ! Surely we ought 
 with the utmoft gratitude to lay hold of the 
 tenders of fuch wonderful mercy, to embrace 
 the propofals which offer forgivenefs to the re- 
 penting finner, to confefs that the falvation is 
 
 veral mylleiious perfeflions of the divine nature, or hoping 
 to explain them more fully by confolidating the whole into 
 one. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out, but 
 we know that he is excellent in power, and in plenty of 
 juiUce (Job. xxxvii. 23). And rather than ftrive to unravel 
 his nature, we h.id better humble our own, by fubjedlnp- 
 cur reafon to the eye of faith, and fubmitting to thofe dif- 
 co\ eries, which have fo wonderfully difplayed a moil beautiful 
 harmony of the divine attributes, where mercy and truth are 
 met together, righteoufnefs and peace have killed each other ; 
 and the aftoni;hing work of our redemption is fo far accommo- 
 dated to the meafure of cur underftandings, as to make it ap- 
 pear fuitable totlic wifdum of God, thou-^^h in a my;lery. 
 
 an 
 
204 S E R M O N VL 
 
 an zQ, of God's free grace, while it provides 
 for the vindication of his juftice and the ho- 
 nour of his government, and at the fame time 
 to acknowledge that God is jvjiy whilft he is 
 the jujlifier of himy who believe th in ^efus ', 
 
 Nothing is more evident than that no real 
 fatisfadlion was ever obtained by human wif- 
 dom in this important bufmefs. Nor did the 
 encouragements in the Law of Mofes derive 
 any efficacy from the Law itfelf ; but were only 
 of ufe as they looked forward to the redemp- 
 tion of the new covenant. And it is worthy 
 to be received by all men as an incontrover- 
 tible truth, that we are waflied, we are fane- 
 tified, we are juftified by the blood of Jefus '. 
 Him hath God raifedj'rom the dead, and given 
 him glory i that our faith and hope might be in 
 God\ By his fufFerini^ of death he was 
 crowned with glory and honour ; by having 
 thus drank of the brook in the way, his head 
 was exalted -, for in him his Father was well 
 pleafed, and having made him perfect through 
 
 ' Rom.iii. 26. ' I Cor. vi. 11. * i Pet. i. 21. 
 
 fuf- 
 
S E R M O N VI. 205 
 
 fufferings, he was to bring many fons unto 
 glory, and to become the author of eternal f ah a^ 
 tion to all them that obey him ". 
 
 We could have had no deliverance from 
 death, had it not been given us by God; nor 
 would this have been matter of fuch trium- 
 phant fatisfacflion, if a deliverance from fin 
 likewife had not been obtained for us by the 
 merits, and made known to us by the revela- 
 tion, of his Son. But now having confidence 
 through the atonement of his blood, we may 
 with joy and comfort and full affurance of hope 
 look forward through this veil of flefli to the 
 facred recefTes of eternity, even to that eter^ 
 nallife^ which was brought to light by the Gof" 
 pely and is the gift of God through Jefus Chriji 
 our Lord^, If a ??tan die, fiall he live again'^t 
 is no longer to thofe a difficult, a dreadful 
 problem, who have the evidence of many in- 
 fallible proofs^ that Chrift being raifed from 
 the dead, became the firjl fruits of them that 
 
 * Heb. V. g. ^^ 2 Tim, i. 10. Rom. vi, 23. 
 
 "' [oh xir. 14. 
 
2o6 S E R M O N VI. \ 
 
 Jlept ^, and know that He who raifed up the \ 
 Lord JefuSyfiall raife them up alfo by J ejus ^, \ 
 
 Nor does this refurredllon import no more ' 
 than a bare rekindling of the vital principle : i 
 the deliverance of the true Chriftian extends \ 
 much farther, and reinftates him in the fecure 
 pofleffion of every endowment and advantage 
 he can be deipoiled of by death, or fupplies j 
 infinitely more valuable in their ftead, ' 
 
 Is death a difTolution of his body ? Does it j 
 deftrcy that workman (liip of the hand of the j 
 Almighty, fo fearfully and wonderfully con- 
 trived, fo curioufly framed to convey through i 
 the organs of fenfe a diftinft notice of the \ 
 numerous objeds and operations of the mate« i 
 rial world, and even to furniiTi the mind with 
 ideas for thought and contemplation ? He has 
 the lefs occafion to enquire, whether an ethe- \ 
 real vehicle may ftill attend the foul after the i 
 diffolution of this earthly tabernacle, or what \ 
 latent powers it may exert in the naked flate 
 
 j 
 
 y I Cor. XV. 20. ^ 2 Cor. Iv, 14. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON VI. 207 
 
 of reparation, who trufts it ihall again be 
 clothed ', but no more with a vile, a corrup- 
 tible, a natural body ; but a body incorruptible 
 and. fpiritual, fit for the converfation of the 
 angels of God, and flifhioned like unto the 
 glorious body of Chrift Jefus our Lord . 
 
 Is death a departure from this world? Does 
 it remove us from our poffeffions, our friends 
 and acquaintance, and all the dear relations of 
 life ? The fmcere follov/er of Chrift knows 
 that this life is only his pilgrimage, and while 
 he is thankful for the accommodations of his 
 journey, can joyfully quit them all, that he 
 may be admitted to his Father's houfe, to an 
 inheritance that fadethnot awav, to a celeftial 
 fociety of fathers and brothers and mothers and 
 fifters, of all who have heard the word of God, 
 and kept it ^ : when he fliall arrive, whither 
 he is now carried by £iith and hope; when he 
 fliall in open vifion and complete enjoyment ac- 
 tually arrive imto mount Sioiiy and unto the city 
 of the living God, the heavenly 'Jeriifalemy and to 
 an inmunerable co?npany of angels y to the general 
 
 ^ Phil. iii. 21, ^ Mark HI. 35. 
 
 affanhly 
 
2o8 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 affembly and church of the jirjl-borji 'which are 
 writ ten in heaven^ and to God the judge of all, 
 and to the fpirits of jujl men made perfeB, and 
 to Jefus the Mediator of the new covenant *". 
 
 Laftly, is death generally attended with 
 afflidive pains, and fometimes an agony of fuf- 
 fering ? He, who has learned to bear hard- 
 ftiips as a good foldier of Chrift, can fupport 
 himfelf with the confideration, that as the 
 Captain of his fa hat ion was made p erf e B through 
 f offerings ^ fo through him (hall thefe afflic- 
 tions be iandtified to perfeft the work of his 
 patience, humility, and refignation to the will 
 of God ; that his warfare will now fhortly be 
 accompliihed ; that this laft conflidt will tranf- 
 mit him to receive, amidft the united accla- 
 mations of faints and angels and fongs of 
 eternal triumph, the prize of his high pro- 
 fefiion, the crown of immortality; and the 
 extremity of his pain only haflen his convey- 
 ance to thofe rivers of pleafures, which flow 
 at God*s right hand for evermore. 
 
 * Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24. ** Heb. ii. 10. 
 
 Now 
 
SERMON VI. 209 
 
 Now unto him that loved us^ and wafied us 
 from our Jin s in his own bloody and hath iriade 
 us kings and priejls unto God^-y to him, together 
 with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, three 
 Perfons, and one God, be glory and dominiony 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 " Rev. i. 5, 6. 
 
 SER. 
 
SERMON VII 
 
 John xv. 3. 
 
 Now ye are clean through the word which I 
 have Jpoken unto you. 
 
 "^ H E defign of religion is to improve 
 mankind in their duty to God. The 
 defign of the Chriftian religion is to reform 
 finful men, and to affift them in their duty 
 through the mediation and interceffion of 
 Chrift. Whilft it holds up the mirrour to na- 
 ture, and fhews us our weakneffes and infir- 
 mities, our holy religion exhibits the ftrongeft 
 averfion to voluntary errors, and will have no 
 refidence w^ith fin. It hath through w^onder* 
 ful mercy provided againft our miftakes and 
 frailties, difcovered a deliverance from the 
 confequences of them, and deftroyed the 
 P 2 whole 
 
212 SERMON VII. 
 
 whole body of death for us by the iacrifice 
 and expiatory atonement of the crofs. By 
 this unfpeakable gift of God in Chrift, the 
 hope of former ages has been accomphfhed, 
 the ranfom paid^ the juflice of God fatisfied, 
 the adt of free grace paffed, the debt cancel- 
 led, and the repenting finner reftored to a ca- 
 pacity of the higheft favour. 
 
 Great indeed is the confolation, with which 
 the minds of fallen men muft be filled, 
 from a conviction of fuch a pardon for fins 
 paft : but it would fi:ill be clouded with 
 doubt, if not fink back into defpair, were 
 there no farther hopes that the body of fin 
 might be deflroyed in us ; fo that we fhould 
 no longer be fubjed: to its dominion, or at 
 leaft: be flaves to the lufts thereof. Even 
 reafpn muft convince thofe, who enjoyed no 
 better light than that of nature, that a juft 
 and righteous God could never delight in any 
 thing that continued unholy or impure; that 
 fin muft always be repugnant to his nature 5 
 and that, unlefs the finner fhould become re- 
 pev/ed or changed, he could not be accept- 
 able 
 
SERMON VII. 213 
 
 able to him, *' who is far fcparated from fro- 
 <* ward thoughts, and will not abide where 
 " unrighteoufnefs entereth\" 
 
 In the times before the Gofpel it w^as ex- 
 peded, that there would be a fountain opened 
 for Jin and for wicleannefs^ \ which fountain 
 w^as not only to waih away the 'guilt there- 
 of, but alfo to wipe out its ftain. But the 
 generations of old did not enjoy that com- 
 fortable affurance which is held forth to us, 
 on whom the light of the Gofpel hath fhined, 
 and who are acquainted with the whole 
 tenour of this embafly of peace. The glad 
 tidings of which not only announce, that fin 
 is fubdued for us by the facrifice of Chrift*s 
 death, but that it will alfo be fubdued in us 
 by the riches of his grace. The blood of 
 Chrift hath paid the penalty, and cleanfed us 
 as an expiation; but as a confequence of this, 
 it muft be the word and fpirit of Chrift, that 
 muft purge our confciences from dead works y 
 and enable them toferve, fo as to be finally 
 
 ^ Wifd. i. 3j, 5. ^ Zech, xiii. i. 
 
