Accession.
Class..
252 No H 7.8.4.
Olivet College Library.
PRESENTED BY
alt
DISCOURSES
ON
SEVERAL SUBJECTS
AND
OCCASION S.
BY GEORGE HORNE, D. D.
LATE BISHOP OF NORWICH,
AND PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD.
THE FOURTH EDITION;
TO WHICH IS NOW PREFIXED,
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR.
VOLUME FIRST.
29/3
PERTH:
PRINTED BY R. MORISON JUNIOR,
for R. MORISON & SON, BOOKSELLERS, PERTH.
M,DCC,XCIV.
P
:
WE. GEORGE, bp. OF Norwich
of
Senerips Library
BX
1:22-46 SOME
5037
ACCOUNT
.482
1794
OF
:
BISHOP HORNE.
پرس
خوري
BISHOP HORNE, a prelate, diſtinguiſhed by
many excellent theological writings, was born in
the year 1731, being the fon of the Rev. Samuel
Horne, rector of Otham, in Kent, by whom he
was inftructed in the firft rudiments of learning.
Being ſent to Magdalene College in Oxford, he
was made Maſter of Arts in 1752, and was chofen
Prefident of his College in 1768. About this time,
he married the daughter of Philip Burton, Efq. of
Eltham in Kent. He fucceffively took the degrees
of Bachelor and Dr in Divinity, and was appointed
Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majeſty. In 1776, he
was chofen Vice Chancellor of the Univerfity of
Oxford, and continued in that office four years.
In 1781, he was preferred to the deanry of Can-
terbury; and, in 1789, fucceeded Dr Bagot in the
fee of Norwich, on his tranflation to that of St
Afaph. He died on the 17th of January 1792, in
the fixty-fecond year of his age. His faculties con-
tinued with him to the laſt; and he may be truly
faid to have died the death of the Righteous.”
His mind was not only remarkably pleaſant as his
end drew near, but even lively and pleaſant. When
a. 2.
he
MM
Cree
!
iv
SOME ACCOUNT OF
1
}
he had received the facrament from the hands of
his chaplain, he faid he felt himſelf bleffed and
happy. To each individual of his family, he gave
his benediction; bidding them go, and do all the
good in their power. He expired without a groan,
in the fame heavenly tranquillity in which he lived;
and he might have truly faid, as the illuſtrious Ad-
difon did in his dying moments, See, in what
peace a Chriftian can die.'-He was interred in the
family-vault of his father-in-law at Eltham. He
left three daughters, the eldeft of whom is married
to the Rev. Selby Hele.
•
Befide feveral fingle fermons, Dr Horne publiſh-
ed, in 1769, Confiderations on the Life and Death
of St John the Baptiſt,' in 12mo. This was intend-
ed for the younger ftudents in theology, and con-
tains many pious and practical reflections. In 1776
he publiſhed in 2 vols 4to, A Commentary on the
Book of Pfalms; in which the literal, or hiftorical
Senfe, as they relate to King David, and the Peo-
ple of Ifrael, is illuftrated, and their Application to
Meffiah, to the Church, and to Individuals, as
Members thereof, is pointed out.' It was after-
wards publifhed in two volumes 8vo.-This pub-
lication has great merit, not only as it recommends.
to our attentive regard an important part of the
facred writings, but as it illuftrates them, and pre-
fents to our view a great number of pleaſing, folid,
and edifying reflections. Piety, indeed, appears to
have been a predominant trait in the character of
Dr Horne, and to have been productive to himſelf
of that felicity and enjoyment which the world can- ·
not give. Thus, fpeaking of the fatisfaction he
had found in compofing this work, he fays, Could
the author flatter himſelf, that any one would have
half
A
.
1
:
.
BISHOP HORNE.
+
half the pleaſure in reading the following expofi-
tion, which he hath had in writing it, he would
not fear the lofs of his labour. The employment.
detached him from the buftle and hurry of life, the
din of politics, and the noiſe of folly: vanity and
vexation flew away for a feafon; care and dif-
quietude came not near his dwelling. He aroſe,
freſh as the morning, to his tafk; the filence of
the night invited him to purfue it; and he can
truly fay, that food and reft were not preferred
before it. Every pfalm improved infinitely on his
acquaintance with it, and no one gave him uneafi-
nefs but the laft; for then he grieved that his work
was done. Happier hours than thoſe which have
been spent in thefe meditations on the fongs of
Sion, he never expected to fee in this world. Very
pleaſantly did they pafs, and move fmoothly and
fwiftly along; for, when thus engaged, he count-
ed no time. They are gone, but have left a reliſh.
and a fragrance on the mind, and the remem-
brance of them is fweet.' In 1777, he publiſhed
• A. Letter to Adam Smith, LL. D. on the Life,
Death, and Philofophy of his Friend David Hume,
Efq.' In this he points out the pernicious tendency
of that philofopher's writings, and the folly of his
affumed levity in the article of Death, in a ſtrain of
argument, fometimes ferious and fometimes plea-
fant. In 1779, he firſt publiſhed, in 2 vols. 8vo.
The DISCOURSES now offered to the public. Im
thefe, he appears to have conformed to the advice
of the excellent Fenelon, in his Dialogues on the
Eloquence of the Pulpit,' that preachers would pay
an attentive and principal regard to the Scriptures,
and endeavour to imprefs, and influence their hear-
ers by the ſeveral confiderations that are to be
thence:
a
13:
<
}
!
vi
SOME ACCOUNT OF
*
1
thence drawn., Bp. Horne, accordingly, addreffes
himſelf more to the heart than is commonly done,
in the prefent day, by our argumentative preachers;
and, confequently, his difcourfes are more calcu
lated to answer the end of preaching than others,
which might, perhaps, be confidered as fuperior in
ftyle and compofition; although, even in this infe-
rior refpect, thefe fermons are far from being de-
ficient. His fentiments throughout, although he
enters into no controverfial points, appear to be
what is generally termed orthodox.—In 1784, he
published, in 12mo, Letters on Infidelity.' Thefe
letters contain ftrictures on the nature, tendency,
principles, and reaſonings of fome modern produc-
tions on the fide of infidelity. They are well cal-
culated to fuit the taſte and turn of the prefent age,
which is not fond of long and elaborate differta-
tions on religious fubjects; being written in a con-
cife, lively, and entertaining manner, and with a
due mixture of ferious argument, good humour,
and pleaſantry. The opinions of Hume, Voltaire,
and other modern infidels, he often combats, very
fuccefsfully, in their own way, by placing their ar-
guments in a ludicrous point of view, and turning
the laugh against themſelves. As a ſpecimen of
his ferious reaſoning, we fhall quote what he fays
in anſwer to the boast of Mr Hume's friends, that
• few of the profeffors of Chriſtianity ever equalled
him in morality, humanity, and the government of
their paffions-To this Bp. Horne anfwers very
juſtly and fenfibly: Thouſands in the firfl ages of
the gofpel, gave all their goods to feed the poor;
renounced, in deed as well as word, the world and
the flesh; and joyfully met death, in its moft hor-
rid forms, for the love of their Redeemer. On
the
C
:
•
BISHOP HORNE.
