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 (Princeton C^eofogicaf ^eminarg 
 
 sec 10,773 
 
 
 Jones, William, 1726- 
 
 -1800. 
 
 A course of lectures 
 
 on the 
 
 figurative language 
 
 of the 
 
^fe. 
 
?2^ IScC 
 
A 
 
 COURSE OF LECTURES 
 
 ON THE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF THE 
 
 HOLY SCRIPTURE, 
 
 A N D T H E 
 
 Interpretation of it from the Scripture itfelf- 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF 
 
 NAYLAND IN SUFFOLK, 
 
 IN THE YEAR 1 786; 
 Tb WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 FOUR LECTURES ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE 
 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, 
 
 AS IT IS SET FORTH IN 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 ALSO, 
 A SINGLE LECTURE ON THE 
 
 NATURAL EVIDENCES of CHRISTIANITY; 
 
 DELIVERED AS A SERMON ON MR. FAIRCHILd's FOUNDA-. 
 TION, AT THE CHURCH OF ST. LEONARD, SHOREDITCH, 
 
 On the Tuefday in Whitfiin Week, 1787. 
 
 By WILLIAM JONES, M.A. F.R.S, 
 
 Author of the Catholic Do£lrine of the Trinit}^, &c. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, Patsi-nolter Ro\ 
 
 M DCC LSXXIX, 
 
TO THE MOST REVEREND HIS GRACE 
 
 JOHN MOORE, D. D. 
 
 LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, 
 
 PRIMATE. AND METROPOLITAN OF ALL ENGLAND; 
 
 THIS VOLUME OF 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 INTENDED TO PROMOTE A MORE ACCURATE AND 
 
 INTERESTING KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE 
 
 LANGUAGE AND DOCTRINE OF THE 
 
 PLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, 
 
 IS MOST HUMBLY RECOMMENDED 
 AND INSCRIBED, BY 
 
 HIS G R A C Fs 
 
 MOST OBLIGED, 
 
 MOST FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT 
 
 HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 WILLIAM JON E S. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 THE 
 
 INTRODUCTION: 
 
 IN WHICH IT IS SHEWN, HOW THE LANGUAGE 
 OF THE SCRIPTURE DIFFERS FROM THAT 
 OF OTHER BOOKS; AND WHENCE ITS OBSCU* 
 RITY ARISES, 
 
 WHEN the maker of the world be- leg t, 
 comes an author, his word mufl: , ^* ^ 
 be as perfeft as his work : the glory of 
 his wifdom muft be declared by the one 
 as evidently as the glory of his power is 
 by the other: and if nature repays the 
 philofopher for his experiments, the fcrip- 
 ture can never difappoint thofe who are 
 properly exercifed in the ftudy of it. 
 
 The world which God hath made is 
 
 open to every eye; but to look upon the 
 
 B works 
 
2 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LEC T. works of nature, and to look into the ways 
 '^ — . — ' of nature, are very different things; the 
 latter of which is the refult of much la- 
 bour and obfervation. If the ceconomy 
 of nature is not to be learned from a tran- 
 fient infpeftion of the heavens and the 
 earth; and if the ground will not yield 
 its flrength but to thofe who diligently 
 turn it up and cultivate it; who can ima- 
 gine that the wifdom of God's word can 
 be difcovered at fight by every common 
 reader? Nature muft be compared with 
 itfelf ; and the fcripture muft be compared 
 with itfelf, by thofe who would under- 
 ftand either the one or the other. 
 
 Every fcience hath its own elements ; 
 It hath a fort of alphabet peculiar to it- 
 felf; which muft be learned in the firft 
 place, before any judgment can be formed, 
 or any pleafure received when that fcience 
 is treated of: for none but fools are ena- 
 moured with w^hat they do not under- 
 ftand; and few things can be underftood 
 without being firft learned. How can I 
 U7iderjland^ faid the Ethiopian Eunuch, 
 
 unlefs 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 unlefs fome man Jhould guide vie? When he 
 looked into the prophet Ifaiah, he had a 
 book before him, in which it frequently 
 happens that the thing fpoken of is not 
 the thing intended; and he knew not how 
 to diftinguifh : of whom fpeaketh the pro- 
 phet this ? faid he ; of hlmfelf or of fome 
 other man ? Therefore he wanted one to 
 guide him. But the cafe is fo particular, 
 that fomething more than the guidance of 
 man is necellary: and the royal prophet 
 was fenfible of it, when he faid, Open 
 thou mine eyes^ that J may fee the won- 
 drous things oj thy law. Even in men of 
 honed minds, well aftecled to the truth, 
 there was found a flownefs of heart, which 
 our bleffed Saviour found it neceffary to 
 remove by his own immediate grace, be- 
 fore his difcourfe could be underftood : 
 then opened he their underjlandings^ that 
 they might under (land thefcripture, 
 
 Thefe, and many other like paflages, 
 
 /hew, that there is a certain obfcurity in 
 
 the language of the bible, Vv'hich renders 
 
 it difficult to be underftood : that there is 
 
 B 2 fome- 
 
 LECT. 
 I. 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 fomething which common eyes cannot 
 difcern : and it may be colledled from 
 what happens to us in every other kind of 
 learning, that there are elements or prin- 
 ciples which muft be known and allowed, 
 before we can underftand what the fcrip- 
 tures contain. The cafe of the Jews de* 
 monftrates by a notorious fad:, that the 
 matter of the bible may be grofsly mifap- 
 prehended and falfely interpreted. They 
 were zealoufly afFeded, after their man- 
 ner, to Mofes and the prophets : they 
 were familiarly acquainted with their wri- 
 tings, and underftood the original language 
 in which they were delivered. But fl:ill> 
 they had eyes without feeing^ and ears with' 
 out hearing. The bible was open before 
 them 5 but their attention or their aiFec- 
 tion (one of the two it muft have been) 
 did not penetrate beyond the furface. 
 And as our Saviour preached to them in 
 the fame way as Mofes and the prophets 
 had written, (of which we (hall fee more 
 hereafter) they were as much at a lofs for 
 the meaning of his difcourfes, as for the 
 t;rue fenfc of the law and the prophets. 
 
 The 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 5 
 
 The fame defeA may be in us at this day, LECT. 
 and certainly is in many, although we '■ — , — ' 
 have the fcripture in our mother tongue • 
 a bleffing which was denied to us fo long 
 as we were under the authority of the 
 Church of Rome, If a man hears the 
 bible all his life with a Jewifli mind, he 
 will know no more of it at laft than the 
 Jews do. The fon of Adam will be 
 left as ignorant as the fon of Abraham, 
 unlefs his heart and underftanding are 
 opened to admit the principles of the 
 Chriftian Revelation. It is vain to ar- 
 gue about the fuperftrufture, fo long as 
 the foundation is difputed, either through 
 ignorance or difaffedion. 
 
 This obfcurity then in the word of God 
 doth not arife from the language or the 
 grammar ; for fo far the bible, like other 
 books, is the fubjedt of critical Induftry: 
 and much ufeful labour hath been em- 
 ployed by learned and pious men in clear- 
 ing the letter of the fcripture from the 
 ambiguities to which all language is fub- 
 jefl:. The dijfficulties under which the 
 B 3 Jew 
 
6 0?i the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. Jew laboured were not grammatical difii- 
 * — A-' culties : and whatever thefe may be in the 
 original, they are removed for all common 
 readers by the tranflation of the bible into 
 their mother tongue. The great difficul- 
 ties of the fcripture arife totally from 
 other caufes and principles; namely, from 
 the matter of which it treats, and the va- 
 rious forms under which that matter is 
 delivered. 
 
 Let us confider firft, how the cafe ftands 
 with refped: to the matter of the fcrip- 
 ture; and then fecondly, v/ith refpedt to 
 the form or manner in which that matter 
 is reprefented. 
 
 The bible treats of a difpenfation of 
 God, which began before this world, and 
 will not be finiihed till the world is at an 
 end, and the eternal kingdom of God is 
 eftablifhed. It informs us of the inftitu- 
 tion of religion in paradife, with the ori- 
 ginal dependence of man upon his maker: 
 of a primitive itate of man under a former 
 covenant, which is now forfeited; of his 
 
 temp- 
 
of the Holy Scripures, 
 
 temptation and fall: of the caufes 
 death, and the promife of redemption, 
 founds a ritual on the remiffion of fin by 
 the fhedding of blood, and the benefits of 
 interceffion; which the heathens alfo ac- 
 knowledged in the traditionary rites of 
 their priefthood. It relates the difperfion 
 of the Gentile nations, and the feparation 
 of the Hebrews. It foretells the mani- 
 feftation of a Saviour in the flefhj the re- 
 jedion of the Jews; the calling and con- 
 verfion of the heathens ; the eftablifhment 
 of the Chriftian Church, with its prefer- 
 vation againft the powers of the world, 
 and the gates of hell. It treats of a fpi- 
 ritual life, and renewed affedions in its 
 members; that they muft even be born 
 again in a fpiritual manner, and return to 
 a ftate of cbildifh fimplicity in their un- 
 derftandings ; it aflures us of the refur- 
 redlion of the body after death ; of the fu- 
 ture judgment of the world by the man 
 Jefus Chrift; of the glorification of the 
 faithful, and the condemnation of the 
 wicked. It opens to us an invifible v/orld 
 of fpirits, fome of whom are in alliance 
 B 4 v/ith 
 
8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L EC T. with God, and others in rebellion agalnft 
 ^ — ^ him; affuring us withal, that every man 
 
 will have his final portion with the one 
 
 party or the other. 
 
 None of thefe things are known to us 
 by nature; and it i? not pretended that 
 they are; for if man draws a fcheme of 
 religion for himfelf, not one of all thefe 
 articles finds a place in it. Therefore 
 as the nature of man doth not know any 
 of thefe things till God reveals them, it 
 muft of courfe be under two very great 
 difficulties ; firft, of underftanding or com- 
 prehending; and fecondly^ of admitting 
 or receiving them. 
 
 From the difficulty we are under of 
 comprehending fuch things as are above 
 natural reafon, the manner of the fcrip- 
 ture is as extraordinary as its matter : 
 and it muft be fo from the neceffity of 
 the cafe. Of all the objeds of fenfe we 
 have ideas, and our minds and memories 
 are ftored with them. But of invifible 
 things v/e have no ideas till they are 
 
 pointed 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 
 
 pointed out to us by revelation: and as 
 we cannot know them immediately, fuch 
 as they are in themfelves, after the man- 
 ner in which we know fenfible objefts, 
 they muft be communicated to us by the 
 mediation of fuch things as we already 
 comprehend. For this reafon, the forip- 
 ture is found to have a language of its 
 own, which doth not coniift of v/ords, 
 but of figns or figures taken from vifible 
 things. It could not otherwife treat of 
 God who is a fpirit, and of the fpirit of 
 man, and of a fpiritual world; which no 
 words can defcribq. Words are the arbi- 
 trary figns of natural things; but the lan- 
 guage of revelation goes a fi:ep farther, 
 ^nd ufes fome things as the figns of other 
 things; in confequence of which, the 
 world which we now fee becomes a fort 
 of commentary on the mind of God, and 
 explains the wofld in which we believe. 
 
 It being then the profeffed defign of 
 the fcripture to teach us fuch things as 
 we neither fee nor know of ourfelves, its 
 |lile and manner muft be fuch as are no 
 
 where 
 
lo On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. where elfe to be found. It muft abound 
 » — ^ with figurative expreffions ; it cannot pro- 
 ceed without them : and if we defcend to 
 an aftual examination of particulars, we 
 find it affifting and leading our faculties 
 forward ; by an application of all vifiblc 
 objedts to a figurative ufe; from the glo- 
 rious orb which fhines in the firmament, 
 to a grain of feed which is buried in the 
 earth. In this fort of language did our 
 bleffed Saviour infl:ru(a: his hearers; al- 
 ways referring them to fuch obje£ls as 
 were familiar to their fenfes, that they 
 might fee the propriety and feel the force 
 of his dodlrine. This method he ob- 
 ferved, not in compliance with any cufto- 
 mary figures of fpeech peculiar to the 
 Eaftern people, but confulting the exi- 
 gence of human nature, which is every 
 where the fame. He fpake a fort of lan- 
 guage which was to be carried out into 
 all lands ; and which we of the weftern 
 world are obliged to follow in our preach- 
 ing of the gofpel, becaufe we cannot 
 otherw^ife preach it fo as to be underftood 
 by our bearers. Here I find it neceffary 
 
 to 
 
of thi Holy Scriptures. ii 
 
 to confirm what I have advanced by fome L E c T. 
 examples. v«.v— ' 
 
 As we have but imperfeft notions of 
 the relations and differences between life 
 and deaths our Saviour, when he was about 
 to raife a maid to life, faid to thofe who 
 were prefent, the dam/el is not dead^ but 
 Jleepeth. He did not fay, fhc is dead, and 
 I will raife her to life ; but fhe is afleep ; 
 whence it was to be inferred that fhe 
 would awake. They who were not (killed 
 in the divine language of figns and figures, 
 laughed him to fcorn ; as if he had fpoken 
 in ignorance what was exprefl!ed v^ith con- 
 fummate truth and wifdom : For the fub- 
 ftitution of fleep for death, when we have 
 it upon fuch great authority, has the force 
 and value of an whole fermon in a fingle 
 word : it is a feed from whence a tree of 
 life may be unfolded. 
 
 Upon another like occafion our Saviour 
 expreffed himfelf in the fame manner to 
 his difciples; our friend Lazarus Jleepeth ; 
 and when they did not underftand the 
 
 force 
 
%z On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. force of his words, he faid plainly. La* 
 * — V — ' zarus is dead. When he fpake of the 
 deadnefs of the mind, a ftate, which, how- 
 ever real, muft always be invifible, be- 
 caufe the mind itfelf is fo ; he expreffed 
 it under the fame term with the death of 
 ^he body ; let the dead bury their dead* 
 of which expreffion no fenfe can be made 
 by thofe who are not aware, that the 
 fcripture fpeaks to us by things inftead of 
 words. Admit this principle, and then 
 all is clear and confiftent. It is as if 
 Chrift had faid, ** let thofe who are dead in 
 their fpirits, (with refped: to the new life 
 of the gofpel) employ themfelves in bury- 
 ing thofe who are dead in body 5 for they 
 are fit for nothing elfe : but by following 
 me and preaching the gofpel, thou fhalt 
 raife men from the death of fin unto the 
 life of righteoufnefs," 
 
 In the writings of the prophets, the 
 fpiritual bleffings of the gofpel are fo 
 conftantly defcribed under fome allufion 
 to nature, that their expreffions are not 
 true till they are figuratively interpreted. 
 
 Let 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. i^ 
 
 Let us take an example from the prophet LECT* 
 Ifaiah : Every valley Jhall be exalted^ and * — A--' 
 every mountain and hill Jlo all be made low, 
 and the crooked Jhall be made Jlrait^ and the 
 rough places plain. Who ever heard that 
 this was literally fulfilled ? In what part 
 of the world were all the mountains le- 
 velled ; the vallies filled up ; the crooked 
 and rough places made ftrait and plain ? 
 But in the figurative fenfe all thefe things 
 were to be brought to pafs in the minds 
 of men at the publication of the gofpel, 
 when all fiejh Jhould fee the fahation of 
 God'^. Then fhould the high and mighty 
 of this world be confounded and brought 
 low; the humble fhould be exalted, the 
 meek encouraged, the crooked ways of 
 men reftified, their wild and rugged tem- 
 pers foftened and civilized. 
 
 The bible has farther difficulties arifing 
 from another principle. For it pleafed 
 God, for wife ends, to exercife the faith 
 and devotion of his people with a fyftem 
 of forms and ceremonies, which had no 
 value but from their fignification. I men- 
 tion 
 
 * Luke iii. 6. 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 tlon no particulars here, becaufe they will 
 occur to us abundantly hereafter; but the 
 fadt is undoubted from that general afler- 
 tion of St. Paul, that the law had ajhadow 
 of good things to come * : and again, that 
 the inftituted meats and drinks, the holy 
 days, new moons and fabbaths, of the 
 law, are a Jhadow of things to cotne^ ha- 
 ving their fubftance in the doctrines and 
 myfteries of chriftianity ; or, as the apoftle 
 fneaks, whofe body is of Chriji-f, And 
 therefore in the gofpel things are Hill de- 
 fcribed to us in the terms of the law ; the 
 fubftance itfelf taking the language of the 
 fliadow, that the defign of both may be 
 tinderftood : as where the apoftle faith, 
 Chrijl our Pqffover is facrificed for us^ &cc» 
 from the application of which term to the 
 perfon of Chrift, we are taught under this 
 one word of the pa//over^ that he is to us 
 a lamb in meeknefs and innocence of 
 manners ; pure and fpotlfs from every 
 ftain of fin ^ fain (and that without the 
 breaking of his bones) for the redemption of 
 his people from the wrath of the de* 
 
 * Heb. X. I. t Col. ii. 17. 
 
 ftroyer j 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. i^ 
 
 ilroyer; 2.nA feeding with his body thofe LECT. 
 who put away zlYJeaven from their hearts. v~vL-/ 
 
 But now, befide this firft difficulty, 
 which we are under, of comprehending the 
 matter of the fcripture from the peculiar 
 manner in which it is delivered, we are 
 under a fecond difficulty as to the receive 
 ing of it ; without which our underftand- 
 ing of it will be very imperfe£t, if any at 
 all. For the force of men's minds is gene- 
 rally found to be according to their af- 
 feftions ; for which reafon the difafFeclion 
 of the Jew is attended with a very con- 
 fpicuous weaknefs of the underftanding. 
 We may lay it down as a certain truth, 
 confirmed by the experience of all men, 
 that when any objed is admitted into the 
 mind, it muft find a faculty there which 
 correfponds with its own peculiar nature. 
 When there is no appetite, the fweeteft 
 meat is of no value, and even the fight 
 and favour of it may be difagreeable. 
 When there is neither ear nor ikill in 
 mufic, heavenly founds give no delight ; 
 
 and with the blind the beams of the fun 
 
 give 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 give no beauty to the richeft profpeft. 
 It is thus in every other cafe of the 
 kind. The mathematician and logician 
 apply to the intuitive faculty of reafon ; 
 the poet to the imagination or mirror of 
 the mind ^ the orator to the fenfibility of 
 the afFeftions ; the mufician to the mufi- 
 cal ear. The mathematician demonftrates 
 nothing but to patient and attentive rea- 
 fon J to the Imagination which Is dull the 
 poet is a trifler ; on the hard and unfeel- 
 ing heart the orator makes no impreffion ; 
 and the fweeteft mufic Is referred to the 
 clafs of noifes, v^here there Is no fenfe of 
 harmony. Thus when God fpeaks of 
 things which are above nature, his mean- 
 ing muft be received by a faculty which 
 is not the gift of nature, but fuperadded 
 to nature by the gift of God himfelf. For 
 fplrltual truth there muft be a fpiritual 
 fenfe ; and the fcripture calls this fenfe by 
 the nnme oi faith : which word fome- 
 times fignifies the adl of believing ; fome- 
 times the matter which Is believed ^ but 
 in many paffages It Is ufed for that fenfe 
 or capacity In the Intelled, by which the 
 
 invlfible 
 
(f the Holy Scriptures. 1 7 
 
 Jhvifible things of the fpirit of God are LECT. 
 admitted and approved, v — ^ — / 
 
 It is a dodlrine which may occafion fome 
 mortification to human pride, and it fel- 
 dom fails to do fo ; but no doftrine of the 
 gofpel of Jefus Chrift is riiore decided 
 than this, that all men have not faith ; 
 that it is the gift of God wherever it is 
 founds and that the natural man ^ or mail 
 with no powers but thofe of our common 
 nature, receiveth not the things of the 
 fpirit of God: fo far from it, that they 
 feem foolifh, extravagant, and incredible, 
 and are reje£led with mockery and con- 
 tempt by men who can write a pleafant 
 ftyle, and who feem to be in other re- 
 fpeds (within the fphere of their afFec- 
 tions) very fenfible and ingenious perfons. 
 On what other ground but that of the 
 fcriptural diftindtion between faith and 
 natural reafon, is it poffible to account 
 for a fail which fo frequently occurred at 
 the firft publication of the gofpel ; when 
 the fame fpeech, the fame realbning, yea 
 and the fame miracle, had a totally dif- 
 
 C ferent 
 
1 8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. ferent effed on the minds of difFeren,! 
 » — J~^ hearers, all prefent on the fame occafion ? 
 When Peter and John healed the lame man 
 at the gate of the temple, and all the peo- 
 ple were fpe6lators of the fad, the apoftles 
 addrefied themfelves in a powerful dif- 
 conrfe to thofe who were prefent y the 
 lame man ftill cleaving to them, and {land- 
 ing by them as a witnefs : and thus they 
 made fome thoufands of converts to the 
 word of the gofpel. But behold, the Sad- 
 ducees were grieved at the doftrine of the 
 refurreftion, though preached with all the 
 force of truth from their own fcriptures, 
 and attended with the credential of an in- 
 difputable miracle ; which only vexed and 
 diftrelTed them the more. At i^thens, the 
 philofophers of the place, proud of their 
 Grecian talent for oratory and difputation, 
 confidered the matter of PauFs preaching 
 merely as a new thing, which gave them 
 an opportunity of queftioning and wrang- 
 ling. Some called him a babbler ; fome 
 faid they would hear him again ; fome 
 mocked at the refurreflion of the dead 5 
 while Dionyfius, one of their fenators, 
 
 Damaris, 
 
of the tioly Scriptures. I9 
 
 Damans, and fome others, clave unto LECT. 
 thenni and believed : in other words, they » — A-^ 
 received the gofpel v^ixh that facuhy of 
 the fpirit, which alone is fufceptible of 
 it. Till there is in man the fenfe which 
 receiveth thefe things, the book which 
 treats of them will not be underftood. If 
 they are rejeded, we muft conclude this 
 fenfe to be wanting : and when that is the 
 cafe, the evidence of a miracle will not 
 force its way through the hardnefs of the 
 human heart. Some fpeculative writers 
 kave treated of credibility and probability, 
 and the nature, and force, and degrees, of 
 evidence, as if we had rules for v/eighing 
 all truth to a (ingle grain w^ith mechani- 
 cal certainty : whereas in faft, man, with 
 all his boafted balancings of reafon, can 
 refift a proof that would confound a devil. 
 Compare the following examples : The 
 Jews faid, " as for this fellow we know not 
 whence he is." The devils faid, *' I know 
 thee v/ho thou art, the holy one of God.'* 
 The Jews faid, that Chrift caft out devils 
 through Belzebub their prince : but the 
 devils never faid fo themfelves. The fun 
 C 2 of 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 of the noon-day fhines without effeft upon 
 the blind, becaufe the proper fenfe is want- 
 ing : fo faith the Evangelift, the light 
 Jhineth in darknefsj and the darknefs com- 
 prehendeth it not. Vicious inclinations 
 and habits of fin, which render truth dif- 
 agreeable, are fure to have the effed of 
 weakening and perverting the judgment ; 
 this is the condemnation^ that light is come 
 into the world, and men loved darknefs ra- 
 ther than light, becaufe their deeds were 
 eviL The underflanding of truth implies 
 a love of truth ; and the underflanding 
 will be deficient fo long as that love is 
 wanting. None are fo blind as they who 
 are fo by choice; that is to fay, the ig- 
 norant are never found to be fo abfurd as 
 the difafFefted. The word of God is in 
 itfelf all-fufficient for the illumination of 
 the mind; it is a feed quick and vigorous 
 with the principles of life ; but, like other 
 feeds, it muft find fomething congenial 
 with itfelf in the foil into which it 
 falls. The word fpoken did not profit 
 the Jews J becaufe it was not mixed with 
 faith in them that heard it-, there was 
 
 nothing 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* a I 
 
 nothing in the foil to give It nouriih- lect. 
 ment and growth. *— ^^ — ' 
 
 The dlftindion which the fcripture hath 
 made between natural and fpiritual men ; 
 that is, between men that have faith and 
 men that have none, is agreeable to what 
 hath been obferved from the beginning of 
 the world ; that there have been two clafles 
 of people, all fprung from the fame ori- 
 ginal, but totally different in their views, 
 principles and manners. Before the flood, 
 they were diftinguifhed as the children of 
 Cain, and the children of Seth ; the latter of 
 whom inherited the faith of Abel. After 
 the flood we find them again under the de- 
 nominations of Hebrews and Heathens. In 
 the gofpel they appear to us as the children 
 of this worlds and the children of light: the 
 former cunning and aftive in their genera- 
 tion for the interefts of this life, the other 
 wife towards God and the things of eter- 
 nity. Thefe two run on together, like 
 two parallel lines, through the hiftory of 
 this world ; always near to one another, 
 but never meeting. Whoever confiders 
 C 3 this 
 
I. 
 
 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. this fad, will not be at a lofs for a 
 reafon, why the wifdom of God in the 
 fcripture is fo differently accepted in the 
 world. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to (hew that 
 the fcripture muft have its difficulties, and 
 whence they arife; we fhall obtain fome 
 farther light, if we enquire what the 
 fcripture hath faid concerning itfeif. 
 
 The great apoftle thus diftinguiflies be- 
 tween the language of revelation, and the 
 words of human wiCdom, *' We fpeak 
 the wifdom of God in a myfleryi even the 
 hidden wifdom — which none of the princes 
 of this world knew ; for had they known 
 it, they would not have crucified the Lord 
 of glory." By which he means, that the 
 priefls and rulers who flood up againft the 
 Lord, did fo for want of underflanding 
 that fenfe of the fcripture which is hid- 
 den under the figns and fymbols of it, in 
 a way totally different from the wifdom of 
 this world, and which the natural man* 
 
 ''■ I Cor. ii. ii|.» 
 
 caa 
 
cfthe Holy Scrip furesl 2 2 
 
 can neither fee nor admit. The word ^ect. 
 viy fiery c, in a vulgar acceptation, is ap- ^ — . — ' 
 plied to fuch things as are dark and unin- 
 telligible: but to fpeak in a myfiery^ as 
 the phrafe is ufed in the fcripture, is to 
 reveal fome facred and heavenly doftrine 
 under fome outward and vifible fign of it : 
 and thus the facraments of the church 
 being outward figns with an inward and 
 fpiritual meaning, are alfo to be under- 
 
 . flood as myfteries. This fenfe of the word 
 myjlery is afcertained by that paflage in 
 the revelation ; the myftery of the /even 
 
 jlars which thou faweji in my right hand, 
 mid the /even golden candle flicks : the feven 
 
 Jlars are the angels of the feven churches ; 
 and the feven candle flicks which thou [awe (i are 
 the feven churches. To fignify a church 
 holding forth the light of the gofpel, by 
 that domeftic inftrument of illumination 
 which holds a candle; and to lignify a 
 ruler or teachej by a flar which gives light 
 from the firmament of heaven, is to fpeak 
 under the form of a myftery ; which is 
 not neceflarily unintelligible, becaufe it 
 k here explained. So in another place ; 
 C 4 this 
 
24 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. this is a great myjlery^ faith the apoftle, but 
 .'— V — ' I /peak concerning Chriji and the church. 
 To teach us the union betwixt Chrift: and 
 the church, for the bringing forth of fons 
 to glory, under the fimilitude of Adamt 
 and Eve united in paradife for the multi- 
 plying of mankind upon earth, is alfo to 
 fpeak in a myftery. The forcerefs in the 
 Revelation^, who is called by the name 
 of Babylon, bath the word Mystery 
 infcribed with that name upon her forer 
 head ; becaufe Babylon is there not literal, 
 but figurative or myftical, to denote that 
 abomination of idolatry, by the forceries 
 of which all nations were deceived-^: She 
 fitteth on 2. fc ark t- colour d heaft^ fupported 
 by the imperial powers of this world, 
 called, the kings of the earth \ and the wine 
 in her cup is the falfe dodrine with which 
 flie intoxicates the minds of men. 
 
 This hidden ivifdom of the fcripture is 
 to be confidered as treafure hid in the earth, 
 for which men mull fearch with that 
 fame zeal and labour with which they 
 
 f Chap, :ivii, f Chap. xii. 23. 
 
 penetrate 
 
tf the Holy Scriptures* 2^ 
 
 penetrate Into a mine of gold: for when LECT. 
 our Saviour commands us to fearch the ^ — ^ 
 fcrlptures for their teftimony of himfelf, 
 the language of the precept implies that 
 kind of fearching by which gold and filver 
 are difcovered under ground. He who 
 doth not fearch the word of God in that 
 manner, and with that fpirit, for what ig 
 to be found underneath it, will never dif- 
 cover its true value. The fame principle 
 is inculcated with a like allufion, when 
 the divine law is compared to honey and 
 the honey comb ; an inward fenfe being 
 therein hidden, as when the bee feals up 
 its treafure in the cells of wax : and the 
 one when taken out is as fweet to the un- 
 derftanding as the other is to the palate. 
 It is alfo as the corn in the hufk, w^hich 
 mufl: be taken from thence by the labour 
 of the ox on the threfhing floor, (as the 
 cuftom was of old) before it can fup- 
 port the life of man. As the difciples 
 of Chrift plucked the ears of corn, and 
 jrubbed them in their hands on the fab- 
 bath day, fo fhould every chriftian preacher 
 handle the word of God before it can give 
 
 nourifhment 
 
26 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. nourifliment to their hearers. The k- 
 ^ — A-> bour of the miniftry is certainly alluded to 
 in that precept relating to the thrcfhing 
 floor, thou Jhalt not muzzle the ox whefz 
 he treadeth out the corn: for the apoftle 
 ; feems to wonder how any could be fo ab- 
 furd as to fuppofe that God confidered 
 nothing but the benefit of the beaft on 
 this occafion ; as if he had care of oxejz, 
 when he undoubtedly meant to aflign the 
 reward, and fignify the work of his mi- 
 wjiersy who labour in the word and doctrine. 
 It is the work of the miniftry to expound 
 the word of God, as the labouring ox in 
 the threfhing floor treadeth out the grain 
 from the chaff: and as the ox is not 
 muzzled at fuch a time, but partakes 
 freely of the fruits of his labour ^ fo by 
 parity of juftice, they who preach the 
 word have a right to live of it. 
 
 That there is both a plain and a figura- 
 tive fenfe in the language of the fcripture, 
 particularly in the law, is clear from the 
 Apoftle's reafoning on another occafion. 
 yit give$ a name to each of thefe, diftin- 
 
 guilhing 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 27 
 
 guifliing them under the contrary terms LECT, 
 of the letter and t\\Qfpirit: which terms ^ — ^r-^ 
 are not unfrequently applied in the lan- 
 guage of civil life to the laws of the land, 
 in which there is a literal fenfe of the 
 words., and a deeper fenfe of their general 
 intention^ called the fpirit, which the let* 
 ter cannot always reach. 
 
 The letter of the fcripture is applied to 
 the outward inftitutions and ceremonies 
 of the law, as they ft and in the words of 
 the law without their interpretation : the 
 fpirit of them, or the intention of the law- 
 giver, is the fame with the dodrine of 
 the new teftament, called elfewhere the 
 good things to come^ of which the law had 
 an image and fliadow. In its wafliings 
 and purifications we fee the dodlrine of 
 baptlfm ; that is, of regeneration by water 
 and the fpirit of God*. In its facrifices 
 we fee the neceflity and efficacy of Chrift's 
 death once for all. Had it not been ne- 
 ceflary for man to be born of the fpirit, 
 gnd redeemed by the blood of Chrift, the 
 
 ■^' Ezech. xxxvi. 2£, 
 
 kw 
 
2$ On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. law would not have troubled the people 
 * — . — ' with wafhings and facrificesj for in that 
 cafe they would have fignified nothing, 
 and confequently would have been fuper- 
 / iluous and impertinent : whereas if we 
 take them right, the fervices of the law 
 are the gofpel in figurative defcription, 
 and the gofpel is the law in fpirit and fig- 
 nification. The paffover of the law is 
 align of Chrift that was to come 3 and 
 Chrift when he is come is the fenfe and 
 jfignification of the paffover. It is the duty 
 of a chriftian minifter not to difappoint 
 the law or the gofpel, but to do juftice 
 to the wifdom of God in both, and put 
 thefe things together, for the edification 
 of the people. *' Our fufficiency, faith 
 the apoftle, is of God, who hath made us 
 able minifters of the new tefiament, not 
 of the letter hut of the fpirit : for the let- 
 ter killeth, but the fpirit giveth life.'' 
 The letter of the law, voided of its evan- 
 gelical intention, leaves our bodies wafhed 
 but our fouls unclean ; it leaves us nothing 
 but the blood of bulls and of goats, and 
 ponfequently under guilt and forfeiture ^ 
 
 whence 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 29 
 
 whence the apoftle hath truly affirmed, LECT. 
 that in this capacity it is a minijiration of ^ — ^ 
 death. In his reafonings with the Jews, 
 he prefles them with the unreafonablenefs 
 and wickednefs of refting in the literal 
 obfervation of the law; telling them, 
 that by the letter and circimcifion they 
 tranfgrejfed the law* But how could this 
 be? did not the law ordain circumcifion 
 in the letter? it did undoubtedly: yet, 
 however paradoxical it may appear, the 
 literal obfervation of the law was a tranf- 
 greffion of the law. From whence it is a 
 neceflary confequence, that the letter of 
 the law was ordained only for the fake 
 of its fpirit or moral intention ; which the 
 Jew neglefting, while he trufted in the law 
 as a form, was in efFedt a tranfgreflbr of it ; 
 and was condemned in his error by the 
 Gentiles^ who without being born under 
 the letter of the law, had now attained to 
 the fpirit of it, and were better Jews 
 than the Jev/s themfelves: for, adds the 
 apoftle, he is not a Jew which is one out^ 
 wardly^ neither is that circumcijiony which 
 is outward in the jiejlo ; but he is a Jew 
 
 which 
 
30 On the FtguraffOe Language 
 
 LECT. iiDfjich is one inwardly ^ and circumcijion (as 
 ^ — . — ' Mofes himfelf had tatight'^) is that ^the 
 heart, in the fpirit and not in the letter. 
 
 To enquire more particularly into the 
 errors of the Jews and the caufes of them, 
 would be foreign to my defign. The fadt 
 is plain, that they erred by a literal inter- 
 pretation of their law ; and that by ftlll 
 adhering to the fame, they are no nearer to 
 the gofpel now than they were feventeen 
 hundred years ago. On the other hand, 
 the apoftles of Jcfus Chrift fucceeded in 
 their labours by being minijlers of the fpi- 
 rit ; ihat is, by interpreting and reafoning 
 according to an inward or figurative fenfe 
 in the law, the prophets, and the pfalms. 
 All the fathers of the chriftian church, 
 followed their example; particularly Ori'- 
 gen^ one of the moft ufeful and powerful 
 of primitive expofitors. Then were the 
 Jews confounded, the heathens converted, 
 the word of God was efficacious, and the 
 people were edified. The fame way of 
 teaching was obferved in the middle ages, 
 
 * Deut. X. xvi. 
 
 •till 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 3 1 
 
 'till the times of the reformation ; and even L BC T, 
 then our beft fcholars flill drew their di- ^ — ^ 
 vine oratory, particularly the learned and 
 accompllfhed Erafmus, from the fpiritual 
 w^ifdom of the firft ages. To revive and 
 promote which, within my own little 
 fphere, is the defign of this and the fol- 
 lowing leftures : in all which I fhall in- 
 variably follow the rule of making the 
 fcripture its own interpreter. And now I 
 have opened the way by fhewing in what 
 refpefts and for what reafons the ftyle of 
 the fcripture differs from that of other 
 books, and that it is fymbolical or figura- 
 tive; I propofe with God's leave to di- 
 flinguirti the figures of the fcripture into 
 their proper kinds, with examples and ex- 
 planations in each kind, from the fcrip- 
 ture itfelf. 
 
 LECT. 
 
[ 32 ] 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 ON THE FIGURES WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE 
 LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPTURE, AND THE 
 SEVERAL KINDS OF THEM, 
 
 XL 
 
 LECT. TT hath been fliewn in the former Lec- 
 X ture, that as the fcripture teaches fpl- 
 ritual things which cannot be taught in 
 words, the wifdom of God hath made ufe 
 of things, as figns and figures, to explain 
 them. This is done for feveral reafons : 
 firft, becaufe we cannot conceive things of 
 a fpiritual nature but by borrowing our 
 notions of them from the things that are 
 vifible and familiar to our fenfes. Second- 
 ly, becaufe the fcripture can fpeak under 
 this form to fome men, and reveal many 
 things to them, while the fame words 
 reveal nothing to others : like that pillar 
 in the wildernefs, which was a cloud of 
 darknefs to the Egyptians, while it gave 
 
 light 
 
of the Holy Script tires. 33 
 
 light to the Hebrews. Thirdly, because LECT, 
 an outward fign, fuch as tbofe of the ^ — ^1_/ 
 fcripture are, becomes a pledge and an 
 evidence of the thing fignified; as it 
 doubtlefs is a wonderful confirmation of 
 the gofpel to fee its myfteries exactly de- 
 lineated fo long before in the fervices of 
 the law of Mofes ; and much more to fee 
 them written in the chara6ters of nature 
 itfelf. 
 
 The things which the fcripture ufes as 
 figures of other things are taken, i. From 
 the natural creation, or world of fenfible 
 objedls. 2 From the inflitutions of the 
 law. 3. From the perfons of the pro- 
 phets and holy men of old time. 4, From 
 the hiftory of the church. 5. From the 
 aftions of infplred men, which in many 
 inftances were not only miracles but7?^;;^j- 
 of fomething beyond themfelves, and con- 
 formable to the general plan of our faka- 
 tion and redemption. 
 
 Thefe are the materials of that figura- 
 tive language in which the bible is writ- 
 D ten; 
 
-34 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. ten; and of the feveral kinds of them, as 
 
 IT. 
 
 V — , — ' here diftinguifhed, I fliall treat in their 
 order, after I have given a general defcrip- 
 tion of each, 
 
 I. When any objedl is taken from the 
 vifible creation, and applied as an illuftra- 
 tion or fign of fome fpiritual truth, we 
 call it a natural image. The fcripture 
 calls them Jimilitudes ; as in that paflage 
 of the prophet Hofea — / have multiplied 
 vipons, and ufcd fimilitudes by the minijiry 
 of the prophets'^. A difcourfe made up of 
 fuch is called a parable ; a form of fpeech 
 which our Saviour as a divine teacher 
 thought moft agreeable to the nature of 
 his own preaching, and to the wants of 
 his hearers. In which, however, he only 
 did what the fcripture had always done; 
 he inftrufled the eyes of the underftand- 
 ing by placing fome natural objed before 
 them 'y and as the vifible world through- 
 out is a pattern of the invifible, the figures 
 of the facred language built upon the 
 images of nature, are as extenfive as the 
 world itfelf i fo that it would be a vain 
 
 * Hofea xii. lo. 
 
 undertaking 
 
ofihe Holy Scriptures. 35 
 
 undertaking to interpret all the figures LECT, 
 which are reducible to this clafs. * — ^ 
 
 2. Other figures are borrowed from the 
 inftitutions of the ceremonial law, which 
 are applied to the things of the gofpel ; 
 and in this capacity the law is all figure. 
 It is nothing confidered in itfelf but a 
 copy, a JJjadow of good things to come ; 
 and as a (hadow, it had only the form^ 
 not the fubjlance^ (or very image^ as the 
 fcripture calls it) of the things hoped 
 for. Its elements were like thofe of the 
 gofpel in form ; and therefore it was a 
 fchoolmajler^ a teacher of fuch elements as 
 prepared the mind for the reception of a 
 fpiritual difpenfation, in which its fhadows 
 are now realized. 
 
 When our Saviour Jefus Chrift Is called 
 a prieft, a charadter is given to him, which 
 cannot be underftood till we go back tp 
 the law. There we fee what a prieft was, 
 and what he did ; and thence we learn the 
 nature of our Saviour's prieftly office. 
 And as the whole law, in its ritual, con- 
 P z fifted 
 
2 6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LE C T. fifted chiefly of priejftly miniftratlon ; then, 
 
 ^ — ^^^ if the prieft himft^lf was figurative, his 
 
 miniftration was fo likev^ife, and confe- 
 
 quently the law was a pattern of the 
 
 gofpel. 
 
 3. The things relating to our Saviour's 
 perfon, that is, to his birth, dignity, ac- 
 tions, fufFerings, death, refurredlion and 
 glorification, were forefhewn in the hif- 
 tory of other great and remarkable per- 
 fons, who, in the former ages of the 
 church, were faviours upon occafion to 
 their people, or examples of perfecuted 
 innocence, truth, and holinefs, as he was 
 to be. Such perfons adling, or fufFering, 
 or triumphing, in this prophetic capacity, 
 are called ty^es. In the gofpel they are 
 QdWtA Jig?2s ; and as a fpecimen for the 
 prefent, we may take the two charadlers 
 of Jonah and Solomon^ as referred to in 
 the nth chapter of St. Luke. Our Sa- 
 viour* propofed Jonah to the Jews as 
 a Jign of his own future refurredlion. 
 This prophet went down into the mouth 
 
 * Matth. xii. 40. 
 
 of 
 
bJ the Holy Scriptures. 07 
 
 of a monfter, as Chrill: was to be fwal- LECT, 
 lowed up like other men by the devouring - / - 
 jaws of death. As the prophet was de- 
 tained there three days, Chrift was fo long 
 to be confined to the fepulchre: and as 
 Jonah was reftored to the light at the di- 
 vine command, fo was Chrift to rife again 
 from the dead. Jonah was therefore a 
 fign of his death and refurredtion, fuch 
 as no words could have delivered ; for a 
 miraculous fad: is beft fignified by a mira- 
 culous fign, which fhews us that the thing 
 was known and determined before it came 
 to pafs. 
 
 Such another fign was Solomon ; the famiC 
 of whofe wifdom brought the Queen of 
 Sheba from a heathen land to hear his 
 words, and wonder at the greatnefs of his 
 kingdom, and admire the order of his go- 
 vernment : a fign that the Gentiles fhould 
 liften to the word of him that was greater 
 than Solomon, and be converted to the laws 
 and ceconomy of his fpiritual kingdom ; 
 while the Jews fhould defpife his words 
 and perfecute his church : for which the 
 D 3 example 
 
38 On the Figurative Language 
 
 example of the Queen of Sh( 
 in judgment to condemn them, 
 
 L E C T. example of the Queen of Sheba fhall rife 
 
 4. Next to the perfons of the prophets 
 is the hiftory of the church at large ; con- 
 cerning which the wifdom of God ordained, 
 that things paft (hould reprefent things to 
 come, and ferve as admonitions and figns 
 to the people of God to the end of the 
 world. Hence it comes to pafs, that no 
 fcripture is of any private interpretation : its 
 fenfc does not end in the perfons of whom 
 it fpeaks, but is of public application 
 for the benefit of all places and of all times. 
 The apoftle fpeaking of fome remark- 
 able circumftances in the hiftory of the 
 church, affures us, that all thofe things hap- 
 pened Jor en/amples, and are written Jar our 
 admonition. The deliverance of the He- 
 brews from Egypt was a pledge of our de- 
 liverance from this world of fin and bon- 
 dage ; the fervice of which- is perfe£l fla- 
 very, like that of the Hebrews under Pha- 
 raoh. Their temptations in the wilder- 
 nefs were like our trials in the paffage 
 through this mortal life. Their fettle- 
 
 ment 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 39 
 
 ment in Canaan is an earneft to us, that if l^ECT. 
 we commit ourfelves in faith to the guid- ^..^1^ 
 ance of God, v/e fliali in like manner ob- 
 tain the promifed inheritance ; and that 
 without faith, we fhall fall fhort of it. 
 
 Laftly, the anions of the prophets, and 
 particularly of Chrift himfelf, were figura- 
 tive and prophetical; they are therefore cal- 
 led figns as well as miracles, becaufe they 
 carried an inftru6live fignification, and 
 pointed to fomething greater than them- 
 felves. The ways of divine wifdom are 
 comprehenfive, and anfwer many purpofes at 
 once. Our Saviour performed many mighty 
 works, that for the fake of them men might 
 believe him to be the Saviour of the 
 world; but then they were withal of fuch 
 a fort, as to admit of an application to the 
 ftate of all Chriftians. We do not hear his 
 voice, bidding us leave our companions in 
 the (hip and walk towards him upon the 
 water : but all that will come to him muft 
 have their faith exercifed, as that of Peter 
 was, upon the waves of this troublefomc 
 world ; they muft undertake a hazardous 
 D 4 paflage, 
 
40 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. palTage, in which nothing but the power 
 v«.v— ' of Chrift can fupport them ; and if they 
 cry to him, the fame right hand^ which 
 faved the fearful Apoftle will be Jiretched 
 out to help them i?2 all their dangers and 
 necfjjities^ i and the fame goodnefs will be 
 tender toward their infirmity in the hour 
 of trial 5 reproving and yet pardoning the 
 deficiencies of their faith. 
 
 All the miracles of Chrift are after this 
 pattern ; they are figns of falvation in all 
 ages, and admit of a general application to 
 every member of the church, with whom 
 the fame miraculous power is ftill prefent, 
 and ading for the higheft purpofes, though 
 inviuble to mortal fight. 
 
 To one or other of thefe five heads, the 
 fpiritual language of the fcripture may be 
 reduced, and from them the matter of it is 
 borrowed: i. From the images of nature, 
 or vifible things as reprefentations of things 
 invifible. 2. From the inftitutions of the 
 lav^, as prefiguring the things of the gof- 
 
 * See the coiled for the fecond Sunday after the Epiphany. 
 
 pel. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 41 
 
 pel. 3. From the perfons of the. pro- I^ECT. 
 phets, as types of the great prophet and Sa- ^ — ^-^ 
 viour that was to come. 4. Froni the hif- 
 tory of the church of Ifrael as an enfam- 
 pleto the chriftian world. 5. From the mi- 
 raculous a6ls of Mofes, Chrift, and others, 
 as figns of the faving power of God towards 
 the fouls of men. All thefe thin<^s com- 
 pofe the figurative language of the bible ^ 
 and that interpretation which opens and 
 applies them to the objeds of faith, is 
 called a Jpiritual intrepretation ; as being 
 agreeable to that t eftimony oi jtiuSy which 
 is t\\Qfpirit of prophecy. 
 
 I have been thus particular in the divi- 
 fion of my fubjeft, that by underftanding 
 at the beginning what my defign is in the 
 whole, it may always be known, as I pro- 
 ceed in it, what part I am upon. 
 
 Of this figurative language, the ele- 
 ments firft to be underllood are thofe which 
 are borrowed from the images of nature. 
 And here a vaft field is open to us, as wide 
 as the world itfelf. If we confider it in 
 
 due 
 
42 On the Figurative Language 
 
 lECT. due order, we muft begin with the crea- 
 > / ' tion^ which is related in the book of Ge- 
 nefis, is a pattern of the new creation in 
 Chrift Jefus^ and is fo applied by the 
 apoftle : God who commanded the light to 
 filne out of darknefs^ hath Jhined in our 
 hearts to give the light of the knowledge of 
 the glory of God in the face of fefus Chrijl^ . 
 Till this light fhines in the heart of man, he 
 is in the fame ftate as the unformed world 
 was, when darknefs lay upon the face of the 
 deep: and when the new creation takes 
 place, he rifes in baptifm, as the new earth 
 did from the waters, by the fpirit of God 
 moving upon them. 
 
 The lights of heaven in their order are 
 all applied to give us conceptions of God's 
 power, and fhevv us the glory of his king- 
 dom. In the 84th Pfalm, the Lord, is 
 faid to be a fun and a Jhield\ a fun to 
 give light to his people, and a fdield to 
 protect them from the power of darknefs. 
 Chrift, in the language of the prophet is 
 the fun of right eoufnefsy who as the natural 
 
 '^ 2 Cor. iv, 6, 
 
 fun 
 
^fihe Holy Scriptures. 43 
 
 fun revives the grafs, and renews the year, LECT. 
 brings on the acceptable year of the luordy > — ,— » 
 and is the great reftorer of all things in the 
 kingdom of grace ; {hining with the new 
 light of life and immortality to thofe who 
 once fat in darknefs and in the fiadow of 
 death. And the church has warning to 
 receive him under this glorious charafter : 
 Arife^ Jhine^ for thy light is come^ and the 
 glory of the Lord is rifen upon thee'\. 
 When he was manifefted to the eyes of 
 men, he called himfelf the light of the 
 worldy and promifed to give the fame light 
 to thofe that follow him. In the abfence 
 of Chrift as the perfonal light of the 
 world, his place is fupplied by the light 
 of the fcripture, which is ftill a lamp to 
 our feet and a light unto our paths. The 
 word of prophecy is as ^ light fbining in a 
 dark place y and as we fludy by the light 
 of a lamp, fo we muft give heed to 
 this light, if we would fee things to 
 come. 
 
 The moon is ufed as an emblem of the 
 
 -j- Ifaiali Ix. I. 
 
 church ; 
 
44 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^^^' church; which receives its light from 
 *'— V— ' Chrift as the moon does from the fun : 
 therefore the renovation of the moon fig- 
 nlfies the renovation of the church 5 as a 
 fign of v^hich, the new moons were ap- 
 pointed to be obferved as religious feftlvals 
 under the law ; and the apoftle tells us they 
 were ajhadow of things to come ; and the 
 fubftance of that fhadow is known from 
 the nature of the cafe, and the relation 
 which the moon bears to the fun. 
 
 The angels or ruling miniflers in the fe- 
 ven churches of Afia are fignified in the 
 book of Revelation by /even Jiars in the 
 right hand of Chrift: becaufe his miniflers 
 hold forth the word of life, and their light 
 fliines before men in this mortal ftate, as 
 the ftars give light to the world in the 
 night feafon ; of which light chriftians in 
 general partake, and are therefore called 
 children of light. 
 
 This natural image of the light is ap- 
 plied to fo many great purpofes, that I 
 
 muft 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 4jj 
 
 muft not difmifs it without making fome LECT. 
 farther ufe of it. ^ — ^ 
 
 You fee, our God is light; our Redeemer 
 Is light; our fcripture is light; our whole 
 religion is light ; the minifters of it are 
 light; all chriflian people are children of 
 the light, and have light within them. If 
 fo, what an obligation is laid upon us, not 
 to walk as if we were in darknefs, but to 
 walk uprightly as in the day, fhewing the 
 people of this world, that we have a bet- 
 ter rule to diredt us than they have. If we 
 who have the light walk as they do who are 
 in darknefs, the fame darknefs will affured- 
 ly come upon us; we fhall underftand no- 
 thing, we fhall care for nothing ; the light 
 that is within us will be changed into 
 darknefs ; and then, vanity and confufion 
 will be the confequence, as to thofe who 
 walk in the dark through a perplexed and 
 dangerous path : and better WDuld it be not 
 to have had the light, than to be anfwera- 
 ble for the guilt of having extinguifhed it 
 and turned it into darknefs. This is the 
 
 moral 
 
4^ On the Figurative Langauge 
 
 LE^CT. moral dodrlne to be derived from the 
 ^— . — ' ufage of light in the facred language. 
 
 Here I would alfo obferve, that the 
 figures of the fcripture neceflarily intro- 
 duce fomething figurative into our wor- 
 fhip ; of which I could give you feveraJ 
 inftances : but I fhall confine myfelf to 
 the matter now before us. The primitive 
 Chriflians fignified their relation to the 
 true light, and exprefl^ed a religious regard 
 to it, by the outward form of worfhip- 
 ping with their faces toward the eaft ; be- 
 caufe there the light firft arifes out of dark- 
 nefs, and there the day of true knowledge 
 arofe, like the fun, upon fuch as lay 
 buried in ignorance. To this day our 
 churches, efpecially that part which is 
 appropriated to the moft folemn ad: of 
 chriftian worfliip, is placed toward the 
 eaft : our dead are buried with their faces 
 to the eaft : and when we repeat the arti- 
 cles of our faith, we have a cuftom of turn- 
 ing ourfelves to the eaft. The primitive 
 Chriftians called their baptifm their illu- 
 minaiion -, to denote which, a light was put 
 
 into 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 47 
 
 into the hands of the perfon after bap- LECT. 
 tifm, and they were admited to hear the *^ / - 
 ledlures of the catechifts in the church, 
 under the name of the illuminated. The 
 feftival of Ch rift's baptifm was celebrated 
 in the month of January with the cere- 
 mony of a number of lighted torches. 
 When the converts repeated the confeflion 
 of their faith at baptifm, they turned them- 
 felves to the eaft ; and to the weft when 
 they renounced the powers of darknefs. 
 In the modern church of Rome this cere- 
 mony of worlhipping to the eaft has been 
 abufed, and turned into an a6l of adora- 
 tion to the altar; on account of which* * 
 fome Chriftians who have heard of the 
 abufe of this ceremony, without knowing 
 the ufe of it, have rejeded that as an adt 
 of fuperftition, which has an edifying 
 fenfe, and was pradlifed in the days of the 
 apoftles, before any fuperftition had infe£l- 
 ed the church. As fuch only I would re- 
 commend it to obfervation*, 
 
 * An excellent fermon, which ought never to be forgotten, 
 and which I carried through theprefs, when I was an under 
 graduate at Oxford, was publiflied on Cbrifi the Light of 
 
 the 
 
ij8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. In the element of air, which comes next 
 II. 
 i— ^^ — ' in order to be confidered, we have a figure 
 
 of the Holy Spirit, which worketh im- 
 perceptibly as it lifteth, while we cannot 
 tell whence it cometh, nor whither it go- 
 eth. The operations of the divine Spirit, 
 are like thofe of the air, neceflary to life ; 
 the one to the natural life, the other to the 
 fpiritual : and as the air gives the breath 
 of fpeech, fo the Holy Ghoft gives the 
 utterance of infpiration: therefore he de- 
 fcended on the day of Pentecoft under the 
 outward fign of a rufhing mighty wind 
 from heaven ; and in confequence of it, 
 the apoftles fpake as the fpirit gave them 
 utterance ; and their found went out into 
 all lands. 
 
 the Worlds from a verfe of the iQtli Pfalm, by my admired, 
 beloved and lamented friend, the late Rev. George Wat- 
 fon, once a fellow of Univerlity college, to whofe early in- 
 ftrudlions and example I have been indebted in moll of the 
 literary labours of my life. Many extraordinary men have 
 I feen ; but for tafte in claffical literature and all works of 
 genius ; for a deep knowledge of the infpired writings ,• for 
 readinefs of fpeech and fweetnefs of elocution; for devout 
 affeclion towards God, for charitable goodnefs of heart, and 
 elegance of manners, I never met with one that exceeded him. 
 
 The 
 
oj the Holy Scriptures 49 
 
 The element of water, which wa{hes ^^CT. 
 and purifies the body, is ufed to fignify v— , — ^ 
 the inward cleanfing of the foul from 
 lin, by the wafliing of grace in baptifm : 
 and all the purifications by water un- 
 der the law had the like meaning ; as they 
 are applied in thofe words of the pro- 
 phet : then will I fprinUe clean water up- 
 on you, and ye Jhall be clean^ from all your 
 
 Jilthinefs^ and from all your idols will I 
 cleanfe you: a new heart alfo will I give 
 
 you^ and a new fpirit will I put within you^. 
 This new heart and new fpirit, as the 
 work of God's grace, was always fignified 
 by every a6l of religious purification ; ac- 
 cording to that of the Pfalmift, Thoujljalt 
 wajh me^ and I fh all be whiter than /how,— 
 
 ' Make me a clean hearty God^ and renew a 
 right fpirit within me-f. 
 
 Water is ufed in another capacity to 
 quench the thirft -, in which fenfe it is put 
 for the doiftrine of God's word, refrefliing 
 and invigorating the foul, as the water of 
 the fpring gives new life and ftrepgth to 
 
 * Ezeklel xxxvi, 25. f Pfalm li. 
 
 E the 
 
t;o On the Figurative "Language 
 
 LT.cr, t|-|e thirfty. As the fpring breaks forth 
 '^ — . — ' fi'om the fccret treafures of the earth, 
 the dodtrines of falvation proceed from a 
 fource which v/e cannot fee. In this fort 
 of language did our Saviour fpeak of the 
 grace of his own divine dodlrine to the 
 woman of San^aria : if thou knewejt the 
 gift of God, and who it is that faith to thee, 
 -give me to drink^ thou wouldji have ajked 
 of him, a7id he would have given thee 
 living water^ ', that is, the dodrine of 
 falvation which he preached to the world, 
 and of which he ufed thefe remarkable 
 words in the temple* — He that believeth 
 on me^ as the fcripture hath faid, out of his 
 belly Jhall fiow rivers of living water ; that 
 is, the words of his mouth (hall convey 
 that do£lrine Vv^hich giveth life to the 
 world: his preaching '{hall fatis fy a mul- 
 titude of fouls, as the ftream of a river is 
 fufficient to the quenching of their thirft. 
 
 * There is a peculiar propriety in the fcripture terrn 
 of 7ib.w^ -xt'^/^r for -the water of a running fpring; be- 
 .caufe it brings with it a new life and {loirit, which it has 
 derived from the fubterraneous chymillry of nature ; and 
 it is always found to contain a large quantity of air. 
 
 As 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 51 
 
 As the dements of the world, fo the LE^T. 
 feafons of the year have their fignification » — - — ' 
 in fcripture. The beauties of the fpring 
 and funimer are felecled by the prophet 
 Ifaiah, to defcribe the perfedion and feli- 
 city of Mefliah's kingdom at the appear- 
 ance of the gofpel : when righteoufnefs 
 Ihould fpring up among the barren Gen- 
 tiles .who had been fruitlefs and deferted 
 as the earth when forfaken by the fun ; 
 ^he defert JJjall rejoice and blo[fom as the 
 rofe y it JJmll blojfom abundantly and re- 
 joice even with joy andfmging: the glory of 
 Lebanon Jloall be given to it^ the excellency 
 of Carmel and Sharon \ they fhall fee the 
 glory of the Lordy and the excellency of our 
 God'''. The feafon of the harveft, which 
 came in at the end of the Jewiih year, is 
 applied in a parable of our Saviour to the 
 great in-gathering of the world, when the 
 wheat fliall be reaped, the tares fliall be 
 feparated for the fire, and the labourers em- 
 ployed in that great work fliall be the mi- 
 niftring fpirits of God, fent forth to gather 
 his eledt, and to finifh his kingdom upon 
 
 * Ifaiah xxxv, i. 2. 
 
 E 2 earthp 
 
^2 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. earth. The Harvejl of our Lord, is the 
 ^ ■ y. / end of the world , and as furely as the courfe 
 of the year brings us about to that feafon, 
 fo furely will the difpenfation of God, 
 now on its progrefs, bring us to a fight of 
 that other harveft : and it behoves us to 
 confider well what part we are likely to 
 bear on that occafion. 
 
 From the feafons let us turn our eyes to 
 the animal creation ; at the head of which 
 is man, an epitome of all the other works 
 of God. 
 
 The ceconomy and difpofition of the 
 human body is ufed as a figure of that 
 fpiritual fociety, or corporate body, which 
 we call the Church ; and God is faid to 
 have difpofed the ofiices of the one in 
 conformity to the order obfervable in the 
 other. The head is Chrifl ; the eyes ap- 
 pointed to fee for the reft of the body, arc 
 the prophets and teachers, antiently called 
 feers» The hands that minifter are the 
 charitable and merciful, who delight in 
 fupplying the wants of their fellow mem- 
 bers. 
 
g/' the Holy Scriptures, 5 3 
 
 bers. The feet are the inferior attendant?, I^ECT. 
 whofe duty it is to know their place, and ^ — v — ' 
 be fubfervient in their proper callings. 
 Each hath his proper gifts and his proper 
 ftation ; and as there is no refpecl of per- 
 fons with God, no man fhould pay any 
 undue refpe£l to himfelf; but all fhould 
 unite with humility and piety in fulfilling 
 the great purpofe of God, who hath joined 
 them together in one communion. As 
 there is no divifion in the natural body, 
 but all the limbs and members have care 
 for one another, and one life animates 
 them all ; fo it fhould be in the church, 
 where there is one body and one Jpin'* 
 In this form hath the apoflle argued againft 
 the divifions and jealoufies then prevail- 
 ing in the church of Corinth* : and if his 
 argument was confidered as it merits, and 
 in that fplrit of fervent zeal and love with 
 which it was written, there would be no 
 fuch thing as fchifm in the church, or 
 fadion in the ftate. 
 
 The bodily fenfes of men are ufed to 
 
 * See I Cor, xii. 
 
 E 3 denote 
 
j;4 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. denote the faculties of the mind : for the 
 ^ — A-^ foul has itsfenfes; but as we cannot fee 
 their operations, it is neceffary to fpeak 
 of them in fuch terms as are taken from 
 the vifible powers of the body. He that 
 does not underftand the language of the 
 fcripture, is fald to have no ears; he that 
 does not fee fph-itual things, to have no 
 eyes-, he that cannot make confeflion of 
 his faith with his tongue, and has no de- 
 light in the praifes of God, is dumb. In 
 fnort, every unregenerate man, who is 
 without the knowledge of God, and has 
 nothing but v^hat nature and his own va- 
 nity give him, is in the nature and condi- 
 tion of a beggar, poor and blind and na^ 
 ked'^ ; and he who is not yet alive in 
 fpirit, is even taken for dead and buried, 
 and is called upon to ar'ife from the deady 
 and a'wake unto righteoufnefs* 
 
 Th^ foul being invifible, its diftempers 
 are fo ^ therefore the facred language de- 
 fcribes them by the diftempers of tlie 
 body. A nation or city, in a ftate of fin 
 
 * Rev. iii, 1 7c 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 55 
 
 and impenitence, are reprefented to themi- LECT, 
 felves as a body full of dlfeafes and fores. ♦— s.-' 
 In this ftyle the fpirit fpeaks by the pro- 
 phet Ifaiah of Judah and Jerufalem ; the 
 whole head is ficky and the whole heart 
 faint. From the fole of the foot even to 
 the heady from the lovveft of the people 
 up to their princes and rulers, there is no 
 foundnefs in it^ hut wounds and bruifes and 
 putrifying fores. In the fame way, the 
 works of the devil in ftripping and abu- 
 iing the nature of man by the fatal intro- 
 dudtion of fin, are reprefented as wounds 
 given by a thief, who meets him on the 
 road, and leaves him naked and half- 
 dead upon the earth. This is the in- 
 tention of that parable, which defcribes 
 the fall and falvation of man, as the re- 
 lieving and curing of a wounded tra- 
 veller. 
 