 P 3 accepted 
 
214 SERMON VII. 
 
 accepted by, the living God^. And there- 
 fore it is, that the Apoftle St. John, who in 
 one part of his writings tells us, that tibe 
 blood of Jefus Chriji cleanfeth us from all Jin "^y 
 in the text informs us in the language of our 
 divine Mafter, Te are clean through the word 
 which I have fpoken unto you. 
 
 The allufion is to the pruning and cleanfing 
 the branches of the vine : the wild excref- 
 cences are reftrained, the dead parts are cut 
 off, the vigorous fhoots regularly trained, and 
 the bearing parts purged and encouraged. 
 And thus in the human life, the luxuriances 
 muft be curtailed, the devious and irregular 
 fhootings broken off or corrected, and the 
 parts that promife good fruit be trained and 
 carried on by wholefome difcipline and difcreet 
 management, that they may be enabled to 
 bring forth more fruit. 
 
 It is an allufion not unfrequent in the 
 writings of both the Old and New Teftament. 
 
 <= Heb. ix. 14. '^ I John i. 7. 
 
 The 
 
SERMON VII. 215 
 
 The prophet Ifaiah was ftrack dumb, becaufe 
 he was a man of polluted lips, and dwelt 
 among a people of polluted lips : but the hea- 
 venly Meffenger afiured him, when the coal 
 from the altar had touched his lips, thine ini^ 
 quity is taken mvay, and thy Jin purged ^, or 
 cleanfed ; where the expreffions are equivalent ; 
 to purge fin is to take away iniquity. The 
 author to the Hebrews obferves, that when 
 Chriji had by himjelf purged our Jins, he fate 
 down on the right hand of the Majejiy on 
 high ^ : He had purged them by the offering 
 of his blood, and the influence of his word 
 and pov/er. And by the due application of 
 thefe bleffed means we are exhorted alfo iri 
 like manner, to purge out the old leaven, or 
 the leaven of malice and wickednefs ^ ; to wajb 
 and make ourfelves clean, and put away the 
 evil of our doings ^ -, to cleanfe our hands, and 
 purify our hearts ' ; that thus we may anfvver 
 the glorious end of our Saviour*s appearing; 
 who gave himfelf for us, that he might redeem 
 
 « Ifa. vi. 7. f Heb. i. 3. s i Cor. v. 7; 
 
 ^ Ifa. i. 16. ' James iv. 8. 
 
 P 4 US 
 
2i6 SERMON VII. 
 
 us from all iniquity y and purify unto himfelf a 
 peculiar people zealous of good works ^. 
 
 The defign of the Gofpel then v/as to re- 
 concile man to God, not only by removing 
 the weight of that woful fentence which 
 had pafled on the whole human race by rea- 
 fon of fin, but alfo by infi:rud:ing and inform- 
 ing the world, and thus reducing it to a hearty 
 obedience to the divine will, and a comfort- 
 able hope in the divine mercy. For this end 
 it was beforehand announced to the people of 
 Godj as the new Covenant of Peace, as the 
 good Tidings that would be a light to the 
 Gentiles, would open the eyes of the blind, 
 and extend falvation to the ends of the earth. 
 
 It hath effedled thefe gracious purpofes by 
 various methods : 
 
 I. By revealing fuch important dodrines as 
 the world before underftood not aright, or 
 had only an imperfedt intimation of, and here- 
 
 ^ Tit. ii. 14. 
 
 by 
 
SERMON VII. 217 
 
 by relieving us from much uncertainty, and 
 fixing the rule of our condud: on the fureil: 
 grounds. 
 
 The h'ght, indeed, in which it reprefents the 
 Deity himfelf, is the moll: admirable, and at 
 the fame time the mofl amiable, that can be 
 conceived. It not only confiders him, as a 
 Being poffeHed of all poffible perfection, the 
 Maker and Preferver of all things 3 but as pecu- 
 liarly attentive to the welfare of his reafonable 
 creatures, governing them agreeably to the 
 laws of infinite juflice, tempered with the 
 moft gracious intentions of mercy and loving- 
 kindnefs. That though He will by no means 
 fpare the obftinately guilty, but will inflid: on 
 them the feverity of his inexorable wrath ; 
 yet he is bounteous and benign to all who 
 are fiudious to become fit objects of his 
 mercy, is placable for our offences, pities our 
 w^eaknefles, and relieves all our wants and 
 neceflities. Though He is one, undivided, 
 omniprefent Being, He is diftinguiihed into 
 three perfons, the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghoft : a diftinclion made know^n unto 
 
 us, 
 
2i8 SERMON VIL 
 
 us, probably to convince us of the ftupendous 
 greatnefs of our falvation ; that the evil of fin 
 was fo malignant, that our Creator, Redeemer, 
 and Sanilificr, muft each be engaged in re- 
 covering us from it. 
 
 Now what can be a more powerful prin- 
 ciple of moral aftion than the convidlion that 
 we have an omnifcient Being thus continually 
 fuperintending us, who is a witnefs to all our 
 condudl, and even a difcemer of the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart ^ ? And what can 
 more ftrongly influence the minds of men to a 
 reditude of life and manners, than the con- 
 fideration that this wife and gracious Being 
 interefl:s himfelf in our welfare, and difcovers 
 his very nature fo far to our underftandings, 
 as may convince us that he loves us with the 
 mofl tender regard ? Or what can have a 
 more natural tendency to excite in us an 
 averfion to fin, than the refledlion that the 
 Parent of all endeavours to win us by the moft 
 condefcending and engaging motives, to com- 
 
 ' Ileb. iv, 12. 
 
 ply 
 
SERMON VII. 219 
 
 ply with that conftitution of things which 
 his wifdom hath ordained, to cleanfe ourfelves 
 from the evil of fm, in order to be delivered 
 from that punifiiment, which in the prefent 
 fyftem of things mutt otherwife be its un- 
 avoidable confequence ? 
 
 Moreover, whatever conceits may enter 
 into the minds of fpeculative men concerning 
 the origin of this evil, yet no better explana- 
 tion can be devifed, than what the word of 
 God points out unto us, the abufe of our 
 primitive liberty. All things muft be pure 
 and perfed:, that proceed from the hands of 
 a perfed; and good God. But his creatures 
 may be formed with powers, which, when 
 left to their own managem.ent, they might 
 be capable of abufing. How far the wife 
 defigns of his providence in the comprehen- 
 live plan of the government of the univerfe 
 may be anfwered by fuch meafures, our li- 
 mited faculties can never explore. Certainly 
 all his works are known unto Him from the 
 beginning of the world'^. Yet, as our know- 
 
 ™ Ads XV. 18. 
 
 ledge 
 
220 S E R M O N Vir. 
 
 ledge is but fmall, and our reafonings fliallow 
 and very imperfed, we muft be fatisfied with, 
 and indeed thankful for, thofe illuminations 
 of his will and purpofes, which He is pleafed 
 in any meafure to make manifeft unto us. 
 
 Now we learn from his word, that by the 
 abufe of our liberty our nature is infedled 
 with an original taint ; that, in confequence 
 of this tranfmitted corruption, we are all be- 
 come liable to death. By one man Jin entered 
 into the world y and death by Jin ^^ and fo death 
 pajfed upon all men ". That though the feeds 
 or principles of goodnefs are not extirpated 
 by this infedion, yet we too commonly find 
 in ourfelves a pronenefs to fin°; that the good 
 
 " Rom. V. 1 2. 
 
 ^ ** As to the Fall of Man, however the thing may be 
 '^ difputed, the efFefts of it are vifible in the ftrange prone- 
 *' nefs of human nature to a£l againft reafon and confcience, 
 " that is, to ad in plain contradidlion to itfelf, and its own 
 ** principles." Jenkins's Chriftian Relig. vol. ii. p. 247. 
 
 There is one reflexion, which can fcarce fail to fuggeft itfelf 
 to every confiderate mind ; if our firft progenitor, who was 
 made upright, was overtaken by temptation, the very beft of 
 us ought, furely, to be upon our guard, or, in the language of 
 tlie Apollle, '* not to be high-minded, but fear." Rom. 
 xi. 20. 
 
 that 
 
SERMON VII. 221 
 
 that we would y or approve, we do not, whilft 
 the evil that we would not, that we do^ : and 
 thus from the infirmity of our nature, in- 
 fluenced by the machinations of the fame evil 
 fpirits that were the original caufe of our 
 w^oe, we too often fall into acflual and even 
 repeated tranfgreflions. In order to recover 
 us from this wretched ftate, when we had 
 been long enough detained in it to convince us 
 of our own inability, it pleafed God to fend 
 his Son into the world, to redeem and fave 
 us, by methods the moft powerful and afto- 
 nifhing, and at the fame time the moft effi- 
 cacious and fatisfadtory. Our bleffed Re- 
 deemer aifumed the human nature, lived and 
 taught mankind therein, and at length fuffer- 
 ed and made an atonement for the fms of the 
 world, fealed the covenant of our pardon with 
 his blood, and enfured it to us by his re- 
 furredion. 
 
 In confequence of this, we who were loft 
 and alienated from God, and doomed to death, 
 
 ? Rom. vii. 19. 
 
 have 
 
222 SERMON Vir. 
 
 have again accefs to our heavenly Father 
 through the mediation of his Son, are ini- 
 tiated by baptifm into his nev\^ covenant, and 
 made the adopted children of God : and if 
 we live by the faith of Chrift, and adhere to 
 the truth as it is in Jefus, fliail finally become 
 children of God in the moft glorious fenfe, being 
 the children of the refiirreBion '^. If we believe 
 and repent, our fns fball be blotted out ' ^ and 
 iliould we afterwards fall into temptations, 
 and through the infirmity of our nature be 
 overtaken by fome offences, yet we have an 
 advocate with the Father ^ jefiis Chriji the 
 righteousy who %vill be flill the propitiation for 
 curfi72s \ 
 
 This is the diftinguiihing dodrine of our 
 moft holy Faith ; which therefore is fome times 
 ftyled from hence Faith in our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift. fefus ChriJI is the chief corner foney 
 in whom all the buildings fitly fra?ned together ^ 
 groweth unto an holy 'Te?7tple in the Lord^. 
 He will ihower down his bleffings upon this 
 
 ^ Luke XX. 36. '^ Ads iii. 19. 
 
 ' I John ii. 1,2. ' Ephef. ii. 20, 21. 
 
 building. 
 