vit
<
the fame principle, unnumbered multitudes, in e-´
very fucceeding age, have manfully fuftained the
heaviest calamities of human life, and with faith
unfeigned, and hope that maketh not afhamed,
yielded up their fouls into the hands of their Crea-
tor. Scenes of this kind are daily and hourly paf-
fing in the chambers of the fick and dying, as they,
whofe office it is to viſit thofe chambers, well know.
To others they muſt remain unknown, for want of
biographers to record them. Every Chriſtian that
lives in piety and charity, does not favour the pub-
lic with "His own life." Every Chriſtian who ex-
pires in peace and hope, has not the happineſs of a
Dr Smith to pen the ſtory of his own death.'—In
1787, Bp. Horne publiſhed a Vifitation Sermon,
entitled, The Duty of contending for the Faith;"
to which is fubjoined, A Difcourfe on the Trini-
ty in Unity.'-In theſe two Difcourfes he zealoufly
maintained the Athanafian doctrine, as adopted by
the church of England, and confequently drew u-
pon
himſelf the animadverfions of an equally zea-
lous champion on the oppofite fide of the queftion,
Dr Prieftly, in a pamphlet entitled, Letters to Dr
Horne, Dean of Canterbury; to the young Men
who are in a courfe of Education for the Chriftian
Miniftry at the Univerfity of Oxford and Cam-
bridge; to Dr Price; and to Mr Parkhurſt, on the
Subject of the Perfon of Chrift.-Bp. Horne's laſt
publication was, Charity recommended on its.
true motive: a fermon, preached in the church of
St George the Martyr, Bloomsbury, before the
Governors of the benevolent Inſtitution for the de-
livery of poor married women at their own habita-
tions, on Sunday, March 30th, 1788.—
•
In this fermon our truly benevolent divine dif-
tinguiſhes charity from vain, oftentatious donation,
and
viii
SOME ACCOUNT OF, &c.
} *
and from thoſe fine feelings which, in fome per-
fons, prompt a kind of inftinctive benevolence.
This, he obferves, is not Chriftian charity, which
has a religious motive for its object. If God fo
loved us, we ought alfo to love one another;' a.
motive, at once rational, pure, and permanent..
The Text, I-John iv, 11.
•
**
PREFACE.
**
t
i
j.
:
.1
!
PREFA C E.
HAVING been prevented, for a time, by the
diſcharge of a laborious, but highly honourable
office, from performing the more immediate du-
ties of my profeffion, I was yet defirous, that I
might not feem to lofe the clergyman in the ma-
giftrate, of ſtill continuing to do fomething towards
promoting the great end and purpoſe of life. And
though the frequent returns of bufinefs gave little
hopes of compofing freſh difcourfes, its intervals, I
thought, might fuffice to digeft and publifh fome,
which had been already compofed.
This form of publication is generally fuppofed
lefs advantageous, at prefent, than any other. But
it may be queftioned, whether the fuppofition does
juſtice to the age, when we confider only the re-
ſpect which has fo recently been paid to the fer-
mons of the learned and elegant Dr BLAIR. And
greater refpect cannot be paid them, than they de
ferve.
The multitude of old fermons affords no argu
ment against the publication of new ones; fince
new ones will be read, when old ones are neglect-
ed; and almost all mankind are, in this refpect,
Athenians.
Befides, there is a tafte in moral and religious,
as well as in other compofitions, which varies in
different ages, and may very lawfully and innocent-
ly be indulged. Thoufands received inſtruction
and confolation formerly from fermons, which
would not now be endured. The preachers of
them ferved their generation, and are bleffed for
evermore. But becaufe provifion was made for the
wants of the laſt century in one way, there is no
reafon
X
PREFACE.
reaſon why it ſhould not be made for the wants of
this, in another. The next will behold a ſet of
writers of a faſhion ſuited to it, when our diſcour-
fes fhall, in their turn, be antiquated and forgot-
ten among men; though, if any good be wrought
by them in this their day, our hope is, with that
of faithful Nehemiah, that our God will remem-
ber us concerning them!
But as the productions of every author, who
adds to the number, are expected to contain fome-
thing new, either in matter, or manner, it will na-
turally be aſked, what are my pretenfions? I will
beg leave to deliver my fentiments on the fubject
in the words of the excellent and amiable FENelon,
extracted from the laſt of his moft admirable Dia-
logues on the Eloquence of the Pulpit.
I would have a preacher explain the whole
plan of religion, and unfold every part of it in the
moft intelligible manner, by fhewing the origin and
eſtabliſhment, the tradition and connection of its
principles, its facraments and inſtitutions.
1
"For every thing in Scripture is connected; and
this connection is, perhaps, the moft extraordinary
and wonderful thing to be feen in the facred writings.
"An audience of perfons, who had heard the
chief points of the Mofaic hiſtory and law well ex-
plained, would be able to receive far more benefit
from an explication of the truths of the Goſpel,
than the generality of Chriſtians are now.
"Preachers ſpeak every day to the people of the
Scriptures, the Church, the Patriarchs, the Law,
the Goſpel; of Sacrifice, of Moſes, and Aaron, and
Melchifedek; of Chrift, the Prophets, and Apof-
tles; but there is not fufficient care taken to in-
struct men in the meaning of theſe things, and the
character of thefe holy perfons.
«. This
1
PREFACE.
xi
This way of having recourſe to the firſt foun-
dations of religion, would be fo far from feeming
low, that it would give moft difcourfes that force
and beauty which they generally want; fince the
hearers can never be inſtructed or perfuaded in the
myfteries of religion, if you do not trace things
back to their fource.