 The fupport of man*s fpiritual life is 
 
 like the fupport of his natural; and the 
 
 facrament of the Lord's fupper, (which 
 
 fomc of late have taken great pains to un- 
 
 E 4 dervalue 
 
56 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^ECT. dervalue and mifinterpret) is built upon 
 .' — V — ' this fimilitude. 
 
 Man is fent into the world to earn his 
 bread by his labour, and fome think he 
 is fent for nothing elfe; but this is only 
 a fhadow of his proper errand, which is, 
 to work out his own Jalvation with fear 
 and trembling : and for this work he has 
 need of fuftenance, as much as for the 
 daily labours of his life. Therefore God 
 has provided a fupply of a fpiritual kind, 
 fignitied outwardly by the figures of bread 
 and wine, the commemorative facrifice of 
 the death of Chrifl, and the inrtituted 
 means of conveying the benefits of it to 
 the fouls of men. Beads killed in facri- 
 fice were fed upon by the offerers ; and 
 Chrift's death being a facrifice, he is fed 
 upon in faith by thofe who thus comme"- 
 morate his death ; and the confequence is 
 the ftrengthening and refreJJmg of their 
 Jhuls: if not, this abfurdity fliould follow 
 from the parallel, that eating the flefh of 
 facrifices was a meer ceremony which con^ 
 tributed nothing to the nourifhment of 
 
 the 
 
oj the TJoly Scriptures, 57 
 
 the body. What can be more exprefs LECT. 
 than the doflrine of our Saviour himfelf w-v— ' 
 upon thisfubjed? My feJJj is mecit ijideed^ 
 and my blood is drink indeed^-^He that eat-- 
 eth 7ney even he Jhall live by me-^ that is, 
 fhall live with a new and divine life, as 
 really as his body lives and is nourlfhed 
 by his daily bread. • Unlefs thefe words 
 do (ignify, that a real principle of life and 
 flrength is derived to us from the body of 
 Chrift, whereof we partake, there can be 
 no certainty in language, and every doc- 
 trine of the fcripture may be thrown into 
 doubt and obfcurity. Without faith, as 
 it hath already been argued in the proper 
 place, the language of the fcripture never 
 was nor ever will be admitted in its true 
 fenfe ; but with it, it is clear enough to 
 very reader. 
 
 This firft head of my fubjeft is fo co- 
 pious, that I muft conclude here, and de-^ 
 fer what remains to the next Lefture. 
 
 LECT. 
 
[ 5^ 1 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 ON THE FIGURES OF THE SCRIPTURE WHICH 
 ARE TAKEN FROM NATURE. 
 
 (a continuation of the former.) 
 
 III. 
 
 LECT. I I ^HE former Lefture would not al- 
 JL low me room to explain the figures 
 which the fcripture hath borrowed from 
 the natural world and the objeds of com- 
 mon life; though I determined to feledl 
 fuch of them only as might be thought 
 moft important and inftruftive : and even 
 now, the fubjeft is fo copious, that I 
 muft leave many which I (hould be glad 
 to treat of. 
 
 From the confideration of the heavens, 
 the elements and the feafons, we defcended 
 to man, whofe bodily life is a pattern and 
 
 fhadow 
 
On the Figurative Language, ^c. 59 
 
 fhadow of his fplritual life, and is applied LECT. 
 to illuilrate it in many inftances. v — ^ 
 
 From his natural, we muft now go 
 forward to his fecial, civil, or political 
 life, as a citizen, fubjeft, and member of 
 fociety ; together with his worldly condi- 
 tion, relations, offices, and occupations. 
 
 The fpiritual ftate, or kingdom of hea- 
 ven, is reprefented to us under the em- 
 blem of an earthly kingdom, in wliich 
 God is the fupreme governor and judge, 
 ruling all his creatures with infinite power, 
 and according to the laws of juftice, good- 
 nefs, and mercy. 
 
 The church is a fpiritual kingdom un- 
 der Chrift its head ; and its minifters are 
 ambafladors, commiffioned to treat with 
 the world, and propofe terms of recon- 
 ciliation from God, with whom they are 
 by nature at enmity. St. Paul, having 
 occafion to fpeak of his commiffion under 
 Jefus Chrift, faith, for whom I am an 
 ambaffador in bonds. This was a ftrange 
 
 cafe ; 
 
6o On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. cafe; and he mentions it as fuch ; be- 
 ' — . — ' caufe the perfons of ambaffadors were ac- 
 counted facred, and it was againft the law 
 of nations to do any violence to them : 
 but the world, while it keeps good faith 
 with itfelf, keeps none with God. Our 
 bleffed Saviour, as Pilate truly entitled 
 him upon the Crofs, was the King of the 
 Jews^ though not after the form and j.u- 
 thority of worldly kingdoms ; and as fuch 
 had a claim to the allegiance of his fub- 
 jedis. Their rebellious treatment of him 
 and his ambaffadors is reprefented in the 
 parable of the marriage of the king's fon*; 
 whofe invitation they reje£led, and abufed 
 his fervants. In confequence of this his 
 armies were fent out, to do execution upon 
 them as murtherers, and burn up their 
 city : all of which was fulfilled upon the 
 apoftate Jews, and their city Jerufalem : 
 and having rejeded him, they are to this 
 day without a king, without laws, without 
 a country. 
 
 There is another parable of the fame 
 
 f Matth. xxii, 
 
 kind, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 6i 
 
 kind, which admits of a more general ap- LECT- 
 plication, and comes home to ourfelves. ^—v-^ 
 Chrift afcending into heaven, there to re- 
 ceive all power, and return invefted with 
 it to the general judgment, is iignified 
 under the perfon of a nobleman who went 
 into a far country y to receive for himfelf <? 
 kingdom and to return — But his citizens ha^ 
 ted him^ andfent a mejfage after him^ faying^ 
 we will not have this man to reign over us^. 
 Thus infolently and ungratefully doth a 
 wdcked world treat the authority of Chrift 
 in his abfence : but he fhall return ; and 
 then the authority they will not admit for 
 their good, will be turned to their deftruc- 
 tion — 'Thofe mine enemies which would not 
 that I fjould reign over them, bring hither 
 and Jlay them before me. Not all the pow- 
 ers upon earth can hinder the execution 
 of this command — bring them hither — 
 wherever thefe offenders fhall then be, they 
 will all be found ; even the grave fhall not 
 hide them, the dufl fhall not cover them ; 
 but the miniflers of vengeance will drag 
 them forth, and prefent them before that 
 
 * Luke xix. 12. 
 
 king 
 
62 0?i the Figurative Language 
 
 king whom they hated and affronted. 
 Some there are, who fend their meffage af- 
 ter him in terms of open treafon and defi- 
 ance ; while others explain away the fenfe 
 and authority of his kingdom with fubtil- 
 ties of logic and a mafli of piety. But 
 Jet them fpeak or reafon as they pleafe, the 
 proudeft of them all are under the power 
 of Jefus Chrift : thofe who do not allow of 
 his fpiritual authority in his kingdom the 
 church, are ftill within the reach of his 
 juftice. Happiell: are they, in whofe hearts 
 the kingdom of God is eflablifhed ac- 
 cording to thofe words which were fpoken 
 of it — the kingdom of God is within you ; 
 and who can pray daily, as they are com- 
 manded, that his kingdom may come ; that 
 it may prevail over our affections, and di- 
 rect: all our doings, till at length it fhall be 
 manifeiled over all, and the king himfelf 
 lliall appear in his glory. 
 
 The judgment pafled by the magiftrate 
 in this world againft crimes is founded on 
 the law of God, and is an adminiftration 
 of his juftice for the time being; an ear- 
 ned 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 63 
 
 neft of that more equal and perfeft admi- LECT. 
 niftration which is to come. Every tri- ^ ,,^ \' 
 bunal before which criminals are fum- 
 moned is a prelude to the day of doom, 
 when the judgment Jloall fit^ and the dead 
 frnall and great Jhall Jland before God^ and 
 the dead Jloall be judged out oj thofe things 
 that are written. This may feem diftant 
 to us now, in our blind way of confidering 
 things ; but in the language of the fcrip- 
 ture it is otherwife : behold^ faith St. "James, 
 thQ judge Jlandeth before the door^ ready to 
 enter, and to bring every fecret work, and » 
 every neglected and perverted caufe, into 
 judgment. 
 
 Other figures of the fcripture are taken 
 from the ftate in which mankind are en- 
 gaged under the dangers of war. As men 
 are troubled with violence and treachery 
 from one another ; fo is there another war- 
 fare more hazardous, to which all Chriftians 
 are enlifted under the captain of their faU 
 'uation, againft enemies whom no man can 
 fee; adlive, fubtle, vigilant, malignant fpi- 
 rits j for, we wrejile not againjl flejh and 
 
 bloody 
 
64 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LE_CT. hloody hut aga'mfl principalities and powers, 
 ^ — . — ' As men prepare for an earthly war, fo are 
 we to prepare ourfelves that we vn'^j Jland 
 in the evil day : we are to put on the whole 
 armour of Gody as the apoftle hath de- 
 fcrlbed It ; we are to take thtjhield of faith, 
 the fword of God*s word, the helmet of 
 
 falvation % and to pray that we may be in- 
 ipired v/ith fortitude, and aflifted in the 
 ufe of them. We have treachery as well 
 as force to guard again ft. There are de- 
 ceitful lufts which affume the malk of plea- 
 fure, while they are warri?2g againfl the 
 
 foid^ as it were by fap, to undermine and 
 deftroy it. 
 
 No man can ufe a fword with fkill, but 
 he who hath been inftrucled in the art 
 of defence, and hath pradifed it long : fo 
 can no man handle the word of God aright, 
 xhdit fword of the fpirity but he that has 
 ftudied it diligently. With unlkilful hand- 
 ling by the ignorant, or the ill-difcofed, 
 it may wound ourfelves, and our friends, 
 like a fword ia the hands of a child or a 
 madman. 
 
 Amongft 
 
of the Holy Scripures, 6 c 
 
 Amongfl: the occupations of men, the LECT. 
 chief is that of hufbandry; and, it will ^ — ^ — ' 
 afford us much inflruftion. As the field 
 is the fubjedl of man's labour, fo man hiru- 
 felf is a field under the cultivation of God : 
 ye are God's hufbandry ^ faith the apoftle. 
 All the particulars in the courfe of huf- 
 bandry are fulfilled in our hearts. For as 
 the ground is broken and cleared, io is the , 
 
 heart to be prepared by repentance: whence 
 the prophet Hofea thus calls upon the 
 people ; break up your falloiv ground^ for it 
 is time to feek the Lord, In the parable of 
 the fower, the feed is the word of God^ 
 quick and powerful with the principles of 
 life; and the different kinds of foil denote 
 the various difpofitions with which men 
 receive the v/ord of God; fome few into 
 an honejl and good heart ; many more into 
 hearts open as the common high way to 
 the lufts of the world and the vifits of fa- 
 tan; and as fuch people underfland no- 
 thing fpiritual, they immediately lofe what 
 they receive. Some, whofe minds are 
 Ihallow, cannot retain it, as not having 
 depth enough for the word to be rooted, 
 F {q 
 
66 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. fo as to withftand trials and tempta^ 
 ^ — ^ tions, fignified by the fcorching heat of 
 the fun upon a ftoney foil. Some are fo 
 full of care and bufinefs, that the word can 
 no more thrive, than feed among thorns 
 and thiftles. 
 
 I would propofe this parable of the fower 
 as a fpecimen of the excellence of that 
 figurative mode of Inftruftion fo conftantly 
 purfued throughout the fcripture. See 
 ^ow much doctrine, enough to fill a vo- 
 lume, is here comprehended in how few 
 words ; in a form ftriking to the imagi- 
 nation, and plain to every capacity ! 
 
 Another fort of hufbandry, not fo fa- 
 miliar to us in this climate, is the cul- 
 tivation of the vineyard. In countries 
 nearer to the fun, vines are cultivated in 
 the fields, and employ many hands to plant 
 and drcfs them, and gather their fruits. 
 In the 5th chapter of Ifaiah there is a 
 myftical fong, which confiders the church 
 of Ifrael as the vineyard of God, planted 
 in a fruitful fituation on the holy hill of Si- 
 
 on, 
 
bfthe Holy Scriptures. 
 
 bri, cleared, fenced and guarded, and fur- 
 iiifhed with every thing that could render 
 it complete and keep it in its perfedlion. 
 Inftead of good fruit it produced wild 
 grapes, as bad as if it had been left with- 
 out cultivation. For this, its hedge was 
 to be taken away, and it was to be eaten 
 up; that is, the heathens roundabout it 
 were to be let in upon it to devour it, and 
 it was to be trodden down : no rain was 
 to fall upon it ; the bleffing of divine grace 
 from heaven was to be with-held; and 
 thorns and briars, all forts of wicked peo- 
 ple, under the figure of every worthlefs, 
 troublefome and accurfed plant, were to 
 prevail in it. 
 
 In the 8oth pfalm, the ipoiling of the 
 church is lamented under the farne image* 
 It is defcribed as a vine brought out 
 of Egypt by the hand of God, to be 
 rooted in Canaan ; from whence the hea- 
 thens were caft out to ?nake room for it^ as 
 the ground is cleared of ftones and rub- 
 bi(h for a new plantation. But for its un- 
 fruitfulnefs, the boar out of the wood laid 
 F 2 it 
 
68 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. it wafte, and the wild beaft of the field de- 
 
 iii. 
 s — , — ' voured it. Such ever was and ever will 
 
 • be the fate of the church: when it be- 
 comes degenerate, and unworthy of the 
 hand that planted it, the world is let in 
 upon it ; who are as eager to plunder, lay- 
 it w^afte, and trample it down, as the 
 fwine to root up the ground and deflroy 
 a plantation. 
 
 In the new teftament, the members of 
 the church are confidered more particu- 
 larly as branches of Chrifl: : / am the true 
 vine, fays he, and my father is the hujband* 
 man: as the branches of the vine are 
 drelTed, fo are the members of Chrift un- 
 der the difcipline of God : correftion is as 
 necelFary to them as the pruning knife to 
 the vine ; and as the branches bear no-fruit 
 but as they belong to the tree, fo can no 
 member of the church bring forth any 
 fruit but by abiding in Chrift; for with' 
 out him we can do nothing. The unpro- 
 fitable branch, that bears no fruit, is taken 
 away from the tree, to be burned ; and 
 the fruitlefs Chriftian muft expeft to be 
 
 caft 
 
Ill, 
 
 of the Holy Scriptures. 6 9 
 
 cafl: forth in like manner, and then era- LECT. 
 
 ' O 111 
 
 thered up for the fire. 
 
 The offices of men are applied to the 
 fame purpofe as their occupations. God 
 is pleafed to take upon himfelf the office 
 of afiepherd^ and his people are related to 
 him as a Jlock. Two of the pfalms are 
 compofed upon this plan ; expreffing the 
 reliance of believers on the paftoral care of 
 God, and their joy and thankfulnefs to 
 him for admitting them to fiich an ho- 
 nourable relation : The Lord is my fiep^ 
 herd, therefore can I lack nothing : he Jhall 
 feed me in a green pafture^ and lead me 
 forth befide the waters of comfort. Such 
 is the language of the 23d pfalm. The 
 looth pfalm is an invitation to a folemn 
 aft of thankfgiving, with fongs and in- 
 ftruments of mufic in the temple. The 
 people of all nations being admitted into 
 the flock of Ifrael as the f Jeep of God's 
 pajlurcy ought to alTemble within the fold 
 of his church, for the public celebration 
 of his truth and mercy. The obligation 
 is particular and fpecial upon Chriftians, 
 F 3 fmce 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 fince our Lord appeared perfonally to men 
 in this charadler ; verifying that predic- 
 tion of the prophet ; he Jloall feed his flock 
 like a fiepherdj he Jhall gather the lambs 
 ivith his arm, and carry them in his bofom. 
 To every aft of care and kindnefs proper 
 to a fhepherd did he condefcend: he took 
 the little children up in his arms, and blefed 
 them ; he went about feeking the lo/i jheep 
 of the houfe of Ifrael; he colleded together 
 and ordered the fold of his church ; he 
 has appointed other {hepherds under him 
 to take the charge of his flock, and is 
 with them as the chief Jbepherd to the end 
 of the v^orld, when he (hall ftill appear 
 and a£l in the fame charader, feparating 
 the iheep from the goats in the day of 
 judgment. 
 
 All the natural relations fubfifting a- 
 mongft mankind are applied to illuftrate 
 their fpiritual interefts. God is our hea- 
 venly Father, of whom the whole family in 
 heaven and earth is named: the Church is 
 the daughter of God ; the fppufe of Chrift, 
 and the mother of us alL Chrift is the 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 71 
 
 firjl-borriy and all chriftians are brethren ■^^J^^' 
 in him; conftituting together what is '— v— ' 
 called the houfehold of jaith^ as diftin- 
 guiflied from the world of unbelievers. 
 The Jew and Gentile are two brethen, 
 the fons of their father; tlie Jew the 
 elder, the Gentile the younger, whofe , 
 apoftacy and repentance are both defcribed 
 in the hiftory of the prodigal fon. 
 
 The union betwixt Chrifl: and the 
 Church is confidered as a marriage, iigni- 
 iied and forefhewn by the firft facred union 
 of Adam and Eve in paradife. The fol- 
 lowers and friends of Chrifl: are now wait- 
 ing in expectation of being called forth ta 
 meet this bridegroom, and join in the glo- 
 rious proceffion that fhall afcend, under 
 the condu(ft of a train of angels, to meet the 
 Lord in the air ^ when he fhall return from 
 the wedding : with which expedation 
 they are to keep their loins girded up, and 
 their lights burnings Woe be unto the 
 foollfh, whofe lamps fliall be gone out 
 when the cry Ihall be raifed at midnight, 
 F 4 behold 
 
72 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. 
 
 III. 
 
 bekold the bridegroom comet by go ye out to 
 meet him. 
 
 As the author of our faith, Chrlft is 
 our majler or teacher ; and that in fo ftridl 
 a {^Vik^ that we are to call no other by 
 that name in comparifon of him ; much 
 lefs are we to receive any other form of 
 doftrine, from thofe who affume a right 
 of teaching on the authority of any other 
 perfon, or by any other rule, which the 
 fafhion of the times or the prejudices of 
 education may have eflabli(hed amongfl: us. 
 
 This relation betwixt the mafter and the 
 fcbolar mud fuggeft to every chriftian the 
 indifpenfible duty of knowing the fcrip- 
 tures, and following the precepts of the 
 gofpel. For, let us afk ourfelves: are 
 we the fchoiars of Jefus Chrift, and are 
 we ignorant of his doclrine ? Do we pay 
 no regard to his difcipline, and the rules 
 he has given for the condufl: of life ? And 
 jhall we not in fuch a cafe be difowned 
 and expelled from his fociety ? If we 
 Jcnow nothing of hun, he will know no- 
 thing 
 
of t Joe Holy Scriptures, *72 
 
 thing of ns, and will fignify the fame to LECT. 
 us upon an awful occafion — Depart from ^ — ^ 
 me, I know you not. 
 
 Having thus far fhewn how the nature, 
 ftate, works,, offices, and relations of man- 
 kind are applied, and how the fcripture 
 reafons from them, as from fo many pa- 
 rallel cafes ; I (hall now confider vv^hat ufe 
 is made of the inferior part of the animal 
 creation. And here you are to recolledt, 
 that beafts differ from one another as men 
 do, the fober from the fottifh, the gentle 
 from the ravenous, the trufty from the 
 thievifh, the peaceable and obedient from 
 the blood-thirfty and rebellious : and as 
 the fcripture expreffes all things by iimi- 
 litudes, the properties and qualities of 
 beafts are examples of virtues and vices 
 amongft men. This moral difference was 
 the ground of the diftin£lion of beads 
 under the law of Mofes into clean and 
 unclean. The people of God were to eat 
 of no unclean creature ^ they were to con- 
 verfe with no unclean man; and fo the 
 firft effed of this law was of a civil nature, 
 
 to 
 
74 0« the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. to keep the Jews feparate from the con- 
 » — ^ verfation of other nations, that they might 
 not learn their works. They could not 
 eat with them, and confequently could 
 not keep company with them ; and this 
 law has the fame efFefl: to this day with 
 the modern Jews, The fecond intention 
 of it was of a moral or fpiritual kind; to 
 fuggeft a figurative leffon of purity, obe- 
 dience, and patience, from the various 
 inftinds of animals. 
 
 Read the nth chapter of Zm/Z^^j', and 
 you will fee how the creatures are diftin- 
 guifhed. The gentle, tame, and profita- 
 ble kinds are allowed for food; and all 
 creatures of wild, fierce, or filthy man- 
 ners, are forbidden. Thus the Ifraclites 
 were reminded daily by what they ate, 
 what manner of perfons they ought to be 
 in all holy eonverfation and godlinefs i by 
 what was forbidden, they were taught to 
 abhor the vices of the heathen. So faith 
 the law itfelfi Te Jhall not walk in the 
 manners of the nations which I cajl out be- 
 fore you — / am the Lord your God, which 
 
 have 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 75 
 
 have fepar ate d you from other people % ye LECT, 
 fdall therefore put a difference between clean ^ — ^ 
 beajls and unclean^ and between unclean 
 fowls and clean — and ye fiall be holy unto 
 me ; for I the Lord am holy^ and have fe- 
 vered you from other people that ye Jhould 
 be mlner^. This paflage puts the moral in- 
 tention of the diftind:ion of meats out of 
 difpute, and is indeed a dire£t affirmation 
 of it: the people of God were to avoid 
 unclean meats^ as a fign that he had fepa- 
 rated them from unclean Gentiles to be 
 holy unto himfelf. 
 
 But in the fulnefs of time, when the 
 Gentiles were to be admitted to Chriftian 
 baptifm, and taken into the church with 
 the Jews, this act of grace in the divine 
 ceconomy was lignified to St. Peter, by 
 a new licence to feed upon unclean beafts. 
 The cafe was this : Peter was about to 
 be invited to preach the gofpel to Corne- 
 lius a Roman-, into whofe houfe he could not 
 come-y becaufe the law which he had al- 
 ways obferved commanded the Jews to 
 keep themfelves feparate from heathens 
 
 ^ Lev. XX. 23^ &c. 
 
 in 
 
y6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^H^' ^^ ^^^^^ converfation ; as, in their diet, 
 .' — " — ' they abftained from unclean beafts. 
 
 While this matter was depending, Peter 
 fell into a trance, and faw a viiion, A 
 great fheet, knit at the four corners, was 
 let down to the earth, containing all thofe 
 living creatures which were forbidden 
 food by the Levitical law, and he was 
 commanded to kill and eat : to which, 
 when he obje£led, as being contrary to the 
 law, a voice faid, what God hath cleanfed, 
 that call not thou common. The meffage 
 from Cornelius which immediately fol- 
 lowed, fhewed the defign of this vifion; 
 that it fignified the reception and cleanfing 
 of the Gentile world, and that the Jews 
 were no longer to count them unclean. 
 So Peter himfelf thus explained it when 
 he vifited Cornelius: Te know how that 
 it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a 
 'Jew to keep company or come unto one of 
 another nation ; hut God hath f dewed me 
 that I JJjould not call any man common or 
 vnclean. Therefore thofe living creatures 
 of all kinds, which had been prefented to 
 
 him 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. yj 
 
 him in the vifion, were the people of all LEG T> 
 nations ; the linen fheet which contained v-_^i 
 them fignified their fandlification by the 
 gofpel ; and it was knit at four corners, * 
 to (hew that they were gathered together 
 from the four quarters of the world, aad 
 brought into the church, 
 
 . Nothing more need be faid to prove that 
 the diftin6lions amongft men were figura- 
 tively exprefled under the law by a diflinc- 
 tion amongft hearts and birds and all living 
 creatulres. In the fubtilty of the fox, the 
 fiercenefs of the tyger, the filthinefs of 
 the fwine, the impudence of the dog, you 
 fee, as in a glafs, the manners of thofe 
 idolatrous nations, from whom the Jews 
 were feparated. In the gentlenefs of the 
 flieep, the integrity of the labouring ox, 
 the innocence and profitablenfs of other 
 tame creatures fit for food, you fee the 
 virtues of an IfraeUte indeed^ fuch as thofe 
 people ought to be, who were gathered in- 
 to the fold of the church, and had God 
 for their fhepherd. But when God had 
 mercy upon all, and the Jew and Gentile 
 
 became 
 
yB On the Figurative Language 
 
 became one fold in Chrifl Jefus, then this 
 diftindion was fet afide. However, to all 
 readers of the bible, the moral or fpirit of 
 this law is as much in force as ever. 
 Wild, fubtile, fierce, unclean manners, 
 are as hateful in Chriftians, as they were 
 of old in heathens : and the heathens were 
 taken into the church, on condition that 
 they fhould put off their favage manners; 
 as the unclean creatures had before put off 
 their natures and became tame, when they 
 were admitted into the ark of Noah, a 
 figure of the church. This change was 
 again to happen under the gofpel ; and the 
 prophet foretells the converfion of the 
 heathens under the figure of a miraculous 
 reformation of manners in wild beafts : the 
 ivolf Jhall dwell with the lamb^ and the leo* 
 fard Jhall lie down with the kidy and the 
 calf and the lion afid the failing together ; 
 and though they were once fo fierce and 
 terrible that a man dared not to come near 
 them, they (hall be fo changed, that a little 
 child may lead them — they Jhall not hurt 
 nor defiroy in all my holy mountain^ 
 
 Authors 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 79 
 
 Authors of natural hiftory divide their LECT« 
 fubjedt into three parts, under the heads of ^ — ^ 
 animals, plants, and minerals — I would 
 follow the fame order to keep my fubjed 
 within a moderate compafs. 
 
 Plants are applied to explain the growth 
 of the mind, with its different qualities 
 and produdlions. Thus preached John the 
 Baptift : T!he ax is laid unto the root of the 
 trees ; therefore every tree which beareth 
 not good fruit is hewn down and cafl in^ 
 to the fire. At the tranfgreffions of for- 
 mer times God had winked, and fufFered 
 men to walk in their own ways ; but now 
 the ferious day of reformation was come, 
 and men were commanded to repent or 
 to look for fpeedy execution ; which ac- 
 cordingly came upon the unbelieving Jews, 
 who did not take the Baptift's warning. 
 The ax was (harp ; and the hand that held 
 it being jufl: and irreiiftible, it foon laid 
 them level with the ground. 
 
 In the firft pfalm, the righteous man is 
 defcribed as a tree flourifhing by the water 
 
 fde. 
 
8o On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. fide, and bringing forth its fruit in due 
 V— ^ feafon. Such is he whom the grace of God 
 attends, and whofe delight is in meditating 
 day and night upon the law of the Lord ; 
 while the ungodly are like unprofitable chaff 
 driven away by the wind. No fruitlefs tree 
 will be permitted to remain in the planta- 
 tion of God, nor be able to Jland when 
 the ftorm of judgment arifes. Chriftians 
 who do not perfevere, but fall away into a 
 finful and unprofitable life, are compared 
 to trees whofe fruit wither ethy twice dead^ 
 f lucked up by the roots : dead once by na- 
 ture, and dead again unto grace, after they 
 had been revived by the reception of the 
 gofpel : of fuch there is no hope. 
 
 The tranfitory nature of man in this 
 mortal life is fhewn by the herbs of the 
 field ; and the fcripture drav^s this pidure 
 with fuch beauty as far furpaiTes the moft 
 laboured poetical elegies on mortality — 
 In the morning it is green and groweth upi 
 in the evening it Is cut dawn, dried up and 
 withered"^,— All fiejh is ^rafs^ and all the 
 
 * Pfalm xc. 
 
 goodlinefs 
 
bjthe Holy Scriptures. 8i; 
 
 goodlinefs thereof is as the flower of the 
 field: — the grafs wither eth^ the flower fa- 
 deth\ but the word of our God flnill ft and for 
 ever *. In their decay, the herbs of the field 
 are patterns of man's mortality ; bat in the 
 order of their growth, from feeds dead and 
 buried, they give a natural teftimony to the 
 dodrine of the refurreftion ; and the apoftle 
 therefore fpeaks of bodies rifing from the 
 dead as of fo many feeds fpringing from 
 the ground. The prophet Ifaiah fpeaks as 
 exprefsly upon the fame fubjedl : thy dead 
 men fldall livey together with my dead body 
 floall they arife : azvake andflngye that dwell 
 in the dufl : for thy dew is as the dew of 
 herbs i and the earth fldall caft out her dead\. 
 
 Much inftruftion is to be gathered from 
 the treafures which men take (with other 
 views) from beneath the earth : for perifii- 
 able riches are figures of the true riches^ 
 which give in fubftance what the other 
 give in fhadow : thefe are the riches of the 
 mind ; and though of litde eftcem with the 
 generality of the world, they are yet of in- 
 
 * Ifaiah xl. 6^ f Ifaiah xxvi. 19. 
 
 G finite 
 
82 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. finite value to thofe that poffefs them. The 
 v_, — / apoftles of Jefus Chrift were poor in ap- 
 pearance, but could boaft of being able to 
 make many rich in faith and knowledge. 
 The gifts of God to the mind are repre- 
 fented in one of the parables as fo many 
 talents of money, entrufted to men by the 
 Lord of all things, with which they are to 
 traffick in this ftate of probation, and im- 
 prove them to the beft of their power. 
 He who makes no improvement will lofe 
 what he has got, and then he is poor 
 indeed. 
 
 In the prophecy of Daniel, the four 
 monarchies of the world were fignified by 
 the chief metals which are taken from the 
 earth, all united in that vifionary image 
 which appeared to Nebuchadnezzar. The 
 head of gold meant the AJfyrian monarchy ; 
 the breaft oi filver was the Perjian -^ the 
 brazen part was the Grecian-^ and the 
 legs and feet of iron and clay were the 
 Roman. The laft was inferior to all the 
 reft in quality, but exceeded them in 
 ftreqgtb, as iron breaks all other things in 
 
 pieces. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 83 
 
 pieces. The kingdom of Chrift, arifing LECT, 
 in the time of the fourth monarchy, is ^ — v-^ 
 meant by the flone cut out of the mountain^ 
 (that is, out of the church) without hands^ 
 to fmite this mighty image of worldly 
 power upon the feet^ and overthrow it. 
 Accordingly, as chriflianity grew ftronger, 
 the Roman empire declined, and was foon 
 reduced nearly to the ftate in which we 
 now fee it^*. 
 
 We have taken a review of the natural 
 creation, fo far as the compafs of thefe 
 Lecflures will permit, and have feen how 
 the fcripture has applied the feveral parts 
 of it for the increafe of our faith and the 
 improvement of our underftandings. Thus 
 we are taqght how to make the beft and 
 the wifeft ufe to which this world can be 
 applied. The Creator himfelf hath made 
 this ufe of it, in revealing his will by it, 
 and referring man to it for inftrudion 
 
 * The reader may fee the three kingdoms of plants, ani- 
 mals, and minerals, conlidered more at large in Three Dif- 
 courfes preached at FairchilcPs Lefture, by the author of 
 this work. Printed for MelTrs. i?o^/«/2>«, Pater-nofter-row. 
 
 G 2 from 
 
84 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. from the beginning. For this ufe he in- 
 
 t, / / tended it when it was made ; and without 
 
 fuch an intention, there never could have 
 
 been fuch an univerfal agreement between 
 
 nature and revelation. 
 
 In this ufe of the world men differ 
 from brutes, who can fee it only with the 
 eyes of the body, and can apply it to no- 
 thing but the gratification of the appe- 
 tites. The ambitious and the covetous are 
 wafting their time to gain as much as they 
 can of it, without knowing what it is ; 
 as children covet new books for the pic- 
 tures and the gilding, without having fenfe 
 to improve by what is within them. To 
 thofe who confider only how the creation 
 can furnifh matter to their lufl:s and paf- 
 fions, it is no better than a vain (hadow : 
 but to thofe who take it rightly, it is a 
 Ihadow of heavenly things; a fchool in 
 which God is a teacher ; and all the ob- 
 jefts of fenfe, in heaven and earth, and 
 under the earth, are as the letters of an 
 univerfal language, in which all nations 
 have a common intereft. 
 
 There 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. • 85 
 
 There was an opinion, (I (hould rather ^^r^'^' 
 call it a tradition) amongft fome heathen ' — - — ' 
 philofophers, that the woj^U is a parable^ 
 the literal or bodily part of which is ma- 
 nifeft to all men, while the inward mean- 
 ing is hidden, as the foul in the body, the 
 moral in the fablcj or the interpretation 
 in the parable*. They had heard there was 
 
 Salluflu Ue^i Geav, cap. 3. 
 I Ko(rfjt,ov h ccv^i^Iqv /jlev vonlov oihv v] ^a^Qa^oq (pi'hca-ofpia, lov ^i 
 
 Joj. K.ai lov fxzv avaliGmi Movant, co^ av vomr lov h aia-^lov 
 ElaJi. Clem. Alex. Strom, Lib. 5. p. 412, 
 
 
 We may call the world a fable, or parable ; in which 
 there is an outward appearance of vifible things, with an 
 inward fenfe which is hidden as the foul under the body. 
 
 *' There is a barbarous philofophy, (i. e, a foreign phllo- 
 ** fophy) which hath a knowledge of xh^ fe?iJiUe and the 
 ** intellcHiml worlds ; the one being the archetype or ori- 
 *' ginal, the other an image or copy of it. It compares the 
 *' intelledual to unity^ and the fenlible to thenumbcryuv** 
 
 This barbarous philofophy, fo called by Plato, whof« 
 
 dodrine is here repeated by Clemens Alexandrinus, was no 
 
 where to be found but in the bible ; which in its week of 
 
 4ays, has a fingie day, the fabbath, amVerijagto the diviae 
 
 G 3 rtfi 
 
86 On the Figurative Language, ^c. 
 
 L^l^'^* fuch a thing j but to us the whole fecret 
 "^ — V — ' is opened, by the fcripture accommodating 
 all nature to things fpiritual and intellec- 
 tual ; and whoever fees this plan with an 
 unprejudiced mind, will not only be in a 
 way to underltand the bible, but he will 
 want no other evidence of the Chriftian 
 dodlrines. 
 
 refi of the invifible world, and fix days allotted to the works 
 of this prefent world. Nothing but the Mofaic cofmogony, 
 which defcribes the creation of the natural world in fix days, 
 and makes one heavenly day of the fabbath, could be the 
 original of this philofophy mentioned by Plato. 
 
 That certain charafteriftics of divine truth are legible in 
 the works and ways of nature, is no new do6lrine. It 
 hath been fuppofed by fome, and lightly touched upon 
 by others; but never purfned (as I have found) to any good 
 cffe6t. The two preceding Ledures give fome little prof- 
 pc6l of it as it flands in fcattercd paffages of the fcripture. 
 But I am fo much affeded to the plan, that I have drawn 
 out two Ledures upon it, under the title of the Natural 
 Ji'v'idencei of the Chriftian Religion^ notyetpubliflied. 
 
 LECT, 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 ON THE ARTIFICIAL OR INSTITUTED FIGURES 
 OF THE LAW OF MOSES, 
 
 N 
 
 EXT in order to thofe figures of LECT. 
 the fcripture which -may be called v ^ 
 
 natural^ as being taken from nature, we 
 are to examine thofe which are bor- 
 rowed from the inffitutlons of the law, 
 and may be called artificial^ as being or- 
 dained and accommodated to this purpofe 
 by the lawgiver himfelf. 
 
 The chief ordinances of the law are re- 
 ferred to in the prophets, the pfalms, and 
 the new teftament, and many paffages are 
 cited from thence and treated of by Chrift 
 and his apoftles, which will ferve as a key 
 to the language of the law, and (hew us 
 the intention of its ceremonies and pre- 
 cepts. 
 
 St. Paul, in his epiftle to the Hebrews, 
 
 gives us this general idea of the law, that 
 
 G 4 it 
 
88 On the Figurative Language 
 
 it had a Jhadow of good things to come-y^ 
 by which he means to teach us, that it 
 v/as in its ordinances a figure of the blefs- 
 ings of the gofpel. It was, as a ihadow is, 
 juft and defc^iptive in its lineaments, but 
 it had in itfelf neither fubftance nor hfe. 
 When the gofpel refers us to the law, it 
 refers us to a fliadow of itfelf; and fuch 
 references will neceflarily be figurative and 
 want an interpretation,* of which 1 (hall 
 now proceed to give fome examples. 
 
 Among the inftitutions of the law, 
 the firfl place is due to its facrifices and 
 priefthood; and the firft and greateft facri- 
 fice of which we have any particular de- 
 fcription is that of the paflbver. From 
 this the apoftle inftruds us in the benefits 
 of Chrift's death, together with the quali- 
 fications necefikry to a participation of 
 them ; and in fo doing he ufes the terms 
 of the inftituiion itfelf; Chrijl our pc^Jjo-^ 
 ver is facrtjiced for us\. This expreiiion 
 carries us back to the caufe and end for 
 which the paflbver was inftituted ; and it 
 
 ^ Heb. X. I. f I Cor, v. 7. 
 
 appears 
 
&f the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 appears from this reference of the apoftle, 
 
 1. That Chrift is vv^hat the paflTover was, 
 a lamb taken from the flock of his people. 
 
 2, That he was a facrifice, put to death 
 as an offering to God. 3. That this was 
 doneyir ^j, for our redemption and deli- 
 verance from the divine wrath ; a> the 
 paffover was facrificed for the redemption 
 of the Hebrews, when the iirft born of 
 Egypt were deftroyed. 
 
 All this IS comprehended in the ufe 
 the apoftle has made of thofe terms : and 
 this will be ftill plainer, if we attend to 
 the particulars. For the charafter of our 
 bleffed Saviour was anfwerable in all re- 
 fpeds to that of the pafchal lamb : he was 
 without blemifh, innocent and perfe6l in 
 his nature ; and, as the prophet defcribes 
 him, like the lamh when brought to the 
 Jlaughter^^ meek and unrefifting. When 
 John the Baptift pointed out Jefus to the 
 Jews as the Meffiah, he chofe to do it in 
 thofe words, behold the lamb of God\\ fee 
 and acknowledge the true paffover which 
 
 * Ifaiahliii, 7, f John i. 29r 
 
 God 
 
po On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. God himfclf hath provided, not for the 
 * — >. — ' deliverance of a fingle nation, but to take 
 away the Jin of the world. Whatever the 
 law had ordained concerning the offering 
 of lambs in the paffover, and in the daily 
 facrifices of the morning and evening, all 
 is explained in this fhort reference of John 
 the Baptiil:, applying the facrifices of the 
 lav^ to the true lamb of God. In the fame 
 gofpel of St. John we find another re- 
 markable allufion to the inftitution of the 
 paffover. From the circuniftance which 
 happened at our Saviour's death, that his 
 Ie(^s were not broken with thofe of the two 
 malefaftors, the evangelift obferves, thefe 
 things were done that the fcripiiire Jloould be 
 fulfilled y a bone of him Jhall not be broken ; 
 at which paffage the margin of our beft 
 editions of the bible refers us to Exodus 
 xii. 46. where this diredion is given con- 
 cerning the paffover, neither Jhall ye break 
 a bone thereof. 
 
 If we look to the defign or occafion of 
 his facrifice, we find it the fame in eifed 
 with that of the paffover : for as that was 
 
 flaia 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ 91 
 
 flain for the Hebrews in Egypt, fo was He LECT- 
 facrificed for us. The firft bora of Ifrael ' — -— ' 
 would have been deflroyed with thofe of 
 Egypt, but for the blood of the pafchal 
 lamb upon the doors of thtir houfes; and 
 we alfo who are, as the Hebrews were, in 
 a land of bondage, among finful people 
 devoted to deftrudlion, fhall not efcape the 
 divine wrath in that night when the de- 
 ftroyer fhall be fent out, but m virtue of 
 the true paffover : therefore we are faid to 
 have redemption through his blood. The 
 term redemption^ as applied to the falva- 
 tion of finners by Jefus Chrift, is taken in 
 a figurative fenfe. It fignifies literally the 
 releafe of a captive or guilty perfon, in 
 confideration of fomething accepted in liea 
 of him. All men are in a ilate of for- 
 feiture, fold under fin, and captives of fa- 
 tan: out of which condition, they are 
 not redeemed with Jilver and gold^ as com- 
 mon captives, but with the precious blood of 
 Chrijl^ as of a lamb without blemifj and 
 without fpot ; that is, as the Hebrews were 
 in Egypt by the blood of the paffover* 
 
 The 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 The frame of mind in which we are to 
 celebrate the Chriftian paflbver, is de- 
 fcribed to us in terms borrowed from the 
 Jewifli : this feaft we are to keep with the 
 -unleavened bread of Jincerity and truth \ free 
 from all impure mixtures of worldly af- 
 fedions, pharifaical pride, hypocrify, and 
 falfe do6lrine. To which thofe other de- 
 fcriptive ceremonies may be added, of 
 having our loins girded^ our fioes on our 
 feety and our Jiaves in our hands % in the 
 garb and poflure of pilgrims^ foon to de- 
 part from the Egypt of this world. 
 
 Some other forms with which facrifices 
 were offered are of great account, and will 
 explain to us the fenfe of many paffages 
 not otherwife to be underftood. Chrift as 
 our fubftitute, is faid to have borne our 
 griefs and carried our forrows ^ and the 
 Lord is faid to have laid on him the iniqui- 
 ties of us all^» According to the form 
 prefcribed In the law, when a facrifice was 
 brought to the prieft, it was the cuftom for 
 
 •^ * Ifaiah lili. 4. 6^ 
 
 the 
 
ofths Holy Scriptures, P2 
 
 the finner, or the congregation at large^^ as LECT. 
 the occafion might require, to lay their v— ^ 
 hands upon the head of the vi£lim, and 
 confefs their fins upon it, which the inno- 
 cent animal about to die was to bear for 
 them; and the fins fo transferred from the 
 finner to the offering were to be done away. 
 This fhews us what was meant by the 
 prophet, when he faid, the Lord hath laid 
 en him the iniquities of us all', that is, he 
 hath laid upon the head of Chrift, as 
 upon a devoted facrifice, the fins of all 
 mankind. 
 
 In the cafe of what was called ihtfcape 
 goatfy the animal, with this burden of 
 fin upon his head, was turned loofe into a 
 wildernefs, into a land not inhabited, no 
 more to be fecn of men : with allufion to 
 which it is faid In the Pfalms, as far as the 
 eqjiisfrom the wej% fo far hath he fet our 
 fins from us\y no more to be remembered 
 
 * The elders of the congregation (fee Lev. iv. 15.) or 
 the high prieft in the name of the congregation, (fee 
 Lev. xvi. 24.) 
 
 f Lev, xvi. ii. § Pfalm ciii» ij. 
 
 or 
 
94 O^ i^^ Figurative Langmge 
 
 ^^\x^' or hear J of to our condemnatioru There 
 *--^r-^ feems to be another reference to the fame 
 in thofe words of Jer. 1, 20. '* the iniquity 
 ** of Ifrael ihall h^ fought for ^ and there 
 " (hall be none \ and the fins of Judah, 
 *^ and they fhall not he found.''' 
 
 On one particular occafion, the congre- 
 gation were commanded to lay their hands 
 upon the head of the guilty perfon, before 
 he was carried out to execution : which 
 ceremony explains what is faid of thofe for 
 whom no atonement was to be accepted, 
 that they (hould bear their iniquity y they 
 fliould fuffer for it themfelves and be their 
 own facrifice. So again, where it is faid, 
 Ms blood Jhall he upon his head''''', i-t means, 
 that the perfon in this cafe fhould be an- 
 fwerable for the guilt of his own death. 
 And when the Jews blafphcmoufly cried 
 out, his blood he on us, and on our children, 
 they meant, that whatever fin there might 
 be in putting Jefus to death, they would 
 venture to have the guilt of it laid upon 
 the heads of themfelves and their pofterity, 
 
 * Jofliua ii. ;^, 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures: , gg 
 
 and atone for it in their own perfons; LECT. 
 which they have accordingly, by the juft v— ^. 
 judgment of God, been doing ever fince. 
 
 This laying of fin upon the head of a 
 facrifice, gives us a farther underftanding 
 of what happened to Chrift in his paffion, 
 when the curfe of our fins was crufhed 
 with heavy and mercilefs hands upon his 
 head, in the form of a crown of thorns ; 
 under which affliding burden he was duly 
 prepared as an offering for fin. Hence 
 alfo we fee the meaning of a like form 
 which has a contrary intention ; for as the 
 curfe of guilt was laid on the head of a fa- 
 crifice ; fo bleffings of every kind are con- 
 veyed by the laying of hands on the heads 
 of the perfons who are appointed to receive 
 them* Thus our Saviour took the little 
 children into his arms, and when he blefled 
 them he laid his hands upon them ; thus alfo 
 the fick were reftored to the blefllngs of 
 health; and thus the minifters of God re- 
 ceive their commiffion, with the gifts ne- 
 ceflary to the exercife of it : Jlir up the gift 
 
g6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^^'^* of God^ faith Paul to Timothy, which is 
 v-v—^ in thee by the putting on of my hands'^. 
 
 When Chrift is faid to be a prieji^ we 
 muft underftand the word in a new fenfe j 
 for certainly he was not a priefl in a literal 
 fenfe, neither could he officiate according 
 to the forms of the law, becaufe he was 
 not of that tribe to which the priefthood 
 pertained. He is therefore called a prieft 
 after the order of Melchizedec^ whofe prieft- 
 hood was prior and fuperior to that of the 
 Levitical order, and carried with it the ad- 
 miniftration of bread and wine-^^ after the 
 form of the gofpel itfelf. Yet ftill we 
 muft go to the Levitical law, for the nature 
 of the office, and the proper chara£ter of 
 our high prieft. Such an high prieft became 
 us^ faith the author of the epiftle to the 
 Hebrews, who is holy^ harmlefs^ undefiled^ 
 
 feparate from fnnersy and made higher 
 than the heavens\. Such an high prieft 
 as the law had in all refpefts, according 
 to the letter; fuch ought we to have in the 
 
 ( fpirit; one in whom all the outward figns 
 
 * 2 Tim. i, 6, f Gen. xiv. i8. X Heb, vii. 26. 
 
 of 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 'gy 
 
 of holinefs and perfeftion requifite to the LECT, 
 high prieflhood of the law fhould be in- ^ — x — 'j 
 wardly verified and accompllfhed ; with 
 no blemifli of nature, no defilement of fin ; 
 fan6tified by an eternal confecration, and 
 exalted to execute that office in the heaven 
 itfelf, which the high prieft performed 
 yearly in the moft holy place of the taber- 
 nacle. Even the clothing of 'the high 
 prieft was^ not without Its fignification ; 
 his garments were expreflive of purity, 
 fan£lity and divinity itfelf: they are there- 
 fore called holy garments * ; and there is a 
 reference to them in the pfalms which 
 gives them this meaning, let thy priejls be 
 clothed with right eoufnefs-\ ; let them be in 
 fpirit and truth what iheir clothing out- 
 wardly fignifies: The^;^;^ white linen worn 
 by the prieft is here applied in its emble- 
 matical capacity to fpiritual fanftification ; 
 and it is thus interpreted for us in the Re- 
 velation ; the Jine linen is the right eoufnefs 
 of faints §. The fenfe of this is ftill pre- 
 ferved amongft us, with thofe who under- 
 ftand it right; it being the cuftom for a 
 
 * Exodus xxviii. 2, f Pfalm cxxxil. 9. § Rev. xix. 8. 
 
 H bride 
 
gS On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. bride to go to her marriage in white^ as a 
 * teftimony of her virgin ftate; and they 
 
 who minifter in the church, either to ferve, 
 or to pray, or to ling, are clothed in white 
 linen, to fignify the purity which is proper 
 to their calling, and fhould be found in 
 their charafters. The evangelifts in their 
 accounts of our Saviour's transfiguration 
 are all of them very particular as to that 
 one circumftance, that his raiment was 
 'white as the light. This divine fplendor 
 of his perfon was denoted by the fplendor 
 of the high prieft's garments, which are 
 faid to have been appointed for glory and 
 for beauty, fuch beauty as is applied in 
 the pfalms to its proper feme, the beauty 
 of hoUneJs^. This clothing of light was 
 proper to an earthly high prieft, only in 
 confideration of his being a reprefentative 
 of that divine interceffor, who was to be 
 the glory as well as the prieft of his peo- 
 ple Ifrael. 
 
 Such dignity hath God been pleafed to 
 grant to his minifters ; not for their own 
 
 * Pfalm xcvi. g, 
 
 fakes. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ 99 
 
 fakes, but from their relation to Jefus 
 Chrift. As the Jews (hewed all reverence 
 to their high prieft, much more ought we 
 to ours, and to all that a£l in his name, 
 for his fake : and they who think meanly 
 of the priefthood, or fpeak of it with con- 
 tempt, as fome do of malice, and fome of 
 ignorance, (hall one day fee heaven and 
 earth fly away from before the face of a 
 prieft. 
 
 When the name of a prieft is applied to 
 Chrift in the new teftament, we under- 
 ftand the term in a figurative fenfe, and go 
 to the law for its literal meaning ; becaufe 
 Chrift did not ferve at the alter, nor ofE- 
 ciate in the temple, nor was of the fami- 
 ly of the priefthood. Whereas in truth, 
 he was the original, and they of the law 
 were figures of him. Had it not been for 
 his priefthood fore- ordained of God, there 
 never had been fuch a thing as a prieft in 
 the World. Why was one man appointed 
 to intercede for another ? Where can be 
 the fenfe and reafon of it ? For why can- 
 not that man as well intercede for him^ 
 H 2 felf ? 
 
loo On the Figurative Language 
 
 felf ? It was to fhew that there {hould be 
 in the fulnefs of time one to intercede 
 efFeilually for all : and that this great in- 
 terceffor (hould be taken from among men^ 
 like the other priefcs who were before him : 
 this is the true reafon why fome men in 
 preference to others were admitted to in- 
 tercede ; though ftill on a level with the 
 reft, and obliged to offer facrifices /(?r their 
 cwn Jins, 
 
 In one refped we are to this day in the 
 ftate of the Jewifl^ people. They could 
 not offer their own facrifices^ they were 
 to bring them to the priefl and he w^as to 
 offer them. So cannot we now offer up 
 our prayers and praifes to God but by Jefus 
 Chrift; and fo the apoftle applies the cafe 
 for us I hy him therefore let its offer the fa- 
 crifice oj praife to God continually^ that is, 
 the fruit oj our lips^ giving thanks to his 
 name. Yea and even under the law, while 
 the earthly high pried ferved, as a (hadow> 
 to prefent the offerings of the people to 
 God, it was' underftood by the prophets 
 that he was no more than a fhadow, and 
 that there was another divine priefl to 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. loi 
 
 whom the office properly belonged. For LECT. 
 who is he that faith in the i6th pfalm, ^ — r^ 
 their drink offerings of blood will I not offer 
 nor make mention of their names ^within my 
 lips ? David was no prieft ; and though he 
 was a king, he could offer no facrifice ei- 
 ther for himfelf or for others. The paf- 
 fage refers to the impure and unfandified 
 offerings of the heathens who went after 
 other gods; yet he, who refufes to offer 
 thefe, mufl be the perfon whofe office it is to 
 prefent to God, as the common interceffor, 
 the offerings of all men : for the fpeaker 
 here is the fame as in the loth verfe, where 
 the fame prieft faith, thou wilt not leave 
 viy foul in hell^ nor fuffer thy holy one to fee 
 corruption ; which words are exprefsly faid 
 to have been fpoken of the refurredtion of 
 Chrift : as the next words are of his exal- 
 tation. — T^hou wilt Jhew me the path of 
 life : in thy prefence is the fulnefs of joy^ 
 and at thy right hand there is pleafure 
 for e'vermore : for certainly this place at 
 the right hand of God is the place of the 
 Son of God, which he aflumed when he 
 efcended into heaven : this was the jo^^ 
 H 3 which 
 
loa On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. which the prophets and the pfalms hzA/ei 
 '^--v — ' before him^ for which he endured the crofs 
 and defpifed the fhame of it. This is the 
 prieft who faith all thefe things : it was 
 therefore declared to thofe who were un- 
 der the law, that there was another high 
 prieft, above him that miniftered in the 
 tabernacle or temple, by whofe invifiblc 
 miniftration, the offerings of men were to 
 be prefented and made acceptable to God. 
 So plain and dire£b is the dodtrine of this 
 pfalm, that St. Peter, by an application of 
 it to the perfon of Chrift, converted three 
 thoufand fouls at once. 
 
 As the words of the apoftle above-men- 
 tionedj relating to the priefthood of Chrift, 
 are fpoken with reference to the figures 
 and prophecies of the old teftament, it 
 fnuft have been declared therein that we 
 fhould have a prieft higher than the hea-* 
 vens : for that fuch an one became us, inaf- 
 much a5 every other would have fallen 
 fhort of what the fcripture had teftified 
 by prophetical figns and prophetical words ; 
 fom^ of which I am now to fet before you. 
 
 Melchi- 
 
LECT. 
 IV. 
 
 of the Holy Scriptures 1 03 
 
 Melchizedec was a fign of the priefthood 
 of Chrift *y being not noly priefi of the mojl 
 high God, but alfo a king, a perfon of roy- 
 al majefty, and in dignity fuperior to the 
 greateft man upon earth, becaufe he blefled' 
 the father of the faithful ; and the lefs is 
 blejfed of the greater. It follows there- 
 fore from this charadcr of Melchizedec, 
 that to the holinefs of the priefthood there 
 fhould be added in the perfon of Chrift 
 the majefty of a king; even of fuch a 
 king as (hould have a throne in heaven it- 
 felf. For thus is this prieft fpoken of in 
 the iioth pfalm : T^he Lord f aid unto my 
 Lord, fit thou at my right hand: and in the 
 fubfequent verfes of the pfalm the fame 
 perfon is fpoken unto as a prieft for ever 
 after the order of Melchizedec: therefore 
 the fcripture, under the old covenant, gavo^ 
 notice of a prieft who fhould fit at the 
 right hand oi God^ and fhould of confe- 
 quence be higher than the heavens. The 
 argument from this pfalm is every clear ; 
 but what the fcripture hath faid on the 
 charader and priefthood of Melchizedec is 
 fo important, and withal fo myfteriousj 
 H 4 that 
 
'I04 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. that the apoftle hath a long and critical 
 ^u«.^J-/ difcourfe upon it in the epiftle to the He- 
 brews; of which he himfelf gives us this 
 
 as the fum : we have Juch an high priefiy 
 who is Jet on the right hand of the throne 
 of the Majejly in the heavens. 
 
 The Interceffion of Chrift as a priefl in 
 heaven was fignified yearly in the fervice 
 of the tabernacle, when the high prieft 
 went on the great day of atonement into 
 the inner tabernacle or holy of holies with 
 the blood of a ll^crifice. From whence 
 the fame apoftle argues, that Chrift as our 
 high prieft fhould enter, not into the holy 
 places made with hands, which are the fi- 
 gures of the truey but into heaven itfef^ 
 now to appear in the prefence of God for 
 us"^. The holy place of the tabernacle is 
 applied in the fame manner to the refi- 
 dence of God in the invifible heavens 
 in the 24th pfalm : Who ihall afcend in- 
 to the hill of the Lord ? or who fhall ftand 
 lA his ho/y place? he that hath clean hands ^ 
 &c. this may allude to the ceremony pre- 
 
 * Heb. ix, 24, 
 
 fcribcdj 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 105 
 
 fcribed, for the high prieft to wafli hJmfelf LECT. 
 
 with water -f- before he entered the holy v ^ 
 
 place. Then follows a defcription of the 
 majeftic afcenfion and entrance of the king 
 of glory into the everlajling doors of the 
 heavenly places ^ and this pfalm is accord- 
 ingly appointed by the church as one of 
 the proper pfalms for the feaft of the af- 
 cenfion. A fign was given that the hea- 
 venly places were opened, for himfelf firft 
 and for all believers after him, in confe* 
 quence of his overcoming the fharpnefs 
 of death. The vail of the temple by 
 which the holy place was feparated from 
 the worldly fandtuary, or firft tabernacle, 
 was rent miraculoufly at his crucifixion, 
 and that figure of the heaven was laid 
 open, into which none but the high prieft 
 might enter: which circumftance is thus 
 applied for us in the epiftle to the He- 
 brews: having therefore^ brethren^ bold' 
 nejs to enter into the holiejl by the blood of 
 Jefus, by a new and living way, which he 
 hath confecrated for us through the vail, 
 that is to fay, his fiejh ; and having an high 
 
 •f- See Lev. xvi. 4^ 
 
 priefl 
 
io6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. prieft over the houfe of God-, let us draw 
 '^ — . — ' near with a true heart in full ajfurance of 
 faith i having our hearts fprinkled from an 
 evil confciencey and our bodies wajhed with 
 pure water'^. Thefe laft words allude as 
 the correfpondent ones before in the 24th 
 pfalm, to the cuftom of the high priefl: 
 wafhing his flefh with water, before he 
 was permitted to enter into the holy place : 
 which ceremony is applied in the pfalm 
 to the purity of the great high prieft him-» 
 felf J but in the language of the apoflle 
 with equal prppriety to all Chriftians, who 
 are to partake of the benefits of his mini- 
 ftration in heaven, and to follow a pure 
 high prieft with purity of confcience. 
 
 Another rite pertaining to the prieft- 
 hood, and of great fignification in the fcrip- 
 ture, is that of the high prieft's confecra- 
 tion with the anointing oil : a fign of grace 
 and authority from the fpirit of God ; and 
 in virtue of this anointing, the high prieft 
 -had power to heal the leprofy and other un- 
 clean difeafestj that the parties fo cleanfed 
 
 * Heb. X. 22, &c. t Lev. xiv. ir. 
 
 might 
 
tf the Holy Scriptures » ipy 
 
 might be fit to attend upon the fervice of the LE c T. 
 fan£luary, for which they were difqualified - , - 
 and in a ftate of excommunication*, fo 
 long as their uncleannefs lafted. Thus in 
 the new teftament we read, that Jefus was 
 anointed of God with the Holy Ghoft and 
 with power ; in confequence of which he 
 went about doing good, and healing all 
 that were oppreffed of the devil, for God 
 was with him -f*. A leper, who had faith 
 in his power, came and worfliipped him, 
 faying, Lord^ if thou wilty thou canjl make 
 me clean. When this man was cleanfed 
 of his leprofy, he was commanded to fliew 
 himfclf to the prieft, and to make the ac- 
 cuftomed offering, for a tejiimony u7ito 
 them: and as it was the office of the prieft 
 to cure this difeafe, this cure was a legal 
 proof and teftimony to the priefthood of 
 the time, that there was a greater than 
 themfelves amongft them ; who, though 
 not literally anointed to the miniftry, had 
 the true anointing from the fpirit of God, 
 which had defcended upon him after his 
 baptifm ; and who Ihould fuperfede them 
 * Lev. XV, 31, -j- A(5ls x. 38. 
 
 in 
 
lo8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. in their office: but it doth not appear 
 '*— V— ' what inference they made from the cafe. 
 
 As the gift of the fpirit was communi- 
 cated at the anointing of the high prieft, 
 and the fpirit is the author of love and 
 unity to the church, who are to prejerve 
 the unity of the fpirit in the bond of peace : 
 we find a beautiful allufion, with an appli- 
 cation of this rite to its myftical fenfe, in 
 the 133d pfalm; Behold how good and how 
 pleafant it is for brethren to dwell toge- 
 ther in unity: it is like the precious oint- 
 ment upon the head^ that ran down unto 
 the beard, even unto Aar^ons beardy and 
 went down to the Jkirts of his garments. It 
 was always an undoubted truth in every 
 flate of the church, that unity is from the 
 fpirit of God; beginning in thofe of fu- 
 perior authority, and fpreading itfdf with 
 a progrefs of defcent from the highell: to 
 the loweft members of the community : 
 but the thing is moft evident to us under 
 the gofpel ; who are taught, that the 
 church is the body of Chrift ; that he him- 
 felf is the head of it ; and that the divine 
 
 fpirU 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 109 
 
 fpirit firft fhed upon him, is from thence LECT, 
 difFufed to all orders of Chriftians, to the v^A-' 
 leafl: and loweft members of the church. 
 
 The fcripture has nuniberlefs other re- 
 ferences to the facrifices and priefthood of 
 the law, more than the plan of thefe lec- 
 tures will admit: for I do not undertake 
 to explain all that is referred to in the 
 law: my meaning is to (hew, by feveral 
 examples, in what manner the fcripture it- 
 felf applies the inftitutions of the law; 
 and by fo doing, I put a light into the 
 hands of thofe who read the bible, with 
 which they may go farther and examine 
 things for themfelves. Yet, among the 
 offerings of the tabernacle and temple, 
 there are two more for which I fhall have 
 room in this difcourfe ; I mean the Jirjl 
 fruits and the burning of incenfe. 
 
 In I Cor, XV. Chrift, as rifen from the 
 dead, is called th^frfi fruits ; but now^ 
 faith St. Paul, is Chriji rifen fiom the 
 dead^ and become the firft fruits of them 
 thatflept. From the term thus applied he 
 
 con- 
 
no On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. confirms, and opens In a wonderful man- 
 '•.^JLj ner, the doflrme of the Refurredlion ; and 
 therefore it is pro^Der we (hould have a 
 right underftanding of it. When the 
 harveft was ripe and ready for the fickle, 
 a firft flieaf was reaped and carried into 
 the temple, where the prieft waved it be- 
 fore the Lord to be accepted ; and till this 
 was done, the reft of the harveft was not 
 fanclified to the ufe of the people, nor 
 bad they any right to partake of it. 
 