SERMON VII. 223 
 
 building, which is his Church, and continue 
 to fupport, protect, and encourage it; will 
 rule over it in righteoufnefs, provide all things 
 proper for his faithful fervants, extending his 
 protedion beyond the prefent ftate, and raif- 
 ing them up again to a new and better life. 
 And finally. He will feparate the good from 
 the bad by an unalterable fentence and an 
 eternal partition; admitting the former into 
 the moft glorious manfions of light and joy, 
 to the full view of the beatific vifion, the 
 contemplation and enjoyment of God ; whom 
 their fouls fhall entirely love, in v/hofe pre- 
 fence they fhall triumphantly rejoice, and de- 
 light in the everlafting celebration of his 
 glorias. But on the other hand banifhing the 
 wicked, the impenitent finners, to everhjiing 
 dejirudlion from the prefence of the Lord and 
 from the glory of his power ", configning them 
 a portion with thofe apoflate fpirits, whofe 
 counfels and praftices they followed in the 
 prefent life, and whofe aflx)ciates in torments 
 they will remain for evermore. 
 
 " 2 Theff. i. 9. 
 
 Thefe 
 
224 SERMON VII. 
 
 Thefe are the chief of thofe dodlrineSj 
 which the word of Chrift, that by-ought life 
 and immortality to light "", hath revealed unto 
 us. They are fiich as may be prefumed to 
 carry with them their own convidion, forci- 
 bly to ftrike on the underflandings of all con- 
 liderate and impartial men, as the moft 
 powerful and affeding fprings of adion, and 
 the jufteft principles of m^oral condud. Thofe 
 w^ho refufe to receive them muft in general 
 ihut their eyes againft the truth, and are 
 therefore culpable for want of faith , and thofe 
 who admit their truth, and will not fuifer 
 it to have its due and natural influence, are 
 no lefs criminal, as they rejed the faith 
 through the corruption of their minds, the 
 wickednefs of their lives, or the impenitency 
 of their hearts ^. 
 
 ^ 2 Tim. i. lo. 
 
 y If any, from a flrong attachment to fyflem, a model of 
 inftruftion which they may have framed for themfelves, or any 
 other fort of prejudice, Ihould obje6l to thefe Chriftian doc- 
 trines, that they are not delivered in fuch an order and ar- 
 rangement, as they might ccp.ceive fuitabie to the wife plan 
 and perfed: defigns of God's providence; let them recoiled, 
 that the Scriptures are intended for the ufe and edification of 
 all men ; to inform their underilandings, exercife their talents, 
 
 and 
 
SERMON VII. 225 
 
 Yet flill as the human nature is conftantly 
 affailed by manifold temptations, and the 
 powers of our reafon are feeble ; thefe doc- 
 trines of Chriftianity are not left barely to 
 their influence on the underftanding, but re- 
 
 and improve their hearts. That thefe moft important truths 
 are therefore judicioufly interfperfed amon^ft a variety of other 
 ulefal or entertaining leffons, to Call forth the induflry, quicken 
 the refearches, animate the fidelity, and in one Ihape or other 
 fait the inclinations, and gratify the diligence of all wife and 
 thinking men. To accommodate them, indeed, to thofe who 
 have lefs leifure and lefs ability for enquiry, the principal doc- 
 trines have been colle£led from the iiril ages of Chriftianity, 
 and arranged into a fummary form and method. So that all 
 that defire to obtain a competent fhare of knowledge in our 
 holy religion, to avail themfeives of the merits of a Saviour, 
 and to be blefied wi'h a true faving and j unifying faith in 
 Chrift, may find the accefs eafy, the encouragement great, 
 and the way fecure. 
 
 But where men are obftlnate and impenitent, and even def- 
 perately wicked^ the fpirit of God will not always ftrive with 
 thefe. ^hey hanje eyes and fee ?/<?/, ears and hear net, neither 
 noJiI they underjiand, ** There is a degree of evidence and of 
 *' influence," as Mr. Bryant has juftly remarked, '* to which 
 " we are not entitled. When a perfon afts againll conviftion, 
 *• and turns from the light, God does not always leave him in 
 ** that ftate of twilight ; but adds to his blindnefs, and brings 
 " on a tenfold darknefs. When people pervert their beil 
 ** gifts, they will be farther corrupted to their ruin : and 
 ** thofe who are guilty of wilful and obftinate folly will be 
 •' doomed to judicial infatuation. This was the cafe of Pha- 
 " raoh and the Egyptians.'* Obferv. on the Plagues, p. 380. 
 
 Q commend 
 
226 SERMON VII. 
 
 commend themfelves to our attention by fuch 
 arguments, as may roufe and engage the paf- 
 fions in its favour. So that the religion of 
 Jefus is defigned to operate on every faculty 
 of the foul : by hope and by fear, by joy, 
 love, and intereft, by the apprehenfion of the 
 moft awful and weighty recompences, and 
 the moft alarming and never- ceafmg terrors, 
 to deter men from the moft tremendous ruin, 
 and excite them to the purfuit of the moft 
 tranfcendant blifs. 
 
 II. But that the knowledge of thefe im- 
 portant truths may have its due effed:, its 
 cleanfmg influence within us, it muft link 
 into our hearts, fo as to renew and reform our 
 lives. And that it may produce this effedt, 
 the word of God hath, fecondly, pointed out 
 unto us a rule of life, by which our conduct 
 fhould be directed, and hath aflxDrded us the 
 pureft precepts of duty, as well as the moft 
 animating encouragements to every virtue. 
 
 The Gofpel hath made known to all men 
 the v^hole will of God, hath brought down to 
 
 us 
 
SERMON VII. 227 
 
 us the words of eternal life % and inflraded us 
 in thofe duties which mujft qualify us for the 
 enjoyment of everlafling happinefs. It ac- 
 quaints us with the full extent of our duty to 
 God, whom we are to love with the moflfincere 
 and unbounded aftecflion, ferve with the moll, 
 profound reverence and filial fubmiffion, and 
 obey in the fpirit of the trueft piety and warmeft 
 devotion. It exhorts us alfo to love and value 
 the image of God as impreffed on our brethren 
 of mankind, to perform all the focial and re^ 
 lative duties towards them^, which our recipro- 
 cal engagements may call for; to be juft, mer- 
 ciful, kind, tender-hearted, patient, and cha- 
 ritable to all men ^. Even our bittereft ene- 
 
 * John vi. 68. 
 
 ^ Amm. Marcel. 1. 22. fays of Chi-lllianity, nil nifi juRum 
 fuadet et lene. 
 
 '^Qccc Ti-x^a.'na.ak KOc'Kuq ii^ri'-cn, "KciTiocvicy =r». Juft. Mar. Apol, I, 
 
 Aifirmabant autem ChrilHani, hanc fuiffe lumniam vel culpa? 
 fuse, vel erroris, quod client fojiti llato die ante lucem convenire; 
 carmenque Chrii^o, quaii Deo, dicere fecum inviccm ; leque 
 facramento non in fcelus aliquod obftringere, fed ne furta, ne 
 ]atrocinia, ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, nc 
 depoiitum appellati abncgarent : quibus pera£lis morem fibi 
 difcedendi fuilfe; rurfufque coeundi ad capiendum cibum, prO' 
 difcuum tarnen, et inaoxium. Plin. S. Traj» L. a. Ep. xcvii. 
 
 Qj2 tnies 
 
228 SERMON VII. 
 
 mies are intltled by the peculiar authority of 
 Chrift to a fhare of our love, and the affec- 
 tion of our hearts ; fo that we are to blefs them 
 that curfe nsy do good to them that hate us^ and 
 fray for them that defpitefully ufe us and per- 
 fecute US'". In fhort, we are to make the re- 
 gard to ourfelves the rule of our condudl to 
 our neighbour ; and as we would that men 
 fhould do to us, we muft do alfo to them like- 
 wife'. 
 
 Moreover the word of God refl rains us from 
 perverfe defires, as well as finful actions ; 
 checks every wrong tendency of our nature, 
 curbs our eager inclinations, correfts our way- 
 ward paffions, diffuades us from irregular gra- 
 tifications, and anim.ates us to the contempla- 
 tion, thepurfuit, and the pradice of all virtue. 
 It experts us like wife to ufe this world as not 
 abufing it * ; to be diligent in our refpedlive 
 callings, circumfpedt in all our conduft, watch- 
 ful againft every danger, and ready to every 
 good work ^ 
 
 « Mat. V. 44. * Ch. vil. 12. 
 
 • I Cor. viL 31. f Tit. iii. x. 
 
 The 
 
SERMON VII. 229 
 
 The genuine influence of Chriftianity will 
 adluate our principles, as well as guide our prac- 
 tice; nay, its chief concern is with t&e hidden 
 man of the heart^ -, and therefore it recommends 
 a cultivation of the power of godlinefs rather 
 than the form of it, or that the latter fhould 
 be made fubfervient to the former; fo that 
 we may live by the faith of the Son of God^ 
 in a conftant, fteady, and uniform obedience 
 to all his laws. It allows of no undue pre- 
 ference of fuch duties as may fuit our inclina- 
 tions to others ; neither to be merciful at the 
 expence of juftice, nor to fubftitute charity for 
 men in the place of piety to God ; nor to cul- 
 tivate mere morality on any other foundation, 
 but that which muft give it its trueft efficacy, 
 its conformity to the will of God in Chrill: 
 Jefus. 
 
 It particularly inftruds us to guard againfl 
 the pernicious efFeds of felf- will and felf- love; 
 levels its moft powerful artillery againfl pride 
 of heart, and inculcates poverty of fpirit, pe- 
 
 K I Pet. iii. 4. ^ Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 0^3 nitence 
 
230 SERMON VIL 
 
 nitence and humility, as previous indifpenfable 
 qualifications for the kingdom of heaven. It 
 direfts in our lapfed eftate v^hat methods we 
 mufl purfue for pardon, afliftance and ftrength; 
 what occafions there are for mortification, 
 felf-denial, and prayer. It encourages us to 
 upright condud: by the intimation that we 
 may gain a fuperiority over all temptations and 
 dangers, and fhall become more thaii conquer^ 
 ors through hhn that loved us ^ ; and farther ani- 
 mates us to a fteady perfeverance in all holinefs 
 by the comfortable afifurance, that how great 
 foever may be our difficulties, how fevere and 
 affliding our diftreffes, yet in due feafon we 
 pall reap, if we faint not ^. 
 
 Finally, the religion of Chrifl exhorts us to 
 raife our affedions above the things of this 
 world, and to place them on the profpedls, the 
 purfuits, and the glories of another world ; it 
 requires us to be fpiritually minded, to be 
 transformed in the renevral of our minds, and 
 to afpire after that real change, that renovation 
 
 ^ Rom. viii. 37. ^ Gal. vi. g. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON VII. 231 
 
 of heart and purity of life, and conftant and 
 continual advancement therein, which 7nujl 
 make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance 
 of the faints in light ^. 
 