''
"For example-How can you make them un-
derſtand what the church fays, after St Paul, that
Jefus Chrift is our FASSOVER, if you do not explain
to them the Jewiſh Paffover, which was appointed
to be a perpetual memorial of their deliverance
from Egypt, and to typify a more important re-
demption, that was referved for Meffiah.
•
"Almoſt every thing in religion is hiftorical.
The beſt way of proving its truth, is to reprefent it
justly; for then it carries its own evidence along
with it. A coherent view of the chief facts rela-
tive to any perſon, or tranfaction, fhould be given
in a conciſe, lively, clofe, pathetic manner, accom-
panied with ſuch moral reflections as ariſe from the
feveral circumſtances, and may beſt inſtruct the
hearers.
"A preacher ought to affect people by ftrong
images; but it is from the Scripture that he ſhould
learn to make powerful impreffions. There he
may clearly diſcover the way to render fermons
plain and popular, without lofing the force and dig-
nity they ought always to poffefs.
"If the clergy applied themſelves to this mode
of teaching, we ſhould then have two different forts
of preachers. They who are not endowed with a
great ſhare of vivacity, would explain the Scripture
clearly, without imitating its lively and animated
manner; and if they expounded the word of God
judiciouſly, and ſupported their doctrine by an ex-
emplary
•
!
xii
PREFACE.
emplary life, they would be very good preachers.
They would employ what St Ambroſe requires, a
chafte, fimple, clear ſtyle, full of weight and gra-
vity, without affecting elegance, or defpifing the
fmoothness and graces of language. The other
fort, being of a poetical turn of mind, would ex-
plain the holy book in its own ftyle and figures;
and by that means become accompliſhed preachers.
The former would inſtruct their hearers with foli-
dity and perfpicuity; the latter would add to this in-
ſtruction the ſublimity, the vehemence, and divine.
enthuſiaſm of the Scripture, which would be (if I
may ſo ſay) entire and living in them, as much as
it can be in men, who are not miraculouſly inſpired
from above."
This, Reader, is the model which I have chofen,
and after which I have humbly endeavoured to
work. I count not myſelf to have attained-Far,
very far indeed from it; as you will too foon dif-
cover. I have not yet been able by any means to
fatisfy myfelf; nor can I hope to fatisfy you. I
have done as well as I could; and know not that
it will be in my power to do better. Nobler and
more extenfive ideas riſe beføre me; but planning
and executing are very different things. Time haf-
tens forward; and life, attended with its cares, per-
haps its forrows, will quickly have run its courfe.
Accept fuch as I can give, and pardon errors and
imperfections. I ftand at the door of the temple,
with my torch. If you would view its glories, en
ter in, and there dwell for ever.
=
DISCOURSE I.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
GEN. i. 26.
And God faid, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion over the
fifb of the fea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
CUR
URIOSITY naturally prompts us to enquire
into the records of the family, or ſociety, to
which we belong. Every little incident, that befel
our anceſtors, is collected with care, and remem
bered with pleaſure. The relation it bears to us
gives it confequence in our eyes, though, in the
eyes of others, it may feem to have none. The
mind, in its progrefs, finds attention excited, as
the velocity of a falling body is increaſed; nor can
it repoſe itſelf at eaſe on any account, which ſtops
fhort of the original, and firft founder of the com-
munity.
Every motive of this fort confpires to animate
our reſearches into the origination of mankind, and
the hiftory of our common progenitor. We can-
not but earneſtly and anxioufly wish to be acquaint-
ed with the circumftances relative to the father of
that family, of which all nations are parts; to dif-
cover and ſurvey the root of that tree, whoſe bran-
ches have overſpread the earth.
B
VOL. I.
Nor
14
THE CREATION OF MAN.
Nor can fuch inveſtigation be deemed matter of
curiofity only. To form proper ideas of man, it is
neceffary we ſhould view him, as he came from the
hands of his Creator. We must know, in what
ftate he was placed, what were the duties refulting
from that ftate, and what the powers whereby he
was enabled to perform them. We must learn,
whether he be now in the fame ftate, or whether
an alteration in his ftate may not have fubjected
him to new wants,' and new obligations. Upon a
knowledge of theſe particulars, every fyftem of re-
ligion and morality must be conftructed, which is
defigned for the ufe of men. A fyftem, in which
the confideration of thefe hath no place, is like a
a courfe of diet preſcribed by a phyfician, unac-
quainted with his patient's conftitution, and with
the nature of the difeafe under which he has the
misfortune to labour.
It is obvious to remark, that this knowledge of
human nature, of what it was at the beginning,
and what alterations have fince happened in it, is
a knowledge to the attainment of which no ſtrength
of genius, no depth of reafoning, no fubtlety of
metaphyfical difquifition can ever lead us.
It is a
matter of fact, and muſt be aſcertained, as matters
of fact are, by evidence and teftimony. But he on-
ly, who made man, can inform us, how man was
made; with what endowments, and for what pur-
pofes. If he hath not done it, the world is, of ne-
ceffity, left in utter ignorance of fo capital a point.
And this reflection alone may fupply the place of
a thouſand arguments, to convince us that he hath
-done it.
We find an opinion current through heathen an-
tiquity, that all is not right with the human race;
that things were not at firſt as they are now, but
that
THE CREATION OF MAN.
IS
1
►
-
that a change hath been introduced for the worfe.
When the philofophers tell us, that mankind were
fent upon earth to do penance for crimes by them
committed in a pre-exiftent ftate, what is it but
faying, that man once was upright and happy; but
that, ceafing to be upright, he ceafed to be happy ;-
and that natural evil is the confequence and pu-
niſhment of moral. Nor is it at all difficult to dif
cern, through the fictions of the poets, thofe truths
which gave birth to them, while we read of a gold-
en age, when righteouſneſs and peace kiffed cach
other; of a man framed of clay, and animated by
a fpark of celeftial fire; of a woman endowed with
every gift and grace from above; and of the fatal
caſket, out of which, when opened by her, a flight
of calamities overfpread the earth; but not without
a referve of HOPE, that, at fome future period of
refreſhment and reftitution, they fhould be done:
away. Such are the fhadowy fcenes, which, by
the faint glimmering of tradition, reflected from an
original revelation, prefent themfelves in that night
of the world, the era of pagan fable and delufion,
when the imaginations of poetry and the conjec-
tures of philofophy were equally unable to fupply
the information which had been long loft, concern-
ing the origin of the world, of man, and of evil.