 The ufe the apoftle makes of this is 
 very extenfive. In the firft place, the 
 growing of grain from the earth where it 
 was buried, is an exa£t image of the re- 
 furredion of the body : for as the one 
 is fown^ fo is the other, and neither is 
 quickened^ except it firft die and be buried. 
 Then the whole harveft, from its relatioa 
 to the firft fruits, explains and enfures the 
 order of our refurredion. For, is the 
 iheaf of the firft fruits reaped ? Then is the 
 whole harveft ready. Is Chrift rifen from 
 the dead ? Then ftiall all rife in like man- 
 ner. Is he accepted of God as an holy 
 
 ofFerirg 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 1 1 
 
 offering and lifted up In his heavenly fanc- 
 tuary ? Then fhall every flieaf that has 
 grov^n up with him be taken from the 
 earth and fandtified in its proper order; 
 Chrijl the firji-fruits^ afterward they that 
 are Chrijfs at his coming. 
 
 If there feems any impropriety in mak- 
 ing Chrift the firft fruits, when we know 
 that others were raifed to life before him ; 
 as the Shunamite's fon by Elifha, and La- 
 zarus by Chrift himfelf : it is to be obferv- 
 cd, that they were raifed^ he only rofe from 
 the dead by his own power, as the grain 
 fpringeth from the ground of itfelf. Be- 
 fidcs, though they were raifed, they died 
 again; but Chrift, being raifed from the 
 dead dieth no more, death hath no more do* 
 minion over him: He was tht firfl who rofe 
 to life eternal. Nothing followed to man- 
 kind from the refurreftion of others ; but 
 He fandified the harveft of the whole field, 
 and had the efficacy as well as the appear- 
 ance of ihQ firfl-fruits. 
 
 Saint Paul in his apology before King 
 
 Agrippa 
 
112 On the Figurative La?2guage 
 
 LECT. Agrippa pleaded in defence of his doc- 
 * — . — ' trine, that he faid none other things than 
 thofe which the Prophets and Mofes did 
 fay Jldould come ; that Chriji Jhould fuf- 
 fer *, and that he foould be the jirjl that 
 jhould rife from the dead. Now thefe 
 things are no where faid by Mofes in 
 the letter; therefore they were foretold 
 figuratively and in the fpirit. Chrift, ac- 
 cording to the dodrine of Mofes, was to 
 fuffer in the PaJJover, and to rife again in 
 xS\^ ff fruits of the harveft. And as this 
 aflertion of the Apofcle (hews us the ftyle 
 and manner in which Mofes preached the 
 gofpel, it is of great importance to us in 
 our prefent enquiry. 
 
 The other offering, which I propofed 
 to fpeak of, is that of the daily incenfe. 
 Morning and evening it was to be offered 
 up upon an altar of gold, where no bloody 
 facrifice was to come f. This offering 
 the Pfalmift refers to in his devotions, 
 and explains its meaning by his applica- 
 tion of it : L.et my prayer be fet forth in 
 
 * A6ts xxvi. z2, f Exodus xxx. 8, 9. 
 
 thy 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 1^ 
 
 thy fight as the incenfe. As the fmoke L F- C T. 
 and odour of this offering was wafted into ^ ^ -^ 
 the holy place, clofe by the veil of which 
 flood the altar of incenfe ^ fo do the pray- 
 ers of the faithful afcend upwards and find 
 admiffion into the higheft heaven. Come' 
 llus^ faid the angel^ thy prayers are come up 
 for a memorial before God"^. The prayer 
 of faith is acceptable to God, as the 
 fragrance of incenfe is agreeable to the 
 fenfes of man : and as the incenfe was of- 
 fered twice a day, in the morning and even- 
 ing, the fpirit of this fervice is to be kept 
 up at thofe times throughout all genera- 
 tions. The prophet Malachi foretold that 
 it fhould be obfervcd throughout the 
 world : jrom the rifng of the fun even un* 
 to the going down of the famCy my name 
 jhall be great among the Gentiles^ and in 
 every place incenfe fall be offered to my 
 namc'f. In the Revelation we hear of this 
 incenfe as now aftually carried up and 
 prefented in heaven : where the elders fall 
 down before the lamb with golden vials in 
 their hands, filed with odours (of incenfe) 
 which are the prayers of faint s\^ Happy 
 
 * Adsx. 4, f Mai. i, II. + Rev. V. 8. 
 
 I are 
 
114 ^^ ^^^ Figurative Language^ &c. 
 
 LECT. are they who fulfil this fervicc; and at 
 * — ^ the rifing and going down of the fun 
 fend up this offering to heaven, as all 
 Chriftians are fuppofed to do, at lead twice 
 in every day. What then are they, and to 
 whom do they belong, who do not pray ? 
 What is their incenfe ? Perhaps it is no- 
 thing but a faithlefs murmuring and com- 
 plaining againft the Providence they ought 
 to blefs and adore. Perhaps, they call 
 upon God, for curfes upon themfelves and 
 others: and then their mouthy inftead of 
 offering incenfe, is, an open fepulchre^ fend- 
 ing forth the filthy odours of death and 
 uncleannefs. From this unprofitable and' 
 moft miferable ftate, may God deliver all 
 Chrifiian families, who look for any blefs- 
 ing upon themfelves and their affairs : may 
 his grace open their lips, and difpofe their 
 affections ; that they may meet together 
 in peace, and make a morning and an even- 
 ing facrifice to that God whofe eyes are 
 upon them all the day long; who made 
 them, and redeemed them, and is alone 
 able to fave thofe that call upon him 
 through Jefus Chrift. 
 
 LECT, 
 
[ "5 ] 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 SOME FARTHER EXAMPLES, WHICH SHEW HOW 
 THE LANGUAGE OF THE OTHER PARTS OF 
 THE SCRIPTURE IS BORROWED FROM THE 
 LANGUAGE OF THE LAW OF MOSES, AND TO 
 
 BE INTERPRETED THEREBY. THE TEMPLE, 
 
 THE SABBATH, CIRCUMCISION, CLEAN AND 
 
 UNCLEAN ANIMALS, &C. THE WONDERFUL 
 
 TESTIMONY OF THE LAW TO THE RELIGION 
 OF JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 NEXT in order to the offerings and LECT. 
 the priefthood of the law, is the w^ 
 place of divine worfhip, wherein thefe fer- 
 vices were accomplifhed, called tie taber- 
 nacle ; to which the fcriptures both of the 
 old and new teftament refer us in many 
 figurative paflages, for the right under- 
 ftanding of which, we muft firft enquire 
 what the tabernacle was in itfelf. 
 
 I ^ It 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 It was a moveable habitation; like a 
 large tent, firft ereded in the wildernefs, 
 when the Ifraelites were on their pilgrim- 
 age to Canaan. It contained two apart- 
 ments; the firft of which was called the 
 Holy Place^ appointed for the daily fer- 
 vices of facrifice and prayer; beyond 
 which there was an inner apartment, call- 
 ed the moji Hcly Placcy in which a fervice 
 was performed once in a year by the high 
 prieft only : and thefe two apartments were 
 feparated by a veil reaching from the top 
 to the bottom. In the moft holy place, 
 the prefence of God was manifefted, and 
 his glory is faid on fome occafions to 
 have filled the tabernacle : but it was ufual 
 for this glory -to appear above or between 
 the cherubims, which were placed here 
 upon the mercy feat which covered the 
 ark; on which account the apoftle in the 
 epiftle to the Hebrews calls them the che- 
 rubims of glory ; and the Pfalmift fpeaks 
 of them as the proper feat of the divine 
 Majefty — T'hou that dwellefi between the 
 cherubims^ JJnneforth^. 
 
 * If the reader willies to enquire into the form and defign 
 
 of 
 
of the Holy Scripures. 1 17 
 
 There was this remarkable diftlnaion be- LECT, 
 tween the two apartments of the taberna- ^ — v — ' 
 cle ; that as the one was the place of God's 
 refidence, the habitation of his holinefs ; 
 the other had a conformity with this pre- 
 fent world; whence the apoftle calls it a 
 worldly Jan5tuary^ or world-like fanftuary, 
 that is, a fanftuary refembling this vifible 
 world 5 as muft indeed be evident to thofe 
 who coniider what relation it bore to the 
 other fandluary: how it was diftinguifhed 
 in its ufe from the mod holy place which 
 was the habitation of God; and how it 
 was furniflied with lights, as the vi(i- 
 ble heavens are, the chief of which are 
 feven in number, and the lights of the ta- 
 bernacle were made to anfwer them. From 
 this known relation between the vifible 
 world and the fanduary, the heavens are 
 called the tabernacle of ih^fun ; the whole 
 
 of the Cherubim, more particularly than the Intention of 
 thefe le£tures will permit me to do, as being deligned for 
 general ufe, I muft refer him to the laft edition of Mr, 
 ParkhurfV% Hebrew Lexicon; the moil ufeful work, with- 
 out exception, that has ever been publifhed on the Lite- 
 rature or Philology of the facred Language, 
 
 I 7 world 
 
1 1 8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT» vv'orld itfelf, and the firmament of heaven, 
 ^~-v — ' with its glorious furniture, being one great 
 tabernacle, comprehending the luminaries 
 of the day and night, rcprefented in figure 
 by the lamps of the tabernacle. Jofe" 
 fhusy in his Jewifli Antiquities, has pre- 
 ferved a tradition, that this was the defign 
 of them, and that they had refpedl to the 
 lyftem of the heavens*. And this alli- 
 ance between the furniture of the taber- 
 nacle and the furniture of the heavens, 
 gives us a grand idea of the vifible world ; 
 the inhabitants of which are all to con- 
 fider themielves as comprehended in one 
 great fanciuary, where the firft and beft 
 employment (by neceffary inference) is 
 the fervice of that God who has brought 
 them into it. Therefore the indevout 
 mind, which is either ignorant or infen- 
 fibie of this doclrine of a facred alliance 
 and communion betwixt God and his crea- 
 
 ^ The Emperor l^uma placed a facred fire in his temple, 
 with the like allufion to the fire of the heavens : focum 
 y^ejta 'virginihus colcndum dedit^ ut ad fimilitudinem coe- 
 leftium fiderum coflos Imperii Jiamma ingilarct* Flor. 
 Hill. I. c. 2. 
 
 tures, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 19 
 
 tures, IS a poor intruder into the great tern- LECT. 
 pie of the world ; on whom we ought to ^ — ^ 
 look as we (hould upon the rude favage, 
 who (hould come ftaring into a Chriftian 
 church in the time of divine fervice, with- 
 out underftanding what the nature of the 
 place is, and how the people are employed. 
 
 From this defcription of the tabernacle 
 we muft proceed to the figurative accep- 
 tation of it : for that it adually was a fi- 
 gure, and had refpefl: to things beyond it- 
 felf, is fhewn by the reafoning of St, Paul 
 throughout the Epiftle to the Hebrews ; 
 who there fpeaks of a true taberjzade^ of 
 a nature fuperior to that of the law, but 
 fignified and fliadowed out by it. The 
 fame appears from the words fpoken to 
 Mofes, fee thou make all things according 
 to the pattern Jhewed to thee in the mount : 
 which direftion was preferved, and is 
 quoted in the new teftament twice, to 
 teach us, that the vifible tabernacle was 
 nothing more than a copy from an heavenly 
 original^ which came down from God out 
 of heaven (like the New Jerufalem in the 
 I 4 Re- 
 
120 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. Revelation) and was exhibited to Mofes 
 >-l> — ' in a vilion on the mount. Hence the 
 apoftle argues for a prophetic relation to 
 heavenly things in the earthly tabernacle. 
 As we hear of a 'Jerufalem that is above^ 
 correfponding to the earthly Jerufalem 5 
 fo was there always underftood to be a hea- 
 venly tabernacle; the eternal refidence of 
 God, as the tabernacle below was his tem- 
 porary refidence, while his prefence was 
 with Mofes and the Jews. This heavenly 
 original muft be underftood, where the 
 Pfalmift fpeaks of the dwelling of the 
 righteous man in the Jecret place of the 
 mojl High^ under the fiadow of the .Al-* 
 mighty^ covering him with his wings, as the 
 cherubim of glory are faid to fpread forth 
 their wings in the fecret place of the earthly 
 fanftuary*. So where he faith in the 
 15th pfalm, Who Jhall dwell in thy taberm 
 nacle^ or ivho fhall refl upon thy holy hill? 
 No man can be fo ignorant as to think that 
 the godly were to exped their reft and re- 
 ward in a tabernacle^ which had no exift- 
 cnce after the days of Davids The words 
 
 f Ffalm xci, 1,4, 
 
 ixiqft 
 
oj the Holy Scriptures. 1 2 1 
 
 muft refer to that other tabernacle fpoken LECT. 
 of by Ifaiah, a tabernacle that jh all not be ^ — . — ' 
 taken down, not one of the Jiakes thereof 
 Jhall he removed''^. As there is an eternal 
 throne of David, on which the Mefliah 
 fits and reigns yZ^r ever-f; fo is there an 
 eternal tabernacle, in which he is exalted 
 as the head and ruler In his church ; and 
 both are united on another occafion. — In 
 mercy Jhall the throne be efablifhed^ and he 
 Jhall fit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of 
 David, judging and feeking judgment and 
 hajitng right eoufnefs: which words cannot 
 be underftood of the literal tabernacle, 
 though they refer to the mercy feat in the 
 nioft holy place, over which God ap- 
 peared enthroned in glory above the che- 
 rubim ; with which in EzekieFs vifion of 
 them, there was a likenefs of a throne, 
 with the appearance of a man upon it; 
 and the whole together is called the ap^ 
 fearance of the likenefs of the glory of the 
 Lord \ : whence we colleft, that what 
 Ezekiel faw was a vifionary appearance of 
 that feat of glory in the holy place, which 
 
 * Ifaiah xxxiii. 20. f Lujce ii 32. % Ezekjcl i, 26. 
 
 was 
 
12 2 0?i the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. was the inftituted likenefs of the feat of 
 '— ^—^ the divine glory in the heavens. And in 
 a like viGon of Ifaiah, the throne of God, 
 and the difplay of his glory, is ftill prefent 
 in his temple: I faw the Lordjitting upon 
 a throne^ high and lifted up\ and his train 
 Jilled the temple ''\ So, where the fame 
 prophet faith, Look down from heaven^ and 
 behold from the habitation of thy hoUnefs 
 and of thy glory t ; the words habitation 
 and holinefs and glory all refer to the earthly 
 fanftuary as a pattern of the heavenly. 
 
 The tabernacle was alfo a figure of the 
 church of Chrift : and therefore the reno- 
 vation and eftablifliment of the church 
 amongft the Gentiles by the preaching of 
 the gofpel, is defcribed under the idea of a 
 reftoration of the tabernacle which had 
 ceafed from the time of David. The pro- 
 phet Amos fpeaks of this gathering of 
 the Gentiles into the church of Chrift, 
 as into the tabernacle taken in this new 
 fenfe; and St. James made the proper ap- 
 plication of it, when the great queftion 
 
 * Ifaiahvi. i. f lb. Ixiii. 15. 
 
 was 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 123 
 
 was debated concerning the reception of LECT. 
 the heathens. ?"^ ihis^ fays he, agree the ' — ^-^ 
 words of the prophet s^ as it is written^ 1 will 
 return and will build again the tabernacle 
 of David which is fallen dozvn — that the 
 refidue of men might feek after the Lord, 
 and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is 
 called^. To the fame efFeft St, Stephen 
 had obferved in his apology to the Jews, 
 that the tabernacle had originally been 
 brought in with Jefus into the pqfejjion of 
 the Gentiles \ and therefore the church 
 might reafonably go thither again ; where- 
 to the preaching of the gofpel under the 
 true Jefus fhould remove and fettle it. 
 
 The propriety with which the Chriftian 
 church is fignified by this name, is too 
 plain to be enlarged upon; inafmuch as we 
 have already feen, that all things are there 
 done in fpirit and in truth, which were 
 done in figure in the tabernacle of the law. 
 
 But the tabernacle, as well as the tem- 
 ple, is farther applied as a figure of the 
 
 * A(5ts XV, 6. 
 
 body 
 
124 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. body of Chriftj and this in a paffage not 
 ' — V — ' open to common obfervation* The word^ 
 faith St. John, was made fiejlj and dwelt 
 €imongJl us ; where the true fenfe of the 
 original is, he tabernacled ajnongji us : and 
 then it is added, and we beheld his glory i 
 for where the true tabernacle is, there 
 muft be alfo the glory of it. Here then 
 we have the manifeftation of Chrift in the 
 flefli, fignified^by the dwelling of God's 
 prefence in the tabernacle ; than which 
 there can be no higher proof of his divi- 
 nity to thofe that underftand the thing in 
 this light. As the glory of the Lord was 
 once prefent in the tabernacle, it was now 
 prefent in the body of Chrift : and as that 
 glory was faid on occafion to \i2.y^ filled the 
 tabernacle, fo it is faid, with reference io 
 the fame, that in him dwelt all thefulnefs 
 of the Godhead bodily. Well therefore 
 might he fay of his body, deftroy this tem-^ 
 />/(?, and in three days I will raife it up 
 again '^ for it was both a tabernacle and 
 temple in a ftri£ler fenfe than had ever 
 been before ; the Godhead had occafionally 
 dwelt in the buildings made with hands ; 
 
 but 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 2 5 
 
 but with him it abode continually. The LECT. 
 ufe our Saviour made of this term amount- v_^ 
 ed to an aflertion of his Godhead to the 
 Jews ; but as the Jews did not then under- 
 ftand the fenfe of his expreffion, fo are 
 many Chriftians as blind to it at this day. 
 
 After the pattern of Chrift, and accord- 
 ing to their proper meafure, all chriftians 
 have the prefence of God abiding within 
 them; whence their bodies alfo are the 
 temples of the Holy Ghojl : from which 
 confideration they are inftru£led to dedi- 
 cate them to the fervice of God y for that 
 is certainly one ufe of a temple ; and not 
 to defile them, for that is facrilege. And 
 the fubjeft gives them this confolation, 
 that though their earthly houfe of this 
 tabernacle be dijfolvedy he who raifed up 
 the tabernacle of David from its ruins 
 to a more glorious ftate in the Gentile 
 world, and raifed up the temple of Chrift's 
 body which the Jews deftroyed, (hall in 
 like manner quicken our mortal bodies by 
 the fpirit that dvvelleth in us, and give us 
 
 an 
 
126 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E c T. an houfe not made wilh hands, eternal in the 
 ^ — « — ' heavens. 
 
 V It was obferved above, that the taber^ 
 nacle of David is a figurative term for the 
 Chriftian church as the myftical body of 
 Chrift: we fiiall likewife find, that the 
 bleffings and privileges of the Chriftian 
 fociety or affembly of Chriftian people do 
 all correfpond with the ceconomy of the 
 congregation of Ifrael, and are defcribed 
 in terms borrowed from the law; of which 
 the follow^ing example in the epiftle to the 
 Hebrews, will be fafficient, v^here the apof- 
 tle fays — Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and 
 unto the city of the living God^ the hea- 
 venly Jerufalemy a7id to an innumerable 
 company of angels^ to the general affembly 
 and church of the firjl born which are writ^ 
 fen in heaven, and to God the judge of all ^ 
 and to the fpirits of jujl men made perfedi, 
 and to Jefus the mediator of the new cove^ 
 nant^ and to the blood of fprinkling that 
 fpeaketh better things than that of AbeU 
 Every Chriftian is to conceive what his 
 own ftate is, by looking back to the pri- 
 vileges 
 
of the Holy Scriptures » 127 
 
 vileges of the church of old. He is come LECT. 
 to mount ZIon, to a fituatlon exalted above ^— A> 
 the world; a mountain chofen and fa- 
 voured of God, blefled with the dew of hea- 
 venly grace, and inheriting the promife of 
 eternal life; even to that holy hili, on 
 which Chrift is eflabliihed as King againfl: 
 all the oppofition of the world below. It 
 is the new Jerufalem, becaufe it is prdain- 
 ed to be, as that city was of old, at unity 
 with itfelf, and a principle of unity to all 
 the land ; where all the tribes of the earth 
 unite in one religion, as the tribes of Ifrael 
 affembled to worfhip at Jerufalem. The 
 cities of the neighbouring nations were 
 dedicated to fome tutelary idol -, Jerufalem 
 alone to the true and living God ; fo now 
 is the fame God conne£led with the 
 Chriflian city and with that only; and all 
 the company of heaven, innumerable as , 
 they are, who affifted at the delivery of the 
 law, are with him. As the firft-born of 
 Ifrael, who had the right of inheritance, 
 were redeemed and written down by name ; 
 fo are all the children of the Chriflian fo- 
 ciety enrolled in heaven as the firft-born 
 
 of 
 
128 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. of God, 2inA the book of life m which they 
 ^^ — ^ are written anfwers to the regifter of the 
 church of Ifrael. We are come to God 
 the Judge of all, becaufe we are taken 
 out of the world of the ungodly, who are 
 aliens, to be fubjedl to his laws, and confe-^ 
 quently to be under his government. It 
 is true that all the world are under the au- 
 thority of God; but then all are not re- 
 lated to him as citizens and fubjecls. In 
 this refpe6t, God was faid to be nigher to 
 the Jews than to any nation upon earth, 
 becaufe he was with them as their judge 
 and prote&or. We have our Jefus, as they 
 had their Mofes ; both of them mediators, 
 to ftand between God and the people. The 
 Hebrews were not permitted to draw near 
 to God to treat for themfelves on pain of 
 death ; but Mofes was to be between them, 
 as Chrift is now betwixt us and God, and 
 no man can come to the Father but by 
 him: and in his blood we have remif- 
 fion, as all things were purified under the 
 law, and nothing accepted or fanftified 
 without the blood of fprinklingj which 
 fpeaketh better things than that of Abel ; 
 
 for 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 29 
 
 for the blood of Abel cried for vengeance, LECT. 
 this for mercy and pardon. *— v^. 
 
 Thus is our fociety on like terms with 
 theirs in every refpedl : and to thefe parti- 
 culars I may add, that as the congregatioa 
 of Ifrael on great and folemn occaiions was 
 called together by the found of a trumpet, 
 fo (hall the great aflembly of all nations, 
 all the tribes of the earth, and we ourfelves 
 among the relt, be fummoned after the 
 fame form: the trumpet [Idall fomid^ and 
 the deadjhall be ratfed : and then we fliall 
 fee with our eyes what that great fociety is, 
 in the which we now live by faith. 
 
 There are many particular inftitutions 
 remaining, fome of a religious, fomc of 
 amoral, and others of a civil nature ; a i^v^ 
 of the rnoft ufeful of which I muft feleft, 
 and (hew how the fcripture has applied 
 them. 
 
 The fabbath, which fucceeds the la- 
 bours of the week, appears to have been 
 appointed from the beginning as a perpe- 
 K. tual 
 
130 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. tual fign, 2^Jign for ever^, of that happy 
 w-v-^ Re/l which the fervants of God are to ex- 
 pert after the labours of this life. For thus 
 the apoftle hath reafoned about it; that 
 being called the Rejl of God, it cannot be 
 of an earthly bat muft be of an hea- 
 venly nature ; for God doth not reft upon 
 earth where men labour. He fhews that 
 the true reft promifed to the faithful was 
 not the fabbath that was appointed after 
 God had finifhed his works ; nor yet the 
 ftate of reft, fo called, in the land of Ca- 
 naan ; becaufe the promife is ftill fufpend- 
 ed, and repeated again in the time of Da- 
 vid : Whence he concludes that it was a 
 reft never yet fulfilled in this life, but ftill 
 remaijung for the people of God, and into 
 which the faithful enter when they die in 
 the I.ord and rejl from their labours. I 
 fay no more of this here, becaufe I have 
 confidered the fubjeft more at large in my 
 ledlures on the epiftle to the Hebrews, to 
 which it properly belongs. 
 
 Circumcifion was that rite of the law by 
 
 * Exodus xxxi. 17. 
 
 which 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. \x\ 
 
 which the Ifraelltes were taken into God's LECT. 
 
 V. 
 
 covenant; and (in the fpirit of it) was the ^— v-^ 
 fame as baptifm among Chriftians. For 
 as the form of baptifm exprefles the put- 
 ting away of fin ; circumcifion was another 
 form to the fame efFeft. The fcripture 
 fpeaks of a circumctjion made without hands ^ 
 of which that made with hands was no 
 more than an outward fign, which de- 
 noted the putting off the body of thefns of 
 the flelh'"^^ and becoming a new creature; 
 which is the fenfe of our baptifm. Of 
 this inward and fpi ritual grace of circum- 
 cifion the apoftle fpeaks exprefsly in ano- 
 ther place: he is not a Jew which is one 
 outwardly^ neither is that circumcifion 
 which is outward in the fejh ; but he is a 
 Jew which is one inwardly, and circumci- 
 fon is that of the heart, in the fpirit, and 
 not in the leiter-f. Some may fuppofe that 
 this fpiritual application of circumcifion, 
 as a facrament, was invented after the 
 preaching of the gofpel, when the veil was 
 taken from the law ; but this doftrine was 
 only infjrced to thofe who had it before, 
 
 * Col. ii. II. f Rom. ii. 28. 
 
 K 2 and 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 and had departed from the fenfe of their 
 own law : for thus did Mofes inftrudl the 
 Jews, that there Is a fore/kin of the heart 
 which was to be circumcifed in a moral or 
 fpiritual way, before they could be accept- 
 .ed as the fervants of God ; and again, that 
 the Lord would circumcife their heart, to 
 love him with all their hearty and with all 
 their fouV^ -, which was the fame as to fay, 
 that he would give them what circumci- 
 fion Hgnified, making them Jews inwardly, 
 and giving them the i^iward grace with 
 the outward fign ; without which, the let- 
 ter of baptifm avails no more now than the 
 letter of circumcilion did then : and we 
 may fay of the one as it is faid of the other, 
 ** He is not a Chriftian which is one out- 
 wardly, and baptifm is not the putting away 
 the- filth of iheflefh by wafhing with water, 
 but the anfwer of a good confcience towards 
 
 God\r 
 
 Nearly allied to this was the precept 
 which forbad them to touch any dead car- 
 cafe; and, in cafe of any fuch accident, en- 
 
 * Deut. X. 1 6. and XXX. 6, f i Pet. iii. 21. 
 
 joined 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 133 
 
 joined a religious purification by water. LECT. 
 Here apply the general rule, he is not a ' — v — ' 
 JeWy which is one outwardly^ and then you 
 will underftand, that outward defilement 
 was not the thing to be feared, but the de- 
 filement of the mind, left ceil communka" 
 iions fhould corrupt good manners. This pre- 
 cept in its moral acceptation teaches that 
 there is a certain relation between death, 
 and Jin^ and pollution. For why do men 
 die but for their fin ? and alfo, that he 
 who converfes v/ith fuch as are under the 
 death of fin, that is, dead in fpirit, dead 
 to faith and holinefs, will be defiled by 
 their company, and will want wadding; 
 till which he will be unfit for the fervice 
 of God. Thus the apoftle himfelf explains 
 the cafe ; that as thofe who were unclean 
 by touching a dead body, were purified 
 with a lye made of the afhes of a facrifice, 
 fo are our confciences to be purged from 
 dead works to ferve the living God ''. 
 
 Another prohibition of the fame nature 
 is referred to for a like purpofe, and the 
 
 * Compare Heb, ix. 13, 14, with Numb. xix. ii, &c. 
 
 K 3 apoftle 
 
1 34 On the Figurative Language 
 
 'LECT. apoftle thereby warns the Chriftians to a- 
 * — V — ' void the fociety of the heathens ^ fpeak- 
 ing in fuch terms as nothing but the law 
 of Mofes can truly explain : l?e ye not un- 
 equally yoked together with unbelievers ; 
 borrowing his expreffion from that law 
 which forbad the Jews to plough with an 
 ox and an afs together^ that this, with a clean 
 and an unclean beaft, between whom as 
 there is no alliance of nature, they were 
 not to be mifmatched under the fame yoke. 
 This the apoftle has applied to its true 
 fenfe, in. thofe words, be ye not unequally 
 yoked together with unbeliever s\. Yet this 
 law, on a proper occafion, was to be fuper- 
 feded, when the Jew and Gentile were both 
 to join in the work of the gofpel : which 
 confideration explains that difficult paflage 
 in the prophet Ifaiah— B/g^«?J are ye that 
 fow bejlde all waters ^ that fend forth thither 
 the feet of the ox and the qfs. 
 
 On another occafion the fame apoftle 
 
 / ihews us, that a law which feems to make 
 
 provifion for beafts, was intended for the 
 
 f 2 Cor. vi, 14 
 
 benefit 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 13 ; 
 
 benefit of God's rr.iaifters, and is to be fo LE^T. 
 applied. The law faith, thoujkalt not muz- ^— * — * 
 zle the ox that treadeth out the corn. Here, 
 to prevent mifunderftandings, the apoftle 
 afks a queftion^f Doth God take care for oxen ? 
 Was his divine and holy law made for 
 beafts ? certainly not : but, for men ; for 
 our fakes no doubt this was written^. Al- 
 though the v^ords w^ere fpoken of beafts, 
 the fenfe relates only to men; the precept 
 being wholly intended to teach under a 
 figure (as the law taught every thing elfe) 
 that the minifters of God's word fhould 
 be maintained out of the profits and offer- 
 ings of the Church in which they ferve, 
 as the ox at the thrafliing-floor is juftly 
 permitted to take advantage of his labour, 
 and to partake of the corn while he is 
 treading it out for the ufe of man. Every 
 lubourer, whether he be an ox or a man, 
 is worthy of his hire; and if it is unjuft 
 and unmerciful to defraud a beaft of his 
 dues, it muft be fomething much worfe to 
 invade the rights of the minifters of God's 
 church. The precept therefore is ftronger 
 
 X 1 Cor. ix, 9, &c. 
 
 K 4 in 
 
136 On the Figurative Language 
 
 I'ECT. in its reafon than if it had been delivered 
 
 V. . . 
 
 v.-^^^ in plain words: yet it is to be queftioned 
 
 whether the reafon of the thing, in any 
 
 form, will prevail with all minds. Some 
 
 . there are in all countries, who though they 
 
 would not defraud their oxen, would be 
 
 glad to muzzle every Chriftian minifter ; 
 
 and that in more fenfes than one; they 
 
 would not only be glad to fee him deprived 
 
 of the rights of his miniftry, but be better 
 
 pleafed if they could put a muzzle upon 
 
 the miniftry itfelf, and ftop the offence 
 
 of Chriftian preaching. But this they 
 
 will never be able to do, till God iTiall 
 
 be provoked to forfake the miniftry who 
 
 have firft forfaken him ; and then the 
 
 weakeft hand that is lifted up may prevail 
 
 againft them. 
 
 There are two very remarkable prophe- 
 cies, the one relating to the infidelity of 
 the Jcwifli church, the other to the per- 
 fon of the Mefllah, which are the laft I 
 Ihall take notice of, both delivered in the 
 figurative language of the municipal laws 
 of the Jews, 
 
 If 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 If a woman was fufpefted to be an a- 
 dulterefs by a hufband who was jealous of 
 her, and there was no proof, (he was to 
 prefent herfelf before the prieft and ftand 
 the trial of a water-ordeal : a bitter water 
 ivbich caufed the ciirfe was to be offered 
 to her ; and when the curfes were pro- 
 nounced conditionally upon her fuppofed 
 guilt, fhe was to venture the confequences, 
 and fay. Amen. The prieft was to write 
 down the form of the curfes againft her 
 in a book, and to blot them out with the 
 bitter water if fhe proved to be innocent; 
 if not, they were then to remain there up- 
 on record againfl her. If fhe was adlually 
 defiled, this water was to go into her 
 bowels and take effeft upon her body in 
 a fearful manner, and fhe was to be a curfe 
 among the people'"''. 
 
 This inflitution explains fome very dif- 
 ficult pafiages in the 109th Pfalm, that 
 prophecy of God's judgment againft the 
 apoflate Jewifli church : on whom, as upon 
 a guilty adulterefs againfl a jealous God, 
 
 * See Numb, v, 12, £<:c. 
 
 denying 
 
338 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. denying her f5n, and defying the divine 
 *— ^^ — ' vengeance, the curfe was to take efFed: as 
 againft the woman in the law. The pfalm 
 is worded as if it were meant of fome An- 
 gle wicked perfon, and it is accordingly 
 applied to the reprobation of Judas ; but 
 other pafiages, and the ufe made of them 
 by the infpired writers, fhew that it muft 
 be extended to the Jewifh church at large, 
 of which Judas, in his name, and his fin, 
 and his punifliment, was no more than a 
 leader and an example. Here then it is 
 faid, when he fiall be judged let him be con-' 
 demfied'y when he is put to the trial, let him 
 be found guilty ; and let his prayer be 
 turned into Jin ; let it be as that offering 
 which bringeth iniquity to remembrance^ 
 without oil or incenfe to recommend it for 
 acceptance : let not the Jin of his mother 
 be blotted out^ but (land upon record as 
 the curfes againft the fin of the adulterefs, 
 which the water was not to take away : 
 As he loved curjingjo let it come unto him — 
 let it come into his bowels like water ^ even 
 like that bitter water which defcended with 
 a curfe into the bowels of the guilty wo- 
 man. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 139 
 
 man. As flie expofed herfelf in form to LECT. 
 the curfe, and faid. Amen, to all the terms ^ — J^ 
 of it; fo did the Jews challenge the curfe 
 of heaven, which accordingly took place 
 on them and their pofterity. 
 
 The civil inftitution applied to the per- 
 fon of the Meffiah, is that concerning the 
 Hebrev^ fervant, who having ferved fix 
 years, was to go free in the fabatical year, 
 if he chofe to depart ^ but if he was con- 
 tent with his fervice, and willing to con- 
 tinue in it, he was to be brought before the 
 judges, and to be faftened to the door, or 
 the poft of the door, by an awl driven 
 through his ear, as a fign of his confent, 
 and he was to fervc his mafter for ever*. 
 
 Under an allufion to this example, the 
 obedience of Chrift in the flefli is foretold 
 and illuftrated in the Pfalms ; and a won- 
 derful example it is : for here we are to 
 cbferve, that, upon this occafion, no facri- 
 fice nor offering is appointed ; nothing 
 paffes but the obedience of a willing- fer- 
 
 * Exod. X3ii, 6, 
 
 vant : 
 
140 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. vant: therefore in the applicatton of it to 
 *— V — * Chrift, the prophet fays. Sacrifice and offer-^ 
 ing thou didji not dejire, but mine ears hajl 
 thou opened — burnt -offer ing and Jin-offering 
 thou hajl not required \ then /aid /, lo I 
 come» in the volume of the book it is written 
 qfme^ I delight to do thy wiil^ God, In the 
 epiftle to the Hebrews, the paflage as cited 
 by the apoflle and appHed to the obedience 
 and death of Chrift, ftands thus; Sacrifice 
 and offering thou wouldfi not^ but a body hafi 
 thou prepared me. The fenfe is the fame 
 in both, though the words are different. 
 The apoftle after the Greek verfion fays, 
 a body hafi thou prepared me\ that is, a body 
 wherein to fufFer and be obedient unto 
 death : the plalm fays, mine ears hajl thou 
 pierced', for the word is the fame as in the 
 2 2d pfalm, they pierced my hands and feet ; 
 and here the piercing of the ear, the fymbol 
 of obedience, was a fign of his fufFering in 
 that body which fliould be prepared for 
 him. Ail this being a reference to the 
 cuftom obferved under the law toward the 
 obedient fervant, that cuftom was a ftand- 
 ing teftimony in the volume of the book 
 
 of 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 1 4 1 
 
 of Mofes, that the Meffiah, taking the LECT. 
 form of a fervant, fhould offer himfelf - . V* 
 freely to do the will of God for our fal- 
 vation; and In confequence of this deter- 
 mination, fliould be pierced in the body, , 
 as the willing fervant was bored through 
 to the poft of the door; the place where 
 the blood of the paffover was fprinkled 
 with the fame fignification once every 
 year. 
 
 In this and the preceding ledure I have 
 endeavoured to (liew, as my plan requires, 
 how the language of the other parts of 
 fcripture is borrowed from the language 
 of the law, and is to be interpreted there- 
 by. To what has been faid, give me leave 
 to add a few general obfervations on the 
 nature and defign of the law of Mofes. 
 
 St. Paul afks the queftion ; wherefore 
 then ferveth the law ? To which he gives 
 this anfwer j // was added becaufe of tranf" 
 grejjion^ till the feed pould come to whom the 
 fromfe was made^. The expedtation of 
 
 * Galatians iii, 19. 
 
 th 
 
 e 
 
142 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. the feed firft promifed in paradife, and af- 
 ' — , — ' terwards to Abraham, was the fum and 
 fubftance of the patriarchal faith ; and all 
 the earlieft inftitutions of priefthood and 
 facrifice vv^ere intended to keep up this ex- 
 pectation. But when the perverfenefs of 
 men had changed and corrupted the pri- 
 mitive inftitutions for the bafe purpofes of 
 idolatry and the worifhip of falfe Gods, 
 it became neceffary on account of thefe 
 frequent tranfgreffions to add a written 
 law, wdth a ftated form of pofitive fer- 
 vices, never to be altered nor departed 
 from ; and all of them defcriptive of the 
 falvation which was to be efFedted by the 
 promifed feed ; whence you are not to 
 wonder, that in him they all meet and find 
 their interpretation. 
 
 They who were bound to the obferva- 
 tion of the law, were thereby feparated of 
 neceflity from the world ; and, as St. Paul 
 very ftrongly exprefles it, Jhut up unto the 
 faith which JJmild afterwards be revealed'^ i 
 confined to a fet of ceremonies and fer- 
 
 * Galatians v. 33, 
 
 Vices, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 
 
 vices, under which It was in a manner im- 
 pradicable for them to evade the objects of 
 their faith, when they fhould be revealed 
 in their true form. Not only the fubftance 
 of what was expecSed, bat all the particu- 
 lars and circumftantials had been a£ted over 
 in figure for ages together : and fo the law 
 was a fchoolmajler unto Chr'iji ; preparing 
 thofe who were under it for the reception 
 of the gofpel, and as it were forcing them 
 upon it, if men could on that principle be 
 reconciled to truth. 
 
 When the gofpel appeared, the Jew fhould 
 have reafoned thus with himfelf. Do they 
 fay Jefus died for our redemption ? So did 
 the pafchal lamb die to redeem our whole 
 nation in Egypt. Did he afcend afterwards 
 into heaven ? So did our high prieft go 
 yearly into the moft holy place, carrying 
 thither the blood of a facrifice flain in 
 the worldly fanftuary. Is there no remif- 
 fion of fin without fhedding of blood ? 
 There certainly was none under the law. 
 Has Jefus appointed a baptifm with water ? 
 So had our law its purifications for the 
 
 wafhing 
 
144 ^^^ ^^^ Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. wafliing away of uncleannefs. Is the par- 
 w-^ tition we have fo diligently kept up be- 
 tween ourfelves and the Heathens to be 
 broken down at kft, and is the trne reli- 
 gion to be carried out amongft all nations ? 
 So was our tabernacle brought from the 
 folitary wildernefs under Jofhua, whom 
 the Greeks call Jefus^ into the pofejjion of 
 the Gentiles. Numberlefs other queftions 
 might be aflced, (hocking to the prejudices 
 of a Jew, which would bring their own 
 anfwers with them out of the law of Mo- 
 fes : and fuch was the ufe the Jew ought 
 to have made of it. 
 
 From the various applications of parti- 
 cular paflages from the law, previous to 
 the revelation of the gofpel, it appears 
 that the law was in itfelf a fpiritual as well 
 as a figurative fyftem, for the forming of 
 the heart, and the purifying of the mind ; 
 yet conveying its precepts in parables and 
 figns which wanted an interpretation : and 
 that interpretation is occafionally dropped 
 in fo many parts of the fcripture, efpeci- 
 ally in the Pfalms, that the prophets and 
 
 mafters 
 
of the Holy Scriptures 145 
 
 mafters of Ifrael appear to have underflood LECT. 
 the law in a fpiritual fenfe. If the bulk of ^ — v — ' 
 the people did not underftand it fo, we 
 mull: not impute this to any uncertainty 
 or obfcurity in Mofes and the prophets, 
 but to that carnal affe£lion which natu- 
 rally chufes the form of religion without 
 the fpirit of it. Their pride, their afFed:a- 
 tion of falfe wifdom, their avarice, their 
 adultery, blinded them, and made them 
 as averfe to the fenfe of a miracle wrdught 
 before their eyes, as to the fenfe of the 
 darkeft verfe in the Pentateuch The 
 world, always has been, and now is, to 
 thofe that are fliut up under its laws, -^ 
 fchoolmafler to turn men away from Chrili; 
 and a conceited worldly ftiinded Chriftian, 
 proud of the powers of reafon without 
 grace, is at this hour as blind to t:ie fpi» 
 fit of the gofpel as the Jew ever was to that 
 of the lawi. For ignorance of the true 
 Jpir'tt of Chriftianity, and the dejign of its 
 dodrines, I would match the modern phi- 
 lofophifuig Socinian with the biindeil 
 Jew : for the one has made the gof]:)el as 
 void as the other made the law. Read tlie 
 L wriun2:s 
 
146 On the Figurative Language ' 
 
 LECT. writings of fotne whofe books have made 
 V. ^lu a great noife in the prefent century, and 
 you will know no more of the Chriftian 
 church and the Chriftian facraments, than 
 the wandering Jew, who now travels about 
 . to cheat Chriftians with his wares, knows 
 of the priefthood and facrifices in the 
 books of Mofes. 
 
 The law is of ufe to us Chriftians for 
 the illuftration. of the new teftament, whofe 
 language and myfteries are fo founded upon 
 it, that the language of the gofpels and 
 epiftles is unintelligible without a parti- 
 cular attention to the law ; and in propor- 
 tion as our knowledge of it encreafes, our 
 faith will grow ftronger. Thus the law 
 ferves for evidence both to the Jew and 
 Gentile ; and the fame fchoolmafter, which 
 fhould have brought them to Chrift, will 
 keep us with him. For, did the apoftle 
 in his preaching fay nothing but what Mofes 
 had [aid? And did the gofpel teach no- 
 thing but what the law had fignified long 
 before ? Then muft the gofpel be that very 
 falvation, which was known to God from 
 
 the 
 
V. 
 
 of the Holy Scriptures^ i^y 
 
 the beginning, and in referve to be made ^^^f^ 
 manifeft to the world in the latter days* 
 
 This argument, clear and irrefiftible as it 
 certainly is, will one day appear to the 
 Jews as it does to us ; when the fcales of 
 blindnefs fhall fall from their eyes : and 
 then it may be thought the greateft won- 
 der of all, that they who had the old tef- 
 tament in their hands for eighteen hun-* 
 dred years, fhould never have {qgh the ufe 
 of it before* 
 
 L ^ L E C T. 
 
Oil the Figurative Language 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 ON THE FIGURES OF THE SCRIPTURES WHICH 
 ARE BORROWED FROM THE EVENTS OF THE 
 SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 LECT. ^■'T^HE Scripture is the authentic hif- 
 
 V ^ M. tory of God's Providence ever fince 
 
 man had a being ; and in the condufl: of 
 God's Providence toward man, there is an 
 uniformity of defign, which hath proceed- 
 ed according to the fame law^ of eternal 
 juftice and wifdom in all ages of the 
 world : from which confideration it fol- 
 lows, that what God did in times paft 
 was an earned, a pattern, and a fign, of 
 what he might be expefted to do in times 
 to come. The godly were delivered, the 
 • wricked punidied, the proud abafed, the 
 humble exrilted, under like circumftances 
 and after like forms at different periods of 
 time. Thus it hath been, and thus it will 
 
 be: 
 
oj the Holy Scriptures. 149 
 
 be: therefore things pad are referred to LECT. 
 in the fcripture as figures of things to come, ^—v — ' 
 and fo the hiftory of the bible becomes a 
 chain of prophecy, and is adually applied 
 as fuch by the fcripture itfelf ; as we fiiall 
 fee from a variety of examples. 
 
 I reckon two forts of hiftorical figures, 
 the one general, the other particular ; the 
 former being references to the hiftory of 
 places, and of fuch events as related to a 
 people at large, or even to the whole world; 
 the latter refering us to the lives, aftions, 
 fufferings and fucceflTes of individual per- 
 fons. Thus the faints of old were pro- 
 phetical in their actions as well as in their 
 words : of which fome ftriking examples 
 will occur to us as we proceed. 
 
 One of the moft early and memorable 
 events of the Scripture is that of the de- 
 ftruftion of the world by the Flood ; from 
 which Noah and his family were faved in 
 an Ark, fupported by thofe fame waters 
 which deftroyod the world of the ungodly. 
 This hiftory of the Salvation of Noah is 
 L 3 applied 
 
1 50 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. applied by St. Peter as 2i figure of that 
 ,^ — r-^ Salvation which we now obtain as the 
 jamily of Jefus Chrift in the -Ark of the 
 Church by the waters of Baptifm : the long 
 fiff^'irig of God waited in the days of Noah^ 
 while the ark was preparingy wherein few, 
 that is eight fouls were faved by water. A 
 like figure whcreunto^ even Baptifm doth 
 pozv fave us by the Kefiirrediion of Jefus 
 Chrifi'\ By which it is to be underflood, 
 that the falvation of Chriftians by Jefus 
 Chrifr, and the ialvation of Noah's fami- 
 ly, are two events of the like form and 
 figure; the former a fign of the latter. 
 And a wonderful fign it was, if we look 
 into the particulars. Here w^as a judge- 
 pient which extended to a whole world ; 
 a condemnation that paffed upon all, ex- 
 cept thofe who were of the family of 
 Noah : as the wrath of God and a future 
 judgment upon fin, to be executed by fire, 
 is denounced againft all mankind, except 
 thofe who fliall belong to the family of 
 Jefus Chrift. As an Ark was prepared by 
 J>Joah, fo hath Chrift prepared his Churchjp 
 
 * I Pet. iii. 20, 21 
 
 to 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 151 
 
 to conduft us in fafety through the waves LECT. 
 of trouble and the perils of the world, in ^— /-^ 
 which fo many are loft. And as the wa- 
 ters of the flood carried Noah and his fa- 
 mily into a new world after the old was 
 drowned; fo do the waters of Baptifm 
 carry us into a new ftate with Jefus Chrift, 
 who paflTed over the waves of death and is 
 rifen from the dead. And this practical 
 inference is to be made in favour of the 
 ordinance of the Church 3 that as the ark 
 could not be faved but by water, fo muft 
 all the Church of Chrift be baptifed. So 
 plainly doth this whole figure fpeak the 
 doftrine of the Chriftian Salvation, that it 
 is applied for inftrudlon in the office of 
 Baptifm, where we are taught to pray, that 
 the child may he received into the Ark of 
 ChriJTs Churchy and therein pafs through the 
 waves of this trouble fome world. Many other 
 particulars belonging to this figure will 
 explain themfelves when the general fenfe 
 of the figure is underftood ; and therefore 
 I need purfue it no further. 
 
 The confufion of tongues, with the 
 L 4 dif- 
 
I j;2 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. difperfion oi th.e nations, is another great 
 ^ — A-^ event, which comes next in order of time, 
 and ought not to be unnoticed, becauie it 
 was feverkd when all the nations, fo di- 
 vided at Babel, were gathered together in 
 one in Chrift Jefus, to h^'-^ holy nation y a 
 peculiar people: and the different languages 
 w^hich arofe at Babel were all united in the 
 tongues of the firft preachers of the Gofpel 
 en the day of Pentecod, God being the 
 fountain of truth and author of peace, 
 his religion makes itfelf intelligible to all; 
 but where there is difobedienceof mind and 
 wickednefs of principle, there do confu- 
 fion and diviiion enfue, as in the firil: reli- 
 gious rebellion at Babel. Againft fuch 
 people, this judgment is denounced by 
 the Pfalmift ; dejlroy^ O Lord^ and divide 
 their tongues^ for- I have Jeen violence and 
 fir lie in the ^//v-f*. The city of God is at 
 unity with itfelf; but the city of the ad- 
 verfary, like. Babel, the Mother of Harlots^ 
 is the Citadel of difpu»te and divifion. The 
 falfe wifdom of this world begins and ends 
 (if error has any end) with difputation 
 
 \ Y{-a\, Iv, 9. 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, l^^ 
 
 and oppofitlon, We fee an example of LECT, 
 this in the multitude of gods, and the ^ « ^ 
 many ftrange rites of worfliip, with the 
 endlefs oppojitions of fctence jalfely fo calledy 
 which arofe among the Seds of the hea- 
 then Philofophers when the Greek and 
 Roman learning flourished : and (to come 
 nearer our own times) in the multitude of 
 fedaries and herefies which have arifen 
 fince the Reformation, in this country, 
 amongft thofe who paid no regard to the 
 dodlrines and dilcipline of the primitive 
 Church. In a word, all thofe who fet up 
 themfelves, and afFe6l high things, in op- 
 pofition to the wifdom of God, are curfed 
 with con fu (ion ; and there is no greater 
 evidence of their error, than that they are 
 pever able to fpeak the fame language. 
 
 After the events of the Flood, and the 
 difperfion at Babel, the deftruftion of So- 
 dom is to be underflood as a fign or pro- 
 phetic figure of the future deftru6lion of 
 the world by fire, together with the deli- 
 verance of the faithful after the example 
 of Lot. This hiflory is referred to in the 
 
 lith 
 
154 On the Figurative Language 
 
 iith Pfalm, where the wicked are threat- 
 ened with fire and brimjlone to be rained 
 upon \\itvajrom the Lord^ as formerly up- 
 on Sodom. St. Jude in his Epillle warns 
 us that Sodom and Gomorrah are fet forth 
 for an example *, f offering the vengeance of 
 eternal fre. And that fliort admonition of 
 our Saviour in one of his difcourfes. Re- 
 member Lois Wife^ teaches us what we 
 ought to learn from the particulars of the 
 ftory ; that as the world (hall be dcftroyed 
 by fire like Sodom, fo a remnant fliall be 
 faved by the divine mercy ; and that of 
 thofe who are taken by the hand to follow 
 their deliverer and to flee from the wrath 
 to come (which is another allufion to the 
 fame event) fome fliall turn back in their 
 hearts and afFeftions toward this wicked 
 world, and fo be unfit for the kingdom of 
 God: 2L circumftance which fliould be 
 thcuoht upon with fear and trembling: 
 for confider how that unbelieving Souk by 
 favouring what was evil, loft all that was 
 good, when it was in her power to efcape ; 
 as they will not fail to do, who either dif- 
 
 * Jade vU, 
 
 believe 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. - i^^ 
 
 believe God's judgment upon the world, LECT. 
 or think the world undeferving of it, and ^— ■^, 
 fo take part with the wicked againft the 
 juflice of God. When times and places 
 are evil, and wlckednefs prevails with a 
 high hand, the univerfality and power of 
 corruption is dreadful to think of. When 
 the world was drowned, few^ that is, eight 
 Souls only were faved in the ark ; and 
 when Sodom was overthrown, a fmall rem- 
 nant only were delivered ; whence we are 
 to exped:, that as it zvas in the days of Lot, 
 fa Jh all it be in the day when the fon of Man 
 is reveaUd: ccn fide nee in this world, and 
 an infolent difregard of truth and godlinefs 
 (hall generally prevail, and few indeed fliall 
 be left to receive him and efcape with him 
 when this Sodom wherein we now live 
 fliall be vifited. 
 
 From a likenefs of character in the Jew- 
 ish people when ^hey became abominable 
 in their fins, the name of Sodom is given 
 to their city, and they are threatened with 
 the fame fate. Hear the word of the Lord, 
 ye rulers of Sodom ; give ear unto the law 
 
 of 
 
LECT. 
 VI. 
 
 156 On the Figurative Language 
 
 of our God ye people of Gomorrah y faith the 
 prophet Ifaiah^, The prophet's meffage 
 is to Judah ^viA jerufalem\ the rulers and 
 people of which being fallen into great 
 corruption, and (Irengthening themfelves 
 in their wickednefs, are addrefled by the 
 prophet as the rulers and people of the 
 abominable Sodom; and he pronounces 
 that they would have met with the judge- 
 ment of Sodom, but for the fake of the 
 f^iithful who were ftill left amongfl: them, 
 fuch as Abraham hoped to find when he 
 interceded for Sodom : except the Lord of 
 Hojis had left unto us a very frnall remnant y 
 isie jhould have been as Sodom ^ and we Jhould 
 have been like unto Gomorrah fy that is, 
 as like unto them in their punilhment as 
 they were in their manners. And now 
 we iliall fee the reafon why the evangelift 
 in the book of Revelation fpeaks of a great 
 city, which fpiriiually is called Egypt and 
 Sodomy where our Lord was crucified \ for 
 certainly our Lord was crucified at Jeru- 
 falem, and Jerufalem, for its apoftacy and 
 the judgment that was to overtake it, is 
 
 * Chap. 1. 10. f Ibid. ver. 9. 
 
 called 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. j^j 
 
 called by thefe names in the prophets: LECT. 
 though the paiTage as it ftands in the Reve- ^— .^ 
 lation may be extended from the example 
 of Jerufalem to the world at large. 
 
 I pafs over the allegorical hiftory of A- 
 braham, Sarah, and Hagar, the bond-wo- 
 man and the free, becaufe it hath been fo 
 fully commented upon by the apoftle as a 
 figure of the Jewifh and Chriftian cove 
 nants. I cannot add to his explanation ; 
 and as I (hould be unvvilling to contrad: it, 
 I rather chufe to refer you to the confi- 
 deration of it, as it ftands in the fourth 
 chapter of the epiftle to the Galatians ; 
 and (hall proceed to the deliverance of 
 Ifrael out of Egypt, which is one of the 
 moft interefting and edifying hiftories of 
 fcripture; as it gives us an example of all 
 the dangers, temptations and deliverances 
 that can happen in the life of man, during 
 his progrefs and pilgrimage through -the 
 wildernefs of this prefent world. For, 
 in the firft place, the tranflation of the 
 church from Egypt to Canaan is applied 
 in all its circumftances as a pattern of the 
 
 tranflation 
 
158 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT, tranflation of us Chriftians from the bon- 
 *— >, — ' dage of fin, to the enjoyment of our free- 
 dom in the kingdom of Chrift. Out of 
 Egypt ^ faith God by the prophet^ have I 
 called my fon^: a declaration which is as 
 truly verified in every child of God at this 
 day^ as w^hen Ifrael was delivered from 
 Pharaoh, and when the infant Jefus was 
 brought back in fafety from Egypt to his 
 own kingdom and people. 
 
 Thus the redemption of the people of 
 God from Egypt was a fign of a greater 
 and more univerfal redemption, is a doc- 
 trine with which few readers of the fcrip- 
 ture can be unacquainted. The prophets 
 warned the people not to reft in the re- 
 demption that was paft, but to look for 
 another, and that fo much more excellent 
 in its nature, that the former fhould in a 
 manner be forgotten in comparifon of it : 
 Remember not the former things neither con^ 
 fdcr the things of old. Behold^ I will do 
 a new things faith the Lord, / will even 
 make a way in the wilderfiefsy and rivers in 
 
 * Hofea xi. i« 
 
 the 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 159 
 
 the defert^. He promifed alfo in one of LECT. 
 the Pfalms, that he would bring his own ^ — ^ 
 people again from the depths of the fea ; 
 which can lignify nothing but that uni- 
 verfal redemption from fin and death in 
 which all the nations of the world have 
 an equal intereft: becaufe this Pfalm is 
 not addreffed to the Jews, but to all the 
 kingdoms of the earth -, and is applied by 
 the apoftle to the viftory of Jefus Chrift 
 over death, and to the miraculous gifts 
 beftowed on the firft preachers of the 
 gofpel-f-: fo that there can be no doubt 
 as to the intention of the expreffion in 
 queftion : it muft have the fame fignifica- 
 tion in figure as is exprefi^ed in the letter 
 at V. 20— to the Lord our God belong the 
 iffuesfrom death. 
 
 But the figurative application of the hif- 
 tory of the Exodus is much plainer in the 
 new tefi:ament. There we fee Zecharias, 
 in his prophetical hymn on occafion of the 
 birth of John Baptiil, celebrating the blef- 
 
 * Ifaiah xlii. i8. f Compare Pfalm Ixviii. i8. and 
 Ephefians iv. 8. 
 
 fings 
 
i6o On the Figurative Tuanguage 
 
 fings of the Chriftian redemption in terms 
 borrowed from the part redemption of Ifrael 
 out of Egypt*. God is faid to have ^'^ 
 JiteddLnd redeemed his people by raifing up 
 a Saviour in the houfe of David — to have 
 performed the mercy promifed to the fathers^ 
 which ^-in the letter of it related to the 
 deliverance from Egypt — to have faved us 
 cut of the hands of our enemies ^ that we 
 might ferve him without fear ^ as the Hebrews 
 did, when they were no longer under the 
 power of Pharaoh — and finally to guide our 
 feet into the way of peace y as he had before 
 guided his people to a peaceable fettlement 
 in the land of Canaan. 
 
 If we confider the hiftory of the Exo- 
 dus more particularly as an example of the 
 circumftances of our redemption by Jefus 
 Chrift ; the firfl thing that offers itfelf is 
 the miferable fervitude of the Hebrews 
 under Pharaoh. Such is the natural ftate 
 of every man who is born a fojourner in 
 the Egypt of this world. As the}^ laboured 
 in clay and mortar, fo is every man by na- 
 
 ^ See the hymn called BenediBus* 
 
 ture 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ 1 6 1 
 
 ture the flave of vile and earthly afFedlons. LE C T, 
 As the Hebrews were under Pharaoh, man ^ — ^^ 
 is under Satan, the proud enemy of the 
 true God, and the irreconcileable and 
 mercilefs perfecutor of his church. From 
 this milerable ftate, Chrift as the mef- 
 fenger and minifter of God is fent from 
 heaven to deliver man, as Mofes was raifed 
 up for a like purpofe, and fent to lead the 
 people out of Egypt ; of whofe office we 
 fhall have a farther profpeft when we come 
 to the fecond fort of hiftorical figures. 
 Look at the order of the redemption from 
 Egypt, and you w411 find it agree in every 
 particular with the order of the Chriilian 
 falvation. The people were conduded to 
 the waters of the red fea, where the apoftle 
 inftrudls us they were all baptifed unto 
 Mofes^ : they were all faved by water ^ as 
 the family of Noah had before been faved 
 at the flood, and as we are faved now. It 
 doth not appear to us how they could have 
 been faved from Pharaoh, but by the in- 
 terpofition of the waters of tl]e fea. ' Here 
 their falvation began, and the power of 
 
 ■^ I Cor. X. ^. 
 
 M their 
 
1 6 2 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. their adverfary ended : and we know that 
 * — /-^ Satan has not that fovereignty over baptized 
 Chriftians as he has over men in the ftate 
 of nature. After baptlfm a Chriftlan is 
 no longer the fubjedt of that Tyrant, but 
 the child of God, who undertakes thence- 
 forth to conduit him through all the trials 
 and dangers of this life to the inheritance 
 promifed to the fathersi 
 
 We fee how man is to be fupported in 
 this life, and to what dangers he is ex- 
 pofed in the way of his falvation, if we ob- 
 ferve what happened to the Hebrews in 
 their way through the wildernefs. No 
 temptation befalls us hut fuch as is common 
 to maUy and of which their cafe gives us 
 an example. The things which befell 
 them are not only appofite and applicable 
 to our own cafe, but St. Paul affirms they 
 were purpofely ordained by the providence 
 of God to anfwer this very end : Now all 
 thefe things happened to them for enf amplest 
 (or, as the margin calls them, types) and 
 they are written for oar admonition"^ • And 
 
 * I Cor. X. II. 
 
 here 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ 
 
 here we are to note, as the apoftle hitn- 
 felf does next after their baptifm, how 
 they were fed and fupported. They might 
 have been carried a fliort way through a 
 fruitful country to the land of Canaan ; but 
 it pleafed God to lead them into a wilder- 
 nefs, where there was neither meat nor 
 drink: which made fome of them fufpedl 
 he had carried them there to deftroy them % 
 but his defign was to teach them the ne- 
 ceffity of prayer and faith and dependence 
 upon himfelfj and bleffed are they to 
 whom the Lord now teaches the fame lef- 
 fon under the want of many things. But, 
 in the fpirit, this is the cafe of every man ; 
 for we are all brought after our baptifm 
 into a barren world, where we find no 
 more to fupport that life which God pro- 
 mifed to his people, than the Hebrews 
 found in the wildernefs. Here we wander 
 (as the Pfalmift figuratively defcribes the 
 ftate of man) hungry and thirjly^ our fouls 
 fainting ^within us, and depending upon 
 God for his daily grace. The people were 
 taught this in the wildernefs by receiving 
 their meat from day to day in a miraculous 
 M z mp^nner 
 
164 On the Figurative Language 
 
 manner from heaven. It was mere manna 
 fuch as Mofes gave, to thofe who looked 
 no farther than their bodies ; and they were 
 confequently foon tired of it j but to thofe 
 who received it in faith, it was the bread 
 of God which comet h down from heaven and 
 giveth life unto the world. God in all ages 
 has been the giver of that fupport which 
 is neceffary to all men, whether followers 
 of Mofes or followers of Chrift* : and 
 Hebrews, if they had fouls to be faved, 
 could no more live by bread alonCj than 
 Chriftians can. God therefore w^as pleafed 
 to take this way of teaching them that they 
 Gould not : and the apoftle feeing his in- 
 tention, fays, they did all eat the fame 
 fpiritual meat ; and did all drink the fame 
 fpiritual drink ; for they drank of that fpiritual 
 rock that followed them^ and that rock was 
 Chrijl-f. There is not a more extraordinary 
 fentence in the fcripture than this before 
 us — that rock was Chrijl. It is impoffible 
 to take the words literally, any more than 
 thofe which Chrift fpake of the bread 
 which he brake, and faid, this is my body, 
 
 * See John vi. 32. f i Cor. x. 3, 4. 
 
 A rock 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 165 
 
 A rock of ftone in a defert could not be LECT. 
 