 Nothing without the holy influence of thefe 
 principles and duties can cleanfe our minds, 
 and purify our hearts : nothing fliort of this 
 real change can bring us to heaven. No ill- 
 founded notions of imputed righteoufnefs, or 
 the impeccability of the eleft, no vifionary 
 fchemes of arbitrary predeftination or capri- 
 cious refpedl of perfons, no prefumptuous re- 
 liance or antinomian confidence in the merits 
 of Chrift, no fanatic perfuafion of nominal re- 
 generation without real and vital improvement, 
 no zeal for the honour of religion, or fuppofed 
 transferable fubftitution of other men's virtues, 
 no real or pretended gifts of the moft exalted 
 nature, either of utterance or languages, of the 
 moft fplendidexertions, or moft brilliant adlions; 
 nothing but the principle of divine love within 
 us, manifefted by a fuitable conformity in our 
 pracflice and habitual purity in our lives, can 
 
 1 Col.i. 12. 
 
 0^4 efFeftually 
 
232 S E R M O N VII. 
 
 efFecftually work out our falvation, can cleajife us 
 from cilljiltbinefs of theflejlo and Jpirit "", or ac- 
 cording to the Gofpel conftltution can bring 
 us through Chrift to the bhfsful manfions of 
 thofe bleffed fpirits, whcfe delightful employ- 
 ment is to praife and adore their moft holy 
 God for ever and ever. And yet after all, af- 
 ter the fincereft and beft obedience ^ fo many 
 are the failings of our nature, fuch the imper- 
 fedlion of our pureft holinefs, and fo exalted 
 the reward of our future ftate of glory ; fo 
 difproportionate to our beft fervices, and fo 
 far beyond our flricfteft obedience ; that we 
 are with juftice taught to confider ourfelves, 
 efpecially as contrafted with our reward, in 
 the light of unprofitable fervants ; and to ac- 
 knowledge that eternal life is the free and un- 
 merited gift of God""^ 
 
 III. But ftill neither the dodlrines nor the 
 duties, however excellent in themfelves, and 
 well adapted to the exigencies, the defires, or 
 the confolations of mankind, can fill up the 
 
 *" 2 Cor, vli. I. ^ Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 meafure 
 
SERMON. VIL 233 
 
 meafure of that provifion, which the Gofpel 
 of God affords for our edification and inftruc- 
 tion in the words of eternal life. For, in the 
 third place, wehave thefe duties illuftrated, and 
 the influence of thefe doctrines manifefted, in 
 the life of Chrift, that faithful copy, and moft 
 appofite example of all virtue. 
 
 The human mind is, and mufl: always be in 
 the prefent ftate of things, very much influenced 
 by the objefts of fenfe. The generahty of men 
 wdll not often allow themfelves time for much 
 refleftion. External objeds frequently ftrike 
 them fo forcibly, that they prefently gain their 
 approbation, and prejudice their minds in their 
 favour, without permitting us to contemplate 
 them in all their circumfl:ances, much hfs to 
 reafon upon them with cautious deliberation. 
 Where the objefts clofe with our commonly 
 received notions of rectitude, or fall in with 
 our natural convid:ions, they win upon us 
 with furprifing alacrity °, and the powers of 
 both our fenfible and rational faculties are 
 
 * Longum eH iter per prascepta, breve et efficax per 
 exeinpla. Sen. 
 
 united 
 
2J4 SERMON VII. 
 
 united in their fupport. Now this is the fort 
 of evidence, which is conveyed to the mind 
 by example ; and as the principle of imitation 
 is very flrong and prevalent within us, fo no- 
 thing can more recommend dodrines, or en- 
 force : precepts, than the view of their in- 
 fluence exemplified and difplayed in the hu- 
 man life. 
 
 To convince by fuch evidence as this, and 
 to fulfil all righteoufriefs, our bleffed Lord 
 came into the world in fuch a fituation, as 
 might exhibit his character in the raoft varied 
 lights, and to the moft general notice. In- 
 flead of appearing in the greateft pomp of 
 external majefty, the Son of God condefcend- 
 ed to take upon him the form of a fervaiit ^ \ 
 thereby to inftrudl us in that fundamental 
 principle, humility, to w^ean us from pride 
 and felfiflmefs, and to drav/ us off from a 
 partial fondnefs for the pleafures, the vanities, 
 the honours of this world. In this humble 
 department what a multitude of important 
 duties did his life exhibit to our imitation. 
 
 P Phil. il. 7. 
 
 fuch 
 
SERMON VII. 235 
 
 fuch as equanimity in diftrefs, contentednefs 
 in his allotted circumftances, a generous con- 
 tempt of the things of this world, and a 
 ileady dependance on the Parent of all, the 
 Giver of every good gift ! What exercifes of 
 piety to this Almighty Being w^as he often 
 engaged in, fo as to pafs whole nights in 
 prayer to God ! How fubmiffive to his will, 
 how reiigned to his difpofal, how attentive to 
 his pleafure, how zealous for his honour 
 throughout the whole conduft of his life ! 
 
 Nor was our Lord*s charity to men lefs 
 exemplary than his piety to God. In all his 
 commerce with them we find him prudent, 
 gentle, benign; attentive to their welfare, 
 embracing every fair opportunity to inflruft^ 
 correft, and reform them ; difcovering the 
 difpofitions of their minds, and direding his 
 encouragements or reproofs towards them, as 
 they might be prefumed to take the beft efFedl. 
 Under their contumelies and reproaches he 
 v/as meek, calm, acquiefcing; the feverities 
 of their ill ufage he fuftained with invincible 
 patience, requited their evil with good, wien 
 
 he 
 
236 SERMON VII. 
 
 he was revikdy reviled not again *^, but prayed 
 for his revilers and murderers ; thus fulfilling 
 that declaration, which in the prophetic 
 mind had long before marked his character, 
 that he 772 ade intercejjion for the trajifgrejfors '. 
 
 The relative duties of life the Saviour of 
 mankind difcharged with all proper attention; 
 was fubjedt to his parents, fubmiffive to the 
 ruling powers, affectionate to his difciples 
 and friends, and comported himfelf toward 
 thofe who fought his inflru6lion, fo as to 
 manifefl himfelf to have always had an eye 
 to his Father's bufmefs. He mourned and 
 wept over his country, bewailed the impend- 
 ing fate of Jerufalem, fubmitted to have his 
 life taken away by a mofl unjufl judgement, 
 and when a view of the heavy weight of his 
 Father's wrath occafioned the fevereft flruggle 
 that he had ever experienced in his arduous 
 engagement, he terminates the difficulty with 
 this pious ejaculation. If this cup may not p of 
 
 ^ 1 Pet. ii. 23. *■ Ifai. liii. 12. 
 
 away 
 
SERMON VIL 237 
 
 away from me, except I drink it, thy ivill 
 he done \ 
 
 View him in his more publick walks, and 
 you will behold him no lefs attractive and 
 amiable than in the private life. At the age 
 of twelve years, when he was prefented in the 
 temple, he intermixed with the Jewifh doc- 
 tors, and bore a part in their conferences ; fo 
 that all that heard him were aftoniflied at the 
 readinefs of his conceptions and the adroitnefs 
 of his replies. When he attended the mar- 
 riage-feaft at Cana in Galilee, he v/rought a 
 miracle in compliance with the wirties of his 
 parent for the more comfortable accommoda- 
 tion of the guefls ; and whilft he was en- 
 gaged in his public miniftry, his very food 
 was to do the will of him that feiit him, and to 
 fnijh his work ^ He ever fliewed himfelf aa 
 example of the moft confummate innocence 
 and fpotlefs purity, was never furprifed by 
 any artful combinations or enfnaring queftions, 
 was never at a lofs in the moft trying emsr- 
 
 ' Matt, x.vvi. .\z. * John Iv. 34. 
 
 gencies. 
 
238 SERMON VII. 
 
 gencles, but always difcovered the trueft fim- 
 pllcity, guarded with the moft difcreet wif- 
 dom. And yet, when the multitude^ ftruck 
 with the circumftances of his appearance and 
 the power of his mighty works, would have 
 made him a king ; how^ever juft his preten- 
 lions, and exalted his charafter, he withdrew 
 from their intended honours, as &is kmgJom 
 was not of this world''. 
 
 Attend him farther to the final fcene at the 
 clofe of his life : what refignation in his whole 
 deportment, and yet what majefly ! How 
 gentle was his reply to the mifcreant that 
 betrayed him ; how full of tendernefs his 
 afpe6l to the difciple that denied him ; how 
 fubmiffive his carriage to the governour that 
 unjuftly condemned him; and how full of 
 compaflion was his foul for thofe wretches 
 that crucified him, when he uttered that fer- 
 vent prayer. Father^ forgive them ; for they 
 ^now not what they do "''• 
 
 "^ John xviit. 36. "^ Luk.e xxlii. 34. 
 
 It 
 
SERMON VII. 239 
 
 It were vain to attempt an enumeration of 
 the whole feries of his virtues. As one end 
 of his Hfe feems to have been to fulfil the 
 whole duty of man to God, and thereby lite- 
 rally fatisfy the ftridefl demands of the divine 
 juiliice, fo what hath been offered may fuffice 
 to fhew what an exmnpk he has left that 'we 
 jhould follow his Jleps "", who, in his own em- 
 phatical words, hath exhibited himfelf to us, 
 as the way, a?2d the truths and the life ^. 
 
 What great reafon have we then to look 
 unto Jefusy the author and fi7iip:)er of our 
 faith "" ; whom if we look up unto, we iliall 
 be enlightened ; if we fet him always before 
 us, he will guide us by his eye, and inflrudt 
 us in the way wherein we Ihould walk ; and 
 fwe would have boldnefs in the day of judge -- 
 ??tent, even as he was, fo mujl we he in this 
 world \ 
 
 Such are the principal methods which the 
 word of God, or the religion of Jefus, hath' 
 
 * I Pet. ii. 21. yjohnsiv. 6, 
 
 * Ileb, xli. 2. * I Joh^i Iv, 17, 
 
 oftercd. 
 