--
A
A
With this information we are furniſhed by the
writings of Mofes, penned under the direction of
him who giveth to man the fpirit of underſtanding,
for the inftruction of ages and generations. We
are told, by whom the matter of which our fyftem
is compofed, was brought into being; and in what
manner the feveral objects around us were gradu-
ally and fucceffively formed, till the whole, com--
pleatly finiſhed, and furveyed by its great author, --
B
was
*
1
1
*
16
THE CREATION OF MAN.
น
was pronounced good, or fit, in every refpect, to
anfwer the end for which it was defigned.
After this are related the particulars concerning
the formation of man; the time of his production;
the refolution taken upon the occafion; the mate-
rials of which he was compofed; the divine image
in which God created him; and the dominion over
the creatures with which he was inveſted. It is in-
tended, in the following difcourfe, to offer- fuch
confiderations, as may be of uſe towards the expla-
nation and illuſtration of theſe particulars, in their
order.
With regard to the time of man's formation, we
may obferve of the divine procedure, what is true
of every human plan, concerted with wifdom and
forefight; that which was firft in intention, was
laft in execution. Man, for whom all things were
made, was himſelf made laſt of all. We are taught
to follow the heavenly artiſt, ſtep by ſtep, firft in
the production of the inanimate elements, next of
vegetable, and then of animal life, till we come to
the mafter-piece of the creation, MAN, endued with
reafon and intellect. The houſe being built, its
inhabitant appeared; the feaft being fet forth, the
gueft was introduced; the theatre being decorated
and illuminated, the ſpectator was admitted, to be-
hold the fplendid and magnificent ſcenery in the
heavens above, and the earth beneath; to view the
bodies around him moving in perfect order and har-
mony, and every creature performing the part al-
lotted it in the univerfal drama; that, feeing, he
might underſtand, and, underſtanding, adore its
fupreme author and director.
Not that, even in the original and perfect ſtate
of his intellectual powers, he was left to demon-
ftrate the being of a God, either a priori, or a pofte-
rieri.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
£7
#
riori. His Creator, we find, immediately manifeft-
ed himself to him, and converfed with him, in-
forming him, without all doubt, of what had paf-
fed previous to his own exiftence, which otherwife
he never could have known; inftructing him, how,
and for what purpofe the world and man were
made, and to whom he was bound to afcribe all
praife and glory, on that account. The lofs of
this inftruction occafioned fome of his defcendants,
in after ages, to worship the creature, instead of
the Creator. Ignorant of him who gave the fun
for a light by day, they fell proftrate before that
bright image of its Maker's glory, which to the
eye of fenfe appeared to be the God that governed
the world.
ས་
The other parts of this fyftem were produced by
the word of the Creator. "He fpake, and it was
done." The elements were his fervants: "he faid
to one, Go, and it went; to another, Come, and
it came; to a third, Do this," and the commiffion
was inftantly executed. But to the formation of
man (with reverential awe,, and after the manner
of men be it ſpoken) he ſeems more immediately
to have addreffed his power and wiſdom. "Let
us make man;” All things are now ready; let the
work of creation be compleated and crowned by the.
production of its poffeffor and lord, who is to uſe,
to enjoy, and to rule over it; "Let us make man.
The phrafeology, in which this refolution is couch-
ed, is remarkable; "Let us make man," but the
Old Teftament furniſhes more inſtances of a ſimilar
kind; "Behold, man is become like one of us; Let:
us go down, and confound their language; Whom
fhall we fend, and who will go for us ?" Thefe
plural forms, thus ufed by the Deity, demand our
attention.
B3
Three s
''
18
THE CREATION OF MAN.
"
Three folutions of the queftion have been offered.
The firſt is that given by the Jews, who tell us,
that, in theſe forms, God fpeaks of himſelf and
his angels. But may we not afk, upon this occa-
fion," Who hath known the mind of the Lord,
or who hath been his counfellor ?" With which of
the angels did he at any time vouchſafe to fhare his
works and his attributes? Could they have been
his coadjutors in the work of creation, which he fo
often claims to himself, declaring, he will not give
the glory of it to another? Do we believe-do the
Jews believe-did any body ever believe, that man
was made by angels, or in the image and likenefs;
of angels? Upon this opinion, therefore, we need
not ſpend any more time. We know from whence
it came, and for what end it was devifed and pro-
pagated.
A fecond account of the matter is, that the king
of heaven adopts the ftyle employed by the kings
of the earth, who frequently fpeak of themfelves
in the plural number, to expreſs dignity and ma-
jefty. But doth it feem at all reafonable to ima-
gine, that God fhould borrow his way of fpeaking
from a king, before man was created upon the
earth? The contrary fuppofition would furely carry
the air of more probability with it, namely, that
becauſe the Deity originally uſed this mode of ex-
preffion, therefore kings, confidering themſelves
as his delegates and reprefentatives, afterwards did
the fame. But however this might be, the inter-
pretation, if admitted, will not fuffice to clear the
point. For, as it has been judiciously obferved,
though a king and governor may fay us and we,
there is certainly no figure of ſpeech, that will al-
low any fingle perſon to ſay, "One of us," when
he
+
1
THE CREATION OF MAN.
TO
he fpeaks only of himſelf. It is a phraſe that can
have no meaning, unleſs there be more perfons
than one concerned.
What then ſhould hinder us from accepting the
third folution, given by the beft expofitors, ancient
and modern, and drawn from this confideration,
that in the unity of the divine effence there is a
plurality of perfons co-equal and co-eternal, whe
might fay, with truth and propriety, "Let us
make man;" and, "Man is become like one of
Us?" Of fuch a perſonality revelation informs us;
it is that upon which the economy of man's re-
demption is founded; his creation, as well as that
of the world, is, in different paffages, attributed to
the Father, to the Son, and the Holy Spirit; what
more natural, therefore, than that, at his produce
tion, this form of fpeech fhould be uſed by the di-
vine perfons? What inore rational than to ſuppoſe,
that a doctrine, fo important to the human race,
was communicated from the beginning, that men
might know whom they worshipped, and how they
ought to worſhip? What other good and fufficient
reafon can be given, why the name of God, in uſe
among believers from the firft, fhould likewife be
in the plural number, connected with verbs and
pronouns in the fingular? It is true, we Chrif
tians, with the New Teftament`in our hands, may
not want theſe arguments to prove the doctrine:
but why ſhould we overlook, or flight fuch very
valuable evidence of its having been revealed and
received in the church of God, from the founda
tion of the world? It is a fatisfaction, it is a com-
fort to reflect, that, in this momentuous article of
our faith, we have patriarchs and prophets for our
fathers; that they lived, and that they died in the
belief
*
.Gen, i. I ברא אלהים
20
THE CREATION OF MAN."