 VI, 
 
 Chrift in the literal fenfe; and yet it muft ^ — ^ 
 be fo in fome fenfe, becaufe the apoftle 
 hath affirmed it. This fenfe is therefore 
 figurative and fpiritual ; as the bread, 
 which is broken in the holy communion, 
 is bread to the body, but Chrift to the 
 fpirit. And as Chrift was the invifible 
 fountain of grace to the thirfting Ifraelites, 
 communicating himfelf to them by the 
 facramental waters of a rock, fo he ftill 
 offers himfelf to us in the fame capacity — 
 If any man thlrjl^ let him come unto me and 
 drink^ ; that is, if any man, fenfible of the 
 drought and emptinefs of his own nature, 
 thirft after fpiritual things, he fhall be 
 refrefhed with grace, as the thirfty body 
 is refrefhed by the waters of a living fpring» 
 He difcourfed to the fame efFed with the 
 woman of Samaria by the fide of a well 
 to which fhe came to draw water — Wbo^ 
 foever drinketh of the water that IJImll 
 give himjhall never thirjl. 
 
 But now, as this meat and drink in the 
 
 * John vii. 37, 
 
 M 3 wlldernefs 
 
1 66 On the Pigurative Language 
 
 wUdernefs were figures of Chrift, fo the 
 people in their ufe of them are enfamples 
 to us. God fhewed them, that man is 
 in want of fome nourifhment, which na- 
 ture and the common courfe of things can- 
 tot give him : therefore he fed them with 
 manna from heaven and water from a dry 
 rock. But many of them took no delight 
 in this fpiritual diet Though they had 
 feen the wonders of the red fea, yet they 
 carried Egypt with them in their hearts 
 into the wildernefs, and were forry that 
 they had left it* He who reads of their 
 loathing that light Ireadt and defiring to 
 return to the bondage of Egypt for the 
 gratification of their lufts, may wonder 
 at their ftupidity; who could fee manna 
 fent down from the heavens, and the 
 flream of a river running miraculoufly 
 through a dry defert, and not partake of 
 them with thankfulnefs and devotion ! 
 But he will find, when he looks around 
 him, that men are juft fuch now as they 
 were in the wildernefs : carnal, inattentive, 
 and worldly minded, Chriftians, called to 
 a ftate of falvatj'on, give the preference to 
 
 that 
 
of the Holy Scripfwes. 167 
 
 that world which they renounced at their L E C T. 
 baptifm, and bring it with them into ^ — ^ 
 the Chriftian profeffion, as the Hebrews 
 brought Egypt with them into the wilder- 
 nefs. Whatever you think of the manna 
 from heaven, and a fpringing well from 
 a ftone of flint, you have a greater miracle 
 before your eyes daily. You have Chrift 
 come down to be the life of the world, 
 and offering himfelf as the true manna in 
 the bleffed facrament. You have his fpirit 
 and his word, as a water of life attending 
 you in your way through this wildernefs : 
 but thefe fpiritual bleflings have their value 
 with thofe only who are fpiritual/y minded. 
 Count the congregation of Chriftians in 
 any parifh, and fee how few of that num- 
 ber attend the holy Communion: then 
 you will difcover, that Chriflians are lick 
 of this Jewifli diftemper. As the wonders 
 of the wildernefs made no impreffion on 
 thofe who were ftill affedled to Egypt ; fo 
 Chriftianity can offer nothing defireable to 
 thofe whofe hearts are full of the world. 
 Where there is an attachment to fulnefs 
 ©f fealling, excefs of drinking, and to the 
 M 4 other 
 
1 68 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. other profpe£ls, pleafures and profits of 
 .'— V — ' the v/orld, there can be no fpiritual ap- 
 petite. To thirft after earthly and heavenly 
 things at the fame time, is as impoflible 
 as to ferve God and Mammon. Can the 
 man, who makes it his wifh and his plea- 
 fure to be drunk, join with the prophet 
 and fay — Like as the hart ckfretb the wafer ^ 
 broohy fo longeth my foul after thee^ O God, 
 My foul is athirji for God, even the living 
 God: when fiall I come and appear before 
 the prefence of God? Doth he not rather 
 fay, " let me never come near him, for 
 I have no relifh for his ways or his wor- 
 Ihip. I wifli there were no church, no 
 facraments, no preaching, no praying. I 
 was baptized to be a meqiber of Chrift, 
 but I never defire to be in his company. 
 Let me continue to be one of the fvvine of 
 Egypt, as I have hitherto been, and let my 
 latter end be like theirs.'' Such is the 
 language which paffes in many hearts when 
 it is put into plain Englifh. Men are cal- 
 led by different names at diflant periods of 
 time ; but the workings of their minds are 
 the fame in all ages. The devout Chriftian 
 
 follows 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 169 
 
 follows the calling of God at this day, LECT. 
 on the fame motives of faith as the Patri- ^ — ^ 
 archs did of old, and confiders this life as 
 a pilgrimage ; while others are drawn away 
 by the world and the flefti juft as they were 
 .whofe carcafes fell in the wildernefs. They 
 were made examples to us, with this in- 
 tention as the apoftle inftrudls us, that 
 we Jloould not lujl after evil things as they 
 alfo lulled^. If we loolc to their hiftory 
 in the book of Numbers, we find how 
 difcontented and miferable they were under 
 the way of life to which God had brought 
 them : ^he children of Ifrael wept again and 
 faid^ who Jhall give us fiejhtoeat? It was 
 well with us in Egypt ^ but now our foul is 
 dried away ; there is nothing at all befides 
 this manna before our eyes. Then we read 
 that God complied with their murmurings, 
 and fent them meat to the full; but fent 
 a plague after it, whereby many were de- 
 ftroyed; and the place received its name 
 from the graves of thofe who were buried 
 for their /^j-. 
 
 * I Cofi X. 6, 
 
 Here 
 
On the Figurative Language ' 
 
 Here the child of this world may fee his 
 own pidure. It is his object: to gratify 
 himfelf at any rate, without confidering 
 the confequences. His Parkdife is this 
 Egypt : felf- denial is a meagre doctrine, 
 and there is nothing to be got, which he 
 can relifli, by thefervice of God. You will 
 therefore fee people as fretful and crofs 
 when devotion and felf-denial come in 
 their way, as the weeping Ifraelites, who 
 complained that they were dried up v/ith 
 eating manna. And the confequence is 
 as it was of old, God is not well p leafed 
 with them : and fooner or later, every man 
 will feel the effect of fetting God againft 
 him by his indifference and difaifedion. 
 Some have their punifiiment in that ful- 
 nefs which they have defired. Who a- 
 mongft us cannot recoiled many, who 
 have died before their time, by following 
 feme ungoverned appetite; and come to 
 the fame end, by the fame means, as they 
 who were buried at Kibroth Hattaavah? 
 If they live long to enjoy that for which 
 they thought it worth their while to mur- 
 mur againft and defpife the ways of God, 
 
 thry 
 
of the tJoIy Scripures* 171 
 
 they fufFer miferably in another refpedl : LECT, 
 as it is faid in the Pfalm, he gave them * — /-^ 
 their dejire^ and fent leannefs withal into 
 their foul ^ : fo that while their bodies were 
 thriving their fouls were ftarving* If it 
 were poffible to fee the fouls of fome fuch 
 people, they would look worfe than Ikin 
 and bone 5 wafting and perifhing for lack 
 of that grace by which the inner man is 
 renewed. He then who wifiies to find 
 death, mifery, and the difpleafure of God, 
 which is worft of all, let him turn back 
 from his Chriftian profeffion, and demand 
 fatisfadion for all his lufts. But let him 
 who wifhes to find Cannaan at laft, be 
 content to find a wildernefs in the way to 
 it, and there take with thankfulnefs what 
 God has appointed for him. 
 
 * Pfalm cvi. 1 5, 
 
 LECT- 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECTURE VII 
 
 HISTORICAL FIGURES OF THE SCRIPTURES 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 IN the preceding Lefture, we have (Qcn 
 how the dangers of the Chriftian war- 
 fare are fet before us, in the hiftory of the 
 Militant State of the Jewifli Church in its 
 tranflation from Egypt to Canaan. St. Paul 
 hath exprcfsly taught us, to confider that 
 hiftory as prophetical of our own fituation 
 as Chriftians ; and hath fhewed how it is 
 to be applied as an admonition or warning 
 to us, that we may not Jail after the fame 
 example of unbelief We have ktn how the 
 people who had been baptized under Mofes, 
 and had pafled through the Red Sea, after- 
 wards preferred the flavery of Egypt to the 
 fervice of God in the wildernefs ; becoming 
 weary of his ways, and defpifing the better 
 
 for love of the worfe. 
 
 But 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 173 
 
 But we followed them only on a part of 
 their journey. Other circumftances are 
 yet behind, from which the like inftruc- 
 tion is to be gathered : and in treating of 
 them, I fhall obferve the fame order as the 
 Apoftle hath done in the loth chapter of 
 his firft Ep. to the Cor. where he warns us 
 not to be idolaters^ as were Jome of them ; 
 as it is written, the people fat down to eat 
 and to drinky and roje up to play. This re- 
 fers us to the occafion of their making a 
 golden calf, and worfhipping it with the 
 riotous mirth of idolaters ; which fhewed 
 that they had forfaken the true objedt of 
 their worfliip, and had forgotten the de- 
 fign of their redemption from the bondage 
 of Egypt. While Mpfes was in con- 
 ference with God upon the mount, their 
 folly had taken up an opinion, that he 
 would not return to them ; and confe- 
 quently, that they might fall into licen^ 
 tioufnefs, without the fear of being called 
 to an account : . So they danced before a 
 golden calf, and gave themfelves up to 
 eating and drinking and playing, as if 
 they had totally forgotten the defign of 
 
 their 
 
1/4 0/? the Figurative 'Language 
 
 ^vn^* their journey through the wildernefs. 
 
 *— *. — ' Are thefe the people whom God, with fo 
 mighty a hand, had lately refcued from 
 the tyranny of Pharaoh? Are thefe the 
 people who had feen the waters of the fea 
 divided, to fave them and deftroy their 
 enemies? who had followed a cloud, 
 which led them by day, and gave light to 
 
 ^ them by night ? and had they fo foon for- 
 
 gotten all thefe wonders, and fallen into 
 the fenfelefs mirth of idolatry ? Strange it 
 is ! but fuch was the fadl. And now let us 
 obferve the confequence. Mofes, whom 
 they had forgetten, defcends from the 
 mount when they little expelled him ; he 
 furprifes them in the midft of their fin, 
 and fends the Levites, armed, as his minif- 
 ters, to execute vengeance; who fmote with 
 the fword from one fide of the camp to 
 the other, and there fell fome thoufands 
 #f the people* Our Saviour, in one of 
 his difcourfes, hath applied this hiftory 
 as an admonition to thofe carelefs finners, 
 who live in pleafure, and are unmindful 
 of Him who will (hortly return to be 
 their Judge ; But if that evil fervant Jhall 
 
LECT. 
 VII. 
 
 of the Hlly Scriptures. 175 
 
 fay in his hearty my Lord delay eth his coming, 
 and Jhall begin to fmite his fellow fervants^ 
 and to eat and drink with the drunken ; the 
 Lord of that fervant JJoall come in a day when 
 he looketh not for him^ and in an hour that 
 he is not aware of and will cut him infunder^ 
 and appoint him his portion with the un^ 
 believers *. This brings the hiftory home 
 to ourfelves. As Mofes for a time left the 
 people in the wildernefs, fo hath our 
 Leader left us, and he is now up with God 
 in the holy mount. In this interval, there 
 are Chriftians (fo called) who wot 7iQt what 
 is become ofhim^ and make a profane ufe of 
 his abfence; fetting up this world, in fome 
 form or other, as their idol, and devoting 
 themfelves to the worfliip of it. Whatever 
 the objeft may be, which any man has 
 fubftituted in the place of God, thatobjed 
 is to him what the calf was to the Hebrews. 
 How many are there who fpend their lives 
 in the dance of pleafure, as if they had been 
 fent hither for no other purpofe ! others 
 devote themfelves to honours and prefer- 
 ments i and, to accomplifh their defigns, 
 * Luke xii, 44. 
 
 affedl 
 
I ;6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^^'^' affed popularity, and worfliip the beafis 
 "^ — . — ' of the people. Wealth is the objedl of 
 others; and theirs is a calf of gold. The 
 covetous ferve mammon the God of riches ; 
 and the lin oi covetotifnefsh exprefsly called 
 by the name of Idolatry'^. Are thefe the 
 people of God ? Are thefe they, who were 
 baptifed into the name of Jefus Chrift as 
 dead unto Jin and alive unto righteoufnefs ? 
 Are thefe the children of Abraham ; 
 followers of them who through faith and 
 patience obtained the promifes ? Merciful 
 God, what a transformation is this ! Are 
 they not rather of thofe unprofitable fer- 
 vants, whom the Lord at his return from 
 the mount (hall furprife and judge as hypo- 
 crites and unbelievers ? 
 
 We have another example of our danger 
 from the cafe of the Ifraelites, w^ho fell 
 into fin from evil communications and bad 
 company. There was a mixt multitude of 
 
 * The learned Mr. Parhhur/I, in his Greek Lexicon of 
 the New Teftament, gives very good reafons why we 
 ought rather here to imderfland the fin of unlavjftd lufisj 
 as in that other expreflion, vohof&Godh their hlly* See under 
 the word 7[>^£0VE^ict* 
 
 ftrolling 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 177 
 
 ftrolling Egyptians and diforderly people LECt. 
 
 who went up with the Hebrews out of » y! ^ 
 
 Egypt, and attended their camp from mo- 
 tives of curiofity or beggary* Thefe are 
 faid to have fallen a lujtingy and to have 
 propagated their evil inclinations among 
 the congregation ; who, led by their ex- 
 ample, provoked God with their difcon- 
 tent and murmurings. The Chriftian 
 church hath always been attended by a like 
 unprincipled multitude of heretics, fen- 
 fualifts, enthufiafts, fedlaries, and even 
 atheifts; men, who being difconten ted with 
 the ways and do£lrines of the Chriftian 
 fociety, have recommended and fpread their 
 own evil opinions, and occafioned multi. 
 tudes to fall away. A defedion from the 
 doftrines of Chriftianity is the natural con-* 
 fequence of a departure from the worfhip 
 and facraments and authority of the 
 Church. Some of the earlieft inftances 
 of blafphemy againft the doftrine of the 
 bleffed Trinity, were found among igno- 
 rant people in thofe times of confufion 
 and rebellion, when a mixt multitude of 
 more than fixty different feds arofe even 
 N to 
 
178 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. to the aftonifhment ofthofe who f5rft be- 
 ^ ^ ' gan the reparation*. But afterwards the 
 ' fame error was adopted by men of higher 
 pretenfions to learning, who have found 
 too many followers ; till the times have 
 at length produced a new generation of 
 opinionifts, who affume to themfelves, and 
 attribute to one another, the honours of 
 ccnfeffion aud martyrdom, for afferting 
 the blafphemy of Socinus againft the church 
 and the kingdom of Chrift, with the fame 
 boldnefs as the faints, in the primitive 
 times, afferted the doctrines of the gofpel 
 againft the heathen powers and the king- 
 dom of Satan. But boldnefs without truth 
 will never make a Chriftian confefTor : and 
 if a man injures himfelf for the love of 
 error, he is not a martyr but a fuicide. 
 
 They who are acquainted with rfie 
 world, and the prefent ftate of religion 
 
 * An authentic and very curious account of the errors 
 and blafphemies of that time, (two years before the death 
 of the king) was publiflied in a Treatife entitled, Gangrana, 
 by Thomas Edwai-iisy Prelbyterian miniiler ; of which, fee 
 part I. p. 32. no. But fee alfo Burnet's Hifl. of the 
 Reformation, An. 1^49. vol. 2. p. in, 112. 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, I *7p 
 
 and literature, muft have obferved, that LECT' 
 herefy, fchifm, and the new philofophy of ^ ■ „ * 
 the Deiils, with their numerous adherents, 
 form a mixt multitude, which are always 
 hovering about the Chriftian camp, and 
 never fail to corrupt it. They are now 
 boafting of their fuccefs, and threaten to 
 overwhelm this church in a very (hort time 
 with a deluge of Unitarianifm, that is, of 
 Mahometan Infidelity*. 
 
 The deftrudion of three and twenty 
 thoufand was occafioned by the Ifraelites 
 aflbciating with the people of Midian^ who 
 invited them to the feafts of their idols; 
 in confequence of which, they fell into 
 (hamelefs fornication after the manner of 
 the Heathens. And as there were wicked 
 Midianites and Moabites in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the camp, fo is there a wicked 
 world always near at hand, ready to invite 
 and feduce the fervants of God by its en- 
 fnaring cufloms and diverfions* To mix 
 with the world on all occafions, and not 
 be corrupted by its ways, is almoft as un- 
 
 * See Frkjlley\ Sermon on Free inquiry, 
 
 N 2 likely. 
 
i8o On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^VTT^* likely, as that the Hebrews fliould go to 
 ^ — V — ' -an idol-feaft with the Midianites, and not 
 be the worfe for it. What is the natural 
 tendency of many, and even the defign 
 of fome public diverfions tolerated among 
 Chriftians, but to corrupt youth and give 
 opportunities to vice ? How are moft of 
 the fcenes of public diverfion crouded with 
 the daughters of Midian, who are well a- 
 ware, that what is there to be feen and 
 heard will feldom fail to encourage the 
 vicious, and betray fome of the innocent, 
 into their fnares ! wherever any public 
 meetings have this tendency to corrupt 
 the manners, we may call them by what 
 names we pleafe, but they are as Moab and 
 Midian, if they are the enemies of Chriftian 
 virtue, 
 
 Balaki the king of the Moabites, hated 
 the camp of Ifrael, and bribed Balaam^ a 
 prophet, to curfc them. Juft thus doth the 
 world hate the church, and is never hap- 
 pier than when it can hire the miniflers of 
 the church to turn againft it and betray its 
 interefts. But it can no more fucceed by 
 
 all 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. ^l8i 
 
 all its curfes than the wicked Balak could : L K C T. 
 it muft feduce Chriflians toy?;/, and then v__^^ 
 it prevails; not by its own power, but by 
 tempting the church to provoke the anger 
 of God, When Balaam found that he 
 could prevail nothing by his facrifices and 
 enchantments, then he gave counfel to Ba- 
 lak to corrupt the people of the camp with 
 fornication; and that foon anfwered the 
 purpofe. 
 
 But now we are to learn another leflbn, 
 from the example of thofe who are faid to 
 have tempted Chrijl with their impatience 
 under the ways of his providence. When 
 the people expefted to fee an end of their 
 journeyings, it pleafed God ftill to lead 
 them round about ; but being weary of this 
 unfettled life, we are told, that the foul of 
 the people was much dfcouraged hecaufe of 
 the way'^ : and, to punifh their impatience 
 on this occafion, fiery ferpents were fent to 
 deftroy them. But when Mofes prayed 
 for them, he viras diredled to place a fer- 
 
 *^ Numbers xxi, 4. 
 
 N 3 pent 
 
iS2 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^vtt"^* pent on a pole*, and when they who 
 A * ' were bidden looked up to it, they were 
 faved from death. Our Saviour hath ap- 
 plied this to the lifting up of himfelf upon 
 the crofs, where the ferpent that hath the 
 power of death, was to be vanquifliedi 
 that they who are wounded by fin, and 
 in danger of eternal death, may look up 
 to him and live. What was the offence 
 of the people ? It was impatience. What 
 was their punifliment ? they were de- 
 livered to the power of the deftroyen 
 What was the remedy ? They were di- 
 reded to look up to a figure of the crofs. 
 And where (hould the impatient now look 
 up, but to Jefus the author and finifher of 
 their faith ; that great example of patient 
 fuffering, who for their fakes endured the 
 crofs and dcfpifed the fhame of it. If we 
 are tempted to be weary and faint in our 
 winds^ when the Providence of God is 
 leading us by fome tedious and difagree- 
 able way againft our will, then we are to 
 look up to this pattern of patience, and to 
 
 * In the heathen Mythology, a ferpent, twlfled about a 
 ftick, is the emblem of health, and theenfign of EfcuUpluK 
 
 confider. 
 
of the Hdly Scriptures. 18^ 
 
 confider, how he took the painful way of L^CT. 
 the crofs, and fubmitted hi« own will to ^ ^ ^ 
 the will of God. With this example be- 
 fore us, let us afk ourfelves whether we 
 have any thing to complain of; we who 
 ought to have been there inftead of him! 
 In his death we fee the vidlory that over- 
 Cometh the v/orld. For the joy that was 
 fet before him, he waited till the great 
 work of our falvation was finiflied : and 
 we are to wait in like manner, till all the 
 defigns of Providence are accomplifhed in 
 us; for we can inherit the promifes on no 
 other condition : he that endureth unto the 
 tnd the fame Jh all befaved. 
 
 But falvation, fuch as God hath pro- 
 mifed, is not an obje£l to all men. Some 
 have no opinion of it ; as there were thofe 
 amongft the people in the wildernefs, who 
 thought /corn of that pleafant land to which 
 they were going. When the fpies who 
 were fent to view the land of Canaan, made 
 their report of it, and brought back with 
 them fome of its fruits, they differed very 
 much in their accounts. They who 
 N 4 proved 
 
1 84 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. proved faithful and told the truth, faid it 
 V— ,,— / was an exceeding good land, flowing with 
 milk and honey ; and that they were well 
 able, with God on their fide, to take pof- 
 feffion of it, and overcome the inhabi- 
 tants, whofe defence was departed from 
 them. Others brought up an evil report 
 of the land which they had fe arched: they 
 deferibed it as a land which ate up, that 
 is, ftarved its inhabitants ; and that thefe 
 were men of a gigantic flature, to whom 
 ordinary men were but as grafshoppers. 
 This latter report found too much credit: 
 and the congregation was fo difcoura- 
 ged and terrified by it, that they lift up 
 their voices and wept ; and they murmur- 
 ed againft Mofes and Aaron for bringing 
 them into thefe infuperable difficulties, 
 and even determined to make them another 
 captain and go back. This is the a£l of 
 unbelief for which they were doomed to 
 fall in the wildernefs, without being per- 
 mitted to fee that land which they would 
 take no pains to win. 
 
 Such is the cafe of thofe fearful minds 
 
 an4 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 185 
 
 and faint hearts, which fay there is a lion ^y^j'^* 
 in the way^ and magnify all the difficulties ^ — .r— ' 
 of the Chriftian warfare. The heavenly 
 land, as they conceive of it, and as they 
 hear from people like themfelves, is not a 
 place that would make them happy. Be- 
 fides there are fuch temptations in the way 
 as no man can refift. Vice is ftrong, and 
 nature is weak. The gofpel prefcribes a 
 way of life that would ftarve people, and 
 take away all their comfort. Therefore 
 when all things are confidered, nothing is 
 to be done, but to give up the caufe, and 
 go back to the opinions and ways of the 
 children of this world. 
 
 If I may give you my own fentiment, 
 I do not fuppofe there is a fin upon earth 
 more hateful to God, than this of under- 
 valuing his promifes, diftrufting his pro- 
 tection, and making unjuft reprefentations 
 either of his religion itfelf, or of the re- 
 wards of it; as if his fervice were hard, 
 or the end of it not worth attaining. This 
 I can tell you, that fuch people are often 
 made more miferable, and fuffer worfe agi- 
 tations 
 
i86 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. tations of mind from difappointments in 
 V— v-1^ the way of their own chufing, than the 
 moft abflrafted faint ever fuifered from the 
 praftice of felf-denial in the way of godli- 
 ncfs. For we may lay it down as a certain 
 rule, that they who have not faith to fee 
 the value of the other world, have not the 
 wit to ufe this properly : and no man need 
 wifli his worft enemy more wretched than 
 the abufe of this world will make him. 
 But, on the contrary, what words can de- 
 fcribe the bleffednefs of him, who, de- 
 pending on the promifes of God, conquers 
 the difficulties of life, and hath hope in his 
 death I fuch an hope as is fignified by the 
 divine Pfalmift, in words much to our 
 prefent purpofe — / Jhould utterly have 
 fainted^ but that I believe verily to fee the 
 goodnefs of the Lord in the land of the 
 living. As if he had faid, " I believe the 
 report concerning that good land, to the 
 pofleffion of which we are journeying; 
 I know the value of it, and that the Lord 
 himfelf is my defence by the way; and 
 fo my heart hath not failed me : therefore 
 I give the fame advice to all ; 'wait on 
 
 the 
 
of the Holy Scrip fm^es. 187 
 
 the Lord', he of good courage, and he fijall L E C T. 
 Jirengthen thine heart : he who led Jofliua ' — . — ' 
 to vicSory in the promifed land, fliall bring 
 (down the walls of the mighty, and fup- 
 port thee againft all that appears gigan- 
 tic and terrible in the way of thy fal- 
 vation. St. PW, having pointed out 
 to us, and applied all thefe figures as exam- 
 ples to us under the gofpel, draws this 
 weighty moral from the hiftory of our 
 fathers who journeyed in the wildernefs : 
 ** wherefore let him that thinketb he ft and- 
 eih take heed lefi he fall. Inhere hath no ' 
 temptation taken you, but fuch as is com- 
 mon to man : but God is faithful who will 
 not fuffer you to be te??jpied above that ye 
 (ire able^ hut will, with the temptation alfo^ 
 make a way to efcape that ye may be able to 
 hear it''' * This is the dodrine we are to 
 learn from their hiftory. He that ftandeth 
 may now fall through unbelief, as they 
 did : he that has been brought out of 
 Egypt, may fall in the wildernefs ; therefore 
 let us pafs the time of our fojourning here 
 in fear. But then, as God is ftill with us, 
 
 * 1 Cor, X, 12, 13. 
 
 we 
 
1 88 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^ vn^' we are never to be difcouraged in the time 
 ^ — . — ' of trial, nor to doubt of his protedion. If 
 there is a fea on one fide, and a hoft of 
 Egyptians on the other, and there feems no 
 way to efcape, the waters fhall be divided 
 and the Egyptians fhall be overthrown. If 
 there is neither bread nor water in appear- 
 ance, fome improbable caufes fhall give us a 
 fupply of both : fome flinty flone fhall 
 become a fpringing well, and the heavens 
 above fhall give us meat enough. Then 
 for the fickneffes of the foul, we have the 
 remedy of the crofs ; and againft the gi- 
 gantic race of Anak, a defender who will 
 never leave us nor forfake us : howfoever 
 great and formidable the enemies of the 
 Chriftian may appear, Greater is he that is 
 in us than he that is in the world. 
 
 Though it is the defign of thefe leftures 
 rather to interpret the fcripture than to ap- 
 ply it ; yet we are to confider the applica- 
 tion as the end, and the interpretation as the 
 means : therefore I cannot help indulging 
 myfelf fometimes in dwelling upon the 
 moral part, which is the mofl edifying of 
 
 all. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 189 
 
 all. The hiftory of the church in the wil- 
 dernefs is figurative, and we have learned 
 what it fignifies : but what good will this 
 knowledge do us, if there is no counfel 
 with it ? What fliall' we gain by feeing 
 how men were loft, unlefs we take advice 
 from thence and learn how we may be 
 faved ? I therefore do not fpare, when oc- 
 cafion offers, to add to my interpretations 
 fuch fpiritual advice as arifes out of them. 
 The length and labour of my undertaking 
 is the greater upon this account ; but I 
 hope your profit will be greater in propor- 
 tion. The church that went from Egypt 
 to Canaan gives us an example of every 
 thing that can happen to the Chriftian 
 church from the beginning of it even to 
 the end of the world: therefore no hifto- 
 rical figure of the fcripture is of more im- 
 portance to us than this journey of the 
 Hebrews through the wildernefs : and I 
 ought not yet to lay it afide. For there 
 are two particulars remaining, which are of 
 great fignification : the one is the rebellion 
 of Corah^ and the other is the fettlement 
 
 of 
 
igo On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^ vn^* of the church in Canaan^ a land of the 
 ^ — . — ' Gentiles. 
 
 St. Judcy in his epiftle concerning the 
 corruption of the church, fpeaks of fome 
 who perijhed in the gainfaying of Core: 
 therefore this fame evil which happened in 
 the church of Mofes, is to be found in 
 the church of Chrift, and it behoves us to 
 confider what it was. Corah and his com- 
 pany had no difpute about the obje£l or 
 from of divine worfhip : they queftioned 
 none of the do£lrines of the law; they rofe 
 up againft the perfons of Mofes and x^aron; 
 that is againft the civil and ecclefiaftical 
 authority ; contending that themfelves and 
 all the congregation had an equal right; 
 that Mofes and Aaron had taken too much 
 upon themfelves ; and by exercifing an 
 ufurped authority were abufing and mak- 
 ing fools of the people. This was their 
 fin, and they maintained it to the laft, and 
 pcrifhed in it. It was the difpute of po- 
 pular power againft divine authority : and 
 wherever the like pretenfions are avowed 
 by Chriftians, and the fame arguments ufed 
 
 ia 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. ipi 
 
 In fupport of them, there we fee the gain* L E C T, 
 faying of Corah. It is a lamentable circum- > , '^ 
 ftance attending this fin, that it infpires 
 great boldnefs and obftinacy, fuch as we 
 read of in Corah and his party. Other 
 finners are apt to be afliamed of them- 
 felves; but thefe never; becaufe they affert 
 their own fandity in the a6t of their difo- 
 bedience. When they fet up human right 
 againft that which is by God's appoint- 
 ment ; the more proud and obftinate they 
 are, the more colour they feem to give to 
 their pretenfions. It is one reafon why 
 rebellion was fo feverely punilhed in Co- 
 rah, and is now fo feverely threatened iti 
 the New Teftament, that men are never 
 known to repent of it. In vain did Mofes 
 exclaim and remonftrate againft the wick- 
 ednefs of Corah : he and all his party pre- 
 ferved the fame good opinion of themfelves, 
 and perfifted in it to the laft ; even appeal- 
 ing to God himfelf, though they were rifenr 
 up againft God's minifters j till the earth 
 opened; and the fire devoured them. 
 
 From this example of Corah, we are to 
 
 learn. 
 
192 On the Figurathe Language 
 
 ^^^'^* learn, that God confiders all oppofitloa 
 '-— V — ' again ft lawful authority, as a fin againft 
 himfelf. He declares that rebellion is as the 
 Jin of witchcraft^ and jlubbor^inefs is as ini- 
 quity and idolatry:^ the meaning of which, 
 as it ftands in the book of Samuel^ is this ; 
 that if a man were a Jew, and yet a rebel, 
 he might as well be an heathen : if he were 
 too ftubborn to fubmit to the ordinances 
 of God, he might as well be a forcerer, or 
 ferve idols. And it is worthy of obfervation, 
 that this fevere fentence is againft Sauly a 
 king, who ufurped the authority of the 
 priefthood, and pleaded a godly reafon for 
 it. But fo jealous is God, for the wifeft 
 ends, upon this fubje6l, that no dignity of 
 perfon, no appearance of reafon, is admit- 
 ted in excufe for the fin of rebellion. We 
 therefore rightly pray in the Liturgy of the 
 church of England, that God would deliver 
 lis from rebellion in the ftatc and fchifm in 
 the church ; and in order to this, we (hould 
 alfo pray, that he would deliver us from the 
 principles out of which they proceed 3 for 
 none of our reafonings will prevail in this 
 
 * I Samuel xv. 23. 
 
 cafe. 
 
of the Holy Script ures, 193 
 
 cafe. For my own part, I miifi: confefs, LECT. 
 
 that if there be any man who is fo far in- ^— v— ^. 
 
 fatuated as to have perfuaded himfelf that 
 
 God is no proprietor of power in the world 
 
 of his own making and governing, and 
 
 that all men are born to a ftate of equality ; 
 
 I would no more reafon with that man, 
 
 than I would preach temperance to a fwine, 
 
 or honefty to a wolf, I would leave him 
 
 to himfelf, and turn toward thofe who have 
 
 not yet received the infedlion, 
 
 The fettlement of the church of the He- 
 brews in Canaan, a land of the Heathens, 
 is the laft article I am to explain, as pre- 
 figurative of the Chriftian church. It is 
 mentioned as fuch in the apology of St. 
 Stephen againft the Jews : Our fathers had 
 the tabernacle of witnefs hi the wildernefs^ 
 which alfo our fathers that came after brought 
 in with Jefus (i. c, Jofhua) into the pof 
 fejjion of the Gentiles^ 'whom God drave out 
 before the face of our fathers. The dodlrine, 
 of all others mod unacceptable and odious 
 to a Jew, was this of the tranflation of the 
 tabernacle of God to the Gentiles. St. 
 O Stephen 
 
194 0/^ the Figurative Language 
 
 ^vn'^' 'S'/d'/^^;/ therefore does not literally affirm 
 — , — ' it, but covertly, and, as a prophet fliould 
 do, under the fhadow of that antient 
 hiflory which was intended to forefhew 
 it. The Jewifli church derived much 
 danger from its fituation among the Ca- 
 naanites ; for though God had driven 
 them out as poffeffors, and eftabliihed his 
 own people in their land, he left fome of 
 the former poffefibrs to be thorns in their 
 fides for trial and puniihment : and their 
 hiftoi} ihews how often they were enfnared 
 by the abominable dodlrines of idolatry, 
 'till the captivity of Babylon was the re- 
 ward of their apoftacy. 
 
 Wonderful was the fettlement of the 
 Jews in Canaan, with the fall of Jericho, 
 and the viftories of the people of God 
 againft all the armaments and confederacies 
 of their enemies. But not lefs wonder- 
 ful was the <^eflablifhment of Chriftianity 
 amongft the Gentiles. Heathenifm was in 
 as full and quiet poffeffion of the world 
 and its empire at the coming of Chrilr, 
 as the Canaanites were in their own land 
 
 when 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 195 
 
 when Jofhua entered it. But the voice of LECT. 
 the gofpel preached by a few fifhermen ^ — -^ — ' 
 from among the Jews, a people held in 
 the utmoft contempt by the whole hea- 
 then world, foon cafl down all the higheft 
 fences of Satan *s kingdom, as the walls of 
 Jericho fell down at the found of rams 
 horns blown by priefts. As the Hebrews 
 in the progrefs of their vidlories were ex- 
 horted to fear nothing, remembering how 
 Pharaoh had been fubdued in Egypt ; fo 
 ought Chriftians to remember daily, how 
 God reduced the power of Satan all over 
 the heathen world, till his temples were 
 deftroyed, and th^ churches of Chrift were 
 placed upon their ruins. 
 
 But then, as there was a remnant of the 
 Canaanites, to whom the people were fre- 
 quently joining themfelves in marriage, 
 and confequently relapfing into idolatry, 
 according to that of the Pfalmift — They did 
 not dejlroy the nations concerning whom the 
 Ijord commanded them, but were mingled a-^ 
 mong the heathen and learned their works, 
 and they fervsd their idols^ which were a 
 O 2 fnan 
 
196 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. Hjare unto them: fo the works of heathen 
 *> — V — ' authors, with the fables of their falfe Gods, 
 the abon'jinable rites of their religion, 
 and the obfcenity and immorality of their 
 pradices, are in like manner remaining 
 among Chriftians; and it has been the 
 cuflom for ages, all over Europe, to com- 
 municate the rudiments of languages and 
 learning to young minds from heathen 
 books, without due care to caution them 
 againft imbibing heathen principles ; by 
 which thoufands of minds are corrupted, 
 and through early prejudice rendered inca- 
 pable of underftanding the value of truth, 
 and the abominable nature of heathen er- 
 ror. How frequently are heathen moralifts 
 applied to, when the fineft rules of hu» 
 man prudence for the condufl: of life are 
 to be found in the fcripture. But to go to 
 the heathens for divinity, as feme authors 
 do, is intolerable. They blow out the can- 
 dle of revelation, and then go raking into 
 the embers of paganifm to light it again. 
 Many good and learned men, of the firfl 
 ability and tafte, have obferved and lament- 
 ed the bondage we are under to heathen 
 
 modes 
 
VII. 
 
 of the Holy Scrip fureu 1 97 
 
 modes of education: but cuftom is a ty- LECT, 
 rant which hears no reafon. However^ 
 there can be no harm, and I hope there 
 will be no offence, in praying that God will 
 enable us to correft all our errors from the 
 hiftory of paft mifcarriages. This is the 
 great ufe we are to make of our prefent 
 fubjedl. The dangers to the fouls of men 
 are the fame in all ages ; and their errors 
 are the fame for fenfe, however they may 
 differ in form : fo that we cannot be fur- 
 prifed and enfnared by any temptation that 
 comes upon the church, if we look to the 
 things that are paft. 
 
 O 3 L|E C T. 
 
198 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 ON THE PERSONAL FIGURES, OR TYPES, OF 
 THE SCRIPTURES; PARTICULARLY THOSE 
 OF MOSES AND JOSEPH, PROPOSED BY ST. 
 STEPHEN, IN HIS APOLOGY TO THE JEWS. 
 
 THE Scripture would have fupplied 
 us with much more matter, of the 
 
 VIII. 
 
 fame kind with that in the two preceding 
 leftures. I might have fet before you the 
 hiflories of Gideons vi£lory, and the fall 
 oi Sifera; which were figns of the fpiri- 
 tual vi£lories of the church over the ene- 
 mies of her falvation*. I might have con- 
 fidered the rejeftion of the Jews, as it 
 was prefigured in the hiftories of Cain 
 ^nd^iel, of Jacoif ^nd E/au, of Ifaac and 
 JJlomaely of Ephraim and Manajfes : to 
 which I might have added a view of their 
 
 * See Ifaiah ix. 4. Pfalm Ixxxiii, 9. 
 
 prefent 
 
of the Hcly Scriptures. 1 95 
 
 prefent ftate, as fignified by the fall of the LECT. 
 proud Nebuchadnezzar^ and his tempo- ^ — « — ' 
 rary banifliment amongft the beads in a 
 ftate of infanity, till the times of judg- 
 ment paiTed over him. The grace of God 
 to the heathen world, in admitting them to 
 the falvation of the gofpel, might have 
 been exemplified by the healing of Naa- 
 man the Syrian^ and the vifitation of the 
 widow of Sarepta : which two cafes our 
 Saviour pointed out to the Jews at Naza- 
 reth ; but they would not bear the mod dif- 
 tant hint of the reception of the Gentiles i 
 and were fo filled with wrath, that they 
 would have thrown him down headlong 
 from the brow of an hill, (after the Ro* 
 man fafhion) as an errcmy to his country ; 
 for fo were traitors puniihed at Rome^ by 
 being thrown from the top of the Tarpeian 
 Rock. 
 
 Many figures are to be found in the oc- 
 currences and circumftantials of the hif- 
 tory of the gofpel by thole who read it 
 with fuch an intention. In (hort, the hif- 
 tory of the Old and New Teftaments hath 
 ' O 4 a fecondary 
 
200 Cn the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. a fecondary or prophetical knCo. in many 
 ^ — .^ — ' inftances : its great events were figns and 
 figures of things 7wt feen as yet -y and many 
 of them are in force as fuch to this hour. 
 Great things are ftill to be expedled, of 
 which we can form no conception, but as 
 they are let before us in the figures of the 
 facred hiftory. God fhall defcend, and the 
 earth Ihall be on fire, and the trumpet fl^all 
 found, and the tribes of mankind ihall be 
 afTembled, as formerly at Horeb* Diftrefs 
 ihall come upon a wicked world, when its 
 iniquity ihall be full, as once upon Baby--- 
 lon^ and afterwards upon the apoftate 'Jerw- 
 falem. The armies of the Lord ihall en- 
 compafs it; and it ihall be ovierthrown, 
 with them that dwell therein. For this 
 reafon, the vifitation of Jeiufalem was fore- 
 told in fuch terms by our BlefTed Lord, 
 that in many of his expreflions it is hard 
 to diftinguifh, whether that, or the end of 
 the world, is to be underftood. 
 
 Thefe things, however, I muil at pre- 
 fent leave to your meditation, and go for- 
 ward to the figurative hiilories of individual 
 
 perfons ; 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 20 1 
 
 perfhns ; fuch as were the prophets, kings, "^yi^jy* 
 heroes, and faints of the old teftament ; *— v— ' 
 who by their adions, as well as their words, 
 Jorejhevoed ihe coming of that Saviour, in 
 whom, the (aint made perfeft through fuf- 
 ferings, the conqueror, the prince, the 
 prieft, and thv: prophet, were to be united; 
 As the things svhich befell the church at 
 large, happened to them for enfamples to 
 the whole congregation of Chriftian peo- 
 ple; fo the things which befell the pro- 
 phets of old happened for enfamples of 
 the Saviour himielf; that his chara6ter and 
 hillory, as the true Son of God who fhould 
 come into the world, might be infallibly 
 afcertained and demonftrated, by a compa- 
 rifon with the various characters of thofe 
 who had been mod eminent in the church 
 of old. Some of thefe charafters were 
 extremely different from others, and the 
 events of their hiftory very unlike; but 
 the charader and hiftory of the Meffiah 
 was to comprehend them all. For this 
 end their lives were purpofely conformed 
 by the divine Providence to the image of 
 bim that was to come after. 
 
 This 
 
202 On the Figurative Language 
 
 '^Y'Sl'' '^^'^'^ confideration, v/hen we fee the 
 ' — . — ' force of it, will reconcile us to fome ftrange 
 things, which might appear" very unrea- 
 fonable, if they were to be confidered only 
 in themfelves, not under the relation which 
 they bear, and were intended to bear to 
 higher and greater things. How monftrous 
 would it feem in any other hiftory, that a 
 man fliould be buried in the body of a fifli, 
 and caft up alive again after three days up- 
 on the dcy land ! But if this ftrange thing 
 happened, that it might afterwards be com- 
 pared with the return of Jefus,Chrift from 
 the dead, for the falvation of all mankind ; 
 then the prelervation of Jonah becomes 
 fit and reafonablcj it being of infinite con- 
 fequence to the world, that the fad of 
 Chrift's refurredion, when it fhould hap- 
 pen, ihould be admitted and believed; 
 and fo the cafe was worthy of the di- 
 vine interpofition. Jonah v/as not pre- 
 ferved by a miracle for his own fake ^ but 
 for ^Jigny to inftrudl the people of God in 
 the truth of their falvation, and the pecu- 
 liar means or mode of it. Two ftrange 
 events of the fame kind are more credible 
 
 than 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 203 
 
 than one; becaufe the obje£lion is removed lect^ 
 
 VIII. 
 
 which might arife from the lingularity of ^ — v— ^ 
 the cafe. The refurredion of Chrift is a 
 true fafl:, and a credible fadt : for why ? 
 it was forelhewn by the prefervation of 
 Jonah ; another fa6l of the fame kind. And 
 again, to take the matter the other way; 
 the prefervation of Jonah was a miracle, 
 worthy of God, from its relation to the 
 reJurreEiion of Chrift ; the moft important 
 fadt in itfelf, and the moft neceifary to be 
 believed, of all that fhould ever happen 
 from the beginning of the world to the 
 end of it Jonah's deliverance was in- 
 tended to do what the apoflles were fent 
 over the world to do, viz. to witnefs the 
 refurredion of Jefus Chrift. Our Savi- 
 our himfelf hath direded us to make this 
 ufe of Jonah's hiftory. The Jews required 
 of him fome miraculous fad as a teftimony 
 that he was the true Meffiah : and he gave 
 them this : as Jonah was three days and 
 three nights in the whale s belly ; fo JJoall the 
 fon of man he three days and three nights in 
 the heart of the earth *. Here the perfoa 
 
 * Matthew xil. 39, 40, 
 
 ■ ^ of 
 
S04 On the Figurative Language 
 
 1.1 CT., ^f Jonah is a fign of the perfon of Chrift, 
 
 v^^I' and the belly of a devouring filh a fign of 
 
 the power of the grave, by w^hich he fhould 
 
 be detained for the fame time as Jonah 
 
 wa§. 
 
 The lives of the other prophets had 
 S like relation to the times and tranf- 
 ^(3:ions of the gofpel, From a paflage 
 which is taken out of the 4ifl: Pfalm, and 
 atpplied to the treafon of Judas -^ it ap- 
 pears that fome of the moft remarkable 
 cireumftances in the life of the prophet 
 Pavid w^ere prefigurative of other parallel 
 circumftances in the life of Chrift. It is 
 obferved by our Saviour himfelf, that in 
 the treafon of Judas, that fcripture was 
 Julfilled^ which faith, he that eateth bread 
 '^itb me hath lift up his heel againjl me. 
 The familiar friend of David, whofe 
 treachery is here complained of, was Acht-^ 
 iophel^ to whom thefe words, in the let- 
 ter of them, muft be fuppofed to have re- 
 ferred: but if they were fulfilled^ as oisir 
 Saviour faith, in Judas^ then they were 
 prophetical; and the fuffering of David 
 
 from 
 
of the Holy ScnptureU ^05 
 
 from a traitor, foreftiewed that the tru^ ^.^,9.^* 
 David fhould be a fufFerer from a peribil 
 of the lame charafter. Achitophel, a man 
 entrufted with the chief management of 
 David*s affairs, took part againft his maftef^ 
 and betrayed him to thofe who fought his 
 life : and Judas in like manner, being firft 
 entrufted by his mafter, betrayed him to 
 the chief priefts, that he might be put to 
 death. But now let us mark the fequeU 
 for both thefe traitors came to the faiiit 
 tragical end; they both hanged ihemfelve:^^ 
 when they failed of the fuccefs which 
 their ambition aimed at : and if Judas had 
 ftudied the fcripture as much as he ftudied 
 the worlds he might have forefeen his own 
 fate in that of his brother traitor AchitO* 
 phel. Unlefs the charafter of Davids as a 
 prophet, had a relation to the perfon of 
 Chrift, how can we account for it, that 
 the name of David is applied to him by 
 Ezecbiel * four hundred years after thg 
 natural David was dead ? On what othef 
 principle could David fpeak fuch words 
 in the i6th Pfalm, as could be verified only 
 
 Ezechiel xxxvii. 2^0 
 
 m 
 
VIII. 
 
 2o6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E c T. in the perfon of Chrift ? Thou wilt not leave 
 my foul in helU neither wilt thou fiiffer thine 
 holy one to fee corruption Concerning this 
 paffage, St. Peter argued with the Jews, 
 that it could not be meant of David him- 
 i^M^ the memorials of whofe death and 
 burial were ftill remaining among them. 
 That the Providence of God did exhibit 
 in the perfon of David a character prefigu- 
 rative of the Meffiah, can never be doubt- 
 ed if we com.pare their charafters toge- 
 ther : both were fhepherds, prophets, 
 kings and conquerors; both were defpifed 
 and fet at nought by their brethren ; op- 
 preffed and perfccuted by the powerful ; 
 ungratefully reviled, mocked at, and be- 
 trayed, by rebels and traitors ; and both 
 were raifed to the throne of Ifrael (called 
 the throne of David) in oppofition to all 
 the power and malice of their enem.ies. 
 From this fimilitude of charader, all men 
 might infallibly diftihguifh the frue fon 
 of David, when he fhould have fulfilled 
 his courfe, and attained the kingdom on 
 the holy hill of Sion, 
 
 In 
 
of the Holy Scriptures: 207 
 
 In the prophet Elijah^ we have a charadler L E C T. 
 prefigurative of the perfon and office of ^— v— '. 
 John the Bapttfl: whence it is faid in the 
 4th chap, of Malachi, behold I will fend you 
 Elijah the prophet before the coming of the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord^ and he 
 Jhall turn the hearts of the fathers to the 
 children, &c. The fcribes and pharifees, 
 who took this paffnge literally, expeded 
 that the prophet Elijah (whom the New 
 Teftament calls EliasJ would appear in 
 perfon before the coming of the Mefliah* 
 and therefore, at the crucifixion, they ob* ' 
 ferved of Jefus with a fneer, that though 
 he had not as yet received any teftim.ony 
 from Elias, he might do fo, even upon the 
 crofs, if they did but give him a little 
 more time — Let be, faid they, let us fee 
 whether Elias will come to fave him "^. By 
 thofe w^hofe minds were enlightened, it 
 had been underftood, not that the perfon 
 of Elijah (hould come again, but the cha^ 
 racier ; that the Jpirit and power -f- of that 
 prophet fliould be revived and fulfilled in 
 the charadter of the Baptift. Let us there- 
 
 * Matthew xxvii. 49, f Luke i, 17. 
 
 fore 
 
3o8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^\in' fore compare them together. As to their 
 A— V — ' perfonal appearance, we read that Elijah 
 the Tifhbite was an hairy man "* (proba- 
 bly with a rough garment) and girt with 
 a girdle of leather about his loins. And 
 do we not read of John the Baptift his 
 counterpart, that he alfo had his raiment 
 of earners haivy and a leathern girdle about 
 his loins? With refpefl: to their manner of 
 life, Elijah frequented the wildernefs, and 
 was fed in folitude : and John the Bap- 
 tift was in the defer ts, and came preaching 
 in the wildernefs of Judea, and his meat 
 was locufs and wild homy^ proper to a man 
 of a contemplative and holy life. In their 
 office and minifty, which give importance 
 to the other marks of their characfter, both 
 of them were raifed up for the great work 
 of r forming a degenerate people, and turn- 
 ing to Gpd thofe who had departed from 
 him, Elijah brought over to Jehovah 
 thoufands of the people who had revolted 
 to Baal : and John the Baptift warned a 
 generation of vipers to flee from the wrath 
 to come ; and prevailed upon them to re- 
 
 * I Kings xlx, 4. 
 
 ccivc 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 209 
 
 ceive that baptifm of repentance which was L E C T* 
 preparatory to the baptifm of the gofpel. * — ^, 
 Elijah bore his teftimony without fear a- 
 gainft two kings, Ahab and Ahaziah ; one 
 of whom was urged on by that wicked 
 woman Jezebel^ who had determined to 
 put that prophet to death. So did Joha 
 boldly rebuke Herod^ a king under the in- 
 fluence of another wicked woman, who 
 fought his life and fucceeded. Thus we 
 underftand how far thefe two were alike 
 in their perfons, their manners, and their 
 miniftry ; and with what propriety it was 
 faid of John by the angel, that he fhould 
 go before the Lord God of Ifrael in the 
 fpirit and power of FJias^ There is fome 
 thing very remarkable to our prefent pur- 
 pofe in the teftimony our Saviour gave to 
 John, as being the perfon in whom the 
 character of Elias was fulfilled : 1 fay un- 
 to you that Elias is indeed comCy and they 
 have done unto him whatever they lifted 
 as it is written rf him^. Thefe la ft words 
 plainly refer us to what was written of 
 Elijah ; from whofe hiftory it might be 
 
 * Mark ix. 13. 
 
 P forefeen, 
 
2IO On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. forefeen, what would become of John the 
 ^^ — r-^ Baptift i namely, that a wicked and power- 
 ful woman fhould thirft after his blood, 
 and that a king fhould fend his officers to 
 take away his life. This was what they 
 lifted to do againft Elijah : therefore when 
 Herodias perfecuted the Baptift, and He- 
 rod fcnt an executioner to behead him, 
 they afted according as it was written.^ 
 Elijah was miraculoufly preferved to be 
 carried up alive into heaven ; whereto John 
 followed him, in a way more agreeable to 
 the fpirit of the Gofpel, the way of mar- 
 tyrdom "^. 
 
 We find another figurative charader in 
 the perfon of Ifaac the fon of Abraham, 
 whofe facrifice and deliverance were de- 
 fcriptive of Chrift's death and refurrec- 
 tion. Abraham^ fays the apoftle, offered up 
 Ifaac y accounting that God was able to raife 
 hhn up even from the dead \ from whence 
 
 * If the reader fliould be pleafed with what Is here faid, 
 he will be much more pleafed with Conjiderations on the Life 
 and Death of John the Baptifiy by Dr. Home, the prefent 
 Dean of Canterbury. 
 
 alfo 
 
of the Holy S^criptures. 21 1 
 
 alfo he received him in a figure''^. The LECT. 
 hiftory of this tranfadlion informs us, that * — t — • 
 on the third day Abraham lift up his eyes, 
 and faw the place where his fon was to be 
 offered up. He laid upon Ifaac the wood 
 on which he was to fuffer, as Chrift 
 carried his own crofs : and when the knife 
 was lifted up to flay him, the angel of the 
 Lord interpofcd, and Ifaac was received, 
 as it were, from the dead ; having been 
 adually devoted to death in the rriind of 
 his father for three days. In his fubftitute 
 the ram, a real facrifice was offered, as 
 Abraham had expelled, and Ifaac was ftill 
 alive ; fo that in the one we have a figure 
 of the death of Chrift, in the other of his 
 refurredion. And to render this tranf- 
 adlion more defcriptive, the providence of 
 God direded Abraham on this occafion to 
 the mountains of Moriah^ where the tem- 
 ple of Jerufalem was afterwards built ; in 
 which the lamb Chrift Jefus was daily of- 
 fered up for many hundred years in the fa- 
 crifices of the law; and where Chrift him- 
 felf at length fuffered ; accompliftiing all 
 
 * Hebrews xi. 19, 
 
 P 2 the 
 
LECT. 
 VIII. 
 
 212 On the Figurative Language 
 
 the offerings of the law, and fulfilling the 
 facrifice and figurative refurreclion of Ifaac. 
 The 1 1 th chapter '^ of the epiftle to the 
 Hebrews, in which the hiftory of Ifaac 
 is treated of, would afford us many other 
 examples of illuftrious perfons whofe ac- 
 tions and fufferings were conformed to the 
 charadcr of that Saviour in whom they 
 believed. But of all the perfonal hifto- 
 ries which have a prophetic relation to 
 the fufferings and exaltation of Jefus 
 Chrift, none are io full to the purpofe as 
 thofe two charad:ers of Jofeph and Mofes^ 
 which were feledled by the bleffed martyr 
 St. Stephen in his apology againft the Jews: 
 which apology, when rightly confidered, 
 opens a wonderful fcene, and carries us 
 very far into the prophetical imagery of 
 the fcripture. St. Stephen^ in his dif- 
 putes with the adverfaries of the gofpel, 
 had argued in fuch a manner from the 
 figures of the Old Teftament, to vindicate 
 
 * A learned Dignitary of this Church, who is ;p/g^jfy m 
 the frriptures, hath compoled a feries of difcourfcs, equally 
 excellent and edifying, upon the feveral characters of the 
 faithful in this chapter ; which I hope he will not forget 
 to publilli in due time. 
 
 the 
 
of the Holy Scriptures . 213 
 
 the fufFerings and deinonftrate the verity ^™,^* 
 of the miflion of Jefus Chrift, that none » — . — ' 
 could rejijl the wijdom and the fpirit %vith 
 which he /pake'^. And at length, in his 
 fpeech before the high prieft at his trial, 
 we have the method and fubftance of his 
 reafoning: of which I am now to make 
 my ufe, fo far as it relates to the prefent 
 part of our fubjed. The defign of this 
 difcourfe, and the drift of the argument 
 may be collefted by comparing fome paf- 
 fages of it together. 
 
 Having reminded the Jews, in the firfl 
 place,"!* that the promifes of God, and the 
 hopes of the fathers, did not reft in a 
 temporal or worldly inheritance, as they 
 had falfely flattered themfelves ; he lays 
 down the hiftories of Jofeph and Mofes^ 
 with the perfecutions they underwent from 
 their people, and the interpofition of God 
 for their exaltation : and then, to Ihew his 
 meaning in all this, he makes the follow- 
 ing application, for the convidlion of his 
 
 * See A6ts chap, vi, y, 
 •j- Sei the beginning of the 7th chanter of the.^c?i, 
 
 P 3 hearerSj 
 
214 ^^ ^^^ Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. hearers, who had been the perfecutors of 
 >-, — ^ Jefus Chrift. ** Ye ftifF necked, and un- 
 " circumcifed in heart and ears (who from 
 " your difobedience are not able to hear 
 ** and underfland what the law has declar- 
 *' ed to you) ye do always refift the Holy 
 *' Ghoft : as your fathers did, fo do ye. 
 ** Which of the prophets have not your 
 *' fathers perfecuted ? And they have 
 *' flain them which fliewed before of the 
 ** coming of the Juft one, of whom ye 
 ** have been now the betrayers and mur- 
 *' derers."* This application fliews with 
 what defign he had reminded them of the 
 reception which Jofeph and Mofes, thofe 
 two eminent chara(5ters of the law, had 
 met with. He meant to (hew them, that 
 as thefe favourites of heaven, whom God 
 had commifiioned to be the Saviours of 
 their people, were oppofed and perfecuted; 
 fo had they now, in like form and manner, 
 oppofed and perfecuted the Juft one Jefus 
 Chrift; and in fo doing had fulfilled the 
 fcripture, and done all that was wanting to 
 confirm the truth of his divine miffion; 
 
 * A61s vii, 51. 
 
 inafmucb 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 215 
 
 inafmuch as none could be the true Saviour^ ^vm'^' 
 
 according to the fcriptures, but a perfon ^— v— ^ 
 reje£led by them, as thefe holy prophets 
 had been reje<3:ed by their forefathers. 
 
 Such is the purport of St. Stephens 
 apology; and, with this key, we are pre- 
 pared to examine the particulars. He en- 
 ters on the character of Jofeph with thefe 
 remarkable words : the patriarchs moved 
 with envy fold Jofeph into Egypt. Who 
 were the enemies of Jofeph ? The Patri- 
 archs ; his own hrethreny all again ft him 
 to a man. Having firft plotted together 
 to take away his life, ihty fold him, and 
 then (hewed the marks of his bloody that 
 his father might be affured he was dead. 
 The ftrangers, to whom he was given 
 up, carried him far from his family, and 
 placed him among heathens in the land 
 of Egypt. All thefe particulars were ex- 
 aftly verified in the perfon of Chrift : his 
 brethren moved with envy fold him for mo- 
 ney, and delivered him to the Gentiles. 
 The brother who advifed* the felling of 
 
 * See Gen. xxxvii, 26. 
 
 P 4 Jofeph, 
 
2i6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^vul' J^^^P^* ^^^^ ^^^^^ P^^J^^ might be made of 
 .' — . — ' him was JuJa/j, who anfwers even in his 
 name to the traitor that fold Jefus Chrifl : 
 but the guilt which attends his name ex^ 
 tends to the whole nation of the Jews, of 
 whom Judah among the twelve patriarchs, 
 and Judas among the twelve apoftles, were 
 the reprefentatives. Envy was the motive 
 on which the patriarchs fold Jofeph ; and 
 Chrift was accufed and condemned on the 
 fame principle, according to the opinion 
 of his judge; of whom two of the evan- 
 gelifts relate, that Pilate knew the chief 
 priefts had delivered him Jbr envy. When 
 Jofeph declared his dreams which fignified 
 his future fuperiority over his whole fa- 
 mily; his brethren hated him yet the more 
 for his dreams and for his words; and 
 perfuaded themfelves they fhould prevent 
 his advancement by felling him for a flave : 
 but this was the circumflance without 
 which his advancement could not have 
 happened : he had never been a ruler and 
 a prince, if he had not been fent into Egypt 
 as a flave, and to prifon as a malefador. So 
 * . when Chrifl aflerted his own dignity, his 
 
 brethren 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 217 
 
 brethren took up ftones to caft at him for LECT. 
 making himfelf the Son of God : and ^ — ^ 
 when he told them they (hould fee him 
 coming in the clouds, and fitting at the 
 right hand of power, they pronounced him 
 to be guilty of blafphemy, and inflidted 
 thofe fufferings which were neceffary to 
 his exaltation. They fold him into the 
 hands of the Romans, to be treated as a 
 Jlave^ fcourgedy and crucified. With the 
 kingdoms of the Gentiles, to whom his 
 brethren delivered him, he remains to this 
 day; and thither they muft come after 
 him, if they are to meet with him, as 
 Jofeph was followed by his family into 
 Egypt. 
 
 Much more might be faid to fhew how 
 exaft the parallel is between the hiftory 
 of Jofeph and the hiftory of Chrift, if we 
 were to purfue it. We fee Jofeph in com- 
 pany with two malefadlors in the prifon, 
 and promifing life to one of them : we fee 
 him endued with fuch w'lfdom^ that even 
 Heathens were obliged to own that this 
 Hebrew fpoke by the fpirlt of God ; and 
 
 they 
 
2 1 8 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^vui^' they were content that he (hould receive 
 V— V— ' the power and glory of dominion amongft 
 them; while his brethren had rejedled him 
 as an inlignificant dreamer. One circum- 
 ftance, however, I muft not pafs over, 
 which is particularly noted by St. Ste- 
 phen ; that at the fecond time Jofeph 
 was made known to his brethren. At the 
 firft meeting they knew him not : but after 
 they had accufed themfelves for being guilty 
 of his death, and had imputed their trou- 
 bles to its proper caufe, then their bro- 
 ther was made known unto them. Thus 
 we truft it will be at laft betwixt Chrift 
 and the Jcv/s. The time will come, when 
 they fhall fee the true reafcn why they 
 have been wanderins: backwards and for- 
 wards, and feeking their bread with anxi- 
 ety and fafpicion, in a ftrange land ; and 
 fhall fay with the brethren of Jofeph, 
 we are verily guilty concerning our bro^ 
 tber^ in that we faw the anguijh of his 
 foul when he be/ought us, and we would not 
 hear-, therefore is this dijlrefs come upon 
 us *. God who found out the iniquity of 
 
 * Genefis xlii, 21. 
 
 Jofeph's 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 2 ! 9 
 
 Jofeph's brethren, and at laft opened their LECT. 
 
 eyes to fee and confefs it, can turn the ^ — . — ' 
 hearts of the Jews, how hard foever they 
 may be at prefent, and prepare them for 
 that fecond meeting when their Saviour 
 (hall be known to them. 
 
 Some things which have pafled before 
 us in the prefent lecture would fuggeft 
 many profitable reflexions, if 1 had time 
 to infift upon them. 
 
 From the office of John the Baptift, 
 which was preparatory to the dodlrines of 
 Jefus Chrift, we are to learn, that no man 
 can receive the truth of the gofpel, unlefs 
 he is prepared by a baptifm of repentance^ 
 and is ready to forfake his fins. The 
 counfel of God for his falvation can take 
 no efFe£l, till his former evil ways are 
 given up. With an attachment to his old 
 fins and errors, he can neither underfl:and 
 nor approve any thing the gofpel offers to 
 him ; but will either hate or defpifs it, and 
 tempt others to do the fame : as the fcribes 
 did, who would not accept of John's bap- 
 tifm. 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 tifm. Why do not all men receive the 
 gofpel, but becaufe fome have taken part 
 with the world, the flefh, and the devil ; 
 and determine never to renounce them ? 
 To all fuch the gofpel is a thing of no 
 value. 
 