240 SERMON VII. 
 
 offered, to recover mankind from the do- 
 minion, and to guard them from the fnares, 
 of fin. The view of things propofed to our 
 belief carries with it a clear, ftrong, and 
 awakening conviction : the duties offered to 
 our pradlice are founded on fuch reafonable 
 and powerful evidence, enforced by fuch co- 
 gent and alarming motives, and above all il- 
 luftrated by fo bright and perfedl an example, 
 that they cannot but approve themfelves as 
 worthy of all acceptation, cannot but prevail 
 on our hearts to fubmit to their influence, if 
 we would confult our own fafety or h^p- 
 pinefs. 
 
 But beiide the internal marks of truth and 
 convidion which thefe docflrines and duties 
 bring with them, they are enforced to our 
 notice by fuch external atteftations as muft 
 fully difcover their divine original. What a 
 long feries of predidted events, increafing with 
 new and gradual evidence from the beginning 
 of time to that awful period, when they re- 
 ceived their defigned completion in the death 
 and refurredtion of Chrift, do we find record- 
 ed 
 
SERMON VIL 241 
 
 ed in the word of God ? What aflonifliing, 
 and at the fame time amiable inftances do we 
 meet with therein, of the courfe of nature 
 being diverted, the order of things changed, 
 the vifible interpofitions of a miraculous power 
 demonftrated, called by St. Paul the demon^ 
 Jlration of the fpirit and of power^ y the fudden 
 and repeated production of fuch gracious and 
 mighty works as mufl furpafs all the art of 
 man, which were foretold of the Mefliah, 
 and which were executed by the power of 
 God in the perfon of Jefus Chrift. He was 
 the real Word of God, the incarnate Deity, the 
 Prophet mighty hi deed and "word", the true 
 light that light eneth every man ^ \ with a view 
 to whofe manifeftation the whole fyftem of 
 things had been condufted from the begin- 
 ning, in whofe life and chara(5ter all that il- 
 luftrious arrangement, which we have endea- 
 voured to point at in the preceding parts of 
 this work, received its full accomplidiment, 
 and under whofe guidance the glorious plan 
 of redemption will flill be carried on, until, and 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. ii. 4. ^ Luke xxlv. 19. ** John i. 9. 
 
 R with 
 
242 SERMON VII. 
 
 with a profpedl to, that awful Day^ when 
 Godjhall judge the world in righteoujnefs by 
 that Man whom he hath ordainedy and whereof 
 he hath given affurance unto all men, in that 
 he hath raifed him from the dead^. 
 
 Now what is more natural, than that fuch 
 an illuftrious fcene of things fhould gain the 
 alTent and approbation of our underftandings, 
 together with the cordial concurrence of our 
 lives and conduft ? The duties of faith and 
 obedience are thus founded on the ftrongeft 
 evidence, on the moft rational conviftion, and 
 are the main points of that reafonable fervice 
 which Chriftianity requires of man to God. 
 To illuftrate the various particulars and minute 
 branches of this reafonable fervice, what 
 would it be lefs than to explain the whole 
 duty of man ? 
 
 Let me jufl obferve that our faith muft be 
 aftive, lively, comprehenlive ; muft renew 
 cur minds, warm our hearts, influence our 
 
 ^ hdi^ x.'ii. 31. 
 
 whole 
 
SERMON VII. 243 
 
 whole praftice : that we muft not content 
 ourfelves with a mere fpeculative aflent, or 
 enwrap our main attention in the favourite 
 contemplation of any fublime and exalted 
 truths, without fuffering them to produce 
 their due eifedl upon our lives. But we mufl 
 pay a general and univerfal refpe6t to all the 
 truths of the Gofpel, and ftudy to obey, and 
 thereby adorn the doBrine of God our Saviour 
 in all thingsK From a frequent review of 
 the word and will of God, a devout medita- 
 tion on the duties of the Chriftian life, a 
 fteady eye on that pattern of all perfedlion 
 Jefus Chrift the righteous, we muft endea- 
 vour to obtain this faith, without which it 
 will be impoffible to pleafe God ^ ; and which 
 muft have its fruit unto holinefs^ that the end 
 may be everlafiing life \ 
 
 fTit. ii, 10. ^Heb. xi. 6. ^ Rom. vi. 22. 
 
 R^ SER^ 
 
■ aiuuMULM CTi iaiiimi,:juB.'wwi«Mn 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Hebrews vii. 25. 
 
 Wherefore he is able alfo to fave them to the 
 uttermojl that cojne unto God by him ^ feeing 
 he ever liveth to make intercejjionfor them. 
 
 IT is one great excellency of the Chriftian 
 Religion, that it comes recommended to 
 us by almoft every fort of evidence, and makes 
 its appeals to all the pov^ers of the human 
 mind. It not only addreffes the reafon in a 
 great variety of unparalleled methods, but of- 
 fers fuch convidllon to the fenfes of men, as 
 muft plainly demonftrate the divine interpo- 
 fition, to all v^ho will admit its teftimony, or 
 attend to its hiflory with impartiality and can- 
 dour. The example of Chrift was a con- 
 tinued feries of fenfible demonftration of the 
 R 3 vital 
 
246 SERMON VIII. 
 
 vital truths which he taught, and his mighty 
 works with the fame kind of evidence illuf- 
 trated alfo the docflrines which he delivered. 
 The grand dodrine, which he came to incul- 
 cate on men, was that of a refurreftion to 
 everlafting Life, by and through the merits of 
 his own atonement. And of the reality of this 
 he even vouchfafed to convince the fenfes with 
 intuitive evidence, being himfelf, after he rofe 
 from the dead, carried up from earth to hea- 
 ven, in the prefence of a multitude of wit- 
 heffes ; who all obferved, and with their eyes 
 followed this tranflation of their Lord, till a 
 cloud receded him out of their Jight '. 
 
 Thus after he had finiflied his work upon 
 earth, he afcended up to his heavenly reward; 
 he was conveyed by an aftual exaltation of 
 his human nature into the higheft heavens, 
 there to appear in the prefeiice of God for us ^ ; 
 there to go on with the glorious bufinefs he 
 had here begun, the falvation of men ; there 
 tofave to the uttermoji thofe that cof?2e unto 
 
 * Adts i. 9. ^ Heb. ix. 24, 
 
 Cod 
 
SERMON VIII. 247 
 
 God hy himy thofe that acknowledge him as 
 their Redeemer, embrace him as their Saviour, 
 and obey him as their Lord. Whilft he re- 
 mained upon earth, he finiflied all that could 
 be done for us here below. He paid the ran- 
 fom, made the atonement, gave us a rule for 
 our condud:, and left us an example. He fub- 
 dued fin, and removed the difqualifying cir- 
 cumftances ; he opened the door, and pointed 
 out the way to eternal life. 
 
 But fomething farther was neceilary to en- 
 able us to walk therein, fome new afliftance 
 to make us rife above the power and dominion 
 of fin, and to qualify us for our everlafting 
 inheritance. For this purpofe our triumphant 
 Saviour hath ajcended up on high, that he 
 might become our IntercefTor and Advocate, 
 might lead captivity captive, and impa^^t his 
 gifts unto men \ God hath highly exalted him, 
 and given him a name above every na?ne ^ ; who 
 after he had offered one facrifice for fins, for 
 ever fate dozvn at the right hand of God % 
 
 « Pf. Ixviil. 18. E.hef. iv. 8. ^ Phil. ii. 9. 
 
 « Heb. X. 12. 
 
 R 4 tliat 
 
248 SERMON VIII. 
 
 that he might finifh the grand work of our 
 redemption, m.ight perfed: for ever them that 
 are fan6lified,yt'(?/;^^ he ever liveth to make in- 
 ter cejjion for lis; he ever liveth and reigneth 
 the Son and Word of God, having on Ms vef- 
 ture and on his thigh the name written^ King 
 of kings ^ and Lord of lords ^ 
 
 As all power was given him in heaven and 
 in earth, he now exercifes this power In the 
 afllflance, protection, and government of his 
 church. This church upon earth has often 
 experienced many hoflile attacks, and is ftill 
 in a militant ftate again ft a variety of enemies. 
 Our mighty Redeemer affifts it with his grace, 
 ftrengthens it v/ith his intereft, and fupports 
 it with his authority. Upon each of thefe 
 points I would wiih to be more particular, in 
 order to fliew farther how the body of fin 
 may be fully deftroyed in us, through the mer- 
 cies and interceflion of Jefus Chrift our Lord. 
 
 I. And, firft, let us refled on the affiftance 
 
 ^ Rev^xix. 16. 
 
 afforded 
 
SERMON VIII. 249 
 
 afforded mankind by the grace of God in 
 Chrift Jefus. 
 
 Our bleffed Lord before his death aflured 
 his difclples, that he would not leave them 
 comfortlefs; but that he would pray the Father, 
 and he fhould give them another comforter, 
 the Holy Ghoft, who fliould abide with his 
 followers for ever ^. This fpirit of truth, with 
 which the apoflles and firft teachers of Chrif- 
 tianity were plentifully filled, brought all things 
 to their remembrance ^, which their divine Maf- 
 ter had faid unto them, taught them all ne- 
 ceffary truths, enabled them to work miracles 
 to confirm thofe truths, and endued them 
 with fuch abilities and extraordinary powers, as 
 were expedient to convert the world, to bring 
 mankind to the knowledge and reception of 
 the Gofpel of peace, and to propagate the re- 
 lieion of Tefus to thofe that were near, and 
 thofe that were afar of\ even as many as the 
 Lord their God fhould call'\ 
 
 s John xlv. 16, 18. ^ Ver. 26. 
 
 ' Afts ii. 39. 
 
 And 
 
250 SERMON VIIL 
 
 And when the original defign of diffeminat- 
 ing the Truth over the various nations of the 
 earth was anfwered, then their extraordinary 
 gifts were withdrawn, as being no longer ne- 
 ceffary. But in their place Chriftians were 
 fupplied with what was as expedient for them, 
 and as beneficial to them, the general grace 
 and affiftance of God's fpirit, which was to 
 continue with them to the end of the world. 
 