}
*
belief of it; that the God of Adam, of Noah,
and of Abraham, is likewife our God; and that:
when we adore him in three perſons, and give glory
to the Father, `to the Son, and to the Holy Ghoſt,
we do as it was done in the beginning, is now, and
ever-fhall be.
Proceed we to confider the materials, of which:
man was compofed.
"The word of the Lord once came to the pro-
phet Jeremiah, † faying, Arife, and go down to the
potter's houſe, and there I will caufe thee to hear
my words. Then he went down to the potter's
houſe, and behold he wrought a work on the wheel.
And the word of the Lord came untò him, faying,
Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, fo are
ye in mine hand.”
A ſcene like this is prefented to our imaginations
by the words of Mofes; "The Lord God formed
man out of the duft of the ground;" he ‡ moulded
or modelled him as a potter doth; we fee the work,.
as it were, upon the wheel, rifing and growing un-
der the hands of the divine artificer !
The human body was not made of the celeſtial
elements, light and air, but of the more grofs ter-
reſtrial matter, as being defigned to receive and
communicate notices of terrestrial objects, by or-
gans of a nature fimilar to them. In this inftance,
as in another fince, God feemeth to have "chofen
the baſe things of the world, to confound things
honourable and mighty," when of the duſt of the
ground he compofed a frame, fuperior, in rank and ‹
dignity, to the heavens and all their hofts. They
whofe profeffion leads them to examine the ftruc
ture of this aftonifhing piece of mechaniſm, thefe
men ſee the works of the Lord, and his wonders
in..
་
*
1
אלהים * !
† Jer. xviii. I.
יצר +
|| 1 Cor. i. 28.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
2F
in the formation of the human body. A contem-
plation of its parts, and their difpofition, brought
Galen upon his knees, in adoration of the wiſdom
with which the whole is contrived; and incited
him to challenge any one, upon an hundred years
ſtudy, to tell, how any the leaft fibre or particle
could have been more commodiouſly placed, either
for ufe, or beauty. While the world fhall laft,
genius and diligence will be producing freſh proofs,
that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made;"
that "marvellous are the works," and, above all,
this capital work of the Almighty; and that the
hand which made it muſt needs be verily and in-
deed divine.
Into the body of man, thus conftructed, we learn
from Mofes, that God, "breathed the breath of
life, and man became à living foul." The question
here will be, Whether thefe words are intended to
denote the rational and immortal foul, or the fen-
fitive and animal life?
•
They are certainly fometimes ufed in the lower
of theſe acceptations. "Ceafe ye from man whoſe
breath* is in his noftrils. All creatures in whoſe
noſtrils was the breath of life + died by the flood.”
By theſe texts it appears that the terms fpirit and
breath‡ are uſed to fignify that animal life, which
is fupported mechanically, by reſpiration through
the noftrils.
But they are likewife uſed for the rational and
immortal foul; witnefs thoſe words of the pfalmift,
adopted by our Lord, when expiring on the croſs;
"Into thy hands I commend my fpirit." So again
"The fpirit § fhall return to God who gave it."
And "The fpirit of man ¶ is the candle of the Lord."
~ Spiritual
נשמת רוח חיים * נשמת and רוח ?
נשמת אדם !
הדוח $
נשמה
רוחי!
+
22
THE CREATION OF MAN
Spiritual effences and operations come not under
the cognizance of thoſe fenfes, which, during the
preſent ſtate of probation, God has been pleaſed to-
make the inlets of our ideas. They must therefore
be repreſented and defcribed to us, in the way of
compariſon and analogy, by fuch language as is
commonly ſtyled figurative, or metaphorical. Of
animal life, begun and continued by refpiration, we
have a proper and fufficient knowledge.. From a
contemplation of that life, and the manner in which
it is fupported by the air, we are directed to frame
our notions of an higher life, maintained by the in-
fluence of an higher principle. For this purpoſe,
the terms which denote the former are borrowed
to express the latter; and we find the words, tran-.
flated Spirit, and breath, fometimes uſed for one,
and fometimes for the other.
But when we confider, that man, as other Scrip
tures do teftify, has within him a rational foul, an
immortal fpirit, which, on the diffolution of the
body, returns to God who gave it; that, in this
original defcription of his formation, we may rea,
fonably expect to find both parts of his compofition
mentioned; and that a perfonal act of the Deity,
that of infpiring the breath of life, is recorded with.
regard to him, which is not faid of the other crea-
tures; we can hardly do otherwiſe than conclude,
that the words were intended to denote not only.
the animal life, but alſo another life communicated
with it, and repreſented by it; in a word, that man
confifteth of a body ſo organized as to be ſuſtained
in life by the action of the material elements upon
it, and a rational immortal foul, fupported, in a fi-
milar manner, by the influence of a fuperior and
Spiritual agency.
We
and
}
THE CREATION OF MAN.
23
•
י
We had occafion to obferve above, that when
the knowledge of the Creator, furniſhed at the be-
ginning by Revelation, had been loft in the hea-
then world, men paid to the works of his hands
that adoration which was due to him. The mate-
rial elements were inveſted with divinity and im-
mortality, and worfhipped as gods. It may now
be farther obferved, that to the foul of man, con-
fidered as a portion of thefe elements, was attribu-
ted the fame divinity and immortality; and thus
things natural were ſubſtituted in the place of
things fpiritual, a proper notion of which could
not then be attained, for want of that inftruction
from above, which directs us how to transfer our
ideas from one to the other, and to believe in the
latter, as conceived through the medium of the
former. So difficult has it ever been found, for
the human mind, to paſs the bounds of matter, and
to explore the invifible wonders of the fpiritual
world. And whoever obſerves the progrefs of that
fcheme, which is once more fet up againſt Revela-
tion by fome, in our own and a neighbouring na-
tion, who affect the title of philofophers, in oppoſi-
tion to that of Chriftians, and whofe abilities one
cannot but lament to fee employed in this manner,
will perceive its tendency to introduce materialifm,
and to carry us back again to that ſtate of darkneſs
from which it pleaſed the Father of lights, in mer-
cy, to deliver us, by the Gofpel of his Son.