 From the cafe of Jofeph, and our blef- 
 fed Saviour, hated and perfecuted as they 
 were ; we fhould learn to fifpe^l all thofe 
 whom the world magnijiesy and not truft 
 to reports and appearances, where felf love 
 and temporal intereft are concerned to dif- 
 guife things. This is a world in which 
 truth is negleded, goodnefs evil fpoken of, 
 and innocence run down and perfecuted. 
 It is the conftant praftice of mankind to 
 mifreprefent and defame thofe whom they 
 have injured, that their own injuftice may 
 not appear. When virtue is opprefledj it is 
 generally filent; while its oppreflors never 
 fail to be clam.orous in their own vindica- 
 tion : and in mod cafes, men may diftin- 
 guifli where the fault lies, by the noife 
 that is made to conceal it. When Chrift 
 was defamed he anfwered not again ; and 
 
 his 
 
of the Holy Scriptures m 
 
 221 
 
 his difciples alfo fuffered in patience; LECT. 
 while the Jews were running here and ^—-v--^ 
 there all over the world to tell theii* ftory, 
 and turn the hearts of men againft the 
 gofpel, that they might be prepared to 
 difoelieve and reje£): it, as foon as it {hould 
 come to their ears. 
 
 In the hlftory of Jofeph's brethren, you 
 fee them in diftrefs under their wants ; 
 not able to ftay at home without (larving 
 nor daring to go into Egypt, taking the 
 lord of the country for their enemy. Every 
 mortal man will fufFer under the like 
 miferable dilemma, who cannot find his 
 happinefs in the world, and dare not feek 
 it where only it is to be found. All this 
 happens becaufe he does not know Jefus 
 Chrift; does not know that he is the bro- 
 ther and the friend of finners, ready to 
 take them under his prote£lion and fup- 
 ply all their wants; but fuppofes re)Jgiojri 
 to be his enemy, and expecls to be roughly 
 handled. The brethren of Jofeph did not 
 know him ; and were diflreffed with fear 
 and anxiety ; the Jews did not know Chrift, 
 
 and 
 
222 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. and are to this day wandering, reftlefs and 
 % — ^ — ' hopelefs about the world; and every man 
 will find himfelf in the like condition, till 
 he difcovers that the religion he is. afraid of 
 is his beft friend, and that God has fent a 
 Saviour before us to preferve life, not to 
 dejlroy it. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 223 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 ON THE PERSONAL FIGURES, OR TYPES, Ol? 
 THE SCRIPTURE. 
 
 (a CONTINUATION OF THE FORMER.) 
 
 o 
 
 F all the perfonal figures of the Old L E C T. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Teftament, none are fo proper to v^^ 
 
 anfwer the purpofe of thefe ledlures, as the 
 two chara£lers which St. Stephen propofed 
 to the Jews, as figures and fore-runners of 
 Jefus Chrift; whom they would not have 
 crucified if they had known him, and 
 they could not have failed to know him, 
 if they had looked to thofe faints of old 
 who had forefhewed him in their lives and 
 adions, more plainly than words could 
 have defcribed him. 
 
 Notice had been given of this by Mofes 
 himfelf ; fo thai they ought not to have 
 been ignorant, A p-ropbct, faid he, /hall 
 
 the 
 
224 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. the Lord your God raife up unto you of your 
 V — , — / brethren like unto me: which words are 
 cited by St. Stephen and marked out for 
 fpeclal obfervation : This is that Mofes, who 
 /aid unto the children of Ifrael, a prophet /hall 
 the Lord your God raife up unto yoUy like 
 unto me : and from the ufe he has made 
 of the hiftory of Mofes, in the 7th chapter 
 of the Achy it appears that this likenefs 
 extends to his whole character, from his 
 birth to his death : as we fhall fee when 
 we come to examine the particulars. We 
 are likewife taught by St. Pauly that Mofes, 
 as a minifter and mediator, was faithful in 
 his office, for a teftimony of thofe things 
 which were to hefpoken after : when the Son 
 himfelf, the great and final mediator, (hould 
 take the dire6lion of the houfe of God, 
 and accomplifh the miniftry, which is 
 now wltneffed by the miniftry of Mofes. 
 
 The circumftances fitteft for our pur- 
 pofe in the hiftory of Mofes, and moft re- 
 markable in themfelves, are already feleded 
 by St. Stephen : to thefe, therefore, I fhall 
 confine myfelf; and treat of them in the 
 
 order 
 
of the Hoty Scripures. 225 
 
 order, in which he has laid them down. LECT. 
 But that we may firft have a diftind view w^ 
 of the particulars, which will come un- 
 der confideration, it may be proper to 
 obferve ; that the hiftory of Mofes, as 
 here to be applied, comprehends i. The 
 circumftances of his birth. 2. His quali- 
 fications and endowments as the minijler of 
 God* 3. His office as the deliverer of his 
 people. 4. The reception he met with 
 from the people he came to deliver^ 
 
 Our bleffed Saviour's birth in Judasa 
 was rendered very remarkable by the cir- 
 cumftances that attended it, and the cha- 
 rafter of the time in which it happened. 
 
 When the promifes of God were about 
 to be fulfilled by the redemption of man- 
 kind, and the time foretold by the prophets 
 was drawing near; the nation of the Jews 
 was fallen under bondage to the Roman 
 power, and were fubjedl to Herod, a ftrange 
 king, jealous of the people he was fet over, 
 and apprehenfive of a deliverer to be born 
 among themfelves. When the report of 
 Q Chrift's 
 
226 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. Chrift's birth was brought by the wife 
 ^— . — ' men, Herod determined to cut him ofF; 
 and with this view cruelly flaughtered all 
 the infants in the neighbourhood of Bethle- 
 hem. With all this the birth of Mpfes 
 agrees in every circumftance. 
 
 For I. The time of the promife drew nigh 
 which God had fworn to Abraham. It had 
 been foretold, that the feed of Abraham 
 fhould continue four hundred years in 
 Egypt, and after that come out with great 
 fubftance. When this time of redemption 
 was approaching, the Hebrews were fallen 
 into great afRiftion under a new king who 
 knew not Jofephi who being probably ^n 
 alien, had no refpe£l to the merits or 
 memory of him who had been a faviour to 
 the land of Egypt ; looking with a jealous 
 eye upon all his people, as enemies, and 
 treating them as captives and flaves. He 
 had a fufpicion that they w^ould become 
 more powerful, and get them ijp out of 
 his land. To prevent which, he proceeded 
 with fubtilty, (as Herod did afterwards) 
 and refolved upon a maflacre of all the 
 
 male 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 227 
 
 male infants of the Hebrews. He firft LECT. 
 commanded the midwives to kill them ; ' — ^ 
 but failing in this, Pharaoh charged all his 
 people, faying^ every fon that is born ye 
 Jloall call into the river. At this time Mofes 
 was born: and a remarkable time it was : 
 a ftrange new king kept the people of God 
 in fubjedlion, and murdered their infants, 
 to prevent their deliverance. But Mofes 
 and Chrift, under thefe wonderful cir- 
 cumftances, were both miraculoufly pre- 
 ferved, to accomplifh the redemption for 
 which they were raifed up : and they v/ere 
 both preferved in the land of Egypt* Mofes 
 was taken up by Pharaoh's daughter, and 
 efcaped from the wrath of a cruel king : 
 and the child Jefus was carried into Egypt 
 by his parents to efcape the wrath of 
 Herod. 
 
 The nativity of Chrift was dignified by 
 the appearance of a ftar, and celebrated by 
 an hoft of angels; though its earthly ap- 
 pearance was In poverty and obfcurity. 
 And fome unufual circumftances marked 
 the birth of Mofes, though the particulars 
 0^2 are 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 are not related. He was born of a poor, 
 oppreffed people, the child of a flave, and 
 doomed to death by the circumftances of 
 his birth. But his parents were aware of 
 fome diftindion, which (hewed that he 
 was raifed up for fome great purpofe. St. 
 Paul fays, they f aw he was a proper child; 
 St. Stephen, that he was exceeding fair ; 
 the original is, fair to God; from all which 
 it is moft reafonable to underftand, that 
 fome marks of divine favour and diftinftion 
 were vifible about him at his birth. His 
 qualifications and endowments come next 
 under confideration. 
 
 He is faid to have been learned in all 
 the wifdom of the Egyptians *, and to have 
 been mighty in words and in deeds. This 
 charadler is given of Chrift as a prophet, 
 nearly in the fame terms. The two dif- 
 ciples who walked with him to Emmaus 
 defcribed him as a prophet mighty in deed 
 and word before God and all the people* 
 When Mofes was grown up, he went forth 
 to vindicate the rights of his people, and 
 
 * Compare Luke ii. 52. 
 
 gave 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 2zg 
 
 gave them a (ign of his power by flaying ^?^^' 
 an Egyptian who did them wrong; cafting * — « — ' 
 out one of their ftrong men, to fhew that 
 a ftronger than he was come upon him, 
 and that God had vifited his people. So 
 did Chrift give a fign of his power as a 
 redeemer, by refcuing the fouls and bodies 
 of men from the bondage of Satan ; caft- 
 ing out devils by the finger of God, to 
 fhew that the kingdom of God was come 
 upon them. 
 
 The Egyptian wifdom, according to the 
 accounts we have of it, delivered all things 
 under figns and figures ; fpeaking to the 
 mind rather by vifible objects than by 
 words, and conveying inftrudion under a 
 hidden form which only the wife could 
 underftand. I do not (lay to enquire into 
 the reafon of this; I only fpeak of the 
 fadl, which is well known to fcholars. 
 Mofes muft therefore have been accuftomed 
 early to this mode of delivering fcience by 
 fymbols and hieroglyphics : and we have 
 feen that his whole law is according to the 
 fame method, not fpeaking literally of any 
 0^3 fpiritual 
 
z^o On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. fpiritual thing, not even of the innmor- 
 *— ^-^ tality of the foul (whence fome have igno- 
 ' rantly fuppofed that it was not a dodlrine 
 of his law) but delivering all things un- 
 der figns, emblems and defcriptive cere- 
 monies; which they who do not ftudy, 
 are miferably in the dark as to the wifdom 
 of the Mofaic difpenfation. 
 
 The wifdom of our blefled Saviour was 
 always conveyed under the fame form ; all 
 his inftruftions were given in parables^ 
 were vifible objects fignifying intelledual 
 things; and without a parable /pake he not 
 unto them: which form of fpeech, they 
 who do not ftudy and delight in, as the 
 medium of inflruflion which the wifdom 
 of God hath preferred from the beginning 
 of the world, will never fee far either into 
 the Old or New Teftament. 
 
 The million of Mofes bears witnef>, in 
 the form of it, to the mifiion of Jefus 
 Chrift; and gives us the moft worthy idea 
 that can be conceived both of the dignity 
 apd defign of it» Both thcfe miniilers of 
 
 God 
 
of the H^y Scriptures^ 231 
 
 God were fent upon their commifnons ^^J^'^* 
 hy a voice from heaven. God appeared * ■ >. » 
 to Mofes in a bu(h that burned with fire, 
 and faid, I have feen the affliclion of my 
 people which is in Egypt, and I have heard 
 their groaning, and am come down to 
 deliver them ; and, now come, I will fend 
 thee into Egypt. So when Jefus was ap- 
 pointed to his minlftry, there came a voice 
 from the excellent glory ^ this is my beloved Son 
 in whom I am well pleafed. 
 
 The redemption of the people under 
 Mofes, at the Exodus from Egypt, having 
 already been confidered as a figure of the 
 world's redemption under Jefus Chrift, I 
 need not dwell upon it here. I may how- 
 ever obferve, that as the fervitude of the 
 Hebrews was extreme, and their oppreffion 
 intolerable, when Mofes was raifed up to 
 Fedeem them ; fo was the power of Satan 
 at its utmoft height, over Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, at the coming of Chrift. He was 
 permitted to bind and to opprefs after a 
 ftrange manner the fons and daughters of 
 Abraham. And if we confider the ftate 
 CL4 of 
 
232 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. of the Heathens at that time all over the 
 
 IX 
 
 \J.^ world, we find them under the grofleft 
 darknefs of idolatry, and the moft abomi- 
 nable corruption of manners : fo that 
 Chrift was wanted by the w^orld of Jews 
 and Gentiles as much as Mofes by the 
 Hebrews in Egypt. 
 
 On this occafion, we have before us a 
 remarkable fign attending the miffion of 
 Mofes; which being infifled upon by St. 
 Stephen muft (like all the other ways 
 of God) have its fenfe and fignification, 
 God appeared to Mofes in the defert, from 
 a bufli which was on fire and yet was not 
 confumed. Which is a fign, firfl: applying 
 itfelf as an affurance of deliverance from 
 the afiliclion of Egypt; and fecondly as 
 a pattern of the incarnation, w^hen God 
 fhould come down from heaven to redeem 
 the whole world. 
 
 The burning bu(h was an earneft and a 
 pledge to affure Mofes, that the people of 
 God, though then in a low and miferable 
 condition (aptly fignified by a thorn grow- 
 
 1% 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 233 
 
 ing on a defert) and under a fiery trial in LECT. 
 a furnace of afflicSion, fhould yet furvive • , * 
 it all ; as the bu(h, though in the midft 
 of a flame of fire, was not confumed. 
 According to this model, fuch fliould the 
 event be; and fuch in fadt it was, to th^ 
 Hebrews in Egypt. As God was prefent 
 in the bu(h which was not burned, fo be- 
 ing prefent with his people in their fiery 
 trial, and as it were partaking with them 
 in their fuflferings, they would certainly 
 be delivered out of them : according to 
 thofe words of the prophet Ifaiah ; in all 
 tke'tr affliSiions he was affllcled, and the angel 
 of his prefence faved them: which paffage 
 fome of the Jewiih commentators them- 
 felves have properly applied to this ex- 
 hibition of the burning bufh, as a fign that 
 God was with his people in their afiBic- 
 tions, to defend and preferve them in the 
 fiery trial. 
 
 And if this wonderful fpedacle was a 
 fign that God was with them ; furely it 
 was alfo a fign that he would be with us in ' 
 a like form for the falvation of the v/orld 
 
 from 
 
g|^ Of7 the Pigurahve Language 
 
 LECt. from the bondape of fin: that, as the 
 
 IX- 
 *— ^-^ thorn of the defert is the loweft amongft 
 
 the trees, (o fhould he take upon himfelf 
 the form of a fervant, the loweft condi- 
 tion of humanity ; fubmirting to ferve 
 with uSj and be afflidled in all our afflic- 
 tions 'y that in and with him we might be 
 enabled to fuftain and furvive the (liarp- 
 nefs of death. That, as the children in 
 tlie furnace of fire felt no harm becaufe 
 the Soft of God was with them in the 
 midft of it; fo ftiould not we be confumed 
 by the trials of this world or the fire of 
 judgment itfelf. Herein was it alfo figni- 
 fied> that the manifeftation of God to mari 
 iliould not be that of a confuming fire, 
 but of a benign light and glory inftead 
 of it ; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the 
 glory of his people IfraeL It was figni- 
 fied, that wrath was turned away; that 
 God was reconciled, and that there is good 
 njoill to man from him that dwelt in the 
 huJJo ■*. 
 
 This appearance of God to Mofes is 
 
 * DeurercncrriY zxxlii, i6, 
 
 fuch 
 
af the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 fuch a teftimony to his appearance after- 
 wards in the flefli, that if we lay the whole 
 together as a figure of the poverty of his 
 birth, like that of a root out of a dry 
 ground ; of the fervility of his condition ; 
 of the thorns he bore at his crucifixion ; 
 of the glory and brightnefs of his trans- 
 figuration ; of the mifery of man ; the con- 
 defcenfion of God; the neceffity of a re- 
 deemer: in all thefe things met together 
 in this exhibition of the burning bu(h> I 
 fee a complication of wonders, which can- 
 not worthily be fpoken of: we mud adore 
 the fubjeft as we can, and leave it to the 
 more adequate contemplation of angels. 
 
 The work of Mofes in delivering his 
 people was attended with a difplay of di- 
 vine power, which fhewed hov7 it (hould 
 be in the other cafe. He brought them out, 
 faith St. Stephen, after be had Jhewed 
 wojiders and figns in the land of Egypt ^ and 
 in the Red Sea, and in the wilder ?jefs forty 
 years. So it may be faid of Jefus Chrid in 
 words to the fame efFe£l, '* he brought 
 them out after he had ihewed wonders and 
 
z^b On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. figns; cafting out devils, healing the fick, 
 ^_._ '-^ railing the dead, feeding a hungry multi- 
 tude in a wildernefs, and giving every pof- 
 iible demonftration of a divine power, ex- 
 ercifed for the deliverance and falvation of 
 the people of God," 
 
 The power of Mofes in Egypt, and at 
 the Red Sea, and in the wildernefs, was as 
 vifible as the fun in the heavens ; and it was 
 as plain and certain that he aded by the 
 finger of God, as that he afted at all. But 
 now the arguaient of St. Stephen leads us 
 to obferve, as one of the greateft of all 
 wonders, how this man of might and wif- 
 dom, fo miraculoufly preferved, and fo 
 highly commiffioned, was underftood and 
 received by the people to whom he was 
 fent? For if the forefathers of the Jews 
 had rejeded their lawgiver thus commif- 
 fioned, and attefted by all the evidences of 
 divine power ; then was it fo far from be- 
 ing any objection againft Jefus Chrift, that 
 they had mifunderftood him, and hated 
 him, and crucified him ; that it was requi- 
 fne to the truth and divinity of his com- 
 
 miffion, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 237 
 
 miffion, that his brethren fhould y^// him, LECT. 
 and call him out as they had done to y<5- » — ^ 
 fephy and that they fhould refufe him, as 
 they had refufed Mcfes. With this argu- 
 ment St. Stephen preifed the Jews, till 
 they were unable to hear the force of it : 
 and, I declare, I think it fo forcible at this 
 day, that a man muft either be a Chriftiaii 
 upon the ftrength of it, or fall into a rage, 
 like the Jews, if he has an intereft againfi: 
 it. Hear how the cafe is reprefented— 
 *' 'This Mofes whom they refufed, faying^ 
 who made thee a ruler and a judge, the 
 fame did God fend to be a ruler and a 
 deliverer, by the hands of the angel v/hich 
 appeared to him in the bu(h" — He fup- 
 pofed that his brethren would have under- 
 flood, how that God by his hand would 
 deliver them; but they underftood not — 
 
 *' This is he to whom our fathers 
 
 would not obey, but thruft him from 
 them and in their hearts turned back again 
 into Egypt." 
 
 What the high priefl and the people of 
 the Jew3, before whom St. Stephen plead- 
 
 cd. 
 
238 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. ed, muft have felt in their minds from 
 
 IX. 
 
 * — « — ' fuch a reprefentation as this, when the fa£l 
 of rejecting Jefus Chrift was frefli upon 
 their memories and confcienccs, is more 
 eafy to be conceived than exprefled. There 
 is no occafion on which the mind of man 
 feels more miferable, than when it is con- 
 vidled without being converted. Such 
 was the cafe with St. Stephen's hearers; fo 
 they aded like men that were poffeffed ; 
 they gnafhed with their teeth, and jftopped 
 their ears, and ran upon him in a fury to 
 put him to death: for fo doth bigotry dif- 
 pofe of thofe whom it cannot anfwer. 
 
 Let us fuppofe, however, that fome 
 one amongft the reft: was prevailed upon to 
 apply the cafes of Jofeph and Mofes, 
 as St. Stephen had ftated them, to what 
 had lately come to pafs in Jerufalem : then 
 would he have reafoned with himfelf in 
 fome fuch words as thefe» 
 
 ** Jefus of Nazareth offered himfelf to 
 our nation as the true Meffiah and the 
 king cf the Jews: yet none of our rulers 
 
 or 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* ^ jo 
 
 or priefts or pharifees believed on him. I^ECT. 
 
 IX 
 but hated him and defpifed him. What w^ 
 
 then? Was not the holy patriarch Jo- 
 fcph, with all his innocence and virtue, 
 hated of bis brethren, and perfecuted for 
 envy ? One of the difciples of Jefus be- 
 trayed and fold hjm for a fum of money, 
 and he was delivered to the Romans as 3 
 flave and a malefadlpr: but fo did Jofeph's 
 brethren fell him, and fo did that innocent 
 vi(flim go down into Egypt among hea- 
 thens as a flave, and was imprifoned as a 
 malefaftor under a falfe accufation, Ytt 
 did God bring this fame Jofeph to honour, 
 and made his family who had defpifed him 
 bow down before him ; as, they fay, God 
 has now exalted this fame Jefus, and 
 that every knee is to bow to him. Many 
 and mighty were the miracles of Jefus, 
 fuph as wc could not difprove, and fuch 
 as were proper to fhew that he was thq 
 expefted redeemer : but we who were 
 witneffes of them did not accept of them 
 as fuch. Thus did our lawgiver Mpfes 
 come forth to avenge our wrongs upon 
 the Egyptians, fuppofing that his bre- 
 
 tbrefi 
 
240 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. thren would underftand, from the part he 
 ^^ — r^ took, that God by his hand would deliver 
 them ; but they underftood not ; they ac- 
 cufed him for what he had done, and took 
 part with the Egyptians, as we have taken 
 part with the Romans, our talk- matters, 
 againfl Jefus Chrift. When Mofes un- 
 dertook to compofe the differences of his 
 brethren and reftore them to peace, the 
 aggreffor flew in his face, and queftioned 
 his authority with thofe fancy words, who 
 made thee a ruler and a judge ? Thus did 
 we infolently demand of Jefus on every 
 occafion, who gave him his authority; in- 
 ftead of fubmitting to it, and taking ad- 
 vantage of it for our own good. We re- 
 prefented him not as a Saviour, fuch as his 
 works proved him to be, but a deflroyer 
 (as they made Mofes a murderer) an ac-» 
 complice of Beelzebub, the prince of the 
 devils and the dcftroyer of mankind. 
 Thus have we done unto him as our fa- 
 thers did unto Mofes: Ytt was Mofes fent 
 of God to bring us out of Egypt ; and 
 therefore fo was Jefus fent to fave his 
 people from their fins. When Mofes had 
 
 overthrown 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 24 1 
 
 overthrown the Egyptians and led our fa- LECT, 
 thers into the wildcrnefs, the people would ^ — .-r', 
 not obey him^ but turned back in their 
 hearts into Egypt, the fcene of all their 
 mifery : and if we have thruft Jefus from 
 us, it mud: have been owing to the fame 
 caufe, a vile attachment to this finful world, 
 which holds us in bondage, and has made 
 us take part againft him with our tyrants 
 and opprefTors. 
 
 *' Upon the whole then, our refufal of 
 Jefus Chrift can be no argument againft 
 him. Mofes was undoubtedly fent to be 
 a ruler and deliverer, and we all believe it ; 
 yet he was refufed by the people whom 
 God fent him to redeem : and though they 
 had been witnefles of all his mighty works, 
 their hearts were not converted. So it 
 hath been with us now ; and therefore 
 woe be Unto us ! ive are verily guilty co?!- 
 cerning this our brother ', and what is moft 
 to our (hame and confufion, our guilt is of 
 fuch a form as to turn againft ourfelves, 
 and prove the very thing wx have been fo 
 forward to deny i namely, that he who was 
 R ■ iuld 
 
242 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. fold like Jofeph, hath like him received 
 ^—A-' favour and dominion; that he who hath 
 been affronted and refufed and thruft away 
 by us as Mofes was, is the true lawgiver, 
 whom we have thus conformed in all things 
 to the example of our prophet; even of that 
 Mofes, who faid, a prophet (hall the Lord 
 your God raife up like unto me; and we 
 have done all that was wanting on our part 
 to make the likenefs complete." 
 
 Thus muft they have reafoned, on whom 
 St. Stephen's argument had the proper ef- 
 feft; and thus would the Jews reafon at 
 this day, who know theOldTeflament, and 
 have heard the hiftory of Jefus Chrift, if 
 they were not under a judicial infatuation, 
 which God can remove when it is jufl: and, 
 fit. We who are not under the like blind- 
 nefs can fee how plainly and irrefiftibly 
 thefe figures of the Old Teftament fhew the 
 certainty of thofe things vi^herein we have 
 been inflru6led. When Stephen difputed 
 with the Jews, he took advantage of this 
 evidence, and they were not able to rejijl the 
 wifdom and the Jpirit with which he /pake* 
 
 When 
 
^the Holy Scriptures o 243 
 
 When we hear of the efFefl: of this difpu- LECT, 
 
 IX. 
 tatlon, and find nothing in his fpeech but a ■ . ' -^ 
 
 mere narrative of fads compiled from the 
 
 fcripture, we wonder how the Jews could 
 
 be fo provoked by it, more than by reading 
 
 the bible according to their daily cuftom : 
 
 but when we fee how all this is pointed as 
 
 a teftimony to the fufFerings and exaltation 
 
 of Jefus of Nazareth, the wonder ceafes ; 
 
 and it is no longer ftrange, that they whofe 
 
 hearts were not turned to good by it, fliould 
 
 be provoked to rage and perfecution. 
 
 This fabje^l will fuggefl fome important 
 reflexions, which I muft beg of you to take 
 into yout ferlous confideration, and lay 
 them up in your hearts as long as you live. 
 
 !• From the cafes of Jofeph and Mofes, 
 and more particularly from that of Chrifl 
 himfelf, vt'e are to learn, that the qualifica- 
 tions which recommend a perfon to God, 
 will not make him acceptable or refpefla- 
 ble with men, but often the contrary ^ 
 for amongft men, innocence is envied, 
 godlinefs is defpifed, zeal difcouraged, and 
 R 2 juftice 
 
244 0^^ ^'^^ Figurative Language 
 
 ^?v ^* juftlce hated. Whence it has been eftab- 
 i— V— ' limed by wife and virtuous men as a 
 maxim founded on experience, that the 
 voice of the multitude is never to be 
 regarded as a teft of truth or merit. 
 Fafliionable error is a dreadful enemy to 
 the advocates of truth : and there never 
 was an age or country in which error 
 did not get into fafhion, and take the 
 diredion of men's minds; fo that truth 
 has but a poor chance without an over- 
 ruling Providence to fecond and enforce 
 it. We have a famous paffage to this effect 
 from the greatefl moral philofopher of 
 the Greeks, who declared with a kind of 
 prefcience, that if a man perfe£lly juft 
 i were to come upon earth, he would be 
 
 impoverijhedy and Jcourged^ and hound as a 
 criminal^ and, when he had fuffered all 
 manner of indignities^ would be put to the 
 Jljameful death oj fufpenfion or crucifixion *. 
 
 * Several of the fathers have taken notice of this extra- 
 ordinary pailage in Plato \ looking upon it as a prediction 
 of the fufFerings or the y///?c7«c Jefus Chrill; and after 
 them it is noted by Grotiusde 'verit. Lib. 4, feft, 12. Cafaiibon 
 (Merick) has a learned and excellent Criticifm upon it, in 
 his Trcatife Of Credulity and Incredulity^ p. 135, S^c. 
 
 There 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 245 
 
 There is not a more fpotlefs charafter in LECT. 
 the fcripture than that of Jofeph : yet his ^— -J— ^ 
 brethren hated him, and their envy had no 
 reft till they had fent him out of their fight 
 as a fiave. Mofes was a pattern of meek- 
 nefs, and with a ftruggle of diffidence un- 
 dertook his commiffion ; a commiffion, 
 with which he fhould have been received 
 by a poor oppreffed people, like, what he 
 was in fait, a meflenger from heaven. But 
 they railed at him, as if he had only made 
 that condition worfe which was bad enough 
 before; fo had provoked thofe who were 
 already enraged, and had put a /word into 
 their hands to Jlay them. Thus the fearful 
 and unbelieving (who are fometimes found 
 amongft the wife ones of this world) are 
 always difpofed to difcourage and condemn 
 a zeal for the caufe of God and the rights 
 of his religion, as indifcreet, unfeafonable 
 and dangerous. Whence it follows, that 
 if we are called upon to adt in any public 
 charader, we muft do people good againft 
 their will, and take the chance of being un- 
 gratefully or even defpitefully treated for it. 
 None but the mean-fpirited, or the ambi- 
 R 3 tious. 
 
246 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. tious, or the infipid, or the hypocritical^ 
 »_, — / are fpoken well of by all men ; and po- 
 pular applaufe is the grand objedl of a 
 vain or knayifh difpofition. Therefore the 
 Chriftian is wifely admoniflied, to feek 
 that praife which cometh only from 
 God; which is never bellowed upon falfe 
 merit, and will never be wanting to the true. 
 
 2. From the example of the Jews, who 
 were only irritated by St. Stephen's argu- 
 ments, when they ought to have been con- 
 verted; we fee what a dreadful thing it 
 is to have our reafons for hating and re- 
 jeding the truth. It is of infinite confe- 
 quence that we fhould enquire what that 
 meaneth — they received not the love of the 
 truths that they might be faved. What can 
 be plainer than truth ? And what is more 
 amiable ? And if it faves us, what in 
 all the world is half fo valuable? Yet 
 that faving truth is the only truth men 
 cannot of themfelves underftand : and if 
 they do not underftand it, what fearful 
 commotions are raifed by it ! It is a pow- 
 erful drug, which will either embitter and 
 
 inflame 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 247 
 
 inflame the mind,* or reftore it to reafon. ^^x.^' 
 The bigotted Jew, the ancient heathen, ' — ^ — ' 
 the modern infidel, the man of levity and 
 pleafure, are, all upon a level, all equally 
 adverfe to the Chriftian plan of falvation ; 
 all equally refllefs and impatient when the 
 proofs of it are laid before them. Even 
 P/^w/ himfelf (who from the part he took 
 when the blood of the martyr Stephen was 
 Jljedi muft have been prefent at the trial) 
 could hear the martyr's apology without 
 being perfuaded by it : that very man, 
 who afterwards ftruck into the fame way 
 of interpretation, and delighted to apply 
 the figures of the law as a teftimony to 
 Jefus Chrxft. There was a time when he 
 was not only deaf, but inveterate, and as 
 he faid, exceedingly mad againft the Chrif- 
 tians and all their arguments. Stephen 
 might look like an angel, and reafon like 
 an angel : nothing could touch him. He 
 had an opinion, that the Chriftians were 
 wrong, and deferved to be perfecuted : but 
 opinion is that judgment which a man 
 forms of the things of God w^ithout the 
 
 * Siiikosfacit infanos, Ter. 
 
 R 4 grace 
 
248 On the Tiguraiive Language 
 
 LECT. grace of God. When Stephen had rea- 
 w-^ foned with his hearers, he prayed for 
 them ; and perhaps the converfion of that 
 glorious inftrument of God, the bleffed 
 apoftle St. Paul, might be granted in con- 
 feqnence of that prayer. 
 
 3. We are laftly to learn from the deli- 
 verance of the Hebrews under Mofes, 
 which God was pleafed to accomplifh by 
 his hand, after all the contempt and op- 
 pofition he had met with; that, however 
 the church, in bad times, may be corrupted 
 and oppreffed, and even averfe to its own 
 deliverance j yet the counfel of God is 
 fure; and He who hath promifed to be 
 with it to the end of the worlds will never 
 forfake its interefts. Kings, with their 
 ilatefmen and politicians, may be jealous of 
 its rights, and invade them without feat" 
 or fliame : nay, the time may come, 
 when the very idea of a divine authority, 
 cither in prieds.or kings, (hall be as hate- 
 ful among Chriftians, as Mofes and Aaron 
 were to Pharaoh and the magicians ot 
 Egypt: and there are too many amongft 
 
 us 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 249 
 
 us already, who cannot fpeak of It with LECT. 
 patience. But the powers of the world can ^ — ^ — *. 
 proceed no farther than God fhall permit ; 
 and when things are at the worft, and 
 feemingly paft remedy, then will the time 
 of the promife draw nigh\ God (hall in- 
 terpofe in what form and manner he fees 
 beft^ and the church (hall be conduced to 
 glory and liberty, as the afflidled Hebrews 
 were led forth to the pofleffion of the 
 land of Canaan. 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 X, 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 ON miracles; particularly, the mira- 
 cles OF the new testament, as they 
 
 BELONG TO THE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF 
 THE SCRIPTURE. 
 
 LECT. "^^T^ ^^^ prepared to confider the 
 V V miracles of the gofpel, as defcrip- 
 tive of fomething beyond themfelves : be- 
 caufe we have already feen how the mira- 
 cles of Mofes, for the faving of the Ifra- 
 elites, are applied in the New Teftament, 
 as figures of the faving of all mankind by 
 Jefus Chrift. Our Saviour applied the 
 lifting up of the ferpent by Mofes in the 
 wildernefs, to the lifting up of himfelf 
 upon the crofs, to draw all men unto him 
 for the cure of their fouls. The apoflle 
 tells us, that the rock which Mofes fmote» 
 to give drink to the people, was Cbrift ; 
 that is, a figure of Chrifl, fmitten for our 
 
 fins, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 251 
 
 fins, and giving to a thirfty world the wa- LECT. 
 ters oi life. Mofes fed the people with ' — . — '. 
 manna; but that manna was a figure 
 of the true bread from heaven which 
 giveth life unto the world. Thefe things 
 were our examples : the miracles wrought 
 for them were figns of the miracles to be 
 wrought for us. And as it was under the 
 law, fo it is under the gofpel: the miracles 
 of Chrift are not of any private interpre- 
 tation ; but, like the miracles of Mofes, 
 with a miraculous efFedt carry a miracu- 
 lous fignification. 
 
 And now, for the right underftanding 
 of this v/hole matter, we are to confider, 
 that the name of fefus was given, becaufe 
 he who bore it was to fave his people from 
 their fins. Sin is the great diftemper of 
 man, and falvatlon from fin is the great 
 deliverance. The want of grace is the 
 greateft want of man, and therefore grace 
 is the greateft gift of God. To fave us 
 from fin, and reftore us to grace, was the 
 great work which Jefus Chrift defcended 
 from heaven to accomplifh. Every word 
 
 and 
 
252 
 
 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT, and every adion of his life tended either 
 ^—v-^ to efFedl this, or to give us a right under- 
 ftanding of it: therefore, when w^e fee 
 him v^^orking miraculous cures upon men*s 
 bodies, we are ftill to confider him as the 
 Saviour of men's fouls ; and that he cured 
 their bodies, as a pledge to affure us 
 thereof. 
 
 As this is a matter of infinite import- 
 ance toward the advancement of a Chrif- 
 tian in the true knowledge and fpirit of 
 the gofpel, and not fo obvious to common 
 underftandings, I have referved it to my 
 laft expofitory ledure, that you may take 
 advantage of all that has gone before : and 
 when you fee into the figurative intention 
 of the miracles of Chrift, you will want 
 no more of my inftrudions concerning the 
 language of the fcripture. 
 
 The wonders which Jefus Chrift 
 wrought upon earth in the courfe of his 
 jniniftry were all of a particular fort, be- 
 caufe more ends than one were to be an- 
 fwered by them. The world was not only 
 
 to 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 253 
 
 to believe the faft of his heavenly miffion, LECT, 
 but to underftand the defign and objedt of v— ^ 
 it. Any fupernatuaal ad: would have 
 fhevi^n, that he v^as inverted with fuperna- 
 tural power; but as the obje£l of his com- 
 miflion was to fave mankind from their 
 Jinsy all his miracles were fgns of falva- 
 tion towards the bodies of men ; all ex- 
 planatory of his great work in redeeming 
 their fouls from the fatal effedts of fin. 
 He went about doing good-, and according 
 to the prefent ftate of things under the 
 fall, to do good, is to remove evil; to fave 
 mankind is to undo and dejlroy the works 
 of the devil. The worft of thefe take 
 place upon the foul ; but we cannot 
 apprehend them without fome help, 
 becaufe the foul is invifible. When 
 we fpeak of the faculties of the foul, we 
 are obliged to borrow our words from the 
 faculties of the body ; fo the evils and di- 
 flempers of the foul muft be fignilied to us 
 by the evils end diftempers of the body : 
 and both of thefe proceed from the fame 
 caufe ; for had there been no fin in the 
 foul^ there would have been no death in the 
 
 body. 
 
On the Figurative LanguagB 
 
 body. The bodies of men fell into infir* 
 mities along with their fouls : and it was 
 of God*s mercy that it fo happened, for 
 we, who take all our notions of the foul 
 and its operations from thofe of the body, 
 could not otherwife have underflood the 
 diftempers of the mind: whence it too 
 frequently happens, that they who never 
 were fick, are apt to be ignorant of the 
 weaknefs of the inward man, and fo be- 
 come confident and felf-fufficient — thou 
 fayeji^ I am rich^ and have need of nothings 
 and knoweji not that thou art wretched, 
 and miferable^ and poor^ and blind^ and 
 naked. ^ 
 
 When man was firft placed in paradlfe^ 
 his body was in health, and his foul had 
 all its faculties in perfeftion : and if we 
 would know what a perfed foul is, we 
 muft confider what a perfed body is. 
 When the body of man is in a ftate of 
 perfeftion, its fenfes are all perfed. Its 
 light is quick and flrong; its hearing is 
 uninterrupted ; its limbs are vigorous and 
 
 * Revelations lii, 17. 
 
 adive : 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 aclivc; It diftinguiflies all taftes and all 
 odours without error, and In its feelings it 
 is fenfible of all the impreffions of the ele- 
 ments. So when the foul is in equal health, 
 it fees and underftands things fpiritual ; it 
 fees God and his truth as plainly as the 
 eye fees the light of the dayj it hears and 
 attends to all important and ufeful inform- 
 ation : it walks with God in the way of 
 his Gommandments, and even runs with 
 pleafure to do his will, as the angels fly 
 through the heaven for the fame purpofe : 
 it diftinguiflies good and evil without er- 
 ror; and, apprehending their different ef- 
 fefts andconfequences, it relifhes the one 
 and abhors the other : its fpeech is em- 
 ployed in the praifes of God, and will be 
 telling of his wonders from day to day, 
 for it knows no end thereof; it therefore 
 preferves its relation to God, as his childt 
 his fcholar^ his fubjeBy in affedlion, atten- 
 tion^ and obedience. O bleffed ftate! who 
 can furvey this condition of humanity 
 without bewailing its lofs, and afpiring to 
 its reftoration? For loft it was; and un- 
 der .that lofo we are now fufFering; and as 
 
 fuch 
 
2^6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. fuch fufFerers we were vlfited by Jefus 
 ■ / ' Chrift. When fin entered, man fell from 
 this perfect ftate of mind, into igno- 
 rance and blindnefs of heart ; inattention 
 to divine knowledge and inftrudion i aver- 
 lion to fpiritual things; error of judg- 
 ment; infenfibility of the confequences 
 of good and evil ; and inability, as well as 
 indifpofition, to do the will of God. His 
 foul is as a body maimed and diftempered : 
 for fin is not only a defeft, but a pofitive 
 difeafe, including the nature of all the dif- 
 eafes incident to man. The eyes of his 
 mind are blind ; its ears are deaf; its tongue 
 is dumb ; its feet are lame j its conftitution 
 infefted with foul diilempers ; it is agitated 
 with vain cares, cheated with vain pleafures, 
 and diftreflfed with emptinefs and want. 
 When the apoftle had this fubjedl before 
 him, well might he exclaim, O wretched 
 man that I am^ who JJjall deliver me from 
 the body of this death ? For the life we 
 have upon thefe terms as natural men, is 
 rather death than life; and fo the gofpel 
 hath confidered it : we are dead in trefpajjes 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ 257 
 
 id th( 
 dead unto God. 
 
 end fins f and the world in which we live is LECT. 
 
 Now as Jefus Chrift came to reftore us 
 from this ftate of difeafe and death into 
 which we are fallen, all his mighty works 
 prefent him to us as a deliverer from thefe 
 evils ; and therefore while his miracles 
 were evidences of his own divine million, 
 they were Jigns of our fahation. They 
 all fpake the fame fenfe ; and our Saviour 
 himfelf hath given us a key to the right 
 interpretation of them all : who, when he 
 was about to give fight to a man born 
 blind, did not proceed to the cure, till he 
 had inftrufted his difciples in the fenfe of 
 it, in fuch terms, as could not be applied 
 to it as a bodily cure. ** As long as I am 
 in the world, I am the light of the world," 
 as if he had faid, *' I give light to this man 
 born in darknefs, as a fign that I give light 
 to mankind, who are all born in the like 
 ftate. This man is but an individual; and 
 all the perfons to whom I (hall reftore their 
 bodily fight are but few : but a fpiritual 
 difcernment in the eyes of the mind is 
 S neceflTary 
 
258 On the Figurative Language 
 
 JLECT. neceffary to all mankind; therefore I who 
 > — /— > give it am a light to the whole worlds and 
 I give fight to this man as ^fgn of it.'* 
 
 That the miracle might be more in- 
 ftrudlive, a very peculiar form was given 
 to it. He moulded the duft of the ground 
 into clay, and having fpread it upon the 
 eyes of the man, he comm.anded him to go 
 and wa{h off this dirt in the pool oi Siham. 
 Here the reafon of the thing fpeaks for it- 
 felf. What is this mire and clay upon the 
 eyes, but the power this world has over us 
 in fhutting out the truth ? Who are the 
 people unto whom the glorious light of the 
 go/pel ofChrift cannot Jhine^ but they whofe 
 minds the God of this world hath blinded^ 
 So long as this world retains its in- 
 fluence, the gofpel is hidden from the eyes 
 of men ; they are in a loji condition ; and 
 nothing can clear them of this defile- 
 ment, but the water of the divine Spirit 
 fent from above to wafh it away. This 
 feems to be the moral fenfe of the miracle: 
 and a miracle thus underftood becomes a 
 fermon, than which none in the world can 
 
 be 
 
rf the Holy Scnpturesi, a ^ d 
 
 be more edifying. Our Saviour himfelf I-ECT, 
 preached in the fame way to his difciples, ^-— ^-^. 
 to inftruft them in the nature of his mif- 
 fion, and of their own falvatibn. In fhort 
 the gofpel is fealed up, and a man may as 
 well read a modern fyftem of morality, 
 unlefs he fees that Jefus Chrifl is the 
 phyfician of human nature^ and that a 
 miferable and fickly world is in daily want 
 of his healing power* 
 
 The fame fpiritual turn is given to the 
 miraculous diftribution of bread in the 
 wildernefs, Chrifl informed the people, 
 that if they fpllowed him only to eat of 
 this bread, for the feeding of their bodies, 
 they miftook the nature of the miracle. 
 Te feek me becaufe ye did eat of the loaves and 
 werejilled. Labour not for the meat that 
 perijhethy but for that meat which enduretb 
 unto ever la fling life^ which the Son of 7nan 
 jhall give unto you. The meat he then gave 
 was only a figure of that which he gives 
 in a higher fenfe to all that believe on 
 him, and which is meat indeed \ no other 
 in comparifon of this being worthy of the 
 S 2 narrie. 
 
26o On the Figurative Language 
 
 name. By bread our Saviour fometimes 
 means the doftrine of the gofpel, which 
 nourifhes the mind ; and fometimes his 
 own body fpiritually taken in the eucharift : 
 but whether we here underftand the bread 
 of the Lord's fupper, or the preaching of 
 the word; both are diftributed to the hun- 
 gry multitude of mankind in the midft of 
 this defert : and a fort of food this is, 
 which, like the manna laid up in the 
 tabernacle (called the hidden manna^) never 
 perifieth, but nouriflieth the foul to life 
 eternal. 
 
 From the curing of the blind and the 
 feeding of the hungry, let us proceed to 
 the railing of the dead. It appears to us as 
 a moft wonderful thing, that a dead man 
 fhould hear the voice of Jefus Chrift and 
 return to life : but it is more wonderful 
 that the grace of God and the calling of 
 his gofpel {hould revive a man dead in fin ; 
 becaufe, to fpeak after the manner of men, 
 it feems harder to revive a dead foul than 
 to raife a dead body. And now obferve 
 the order of things. The firft tranfgref- 
 
 * Revelation ii. 17. 
 
 fion 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 261 
 
 fion brought with it a prefent death to the LECT. 
 fpirit of man, and a future death to his ^ — ^ 
 body. The power of the gofpel brings a 
 prefent life to the fpirit, and a future life 
 to the body ; and as the renovation of the 
 fpirit is the greater in eifedl, and moft 
 neceflary to be underftood, the reftoration 
 of a dead body, which is more flriking to 
 the fenfes, is exhibited as a vifible fign of it. 
 The fcripturc therefore in many places 
 fpeaks of the converfion of the foul to a life 
 of righteoufnefs as a rifing from the dead ; 
 as in Eph. v. 14, where the apoftle para- 
 phrafes thefe words of the prophet Ifaiah, 
 arlfe^ fhlne^ for thy light is come^ and gives 
 their full meaning to them ; awake thou 
 that Jleepejl, and arlje from the deady and 
 Chrlji Jhall give thee light *. Here the dead 
 
 * This is delivered as the fenfe of the prophet, becaufe 
 it is ufliered in as a quotation, voherefore he faith or it (that 
 is, the fcripture) faith. The language of the prophet is anal- 
 lulion to the rifing of mankind from fl§ep when the fun 
 rifcs upon them in the morning; but as the prophet doth 
 not fpeak according to the letter, the light is the true light 
 of the world, and the ileep is the fleep of death, either na- 
 tural or fpiritual: and fo the apoftle hath only tranflated 
 the words of the prophet from the letter into the fpirit, 
 and given them their true meaning. 
 
 S 3 are 
 
i62 On the Figurative Language 
 
 X-ECT, are of the fame fort with thofe fpoken of 
 
 .y-^L^j by Chrifl in the gofpel, let the dead bury 
 
 their deadi of whom the former are the 
 
 dead in fpirit, and the latter the dead in 
 
 nature. The word death has the like fenfe 
 
 in the fentence which was pronounced on 
 
 man in paradife, in the day thou eatejl thou 
 
 fhalt die : and there are numherlefs paffages 
 
 of the Old Teftament, in which the words 
 
 \ life and death do not fignify the natural, 
 
 But the fpiritual life and death. I know 
 
 not how to underhand, but by admitting 
 
 both a natural and a fpiritual refurre£lion ; 
 
 thofe other w^ords of Chrift, the hour is 
 
 coming, and now is, when the dead Jhall hear 
 
 the voice oj the Son of God i for certainly^ 
 
 the refurreclion which now is muft be that 
 
 figurative refurredion fpoken of by the 
 
 prophet and apoftle^ and the margin of 
 
 our bibles accordingly refers us to fuch 
 
 paffages as fpeak of a quickening unto 
 
 grace» I cannot but underftand the raif- 
 
 5ng of Lazarus from the putrid ftate of 
 
 death, as a fign that the fame power fhould 
 
 yevive men who had been long dead in 
 
 Irefpaffes and fins, and feemed to be part: 
 
 ^ graces 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. ' 263 
 
 grace; as was the cafe with the whole LECT* 
 beatben worldo % ,/.» 
 
 In the ralfing of the widow's fon at the 
 city of Nain,, we have a leflbn of this 
 kind worthy of our coniideration. " A 
 ^ead man was carried out, the only fon 
 pf his mother, and fhe was a widow, and 
 much people of the city was with her." 
 This was a funeral of jCbme pomp, and fo - 
 we may fuppofe the young man was a con- 
 fiderable perfon. Thus, alas, do we fee 
 many fons of the church, in the prime of 
 life, in their beft days, who feem to know 
 no more that Jeius Chrift is near to them, 
 than if they were ftretched out upon a 
 bier. Such examples are too often found 
 in low life; but they are much more com- 
 mon among young men of ftation and for- 
 tune; too many of whom are totally in- 
 fenfible to the things of God; lifelefs and 
 ftupid at prayer; and as indifferent to the 
 word of God from a reader or a preacher 
 pf it, as if they did not hear one word that 
 is fpoken, and had no concern with that 
 pther world, to which, young as they are, 
 S 4 time 
 
264 On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. time Is in the mean while carrying them 
 v_^L_^ out; though they may feem to move flowly 
 on, as is the cuftom in a funeral. Nothing 
 lefs than that fame power which raifes the 
 dead can awaken fuch to hear that voice 
 which is daily calling unto them in the 
 words of the gofpel, looting man, I fay unto 
 thee arife: hear now the voice of him that 
 hath pity upon thee, and calls thee to rife 
 and be faved; 'becaufe thou wilt foon be 
 forced to hear that other voice, which fhall 
 bid thee rife from the earth to be judged 
 for thy fins. 
 
 The cure of fin in all its fymptoms and 
 efFedts is fignified by other like miracu- 
 lous works I fuch as the deliverance of the 
 body from bondage and imprifonment, 
 from uncleannefs, from weaknefs, lame- 
 nefs, deafnefs, poifon, and madnefs, or the 
 poffeffion of the devil : all which are fo ful- 
 filled in the deliverance of the foul from-^n, 
 that the prophets feem rather to have pre- 
 di£led the falvation of which the miracles 
 were figns, than the miracles themfelves: 
 that is, they feem to have predicted the mi- 
 racles 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 265 
 
 racks rather in the fplritual fenfe than the LECT. 
 natural. Thus where Ifaiah ^ defcribesthe v— ^ 
 converfion of the Gentiles as a bloffoming 
 ofrofes in a defert^ and a found of joy and 
 Jinging in a lonely wildernefs\ it follows, 
 that the eyes of the blind Jhall be opened^ the 
 ears of the deaf Jhall be un/iopped, the lame 
 man Jloall leap as a hart, the tongue of the 
 dumb foall fngy &c. all of which expref- 
 lions muft be applied to the fouls of men; 
 for if we underftand any of them literally 
 of the body, we fhall make the paffage in- 
 confiftent with itfelf ; or, to make it uni- 
 form, we muft fuppofe, that the gofpel 
 Ihould be revealed to multiply flowers in a 
 wildernefs. Therefore, the inference is eafy; 
 that the works of giving fight to the blind, 
 opening the ears of the deaf, &.c. though 
 certainly to be performed by our Saviour in 
 the letter, were to be no more than figns of 
 the falvation foretold by the prophet. 
 
 The mifery of man under fin, is like the 
 bondage of an imprifoned captive^ and 
 the liberty of thofe who are made free by 
 
 * Chap. XXXV. 
 
 the 
 
2 66 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^x^* the Son of God under the gofpel, is like 
 >»v— ' that of a perfon miraculoufly brought out 
 pfprifon. As fuch the prophet fpeaks of 
 it, in a paflage which our Saviour has ap- 
 plied to his own miniftry. '^ The fpirit 
 pf the Lord God is upon me, becaufe he 
 Jiath anointed me to preach good tidings 
 unto the meek, he hath fent me to bind 
 up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty 
 to the captives.'^ Who are thefe captives ? 
 Did Jefus Chrift come to publifh a goal- 
 delivery to debtors and felons ? by no 
 means : but he delivers thofe who are ap» 
 pointed unto deaths and are tied and bound 
 with the chain of their Jins : and to give an 
 aflurance of it to all men, he miraculoufly 
 opened the doors of a dungeon, and de- 
 livered bis fervants from their bonds. 
 When this happened to Peter, he fuppofed 
 it to be a vifion : when the Lord thus 
 turned his captivity^ he was like unto them 
 that dream ; but he came to himfelf, and 
 confdered the thing ; and feeing farther into 
 the wdfdom of God than we do, he pro- 
 bably confidered the whole as a fcenical 
 reprefentation of that deliverance, which 
 
 is 
 
of the Holy Scripture u 267 
 
 Is wrought by him who was fent to pro^ LECT. 
 claim liberty to the captives^ and the open-* "^ — v— ^ 
 ing of the prifon to them that are bound* 
 
 Sin appears to us in another form, as a 
 loathfome diftemper, like the leprofy, 
 which defcended by inheritance, and in- 
 crufted the whole body with a foul humour. 
 So doth that fin, which is in the conftitu- 
 tion of man, break out and difcover its of- 
 fenfive nature. This diftemper therefore 
 the great phyfician condefcended to cure, 
 either by his word alone, or by a miraculous 
 wajhing^ to denote the falutary efFeft of bap- 
 tifm. The purification of the Gentiles 
 had been fignified long before by the 
 cleanjing of Naaman the Syrian^ who was 
 ordered to wajlo feven times in Jordan, 
 He fuppofed, that if water would cure 
 him, the rivers of Damafcus would have 
 done as well; but he was taught, that 72?/- 
 ^ation was of the Jews: the water that 
 could effedt his cure was to be taken from 
 Jordan, where Chrift fhould be baptifed ; 
 and his baptifm was a prelude to the bap- 
 tifm and converfion of the heathen world ; 
 
 whofe 
 
268 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. whofe diftemper was afterwards transfer- 
 s^.^^ red to the worldly minded Jews, as that 
 of Naaman was fixed upon Gehazi, the 
 covetous attendant on the prophet. To 
 fhew that this cleanfing by baptifoi fhould 
 not take place upon the Jews, but the 
 Gentiles, our Saviour hinted to thofe of 
 the fynagogue, that there were many lepers 
 in Ifrael when this happened, and none of 
 them were cleanfed faving Naaman the 
 Syrian, The Jews could bear to hear of 
 any thing rather than the acceptance of 
 the Gentiles ; and feeing his meaning they 
 were filled with rage, and would have caft 
 him down headlong as an enemy to his 
 country. 
 
 Other miracles of Chrift were intended 
 to (hew how the power of God is neceffary 
 to help the impotence of man. He mufl: 
 open our lips before we are able, and 
 furnifli us with matter before we know 
 how to praife him or pray to him ; there- 
 fore the tongue of the dumb was loofed, 
 and even babes and fucklings were em- 
 powered to utter hofannas to his name. 
 
 The 
 
oj the Holy Scriptures. 269 
 
 The deaf were made to hear, becaufe men LECT* 
 have ears which neither hear nor under- *— v^ 
 ftand, nor can attend to the words of di- 
 vine wifdom, till God has opened them: 
 of which there are many lamentable ex- 
 amples in the gofpel, and I wifli there 
 were none at this day. 
 
 The lame were made to walk, becaufe 
 the way of man h not in himfelf\ it is God 
 alone that enable th us to walk, yea, to run 
 with pleafure and fwiftnefs, as the feet 
 of an hind, in the way of his command- 
 ments. In fhort, all the faculties of man 
 are ufelefs in the fervice of God, like the 
 limbs of one lick of the palfy, which can- 
 not lift or move themfelves till fome new 
 ftrength is communicated. The prophet 
 inftruds us how this (hould be when God 
 Ihould be revealed : Jlrengthen ye the weak 
 hands ^ and confirm the feeble knees ; or, as 
 the apoftle words it; lift up the hands which 
 hang down^ and the feeble knees ; and make 
 Jlrait paths for your feet^ lejl that which is 
 lame be turned out of the way^ but let it ra- 
 ther 
 
2^6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LE CT. t^er be healed: * which terms are all applied 
 V— A^ in an intelle£lual fenfe to the minds of 
 weak Chriflians. 
 
 Another miracle of Chfift, and one of 
 the moft confiderable, is that of relieving 
 the pofleffed by cafting out evil fpirits : the 
 defign of which is to teach us, that there 
 is a fpirit working in the children of difobe- 
 dience (the Greek fignifies/)^/7g^/;^^f them) 
 which nothing but the power of the gof- 
 pel can caft out. When we obferve how 
 ftrangely men err in their judgments ; 
 how they haften towards their own de- 
 ftruftion, maiming their bodies and ruin- 
 ing their fortunes by their vices, as if they 
 hated their own jlejh \ preferring nakednefs 
 and wretchednefs, and loathfome difeafes 
 and infamy, to peace, honour, health and 
 happinefs ; we muft conclude they are un- 
 der the working of fome malignant power, 
 beyond the mere depravity of nature: for 
 nature would always ad in men, as it does 
 
 * Heb. xli. 13. 
 * Ev£f7Si^o^: ; the common name of dscmoniacs, or pof« 
 feffed people, \va& Ev£y«^£V3{, EnergnmenU 
 
 m 
 
fif the Holy Scriptures c ^73 
 
 in brutes, on a principle of felf preferva-^ LECT, 
 
 tion. Such as were poffeffed by the devil ^ '--^ 
 
 uttered horrible noifes, and chofe a mifer- 
 able refidence amongft the tombs of the 
 dead. And bad as fuch a fpedlacle may- 
 be, it is not a worfe example of fatan's 
 power, than when we hear a miferable man 
 crying out for curfes to defcend from hea- 
 ven, inviting the blaftings of lightning 
 on their enemies, or their friends^ or 
 themfelves ; on their fouls as well as their 
 bodies. To live naked among the tombs 
 is not a greater fymptom of poffeffion, than 
 to fly from God, and his light and truth, 
 and feek after the ways that lead to death. 
 To bruife the flefh in frantic fits of defpair, 
 IS not worfe than to injure the health of 
 the body with fuch excefs and riot, as 
 waftes the flefli, and brings v^ounds and 
 bruifes and putrifying fores : yet the 
 world, who are fhocked at a madman, 
 look with unconcern on this moral infa- 
 jiity, becaufe the cafe is common. 
 
 It is a fymptom of madnefs when a 
 man delights in mifchief : and how many 
 
 do 
 
2yz On the Figurative Language 
 
 L E C T. do we fee, who have no greater diverfion, 
 v-_^^ than to impofe upon the innocent, and ter- 
 rify people with vain fears, or mock at 
 them when they are betrayed into real 
 dangers. 
 
 The wife man, confidering how fools 
 make a mock at fin ; how outrageous men 
 are in their mirth, how perverfe in their 
 ways, how corrupt and irrational in their 
 pleafures, pronounces upon them in plain 
 terms ; the heart of the fons of men is full 
 of evil, yea madnefs is in their heart while 
 they live, and after that they go to the 
 dead. * (Ratione expulfa, fenfuq* reli- 
 gionis amoto, qu^ imm.anitas, quas feritas, 
 qutt dementia non illico exoritur ?} -f* with- 
 out true religion to fober them and bring 
 them to a right mind, men are in fa£l as 
 much out of the Way as lunatics; and 
 worfe in one refpeft, that they are ftill ac- 
 countable as free agents for that reafon 
 which vice has extinguiflied. The man 
 who does not fee and confider that he is 
 come into this world to be faved by Jeius 
 
 * Monita ^ prtscepa Chrlfliana^ p. 104. f Ecclcs. ix. 3. 
 
 Chrift, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 273 
 
 Chrlft, is an ideot to all intents and pur- LECT- 
 pofes in the fight of God. If he is upon ^— A^^ 
 his defence againft the power of the gof- 
 pel, and puts it from him with thofe 
 words of the demoniac, " Why art thou 
 come to torment us V he is a madman of 
 the firft clafs, to whom the poor lunatic, 
 with a fceptre of flraw, is an hopeful cha* 
 rafter. 
 
 Miferable is the condition of men un- 
 der temptation or poffeffion from evil fpi- 
 rits : but the power of grace fets us free 
 from their terrors, with thofe comfortable 
 words, Who is he that /hail harm you if ye 
 be followers of that which is good? As a 
 pledge to aflure us of which, our Saviour 
 gave to his apoftles an evident fuperiority 
 ov^r the powers of darknefs : Behold 1 give 
 you power to tread on ferpents and fcor* 
 pions, and over all the power of the enemy ^ 
 and nothing Jhall by any means hurt youJ^ 
 Who is this enemy ? The enemy of Chrif- 
 tians is the devil '^ and fuch poifonous ver- 
 min as ferpents and fcorpions are the em- 
 
 ^ Luke X. ig. 
 
 T blems 
 
274 O^ i^^ Ftguratlve Language 
 
 LECT. blems of him and his children. A iiiira- 
 ^ — ^ culous power over thefe creatures which 
 ' hurt the body, was an outward affurance 
 to the world, that he who wounds the 
 foul fhall have no power to hurt a Chrif- 
 tian. When the viper faftened on the hand 
 of Paul, he (hook him off into the fire 
 from whence he came: and thither, into 
 the element prepared for him, (hall the 
 devil be fliaken off by the faith of thofc 
 whom he affaults. 
 
 Another great miracle, and the laft I 
 fhall take notice of, is that of our Saviour 
 flilling the raging of the fea, and deli- 
 vering his difciples in a ftorm. We, like 
 them, are embarked with Chrift in the ark 
 of his church, and are fubjedl to many 
 dangers and terrors upon the waves of this 
 troublefome world. So long as we are in 
 the world, we (hall be expofed to the cares 
 and troubles of this mortal life. Some- 
 times the elevations of pride and ambition 
 lift us up toward the heaven; at other 
 times difappointment and defpair opprefs 
 us, and the deep threatens to fwallow us 
 
 up : 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ '. 275 
 
 up : while the Saviour in whom we have L E c T, 
 trufted feems to fleep, as if he were leav- *— v— '. 
 ing us to perifli in the ftorm. But the 
 prayer of faith will at laft awake him : 
 we are therefore to truft in the worft of 
 times, that he who rebuked the winds and 
 the fea, when his difciples cried out. Lord 
 fave us, we peri/h, will after the fame ex- 
 ample fave us when we pray to him ; that 
 he will leflen our cares, and quiet our 
 paffions, and reftore us to peace, fo that 
 there (hall be a great calm : the winds (hall 
 drop, the fun (hall (hine out, and there 
 (hall be peace of confcience, which is the 
 greateft calm in this world. 
 
 Thus it appears that all the miracles of 
 Chrift have a figurative acceptation. From 
 them we learn all the diflempers of our 
 (buls, and where we are to apply for the 
 cure of them. 
 