 That any influence of this fort is communi- 
 cated to men, or indeed that we ftand in need 
 of it, is denied by thofe proud difputers, who 
 meafure the operations of the divine agency by 
 the imbecillity of their own underflandings. 
 What Is above their reafon muft be rejected, 
 as well as what is contrary to it. No impref- 
 lions muft be allowed, however fupported by 
 analogical reafonings, unlefs they can be im- 
 puted altogether to merely natural and ordinary 
 means. Hence thofe important truths will be 
 difregarded, which men of deep refledion 
 from a review of our nature have generally 
 acknowledged, and which the Scriptures fo 
 plainly declare, that we are notfiifficient of our ^ 
 
 Jelves 
 
S E R ?vl O N VIIL 251 
 
 fehes to think any thing as of oiirfelvesy but 
 that our Jufficiency is of God^» 
 
 Others appear In an oppofite extreme fo to 
 magnify the grace, as to confider themfelves 
 altogether guided by irrefiftible impuhes In the 
 concerns of religion y or in fadt to be little 
 more than the mere mechanical inftruments 
 of a fupernatural agent. An opinion that may 
 be favourable to their own indolence or vanity, 
 but which Is quite Irreconcileable with that 
 true ftate of the matter given by St. Paul, 
 who exhorts u^ to work out our f ah at ion with 
 fear and trembling y becaife it is God that work^ 
 eth in us to will and to do of his good pleafure^. 
 * The fpirit of God, which worketh with our 
 fpirit, v/as never meant to fuperfede or pre- 
 vent our own exertions. But as his quicken- 
 ing influence is a ftrong proof of his love and 
 paternal regard for us, fo fliould it be ah^b a 
 ftrong motive for our love and filial obedience 
 to him. 
 
 This grace of the fpirit is given liberally to 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. in, 5. ^ Phil. li. 12, 13, 
 
 all 
 
2SZ SERMON VIIL 
 
 all men, who defire to live godly in Chrlfl: Je- 
 fus. Not in fuch a meafure as to be ufually 
 perceived by fenfible illuminations, but by 
 gentle Infinuations into the underftandings of 
 men ; thus opening their minds, and preparing 
 them with fuch a teachable and humble dif- 
 pofition, as is always requifite for the faving 
 knowledge of divine truths. Thefe facred 
 truths it offers in fuch an advantageous light, 
 imprefies them with fuch ftrong convidions, 
 removes the various prejudices that may op- 
 pofe them, or counteradls their influence in fo 
 engaging a manner, as impels our wills to 
 embrace them ; to admit their influence, fuf- 
 fer ourfelves to be guided by their impreflaon, 
 and to cooperate with them in the refifl:ance 
 of fin, and the purfuit'of holinefs. The cf- 
 fedlual workings of this fpirit not only engage 
 us in the love and praftice of our duty, but 
 curb our giddy and tumultuous paflions, re- 
 train our perverfe inclinations, moderate our 
 defires andaffedions, foftenour tempers, com- 
 pofe our fpirits, and quiet our hearts. And 
 all thefe blefled effedls are produced in us in a 
 manner generally conformable to our own na- 
 tural 
 
SERMON VIIL 253 
 
 tural impulfes, agreeably to the didlates of our 
 beft reafon, and without any violence to our 
 own ordinary powers and ufual abilities. In 
 fine, to this holy influence of the fpirit we 
 owe the final completion, and probably the 
 firft movements in the work of our falva- 
 tion without whofe renewing power we, ge- 
 nerally fpeaking, can do nothing, but mufl be 
 quickened hereby to good works, to perform 
 the acceptable will ofGod^. He is our faith- 
 ful monitor in all our lapfes, our fecurity in 
 all dangers, our guide in all perplexities, our 
 proteftor in all adverfities, our fupport in all 
 temptations, our friend and comforter in all 
 the duties and paths of life. 
 
 Nor Is this grace of the fpirit of hfe in 
 Chrifl Jefus denied to any Chriftians who 
 humbly implore it, and confcientioufly im- 
 prove it. T'he bodies of Chriftians are the 
 temples of the Holy Ghoji " ; and the fpirit of 
 Chrijl dwelleth hi us, except we are reprobates "*, 
 Nothing can prevent us from the benefits of 
 
 "' Rom. xii. 2, " i Cor, vl. 19. ° 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
 this 
 
254 SERMON VIIL 
 
 this grace, nothing will deprive us of it> but 
 the wickednefs and obflinate perverfenefs of 
 our hearts. It is given us at our iirll admif- 
 fion into the Chriftian covenant ; it will be 
 continued to us afterwards, as we lludy to de- 
 mean ourfelves, and to comport ourfelves 
 worthily for the refidence and delight of this 
 heavenly gueft. It gradually retires from us, 
 if we negled: it, or behave ourfelves unfuitably 
 for his prefence. It is perhaps never totally 
 withdrawn, unlefs fm has gained fuch a 
 horrid afcendancy over the wretch, that the 
 thoughts of his heart in the ftricfleft fenfe are 
 only evil continually. Where there is fuch a 
 falling from grace, it muft be impoffible in the 
 ordinary courfe of things to renew fuch aban- 
 doned finners to repentance. But we truft 
 fuch cafes throusfh the mercies of God will 
 
 o 
 
 rarely happen, that Satan will feldom gain 
 fuch an abfolute dominion over any man; 
 fo that no one iliould defpair of recovering the 
 forfeited favour of God upon his deep and fin- 
 cere repentance ; no one, how grievous fo- 
 ever his fins may have been, ihould refufe to 
 
 exert 
 
SERMON VIIL 255 
 
 exert his beft endeavours, and pray for the 
 grace of the fpirit, if by any means he may 
 be enabled to efcape the wrath to come p. 
 
 But Chriftians in general fliould be efpe- 
 cially careful to invite and encourage the rege- 
 nerating power of this fpirit of God ; Ihould 
 court his gentle illapfes, cherifh his quicken- 
 ing influences, hearken to his friendly fuggef- 
 tions, guard againfl his av^ful alarms, and im- 
 prove his kind admonitions and counfels. Such 
 decilive evidence fhould be ftudioufly fought 
 after in their minds, and conftantly exhi- 
 bited in their lives, as may infallibly mark 
 them to be worthy of his vllits, to be fit ha- 
 
 P Though every encouragement poflible fhould be held oat 
 to the returning finner, yet it muft be acknowledged, that a 
 long wilful and obflinate impenitence mull doubtlefs be a 
 very dangerous cafe. If the note and obfervations that I have 
 offered at p. 225, will have no effed on perfons of this obdu- 
 rate turn of mind, I would earneilly recommend to them to 
 confider well that awful denunciation of the trueft Wifdom, 
 recorded, Prov. i. 24, &c. and to recoUedl alfo, that we are 
 exhorted to look diligently, leji a?iy man fail of the grace of God, 
 and that thofe who perfifl in rejeding the bleffing, may find no 
 place of repentance, though they Ihould feek it carefully nuitb 
 tears, Heb. xii. 15, 17. 
 
 bitatto72S 
 
256 SERMON VIII. 
 
 bit at mis of God through the Spirit ^ Who- 
 foever is thus favoured will be careful to avoid 
 all fin, will turn away his eyes from beholding 
 vanity, will ftudy to be purified in his fleih 
 and in his mind, and to crucify the flefh with 
 the aff'ediions and lufl:s ^ will moreover mani- 
 feft a fincere regard to the fruits of the fpirit, 
 and a genuine and conftant cultivation of them 
 in his life. Such fruits as are thefe, love, joy^ 
 peace i long-fuffering^ gentlenefsy goodnefs, faith, 
 meeknefsy temperance \ 
 
 Every real Chrifl:ian will be always fl;riving 
 to be animated with higher degrees and larger 
 meafures of this grace, fo that he may grow 
 thereby ' ; will be making continual advances 
 in goodnefs, and endeavouring to perfed; ho- 
 linefs in the fear of God. However fplendid 
 may have been his life and performances, he 
 will not vainly imagine that he hath already 
 attained the meafure of the Jlature of a perfect 
 man in Chriji Jefus * : but will go on in faith 
 
 *! Ephef. ii. 22. ' Gal. v. 22, 23. 
 
 ^ I Pet. ii. 2. * Ephef. iv. 13. 
 
 with 
 
SERMON VIII. 257 
 
 with fteady perfeverance, and forgetting thofe 
 things which are paft or behind, reach for- 
 wards towards the mark of the higheft pu- 
 rity ; and be conftantly praying for farther il- 
 luminations and a greater increafe of ftrength, 
 till he be fitted for an inheritance amongft 
 them that are fanftified, till he obtain the prize 
 of the high calling of God in Chriji Jefos ". 
 
 Such is the affiftance which we receive 
 from the Spirit of God ; and fuch the genuine 
 indications of its real exiftence in us, that we 
 duly cooperate with it, and are fuitably im- 
 proved by it. 
 
 Many falfe pretences to this grace are fre- 
 quently affumed by the vain, many falfe ap- 
 pearances of it held forth by the deluded part 
 of mankind. Thefe deceits are at all times 
 big with danger, and have oftentimes been 
 producSive of very fatal effeds. Enthufiafts * 
 
 ■ Phil. iii. 14. 
 
 ^ It were much to be wifhed, that all men, but erpeciall^ 
 perfons of this caft, would confider themfelves, not only as in- 
 dividuals, but as members of fociety ; and, in this country, 
 as members of a ChriPdan fociety, and of a church perhaps 
 more wifely reformed than any protellant church in the world, 
 more nicely poifed between the corruptions of the church of 
 
 S Rome 
 
258 SERMON VIIL 
 
 of every fort muft be watched with nice at- 
 tention, and guarded againft with the utmoft 
 
 Rome on the one hand, and the errors and phrenzles of fanati- 
 cifm on the other. Now if perfons are to live in rociety, they 
 fliould conform their minds and opinions to fuch general rules 
 and practices, as are efTential to the very fupporj. of it. They 
 muft of courfe be fubjeft to the higher pov/ers, and obey them 
 that have the rule over them, and fubmit themfelves ; as thefe 
 are principles, not only agreeable to the diftates of their reafon 
 and confcience, but enforced by the revealed will of God. 
 They fhould confider the general welfare as a point of the firft 
 and greateil: importance, to be promoted by the wifeil and 
 fureft methods ; and hence fhould be careful of Tapping a well- 
 conftrufted edifice, devifed for this purpofe by the wifdom of 
 our anceftors, or weakening the foundations of it, before they 
 are perhaps fufficiently acquainted which the whole to be com- 
 petent judges of its propriety and beauty, or fufficiently expe- 
 rienced to corre(51, or even point out its defefts. They fhould 
 attend duly to the following fentiments of the judicious Mr. 
 Hooker. ** Except our own private, and but probable refolu - 
 ** tions, be by the law of public determinations overriuled, we 
 ** take away all poflibility of fociable life in the world. The 
 '^ beft men otherwife are not always the bell in regard of fociety. 
 *^ The reafon whereof is, that the law of men's aftions is one, if 
 ** they be refpefted only as men, and another when they are 
 "^ confidered as parts of a politic body. — By following the law 
 " of private reafon, v;'here the law of public fliould take place, 
 *' they breed difturbance." Ecclef. Pol. b. i. p. 102. 
 