But to return to the Mofaic account of man, of
whoſe diſtinguiſhing excellencies we are taught to
entertain the moſt exalted fentiments, when we are
told, that he was made in the image and likeneſs
of God." For what more can be faid of a crea-
ture, than that he is made after the fimilitude of
his Creator?
+
As
*
-4
THE CREATION OF MAN.
As "God is a fpirit," the fimilitude here ſpoken
of muſt be a ſpiritual fimilitude, and the fubject to
which it relates must be the fpiritual part of man,
his rational and immortal foul.
To diſcover wherein ſuch image and likeneſs con-
fifted, what better method can we take, than to en-
quire, wherein confift that divine image and like-
nefs, which, as the Scriptures of the New Tefta-
ment inform us, were reftored in human nature,
through the redemption and grace of Chrift, who
was manifefted for that purpofe? The image re-
ftored was the image loft; and the image loft was
that in which Adam was created.
T
The expreffion employed by the penmen of the
New Teſtament plainly point out to us this method
of proceeding. We read of the new man" which
after God is created;"* and of man being "C renew-
ed after the image of him that created him ;" and
the like. The ufe of the term created naturally re-
fers us to man's firft creation, and leads us to paral-
lel that with his renovation, or new creation, by
which he re-obtained thofe excellencies poffeffed at
the beginning, but afterwards unhappily forfeited.
And what were thefe ?-"Renewed in knowledge,
after the image of him that created him-Put on
the new man, which after God is created in righte-
ouſneſs and true hölineſs, οσιότητι της αληθείας, the holines
of, or according to truth." The divine image,
then, is to be found in the underſtanding, and the
will; in the underſtanding which knows the truth,
and in the will which loves it. For when the un-
derſtanding judges that to be true which with God
is true, the man is " renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him;" when the
will loves the truth, and all its affections move in
the
* Ephef. iv. 24.
† Coloſſ. iii. 10.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
2.5
the purſuit and practice of it, the man is "new
created after God in righteouſneſs and holineſs."
This divine image is reftored in human nature, by
the word of Chrift enlightening, and the grace of
Chriſt rectifying the will. Theſe are, in the end,
to render man what he was at firſt created, ac-
cording to that paffage in the writings of King So-
lomon, which is the ſhorteſt and beſt comment
upon the words of Mofes-" God made man up-
right"-the original word* fignifies ftraight, di-
rect; there was no error in his understanding, no
obliquity in his will. He who fays this, fays every
thing. It is a full and comprehenfive account of
man in his original ſtate; nothing can be added to
it, or taken from it.
Such, then, was Adam, in the day when God
crowned him king in Eden, and inveſted him with
fovereignty over the works of his hands, giving
him "dominion over the fifh of the ſea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth."
It appears to have been the order of Providence,
that while the flesh continued in fubjection to the
fpirit, and man to God, fo long the creatures
fhould continue in fubjection to man, as fervants
are fubject to their lord and mafter. This original
fubjection we muſt ſuppoſe to have been univerfal
and abfolute. From the creatures man has much
to learn, but nothing to fear. If, to answer the
purpoſes of creation, or to convey to his mind ideas
of his inviſible enemies, any were at that time wild
and noxious, with regard to him they were tame
and harmleſs. In perfect fecurity he faw, he con-
VOL. I.
fidered,
C
ישר
26
THE CREATION OF MAN.
3
fidered, he admired. But when he rebelled againſt
his God, the creatures renounced their allegiance
to him, and became, in the hands of their com-
mon Creator, inftruments of his puniſhment.
The beafts of the field" were no longer "at
peace with him." Yet in confequence of the new
covenant and promiſe to redeem man and the world,
we find it faid after the flood-" The fear of you
and the dread of you ſhall be on every beaft of the
earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that
moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of
the fea." So far is the fuperiority of the human
ſpecies ſtill preſerved, that "every kind of beafts,
and of birds, and of ferpents, and things in the
fea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind."+
In fome cafes, for the fake of eminently holy per-
fons, favoured by heaven on that account, the in-
ftincts of the moſt ſavage and ravenous have been
fufpended; as when fome of every kind affembled
and lodged together in the ark, and when the
mouths of the lions were ſtopped in the den of Ba-
bylon, while the righteous and greatly beloved Da-
niel was there. The Redeemer of the world en-
dued his difciples with the original privilege-
"Behold I give you power to tread on ferpents,
and on fcorpions; and nothing fhall by any means
hurt you." And, agreeably to fuch promife, St.
Paul hook off the viper into the fire, and felt
no harm." The viith pfalm is a beautiful repre-
fentation of the extent of this privilege, as it was
poffeffed, at the beginning, by the firft Adam, and
as it hath been fince reftored to the fecond-" O
Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the
earth! Who haft fet thy glory above the heavens.
Out
Gen. ix. 2.
₫ Luke x. 19.
† James iii. 7.
| Acts xxviii. 5.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
247
Out of the mouth of babes and fucklings haft thou
ordained ftrength, becauſe of thine enemies, that
thou mighteft ftill the enemy and the avenger.
When 1 confider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the ſtars which thou haft
ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful-of
him; and the fon of man that thou viſiteſt him?
For thou haft made him a little lower than the an-
gels, and haſt crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madeft him to have dominion over the works,
of thy hands; thou haft put all things under his
feet all ſheep and oxen, yea and the beafts of the
field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the fea,
and whatſoever paffeth through the paths of the
feas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth!"
*
Let us indulge a few reflections on the foregoing
particulars.
+
-The imagination naturally endeavours to form
fome idea of the fenfations that muſt have ariſen
in the mind of the firft man, when, awaking into
exiſtence, with all his fenfes and faculties perfect,
he beheld the glory and beauty of the new created
world. Faded as we muft fuppofe its glory and its
beauty now to be, enough ftill remains, to excite
continual wonder, praife, and adoration. Yet it
is repreſented in the Scriptures of truth, as lying
under a curfe, as groaning and travailing in pain,
and as little better than a priſon, from which all,
who are truly fenfible of its condition, and their
own, with and pray to be delivered, into the liber-
ty of the children of God. But if fuch be our priẻ
fon, what notions are we led to form of thoſe man-
fions, which our Lord is gone before to prepare
for us, in his Father's houfe? Creation was finifh-
ed in fix days, and we read, that, " on the ſeventh,
God
C 2-
**
28
THE CREATION OF GOD.