 To open this fubjed: ftill farther, I de- 
 
 lire you will obferve what a curious op- 
 
 pofitlon there is between the miracles of 
 
 Chrid:, and the workings of Satan. As 
 
 ' T 2 the 
 
276 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. the power of Chrift was exercifed in fuch 
 » — . — * works of falvation as were proper to his 
 charafter as the Saviour of Souls ; fo there 
 is a furprifing agreement between the out- 
 ward works of the devil on the perfons 
 of men, and his inward works upon their 
 minds ^ infomuch that his character, as a 
 dejlroyer^ is not lefs evident in the fcrip- 
 ture, than that of Jefus Chrift as a Saviour. 
 From fome opportunities fatan had of 
 ihewing his power, we fee how it is exer- 
 cifed. When fome ftrolling Jews took 
 upon them to deliver one that was poffef- 
 fed, the man, in whom the evil fpirit was, 
 leapt upon them, as a lion would leap 
 upon his prey, and they fled out of that 
 houfe naked and wounded. He who here 
 ftrips men, and tears off their clothes, is 
 the fame that left Adam naked in para- 
 dife ; who delights ftill to repeat the fame 
 a£l, or even to fee the fhadow of it in na- 
 kednefs and wretchednefs : therefore the 
 poor demoniac, who refided among the 
 tombs, ware no clothes.^ 
 
 * Luke viii. 27, 
 
 When 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 2-7 
 
 When the evil fpirits went into the herd LECT. 
 
 X. 
 of fwine, 'the whole herd ran headlong w^ 
 
 into the fea and perifhed. After the fame 
 fotm doth the devil drive men headlong 
 into the gulph of perdition, when he gets 
 the diredion of them. He was permitted 
 to poffefs this unclean herd, that we may 
 thence learn how an unclean life will pre- 
 pare us to be driven into hell itfelf by the 
 deflroyer. Temperance, fobriety, and de- 
 votion prepare our bodies to be the temples 
 of the Holy Ghoft ; but impure manners 
 prepare the heart for unclean fpirits, and 
 give them the opportunity they defire. 
 We have heard of certain arts to call up 
 the devil : but a man need only live like 
 a fwine, and he will be fure to have his 
 company. 
 
 A woman who was bowed together for 
 eighteen years, and could in no wife lift 
 up herfelf, is fald to have had afpirit ofin^ 
 frmityy and to have been bound of SataJi : 
 whence it appears, that he is the inftru- 
 ment for infiid:ing unaccountable difeafes. 
 It is his will that none (hould be able to 
 T 3 life 
 
273 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. lift up their minds to heavenly things; and 
 >--vl-' as a fign of it he bows their bodies towards 
 the earth. 
 
 Thofe extreme cafes, in which men raged 
 and were thrown about, and torn, and tor- 
 mented of the devil, were permitted, to 
 fhew us what his' inclinations are toward 
 the fouls of all men living: that he would 
 deprive them of all reafon ; difturb their 
 imaginations with fancies of horror and 
 defpair ; infpire them with cruelty toward 
 themfelves; and drive them from the living 
 God into the regions of the dead. Such 
 are the works of Satan ; contrary in every 
 refpeft to the works of Jefus Chrift; and 
 men, as their nature now is, being fub- 
 jeft to his power, exorcifm^ or the cafting 
 out of the evil fpirit, was admitted as a 
 part of the office of baptifm in the primi-* 
 tive church. 
 
 I would defire you to obferve farther, in 
 regard to our prefent fubjedl, that the very 
 fame images are ufed in the 107th Pfalm 
 as in the miracles of Chrift, to exprefs the 
 
 redemption 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 2^5 
 
 redemption of mens fouls from the efFeds LECT. 
 of fin by the goodnefs of God. The r^- w-v-^ 
 deemed of the Lord are there called upon 
 to praifc him for gathering them o' ci a 
 wildernefs, and fatisfying their fouls when 
 hungry and thirfly: For breaking their 
 bonds afunder, and delivering them out of 
 prifon, where they were bound in afflidion 
 and iron, and fat in darkneis and the flia- 
 dow of death : for healing them by his 
 word when afflifled with ficknefs : for de- 
 livering them from the perils of the fea, and 
 making the ftorm a calm, fo that the waves 
 thereof are ftill. All this fcenery is well 
 drawn out, and finely applied, by a de- 
 vout and elegant commentator of our own 
 church*, who has made the book of 
 Pfalms more ufeful to pious Chriftians, 
 than it ever was made fince the reforma- 
 tion ; and, I may add, before it. From 
 that Pfalm, as from the miracles of Chrift, 
 we learn the weaknefs and wretchednefs of 
 man, and the goodnefs of God with the 
 power of his grace. We fee the neceffity 
 
 ^ The Reverend Dr. Home, Dean of Canterbury, and 
 frefident of Magdalen college in Oxford.. 
 
 T 4 of 
 
sSo On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. of prayer for the help of God; after the 
 » M > example of thofe, who cried unto the Lord 
 
 in their trouble^ and were delivered out of 
 
 their dijlrefs. 
 
 No forms of prayer can be more figni- 
 ficant than thofe which are built upon the 
 miraculous works of Chrift. Thefe (hew 
 us what our wants are, and thence teach 
 us what we are to pray for : and when we 
 have refpedl unto them, and the author 
 of them, we mix an adt of faith with our 
 petitions, which will never fail to render 
 them more acceptable ; for we read, that 
 the power of Chrift took efFed on thofe 
 only who had faith to be healed. There 
 is not a want of man, nor any occafion in 
 life, on whioh the miracles of Chrift will 
 not fupply us with the fineft matter of 
 devotion, and in fome fuch form as the 
 following with which I fhall conclude. 
 
 *' O Son of David, thou great phyfician 
 *^ of fouls, who didft once exercife thy 
 ^' power in the land of Judaea, and wenteft 
 ** about doing good^ thou art ftill with 
 
 f* us ; 
 
of the Holy Scripures. 281 
 
 <* us; and haft promlfed fo to be unto the LECT. 
 " end of the world. Have mercy upon »— ^^ 
 •* us under all the weakneffes of our na- 
 ** ture, and fuccour us under all oppref- 
 ** {ion from evil men or evil fpirits : de- 
 *' liver us from the bonds of our fins, 
 *' and give light to us when we fit in 
 *' darknefs : open our eyes, that we may 
 *' fee the things which belong to our 
 ** peace : give us an ear to hear and un- 
 " derftand thy word ; and a tongue to 
 *^ praife and confefs thee before men : 
 *' give ftrength to our feeble hands, that 
 *' they may be lifted up to thy name, 
 *' and let our knees be flexible and ready 
 ** at their devotions : cleanfe us from 
 " our fecret faults, as well as our out- 
 *^ ward oiTences : feed our fouls with the 
 *' bread of life, and let us hunger and 
 " thirft, that thou may ft fatisfy us. Be 
 " mindful of us, O Lord, in our dif- 
 *^ trefles, when we are tofiTed about upon 
 ** the waves of this troublefome world : 
 ** and in all our dangers of foul and body, 
 f^ ftretch out, to fave and defend us, that 
 
 " right 
 
283 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. " right hand which raifed up thy dif- 
 - ' > *^ ciple finking in the mighty waters. In 
 " all things let our faith be toward thee, 
 ** and then Ihall thy power and mercy be 
 ^* toward us for deliverance and falva- 
 <^ tion." Amen, 
 
of the Holy Scriptures^ ^ '283 
 
 LECTURE XL 
 
 THE USES AND EFFECTS OF THE SYMBOLICAL 
 STYLE OF THE SCRIPTURE. 
 
 N 
 
 OW it hath been fliewn what the lect^ 
 figurative language of the holy fcrip- . ' , 
 
 ture is, by an indudtion of particulars ; we 
 may proceed to fpeak with more confi- 
 dence concerning the ufes and good efFecls 
 of it. We now ftand as it were upon an 
 hill, up to which our enquiry hath con- 
 duced us, thence to furvey the fruit- 
 fulnefs of the holy land. We have i^cn 
 that the law^ in its facrifices and fervices, 
 had a Jhadow of good things to come ; that 
 its hiftory is an allegory ^ that God ufed 
 Jimilltudes by his prophets ; that Chrift 
 fpake in parabies ; that the apoftles preach- 
 ed the wtjdom of God in a mijieryi in a 
 word 5 that the whole difpenfation of God 
 
 towards 
 
284 On the Figurative Language 
 
 towards man, is by figns, (hadows and 
 figures of vifible things. The law of Mo- 
 fes, the Pfalms, the Prophets, the Gofpels 
 and Epiftles, and moft of all the Revela- 
 tion of St. John, life and teach this figura- 
 tive language: and therefore, in the ufe 
 and interpretation of it muft confift the 
 wifdom of thofe who are taught of God. 
 Here is the mind that hath wifdom^ faith 
 St. John, the f even heads are f even mountains ^ 
 en which the woman Jitteth : Where the 
 word wifdom is applied to this fcience of 
 decyphering the figurative expreflions in 
 the language of the Revelation. So at the 
 end of the 107th Pfalm, wherein the 
 falvation of man's foul is fet forth under 
 all the forms of deliverance from bodily 
 dangers, it is added, whofo is wife and will 
 cbferve thefe things^ even they floall under- 
 Jiand the loving kindnefs of the Lord, What- 
 ever the form and manner may be after 
 which the divine wifdom is communicated, 
 it muft be the beft : and fuch we fhall 
 find it when we enquire how the improve- 
 ment of man's mind is promoted, and all 
 the purpofes of God's revelation anfwer- 
 
 ed 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 285 
 
 cd by the ufe of this fymbolical or figu- LECT. 
 ratjve ftylc of fpeaking from the images ^ — A-' 
 of things. 
 
 I. This method is neceflary to affift the 
 mind in its conceptions, and fupply the 
 natural defedl in our underftandings. Be- 
 ing men, inverted with an earthly body, 
 which hath a fenfe of nothing but material 
 things, we cannot fee truth and reafon, in 
 themfelves, as fpirits do : thefe things are 
 of a different nature from our fight; and 
 therefore we are obliged to conceive them 
 as they are refleded to us in the glafs of 
 the vifible forms, and fenfible qualities, of 
 outward things. 
 
 It is the excellence of this mode of 
 fpeaking, that it is not confined to the 
 people of any particular nation or lan- 
 guage ; but applies itfelf equally to all the 
 nations of the earth, and is univerfal. It 
 was not intended for the Hebrew or the 
 Egyptian, the Jew or the Greek, but for 
 man ; for that being who is compofed of 
 a reafonable foul and a flefhly body; and 
 
 therefore 
 
2,26 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. therefore it obtains equally under the Pa* 
 » — , — ' triarchal, Jewifli, and Chriftian Difpenfa* 
 tion ; and is of common benefit to all ages 
 and all places. Words are changeable; 
 language has been confounded: and men in 
 different parts of the world are unintelli- 
 gible to one another as barbarians j but the 
 vifible works of nature are not fubjeft to 
 any fuch confufion ; they fpeak to us now 
 the fame fenfe as they fpoke to Adam in 
 paradife ; when he was the pupil of hea- 
 ven, and their language will lafl as long 
 as the world (hall remain, without being 
 corrupted. 
 
 Thus, for example, if we take the word 
 Godi we have a found which gives us no 
 idea ; and if we trace it through all the 
 lauguages of the world, we find nothing 
 but arbitrary founds, with great variety 
 of dialed and accent, all of which flill 
 leave us where we began, and reach no 
 farther than the ear. But when it is faid, 
 God u a fun and ajhield^ then things are 
 added to words, and we underfland that the 
 being fignified by the word Cod^ is bright 
 
 and 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 287 
 
 and powerful; unmeafureable in height, 
 inacceffible in glory ; the author of light 
 to the underftanding, the fountain of life 
 to the foul ; our fecurity agalnft all terror, 
 our defence againft all danger. See here 
 the difference between the language of 
 words and the language of things. If an 
 image is prefented to the mind when a 
 found is heard by the ear, then we begin 
 to underiland ; and a fingle obje6l of our 
 fight, in a figurative acceptation, gives us 
 a large and inftrudive leffon ^ fuch as could 
 never be conveyed by all the poffible com- 
 binations of founds. So again, when we 
 are told of a being whofe name is the devih 
 we go to the derivation of the term, and 
 find it lignifies an accufer 5 and accufation 
 may be true or falfe. But, when inftead 
 of the word, we have aferpenty as a figure 
 of him, we are aware of his nature, and 
 of our own danger. We underftand that 
 the devil is infidious and injinuating ; that 
 his tongue is double ; and his wounds poi-' 
 fonous and fatal. When we are told that 
 he is the prince of darknefs^ then we find 
 that he promotes blindnefs and ignorance 
 
 amongft 
 
288 On the Ftguratke Language 
 
 LECT. amongft men, as darknefs takes away their 
 ^ — V — ' fight; and that he is contrary to God^ who 
 is I'/ghf. When the devil is faid to be a 
 ^ lion^ then we underftand, that as hunger 
 makes the furious beaft wander about the 
 defert in fearch of prey ; (o the devil, with 
 an appetite to deflroy and devour, is always 
 going to and fro in the earth, to watch and 
 take advantage of the ways of men. 
 
 So plain is this fort of teaching, and fo 
 efFedual, that if I v^cre to begin with the 
 firfl: elements of inftrudtion to a child, 
 I think I w^ould teach this ideal language 
 in preference to all the languages of the 
 world ; for this is the life and foul of all 
 the reft, and the beft preparation of the 
 mind for receiving the wifdom of God, 
 who hath every where inftrudted us after 
 this form : which, while it helps the un- 
 derftanding, has a wonderful power to en- 
 gage the attention and pfeafe the imagina- 
 tion. Man from his childhood is ftrangely 
 delighted with pi6lures ; and the paffion 
 Jafts to the end of his life : for when the 
 eye ceafes to be entertained as a child 
 is, the mind will have its pictures for 
 
 amufement 
 
t>fthe Holy Smptur'es. 289 
 
 amufement and learning; and the wifeft ^^^^' 
 and greatefl: among mankind have been ^ — ^-^ 
 captivated by them in all ages. 
 
 As philofophy derived much of its in* 
 fluence from the powerful imagery of po- 
 etry in the ancient tragedies of Greece ; fo 
 is the religion of revelation greatly aflifted 
 and enforced by its figurative language ; 
 alv^ays pertinent and inftruCtivc : and, on 
 proper occaiions, exceedingly fublime and 
 beautiful* 
 
 The two ends of poetry, as they are 
 laid dow^n by the greatefl mafter in the 
 art, are to profit and to delight ', to give 
 the beft inftrudion under the mod pleaf- 
 ing form. The means it ufes for the at- 
 taining of thefe ends, is to inform the 
 mind by prefenting to the imagination 
 thofe pidures and images of truth, which 
 are to be gathered either from created na- 
 ture, or the aftions of men, and the various 
 fcenes of animal and focial life. Philofo- 
 phy and poetry differ in this refpeft 1 that 
 the one inftrufts by words, and delivers 
 
 U its 
 
2 GO On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. its precepts literally; the other by th,i 
 V— ^ images of things : and if thefe images 
 are lively and proper, then the mind is de- 
 lighted with a moral as the eye with the 
 effed of a pi£lure. Therefore good poe- 
 try, under proper reftriftions, is one of the 
 greateft and beft works of human art ; and 
 hath always been accounted divine, as pro- 
 ceeding from the afliftance of heavenly 
 beings. Even in the oratory of profe, 
 the method of managing well an alluiion 
 or comparifon, is of great value, becaufe 
 it is of great effeft. He is the moft agree- 
 able fpeaker, who can open and adorn the 
 argument of his difcourfe by fome apt 
 reprefentation of truth from the nature of 
 things. But in religious fubjedts, where 
 it is of the utmoft confequence that men 
 fhould hear attentively, and be perfuaded 
 effectually, there this manner is mpft 
 valuable of all. 
 
 How beautiful is that admonition of 
 Saint James ^ from the propriety of the 
 imagery under which the moral is con- 
 veyed ! He exhorts to govern the tongue i 
 
 which 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 291 
 
 which though fo fmall a member of the LECT. 
 body, is yet of fuch great efFed, that to ^ — ^ 
 govern the tongue is to govern the whole 
 man. *^ If any man offend not in word, 
 the fame is a perfed man, and able alfo to 
 bridle the whole body. Behold, we put 
 bits in the horfes mouths, that they may 
 obey us, and we turn about their whole 
 body. Behold alfo the (hips, which tho' 
 they be fo great, and are driven of fierce 
 winds, yet are they turned about with a 
 very fmall helm, whitherfoever the s:o- 
 vernor lifteth." Nothing upon the fubjeft 
 can poflibly exceed the eloquence of this 
 paffage : and the apoflle carries on his dif- 
 courfe all the way in the fame beautiful 
 ftyle of allufion. 
 
 How were the loweft among his hearers 
 captivated, when our Saviour difcourfed to 
 them in parables; explaining the dodrine 
 of the kingdom of God from the fcenes of 
 nature which were daily before their eyes. 
 The conftitution of man's mind is ftill the 
 fame, in the rich and the poor, the learned 
 and the ignorant: and the principle on 
 U 2 which 
 
292 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. which it muft be engaged to receive in- 
 ^ — V — ' ftru6lion can never alter. We are to learn 
 all things by comparifon 3 and the falvatioa 
 of our fouls depends fo much on our im- 
 provement under this mode of teaching, 
 that it is vt'ifely provided by the author of 
 our nature, that we are fo much delighted 
 with imitation in every ihape. All the re- 
 prefentations of the ftage, which attrad: 
 the multitude, are nothing but imitations 
 of charaders and fcenes of imagery: poe- 
 try, painting, and mufic, all engage the 
 fancy with imitative efFefts of art. Mirth 
 and fadnefs, converfation and devotion, the 
 finging of birds and the confufion of a 
 battle, are all imitable in mufical founds. 
 
 But this great plan of imitation is no 
 where fo conduded, nor carried to fuch a 
 height, as in the figns and allegories of the 
 holy fcripture, which compofe the richeft 
 fcenery upon earth. If the fancy of man 
 ib delighted with imitation even in the 
 fmallefl: fubjeds, how much more, when 
 the originals are objecls of an eternal na- 
 ture, and the delineation of them is from 
 
 that 
 
of the Hdy Scriptures, 293 
 
 that wifdom, to which the things of time LF/CT. 
 and the things of eternity are equally v — ^ 
 known : and which framed this vifible 
 world as a counterpart to the other. 
 
 Great is the evidence which arifes wheri 
 thefe two are laid together and compared ; 
 and I have frequently found it fuch by ex- 
 perience, w^hen I have tried the force of it 
 upon minds to whom it was new. If 
 there be any difficulty in our creed, it is 
 certainly much leiTened, if the vifible 
 world prefents to our fenks the figures of 
 thofe things which God hath propofed to 
 our faith. To thofe who underftand it, all 
 nature fpeaks the fame language with reve- 
 lation : what the one teaches in words, the 
 other confirms by figns ; infomuch that we 
 may truly fay, the world is a riddle, and 
 chriftianity the interpretation. If Chrifh is 
 called the true bread, the true Ught^ the 
 true vine^ and the talents or gifts of 
 God's grace are the true riches^ &cc. then 
 the objefts of fenfe, without this their 
 fpirit and fignification, are in themfelves 
 mere image and delufion; and the whole 
 U 3 life 
 
2 94 0« tJje Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. life of man in this world is but a fliadow^ 
 
 XI. 
 
 w«v^»/ vain and empty, till the truth and fub- 
 flance of it is ktn and underftood. This 
 relation between things vifible and invifible 
 we could never have found out of our- 
 felves ; but when the plan is propofed, it 
 is fo reafonable and ftriking, that no- 
 thing can refill: it, but the blindnefs of 
 falfe learning, or the malignity of vice, 
 which has an intereft againft it. In the 
 ftyle of the fcripture, the feveral objects 
 in the vifible creation, from the fun in 
 the heavens, through the elements and 
 feafons, the day and the night, the land 
 and the fea, the fowls of the air and the 
 beafts of the field, down to the grafs that 
 fpringeth out of the earth, and the ftones 
 which are fcattered upon the face of it, do 
 all fall in naturally as figures to explain 
 and enforce the things that belong to the 
 kingdom of God, and to the foul of man 
 as a part of it. Whofoever meditates upon 
 the world thus applied as a figure of 
 truth, and fees that agreement between na- 
 ture and revelation which revelation itfelf 
 hath pointed out to us, will want no mi* 
 
 racle 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 295 
 
 racle to perfuade him of the chrlftian doc- ^^?"^' 
 trines : for nature itfelf is chriftian, and * — »( — ' 
 the world itfelf a daily miracle ; the hea- 
 vens fpeak to us, and the earth and all 
 things therein join in the fame teftimony : 
 fo that if all nations were to difbelieve, na- 
 ture itfelf would ftill continue a faithful 
 witnefs to the truth : if the children of 
 Abraham were to hold their peace, the 
 ftones would cry out. 
 
 Here we ought to defcend to particulars, 
 and (hew how the ftate of nature and the 
 feveral parts of it agree with the doflrines 
 of the fcripture5 but there is not room 
 for it on the prefent occafion : and I have 
 purpofely cocfidered the natural Evidence 
 of Chriftianity by itfelf in two ledures, 
 which open a profpeft into that extenfive 
 fubjeft, without attempting to* penetrate 
 to the end of it ; and to them I muft now 
 refer you. 
 
 To thefe advantages of the facred ftyle, 
 I am now to add that which is the great- 
 eft of ail, and will juftify the attention I 
 U A have 
 
296 On the Figurative Language 
 
 have beftowed for ieveral years paft upon 
 the matter of thefe leftures ; namely, that 
 the fpirit of thofe figures under which 
 the bible delivers to us the things of God, 
 has a power of raifing and glorifying 
 even in this life, the fpirit of man i pro- 
 ducing an efFeft upon it, the fame in kind 
 with what it fhall hereafter experience 
 when admitted into the prefence of God. 
 This is a great thing to fay ; but I learn 
 it of that apoftle who laboured more abun- 
 dantly in opening to us the wifdom of 
 God from the figures of the old teftament. 
 The fame was alfo fignified by our Sa- 
 viour himfelf in his difcourfes with his 
 difciples* 
 
 St. Paul teaches the Corinthians, that 
 it is the proper bufinefs of the Chriftian 
 miniftry to preach the fpirit of the law of 
 Mofes, and not to refl: in the letter of it as 
 the Jews did ; whofe weaknefs in this re* 
 fpeft was forefhewed by what happened to 
 their fathers 5 who could not look fled- 
 faflly on that glory which ihone upon the 
 face of Mofes: for which reafon Mofes 
 
 put 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 297 
 
 put a veil upon his face ; which veil, faith LECt. 
 
 the apoftle, is dill upon their hea-ts iu the ^ — /-^ 
 reading of the old (eftament So far was 
 the afl: of Mofes fulfilled upon them. 
 
 But now with refpedt to us Chriftians, 
 who fee the glorious fpirit of the new tef- 
 tament under the letter of the old, we are 
 not like Mofes when veiled, as the Jews 
 are; but like Mofes when turned to the 
 Lord ; and deriving glory to his own face 
 from beholding the light of the divine pre- 
 fence. Juft fuch is the eiFeft of the fpirit 
 of the old teftament on thofe who are con- 
 verted and look towards it, through faith 
 in Jefus Chrift, who is the fpirit and glory 
 of. the law: it occafions a transfiguration 
 in man's nature, and derives glory to it, 
 like to that which fell upon the face of 
 Mofes when he had conference with God, 
 and was tunied towards him. This is the 
 efFeft which happens to us according to the 
 fenfe of the apoftle; whofe words, though 
 very obfcure when taken independent of 
 the context;, will be eafily underftood 
 
 after 
 
298 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^^^'^* after what hath been faid — " We all, with 
 *--^ — ' open (that is, unveiled) face, beholding as 
 in a glafs the glory of the Lord, are changed 
 into the fame image, from glory to glory, 
 even as by the fpirit of the Lord ;" or, 
 as the margin reads, by the Lord who 
 is the fpirit of the law, as aforefaid. Of 
 all which the fenfe, in brief, is this : 
 there was a glory on the face of Mofes 
 underneath his veil, and there is a glorious 
 fpirit under the letter of his law, which 
 they who behold ftedfaftly are themfelves 
 transfigured and glorified after the manner 
 of Mofes. Whoever beholds the glory 
 of God is himfelf thereby glorified, as he 
 who looks at the fun is flione upon by it. 
 All we can fee of God in this mortal life is 
 in his word : there that light doth ftill fhine 
 which illuminated the face of Mofes ; and 
 they who behold it reflefled as in a glafs 
 from the figures and ceremonies of his 
 law, are changed (Gr. transfigured) into 
 the fame image ^ from glory to glory ; from 
 the glory of the law which appeared in 
 Mofes, to the glory of the gofpel which 
 
 appeared 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 290 
 
 appeared in the transfiguration of Jefus LECT, 
 Chrift ^ ^ 
 
 A fight of that glory which is in the 
 fpirit of the law, is not only our privi- 
 lege, but is abfolutely neceflary toward the 
 converfion of a natural man into a fpiritual 
 one I if it doth not rather prefuppofe fuch 
 a converfion; becaufe a natural man can 
 neither receive nor difcern the things of 
 the fpirit of God. This was the cafe of 
 the Jews ; they were not able to fee the 
 inward fpirit of our Saviour's parables ; 
 and [Oy inftead of being converted they 
 were only condemned by it. *^ Their ears, 
 faid he, are dull of hearing, and their eyes 
 they have clofed; left at any time they 
 {hould fee with their eyes, and fhould 
 
 * Chiiflianis cum legltur (Lex) thefauriis eft abfconfus 
 in agro — oilendens fapientiam Dei — quoniam in tantiim 
 homo diligens Deum proficiet, ut etiam videat Deum, et 
 audiat fermonem ejus, et ex auditu loquelae ejus in tantum 
 glorificari, uti reliqui ncn poffint intendere in faciem glo- 
 riae ejus, quemadmodum didum eft a Daniele ; quoniam in ■ 
 telligentes fulgebunt^ quemadmodum claritas firmamenti^ t^c, 
 Irensi, Lib. 4. c. 48. Irenaeus has here fallen upon the 
 very fame idea with that before us, though he does not 
 colled it from the fame palfage. 
 
 hear 
 
300 On the Figurative "Language 
 
 ^^^' hear with their ears, and fhould under- 
 '^ — . — ' ftand with their hearts, and fliould be con* 
 verted, and I fhould heal them." Hence 
 we fee, that they who have the fpiri- 
 tual fenfe which difcerns fpiritual things, 
 xnay be converted and healed \ while they 
 who have it not are only hardened in 
 their unbelief. Inftead of improving they 
 grow worfe, and are farther from God 
 than ever: " whofoever hath not, from 
 him fhall be taken away even that he 
 hath :" As it was with Chrirt in his pa- 
 rables, fuch to this day will be the fuccefs 
 of every preacher of God's word, who 
 keeps up to his profeffion as a minifter of 
 the fpirit : if his hearers do not grow bet- 
 ter and become fpiritually minded, they 
 will grow worfe as the Jews did. The 
 fpirit of God's word which fhould con- 
 vert and heal them will never prove to be 
 an inad'ive indifferent medicine : it will 
 either do good or harm \ it will operate ei- 
 ther towards life, or towards deaths it will 
 / make men turn to God or drive them far- 
 ther away from him : which is a ferious 
 and fearful confideration j and I pray to 
 
 God 
 
of the Holy Scriptures, 301 
 
 God you may lay it to heart. My only LECT. 
 defire is to do you good, and I ihould be v— v^ 
 forry to fpeak to the condemnition of any 
 one foul committed to my charge. But 
 you fee how the cafe is : as the benefit is 
 great, fo is the danger : if there (hould be 
 darknefs where there ought to be light, 
 how great will be that darknefs ! 
 
 • Such then is the excellence of the fa- 
 cred flyle, that it is accommodated to our 
 capacities, it delights our imagination, and 
 leads us into all truth by the pleafanteft 
 way ; it improves the natural world into 
 a witnefs of our faith ; it transfigures us 
 from natural into fpiritual men, and gives 
 us a foretafte of the glorious prefence of 
 God. If thefe are the eftedts of it, it muft 
 be of infinite value to particular perfons in 
 their feveral ftudies and profeflions. 
 
 And firft, it is abfolutely neceflafy to a 
 Chriftian preacher : whofe do6l me, if it 
 be after the form of the fcriptural imagery, 
 will be more intelligible, more agreeable, 
 and more edifying to all forts of hearers. 
 
 If 
 
3©^ On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. If this Is the method God hath been 
 
 XI. 
 < / / pleafed to prefer for the teaching of man, 
 
 it muft be the beft when one man under- 
 takes to teach another. We have feen 
 how our Saviour's preaching was in the 
 form of parables : how the apoftles in 
 their interpretations of the Old Teftament 
 apply it as a figure and fhadow of things 
 to come ; and how in their exhortations 
 they reafon from fome parallel cafe in 
 the ways of nature. And ftill it will al- 
 ways be found, that nothing has fuch an 
 effedl: in preaching, as the fkilful hand- 
 ling of fome image or figure of the fcrip- 
 ture. For truth, as we have often ob- 
 ferved, does not enter into mens minds in 
 its own abftrafted nature, but under the 
 vehicle of fome analogy, which conveys a 
 great deal of fenfe in very few words : and 
 therefore the beft preachers have always 
 taken advantage of fome fuch analogy, 
 after the manner of the fcripture itfelf, 
 which gives us the pattern ot all true 
 preaching. 
 
 Let me fl^ew you how this is by an ex* 
 
 ample^ 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 303 
 
 ample. Suppofe a preacher would per- 
 fuade his audience not to abufe the ftation 
 in life to which Providence hath appointed 
 them ; and not to prefume upon the cha- 
 racter they may fuftain amongft men for 
 a fhort time here upon earth : he reafons 
 from the tranfitory nature of worldly things: 
 and this he teaches them to fee in a gl ifs, 
 by fetting before them the chaneeable 
 fcenery and temporary difguifes of men 
 in a theatre. In the world at large, as up- 
 on a ftage, there is afafuion in the cha- 
 rafters and adions of men, which pa^hh 
 awayy juft as the fcenery changes, and the 
 curtain drops, in a theatre ; to which the 
 apoftle alludes. The world is a great fhew, 
 w^hich prefents us various fcenes and fan- 
 taftic charafters; princes, politicians, war- 
 riors, and philofophers; the rich, the ho- 
 nourable, the learned and the wife: and 
 with thefe, the fervant and the beggar, the 
 poor, the weak, and the defpifed. Some 
 feldom come from behind the fcenes ; 
 others, adorned with honour and. power, 
 are follow^ed by a fliouting multitude, and 
 fill the world with the noife of their adions. 
 
 But 
 
304 On the Figurative Language 
 
 ^\^'^' But in a little time, the fcene turns, and 
 *■ M * all thefe phantoms difappear. The king 
 of terrors clears the ftage of thefe bufy 
 adtors, and ftrips them of their fictitious 
 ornaments ; bringing them all to a levels 
 and fending them down to the grave, as 
 all the adors in a drama return to their 
 private charadler when the adlion is over. 
 
 From this comparifon, how eafy and 
 how flriking is the moral. Nothing but a 
 difordered imagination can tempt an a£lor 
 on a ftage to take himfelf for a king, be- 
 caufe he wears a crown, and walks in pur- 
 ple : or to complain of his lot, becaufe he 
 follov/s this fiftitious monarch in the habit 
 of a flave. Therefore let us all remember, 
 that the world, like the ftage, changes no- 
 thing in a man but his outward appear- 
 ance : whatever part he may aft, all dif- 
 tinftions will foon be dropped in the grave, 
 as the aftor throws off his difguife when 
 his part is over. On which confideration, 
 it is equally unreafonable in man, either 
 to prefume or to complain*. 
 
 * See Dunlop's Sermons, vol. i, on i Cor. vii. 31. ^Ije 
 faJJnon of thh World pajjeth avjaj. 
 
 One 
 
of the Holy Sjfriptiires. ' 305 
 
 One fuch moral leffon as this, which LECT. 
 fhews us the real ftate of things under a ^ — A^, 
 ftriking and familiar refemblance of it, is 
 worth volumes of dull abftrafted reafonings. 
 It captivates the attention, and gives lafting 
 information : for when fuch a comparifon 
 hath once been drawn out, the inflrudioii 
 conveyed by it will be revived as often as 
 the image occurs to the memory. 
 
 To the fcholar, the fymbolical language 
 of the bible is fo ufeful, that every candi- 
 date for literature will be but a fhaliow 
 proficient in the wifdom of antiquity, till 
 he works upon this foundation: and for 
 want of it, I have feen many childifli ac- 
 counts of things from men of great figure 
 among the learned. In ancient times, 
 fentiments and fcience were exprefl^ed by 
 wife men of all profeflions under certain 
 figns and fymbols, of which the originals 
 are moftly to be found in the fcripture ; 
 as being the moft ancient and authentic of 
 all the records in the world, and (hewing 
 itfelf to be fuch in the form of its lan- 
 guage and expreffion. 
 
 X How 
 
3c6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 How nearly poetry and oratory are con-' 
 cerned with the fcience of fymbolical ex- 
 preffion, has already been obferved. Witfe 
 this key, a fcholar may penetrate far into 
 the art of poets and orators ; and the next 
 thing to compofing well is to tafte and 
 judge well. But it is alfo of eminent ufe 
 for unfolding the religious myfteries of 
 Heathen antiquity. 
 
 The Grecian and Roman mythology has 
 been much inquired into by the learned, 
 and is ftill a great obje£l with them. Who- 
 ever confiders the form of religious in- 
 ftruftion in the church of God, will plainly 
 fee, that the myftical or mythological form 
 among the Heathens was derived from it, 
 and fet up againft it as a rival. It pleafed 
 God to prefigure the myfteries of our faith 
 from the beginning of the world by an 
 emblematic ritual : this manner therefore 
 the heathens would neceflarily carry off 
 with them ; and when they changed the 
 objedt of their worfhip, and departed from 
 the creator to the creature, they ftill retain-* 
 ed the myftical form, and applied it to the 
 
 worftiip 
 
efthe Holy Scriptures. 307 
 
 Worfliip of the elements of the worlds LECT, 
 defcribing their powers and operations un- ^ — . — \ 
 der the form of fable and myftery, and 
 ferving them with a multitude of emble- 
 matic rites and ceremonies. Becaufe the 
 true God taught his people by myftical re- 
 prefentation, they truly would have their 
 myfteries too : and I take this to be the 
 true origin of the fabulous ftyle in the 
 Greek mythology : though it makes a 
 wretched figure in many particulars ; as 
 the woolly-headed negro favage does, when. 
 we confider him as a fon of Adam de- 
 fcended from paradife. The whole reli- 
 gion of heathenifm was made up of facred 
 tradition perverted, a cuftomary ritual, and 
 phyfiological fable; but the emblematic 
 manner prevails in every part alike ; and 
 therefore every fcholar ought to be well 
 acquainted with it. 
 
 Yet after all, it will be found moft 
 valuable to the Chriftian believer. The 
 knowledge of human languages prepares us 
 for the reading of human authors ; and 
 great part of our life is fpent in acquiring 
 X 2 ^em. 
 
308 On the Figurative Language 
 
 LECT. them. But-the interpretation of this facred 
 V — , — > language takes off the feal from the book 
 of life, and opens to man the treafures of 
 divine wifdom, which far exceed all other 
 learning, and will be carried with us into 
 another world, when the variety of tongues 
 fhall ceafe, and every other treafure fhall be 
 left behind. 
 
 We ftudy fome human writings, till we 
 are fo enamoured with the fpirit of them, 
 that it would be the highefl pleafure to fee 
 and converfe with the perfon, of whofe 
 mind we have fuch a pidure in his works. 
 Bleffed are they who fhall afpire to the 
 light of God on this principle ; for their 
 hope and their affedtion fhall be gratified. 
 They who now fee him by faith, as he is 
 manifefted to them in his word, fhall fit 
 with him in the glory of his kingdom : 
 and then they will know the value of that 
 wifdom, which has led them through the 
 Ihadows and figures of temporal things, 
 to that other world, where ail things are 
 real and eternal. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 309 
 
 THE SYMBOLICAL FORM COMMON TO THE 
 WISDOM OF ANTIQJJITY, PROFANE AS WELL 
 AS SACRED. 
 
 (a supplement to the last lecture.) 
 
 IT was obferved In the foregoing lec- suPo 
 ture, that in antient times fentiment ' ' ' 
 and fciefjce were exprejfed by wife men of 
 all profejjions under figns and fymbols. I 
 could not purfue this obfervation in the 
 body of the ledure, as being lefs proper 
 for the pulpit. But it is pity we fhould 
 drop a matter of fo much curiofity and 
 importance without defcending to fome 
 examples of what I there advanced. 
 
 Whoever enters into the learning of an- 
 tiquity, or, if already learned, recollefts 
 what he has met with, will foon difcover, 
 that theologians, moralifts, politicians, 
 philofophers, aftronomers; all who have 
 made any pretenfions to wifdom, have 
 X 3 ufed 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 ufed the language of fymbols : as if the 
 mind were turned by nature to this kind of 
 expreffion, as the tongue is to feunds : and 
 indeed this language of figns is, properly 
 fpeaking, the language of the mind ; which 
 underftands and reafons from the ideas, or 
 images of things, imprinted upon the 
 imagination. 
 
 All the idols in the world, with their 
 feveral infigniay were originally emblema- 
 tic figures, exprefiive of the lights of hea- 
 ven and the powers of nature, Apollo and 
 X^iana v/ere the fun and moon \ the one a 
 male, the other a female power, as being 
 the leffer and weaker of the two. Both 
 are reprefented as fhooting with arrows, 
 becaufe they caft forth rays of light, which 
 pierce and penetrate all things. 
 
 As the cbjeSs, fo the forms of wor- 
 ship were fymbolical : particularly that of 
 dancing in circles to celebrate the revolu- 
 tions and retrogradations of the heavenly 
 bodies. It was an ancient precept, Ti^ogyvjvn 
 7ri^ifE^ojj.-yog:i " tyrn found or moye in a cir- 
 cle 
 
of the Holy Scriptures* 3 1 1 
 
 cle when you pradlice divine adoration:'"* SUP. 
 that is, do as the heavenly bodies them- 
 felves do. 
 
 • — ^' that move in myflic dance, not without fong, Milt. 
 
 We find the facred dance appointed and 
 pradifed in the church: where its true 
 and original intention was probably to ai- 
 cribe to the Creator the glory of the hea- 
 venly motions : and the idea might be that 
 of a religious dance, in thofe words of the 
 pfaim, let the heavejis rejoice and let the 
 earth be glad: the other parts of the crea- 
 tion being called upon to fignify their ado- 
 ration by their own proper motions ; as 
 the fea to roar^ the trees to wave^ the 
 floods to clap their hands. 
 
 The figures by which the conflellatlons 
 and figns are diftinguifhed in the hea- 
 vens, are n^oftly fymbols of fuch high an- 
 tiquity, that we are not able <o trace them 
 up to their original. The accounts given 
 of them by the Greeks and Romans de- 
 fervc no regard ; being childifh and ri- 
 diculous. In many of thefe the meaning 
 is eafyj becaufe they fpeak for them- 
 X 4 felves. 
 
512 On the Figurative Language 
 
 SUP. felves. The Bears, inhabitants of the 
 ^^"^ ' ardlic regions, have pofleflion of the north- 
 ern pole. The Rajn, Bull^ and Lion, all 
 facred to the folar light and fire, are ac- 
 commodated to the degrees of the fun's 
 power as it increafes in the fummer 
 months. The Crab^ which walks fide- 
 way and backwards, is placed where the 
 fun moves parallel to the equator, and 
 begins in that fign to recede towards the 
 fouth. The Scales are placed at the au- 
 tumnal equinox^ where the light and dark- 
 nefs are equally balanced : the Capricorn, 
 or wild mountain-goat, is placed at the 
 tropical point from whence the fun be- 
 gins to climb upwards toward the north. 
 The ear of corn in the hand of Virgo 
 marks the feafon of harveft. The pre- 
 ceffion of the equinoctial points has now- 
 removed the figures and the liars they be- 
 long to out of their proper places ; but 
 fuch was their meaning when they were in 
 them. 
 
 Royalty and government were from the 
 earlieft times diftinguiflied by fymbolical 
 
 infignia. 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 313 
 
 infignia. A kingdom was always fup- SUP. 
 pofed to be attended with power and glory. 
 The glory of empire was fignified by a 
 crown with points refembling rays of 
 light, and adorned with orbs, as the hea- 
 ven is ftudded with ftars. Sometimes it 
 was fignified by horns, which are a natural 
 crown to animals ; as we fee in the figure 
 of Alexander upon fume ancient coins. 
 The power of empire was denoted by a 
 rod or fceptre. A rod was given to Mofes 
 for the exercifing of a miraculous power; 
 whence was derived the magical w^and of 
 enchanters ; and he is figured with horns 
 to denote the glory which attended him 
 when he came down from the prefence of 
 God. In the Iliad of Horner^ the prieft 
 of Apollo^ who comes to the Greeks to 
 ranfom his captive daughter, is diftin- 
 guifhed by a fceptre in his hand and a 
 crown xx^ovi his head; which is called gciL^a> 
 ^iOLo the crown of the God, becaufe the 
 glory of the prieft was fuppofed to be de- 
 rived from the deity he reprefented. So 
 long as monarchy prevailed, the fceptre of 
 kings was a fingle rod : but when Brutus 
 
 firft 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 firfl formed a republic at Rome, he chang- 
 ed the regal fceptre into a bundle of rods, 
 or faggot of flicks, v/ith an ax in the mid- 
 dle, to fignify that the power in this cafe 
 was not derived from heaven, but from 
 the multitude of the people, as peers 
 in empire; who were accordingly flattered 
 with majejiy from that time forward ; till 
 monarchy returned, and then they were as 
 extravagant the other way, 
 
 *' Divifum imperlum cum Jove Cgsfar liabet.'* 
 
 Virgil plainly underftands the bundle of 
 rods as the enfign of popular power, by 
 oppofing to it the majefty of monarchy. 
 
 Non populi fafces, non pupura Regum. 
 
 Georg. II. 495. 
 
 The metaphyfical objefts of the mind, 
 fuch as the virtues, the vices, the proper- 
 ties and qualities of things, were repre- 
 fented of old with great ingenuity for mo- 
 ral inftruflion. We have a good fpecimen 
 of this kind in the emblem.atical figure of 
 J me 9 which, for any thing we know, may 
 be almofl as ancient as time itfelf. He 
 was figured by the artifls of Greece as an 
 
 old 
 
of the Trtoly Scriptures. 
 
 old man, running on tiptoes, with wings at 
 his feet, a razor, or a fcythe, in his right 
 hand, a lock of hair on his forehead, and 
 his head bald behind : of all which parti- 
 culars the fignification is too well known 
 to need a comment. Jujiice with her 
 fword and fcales ; Fortune with her feet 
 upon a rolling fphere, and her eyes hood- 
 winked ; Vengeance with her whip ; Rnvy 
 with her fnakes; Pleafure with her en- 
 chanted cup; Hope with her anchor; 
 Death with his dart and hour-glafs ; and 
 innumerable others of the fame clafs, (hew 
 what delight men have always taken in 
 painting their ideas after various ways un- 
 der the images of vifible forms, to give 
 fubilance and force to their thoughts : and 
 painters are but indifferently furnifhed for 
 their profeffion without a competent 
 knowledge of thefe things. The poeti- 
 cal figure called profopopceia^ or, perfonifi^ 
 cation^ from whence all thefe devices are 
 borrowed, is no where fo frequently ufed, 
 ^or with fo much fublimity, as in the holy 
 fcripture : of which the learned author 
 
3 1 6 On the Figurative Language 
 
 SUP. De Sacra Toeji has felected many fine ex- 
 amples. 
 
 The enigmatical method of Pythagoras 
 is well known ; who was fo fond of teach- 
 ing by figns, that he made ufe of the let- 
 ter Y to fignify the two different roads of 
 vice and virtue, to one of which young 
 men give the preference, when the age of 
 trial brings them to the point where the 
 way of life divides itfelf into thefe two. 
 Certain moral precepts are preferved which 
 are called the fymbols of Pythagoras *• 
 He advifes not to keep animals with crooked 
 claws 'y by which he means 5 that we 
 Ihould not take into our houfes and make 
 companions of perfons who are fierce and 
 cruel in their nature ; fuch as another au- 
 thor calls ^J?^/^ civ^^u^iro^Lo^^c/. wild beajls in the 
 Jhape of men. 
 
 The law of the Hebrews appointed the 
 purity of their diet as a pattern and admo- 
 nition to purity of converfation : after 
 
 * Thefe fymbols are printed with Hierocles on the Gol- 
 den Verfes, and are commented upon by Gyraldus, 
 
 the 
 
of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 the example of which (for Pythagoras 
 was a Syrian) he bids us Siwictl^luov uttexz^oci, 
 to abftain from all fuch as die of them- 
 felves. He orders, not to Jlop upon a jour- 
 ney to cut wood; that is, not to turn afide 
 after things impertinent to the end and 
 purpofe of our life. Alfo, never to make 
 any libation to the Gods from a vine which 
 has not been pruned: meaning, that no of- 
 fering would be acceptable but from the 
 fruits of a fevere and well ordered life. 
 He pronounced it a bafe adlion to wipe 
 away fweat with a /word ; that is, to take 
 away by force and violence what another 
 hath earned by his labour. The literal 
 fenfe of which fymbol will not be under- 
 ftood, but by thofe who know, that the 
 ancients ufed a flat inftrument like the 
 blade of a knife, with the edge of which 
 they wiped away fweat from the fkin, and 
 cleared it of the water, &c. after the ufe of 
 the bath. It was another of his fayings, 
 that it is a foolifh aftion to read a poem to a 
 beajij to communicate what is excellent to 
 a ftupid ignorant perfon : which is the 
 fame for fenfe with that figurative prohi- 
 bition 
 
On the Figurative Language 
 
 bition in the gofpel, not to give a holy 
 thing to a dog^ nor to cajl pearls before 
 fwine. To thefe fymbols of Pythagoras 
 the hieroglyphic philofophy of Egypt was 
 nearly related, which Pierius hath takers 
 great pains to interpret ; and alfo the fa- 
 bles of ^fop, which teach prudence and 
 widom, and (hew the colours of vice and 
 virtue, from the inftin£ls of animals. 
 
 Sacraments and ceremonies in religion 
 are fignificant adions which all nations and 
 all ages have obferved in their worfhip; and 
 the church ftill retains them : though thefe 
 latter times (and this unhappy country in 
 particular) have produced a fpurious race 
 of Chrlftians, v^ho have thrown off facra- 
 ments and ceremonies all together; as if 
 they had confulted with fome evil fpirit of 
 a beggarly tafle. Priefls and fingers in our 
 church Vv^ear a white linen garment as a 
 fign of purity, and to give them a nearer 
 alliance to the company of heaven. Chant- 
 ing by refponfes, which is of the firft ages^ 
 was intended to imitate the choir of angels, 
 which cry one to another with alternate 
 adoration. The primitive Chriftians turn- 
 ed 
 
of the Holy Scriptures:. 319 
 
 cd towards the eaft, in their worfliip, to SUP. 
 fignify their refpeft to the true light of 
 the world. They fet up candles in their 
 churches as a fign of their illumination by 
 the gofpel : and evergreens are ftill placed 
 there at Chriftmas, to remind us that a 
 new and perpetual fpring of immortality 
 is reftored to us, even in the middle of 
 winter, by the coming of Jefus Chrift. 
 The Crofs^ as '^Jign of the Chriftian pro- 
 feffion, hath been in ufe from the firft ages 
 of the gofpel. 
 
 This afFeclion to fymbols in religious 
 worfhip may be carried too far, and de- 
 generate into theatrical fcenery or even in- 
 to idolatry, (for idols are no other than 
 fymbols:) but to caft them all off, and 
 ftrip religious worfhip naked, is an adt of 
 fanatical ignorance, which underflands 
 neither the fenfe of ceremonies, nor the 
 nature of man ; w^hofe mind in its prefent 
 ftate muft either raife itfelf by the help 
 of fenfible objedls and bodily geftures, or 
 be in danger of finking into fullennefs and 
 ilupidity. 
 
 Thus 
 
^20 On the Figurative Language^ &c. 
 
 SUP. Thus have the ufe of fymbols extended 
 to all times, and wifdom hath been com- 
 municated in this form by the teachers of 
 every fcience and profeflion. We might 
 vv^onder if it were not fo ; when God, from 
 the beginning of the world, taught man 
 after this form ; fetting life and death bd- 
 fore him under the fymbols of two trees ; 
 and it is both an ingenious and a fublime 
 fentiment in a certain author, that the 
 whole Icenery of paradife was difpofed into 
 an hieroglyphical fchool for the inftruftion 
 of the firfl man ; and that the fame plan, 
 fo far as it could be, was afterwards tranf- 
 ferred to the tabernacle and temple. 
 
 END OF THE LECTURES 
 
 On the B gurative Language of the 
 Holy Scriptures. 
 
FOUR LECTURES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF St. PAUL 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HEBREWS; 
 
 SHEWING, THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE 
 
 MYSTERIES, DOCTRINES, AND MORALITY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 ON THE CHARACTER AND OFFICES OF THE 
 SON OF GOD, AS THEY ARE SET FORTH IN 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 W 
 
 E read, in the 24th chapter of St. LECT, 
 Lukes gofpel, that as two of the <__^ 
 
 difciples were walking to Emmaus^ on the 
 day of Chrift's refurredion, an unknown 
 perfon joined them on the way, and en- 
 tered into difcourfe with them. After 
 fome queftions had pafTed between them, 
 this unknown perfon (who was no other 
 than Jefus himfelf) began to fhew them, 
 how all the circumftances, fo lately ful- 
 filled in Jefus of Nazareth, had been fore- 
 ihewn in the fcripture : and, beginning at 
 Mofes and all the prophets^ he expounded unto 
 them in all the fcriptures the things concern^ 
 ing himfelf. Who can read this without 
 wifhing to have overheard that expoftory 
 difcourfe, which, as the difciples faid of 
 Y 2 it 
 
224 Lediures on the Epi file 
 
 LEGT, it afterwards, made their hearts hum within 
 ,' — v-^ them? Such a difcourfe is the Epijlle to 
 the Hebrews^ to thofe whofe hearts are 
 open to underftand it; not conceived in 
 the fame words^ perhaps, nor laid down 
 exaftly in the fame method ; but confifting 
 of the fame matter, and all tending to 
 produce the fame eftedl. 
 
 All the doiflrine contained in this epiftle 
 l"elates to one or other of thefe three heads i 
 
 Firil:, to the Per/on of the Son of God^ 
 as it had been defcribed in the Old Tefla^- 
 pent. 
 
 Secondly, to the Religion of the Go/pel^ 
 qs being the fame under both Tellaments. 
 
 Thirdly, to the Chiirch of Ifrael, as a 
 figure of the Church of Chrifi:. 
 
 Under the Hrfl of thefe heads, I (hall ex- 
 trafl: and arrange the doftrine of the Old 
 Teftament relating to the perfon of the 
 Son of God; taking the Epiftle to the 
 
 Hebrews 
 
to the Htbrews. 
 
 325 
 
 Hebrews as my authority: wherein the LECT, 
 apoftle begins with fhewing the divine > [ ^ 
 bharafter of the Son of God, as diftinct 
 from, and fuperior to, the nature oi Angels % 
 thofe invifible and exhalted beings, who 
 are between the nature of men and the 
 nature of God* 
 
 For, firft, his name is greater than thelrsi 
 it being faid to him, never to them, Thou 
 art my Son^ this day have I begotten thee *«• 
 And, fecondly, he is an objed of worfhip 
 to angels— when he bringeth in his firil 
 begotten into the world, he faith 7-, and 
 let all the angels of God worfiip him. And 
 farther, he is celebrated in the Pfalms as 
 the King of heaven, and the Creator of the 
 world — 'Thy thfone^ O Gody is for ever and 
 ever — ThoUy Lordy in the beginning hafi laid 
 the foundation of the earth: &:c. thefe things 
 are faid, as the apoftle witnelTes, to the Son; 
 who being alfo commanded to ft at the 
 right hand of God, which was never laid 
 to any angel, his perfon was not of a 
 created angelic nature, as the Hebrews 
 
 * Ch, I, 5, -}■ Ch, vi, 
 
 Y 3 might 
 
326 LeBures on the Epijlk 
 
 LECT. might fuppofe, who had been ufed to that 
 X— ^ term in Mofes and the prophets (and per- 
 haps took it generally in fuch a fenfe) but 
 ftriftly divine, and himfelf the Lord and 
 God of men and angels, the coaffeflbr of 
 the Father in glory everlafting. 
 
 Such Indeed is the charafter of the Son 
 in the Hebrew fcriptures, that it is the 
 fame in all refpe£ls with thofe titles which 
 the apoflle fubjoins to his name in the 
 fecond verfe of this firlT: chapter : whom 
 (faith he) God hath appointed heir of all 
 ihingSy by whom alfo he made the worlds^ 
 who being the brlghtnefs of his glory ^ and the 
 exprefs image of his perfon^ and upholding all 
 things by the word of his povjer, when he 
 had by himfelf purged our Jins^ fat down on 
 the right hand of the Majefy on high. Great 
 as thefe exprefiions are, they are the fame 
 in fubftance with what the Old Teftament 
 had declared before concerning the Son of 
 God; who being called the Glory of God ^ 
 has that relation to him which the light 
 that comes down from heaven has to the 
 fun, from whence it proceeds ; who being 
 
 truly 
 
to the Hebrews. 327 
 
 truly the Son is confequently the heir of LECT. 
 God; who now fuftains that world of ^ — v — \ 
 which he at firft laid the foundations ; who 
 purged the fins of man by himfelf^ who 
 was the creator of man ; and when he fat 
 down at the righf hand of God, returned 
 to that majefty which was eflential to his 
 chara£ter before the world was made. 
 
 Nothing can be more full and exprefs 
 than the language the apoftle ufes in this 
 chapter, to convince the Hebrews, that 
 the term Son ofGody as applied to the per- 
 fon of Chrift, is not a name of accommo- 
 dation, as fometimes taken in other ap- 
 plications of it, but a name, the excellence 
 of which comes to him, not by adoption, 
 but by inheritance^ that is, by a natural 
 right, which could not be, unlefs the 
 Son were of the fame nature with the 
 Father. 
 
 As the apoftle proceeds to treat of the 
 
 perfon of Chrift, he takes occafion to Ihew 
 
 from the 8th Pfalm, (and thereby teaches 
 
 us how to underftand that Pfalm) that he, 
 
 Y 4 who. 
 
3 23 Ledfures on the Epiflte 
 
 LECT. who, as God, was above all the angels of 
 ^ — » — ' heaven, as man \^as made lower than the 
 angels, that he might tafte of death for 
 every man, and io bring many fons unto ghry^ 
 by receiving glory in our nature, as the 
 reward of his fufFerings. In virtue of his 
 incarnation, we are become the fons of 
 God and brethren of Chriftj as he was in 
 all things made like unto his brethren, his 
 brethren will in all things be made like 
 unto him ; that is, they will be imputed 
 by a new relation to the fame Father, with 
 a legal right to the fame inheritance, and 
 be crowned with glory and honour after 
 their fufferings upon earth-. 
 
 The divine and human natures of the 
 Son of God being thus fettled and diflin- 
 guifhed, we are now to confidcr him with 
 the apoflle under the three charadlers he 
 took upon him for the falvation of the 
 world. 
 
 I. As Mofes, he was to be a teacher t 
 lazvgher^ and prophet ; and Mofes had aded 
 as a minifier of God Jar a tejtimony of thefe 
 
 things 
 
to the Hebrews. 329 
 
 things which were to be fpokcn after * by a ^ ^^ '^• 
 greater than Mofes. ^-^-r— ' 
 
 2. Like Aaron and Melchizedec he was 
 to be a high prieft and interceffor ; a mi- 
 nifter of the true fandluary. 
 
 3. As Jojhua, whofe name is called Jefus 
 in this epiftle, he was to be the captain of 
 our fahationt to conquer our fpiritual ene- 
 mies, and put us into poffeffion of thei 
 heavenly Canaan. 
 
 From all thefe figurative charaders of 
 the old law, it w^as forelliewn, that he 
 fhould be the greatefl: of prophets, the" 
 greateft of priefts, and the greatefl: of con- 
 querors. And firfl: he is to be underftood 
 as a prophet or teacher. 
 
 The apcjlle and high prieft of our prof effion^ 
 Chrift Jefus^ was faithful to him that ap-- 
 pointed him^ as alfo Mofes was faithful in 
 all his houfe -f- ; to which the apofl;Ie adds, 
 that he was thus faithful for a tefiimony ; 
 
 * Chap, iii. 5* f Ch, iii. i. 
 
 his 
 
330 Lediures on the Epiftle 
 
 LECT. his miniftry was prophetical, and bore 
 V — ^ witnefs in all the principal circumftances 
 of it to the greater miniftry of Chrift, who 
 was counted worthy of more glory than 
 Mofes, becaufe he was the n^after and 
 builder of that houfe, in which Mofes was 
 no more than a fervant. The fidelity of 
 Mofes, under all the various trials of his 
 miniftry, is the circumftance here feledied 
 by the apoftle, and chiefly infifted on ; but 
 there was fcarcely a circumftance attending 
 his whole chara6ler which did not afford 
 fome tefthnony to the miniftry of Chrift. 
 The general charafter of both is the fame, 
 in that they were prophets ; and as the one 
 is faid to be mighty in word and deed ^^ to is 
 the other. The deeds of Mofes were great 
 beyond thofe of any other prophet, Chrift 
 excepted. We fee him working wonders 
 amongft a proud and obftinate people, 
 whofe hearts were hardened againft him ; 
 as Chrift wrought his miracles amongft 
 the blinded Jews, who never believed on 
 him at laft: and as Egypt was at length 
 fearfully judged by the hand of Mofes, fo 
 
 •^ Comp. A6ts, vii. 22. with Luke xxiv. 19. 
 
 were 
 
to the Hebrews, 331 
 
 were the Jews caft out and deftroyed in a LECT. 
 terrible manner, when the time of ven- ^ — . — * 
 geance came upon them, which Chrift had 
 threatened. As Mofes left Pharaoh in 
 wrath, never to fee his face any more; fo 
 Chrift left the Jews at their own defire, 
 never more to meet with them but in 
 judgment, when Jerufalem Ihould be over- 
 thrown. 
 
 In their %vords they were fo far alike, 
 that both were lawgivers, delivering to the 
 people the precepts which were received 
 from heaven. All the faithful of the 
 Ifraelitifh church were difciples of Mofes, 
 and did as he had commanded them ; as 
 the faithful of the latter days are followers 
 of Chrift, and obfervers of his laws. 
 
 But moft remarkable was the fidelity of 
 both thefe teachers, in perfifting on the 
 part of God, in oppofition to the powers 
 of this world, and the malice of their ov*^n 
 people. When Mofes was come to years^ he 
 , refufed to be called the fi)n of Pharaoh's 
 daughter^ choofing rather to fuffer affiiBion 
 
 ivith 
 
232 heBures on the kpijlle 
 
 L E C T. with the people of God, than to enjoy the 
 ^-^ plesiftires of Jin for a feafon^. As the one 
 rejeded the pleafures of Pharaoh's courts 
 fo the other withftood the foHcItaticns of 
 the ambitious Jews, refufing to be made 
 a king, and rejeding all the kingdoms of 
 the world when they Were offered to him. 
 Each of them expofed themfelves to re- 
 proach and hatred, for maintaining the 
 authority of God, and afting in his name. 
 This is pointed out to us in many re^ 
 niarkable obfervations of the firft martyr 
 St. Stephen, in his apology againft the 
 Jews* This, fays he, is that Mofes, whom 
 our fathers would not obey, but thruft him 
 from them. When he firlt offered himfelf 
 to his own people as a deliverer, they re- 
 ceived him not, but affronted him with 
 that infolent queflion. Who made thee a ruler 
 and a judge ? When he pleaded the caufe 
 of God, all the congregation murmured at 
 him, as the Jews hated Chrift for hit, ex- 
 hortations to obedience : corrupt fcribes, 
 phariiees, and chief priefts, rofe up againft 
 him, as Moles was oppofed and railed 
 
 * Ch, xi. 24. 
 
 at 
 
to the Hebrews, 
 
 at by a felf-fandtified party, headed by 
 Corah, Dathauy and Ahiram, The oppo- 
 iition therefore that was raifed againft 
 Jefus Chrift, and all the affronts put upon 
 him, though they might make him feem 
 little in the eyes of the Jews, brought his 
 character to a conformity with that of 
 their firft lawgiver, and to their eternal 
 confufion demonftrated the truth of his 
 miffion. And thus argues the firft martyr, 
 preffing the Jews with the inference — - 
 'T'his MofeSj whom they refufed^ faj^f^g^ '^ho 
 made thee a ruler and a judge ^ the fame did 
 God fend to he a ruler and a deliverer. Pcr«* 
 fecuted as he was and defpifed, God fent 
 him and fupported him ; and they who 
 have perfecuted Chrift, have only fulfilled 
 what the fcriptures forefhewed . by the 
 things which had happened to Mofes, the 
 firft faithful minifter of God to the chil- 
 dren of Abraham. The church which 
 was brought out of Egypt, was under his 
 oeconomy in the wildernefs, to be direfted 
 in the way, and to be fed and fupported 
 as occafion required. The people of God 
 are ftill travelling through a wildernefs, 
 
 with 
 
334 Lectures on the Epijile 
 
 LECT. with the fecond Mofes to lead and fupport 
 * X * them under all the wants, temptations and 
 dangers of their earthly pilgrimage. By 
 this faithful guide will the houfe of God 
 be governed and proteded, till the office 
 of Mofes fhall be fuperfeded by that of 
 Jofliua, and he (hall put them in poffeffion 
 of the good land which they have now in 
 profpeft. 
 
 The fecond capacity in which this epiflle 
 fets before us the Son of God, is that of 
 our great high prieji^ fignified to us under 
 the figures of the law by the two cha- 
 radlers of Melcbizedec and Aaron. 
 
 It pleafed God from the beginning of 
 the world, as foon as the fall had given 
 occafion to fuch a difpenfation, to take 
 from among men fome perfon properly ap- 
 pointed, to make interceffion for the refl ; 
 and thereby to keep up the expedation of 
 a divine interceflbr, who jfhould make an 
 atonement once for all by a fufficient and 
 eternal facrifice. The firft eminent ex- 
 ample the fcripture gives us of fuch a per- 
 
 fon^ 
 
to the Hebrews. 
 