 I'hefe obfervations are certainly not meant with the leaft 
 defign to infringe on the right of a private and well-informed 
 judgement, expecially in matters of importance. But they are 
 chiefly offered with a view to difcourage and prevent divifions, 
 and to promote unity and peace. And 1 am forry to add, that 
 the complexion of the times feems to call for them too loudly. 
 The inclinations of many appear to be fadly warped by pride 
 and felf-will, to be too much addided to cn.inge and imio- 
 
 v a lion, 
 
SERMON VIIL 259 
 
 caution. Their zealis generally of a very in- 
 temperate caft, which too frequently outruns 
 their knowledge and their judgement. They 
 feldom allow themfelves time to difcriminate 
 properly ; and hence many hot infufions, the 
 refult of their diftempered and prejudiced fan- 
 cies, are miftaken for the dictates of the fpirit 
 of God. Inftead of flopping to examine them 
 by the only unerring rule, whether they will 
 produce the fruits of the fpirit, whether they 
 tend to improve and forward them in virtue 
 and holinefs, they too often fuffer themfelves 
 to be impetuoufly borne away by them to the 
 fubverfion of order, truth, public and private 
 peace, and fometimes to the introduction of 
 fuch nlifchievous efFedts, as may endanger the 
 exiftence of civil fociety itfelf. 
 
 The greateft evils may be feared from the 
 perverfion and abufe of the moft excellent 
 things. Nothing can be more falutary, no- 
 thing more beneficial for us, than this grace 
 of the fpirit of Chrift. Yet nothing is more 
 
 vatlon, and to be more folicitous for matters of lefTer moment, 
 or even fpeculative notions, than for the more important truths 
 acd vital energies of the religion of Chrifl. 
 
 S 2 danger- 
 
25o S E R M O N VIII. 
 
 dangerous, or attended perhaps with more fre- 
 quent and fatal michiefs, than the perverlion 
 of this invaluable gift by deluded or defigning 
 men. Where a mifchief of any fort creeps on 
 gradually, it may be checked, or flopped, or 
 diverted into a better channel ; but v^here it 
 forces itfelf with great impetuofity, and 
 quickly fwells into a torrent, it may furpafs 
 the art of man to reftrain its bounds, if its firfl 
 faUies are not guarded againfl: with prudent 
 attention and the mcft difcreet vigilance. The 
 Apoftle St. John exhorts us to try thejpirits^ 
 whether they are of God^ -, bring them to the 
 teft of his dodrines, and the ftandard of his 
 laws : And St. Paul has recounted among the 
 works of the flefli a black catalogue of vices % 
 which we are alTured are not of the fpirit ; 
 and in general we may conclude, that what- 
 ever is not agreeable to the fpirit of a found 
 mind and a good heart, cannot proceed from 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 II. Nor is the interceffion of cur great 
 High-priefb confined to the gifts or graceS;, 
 
 ' I John iv. It *" Gal. V. 19—21. 
 
 which 
 
SERMON VIIL 261 
 
 which we receive from his fpirit on earth; 
 but he continually appears in the prefence of 
 God for us ; to perform the office of our ad- 
 vocate, to plead our caufe, and his merits with 
 the Father in that fame nature, wherein he 
 lived and died amongft the fons of men : 
 which is the fecond conlideration I propofed 
 to refled: on. 
 
 There is fuch an infinite difparity between 
 the divine and the human nature, between 
 the great fupreme Lord of all things and fin- 
 ful duft and aflies, that we might well be 
 afraid to appear before the prefence of his 
 dread Majefty, and anxious to enquire who 
 ihall intercede for us at the throne of his grace. 
 Now neither the religion of nature, nor the 
 inflitutions of Mofes could fatisfy men's minds 
 in this refpedt. The multiplicity and variety 
 of deities, to which the heathens addrefled 
 themfelves, muft fhew that they were fully 
 convinced of the neceflity of feme mode of 
 interceffion, though they were fadly bewildered 
 and loft in the inveftigation of the true one. 
 And though the law of Mofes directed the 
 priefts to intreat the Almighty in behalf of his 
 
 S 3 people. 
 
262 SERMON VIIL 
 
 people, yet neither the fins of the priefts, nor 
 the mortality to which they were liable, could 
 fufFer the people to be fatisfied with fuch in- 
 terceflbrs, unlefs they were confidered as re- 
 prefenting fome greater and better High-Prieft 
 to come. 
 
 But what the law, or the minijiration of 
 death % could not fupply, the bringing in of a 
 better hope di^^. By the Gofpel we are af- 
 fured, that our bleffed Lord is feated at the 
 right hand of God, to make interceffion for 
 thofe, who would come unto God by him, 
 who through faith and patience delire to in- 
 herit his promifed falvation. He is gone, not 
 into the holy places made with hands ^ like the 
 priefts under the law ; but into Heaven itfelf 
 there to appear in the prefence of God for us "" : 
 where he is our mighty and prevailing Inter- 
 cejlbr, exerting his intereft with the Author 
 of all goodnefs in our behalf. 
 
 Not that the Almighty Parent of all is of 
 
 * z Cor. iii, 7. ^ Heb. vii. 19, ^ Heb. ix. 24. 
 
 himfelf 
 
SERMON VIII. 263 
 
 himfelf unwilling to grant our requefts, if 
 they are fuch, as his wifdom may judge pro- 
 per and expedient for us : but he hath ap- 
 pointed us in this manner to make our ad- 
 drefles to him, as probably for other reafons 
 beft known to his all- feeing Providence, fo 
 for thefe obvious ones to us, to convince us 
 of our own unworthinefs, and to infpire us 
 with a fuitable reverence, and a confidential 
 affurance of his favourable regard. And there- 
 fore our Lord ftill exercifes his mediatorial 
 office before the throne, prefents our prayers 
 and fupplications to the King of Heaven, and 
 obtains a favourable anfwer to all the real 
 wants of his faithful fervants, by pleading the 
 efficacy of his merits, and the fufficiency of 
 his ranfom. All the fuccours we ftand in 
 need of, all the graces v/e can hope for, all 
 the favours we could wiih, our pardon, grace, 
 and ilrength, are all derived down to us 
 through his mediation, in whom the Father 
 is well pleafed. He knoweth all our weak- 
 nefles, temptations, diftreffes ; and, having 
 ihared the fame nature with us, is toiiched 
 
 S 4 . %vtth 
 
264 SERMON VIIL 
 
 with the feeling of our infirmities^ -, and in that 
 he hath fpffered himfelf being temp ted 9 is able 
 tofuccour all thofe that are tempted *. 
 
 Nor is he lefs willing than able to under- 
 take our caufe, and to promote our fuit. For 
 he is cur merciful and companionate High- 
 prieft, always ready to receive our prayers, 
 and to hearken unto our requefts 3 who hath 
 given us this comfortable afliirance, that 
 whatfoever we Jljall afk the Father in his name, 
 he will give it us ^ ; as far as is confiflent with 
 his glory, and our real welfare. On which ac- 
 counts we are exhorted to come boldly unto the 
 T'hrone of Grace y that we may obtain mercy ^ 
 and find grace to help in time of need ^^. 
 
 Under the legal difpenfation the prieflhood 
 was continually changing by reafon of death; 
 but our great High-prieft hath an unchange- 
 able prieflhood, and continueth for evermore^. 
 His mediation therefore is fo powerful, and 
 of fuch conftant and continual efficacy, that 
 
 ^Heb. iv. 15. <=Ch. ii. 18. ^ John xv. i6. 
 
 s Heb. iv. 16. ^ Ch. vii. 23, 24. 
 
 nothing 
 
SERMON VIII. 265 
 
 nothing more is wanting, to bring all who 
 will duly avail themfelves of it unto God. 
 
 Neither is there any other power to whom 
 we are allowed to make our applications. For 
 as there is one, and but one God; fo there is 
 one, and but one. Mediator between God and 
 man, the man Chrijl Jefiis'\ He alone is 
 mighty to fave, and he is able alfo to fave to 
 the uttermoji thofe that come unto God by him. 
 We have no authority to alk the mediation 
 or interpofition of any other, have no founda- 
 tion to think that departed fpirits can hear our 
 prayers, much lefs can anfwer our requefts. 
 Even the worfcipping of angels is confidered 
 by St. Paul, as a voluntary humiliation that 
 may beguile us of our reward''. And the 
 adoration of thofe of the fame imperfed na- 
 ture with ourfelves, is a fort of will-wor/hip, 
 which is not fupported by fcripture, and 
 which, however difguifed by fubtle diftinc- 
 tions, or palliated by artful evaiions, or avov/- 
 ed by bold reprefentations, is nothing lefs than 
 
 ^ \ Tim. ii. 5. * Col. ii. 18. 
 
 idolatry. 
 
266 S E R M O N VIIL 
 
 idolatry ^ The commandment, as cited by 
 our Saviour, is exprefs and decifive^ T^bou 
 Jhalt worjhip the Lord thy God^ and Him only 
 Jhalt thoujerve "". For he will be very jealous, 
 if we give his honour to another. How great 
 or how highly efieemed foever, the creature 
 may be, it muft never ufurp any ihare of the 
 glory due to the Creator, who is over all, the 
 only wife God, hlejjedfor evermore °. There is 
 therefore no other name, but that of our one 
 mediator Jefus Chrift, whereby we can be 
 faved "" ; and by Him alone we have accefs 
 through one fpirit unto the Father p. 
 
 III. But we are not yet arrived to the full 
 fenfe of the mediatorial kingdom, according 
 to the fcripture account of it : for our bleffed 
 Lord not only afiifts us with his grace, and 
 ilrengthens us with his intereft, but farther 
 
 ^ It is mentioned by PufFendorf, that Leo Ifaurus quite ejedlcd 
 images out of the churches, becaufe the adoration of them was 
 wholly degenerated into idolatry ; and as to the outward ap- 
 pearance, the Saints were more regarded than God himfelf^ 
 Introd. to Europe, p. 405. 
 
 ^ Luke iv. 8. ^' Rom. ix. 5. ° Ads iv. 12. 
 
 ? Epiief. \i.\%, 
 
 protects 
 
SERMON VIII. 267 
 
 protefts and fupports us with his omnipotence 
 or unlimited authority. 
 