1
God refted from all his work whieh he created and
· made."*
But the tranfgreffion of man would not
fuffer him to reſt. "My Father," fays the bleffed
Jefus, "worketh hitherto, and I work"† Sin
made its way into the firſt creation, and is gradu-
ally deſtroying it, as a moth fretteth a garment-
"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon
the earth beneath; for the heavens fhall vanifh
away like ſmoke, and the earth fhall wax old like
a garment, and they that dwell therein fhall die în
like manner."‡ "But we, according to his pro-
mife, look for new heavens, and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteouſneſs." || We read of
one, who, in vifion, "faw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the firſt earth
were paffed away."§ When the new creation fhall
be finished and prepared, an act of Omnipotence
will be exerted, fimilar to that which paffed at the
formation of Adam. The Lord God will again
"form man out of the duft of the ground, and
breathe into his noftrils the breath of life." From
his long fleep in the chamber of the grave, he will
awake to behold the never fading glories of a world,
which will have no need of the fun neither of
the moon to ſhine in it, for the Lord God and the
Lamb," thofe brighter and inextinguishable lumi-
naries, fhall enlighten it for ever.¶ The Almighty
fhall again with complacency furvey the works of
his hands, and pronounce every thing he has made
to be "very good;" he fhall again reft on the ſe-
venth day; the children of the refurrection fhall
enter into his reſt, and keep an eternal fabbath.
Let us
"comfort one another with thefe words.”
• Gen. ii, 2.
2 Pet. ii. 13.
+ John v. 17.
§ Rev. xxi. 1.
4
A view
+ Ifai li. 6.
¶ Rev. xxi. 23.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
20
-
·
A view of the different materials of which man
is compofed, may teach us to form a proper eſti-
mate of him. He ftands between the two worlds,
the natural and the ſpiritual, and partakes of both.
His body is material, but its inhabitant defcends
from another fyftem. His foul, like the world from
which it comes, is immortal; but his body, like
the world to which it belongs, is frail and periſh-
able. From its birth it contains in it the feeds and
principles of diffolution, towards which it tends
every day and hour, by the very means that nou-
rifh and maintain it, and which no art can protract
beyond a certain term. In fpite of precaution and
medicine, "the evil days will come, and the years
draw nigh, when he fhall fay, I have no pleaſure
in them.' Pains and forrows will fucceed each
other, as "the clouds return after the rain,'
blackening the face of heaven, and darkening the
fources of light and joy. The hands, thofe once
active and vigorous" keepers of the houſe," grown
paralytic, fhall tremble;" and "the ftrong men,"
thofe firm and able columns which fupported it,
fhall "bow themfelves," and fink under the weight.
The external" grinders" of the food, the teeth,-
"fhall ceaſe, becauſe they are few," and the work
of maſtication fhall be imperfectly performed. Dim
fuffufion ſhall veil the organs of fight, "they that
look out of the windows fhall be darkened." "The
doors," or valves," fhall be fhut in the streets,"
or alleys of the body, when the digeſtive powers
are awakened, and "the found of the" internal
"grinding is low." Sleep, if it light upon the
eye-lids of age, will quickly remove again, and
"he will rife up" at the time when the firſt "voice:
of the bird" proclaims the approach of the morning..
"All the daughters of mufic fhall be brought low;"
he:
C 3
7
,
30
THE CREATION OF MAN.
he will hear no more the voice of finging men, and
finging women. Timidity and diftruft will predo-
minate, and he will be alarmed at every thing;
" he ſhall be afraid of that which is high, and fears
fhall be in the way." As the early "almond tree,'
when it flouriſhes in full bloffom, his hoary head
fhall be confpicuous in the congregation, the fure
prognoftic not of fpring, alas, but of winter; he.
who, like "the grafhopper," in the feafon of youth
was fo fprightly in his motions, now fcarce able to
crawl upon the earth, "fhall be a burden" to him-
felf, and the organs of fenfe being vitiated and im-
paired, "defire" and appetite "fhall fail." The
ſpinal marrow, that "filver cord," with the infinite
ramifications of the nerves, thence derived, will be
relaxed, and lofe its tone;" and the golden bowl,"
the receptacle of the brain, from which it proceeds,
"fhall be broken." The veffel, by which as a
"pitcher," the blood is carried back to the heart
for a fresh fupply, "ſhall be broken at the foun-
tain, and the wheel," or inftrument of circulation,
which throws it forth again to the extremities of
the body," fhall be broken at the ciftern." *.
When this highly finiſhed piece of mechaniſm fhall:
be thus disjointed and diffolved, "then ſhall the
duft," of which it was framed,. "return to the
earth as it was, and the fpirit fhall return to God-
who gave it." Learn we from hence, to bettow on
cach part of our compofition that proportion of
time and attention, which, upon a due confidera-
tion of its nature and importance, it fhall appear to
claim at our hands.
To.
* See the Portrait of Old Age, in a Paraphrafe on the fix former
verfes of the xii chapter of Ecclefiaftes, by JoHN SMITH, M. D. of the
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; reprinted in 1752, for E. WITHERS,
at the Seven Stars, between the two Temple-Gates, Fleet-ftreet.
THE CREATION OF MAN.
31*
To ſtamp on man his own image, was the defign
of God in creating him; to reftore that image,
when loft, was the defign of God in redeeming
him. Could greater honour have been done to
human nature? Never may the guilt be ours of
debafing our nature, and obliterating this image
and fuperfcription;" a fpecies furely of treafon a
gainſt the majefty of heaven. Sloth will obfcure
the fair impreffion; its attendants, ignorance and
vice, will deftroy it. Let diligence therefore be
appointed to watch over it, and to retouch, from:
time to time, the lines that are faded; till, the
whole ftanding confeffed in knowledge, righteouf-
nefs, and true holinefs, men may glorify our Fa-
ther which is in heaven, while they behold his re-
femblance upon earth. So fhall we anſwer the
ends of our creation and redemption, and ſerve our
generation in the most effectual manner. And
though, when this is done, we muſt cloſe our eyes
in death, and fleep with our fathers; yet the hour
cometh, in which we fhall open them again, to
"behold thy face, O God, in righteoufnefs; we
fhall be fatisfied, when we awake with thy like-
nefs.”*.