 335 
 
 fon, is In the charafter of Melchizedec, LECT. 
 who as prieji of the moji high God met Abra- v / / 
 hafn returning from the faughter of the 
 Kings^ and hie fed him *. His priefthood 
 was prior to that of the Mofaic law and 
 greater, becaufe, as the apodle argued, 
 Abraham fliewed its fuperiority, by offer- 
 ing to this prieft the tenth of the fpoils, and 
 taking his hlejfing. From Abraham the 
 Levitical priefthood defcended ; and the 
 children being inferior to the father, and 
 the father inferior to this high prieft, it 
 follows that the priefthood of the law was 
 inferior to the priejlhood of Melchizedec. 
 From him Abraham received bread and 
 wine ; and the oath of God being the great 
 fandlion of the priefthood which adminif- 
 ters this facrament, it is thence evident, 
 that the priefthood of the gofpel, which 
 Chrift began, and continued and perpe- 
 tuated, with its offering of bread and 
 wine, is the only true priefthood ; earlier 
 than the priefthood of the law in time, and 
 fuperior to it in dignity. Thus after thefmi- 
 lUude of Melchizedec^ there arifeth another 
 prieji^ %vho is made^ not after the law of a car-^ 
 
 * Ch. vii. I. 
 
 nal 
 
L^CT 
 I. 
 
 336 LeBures on the Epijile 
 
 ' nal commandment^ but after the power of an 
 endlefs life. For it appears by the apoftles rea-^ 
 foning, that this Melchizedec was no hu- 
 man perfon ; inafmuch as he had no human 
 dcfcent, and it is eiTential to this order, that 
 its priefthood ihould be unchangeable ^ and 
 eternal. Whence jt muft follow, that no 
 mere n?an could ever be capable of the con- 
 ditions of fuch a priefthood. There never 
 could be more than one prieft of the order; 
 and that prieft is Chrift himfelf ; vi^ho, be- 
 fore the days of his fiejh^ exhibited to the Fa- 
 ther of the faithful that efFeftual priefthood^ 
 which ftiould fave the world; and made 
 him a partaker of its benefits. All this 
 do£lrine the apoftle has drawn out of the 
 ihort account in the book of Genefis con- 
 cerning the perfon of Melchizedec, and 
 the oath fpoken of in the iioth Pfalm re- 
 lating to his priefthood. 
 
 In the perfon of Aaron, and the prieft- 
 hood of the law, we have another ftand- 
 
 * The Greek means fuch a priefthood as doth not 
 pafs fro?n one perfon to another', fo that there can be 
 but one perfon of that order. 
 
to the Hebrew s» 237 
 
 ing memorial of the priefthood of Chrlft, LECT. 
 which taught the people under a figure? ^ — v^ 
 that the true prieft fliould do, once for 
 all, what Aaron and his fucceffors did 
 year by year. The law had a JJjadow of 
 the good- thhjgs that were to come by the 
 Gofpel ; and all its ceremonies and fer- 
 
 vices were accommodated to fliew the ne- 
 ceffity and the efFe6ls of a better priefthood 
 with better facrifices. For firft, the taber- 
 nacle itfelf was a pattern of an heavenly 
 original : the diredlions given to Mofes for 
 the confl:ru6ling of it imply that it was 
 no more than a copy; and thus argues the 
 apodle. T^he priejis^ fays he, that offer gifts 
 and facrifices ferve unto the example and JJja^ 
 dow cf heavenly things ; as Mofes was ' ad* 
 monifed of God (or, according to the Greek, 
 as Mofes W2? divinely informed of God) 
 when he was about to make the tabernacle ; 
 For^ fee^ faith he^ that thou make all things 
 according to the pattern fJoewed to thee in 
 the 7nount, The heavenly fubftance of 
 which this tabernacle was the fhadow and 
 pattern is now exhibited to us under the 
 gofpel; and we may trace the lines of the 
 Z true 
 
338 Le&ures on the Epijik 
 
 LECT. true tabernacle if we attend to the form of 
 >-C— ^ that which reprefented it. The firft part 
 of the tabernacle, in which the daily mi- 
 niftrations were performed, was a figure 
 of this world, in which temporary and 
 mortal priefts perform the fervices of God. 
 Beyond the vail there was another taber- 
 nacle called the holieji of ally or as the 
 Hebrew fpeaks, the Holy of Holies. This 
 facred place was open only to the high 
 priefl, who entered into it with the blood 
 of the yearly facrifice. When Chrift by 
 his death, which rent the vail of the 
 temple, had opened a way into the hea- 
 venly fancluary, then was the truth of 
 this yearly fervice accompliflied, and he 
 paffed from officiating as a prieft upon 
 earth, to appear with the merits of his 
 blood for us in heaven, before the prefence 
 of God. And thus the apoftle explains it. 
 Chriji is not entered into the holy places made 
 with hands^ which are the figures of the true, 
 but into heaven itfelf now to appear in the 
 prefence of God for us. In which words it 
 is plainly implied, that he did truly 
 once for all, what Aaron the high prieft 
 
 did 
 
to the Hebrews. 339 
 
 did every year ; therefore what Aaron did 
 forefhewed what he fliould do ; and if fo, 
 the perfon of Aaron was a figure of his 
 perfon. That it was no more than a figure 
 for the time then prefent, and that Aaron 
 was not the true interceflbr, which the 
 people of God were taught to exped, was 
 evident from the repetition of his facrifices 
 year by year; which fhewed, that of them- 
 felves they were ineffcdlual : every fucceed- 
 ing yearly offering and atonement fhewed 
 the inefficacy of what had gone before. 
 Suppofing they had anfwered the end of 
 propitiation, the apoflle puts the queftion, 
 would they not then have ceafed to be offered? 
 becaufe that the worJJnppers once purged 
 jhould have had no more confcience of Jim *, 
 that is, they might have pleaded in the 
 fight of God the cffed of what had paffed, 
 if it had been efFedual ; but it was repeated 
 continually ; therefore it was not effedual ; 
 it was only defcriptive or exhibitory of that 
 facrifice, which in the fulnefs of time 
 fhould be effedtual to the putting away of 
 fin. And this reminds us of the difference 
 
 * Cb. X. 2. 
 
 Z 2 between 
 
Letters on the Epijlk 
 
 between the high prieft of the tabernacle, 
 and the high priePc of the true fanftuary ; 
 that the latter was both priefl: and facrifice. 
 And it was nec^ffary he (hould be fo; for 
 the blood of bulls and of goats could not 
 take away fins : the cattle upon a thoufand 
 hills could not make an atonement for one 
 finner. There is indeed no vifible relation, 
 in the eye of human reafon, between the 
 death of a fheep and the pardon of fin : 
 but that Chrift, a perfect man, the ac- 
 cepted and beloved fon of God, fhould 
 fhed his blood to fave our fouls ; in that 
 there is fo much fenfe, that it is the very 
 "wifdom and the power of God. 
 
 It has been made a queftion, by thofe 
 who queftion every thing, whether facri- 
 fices were of divine inftitution. But facri- 
 fices are defer ipt'ive ; and as the thing de- 
 fcribed is the redemption of man by the 
 fiiedding of the blood of Chrift, which ne- 
 ver could be known but by revelation ; the 
 fuppoGtion, that facrifice could be of hu- 
 man invention, is an abfurdity. It is as H 
 we were to imagine, that words could be 
 
 invented 
 
to the Hebrew St. q^i 
 
 Invented by thofe, who had no knowledee LECT. 
 
 of things ; orthztjlgns could be brought » » — r 
 
 into ufe without any prior idea of the things 
 Jignified^ The knowledge of a redeemer 
 was firft given to man ; and the obfervation 
 of facrifice was the expreffion of that know- 
 ledge by a fignificant aft. All mankind 
 were derived from thefe to whom this 
 knowledge was firfl: given ; and therefore 
 all nations of the world in all times of the 
 world did in fome form or other retain the 
 obfervation of facrifice, for the putting 
 away of fin. 
 
 The third charader under which the 
 Son of God was forefhewn to us under the 
 law, is that of a conqueror, As Jojhua^ 
 whofe name is alfo called J^fus in the Epif- 
 tle to the Hebrews, Chrid was to become 
 the captain of our falvation ; to fubdue our 
 fpiritual enemies, and put us into polTefiion 
 of the heavenly Canaan. The perfon of 
 Jofliua, and his afts, and the efFefts of his 
 commiffion, are all defcriptive of the 
 things to be accomplifl-ied by the true Je- 
 fusc He was the fuccelTor of Mofes, as the 
 Z 3 gofpel 
 
342 Letters on the Epijlle 
 
 L^^T. gofpel Cometh after the law; and carried 
 V — . — ' into efteft what the law could not accom- 
 pliih, but only exhibited in profpedl; as 
 Mofes died on mount Nebo, with only a 
 diftant view of the Holy Land. After the 
 death of Mofes, a new generation of peo- 
 ple, under the command of Jo(hua, were 
 conduced to many fignal viftories, which 
 opened a way to the promifed inheritance, 
 that * reji which was to put a period to 
 their wanderings in the wildernefs. As 
 the Saviour of the Hebrews, he was ho- 
 noured with that very name which was af- 
 terwards given to him, who came after 
 Mofes, to be the Saviour of the world. Jo- 
 fhua knew the excellence of that country 
 to which he was leading the people, and 
 encouraged them to prefs forward to the 
 enjoyment of it, through all the dangers of 
 which they were afraid. The landy fays 
 he, is an exceeding good land: if the Lord de- 
 light in us then he will bring us into this land 
 and give it usy a land which floweth with 
 milk and honey^^fear ye not the people of the 
 land, for they are bread for us-, their defence ^ 
 * Ch. iv. 8. 
 
 is 
 
to the Hebrew Si 343 
 
 is departed from theniy and the Lord is with LECT. 
 us. And fo it came to pafs; the mighty ^ — ^ 
 inhabitants of the land fled before them, 
 and the walls of Jericho fell down flat, af- 
 ter the priefl:s had encompafled it with the 
 ark, and blown with the rams horns, as 
 they had been commanded. All this was 
 fulfilled at the wonderful propagation of 
 the gofpel under the condud: of Jefus 
 Chrift. The powers of the world were all 
 againft it ; but the found of the gofpel 
 from the mouths of the apoftles prevailed 
 againft them all. Weak and contemptible 
 as the means might appear which God had 
 appointed, the end was anfwered. Idola- 
 try was overpowered : Satan was caft out of 
 his ftrong holds, which he had fo long 
 poflefled in peace ; and the kingdom of the 
 world became the kingdom of our Lord and of 
 his Chrijl. 
 
 Here it is a wonderful thing to confider, 
 that the Canaanitifli nations, who pofTefled 
 the land promifed to the people of God, 
 were all Idolaters, or Gentiles as they are 
 called, fuch as the Roman empire and all 
 Z 4 the 
 
344 Letters on the Epijile 
 
 L ECT. the kingdoms of the world were before the 
 * — , — ' eftablifliment of Chrifiianity. This cir- 
 cumftance is taken notice of and applied 
 in the apology of St. Stephen againft the 
 Jews. Our fathers^ faid he, had the ta^ 
 bernacle of w'ltnefs in the wildernefs — which 
 alfo our fathers that came after brought in 
 with fefus into the pofleflion of the Gen- 
 tiles. The tabernacle of God was tranf- 
 ferred to the Gentiles, and there eftabliflied 
 under Jolhua ; to fignify in a figure, that 
 the church, under Jefus Chrift, fhould be 
 transferred from the Jews to the Gentiles. 
 The firft fet of people who came out of 
 Egypt, rebelled againft Mofes, and refufed 
 to hear the exhortation of Jofliua : fo they 
 died in their unbelief, and their carcafes 
 were left ifi the wildernefs. But thofe 
 who came after (as *S/, Stephen words it) 
 the fucceffors of that difobedient genera- 
 tion, entered with the tabernacle into the 
 pofleflion of the Gentiles ; as the new 
 children of Abraham, who came after the 
 apoftate Jews, followed the true Jefus, 
 when his religion was tranflated into the 
 heathen world. 
 
 The 
 
to the Hebrews^ 24C 
 
 The time is yet to be expefted, when LECT, 
 every power of this world and the other *— v^ 
 fhall fall before him. As thofe wicked 
 Canaanites were driven out of their land., 
 when the meafure of their iniquities was 
 filled up ; fo fhall the wicked be driven 
 cut of the earth, when that vengeance of 
 God fhall overtake them, which they have 
 fo long held in contempt and defiance. 
 The world itfelf fhall be furrounded by 
 the Son of God, as the Captain of our Sal- 
 vation, and the army of faints and angels 
 which fhall attend upon him at his coming. 
 The lafl 'Trumpet fhall found, and the 
 world fliall be overthrown, as Jericho fell 
 flat, when it had been compafTed about 
 feven days by the priefts and miniflers of 
 God. When the priefls blew, as they 
 were commanded, at the time appointed, 
 and all the ^QG^\t Jhouted with a great fiout, 
 (Jofli. vi, 5.) the fortificationsof that proud 
 city funk at once into a heap of ruins. 
 With reference to which hiftory, we are 
 reminded that the Lord himjelf Jhall defcend 
 from heaven w'lth a Jhout^ (i ThelT. iv, 16.) 
 
 'with 
 
346 Ledlures on the Epijlk 
 
 L E C T. lotth the voice of the archangel , and with the 
 s— J— > trump of Go do 
 
 it pleafed the wifdom of God to defcribe 
 beforehand, in the manner I have now ex- 
 plained to you from the Old Teftament, 
 the things relating to the perfon of the 
 Son of God, as our Lawgiver^ our High 
 Prieji^ and our Saviour ; with the works 
 he was to perform for the redemption of 
 mankind. Wonder not that they were all 
 fo particularly delineated by ceremonies, 
 iigns, and miracles. They are fo great 
 and important, that had they been written 
 in the firmament of heaven as plainly as 
 they are written in the books of Mofes and 
 the Prophets, they would have been worthy 
 of it. 
 
 END OF LECTURE I 
 
to the JJebrews* 347 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 THE RELIGION AND FAITH OF THE PEOPLE 
 OF GOD, THE SAME (iN SUESTANCE) UNDER 
 BOTH TESTAMENTS. 
 
 THE nature of man being the fame LECT, 
 now as from the beginning of the * — r^ 
 world, and the nature of God being un- 
 changeable; it muft follow, that the great 
 objedt of the difpenfations of God to man 
 muft be the fame in every age ; though the 
 form and manner after which that objedt 
 is purfued may be different : fo that what 
 God /pake in former times to the fathers by 
 the prophets' will be found the fame in 
 fenfe and effe£t with what he fpoke in the 
 lafl days by his Son-, though he fpoke in 
 divers manners^ as occafion might require 
 at fiindry times. This is a matter of the 
 utmoft confequence ; and it is what I pro« 
 pofe to (hew you in the prefent lefture ; 
 namely, that it was the defign of St» Paul, 
 
 in 
 
348 Le^ures on the Epijlle 
 
 LECT. in his Epiftle to the Hebrews^ to teacH 
 } — N — ' them that the religion of the people of 
 God is, for fubftance and intention, the 
 fame under both Teftaments. 
 
 This I fhall prove from two general 
 reafons, and afterwards from fome par= 
 ticular ones. 
 
 My firft general reafbn is this ; that re- 
 ligion has the fame name under the two 
 difpenfations of Mofes and of Jefus Chrifl: : 
 it is called the Gofpel: for the apoftle, fpeak- 
 ing of thofe who were under the teaching 
 of God in the wildernefs, fays, unto its was 
 ij the Gofpel preached as well at^ unto them '* ; 
 making the religion, delivered to us in the 
 New Teftament, but a repetition of what 
 had always been delivered to the Church, 
 The Gofpel fignifies a meflage from God 
 for the falvation of man 3 and as fuch was 
 delivered at fundry times by Mofes and the 
 prophets. If the word preached did not 
 profit fome, not being mixed with jaith in 
 them that heard it, this is no argument 
 
 * Heb, ivj 2» 
 
 againft 
 
to the Hebrews, 345 
 
 againft the fenfe or fufficiency of the word LE CTo 
 itfelf ; it only (hews us, that, in all ages < \ * 
 of the world, fome there have been and 
 will be, who being carnally minded, and 
 wholly attached to this world, are deflitute 
 of that principle, which the fcripture calls 
 by the name of faiths and which, as a 
 univerfal teft to the fervants of God, is the 
 fame yefterday, to-day, and for ever. 
 
 What I here fay leads me to my fecond 
 general reafon, to prove that religion is the 
 fame under both Teftaments ; and this is, 
 that it has the fame general charafteriftic, 
 or mark, by which it is to be diftinguiflied. 
 If we a(k, what was the religion of the 
 Jews, who received the law from Mofes ? 
 The anfwer is plain ; it was a religion 
 which believed things paft, and had faith 
 in things to come, expedting the prefent 
 favour of God from the obfervation of 
 certain adls of religious worfliip, as feeing 
 him that is iiivifible. This principle of faith 
 has been the chaiacleriftic of the true re- 
 ligion from the beginning of. the v^ |>.ld. 
 To Adam the generation of the world* was 
 
 an 
 
Lectures on the Eptftle 
 
 an article of faith ; and the efFeds of the 
 tree of life and the tree of knowledge were 
 no objefts of his fight. After the Fall, 
 the expe(5lation of a Saviour, th^feed of the 
 woman, who fliould bruife the head of the 
 ferpent, was another article of faith ; as was 
 alfo the curfe to be executed upon the 
 earth, which the world in the days of 
 Noah had negledted and forgotten. There 
 never was a time when true religion did 
 not believe fomething paft, and expe£l fome- 
 thing to come, and conform itfelf to or* 
 dinances, the effeds of which were of a 
 fpiritual nature ; and it is the trial of man 
 in this life, whether he will obferve fuch 
 ordinances, and depend upon them. Adam's 
 dependance was upon the facramental Tree 
 of Eden. The Patriarchs and Jews de- 
 pended on the rights of facrifices and 
 purifications, impofed on them till the 
 times of reformation ; and we are taught, 
 by the example of Abel, that a facri- 
 fice was accepted for the faith of him 
 that offered it. Chrifl:ians now depend on 
 the facraments of baptifm and the Lord's 
 fupper. With regard to the paft, they 
 
 believe 
 
to the Hebrews. g^ i 
 
 believe that Chrift fuffered for their fins, LECT. 
 and arofe from the dead ; and, with re^ > — , — ' 
 gard to the future, that he (hall come a- 
 gain to judge the world. The religion of 
 the people of God always was, and al- 
 ways will be, a fcheme of JaM and ^/(?- 
 pendence: therefore it is an univerfal doc- 
 trine, common to all ages, which a pro- 
 phet delivered and an apoftle hath con- 
 firmed, that the jujl Jhall live by Jaith*^ 
 Let him be as juJl as he will, his life is 
 not from \\\% juftice^ but from his faith-, 
 without which, he has nothing of that 
 life which true religion gives ; and is 
 dead in the fight of God. To the fame 
 eifeft, our apoftle fpeaking of Enoch, 
 that according to the teftimony of the 
 fcripture, he pkafed God'f ; draws an in* 
 ference in favour of Enoch's faith, becaufe 
 without faith it is impoffible to pleafe him j . 
 This general principle of faith, while it 
 reconciles and unites the religion of both 
 Teftaments, fcrves to detect every falfe 
 feligion that has been or can be invented ^ 
 
 * Ghap. X. '^'^f ^L 
 
 t Gen. V. 22^ and Ecclv.s, Av. i6- 
 
 T C'liap. xi, 6, ^ \- ' 
 
 becaufe 
 
252. LeBures on the Epijlle 
 
 LECT. becaufe in fuch there can be no faith pro« 
 ^ — . — ' perly fo called ; in as much as it will either 
 have falfe objeds, or none at all. 
 
 In the religion of the Gentiles, ihefe 
 was a fort of faith, but it was chiefly 
 dire£led to objefts fabulous and falfe. The 
 Mythology (by which I mean the religious 
 myjieries) of the Greeks, gave them a tra- 
 ditionary account of the world's original ; 
 of its deflrudion by the flood ; of a future 
 paradife (called Elyjium) for the virtuous ; 
 and a place of torment (called ^a?- tar us) 
 for the punifliment of departed fouls, after 
 a formal trial and condemnation by the 
 judges of the infernal regions: and they 
 preferved the inftitution of facrifice ; there- 
 by confefling their dependence on invifible 
 powers for the expiation of fin. They alfo 
 maintained the dodrine of man's natural 
 blindnefs and impotence wdthout the afiift- 
 ance and infpiration of their deities, for 
 which they never failed to invoke thera 
 in their compofitions and great undertak- 
 ings. Modern times have been refining 
 upon the ^formation, till by degrees they 
 
 have 
 
to the Hebrews*, 353 
 
 have conceived and brought forth a fort LECT, 
 of philofophlcal religion, diftind from ^ — . — '. 
 every thing the world had {ztn before ; 
 becaufe it is a religion without faith. The 
 fcheme of our Deijls, as they call them- 
 felves, has nothing in it of things paft; 
 no faft or tradition to ground itfelf upon : 
 it has no facraments, nor fervices of any 
 kind, to keep up an intercourfe v^ith 
 heaven; It expeds no predidled judgment, 
 and has no particular view of any thing 
 after this life. Thus having no obje£ls of 
 faith, It teaches no dependence, which 
 alone renders the moft juft man accept- 
 able to God. It aftually inculcates inde* 
 fendence^ and glories in it : it has neither 
 church, nor facraments, nor religious wor- 
 fliip, nor allegiance, nor fubmiflion to God 
 or man % and therefore, it comes more 
 nearly up to the wifhes of the Devil, the 
 great author and firft father of indepen- 
 dence, than any religion ever profeffed in 
 the world before. If dependence upon 
 God be the charafleriftic of a religious 
 man, then it muft be better to believe the 
 labours of Hercules^ the future judgment 
 A a of 
 
Leciures on the Epljlle 
 
 of Rhadamanthus^ and to do facrifiGe to yu" 
 piteVy than to be of this perfuafion ; becaufe 
 the worft religion, profeffed in natural ig- 
 norance and lincerity, muft be preferable 
 to that proud and incorrigible ignorance, 
 which wilfully reje£ls all the religion ia 
 the world. 
 
 From the two general reafons I have 
 now given you, it appears, that the law and 
 the gofpel are the fame religion under dif- 
 ferent forms : for they have the fame namei 
 and are diftinguilhed by the fame charac- 
 ter ; that is, by the great principle of faithy 
 which is eflential to both. To thefe two 
 general reafons, I fhall now fubjoin as 
 many particular ones as are neceffary, from 
 the Epiftle under our confideration ; in all 
 of w^hich it is required of me to fhew, that 
 as the principle of faith is common to both 
 Teftaments, fo the articles of faith were in 
 general the fame, 
 
 I. We have feen already, that the Son 
 of God had been revealed to the Hebrews 
 as the Creator of the world, and fitting at 
 
 the 
 
to the Hebrews^ j^^ 
 
 the right hand of God, in certain paffages^ LECT, 
 of which the worft of the Jews did not ^ .-«^ 
 
 difpute the application ; and with all this, 
 that he (hould yet be partaker of fiejh and 
 bloody'^ and in all things made like unto his 
 brethren ; as Mofes had before declared in 
 the law j the Lord thy God will raife up unto 
 thee a prophet from the midjl of thee^ of thy 
 brethren^ like unto me, -f* So particular is 
 this prophecy, that it is twice given in the 
 book of Deuteronomy^ and twice reafoned 
 from in the A5ls of the Apoftles^ firft by St. 
 Peter^ and afterwards by St. Stephen^ in 
 their difcourfes to the Jews. J 
 
 1. The neceffity of mediation with God 
 on the behalf of man. Was fignified by the 
 priefthood of the law ; to teach the people, 
 that prayer could not be heard, nor fia 
 pardoned, without a prieft to intercede^ and 
 blood to expiate. But then, that this was 
 only a figurative priefthood, a figurative 
 interceffion, a figurative atonement, ferv- 
 ing for a time, to defcribe what fhould 
 
 ^ Chap. ii. 14. f Deut. ch. xviii. 15. iS, 
 
 % A(5ts iii. 22^ and vii. 37, 
 
 A a 2 come 
 
256 LeElures on the Epifrle 
 
 LECT. come after, and fuperfede the defcriptive 
 w^w fervices of the law ; the apoflle here proves 
 from the Old Teftament itfelf, where a 
 prophet pronounces them infufficlent : 
 in .burnt offerings and facrifices for Jin that 
 haji had no plea fur e — I'ben [aid he^ lo^ I come 
 to do thy wilU O God. He taketh away the 
 fir fly that he may ejlahlijlo the fecond'^"^ that 
 is, he taketh away the fervices of the law, 
 that he may bring in Chrift to do the will 
 of God. In the volume of the book it had 
 been written of him ; for the book of the 
 law fpoke this language in every part of 
 it, that Chrift fhould come to do the will 
 of God for our fandification. 
 
 3. The law fhewed moreover, how 
 this (liould be efFedled : for it was dedicated 
 with bloody and its precepts and promifes 
 were called a Tfefiament, that is, a Willy fuch 
 as is made and witneffed amongft men for 
 the conveying and fettling an inheritance 
 in a lawful way. Hence it followed, that 
 no fervice could be accepted without the 
 offering of blood; and that the death of 
 
 * Chap. X. 6. 9, 
 
 the 
 
to the Hebrews, 
 
 3S7 
 
 the tejlator fhould intervene, before the LECT, 
 promifes of God could defcend to his ^ — . — ' 
 children. So argues the apoftle: * for 
 this caufe he is the mediator of the New 
 Tejiament ; that by means of deaths for the 
 redemption of the tranfgrejjions that were un- 
 der the firji Tefiament (and could not be 
 purged away by the blood of animals) 
 thsy which are called might receive the pro- 
 mife of eternal inheritance. For where a 
 te[i anient is^ there 7nu[l alfo of necejjity be the 
 death of the teftator. For a te/iament is of 
 force after men are dead — whereupoUy neither 
 the fiyji Tejiament was dedicated without 
 blood, 
 
 4. It was alfo foretold, that there fhould 
 be a new covenant-^ t not fuch as was 
 made with the fathers w^hen they were 
 brought out of Egypt, which covenant 
 was confined to a particular people ; but 
 fuch as (hould comprehend all nations, 
 when the fpirit of the divine law fliould 
 be written in the hearts of men, and all 
 
 * Chap, ix, 15. t Chap. viii. 8, &c. 
 
 A a 3 fl:iould 
 
2S^ Lectures on the Eptjlle 
 
 LECT. {liould know the Lord from the leaft to 
 ^— V — ' the greateft. But the old and the new 
 were both contained in the covenant God 
 made with Abraham in the times before 
 the law. In regard to his natural pofterity 
 it was faid, unto thy feed have I given this 
 land from the river of Egypt unto the great 
 river the river Euphrates: this is a temporal 
 promife : but to the fame Abraham it was 
 faid, in thy feed fhall all the nations of the 
 earth he blejjed : this is a fpiritual pro- 
 mife, and is the fame in all refpefls with 
 the chriflian covenant. 
 
 5. With regard to temporal things, the 
 fervants of God in all ages were inftrufted 
 to lock upon the world, and they adlually 
 did look upon it, as we do (or fhould do) 
 now. Upon a principle of faith in God's 
 promife, they who were called out of Egypt 
 under Mofes, fet out upon a progrefs 
 tovv'ard a land which they had never {ttn, 
 and knew only by report ; with many diffi- 
 culties and terrors to encounter by the way 1 
 fo that the hiftory of their journey is an in- 
 ftrudlive pifture of all the trials and dangers 
 
 of 
 
to the Hebrews. 359 
 
 of the chriftian life: and when they were LECT. 
 fettled in the land of promife, their bufinefs ^ — ^ 
 there was not to give themfelves up to the 
 enjoyment of the world, but to fernje God 
 in holinefs and righteoufnefs, and flill to 
 depend upon him for their fupport and 
 defence againfl their enemies. The great- 
 e(l favourites of heaven, who had the heft 
 title to inherit the earth, confidered this 
 life only as a pilgrimage toward a better. 
 Abraham fojourned in the land of promife 
 as in a Jlrange country^ where he was not 
 at home, and dzvelt in tabernacles, to fignify 
 that he had no fixed habitation upon earth, 
 but looked for a city which hath foundations ^ 
 whofe builder and maker is God, Jacob un- 
 derwent a feries of difappointments and 
 forrows; and toward the clofe of his life 
 confeiTed that his days had been few and 
 evlL * Mofes preferred the reproach of 
 Chrijl to the treafures of Egypt: and the 
 iaints and prophets, who came after him, 
 were ready on all occafions to renounce 
 the world in the fpirit of martyrdom ; they 
 fuffered all the contempt and perfecution 
 
 * See Chap, xi, 
 
 A a A the 
 
Le5fures on the Epifile 
 
 the world could inflidt upon them for the 
 trial of their faith, and ran with patience 
 the race that was Jet before ihem^ chufing 
 death itfelf through the hope of a better 
 refurrediion: whence the faints of the law 
 are celebrated and fet forth as examples 
 of faith and patience to the faints of the 
 golpel. How unaccountable therefore has 
 been the error of fome modern divines, 
 fuch as thefe days of refinement have pro- 
 duced, who have contended that the law 
 gave no notice of a future life, and that 
 the Jews were taught to look for nothing 
 under it but temporal rewards : a doctrine 
 fo falfe in itfelf, fo injurious to the word 
 of God, and fo contrary to the preaching 
 of Chrift and his apoftles, that it is con- 
 demned in the articles of the church of 
 England ; the feventh of which affirms, 
 as it ought to do, and as we have fufficient- 
 ly proved already, that ^^ The Old Tefla- 
 ment is not contrary to the New ; for both 
 in the Old and New Teftament, everlafting 
 life is offered to mankind by Chrift, who 
 is the only mediator between God and 
 pian^ being both God and man. Where- 
 fore 
 
to the Hebrews 36 1 
 
 fore they are not to be heard, which feign, LECT. 
 that the old fathers did look only for - , -* 
 tranfitory promifcs." To fliew that they 
 had a better hope, and that their faith was 
 the fame as ours, though their worfliip 
 was of a different form, is the whole de- 
 fign of the Epiflle to the Hebrews, where 
 the Chriftian do6lrines are all deduced from 
 the Old Teflament. Our Saviour, in his 
 argument againft the Sadducees, Math. xxii. 
 31, fliews how the doftrine of a refurrec- 
 tion was taught in that declaration of God 
 to Mofes, '^ 1 am the God of Abraham^ &c." 
 and the argument extends to the whole 
 Old Teflament : for if God, as the God of 
 Abraham, w^as the God of the living, and 
 Abraham ftill lives expelling the refur- 
 reftion of the juft; then the like declara- 
 tion, wherever it occurs, muft yield the 
 fame dodrine ; for that God ihould be 
 the God of the dead, is no more confiftent 
 with his honour in one part of the fcrip- 
 ture than in another. The covenant of 
 God is a covenant of Ife-y and the argu- 
 ment is of equal force whether the relation 
 is applied to thofe who are in the world or 
 
 XQ 
 
Lectures on the Epiftle 
 
 to thofe who are out of it. This life, con- 
 fidered in itfelf, is no better than death ; 
 fvejira h^c^ quce dicifur vita^ mors eji ;J fo 
 that if God, when he called himfelf the 
 God of the Hebrews^ was the God of thofe 
 who had hope only in this life (as a mo- 
 dern divine aflerted for a project) then he 
 was the God of the dead ; and fo the name 
 God of the Hebrews would have been a dif- 
 honourable title, of which, as the apoftle 
 obferves, Heb. xi. i6. God would have 
 been q/Ioamed^ as a title no better than that 
 of a mortal king, whofe power and pro- 
 mifes extend to this life only. 
 
 6. All this is further evident, in that 
 the law promifed a Reji or Sabbath which 
 it never gave ; and therefore, the promife 
 looked forward to that other glorious 
 Sabbath which is to be fulfilled in another 
 life. The apoftle, in explaining the fcrip- 
 ture on this fubjeft, fhews us how the ful- 
 filling of this promife w^as fufpended. 
 That the faithful had a Sabbath of Reft in 
 profpedl after the courfe of their labours, 
 appears from that threatening fentence 
 
 in 
 
to the Hebrews. 363 
 
 m the law, which denied it to thofe who LECT. 
 did not believe. For^ faith the apoftle, ^ — .^ 
 ^:e which have believed do enter into ReJ}^ as 
 he /aid y as I have /worn in my wrath if they 
 fiall enter ifzto my Rejl : although the works 
 w:refiniJldedfrom the foundation of the world'^. 
 Now the queftion is, what the Reft here 
 fpoken of can mean ? It cannot mean that 
 Reft which immediately followed the fix 
 days of the creation, when God did refl on 
 the feventh day from all his works 5 for that 
 Reft of God hi3d been paft and gone from 
 the foundation of the world, when the 
 works of God were finiihed. We muft 
 therefore look for another : and in this 
 enquiry, it may occur, that the Reft to be 
 expected was in the land of Canaan ; be- 
 caufe thofe \vho were precluded from it fell 
 in the wildernefs ; according to what is 
 faid — "f- with whom was he grieved forty 
 years ? Was it not with them that hadfnfiedy 
 whofe car cafes Jell in the wildernefs ? And to 
 whom fware he that they fiould not enter 
 i^to his Refiy but to them that believed not ? 
 
 * Chap, iv, 3. 
 t Chap, ill, i*r, i8. See Nun:ib. xir, 30, and Deut. 
 
 Hence 
 
heBures on the EpifJe 
 
 Hence, I fay, it might be imagined, that 
 the fettlement of the people in Canaan was 
 the Reft with which God was to reward 
 them. But neither can this be the cafe ; 
 becaufe in the prophet David, many ages 
 afterwards, he limiteth the promif^ of this 
 reft to a certain day ; faying, to day, after 
 Jo Img a time ; to day if ye will hear his 
 'vcice, harden not your hearts *. For if Jefus^ 
 as the apoftle argues, (that is, if fojhua^ 
 who is alfo called Jefus) had given them 
 Rejl, {in Canaan) then would he not afttr^ 
 wards have fpoken of another day, There 
 remaineth therefore a Reft to the people of 
 God: that is, in other words, according to 
 the drift of the argument, the Reft pro- 
 pofed to the people of God always meant 
 what it means now^ and that which re- 
 mains to us at this day, after Jo long a time, 
 is the fame that was promifed to the faith- 
 ful of old, Confider the application of 
 the term, and you will fee that the apoftles 
 reafoning muft be true : for it is called the 
 Reft of God—ii they fhall enter into MT 
 RES 2"— and what was that ? It was un- 
 
 * Ch. iii. 7, 8, 
 
 doubtedly 
 
to the Hebrews. ^6^ 
 
 doubtedly a Reft in Heaven, after the works ^^ p T. 
 of the creation were finifhed upon earth: * — , — ' 
 ^e that is entered into his reft, he alfo hath 
 ceajed from his own works as God did from 
 his: therefore it is a Reft, into which no 
 man can enter, till his works upon the earth 
 2X^ finifhed. To thofe who under ftand the 
 language of the law, and the apoftles rea- 
 foning upon it, this is a demonftration, that 
 the law did not reft in temporal promifes. 
 They who lived in faith under the pa- 
 triarchal difpenfation, died in the fame 
 faith ; death could make no change in their 
 creed, becaufe they expefted of God what 
 they could never receive, till their works 
 upon earth were finifhed. Therefore, it is 
 truly faid of them ; thefe all died in faiths 
 7iot having received the promifes ; but having 
 feen them afar offy and were perfiiaded of 
 them^ and embraced them^ and conjejfed that 
 they were fir angers and pilgrims on the earth^. 
 The land of Canaan was not the obje£t of 
 their hope : it was only a fign and a pledge 
 of the goodnefs of God, an earneft of what 
 they were to exped after this life ; there- 
 
 * Ch.xl, 13, &c. 
 
 fore 
 
366 LeBures on the Epi/lle 
 
 ^ ^n '^* ^^^^ ^^^y defired a better country, that is ati 
 ^— -v — ' hea'venly^ and their mortal life was a />//- 
 grimage in queft of it. There never was 
 an age, in which it was not required of 
 the children of God, that they fhould re-^ 
 nounce the world, and prepare themfelves 
 by that difcipline which fhould fit them 
 for a better ftate. Such is the language 
 of the fcripture to them all, under the 
 ieveral names of Patriarchs, Jews, or 
 Chrillians — My fan defp[fe not thou the chaf- 
 te7ring of the Lord^ nor faint when thou art 
 rcbuhd of him : for whom the Lord loveth 
 he chafeneth^ and fcourgeth every fon "whom 
 he receiveth^. 
 
 7. What I propofed to confider in this 
 lefliure hath been fufficiently proved ; 
 namely, that the religion of the people of 
 God was the fame for fubftance under the 
 Old as under the New Teftament; fo that, 
 in fadV, we find but one true religion from 
 the beginning of the world to the end of 
 it i a religion of faith and dependence upon 
 
 ■'■^ Ch. xii, 3. 
 
 God, 
 
to the Hebrews. 367 
 
 God, for his protediton here, and his r^- LECT. 
 wards hereafter. v»,,v^ 
 
 The apoftle having taught us throughout 
 the Epiftle that the fpiritual things of the 
 gofpel, called the good things to come^ were 
 dcfcribed as a body is by its ihadow, under 
 the prieflhood and fervices of the law 5 and 
 that outward forms of worfhip were or- 
 dained to keep up an inward principle of 
 faith in the promifes of God ; fums up 
 his whole doftrine, by (hewing us how 
 faith operated, and what efFe6ls it pro- 
 duced in good men from the beginning of 
 the world ; in order to demonftrate, by 
 their examples, that true religion always 
 was what it now is ; that "Jefus Chrijl is the 
 fatne yefterdayy to day^ and for ever'''' ; that 
 the faith and patience of the gofpel were 
 nothing new ; that the whole revelation of 
 the Old and New Teilament is one con- ^ 
 fiftent fcheme for the falvation of man ; 
 and confequently, that Chriftianity is in- 
 deed, as fome in mockery have advanced, 
 as old as the creation. This is the defign 
 
 * Ch, xiii, 8, 
 
 of 
 
368 LeBures on the Epiftle 
 
 LECT. of the nth chapter, which begins with a 
 V— V— ' definition of faith, as the fuhf tame of things 
 hoped Jor^ the evidence of things notfeen. It 
 is the fubftance of things hoped for, be- 
 caufe nothing can be the object of our hope 
 till it has firft been the objedt of our faith. 
 It is the evidence of things not feen, be- 
 caufe they are capable of no other : the ear 
 is the witnefs of founds, and the eye is the 
 witnefs of vifible objeds ; but faith alone 
 is the faculty which difcerns invifible 
 things, and receives them on the word of 
 God: and if men do not with this faculty 
 admit and embrace them, we fliall not fuc- 
 ceed by reafoning with them. Spiritual 
 things muft be received by a fpiritual fenfe, 
 which fenfe is called y^//j6, and the fcrip- 
 ture tells us, that all men have not faith : 
 and where it is not, all the reafoning upon 
 earth will not produce it ; therefore let no 
 man be fo vain as to think, that his argu- 
 ments will perfuade thofe whom God hath 
 not prefuaded. 
 
 After his defcription of faith, the Apof- 
 tle proceeds to Ihew how it operated in the 
 
 faints : 
 
to the Hebrews » 360 
 
 faints: firft, m Abel^ who offered a bloody LECT. 
 facrifice for the remiflion of fins ; while ^ — . — *, 
 Cain brought only oi xht fruits of the earthy 
 not fignifying his faith in the remiflion 
 of fin by the (hedding of innocent blood. 
 Enoch is fald to have walked with God i 
 which no man can do but by' faith, be- 
 caufe God is invifible : therefore he walked 
 by faith and not by fght, Noah believed 
 that the flood would come upon the earth, 
 v/hen as yet there was no figns of it ; and 
 that his houfe might be faved, when the 
 world fl:iould be drowned, by the prepar- 
 ing of an ark. Abraham gave hlmfelf up 
 to God's diredlion^ and went out in fearch 
 cf a land he had never feen, and did not fo 
 much as know the name of it. He laid 
 liaac upon the altar to be flain, though he 
 ]:jad no ether fon to inherit the promifes - 
 whence his faith concluded, thev would be 
 fecured by his fon's refurre6tion. Jofeph 
 when he was dying, commanded that his 
 bones fliould be carried into Canaan ^ in 
 faith that the vv'holc nation would follow 
 them ; and that the proniifes would be 
 fulfilled to him after his death. Mofcs 
 B b gave 
 
370 LeBures on the Epiftle 
 
 gave up his project of preferment at courts 
 knowing that the miniftry of God and the 
 reproach of Chrift would be attended with 
 a better recompence. The fear of God, 
 whom he did not fee, had more weight 
 with him than the wrath of Pharaoh who 
 was prefent to him. 
 
 By thefe and many other like examples, 
 it is proved, that nothing great or accept- 
 able to God was ever done, but only 
 from a light of things invifible, and the 
 expedlation of what is to come after death. 
 It was this faith which fubdued and caft 
 out the kingdoms of Canaan, wrought 
 righteoufnefs, obtained promifes, flopped 
 the mouths of lions, quenched the vio- 
 lence of fire, efcaped the edge of the 
 fword, and turned to flight the armies of 
 the aliens. 
 
 There are no motives to the obfervation 
 of a Chriftian life more ftriking than thofe 
 w^hich are drawn from the facts of the 
 law. Thefe the Apoftle hath fet before 
 us abundantly in the Epiftle to the He- 
 brews, 
 
to the Hebrews. 
 
 brews, as I may fhew you hereafter. In 
 the mean while the moral of the whole 
 dodlrine hitherto delivered, is to look^ as 
 they did who went before us, unto Jefus 
 the author and Jinijher of our faith -, that 
 feeing him to be the beginning of our 
 ftrength, and the end of our hope; we 
 may follow him through the dangers of 
 life and the terrors of death to that rejl 
 which remaineth for the people of God. 
 
 END OF LECTURE lU 
 
372 Ledlures on the Epijlle 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 ON THE CHHURCH, AS A SPIRITUAL SOCIETY^ 
 WHICH IS THE SAME THING AT ALL 
 TIMES. 
 
 ^^tt'^* /^UR enquiry into the faith of the 
 .' — . — ' \^ ancient fathers fhewed us, that there 
 
 never was more than one true religion in 
 ^ the world : we (hall now difcover, that 
 
 there never has been more than one true 
 
 religious Jociety^ called the Church: and this 
 
 I fhall endeavour to prove, 
 
 Firft, by confidering the nature of the 
 Church, as a fociety. 
 
 Secondly, by confidering the form of it. 
 
 The Church, in its nature^ always was 
 what it now is, a fociety comprehending 
 tht Jouls as well as the bodies of men ; and 
 therefore, confiding of two parts, the one 
 
 fpiritual 
 
to the Hebrews. 373 
 
 fpiritual, anfweringto the foul, the other LECT. 
 outward, anfwering to the body. Hence *^ , ^ 
 fome have written much upon a vifible 
 Church and an invifibky as if they were two 
 things ; hut they are more properly one, as 
 the foul and body make a fingle perfon. 
 
 In the 1 2th chapter of the Epiftle to the 
 Hebrews, the Apoftle gives fuch a defcrip- 
 tion of that fociety, into which Chriftians 
 are admitted, as will (hew us the nature of 
 it. ** Yeare come, fays he, unto Mount 
 Sion, and unto the city of the living God, 
 the heavenly Jerufalem, and to an in- 
 numerable company of angels, to the ge- 
 neral afiembly and Church of the firft born 
 which are written in heaven, and to God 
 the judge of all, and to the fpirits of juft 
 men made perfe<£l ; and to Jefus the Medi- 
 ator of the new covenant, and to the blood 
 of fprinkling that fpeaketh better things 
 than that of Abel"*. The terms here 
 ufed give us a true profpe£l of the Church : 
 let us take them in their order. By Mount 
 Siojjy we are not to underfland the place, 
 
 * Ch. xii, 22. &c, 
 
 B b 3 but 
 
LECT 
 III. 
 
 274 Leliures on the 'Eftjlk 
 
 but the thing Jigmfied^ the heavenly foctefy 
 of God and his faints ; the fame which 
 David in fpirit calls the Hill of the laord^^ 
 whereto the King of Glory was to afcend ; 
 and the Holy Hill of Sion^ fpoken of in the 
 2d Pfalm, on which the Son was to be 
 placed, after the vain oppofition he fhould 
 meet with from the Kings and Rulers of 
 the earth. This is that Zion of the Holy 
 one of IfraeU to which the forces of the 
 Gentiles were to flow from all parts of the 
 world, as the prophet Ifaiah defcribes it^f-; 
 which prophecy was not fulfilled in the 
 literal Sion where the Jews lived. 
 
 This fociety is alfo called the City of the 
 living God^ diflinguifhed from the cities of 
 the world, as JerufVlem v/as from the cities 
 of the heathens : who dedicated their cities 
 not to the living God, but to the names 
 of their dead idols; fiich as were Betb 
 Shemejhy Beth Peor^ and others of that 
 fort. This being then the city of the liv- 
 ing God, muft be an immortal fociety; 
 for the living God does not prefide over 
 
 * Pfalm xxlv, t Ch. Ix. 
 
 dead 
 
to the Hebrews, 57 c 
 
 dead citizens ; he is not the God of the dead LECT, 
 
 III 
 but the God of the livings and all the mem- ^— v-l-' 
 
 bers of this fociety live unto him. This is 
 
 the city, faid to have foundations^ whofe 
 
 builder and maker is God : to this the holy 
 
 Patriarchs looked, as the objed of their 
 
 hope, knowing, that they were even then 
 
 of it, and fhould never be out of it, be- 
 
 caufe the citizens of God never die. It is 
 
 therefore called the heavenly ferufalemy be- 
 
 caufe it is of an heavenly nature : and it is 
 
 called the Jerufalem which is above, which is 
 
 free and is the mother of us all"^ : it Is free 
 
 in its nature, and cannot be brought into 
 
 bondage by the perfecuting powers of this 
 
 world ; and its members are free, becaule 
 
 they are fpiritual ; and fpirits cannot be 
 
 bound. It is the mother of us all\ evea 
 
 of all the families of the earth that are 
 
 admitted into it ; it gives the new birth 
 
 to people of all countries ; it knows no 
 
 diftindlion of Jews or Chriftians, and its 
 
 citizens may live at Athens^ Koine^ or An^ 
 
 tioch. 
 
 Gal. iv, 26, 
 
 Bb 4 
 
 ii- 
 
376 ' Le^ures on the Epijlk 
 
 ^\9J^' Its fpiritual nature is farther declaredj^ 
 L*- — V — ' in that it is faid to comprehend an mnume- 
 rable compajjy of angels: the whole family 
 of heaven is included in it. The Apoflle 
 calls it i\iQ general ajfembly^ becaufe it takes 
 its members from all times and all places : 
 other afibmblies are partial, compofed of 
 the citizens of one city, or the people of 
 one nation. It is i\i^Chu?'ch ofthefirjl born 
 ijoritten in heaven^ becaufe its members, be- 
 ing intitled to the privilege of Inheritance^ 
 are therefore called^r/? born^ to whom the 
 right of inheritance belongs. This is al- 
 fo fpoken with, reference to that cuftom of 
 the law, according to w^hich all the firft 
 born w^ere to he fanBified unto the Lord, 
 and Mofes was commanded to regifter them 
 all, and take the mmber oj their names "" ; 
 with reference to which, the fons of the 
 fpiritual fociety are faid to have their 7ia7nes 
 written in heaven^ where they are regiftered 
 in the book of life. The word Church ex- 
 plains nothing to us in Engliih, but in the 
 Greek it fignifies the company of thofe 
 who are called out of the world to be the 
 
 * Numb. iii. 4c. 
 
 fervants 
 
to the Hebrews. 
 
 ^77 
 
 fervants and citizens of God. Other focie- LECT. 
 ties have their proper judges and rulers; ^" ^ 
 but here, God is t\\Q judge of alh, his law is 
 the rule of judgment, and he rewards and 
 punifhes without fear or favour. In the 
 communion of the Church the Jpirits ofjuji 
 men made perfeB are alfo included. It is a 
 fociety, w^hich admits only the fpirits of 
 the living, and as fuch cannot exclude the 
 fpirits of the dead : and this confirms 
 what we faid above, that the Church is a 
 fpiritual community, comprehending the 
 dead as well as the living : for the beft in- 
 terpretation fuppofes thefe to be the fpirits 
 of the Martyrs, who had finiflied their 
 earthly courfe, and v^ere made perfedf 
 through. fuffermgs after the example of their 
 Saviour. 
 
 The Chrlftlan Church is here defcribed 
 by the old names^ to fhew that it wa*s no 
 new thingy but the fame holy mount of 
 God, the fame heavenly city of God, to 
 which the fpiritual part of his people al- 
 ways belonged : and they knew they did 
 iOi becaufe the living God muft be the 
 
 head 
 
378 LeBures en the Epijlle 
 
 ^\li^' head of a living fociety. They who were 
 ^ — . — ' ignorant of its true nature, difputed about 
 the place where the Church ought to be : 
 the Samaritans contended that it was to be 
 on their mountain ; the Jews faid it was to 
 be only at Jerufalem : but, as a fociety of 
 fpirits, it is no where and every where: 
 the true worjhippers of God are they who 
 vvorfhip him in Jpirit and in truth ; * 
 wherever thefe are, there is that Jertifakm^ 
 which is the mother of us all\ 
 
 The Church being a fociety of a fpiritual 
 kind, is therefore called by the fame names 
 in all ages : Chriftians are faid to be come 
 unto Mount Sion, and Mofes is faid to have 
 been wdth the Church in the wildernefs. 
 The reafonablenefs of which will be farther 
 evident, if we confider the nature of its 
 vocation : it is feparated from the pollu- 
 tions of the world, and called unto holi- 
 nefs of life. Te [hall he holy unto me, faid 
 the Lord 5 Jor I the Lord am holy, and have 
 fevered you from other people that yejhouldbe 
 
 * John iv, 23. 
 
 mine^ 
 
' to the Hebrews. 379 
 
 minej^ For this end the Hebrews were LEcT 
 
 placed In a land by therafelves, that they ^ .^ 
 
 might not be corrupted with the ways of 
 the Gentiles. They had laws and cuftoms 
 of their own, all tending to fecure them 
 from the idolatrous worfliip and wicked 
 manners of the heathens. We Chriftians, 
 who now belong to the Church, are in like 
 manner called out of the world. Our 
 bleffed Saviour, fpeaking of the vocation 
 of his difciples, faith, -f- They are ?tot of the 
 worlds even as I am riot of the world. 
 
 But it is now to be (hewn, fecondly, that 
 as the Church of God hath always been 
 the fame in its ?iafure, it hath likewife pre- 
 ferved the fdxneform in its external oecono- 
 my ; the wifdom of God having fo or- 
 dained, that the Chriftian Church under the 
 gofpel fliould not depart from the model 
 of the Church under the Jaw. For as the 
 congregation of Ifrael was divided into 
 twelve tribes, under the twelve Patriarchs, 
 fo is the Church of Chrift founded on the 
 twelve Apojlles^ who raifed to themfelves a 
 
 * Lev. XX, 26. f John xvli. 16. 
 
 fpiritual 
 
380 LeSlures on the Epljlle 
 
 ^^m^' ^P^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ amongft all the nations of j 
 
 *— ,^ — ' the world. They all had an equal right, | 
 
 to ufe the ftyle of St. Paul \ who fpeaks 
 of his converts, as of his children^ begotten 
 by him to a new life, through the preach- 
 ing of the gofpel : fo that he and all the 
 other Apoftles are to be confidered as the 
 patriarchal progenitors of the whole 
 Chriftiaa people. 
 
 In the new Church we have twelve 
 Apoftles, in the old twelve Patriarchs ; but 
 in the heavenly fociety, where both are 
 united, we find four and twenty 'Elders^ 
 feated about the throne of God, as it was 
 fhewn in the fpirit to St. John. There 
 the faints of all ages look to the Lamb 
 that was flain for the falvation of all. By 
 fome he was expeded; by others he is 
 commemorated : to thofe he was the end 
 of the law; to thefe the beginning of the 
 gofpel ; but to the general aiTembly of 
 them all, he is the obje£l of their faith 
 and hope, and the principle of all true 
 religion from the beginning of the v/orld 
 to the end of it ; the Redeemer of all times, 
 
 the 
 
to the Hebrews. 
 
 the Saviour of all nations. We have reafon 
 to believe, that the Church, even in its 
 glorious and triumphant ftate, fliall ftill 
 be conformed to its primitive divifion j 
 for Chrift affured his apoftles, that when 
 the Son of man fhould fit upon the throne 
 of his glory, they alfo fhouldy?/ upon twelve 
 thrones judging the twelve tribes of T/raeL'^ 
 
 Our Saviour, in choofing the number 
 of thofe whom he appointed to minifter 
 in his Church, was pleafed to obferve a 
 ftridt conformity to the number of rulers 
 under the law. Befides his twelve apoftles, 
 he appointed oi\\Qv feventy 2\(o : the num-^ 
 htvfeventy agrees to that of the Elders, who 
 were appointed to affift Mofcs in his mi- 
 niftry.*^ 
 
 A farther examination will teach us, 
 that the priefthood of the gofpel was 
 formed very exactly upon that of the law. 
 Aaron was appointed as an high prieft for 
 the fervice of the tabernacle ; under whom 
 the fons of Aaron conftituted an inferior 
 
 * Matth. xix. aS, f See Numb, xi, i6. 25. 
 
 order 
 
3? 2 LeSlures on the Epijik 
 
 LECT, order of priefls, divided afterwards under 
 ^— V — ' David and Solomon into four and twenty 
 courfes, all regularly officiating in their 
 turns. Below thefe there was the order of 
 the Levites, who affifted the priefls in all 
 the fervices of the temple. There were 
 then three orders of priefls in the Jewifh 
 Church : there was the high prieft, and 
 the fons of x'\aron, and the Levites. In 
 the Church of Chrift there was the order 
 of the Apojiles ; be fides whom there were 
 the feventy d'lfciples fent out after them ; 
 and laft of all, the Deacons were ordained, 
 to ferve under both in the lower offices of 
 the Church. The fame form is ftill prc- 
 ferved in every regular Church of the 
 world, which derives its fucceffion and 
 authority from the Church of the Apoftles; 
 after whom the Bifiops facceeded by their 
 appointment; fuch as 'Timothy and Titus 
 were in their refpedlive Churches. This 
 authority has been oppofed in the Chriftian 
 as it was in the Jewifli Church : Corah and 
 his company rofe up againft Mofes and 
 Aaron, for ufurping a lordly authority 
 over the people: io^ in the later ages of 
 
 the 
 
to the Hebrews. 383 
 
 the Chriftlan Church, a levelling principle LECT. 
 hath prevailed, which has appeared in ^-^^ 
 many different (hapes. In fome it objeds 
 to the order of BiJIoopSi as an ufurpation 
 of long ftanding in the Church : in others, 
 it argues for an equality of authority in 
 all Chriftians, becaufe all the congregation 
 are holy ^ herein making no difl:ind:ion be- 
 tween holinefs of per/on and holinefs of 
 ojice. Thus hath the authority of the 
 Church been troubled with arguments and 
 objedions, the fame as in the times of old, 
 and proceeding from the fame fpirit of 
 rebellious oppofition, under the difguife of 
 fuperior fanftity. It was foretold to the 
 church by the Apoftle, that of their own 
 /elves men fhould arife /peaking perverfe things 
 to draw away di/ciples after them^^ as Corah 
 and his company rofe out of the congre- 
 gation itfelf, and drew the people after 
 them. Unlefs it were fo, the Church of 
 Chrift would not be conformed, as it 
 ought to be, to the Church of Ifrael. 
 Though the cafe is lamentable, yet thus 
 it muft be: // muji be that offences come: 
 
 * Ads XX, 30. 
 
 the 
 
384 Ledlures on the Epijlle 
 
 ^ n?'^* the authority of the priefthood muft be 
 ^— V — ' oppofed, and the Church muft be divided, 
 if the fcriptures are verified ; but woe unto 
 them by whom the offence co77ieth. 
 
 The Church under the gofpel hath alfd 
 been provided for as it was under the law, 
 by the tenths of all the fruits of the earth, 
 fet apart for the maintenance of its mi- 
 nifters. The antiquity of this provifion 
 is fo great, that we cannot trace it up to 
 its beginning. Abraham gave the t^ths 
 of the fpoils to Melchizedec^ long before the 
 age of Mofes ; and therefore the law only 
 eftabliflied what had been inftituted in 
 the earlieft times of the Patriarchs. The 
 Chriftian Church followed the fame rule 
 in all countries, as foon lis it obtained a 
 regular eftablifliment ; and the apoflle ar- 
 gues for the propriety of it from the law 
 of Mofes. T>o ye not know^ faid he, that 
 ihey which minljler about holy^ things^ live oj 
 the things of the temple ? and they which wait 
 at the altar are p.nrtahrs with the altar ? 
 'Even fo hath the Lord ordained^ that they 
 which preach the gofpel Jhould live of the 
 
 gofpel 
 
to the Hebrews. 385 
 
 gofpel'^. Here it is evidently intended, -^ n?^' 
 that the pradlice of the law fliould be ' — * — 'j 
 taken as a precedent for the times of the 
 gofpel ; and that as it was then, even fo it 
 ought to be now: but the clergy then re- 
 ceived the tenths, &c. which were confe** 
 crated by God's appointment ; therefore it 
 is his ordinance that they (liould receive 
 the fame now ; otherwife the cafes would 
 not be parallel. 
 
 During the perfecutions under which 
 the Chriftian Church fiiffered at its firft 
 appearance, its fupport by pecuniary con- 
 tribution, and the fale of private property 
 may feem to have authorized a new rule, 
 different from that of the law of Mofes. 
 But we can draw no concluiion, becaufe 
 of the neceffity of that time* In regular 
 times the old rule will take place: and if 
 the Church (hould again fall into didrefs, 
 it muft again depend upon the devotions 
 of the congregation. 
 
 There is likewife a conformity in all 
 the fervices and miniftrations of the church. 
 
 * 1 Cor. ix, 13. 
 
 C c The 
 
386 Lectures on the Epijlle 
 
 The law had its wafhlngs and purifications, 
 as we have the purification of water bap- 
 tifm. They had the paflbver in figure as 
 we have it in truth ; for Chrift our pajfover 
 isfacrificed for us ; and we keep that feaft 
 as a memorial of our redemption, as they 
 commemorated their deliverance from 
 Egypt by the offering of the Pafcal Lamb. 
 He was no Jew who did not celebrate the 
 Paffover ; and he is no Chriftian who neg^ 
 levfls the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
 As they had manna in the wildernefs to fup- 
 port them, we have the true bread from 
 heaveny Without which we cannot pafs 
 through the wildernefs of this world to 
 the heavenly Canaan. They added their 
 prayers to the incefife of the temple, as we 
 offer up our prayers through the merits of 
 Chrifl> whereby they are recommended 
 and made acceptable. There was a cenfer 
 for incenfe wuthin the veil, as Chrift inter- 
 cedes for us in the prefence of God. Let 
 my prayer, fays the Pfalmift, be fet forth in 
 thy fght as the inceiije ; thereby ihewing us 
 what was intended in that part of their 
 fervice: arid when Zechaiiah, the father of 
 
 John 
 
to the Hebrews, 387 
 
 John the Baptift, offered incenfe in the LT^CT, 
 temple, there came a voice from heaven ^ — ^ — ' 
 which affured him that his prayers were 
 heard. As thefe things have been con- 
 fidered more at large in the 4th and 5th 
 Led u res on the figurative language of the 
 fcripture^ it may fuffice to obferve, that as 
 Jefus Chrift is called the minijier of the true 
 tabernacle^ all the fervices of the old taber- 
 nacle are verified under his priefthood ; fo 
 that not one jot or tittle of the law is found 
 to fail. 
 
 The Church has alfo been remarkably 
 conformable to itfelf in its fufferings. 
 There never was a time, i<i far as we can 
 learn, when the true Church of God, with 
 its dodrines and inftltutions was not hated 
 and oppofed by the world; either perfe- 
 cuted and oppreffed by powerful tyrants, 
 or traduced and infulted by lying hiftor 
 rians. From Abel downwards, a reftlefs 
 worldly fpirit of unbelief has contradicted 
 the worfhip of the true God, and troubled 
 his people. The Hebrews were held in 
 abomination by the Egyptians, and treated 
 C c 2 as 
 
388 LeBures on the Upijlte 
 
 L E C T. as flaves ; though the nation had been faved 
 ^.-v^ from famine, and its policy reformed and 
 eftablifhed under an Hebrew, They plot- 
 ted to extirpate the whole face of them, 
 by cafting every man-child into the river. 
 When the Church was fettled in Canaan, 
 all the neighbouring nations of idolaters 
 were as thorns in their fides, detefting 
 their religion, and fighting againft them 
 at every opportunity. The Chaldaeans led 
 them into captivity, and detained them 
 for feventy years, with a view to make 
 them forget their religion \ the practice of 
 which they alfo endeavoured to render 
 impoflible by the demolition of their 
 temple. Antiochus murdered the Mac-^ 
 cabees, and haraffed the whole people on 
 account of their faith. 
 
 The fame fpirit, adling on the fame 
 principles, aflBidled the Chriftian Church 
 with ten bloody perfecutions; and there 
 never was a time when it was not mifre- 
 prefented by lying reports and malicious 
 accufations. Truth and godlinefs have 
 always been diftinguifhed by the world's 
 
 ill-will 
 
to the Hebrew s» 389 
 
 ili-will towards them ; and if there be 
 any particular Church now, which is hated 
 and railed at more than the reft, by Papifts 
 on one fide and the Seftaries on the other, 
 I will venture to pronounce from this 
 circumftance only, that wherever that 
 Church can be found, it will prove to be, 
 in its doBrine and profejiony the pureft 
 c:harch of Chrift upon earthy 
 
 The authority and difcipline of the 
 Church (which are the laft things I fhall 
 fpeak of) have been the fame in all ages 
 by God's appointment; as being founded 
 on two reafons which are of perpetual obli- 
 gation. The Church having the charge of 
 the divine oracles, and being the guardian 
 of the divine law, muft have authority to 
 preferve it, by punifhing thofe who offend 
 againft it ; and being a fociety or body 
 corporate, muft always have had (what is 
 common to all lawful focieties) a right of 
 preferving itfelf by a power over its owa 
 members. 
 