 Many are the adverfaries, which the church 
 of Chrift muft contend with in this its ftate 
 of warfare ; many the allaults which it hath 
 had to conflid: with, and which it muft ftill 
 encounter, from wicked fpirits, as well as 
 from wicked men. Sin and Satan are the 
 principal enemies of our falvation. Thefe 
 our mighty Redeemer will fo far curb and re- 
 flrain, that they fhall be no prevailing impe- 
 diment to our eternal intereft, if we will man- 
 fully exert ourfelves, and under his banners 
 ftrenuouily aim at vid:ory. 
 
 Nothing fhall ever prevail againft the church 
 of Chrift, how many things foever may re- 
 main to oppofe it. Neither the influence of 
 fin or of the Devil will be entirely abolifhed, 
 till the confummation of all things, when 
 every enemy fliall be put under his feet. Thefe 
 enemies however, though not yet finally de- 
 ftroyed by the Son of God, are fubdued unto 
 him : fo that fin fhall no longer reign over 
 
 the 
 
268 SERMON VIII. 
 
 the mortal bodies of his ele6t, nor the 
 prince of the darknefs of this world exercife 
 any commanding authority over thofe that 
 will live godly in Chrift Jefus. 
 
 So far thefe foes are already put under the 
 foctftooi of the Mediator, that they can have 
 no power over his faithful fervants, nor injure 
 thofe who fight the goad fight of faith, that 
 they may lay hold of eternal life '^. T^he Lord 
 knowethy and always fecureth, them that are 
 his % thofe that naming the name, and em- 
 bracing the faith, of Chrift, depart from ini- 
 quity, T^ he fouls of the righteous are continu- 
 ally in the hand cf Gody and their hope is full 
 of immortality^ : and thofe that by his grace 
 are enabled to overcome all the dangers and 
 temptations of the world, are the approved of 
 God, whom he hath found worthy for him- 
 felf, and fuch hath God the Father fealed. 
 Though an hoft fliould affail them, yet will 
 they not be afraid \ the fovereign influence of 
 Chrift will guard and proted: them in all ad- 
 
 "3 t Tim. vi. !2. '2 Tim. ii. 19. * Wlfd. iii. i, 4. 
 
 verfities. 
 
SERMON VIIL 269 
 
 veriitles, and the Lord will remember them 
 in that day, wbe?i be maketh up his jeivels \ 
 and they fliall inherit his glory. 
 
 But upon thofc that refufe the ofiers of 
 mercy, and will not have the Son of God to 
 reign over them, the authority of fm and 
 Satan obtains ftill too fure an influence. The 
 children of difobedience, over whom fm reign- 
 eth unto death, yield themfelves a prey unto 
 that malicious fpirit, who is continually wan- 
 dering abroad on the earth, feeking who?n he 
 7nay devour ". He hath indeed no power over 
 us without our confent : but if any, inflead 
 of refifting him, refign themfelves to his fway, 
 will abdicate their true Lord and Mafter, and 
 fuffer other lords to have dominion over them, 
 they muft be fubjeft to his tyranny, and par- 
 take of his mifery, whofe vafllils and ilaves 
 they are. And it is but jufi, that fuch as 
 obftinately refufe to honour Chrifl by their 
 obedience and voluntary fubmifiion, ihould 
 contribute to the tremendous giofy of his 
 
 «Mal. iii. 17. ' "1 Pet. v, 8. 
 
 Maje% 
 
270 SERMON Vlir. 
 
 Majefty by their final doom and awful fen« 
 tence, configning them to that everlajlmg 
 punijhmenty which is prepared for the Devil 
 and his angels'". Thus horrible will be the 
 end of the unrighteous generation ^, thus ter- 
 ribly will they difplay his averfion to fin, and 
 the fearful refentment of the abufed goodnefs 
 and iuftice of God. 
 
 As our prefent exiftence is a ftate of tryal and 
 difcipHne, the enemies of our falvation mufi: 
 continue with us, till thofe that are approved 
 fhall be made manifeft. T!he lajl enemy that 
 fiall be defrayed is death '" y and at that dread 
 period, v/hen death fhall be no more, ov Jhall 
 be fwallowed up in viSiory ^, all the powers 
 that oppofe themfelves, fhall be at an end 
 likewife. Then, when death and hell are 
 entirely vanquifhed, and multitudes of the true 
 fons of God are brought unto glory, the me- 
 diatorial authority itfelf fhall be completed 
 and ceafe ; the grand fcheme of our redemp- 
 tion being finally clofed, and thofe, who are 
 
 * Matt. XXV. 41. 7 Wifd. iii. iq. 
 
 * I Cor^. XV. 26. * Ver. 54, 
 
 found 
 
SERMON VIIL 271 
 
 found worthy, admitted to reign in the realms 
 
 ofblifs for ever. When, upon a review of 
 
 the mighty power of God difplayed in the 
 
 falvation of mankind through the fatisfadlion 
 
 and atonement of Chrift, the whole hoft of 
 
 heaven will loudly proclaim. Worthy is the 
 
 Lamb that was Jlain to receive power, and 
 
 riches y and wijdoniy a7id Jirength, and honour ^ 
 
 and glory y afid blejjing. Blefflng xhtxtiort and 
 
 hojioury and glory y and power y be ujito him 
 
 that Jitteth upon the thronCy and unto the 
 
 Lamb for ever and ever ^, 
 *j 
 
 We have now finiflied our propofed plan, 
 and, under the guidance of the fcriptures, 
 given an imperfedl fketch of the mediatorial 
 kingdom, from the fall of man, or the lofs of 
 his original blifs through fin, to the comple- 
 tion of his recovery and full reinftatement 
 into the favour of God, through the mercies 
 and merits of the fore-ordained Deliverer: the 
 defign of whofe final difpenfation is, that as 
 fin bath reigned imto death, even Jo fnoiild 
 
 ^ Rev. \\ 12.13. 
 
 grace 
 
272 SERMON Vlir. 
 
 grace reign through righteoujnefs unto eternal 
 life by Jefus Chriji our Lord *". 
 
 Long had men laboured and bewildered 
 themfelves to find out a remedy for the evil 
 of fin, and the way to peace and happinefs. 
 But their reafonings upon the exiftence of a 
 future fl:ate were fo intricate or precarious^ 
 that no eiforts of their own could difcover the 
 certainty, much lefs afcertain the path, of 
 everlafting hfe. So far indeed the mind and 
 will of God were made known to men, that 
 at no period does the Almighty Father of 
 Lights feem to have left himfelf without 
 witnefs ; and in every age of the old world 
 his faithful fervants had a fufiicient (hare of 
 knowledge to enliven their hopes, and induce 
 them to take refuge in the profpecl of his 
 promifed mercies; which there was always 
 reafon to believe would be {hewn to thofe, 
 who fliould live in the faith and fear of God, 
 and the confcientious obfervance of his known 
 laws. But there appears to have been fo 
 
 « Rom. V. 21. 
 
 jnuch 
 
S E R M O N VIII. 273 
 
 much of human weaknefs, intermixed with 
 their profpeds and conlblations, that the hopes 
 of the mod part were then gloomy and un- 
 certain, of the heft not without fome allays 
 of fear and imperfection. As they could open 
 no fountain for fm and for uncieannefs, they 
 could not draw the waters of eternal life. 
 
 Beholdy then, what manner of love the Fa- 
 ther hath bejlowed upon iis^, to whom Hfe 
 and immortality are brought to light by the 
 Gofpel. To us it is given to know this 
 myftery of the kingdom of Heaven, to hear 
 him, v/ho alone had the words of eternal life, 
 to have the reality of our future exiftence 
 made as clear and plain to us as matter of 
 fail, as fure as the Word of God. This, 
 were it no more, is a glorious fubjedl for our 
 m.od elevated contemplations ; and the mind 
 cannot but exult in the thought, that it iliall 
 be for ever. But it is indeed much more ; it 
 immediately influences our praftice by fetting 
 the rule of our ccndud beyond all poffibility 
 
 •* I John iii. i . 
 
 T of 
 
274 SERMON VIII. 
 
 of doubt, and the motives to our obfervance 
 of it, beyond every fhadovv of objedion. So 
 that v\^hat muft otherw^ife have been darknefs 
 to our ileps, what we fliall be hereafter, is 
 now become the hght of our Hfe. 
 
 In proportion to our uncertainty concerning 
 any end, we are always apt to fluctuate and 
 miflake in the appUcation of the means. 
 The foul of man, how v/illing foever to affert 
 its prerogative to govern the inferior part of 
 our coiiftitution, can but ill maintain its fu- 
 periority, v^hile pailion and appetite difpute 
 the queftion j whether the pure reafon of 
 things iliould be the only guide of a being 
 not purely rational ; whilil: the folicitations of 
 pleafure and pain, and the views of prefent 
 intereft, point out a very different courfe, and 
 urge a deviation from the rugged ways of 
 truth and right. 
 
 But Eternity being once put in the fcale, 
 the motives of pleafure, pain, and intereft, 
 all come over with an united weight to the 
 fide of virtue. We nov7 indeed fee what is 
 
 man. 
 
SERMON VIII. 275 
 
 man, and wherefore is he ; what is his good, 
 and what is his evil; and know what a 
 wretched bargain we fhould make, ihould we 
 gain the whole worlds and lofe our own fouls "• 
 We have now therefore a victory, which 
 overcometh the world, even that faith, which 
 is the evidence of things not feen ^ the con- 
 vidlion that the things which are feen are te?n* 
 poraly but the things which are not feen are 
 eternal^. We may now, in whatfoever con- 
 dition we are here for a time, under all temp- 
 tations, and in all afflidtions, whether of life 
 or death, fupport and comfort ourfelves, and 
 one another i with thefe wordsy We fhall not 
 only be for ever, but Jhall ever be with the 
 Lord\ 
 
 Wherefore as God hath thus fent his Son 
 to blefs us, let this bleffing be not defeated in 
 its defign, of turning us away from our ini- 
 quities : but let every one that hath this hope 
 ilrive to purify himfelf, even as God is pure ; 
 let him give all diligence to add to his faith 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 26. *■ Heb. xi. i. ^ 2 Cor. Iv. i 
 *» I Their, iv. 18. 
 
 every 
 
276 S E R M O N VIII. 
 
 every virtue, always abounding in the work of 
 the Lordy Jince we know that our labour Jhall 
 not be in vain in the Lord '\ 
 
 ^ I Cor. XV. 58. 
 
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