 The authority of office in the Church 
 C c 3 always 
 
396 Ledlures on the Eptjlle 
 
 ^\\i^' ^^^^y^ ^^^» ^"^ now is, from God lilm-^ 
 *--v — ' felf : no man can take the hojiour of thci 
 J)riefthodd, but he that is called ofGod^ as 
 was Aaron: and the perfon fo in veiled is 
 accountable to God for the exercife of his 
 authority, and not to the ".vorld ; becaufe 
 the objeft in view is the prefervatlon of 
 God's kvV for the falvation of his people* 
 Therefore, every tranfgrejjion and difohedienct 
 received a ju ft recompence of reward ^^ and, 
 be that defplfed Mofes's law died without 
 mercy under two or three witnefes'f. The 
 fame power (mutatis mutandis') was with 
 the Chriftain Church ; and they are com- 
 manded by the apoftle to watch over their 
 members, and look diligently^ left any man 
 fail of the grace of God; lejl any root of bitter^ 
 nefs fpringing up, trouble them, and thereby 
 many be defiled\ . No fociety can long fur* 
 vive, when its dicipline is loft^ becaufe 
 the manners of men, when unreftrained, 
 tend univerfally to diffolution. The Church 
 has undoubtedly, as it always had, a divine 
 right to preferve the faith, to puni(h its 
 own members by cenfures, deprivations, 
 
 * Heb. ii, 2, I Ch. x. 28. t Ch. xii, t j. 
 
 and 
 
to the Hebreibs. 3QI 
 
 and excommunications ; and exercife fach L^^'^- 
 difcipline as is neceffary to prevent the ^ — ^— ^ 
 gates of hell from prevailing againft it. 
 
 When we confider the degeneracy of the 
 times, and the corruption of all orders of 
 people ; the infolence of offenders, and the 
 weaknefs of authority ; it fhould not make 
 us fretful and difobedient; it (hould only 
 difpofe us to pray for that blefled day, 
 when the Church of Chrift fhall be rcfiored 
 to its purity againft the corruptions, and 
 to its authority againft the encroachments 
 of the world; when he, who drove the 
 buyers and fellers out of his temple, fliall 
 again purge his Church of thofe that dif- 
 grace and defile it ; when they who have 
 defpifed and oppreffed it, as if it had been 
 made for them to trample upon, fhall 
 themfelves lick the duft with their teeth 
 broken. 
 
 I have taken much pains to explain the 
 
 matter of this Epiftle to the Hebrews, 
 
 becaufe it connects the Old and New 
 
 Teftament, and gives light to both. It 
 
 C c 4 redtifies 
 
392 LeUurcs on the Epijik 
 
 ^ ^in'^* reftifies many miftakes of fuperficlal Chrif- 
 >-^ — ' tians, who fuppofe that Chriftianity was a 
 iiew thing when it was preached by the 
 apoftles, becaufe Chrift was then newly 
 come in the flefli ; whereas it was only the 
 perfection of that doftrine, and that Church, 
 which had fubfifted from the beginning of 
 the world. Hence alfo we learn the infinite 
 importance of the facraments and infti- 
 tutions of the Church, of which many 
 ChrilHans in thefe days have a poor low 
 underilanding. The confufion which fol- 
 lowed upon the reformation brought many 
 to a deplorable flate of ignorance ; out of 
 which they cannot be recovered, but by 
 following that admonition of the prophet— 
 Thus faith the Lord, Jland ye in the ways and 
 Jee^ and afk for the old paths, where is the 
 good way, and walk therein^ and ye pall 
 find reft for your fouls *. 
 
 * Jer, vi, i6j 
 
 END OF LECTURE lU. 
 
U the Hebrews. 393 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE MORAL OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES, 
 AS STATED IN THE EPISTLE TO THE 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 THIS Epiftle doth not only (hew LECT, 
 us the harmony of the Old and New v^^-l^ 
 Teftament, and explain the great dodrine 
 of faith with all the depth of divine learn- 
 ing ; but gives us the beft precepts, and 
 the weightieft reafons, for a godly and 
 chriftian life ; which all who ftudy this 
 part of the fcripture fiiould lay up in their 
 hearts ; that they may be doers of the word 
 and not hearers only. Thefe precepts and 
 reafons I (hall therefore colled and enforce 
 to your confidcration, as they occur to us 
 in the courfe of the Epiftle. 
 
 The Apoftle having defcribed the dignity 
 of the Son of God, thus argues ; that if 
 he was fo great, how important muft that 
 
 way 
 
LeBures on the Epijt!e 
 
 way of falvation be, which he preached 
 to the world ? How necefiary muft it be 
 for us to attend to it ? and how dreadful 
 will the confequences be if we do not ? 
 If the law of Mofes, publiflied by inferior 
 miniiiers, was fo ftridly enforced, and 
 every offence againft the honour of it fo 
 feverely puniflied ; how fiall we efcape if we 
 negleB the great falvation publifhed by Jefus 
 Chrift ? This is the purport of his reafon- 
 ing ; and now let us confider the weight 
 of it. If God defcends from heaven to 
 teach, there muft be fome great reafon for 
 his coming, which will render thofe ex- 
 ceedingly guilty who do not hear him. 
 Therefore it mufl: be our duty to liften to 
 his words, and ftudy his doctrine, that 
 we may underftand it and receive the be- 
 nefit of it for the falvation of our fouls. 
 We may put this off as a matter of no con- 
 fequence, and efcape for the prefent. The 
 man who tells us of thefe things out of a 
 pulpit, has no power to punifh us ; but 
 heverthelefs God will not be negleiled : 
 he who vindicated his law, fhall vindicate 
 his gofpel; and then what will become of 
 
 us ? 
 
io the Hebrews. 3O5 
 
 iis? what (hall we fay for ourfelves in that LECT. 
 dreadful day, when the reafonings and re- ^ — - — ' 
 ferves of every heart (hall be expofed and 
 Confuted ? If the queftion is demanded of 
 us, how it came to pafs, that we were fo 
 ignorant of the gofpel, and fo inattentive 
 to its inftrudion? (hall we anfwer, that 
 we were too bufy ? What greater bufinefs 
 can arty man (ind in this vain world, than 
 to provide for the faving of his foul ? If 
 his bufinefs could bring the whole world 
 into his po(re(Gon, what good would that 
 do him? The man that had the whole 
 world for his own, would probably be the 
 greateft fool in it; and care or pleafure 
 would foon deftroy him. Yet they who 
 can get but a very fmall part of the world, 
 and muft foon lofe even that, make their* 
 bufinefs an excufe, and have no time to be- 
 ftow upon their evcrlafting intereft. 
 
 The importance of the falvation (poken 
 of in the text is farther fhewn, by the 
 manner in which it was recommended to 
 the world. It was attefted by figns and 
 wonders and divers miracles, and gifts of 
 
 the 
 
39^ LeBures on the EplfJe 
 
 LECT. the Holy Ghoft; all intended to ralfe the 
 ^ — ^ attention of mankind, and convince them 
 that they muft be loft if they negleded 
 to hear what was fo powerfully recom- 
 mended. Add to all this the amiable, as 
 well as the excellent, charafter of its great 
 Preacher ; whofe life was fpent in teach- 
 ing; whofe only bufinefs in the world 
 was to fave thofe, many of whom are too 
 bufy to hear him. He condefcended to 
 the ignorance of the poor; was com- 
 paflionate to finners ; argued patiently 
 with the perverfe and obftinate ; and ac- 
 commodated himfelf to the wants of all. 
 At laft he tafted death for every man ; for 
 you that hear, and for me that fpeak ; 
 and by his exaltation after his fufFerings 
 hath (hewed us the encouragement wc 
 have, and the reward we {hall receive, if 
 we follow his example. Nothing but 
 hardnefs of heart can hinder us from par- 
 taking of the benefits of our heavenly 
 calling; as it hindered the people in the 
 wildernefs from reaching the promifed 
 land. We are therefore to take heedy as the 
 Apoftle forewarns us, lejl there be in any of 
 
 us 
 
to the Hebrews. 397 
 
 ns an evil heart of unbelief in departing from LECT* 
 the living God, This Egypt, this wicked « — -— ' 
 world, in which we live, muft not with- 
 draw our afFeftions, and put us out of 
 humour with the manner and the way of 
 trial, by which God (hall be pleafed to 
 carry us forward in our progrefs through 
 this wildernefs. And we are to exhort 
 one another againft the deceitfulnefs offn.^ 
 We can fee how grofsly the difobedient 
 Ifraelites were deceived^ in preferring Egypt 
 to Canaan ; and we wonder at them, that 
 they fliould be fo perverfe and brutifli : 
 let us then not be cheated as they were* 
 How did it happen that they were be- 
 guiled of their inheritance ? They did not 
 believe the promifes of God ; and if we are 
 deceived, it muft be for the fame reafon- 
 The Reft of Canaan was better than the 
 bondage of Egypt ; and the fervice of God 
 is better to us now than the bondage of 
 fin ; which can only interrupt the hap^ 
 pinefs of the fervants of God, and fill 
 them with difappointment and bitternefs, 
 Miferable is the fituation of a chriftian, 
 
 * Heb, iii. 13. 
 
 who, 
 
39^ LeSures on the Epijlle 
 
 LECT. who does not look forward, and prefs for- 
 «— -v — ' ward, to the promifed Reft. He has left 
 Egypt ; and there is no better entertain- 
 ment in this wildernefs, than the hope of 
 getting well out of it. But if inftead of 
 this, he is only looking back and wifhing 
 for the world which he has renounced ; 
 he is that double minded man, who is un-^ 
 Jiable in all his ways; neither a man of the 
 world, nor a chriftian; neither eafy with 
 God, nor without him. There cannot be 
 a more unprofitable and unhappy charafter. 
 It is faid of the Ifraelites in the wildernefs, 
 that their heart was not whole with God, 
 neither continued they fteadfaft in his 
 covenant. How many fall under the fame 
 cenfure ! they give a portion of their heart 
 to God, and another much greater to the 
 world. 
 
 When the Apoftle is entering upon the 
 more myfterious parts of this Epiftle, he 
 upbraids the Hebrews with their unlkil- 
 fulnefs in the word of God. They con- 
 tented themfelves with the firft elements 
 of chriftian inftruftion, and neglefted the 
 
 myfteries 
 
to the Hebrews^ ^09 
 
 myfteries of the fcriptures ; living, as chil- LECT. 
 dren do, upon milkt with little appetite ^— v-^ 
 and ftrength to admit more folid nouri(h. 
 ment.* Some think they are learned 
 enough, if they never get beyond their 
 catechifm : fome never get fo far. And 
 it is common to plead in excufe, that little 
 as their knowledge is, they know more 
 good than they do, and have already more 
 learning than they pradlife : not confidering 
 that the fcripture abounds with many great 
 and excellent myfteries, which have no- 
 thing pradical in them, but fo far only 
 as they elevate the mind, and by bringing 
 our afFecSions nearer to God, difpofe \x% 
 to do his will with more love and chear* 
 fulnefs; and confequently to do more of \X^ 
 and to better efFe£l : which is a matter of 
 infinite importance, and now too little at* 
 tended to. The Chriflian muft be pro- 
 greffive; he muft go on from the begia^ 
 ning of knowledge to the perfedlion \ of it^ 
 He ought to know more of God every day ; 
 otherwife he may think of him lefs, till 
 he totally forgets him: and then he is \v^ 
 
 * See Chap, v, 12, 13, f Chap, vj, i, 
 
 danger 
 
400 LeSiures on the Epiflk 
 
 LECT. danger of falling into that ftate, out oi 
 "^ — , — ' which men cannot be renewed unto re- 
 pentance. When the gofpel, which a man 
 had received, has not power to lead him 
 forward, there is no new gofpel to awaken 
 him : when the moft powerful medicine 
 God ever made hath lofl its eifefl^ what 
 other can we apply ? 
 
 So long as the foul is in a growing {iate^ 
 the bleffing of heaven continues with it, 
 and the grace of God brings it on to far- 
 ther improvement : but if it is out of cul- 
 ture, thorns and briars get poffeffion of it, 
 and its end is to be burned. When thorns 
 and briars fhall be planted in Paradife, 
 then fuch carelefs Chriftians may exped to 
 be admitted into heaven. 
 
 From the confideration of Chrift's Prieft- 
 hood, we are exhorted to draw near with 
 
 faiths and partake of his bleflmg, by at- 
 tending upon his Church and his ordi- 
 nances ; not jorfakmg the ajfembling our-^ 
 
 fehes together as the manner of Jome is.^ 
 
 * Ch. X. 22, &c. 
 
 The 
 
to the Hebrews*, 40 1 
 
 The Jews, I fear, in the word of times, "^-^y '^^ 
 were more zealous in attending their pub- ' — « — '-. 
 lie fervices and facrifices, than fome of 
 thofe who call themfelves Chriftians. In 
 the beft days of the Church, it was always 
 the manner of fome few to abfent them- 
 felves from the religious aflemblies of the 
 Chriftians : but what would St. Paul have 
 faid, if he had lived to thefe times, when 
 perhaps not one half of the people are at 
 the public prayers j not one quarter of 
 them at the facrament? and they have no 
 perfecution to fear, as^the primitive Chrif- 
 tians had ; who attended their worfhip at 
 the hazard of their lives. It muft be ow* 
 ing to mere idlenefs and indifference; for 
 however bufinefs may be pleaded on the 
 ordinary days of the week, it cannot be 
 pleaded on a Sunday. This truth I muft 
 fuppofe them to know; that if their Saviour 
 is a Priejly they muft partake of xh^ /acrijice 
 he offers for their falvation. But there is 
 another dreadful truth, which they do not • 
 think of; that, to thofe, who do not par- 
 take of this facrifice for fin, there remain- 
 €th no other '^ but a c^vtdXn fearful looking 
 
 D d for ^ 
 
Lectures on the Epijlle 
 
 for of judgment and fiery indignation^ which 
 Jhall devour the adverfaries. If he who de- 
 fpifed Mofes law died without mercy ^ of how 
 much forer punifiment fhall they be thought 
 worthy^ who do this defpite to the fpirit of 
 graccy^ by negleding the great atonement 
 that was made by Chrift: himfelf for the fins 
 of the world ? It is a fearful thing to fall 
 into the hands of the living God, t and be 
 made an example of divine vengeance : and 
 what elfe can they expeft, who refufe to 
 accept of the facrifice of Chrift, by which 
 alone the fiery indignation of God can be 
 turned away from their own perfons ? No 
 words are fufficient to exprefs their danger: 
 O that they could fee it themfelves, and 
 w^ould confider of it, and not truft to fuch 
 frivolous excufes as wdll ftand them in no 
 flead in the day of viiitation ! 
 
 To encourage us in our Chriftian war- 
 fare, the Apoftle fets before us at large 
 the examples of the Saints of old, who 
 were all fayed by leading a life of faith : j 
 
 * Chap. X. 26. &c. t Chap. x. 31. 
 
 X See Chap, xl, of this Epiftle, 
 
 enduring 
 
 1 
 
L E C T. 
 IV. 
 
 to the Hebrews. 403 
 
 enduring every trial, and conquering every 
 enemy, on this great principle. There 
 never was any other way of falvation from 
 the beginning of the world, but this way 
 of faith. All the Saints of God who 
 found acceptance with him, depended upon 
 his word and promife for fuch things as 
 they could not fee; and either forfook the 
 pleafures of the world, or contradifted its 
 errors, and endured its reproaches, for his 
 fake. We may plead the bufinefs of life, 
 and the cares of life ; but they had their 
 bufinefs and their cares as well as we ; 
 yet they loved God, and made it their firft 
 care to be faved. The race we are to run 
 may have its difficulties : indeed, if it is a 
 racey it cannot be without them : but we 
 are encompajfed with a cloud ofwitnejfes^^ all 
 teftifying that this RACE may be run, 
 and the prize obtained; becaufe they did 
 aftually perform it, and are entitled to the 
 crown of viftory. What hinders us from 
 doing the fame ; but that we are retarded 
 by fome weighty which we are not careful 
 to diveft ourfelves of and lay afide f We 
 
 * Chap. xii. i, 
 
 D d 2 do 
 
404 heBures on the Epljlle 
 
 LECT. do not ftrive againft that fin, whatever it 
 * — r-^ may be, which moft eafily befets us, and 
 is never to be fubdued but by faith, and 
 prayer, and felf-denial ; faith in better 
 things than this world can beftow; and 
 prayer for that grace which may affift us 
 in doing what our ftrength will never ac- 
 complifh. 
 
 Great is the influence which the ex- 
 ample of God's faithful fervants will have 
 upon our minds, if we meditate upon it. 
 They were men of like paffions with our- 
 felves, and were not without their weak- 
 neffes : Sin put on the fame deceitful ap- 
 pearance to them as to us : and they had 
 the fcorn of an overbearing world to re- 
 lift, as we have now. Their example, 
 while it inftrudls, will animate and en- 
 courage us. But greater than all is the 
 example of our blefled Saviour himfelf : 
 therefore we are direded to look unto Jefus 
 the author and Jinificr of our jalth^ who for 
 the joy that was fet before h'lm endured the 
 crofs, dejpifing the Jfjame, and is Jet down at 
 the right hand of God."^ What are the 
 
 ** Chap, xii. z, 
 
 troubles 
 
to the Hebrews. 40J 
 
 troubles we are accuftomed to, compared ^^^^' 
 with the agonies of the crofs ? What is '^ — ^ — * 
 the contempt of filly empty people, who 
 call thcmfclves the world, compared with 
 the difgrace of hanging naked as a male- 
 faftor before a multitude, who mocked at 
 the pnnifhment as a proof that he who 
 fufFered it was an impoftor ? Nothing was 
 ever fo full of apparent difgrace, as the 
 character of Jefus Chrift at his paffion. 
 How diftreffing, and almoft diftradting is 
 it, to be innocent, and yet feem to be 
 guilty ? This is a piercing trial to aa 
 honefl mind. To afFedt to be great when 
 we are mean, and powerful when we are 
 weak, expofes us to the fcorn of every 
 enemy ; and this the enemies of Chrift 
 laid to his charge, and gratified themfelves 
 with every malicious expreflion that could 
 add to the apparent infamy of his fuiFer- 
 ings. Yet all this fhame he patiently en- 
 dured, for the joy that was fct before him. 
 This we are to confider under all our trials. 
 God does not lay upon us any grief or 
 chaftening, for its own fake; but to cor- 
 rect our minds, and give us a title to that 
 D d 3 joy. 
 
4o6 Le^fures on the Epijlle 
 
 ^?v ^* joy, which fhall be the reward of patient 
 ^-. — ' fufFering. Thus we (hall not be weary and 
 faint in our minds. I grant it is a fevere 
 trial to mortal man, to deferve good and 
 receive evil : but to this w^e are all called, 
 as the followers of a crucified Saviour. 
 The Son of God was made perfect through 
 
 Jiiffcrings ; and if God is our father, we 
 muft expedt that he will chaften us ; if 
 he does not, then are we bajlards and not 
 
 fons^. Baftards are often forfaken by their 
 parents, and left to grow up without cor- 
 rection; confequently to be brought by 
 the tendency of their unreformed nature 
 to mifery and deftrudion : but no Chrif- 
 tian would wi(h for fuch a privilege : he 
 judges it far better to fuffer in hope, thaa 
 to be at his eafe, as one whom God hath 
 negleded. 
 
 From the defcriptlon given of the Church 
 as a fpirjtual fociety, the Chriftian is to 
 learn the dignity of his own charader, 
 and to condudl himfelf in a manner fuitable 
 tQ his ftation. He feems outwardly like 
 
 - Chap, xjij S, 
 
 Other 
 
to the Hebrews* 407 
 
 other men; but inwardly he has an hon- LK^CT 
 ourable place in the kingdom of fpirits : ^ — - — * 
 he is in the company of angels, faints, and 
 martyrs; he is under the dominion of God 
 as his king and lawgiver ; he is a ftudent 
 of wifdom in the fchool that has fent out 
 fo many fons unto glory ; he is within the 
 covenant that is fealed by the blood of 
 Chrift for his purification and redemption ; 
 his name is regiftered in heaven, as an 
 heir of immortality : he knows that while 
 the mighty empires of the earth are chang- 
 ing and palling away into oblivion, the 
 kingdom of which he is a member fhall 
 never be moved ^. I'he earth JJoall be fiaken^ 
 and the heavens fliall melt away ; but his 
 inheritance is fecure. The fame God who 
 is a confumingfire to an impenitent v^orld, 
 will be to him a Protestor and a Saviour, 
 if he ferves him acceptably^ in this fliort 
 time of his probation, with reverence and 
 godly Jear. 
 
 The laft chapter of the Epiftle confifts 
 wholely of exhortations, relating to the 
 
 * Chap, xii, 28, 
 
 D d 4 great 
 
4o8 LeBures on the Epifile 
 
 ^j^'^- great duties of charity, purity, fubmiffion, 
 >~v— ^ and a detachment from the world. 
 
 All parties of men are bound together 
 by a common intereft; which, though in 
 fome cafes even wicked and abfurd, and 
 little better than a confpiracy, will have 
 its eiFeft in difpofing them to efpoufe the 
 caufe, and prefer the company and con- 
 verfation of one another. Now as there 
 is no common intereft fo important as 
 that of Chriftians, it ought to produce 
 fuch a friendihip as is fuperior to every 
 other relation or connexion. Remember 
 them that are in bonds ^ fays the Apoflle, as 
 hound with them ; that is, as confidering that 
 they are members of the body of Chrift, 
 and that one member cannot fuffer without 
 afFedling the reft. The fame rule is ap- 
 plicable to every other condition of lifej 
 as if it had been faid; remember them that 
 are foor^ as partaking of their poverty ; 
 remember them that are fick^ as being fick 
 with them : for thence we fhall feel the 
 fame obligation to relieve them as to 
 relieve ourfetves; and much greater com- 
 fort, 
 
io the Hebrews.' 409 
 
 fort, becaufe tt is more blejfed to give than ^3^^'^- 
 to receive, ^ — * — ' 
 
 Purity of life is another virtue effential 
 to the Chriftian charadter. We are to con- 
 fider ourfelves as brought into that heaven- 
 ly fociety, v^herein are angels, faints, and 
 martyrs : then, how (hocking will it be 
 to reflect, that an impure Chriftian is im- 
 pure in the company of Angels ; drunk, 
 and like a beaft, in the company of Angels ; 
 covetous, ambitious, felf-interefted, and 
 deceitful, in the company of Angels. 
 Hence you will underftand, how a wicked 
 Chriftian is worfe than a wicked heathen, 
 and will have a more fevere account to 
 give ; becaufe he adds affront and infult to 
 his wickednefs; fo that it fhall be more 
 tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the 
 day of judgment than forhim» 
 
 From the confideration, that true reli- 
 gion has always had the fame objeft from 
 the beginning of the world, namely, that 
 of bringing men to God by the way of 
 faith and patience 5 and that Jefus Chrijl is 
 
 the 
 
41 o LeBures on the Epijlle 
 
 the fame yejlerday^ to day, and for ever 3 
 yejlerdayy under the Law; to day y under the 
 Gofpel ; and for ever, in the kingdom of 
 Glory: we fhould learn to be ftedfaft in 
 this ancient plan, and look with a fufpi- 
 cious eye upon all pretended reformations 
 and improvements of modern Chriftians, 
 who are inventing new modes of faith, and 
 would fhew us what they call a more ex- 
 cellent way. Vanity is always fond of 
 novelty : you fee it every day in the com- 
 mon change of fafhions : and therefore vain 
 men are carried about with every wind of 
 dodrine, propagated by thofe who are ig- 
 norant of the antiquity of that religion, by 
 which all believers have been and are now 
 to be faved. If m.en did but ftudy the 
 fcripture on a right principle, without a 
 ipirit of party, and enquired duly into 
 primitive Chriftianity, they would be 
 afhamed of the little mean differences and 
 diflinftions which divide their hearts, and 
 break them into fedls; filling them with a 
 Pharifaical pride againfl: one another ; as if 
 the end of the commandment were not charity , 
 but hatred, contempt, and ill-will. 
 
 To 
 
to the Hebrews. 41 1 
 
 To prevent this, the Apoftle inftrufts LECT. 
 the Hebrews to obey them that have the rule ^— v— '. 
 over them, their lawful Paftors and Teachers, 
 whom Chrift hath appointed to keep them 
 in the way of peace ; and whofe ftudies and 
 labours muft qualify them to inform and 
 diredt the ignorant better than they can 
 diredl themfelves. An abufe of the prin- 
 ciples of the reformation, which can never 
 be fufEciently lamented, has at length made 
 every man his own teacher, and eftabliflied 
 a fpirit of felf-exaltation and oppofition, 
 than which no temper is more hateful to 
 God, becaufe none is fo deftrudtive of piety 
 and peace. Chriftians fhould leave that to 
 the fons of the earth, who are difputing 
 for power, places and pre-eminence; with 
 whom gain is godlinefs, becaufe they have 
 no God but Mammon and Belial, no 
 views nor hopes beyond the prefent life. 
 
 This leads me back to the great fource 
 of all moral inftrudtion, on which the 
 Apoftle hath fo frequently infifted, and with 
 which I Ihall conclude ; I mean the neceffity 
 of s detachment from the world in all thofe 
 
 who 
 
hediures on the Epiftle 
 
 who whould be followers of Jefus Chrifte 
 Our mafter was one who came to difown 
 the world, and to be difowned by it : he 
 came to his own and was not received by 
 them ; he was hated for his truth, reviled 
 for his works of goodnefs and mercy, and 
 at his death was led out of the city of 
 Jerufalem tofuffer without the gat e^ , as one 
 difowned, and caft out, and delivered over 
 to the world of the Gentiles ; all of which 
 was forefhewn by the great yearly facrifice, 
 whofe blood was firfi: offered in the Taber- 
 nacle, and then it was carried out to be 
 burned ^without the camp. On this the 
 Apoftle raifes an affefting exhortation, that 
 we ought to go out after him bearing his re* 
 f roach ; even the reproach of being defpifed 
 and difowned and cafl out by the world, 
 as he was. Every Chriftian, though he is 
 neither with the camp, nor with the city 
 of Jerufalem, has fome attachment which 
 he is called upon to leave, and to be def- 
 pifed for fo doing: he mud go out either 
 from the wifdom of the world, or the 
 fa(hIon of the world, or the party and 
 
 * Chap. xlii. 12. 
 
 the 
 
to the Hebrews* 
 
 413 
 
 the interefts of worldly people; as Chrift LECT. 
 went out of the gate of Jerufalem, and as ^ — ^ 
 Abraham forfook his family and friends, 
 to obey the calling of God. The un- 
 believing Jews looked with contempt on 
 thofe who left them to follow a crucified 
 Mafter, whom they had led out of their 
 city as a malefador and delivered to the 
 Gentiles ; and the world will caft reproach 
 upon all thofe who forfake its opinions 
 and cuftoms. But, as the Jews themfelves 
 were foon afterwards driven out from their 
 city and their whole ceconomy was dif- 
 folved; fo (hall the world itfelf be deflroy- 
 ed, and its inhabitants (hall be turned out 
 from the place in which they trufted. 
 When this (hall happen, they have no 
 other place in referve; but we iliall find 
 that City, that continuing city 9 which we 
 have fo long looked after, ^iv/bo/e builder and 
 maker is God. 
 
 END OF LECTURE IV. ' 
 
A LECTURE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATURAL EFIDENCES 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTIANITYi 
 
 DELI VERE D AS 
 
 A S E R M O N 
 
 ON 
 
 Mr. FAIRCHlLD's FOUNDATION, 
 
 AT THE CHURCH OP 
 
 St.LEONARD, SHOREDirCH, 
 On Tuesday in Whitsun Week, 1787* 
 
A LECTURE, &c. 
 
 THE wifdom of God in the natural LECT, 
 creation, is a proper fubjedl of the 
 le£lure delivered in this place upon this 
 occafion : but as the knowledge of the 
 fcriptures is not excluded, I may be per- 
 mitted to bring them both together into 
 one difcourfe : for they illuftrate one an- 
 other in a wonderful manner : and he who 
 can underfland God as the fountain of 
 truth, and the Saviour of men, in the holy 
 fcripture, will be better difpofed to under- 
 fland and adore him as the fountain of 
 power and goodnefs in the natural cre-^ 
 ation. 
 
 To thofe who fearch for it, and have 
 pleafure in receiving it, there is a ftriking 
 alliance between the oeconomy of Nature, 
 and the principles of divine Revelation ; 
 and unlefs we ftudy both together, we fhall 
 be liable to miftake things now, as the 
 unbelieving Sadducees did, in their vain 
 E e reafonings 
 
4 1 8 On the Natural Evidences 
 
 LEG T. reafonings with our bleffed Saviour. They 
 erred ^ not knowing the fcnptures, nor the 
 power of God: they neither underftood 
 them feparately, nor knew how to com- 
 pare them together. 
 
 Men eminently learned, and worthy of 
 all commendation, have excelled in de- 
 monftrating the wifdom of God from the 
 works of Nature : but in this one refpecS 
 they feem to have been deficient; in that 
 they have but rarely turned their argu- 
 ments to the particular advantage of the 
 Chriftian Revelation, by bringing the vo- 
 lume of Nature in aid to the volume of the 
 Scripture; as the times now call upon us 
 to do : for we have been threatened, in 
 very indecent and infolent language of late 
 years, with the fuperior reafonings and 
 forces of natural philofophy; as if our late 
 refearches into Nature had put fome new 
 weapons into the hands of Infidelity, which 
 the fri-nds of the Chriftian Religion will 
 be unable to ftand againft. One writer in 
 particular who is the moil: extravagant in 
 his philofophical flights, feems to have 
 
 perfuaded 
 
of Chrljlianlty. 4 1 q 
 
 perfuaded himfelf, and would perfuade us, LECT, 
 that little more is required to overthrow 
 the whole faith and oeconomy of the 
 Church of England, than a philofophical 
 apparatus 5 and that every prelate and prieft 
 amongft us hath reafon to tremble at the 
 fight. This is not the voice of piety or 
 learning, but of vapouring vanity and delu- 
 lufion. Neither a Bacon, nor a Boyle^ nor 
 a Newton would ever have defcended to 
 fuch language, fo contrary to their good 
 manners and religious fentiments : the firft 
 of whom hath wifely obferved, that the 
 works of God minifter a fingular help and 
 prefervative againft unbelief and error • 
 our Saviour, as he faith, having laid be- 
 fore us two books or volumes to ftudy ; 
 fir ft the fcrlpturesy revealing the will of 
 God, and then the creatures^ expreffing 
 his power; whereof the latter is a key mito 
 the former ^"^ Such w^as the piety and pene- 
 tration of this great man. However, let 
 us not take it amifs, that, at certain times, 
 we are rudely attacked and infulted. 
 Chriftians, under the temptations of eafe 
 
 * See Bacon's Adv. of Learningj B. i, 
 
 E e 2 and 
 
420 On the Natural Evidences 
 
 LECT. and fecurity, would forget themfelves, and 
 go to fleep : they are therefore obliged to 
 their adverfaries for diflurbing them, that 
 they may awake, like Samfon^ and difcover 
 their own ftrength. So little reafon have 
 we in fadl to be terrified with the threaten- 
 ings of our adverfaries, that we invite 
 them to enter with us upon a comparifon 
 between the word and the works of God. 
 For it will be found true, as I fhall endea- 
 vour to (hew, that the invijtble things of 
 God, that is, the things concerning his 
 Being and his Power, and the ceconomy of 
 his fpiritual kingdom, which are the ob- 
 jefls of our faith, are clearly feen from the 
 creation of the worlds and under Jlood by the 
 things that are made^ 
 
 Plaving much matter to propofe, I muft 
 not indulge myfelf in the ufe of any fuper- 
 fluous words. A plain and unadorned dif- 
 courfe will be accepted rather for the 
 meaning than the form : and as I am about 
 to confider the works of God in a new 
 capacity, I muit befpeak your attention, 
 not without a degree of your candour alfo, 
 
 to 
 
of Chrijlianlty* 4^1 
 
 to excufe an adventrous excurfion into an ^^^y * 
 unfrequented path of divinity. 
 
 Let us enquire then, how the religious 
 ftate of man, and the fpiritual kingdom of 
 God, as the fcriptures have made them 
 known to us ; that is, how *^hriflianity, as 
 a fcheme of dodiine, agrees with the 
 works of God, and the ceconomy of Na- 
 ture ? In confequence of which it will be 
 found, that the Chriftian Religion hath 
 the atteftation of natural philofophy ; and 
 that every other religion hath it not. 
 
 Our Bible teaches us thefe great princi* 
 pies or doftrines : that man is now \vv a 
 fallen flate of forfeiture under Sin and 
 Death, and fuffering the penalties of dif- 
 obedience : that, as a religious being, he is 
 the fcholar of heaven, and mud be taught 
 of God : that the Almighty Father of men 
 and angels gives him life and falvation by 
 his word and fpirit ; in other words, by 
 Chrift and the Holy Ghoft : that there is 
 danger to us from the malignity and power 
 of evil fpirits : that a curfe hath been in- 
 E e 3 fiidled 
 
422 On the Natural Evide?2ces 
 
 ^^^* flicSed upon the earth by a flood of water : 
 that there is no remiflion of fin without 
 fhedding of blood ; and that a divine life 
 is fupported in us by partaking of the 
 death of Chrifl in the Pafchal or Sacra- 
 mental Feaft of the Lord's table ; that there 
 is a refloration to life after death by a re- 
 furredion of the body ; and laftly, that 
 the world which we inhabit fhall be de- 
 ftroyed by fire«. 
 
 Thefe are the principles, at leaft the 
 chief of them, which are peculiar to the 
 fcriptures. He that believes them is a 
 Chriftian : and if the works and ways of 
 nature have a correfpondence with thefe 
 principles, and with no other, then ought 
 every natural philofopher to be a Chrilliaa 
 believer* 
 
 I. Let us proceed then to examine how 
 the cafe ftands. The unbelieving philo- 
 fopher fuppofes man to be in the fame flatp 
 pf perfedion pow, as when he came from 
 the hands of his Creator, But the infir- 
 fuities of his mipd, with the difcafes and 
 
 death 
 
of Chrijlianity. 423 
 
 death of his body, proclaim the contrary. LECT. 
 When the death of man is from the hand 
 of man, according to the laws of juftice, it 
 is an execution : and it is the fame in its 
 nature, when infliL^cd upon all men by the 
 hands of a juft Gcd. The moral hiftory 
 of man informs us, that he offended God 
 by eating in fin. His natural hiiloy 
 fliews us, that, in confequence of it, he 
 now eats in labour and forrow. The world 
 is full of toil and trouble : and for what 
 end, but that man may earn his daily 
 bread ? The hands of the hufbandman are 
 hardened, and his back is bowed down 
 with the cultivation of the earth. Thorns 
 and thirties prevail againft him, and multi- 
 ply his labour. While fome are toiling 
 upon the earth, others are doomed to work 
 underneath it. Some are exercifed and 
 wafted with works of heat : fome for a live- 
 lihood are expofed to the ftorms and perils 
 of the fea : and they, who are called to the 
 dangers of war, fupport their lives at the 
 hazard of lofing them. 
 
 The woman, who was firft in the tranf- 
 E e 4 grefllon, 
 
424 On the Natural Evidences 
 
 LECT. greffion, is diftlnguifhed by forrows pecu- 
 liar to her fex : and if fome are exempt, 
 they are exceptions which confirm the ge- 
 neral law; and fhew, that the penalty doth 
 not follow by any necefiity of Nature, but 
 is inflided* 
 
 Many are the unavoidable forrows of 
 life : but if we confider how many more 
 are brought upon man by himjelf^ it is plain 
 his mind is not right : for if he had his 
 fight and his fenfes, he would fee better 
 and avoid them, 
 
 Suppofe human nature to be perfed % 
 what is the confequence ? We not only 
 contradifl: our own daily experience ; but 
 we fuperfede the ufe of Chriftianity, by 
 denying the exiftence of thofe evihy for 
 which only it is provided. The whole 
 fyftem of it is offered to us as a cure for 
 the confequences of the fall. From the 
 accommodation of its graces, gifts, and 
 facraments to the wants of our nature* we 
 have a demonftration that our minds are 
 in a diftempered and fmful ftate : as the 
 
 drugs 
 
of Chrillianity. 425 
 
 drugs and inftruments in the (hop of the LECT. 
 furgeon are fo many arguments that our 
 bodies are frail and mortal. 
 
 11. The fcriptures declare farther, that 
 man, thus born in fin and forrow, would 
 grow up in darknefs and ignorance, as to 
 all heavenly things, unlefs he were taught 
 of God : whofe word is therefore faid to 
 be a light. The cafe is the fame in na- 
 ture. For how doth man receive the 
 knowledge of all diftant objeds? not by 
 a Hght within himfelf, but by a light 
 which comes to him from heaven, and 
 brings to his fight a fenfe of the objects 
 from which it is refledled. What an un- 
 informed empty being would man become 
 in his bodily ftate; how deflitute of the 
 knowledge of all remote objedls, but for 
 the rays of light which come to him from 
 without? Such would he be in his reli- 
 gious capacity without the light of reve- 
 lation, which was therefore fent out into 
 all lands, as the light of the fun is dif- 
 fufed throughout the world : The people 
 that walked in darhiefs (fuch is the ftate we 
 
 are 
 
On the Natural Evidences 
 
 are born to) have feen a great light: they 
 that dwell in the land of the Jloadow of death y 
 upon them hath the light Jhined'^. The 
 fcriptures declare that we are in a ftate of 
 ftupidity and death, till we are illuminated 
 by the Gofpel : Awake thou that Jleepeft^ 
 and rife jrom the dead and Chriji jhall give 
 thee light -f-. But they cannot make our 
 fouls worfe than our bodies would be with- 
 out the vifible lights of heaven; and there- 
 fore in this refpedl:, the phyfical ftate of 
 man anfwers precifely to his religious ftate 5 
 and if we duly obferve and reflect upon the 
 one, we muft admit the other alfo, or op- 
 pofe the teftimony of our fenfcs. 
 
 III. The gofpel informs us, that there 
 is a light of life to the foul of man, and 
 a divine fpirit of God which quickens and 
 infpires ; and that the whole ceconomy of 
 grace is adminiftered to us by the perfons 
 of the Son and the Holy Ghoft. And are 
 not the principles of man's natural life 
 maintained by a parallel agency in nature ? 
 Do we not there alfo find a light to ani- 
 
 ^'- I fa. ix, 2. f Eph. V, 14, 
 
 mate^ 
 
cfChnfiianiiy. 427 
 
 mate, and a fpirit to infpire and give us LECT. 
 breath ? The divine fpirir, from his na- 
 ture and office, takes his name from the 
 air or natural fpirit of the world, which 
 fupplies us with the breath of life. On 
 the day of Pentecoft he defcended from 
 heaven under the outward fign of a rufliing 
 mighty wind i that from his philofophical 
 emblem we might underftand his nature 
 and operations ; who, like the wind, is 
 invifible, irrefiflible, the medium of life, 
 and the infpirer of the prophets and apof- 
 ties, who all fpake as the fpitit gave them 
 Utterance. The air is the inftrument of 
 fpeech, and the vehicle of found. Such 
 was the divine fpirit to the apoftles ; by 
 whofe aid and operation, their found went 
 out ifito all lands. The ways of the Spirit 
 of God in the birth of man unto grace, 
 are hidden from us: we diftlnguidi him 
 only by his eftefts : io it is in nature ; we 
 hear the found of the wind, but we cannot 
 tell whence it cometh, nor whither it go- 
 eth. Thus did our Saviour himfelf illuf- 
 trate the operations of the Holy Ghoft 
 from thofe of the air : and, what is very 
 
 remarkable, 
 
4^8 On the Natural Evidences 
 
 LECT. remarkable, he communicated the Holy 
 Ghoft to his difciples under the outward 
 fign of breathing upon them. 
 
 in the invifible kingdom of God, there 
 23 a fun of right eoufnejs which rifes upon 
 a world that lieth in darknefs ; raifing up 
 the dead to a new life, and reftoring all 
 that fin and death had deftroyed. So doth 
 the viiible world prefent to us the great 
 luminary of the day, whofe operations are 
 in all refpeds like to thofe of the fun of 
 righteoufnefs. In the morning it prevails 
 over darknefs, and in the fpring it reftores 
 the face of Nature. 
 
 When the fcriptures fay that the powers 
 of the word and fpirit of God are neceffary 
 to the fouls of men ; they fay no more than 
 what the moft fcrupulous philofophy muft 
 admit in regard to their bodies : for cer- 
 tainly mankind cannot fubfift without the 
 fun and the air. They muft have light, 
 to /rj^ by as well as to^^by^ and they 
 muft have breath, without which they can 
 neither live, nor fpeak, nor hear. 
 
 We 
 
of Chrijlianity* 429 
 
 We are to argue farther; that as we LECT, 
 muft fuppofe a fun to fiiine before we can 
 fuppofe a man to exill: upon earth : fo, by 
 parity of reafon, the Divine light was pre- 
 exiftent to all thofc who are faved by it : 
 and to prefume that Jefus Chrift, who is 
 that light, is only a man like ourfelves, 
 is as falfe in divinity, as it would be falfe 
 in philofophy to report the fun in the 
 heavens as a thing of yefterday, and 
 formed like ourfelves out of the duft of 
 the ground. Doth not philofophy teach 
 us, that the elementary powers of light 
 and air are in nature fupreme and fovereign? 
 for, is there any thing above them ? Is 
 there a fun above the fun that rules the 
 day ; and is there a fpirit above the wind 
 that gives us breath ? therefore, fo are 
 the perfons of Chrift and the Holy Ghoft 
 fupreme and divine in the invifible king- 
 dom of God- If not, it muft lead us into 
 idolatry and blafphemy, when we fee them 
 reprefented to us in the fcripture by thefe 
 fovereign powers in nature, God is Light* 
 and God is a Spirit ; therefore, that perfoa 
 who is called the Spirit muft be divine; 
 
 and 
 
43^ 0;^ tJje Natural Ev^Jences 
 
 LECT. and Jefus Chrift who is the true Light 
 muft be the true God, 
 
 Whcrefoever we go in divinity, thither 
 will philofophy ftill follow us as a faithful 
 witnefs. For if we are affured by revela- 
 tion, that there is a power of divine juftice 
 to execute vengeance on the enemies of 
 God, and which (hall deftroy with a fear- 
 ful deflruftion the ungodly and impenitent 
 whenever it fhall reach them : we find in 
 nature the irrefiftible power of fire, which 
 diflipates and deftroys what it afts upon, 
 and which in many inftances hath been ap- 
 ph'ed as the inftrument of vengeance upon 
 wicked men. Sacrifices w^re confumed by 
 fire, to fignify that wrath from heaven is 
 due to fin, and would fall upon the finful 
 offerer himfelf, if the victim did not re- 
 ceive it for him by fubftitution. When 
 the law was given on Mount Sinai, the 
 heavens flamed with fire, and the moun- 
 tain burned below, to give the people a 
 fenfe of the terrors of divine judgment. 
 With allufion to which exhibition, and 
 other examples of the adual effeds of his 
 
 wrath, 
 
of ChrilHanity. 43 1 
 
 wrath, God is faid to be a confuming fire : LECT. 
 and happy are they who regard the power 
 of it, and fee from it^ as Lot and his 
 family fled from the flames of Sodom. 
 
 IV. Another doftrine, peculiar to the 
 fcripture, is, the danger to which we are 
 expofed in our religious capacity from the 
 malignity and power of the Devil 5 whofe 
 works are manifeft, though he himfelf 
 is invifible. But the natural creation bears 
 witnefs to his exifl:ence, and to all his 
 evil properties ; where the wifdom of God 
 hath fet before us that creature the Serpent, 
 a Angular phasnomenon of the fame kind ; 
 whofe bite difFufes death fo fuddenly and 
 miraculoufly through the body, that he 
 may be faid, in comparifon of all other 
 creatures, to have the power of death. He 
 is double-tongued and infldious ; often un- 
 difcovered till he has given the fatal wound. 
 In a word, he is fuch a pattern of the in- 
 vifible adverfary of mankind, who was a 
 liar and a murderer from the beginning, 
 that the hieroglyph ical language of the 
 Bible fpeaks of him in the hiftory of the 
 
 firft 
 
43- On the Natural Evidences 
 
 LECT. fJi-ft temptation under the name of the Ser^ 
 pent. The wicked who are related to him 
 as his Jied or childre?i, are called a genera^ 
 t ion of vipers •; by which figurative phraife 
 it is literally meant, that they were of 
 their father the Devil. 
 
 In the modern fyftems and fchemes of 
 thofe v/ho affeft the philofophical charafter, 
 we are not always fure of finding a God : 
 but we are fure never to find a Devil : for 
 as the Heathens of old offered facrifices to 
 him without underflanding that they did 
 fo; in like manner do fome people of thefe 
 days work under him without knowing 
 * him. Yet certainly, the fcripture, by its 
 application of the word Serpent to the 
 ^Tempter who brought Sin and Death into 
 the world, hath referred us to the natural 
 creation for the properties of the Serpent- 
 kind ; and from thofe properties every 
 naturalifl may learn what the Devil is, 
 and what we have to fear from him, more 
 accurately and efFedtually than any words 
 can teach. What he finds in the natural 
 
 Serpent he muft apply to another invifible 
 
 Serpent, 
 
of Chrijliamty. a^0% 
 
 Serpent, who can think and reafon and LECT, 
 difpute the veracity of God; which the ^ ' '' 
 common Serpent never could. How came 
 fo fearful and curfed a creature into the 
 works of God ? Certainly for the wifeft 
 end : that men might underfland and ab- 
 hor and avoid the enemy of their falvation. 
 The world was made, as the fcriptures 
 were written, for our learning ; and unlefs 
 the Serpent were found in it, there would 
 be a blank in the creation, and we fhould 
 have been to feek for fome ideas, which 
 are of the lafi: importance to the mind of 
 man. 
 
 Other ideas, nearly related, may in- 
 deed be collecfled from the contrariety be- 
 tween light and darknefs ; with their 
 figurative alliance to moral good and evil. 
 The pov/er of Satan hath the like effect 
 on men's fouls as darknefs hath upon their 
 bodies j and the fcripture calls it \}cit power 
 of darknefs. If the enemies of God's re- 
 ligion arc called the feed of the Serpent^ in 
 oppofition to the fons of GocT; fo are they 
 alfo reprefented to us as children ofdark- 
 F f nefs. 
 
On the Natural Evidences 
 
 nefs, in oppofition to the children of lights 
 What CGjnmunion^ faith St. Paul, hath light 
 'With darknefsi what concord hath Chrtjl 
 with Belial^ or what part hath he that he- 
 lieveth with an Injidel? The ancient Per- 
 lians, who were given to fpeculate as Phi- 
 lofophers on the principles of their Theo- 
 logy, argued from the courfe of Nature, 
 that there are two contrary principles of 
 Good and Evil in the world of Spirits; 
 that there is a malignant power a£ling in 
 oppofition to the benign goodnefs of the 
 Creator, as darknefs, in the viciffitudes of 
 day and night, holds divided empire with 
 light. Which fpeculations, properly cor- 
 refted, are agreeable to the imagery of the 
 fcripture; in which the author of evil is 
 called the power of darknefs ; and, in his 
 capacity of a deftroyer, is compared to 
 lightning, which, like huQiicv^ falls Jroni 
 heaven to do mifchief upon earth. 
 
 V. Another dodrine of Revelation is 
 the execution of a curfe by the waters of 
 a flood ; which obliges us to examine hovv" 
 it agrees w^ith the natural hiftory of the 
 
 earth. 
 
of Chrijllanity: 
 
 earth. It was impofiible to know that this 
 cataftrophe was univerfal, but by Revela- 
 tion ; but when known, it is confirmed as 
 a fadl by the fame proofs of it occurring 
 to us in every part of the known world. 
 The curvatures, furrows, and channels, 
 on the whole face of the earth, open to 
 common obfervation, are fo many marks 
 and monuments of the forcible effedls of 
 defcending waters. The relics, fragments, 
 and bones of marine productions, every 
 where found under the earth, (hew that 
 the fea covered the land, and that the pre- 
 fent world, on which we now live, is the 
 burying-ground of a former, on which 
 that curfc was executed, which God pro- 
 nounced at the beginning. The natural 
 hiftory of the earth, as bearing this tefti- 
 mony to the Flood of Noah, has been very 
 trcublefome to our Infidel-Philofophers ; 
 and the improbability and weaknefs of 
 fome theories, with the wild extravagance 
 of others, advanced to difguife this plain 
 fadt, fhew that its evidence is ftubborn 
 and untraftable> 
 
 F f 2 VI. The 
 
On the Natural 'Evidences 
 
 VI. The derivation of a principle of life 
 from the death of Chrift, and the remif- 
 fion of fin by the (hedding of his innocent 
 blood, are dodlrines effential to the Gofpel, 
 and every v^ay agreeable to the condition 
 of man's natuaal life : for we live by the 
 death of innocent animals, who lay down 
 their lives for our fuftenance, not for any 
 fault of their own. Such creatures as are 
 hurtful and not fit to live, are not fit for 
 us to eat. The ad of killing clean beafts 
 in facrifice^ and the fprinkling of their 
 blood, and the feafting upon their flefh, 
 had undoubtedly an intended correfpon- 
 dence with the facrifice of Jefus Chrift, 
 and the fupport of our fpiritual life by a 
 participation of his death. The whole 
 inflitution /was prophetical, and the fcrip- 
 tures are copious in the application of it. 
 And though the a£l of flanghtering inno- 
 cent creatures is not now a religious adl, 
 as it ufed to be, the rationale of it is ftill 
 the fame; and it will fpeak the fame 
 language to the end of the world ; it will- 
 always be declaratory of the falvation of 
 
 man 
 
Of Chrljlianity. 
 
 man by the death of an univerfal facrifice. 
 The infenfible people who trade in the 
 flaughter of innocent animals, and fhed 
 their blood by profeflion; and they who 
 feed upon them by daily cuftom, never 
 think of this : but the univerfal pra£lice 
 of mankind fpeaks, without their under- 
 ftanding it, that which Caiaphas pro* 
 phefied without knowing what he faid, 
 // is expedient that one man die that the whole 
 people perijh not. It is expedient that the 
 innocent fhould die to feed our bodies : 
 let any man deny it if he can : and it is 
 equally expedient, that Jefus Chrift fliould 
 die to feed our fouls. 
 
 Some Philofophers of antiquity, igno- 
 rant of the terms man is now upon with 
 his Maker, refined upon the traditional 
 rites of facrifice and the priefthood (which 
 are nearly as ancient as the world) and 
 reafoned themfelves into an abhorrence of 
 animal food. They exclaimed againft the 
 ufe of it, as barbarous, and unworthy of a 
 rational creature: efpecially as the lot falls 
 upon the moft inofienfive of animals, 
 ^ F f 3 vvhofe 
 
42 8 On tide 'Natural Evidences 
 
 LECT. whofe difpofitions and fervices have a 
 claim upon us for kindnefs and prote6lion. 
 But thefe are doomed to die by the wife 
 appointment of God, and by thefe men 
 live ; as Jefus Chriil: the righteous, with 
 the meeknefs and innocence of the Lamb 
 was brought to the Jlaughter ; that through 
 his death we might have life eternal. 
 
 VII. The refurredion of the body, 
 which comes next in order, is no where 
 taught but in the fcriptures. The ap- 
 paratus of the Philofopher can farnifti no 
 argument againft it; and God's apparatus 
 is clearly on the fide of it. For if it be 
 examined by the light of Nature, that is, 
 by the light refledled from natural things, 
 it becomes a reafonable, and aimoll: a 
 natural doftrine. 
 
 It is evident that man's body v/as made 
 of the duft of the earth, becaufe we fee 
 that it returns into earth again. Philofo- 
 phy therefore may argue, that as God 
 formed mean's body of the duft at firft, 
 he can as eafily reilore and raife it from 
 
 the 
 
Of Chnjlmntty, 439 
 
 the fame afterwards. That he will ac- LECT. 
 tually do this is promifed to us in the 
 fcripture; and on that promife Nature is 
 giving us a ledture every day of our lives. 
 Many animals, after a torpid ftate, fcarcely 
 diftinguifhable from death, recover the 1 
 powers of life at the proper feafon by the 
 influence of the fun : fome after fub- 
 merfion in water during the whole win- 
 ter. Some crawl for a time as help- 
 lefs worms upon the earth, like ourfelves ; 
 then they retire into a covering, which 
 anfwers the end of a coffin or a fepulchre, 
 wherein they are invifibly transformed, 
 and come forth in glorious array, with 
 wings and painted plumes, more like the 
 inhabitants of heaven, than fuch worms 
 as they were in their former earthly ftate. 
 This transformation is fo ftriking and 
 pleafant an emblem of the prefent, the 
 intermediate, and the glorified, ftates of 
 man, that people of the moft remote anti-* 
 quity, v/hen they buried their dead, em^ 
 balmed and inclofed them in an artificial 
 covering, fo figured and painted, as to re- 
 femble the caterpillar or filk-worm, in the 
 F f 4 intermediate 
 
On the Natural 'Evidences 
 
 intermediate ftate : and as Jofeph was the 
 firft we read of that was embah-ned in 
 Egypt, where this manner prevailed> it 
 was very probably of Hebrew original. 
 
 The vicifiitudes of night and day in- 
 ftrudl us farther on the fame fubjeft. The 
 fun fets to rife again \ the year dies away 
 into the winter, and rifes to verdure and 
 beauty in the fpring. Sleep is a tempo- 
 rary death from which we daily awake ; in-' 
 fomuch that in many paffages of the fcrip- 
 ture fleep and death are the fame thing, 
 and he that r'lfes from the dead is faid to 
 awake out of Jleep^^ The furrow of the 
 field is a grave, out of which the feeds that 
 are buried rife to a new and better ftate. 
 Their death and burial, which feems to be 
 their end, is the beginning of their life : // 
 is not quickened except it die. The allufion 
 to plants and feeds is very common in the 
 fcripture, to illuftrate the prefent and fu- 
 ture ftate of man : and if it reminds us, 
 that all jie[h is grajsy and all the goodlinefs 
 thereof as thefiower of the field \ it makes us 
 
 * See Daniel xii. 2. 
 
 amends, 
 
of Chrj/llanity* 44.1 
 
 amends, by afluring us, that our bones Jh all LECT. 
 Jiourijh as an herb^ and that tvQvy feed Jhall 
 have its own body. 
 
 VIII. The deftrufllon of the world by 
 fire is the laft doctrine I (hall take occafion 
 to fpeak of: which, though never un- 
 reafonable, and admitted even by Heathens 
 of old time ; is now more apparent than 
 ever, from the late improvements in ex- 
 perimental philofophy. Indeed, we may 
 fay, the world is already on fire : for as 
 Sinai, with its fmoke and flame, was a 
 fqfitivey fo is every volcano a natural pre- 
 lude to the burning of the lafl day. The 
 earth, the air, the clouds, the fea, are all 
 replete with a fubtile penetrating fire, 
 which, while at reft, is neither felt nor 
 obferved, and was abfolutely unknown to 
 fome of the moft learned for ages ; till 
 accidental difcovery hath now laid open 
 the treafures of fire in heaven and earth to 
 all that have the ufe of their fight and 
 fenfes. The publication of the philofophy 
 of fire hath been fo fudden and fo univerfal, 
 and is fo wonderful in itfelf, that it feems 
 
 to 
 
On the Natural Evidences 
 
 to be fecond to the publication of the 
 Gofpel : at leaf!:, there is no event in 
 philofophy or literature that comes near 
 to it. 
 
 In this element we live and move ; and, 
 perhaps, fo far as our frame is mechanical ^ 
 we are moved by it. When excited to 
 aflion, it turns into a confuming fire^ 
 which no fubftance can exclude, no force 
 can refift. The matter of lightning, 
 which feems to break out partially and ac- 
 cidentally, is now found to be conftitu- 
 tional and univerfal in the fyftem of Na- 
 ture: fo that the heavens, which, ac- 
 cording to the language of the fcripture, 
 are to melt with fervent heat^ want no 
 foreign matter to convert them into fire. 
 What is called phlogiflon can rife in a 
 moment from a ftate of quiefcence to a 
 ilate of inflammation ; and it difcovers it- 
 felf in many bodies where we fliould little 
 expe£t to find it. The earth and the 
 works that are therein carry within them 
 the feeds of their ov/n deftrudtion; and 
 may be burnt up by that element which 
 
 now 
 
Of Chrijliantty . 4^2 
 
 now refides within them, and is only LECT. 
 waiting for the word from its Creator. 
 
 Upon the whole then, philofophy, fo 
 far as the term fignifies a knowledge of 
 God's wifdom and power in the natural 
 creation, v/hich is the beft fenfe of the 
 word ; this philofophy, I fay, is fo far 
 from being adverfe to true religion, that 
 with all the common evidences of Chrif- 
 tianity in referve, we may venture to meet 
 the philofopher upon his own ground : 
 v/e have nothing to fear from the teftimony 
 of Nature : we appeal to it : we call upon 
 every man of fcience to compare the gof* 
 pel which God hath revealed with the 
 world which God hath created ; under an 
 affurance, that he will find the latter to 
 be a key unto the former^ as our noble phi- 
 lofopher hath well afferted. We have 
 ventured to try this comparifon upon the 
 general plan of Chriftianity, and we fee 
 how it anfwers. 
 
 And if Nature anfwers to Chriftianity, 
 
 it 
 
On the Natural Evidences 
 
 it contradi6ls Deifm : and that religion 
 cannot be called natural which is contra- 
 dicted by the light refleded upon our 
 underflandings from natural things. The 
 Socinian is nearly in the fame fituation 
 with the Deift: and they may both join 
 together in calling upon Nature, from 
 morning until night, as the Priefts of 
 Baal called upon their Deity i but there 
 will be none to anfwer ; and philofophy 
 muft put out one of his eyes before it 
 can admit their dodtrines. In fhort, take 
 any religion but the Chriftian, and bring 
 it to this teft, by comparing it v/ith the 
 flate of Nature, and it will be found CiQ,(' 
 titute and defencelefs. But the do6lrines 
 of our faith are attefted by the whole na- 
 tural world. Wherever we turn our eyes, 
 to the heaven or to the earth, to the fea 
 or the land, to men or to beafts, to ani- 
 mals or to plants, there we are reminded 
 of them. They are recorded in a language 
 which hath never been confounded; they 
 are written in a text which fhall never be 
 corrupted. 
 
 The 
 
of Chrijlianity. 4^^ 
 
 The Creation of God is the School of LECT. 
 Chriftians, if they ufe it aright. What 
 is commonly called the Worldy confifts of 
 the forms, manners, diverfions, perfuits, 
 and profpe£ls, of human fociety. But this 
 is an artificial world, of man's making ; 
 the fubjeft of his ftudy, the objedt of his 
 ambition. The natural world, of God's 
 making, is full of wonder and inflrudlion; 
 it is open to all, it is common to all. 
 Here there can be no envy, no party, no 
 competition; for no man will have the 
 lefs for what his neighbour poffelTes. The 
 world, in this fenfe, may be enjoyed with- 
 out fraud or violence. The ftudent in his 
 folitary walk, the hulbandman at his labour, 
 the faint at his prayers, may have as much 
 as they can defire, and have nothing to re- 
 pent of: for they will thus draw nearer to 
 God, becaufe they will fee farther into his 
 truth, wifdom, and goodnefs. 
 
 Some have exprefied their aflonifliment ^ 
 
 at tlie choice of hermits and men of re- 
 tirement, as people who have fled from 
 all the enjoyments of life; and configned 
 
 them- 
 
446 On the Natural Evidences^ &c. 
 
 LECT. themfelves to melancholy and mifery. They 
 are out of the world; it is true; but they 
 are only out of that artificial world of man's 
 making, in which fo many are haftening 
 to difappointment and ruin : but they are 
 ftill in that other better world of contem- 
 plation and devotion, which affords them 
 all the pleafures and improvements of the 
 min(i', and is preparatory to a ftate of un- 
 interrupted felicity. 
 
 Let us then, finally, give thanks to him, 
 who to the light of his gofpel bath added 
 this light of nature, and opened the won- 
 derful volume of the creation before us, 
 for the confirmation of his truth, and the 
 illumination of his people; that we may 
 thence know and fee tbe certainty of thofe 
 things wherein we have been inJlruSled. As 
 all his works are for our good, let it be 
 our ftudy and our wifdom to turn them 
 all to his glory. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
Sooh puhltjhed by the Author of this Worh 
 
 THEOLOGICAL Works, 3 vols. 
 8vo. Price i8s. bound. 
 
 Three Sermons, preached at Fairchild's 
 LeSure, 4to. 
 
 1. The Religious Ufe of Botanical Phi- 
 lofophy. 
 
 2. Confiderations on the Oeconomy of 
 Beafts and Cattle. 
 
 3. On the Earth and its Minerals, 
 An EiTay on the firft Principles of 
 
 Natural Philofophy, 4to. los. 6d. 
 
 Phyfiological Difquifitions, 4to. iL is. 
 
 Letters from a Tutor to his Pupils^ 
 i2mo. 2d edit. 2S. 6d. fewed. 
 
 Obfervations in a Journey to Paris, 
 2 vols. 5s. fewed. 
 
 Nine Ledtures on the Art of Mufic, 
 folio, with Examples in Notes, i1, \Si 
 
 A Prefervative againft the Principles of 
 the Socinians, fourth edit. 2d. 
 
 The Book of Nature^ or the True Senfe 
 of Things made eaiy to the Capacities of 
 Children. 
 
 N. B. This is tranflated into French for 
 the Ufe of Schools, and an Edition of it 
 is in the Prefs, to be bound up along with 
 the Englifli. 
 

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