Was Adam invefted with fovereignty over the
creatures? Obferve we from hence, that man was
made to rule.. Majeftic in his form, he was or-
dained to trample upon earth, and afpire to heaven,
which, without putting a force upon nature, he
cannot but behold, and regard. In the original ·
ſubjection of the creatures we fee what ought to be
that of every defire and appetite, terreftrial and
animal, to the ruling principle within us. The
fubtlety of fome creatures, and the fierceneſs of
others, now exhibit to us the difficulty of fubduing.
* Pf. xvii. 15.-
and
32
THE CREATION OF MAN.
3
་
1
ས་
and governing the paffions, broken loofe, like them;.
from the dominion of their mafter; infomuch, that
the apoſtle, who afferts, that every creature may
be, and has been tamed of man, yet ſays of one
part of man, the tongue," it is a deadly evil,
which no man can tame," meaning, by his own
powers. Through the redemption and grace which
are by Chrift Jefus, this dominion, as well as the
other, is reſtored, not only over our own paffions,
but over ftill more formidable opponents, the evil
fpirits in arms against us. For thus our Lord gave
his difciples power not only over the natural "fer-
pents and feorpions," but over fome, whoſe venom
is of a more malignant and fatal kind; "over all
the power of THE ENEMY." The apoftles return-
ed, accordingly, crying out, "Lord, the very
DEVILS are fubject unto us, through thy name !??
And we have a general promife, that, in our com-
bats with them, God will give us victory, and bruiſe
their leader, Satan himſelf, under our feet. Our
Redeemer is exalted above the heavens, and human
nature in the ſecond Adam, reſtored to dominion
over all the earth. And though, at preſent, the
apoſtle's lot may be ours, to "fight with beaſts,"
with evil men, evil paffions, and evil ſpirits, yet
through God we fhall do great acts; it is he that
fhall tread down thoſe that riſe up againſt us; till
finally triumphant over the laſt enemy, and exalted
to the eternal throne, we fhall view the earth be-
neath us, and the fun and ſtars ſhall be duft under
our feet.
}
DISCOURSE JI.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
1
GEN. ii. 8.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden,
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
IN a preceding diſcourſe ſome confiderations were
offered, tending to elucidate the particulars related
by Mofes concerning the origination of man; name-
ly, the time of his formation; the refolution taken
by the Deity on the occafion; the materials of
which he was compofed; the divine image in which
he was created; and the dominion over the crea-
tures with which he was inveſted.
The words now read mark out the hiftory of
that habitation in which it pleaſed the Almighty to
place him at the beginning, for the fubject of our
prefent enquiries. A fubject not only curious, but
highly intereſting. For if Levi be faid to have paid
tythes to Melchifedek, as being in the loins of A-
braham, at the time of that tranſaction; we may,
in like manner, regard ourſelves, as having taken
poffeffion of Eden; being in the loins of our ancef-
tor, when he did fo. And though it can afford
but ſmall comfort, to reflect upon the excellence of
an inheritance which we have loft, it may infpire
into us due fentiments of gratitude and love to-
wards that bleffed perfon, who hath recovered it
for us,
And thus every confideration which en-
hances.
',
34
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
hances the value of the poffeffion, will proportion-
ably magnify the goodnefs of our great benefactor.
For theſe reaſons, we fometimes, perhaps, find
ourfelves difpofed to lament the conciſeneſs and ob-
ſcurity of that account which Mofes hath left us of
man's primeval eftate in paradife. But when we
recollect, that to this account we owe all the infor-
mation we have, upon fo important a point, it will.
become us to be thankful that we have been told
fo much, rather than to murmur becauſe we have
been told no more; and inftead of lamenting the
obfcurity of the Mofaic account, to try whether, by
diligence and attention, that obfcurity may not be,
in part, difpelled. For though Mofes, hath only
given us a compendious relation of facts (and facts.
of the utmoſt importance may be related in very
few words) that relation is ratified and confirmed
in the Scriptures of both Teftaments, in which are
found many references and allufions to it. By
bringing thiefe forth to view, and comparing them
together, we may poffibly be led to fome agreeable
fpeculations concerning the fituation of Adam in
the Garden of Eden, the nature of his employment,
and the felicity he there experienced.
•
On a ſubject fo remote, and confeffedly difficult,
demonſtration will not be expected. Much of
what is advanced, muſt be advanced rather as pro-
bable, than certain; and where there is little pofi-
tive information, the candor fo often experienced
will accept of fuch notices as can be obtained by
inference and deduction.
When we think of Paradiſe, we think of it as the
feat of delight. The name EDEN authorifes us fo.
to do. It fignifies PLEASURE; and the idea of plea-
fure is infeparable from that of a Garden, where
man ftill feeks after loft happineſs, and where, per-
haps,
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
34
haps, a good man finds the neareſt reſemblance of
it, which this world affords. "What is requifite,"
exclaims a great and original genius, " to make a
wife and a happy man, but reflexion and peace?
And both are the natural growth of a Garden. A
Garden to the virtuous is a Paradife ftill extant; a
Paradife unloſt.” * The culture of a Garden, as
it was the firſt employment of man, fo it is that,
to which the moft eminent perfons in different ages
have retired, from the camp and the cabinet, to
paſs the interval between a life of action, and a re-
moval hence. When old Dioclefian was invited
from his retreat, to refume the purple which he had
laid down fome years before, "Ah," faid he,
"could you but ſee thoſe fruits and herbs of mine
own raiſing at Salona, you would never talk to me
of empire!" An accompliſhed ſtateſman of our
own country, who ſpent the latter part of his life
in this manner, hath fo well defcribed the advan-
tages of it, that it would be injuftice to communi-
cate his ideas in any words but his own.
ther fort of abode," fays he, " ſeems to contribute
fo much both to the tranquillity of mind, and in-
dolence of body. The fweetnefs of the air, the
pleaſantnefs of the fmell, the verdure of plants, the
cleannefs and lightnefs of food, the exercife of
working or walking; but, above all, the exemption
from care and folicitude, feem equally to favour
and improve both contemplation and health, the
enjoyment of fenfe and imagination, and thereby
the quiet and eafe both of body and mind. A
Garden has been the inclination of kings, and the
choice of philofophers; the common favourite of
public and private men; the pleaſure of the great-
eft, and the care of the meaneft; an employment
4
* Dr Young-Centaur not fabulous. P. 61.
"No o-
and
¿
36
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
and a poffeffion, for which no man is too high, nor
too low. If we believe the Scriptures," concludes
he, "we muſt allow, that God Almighty eſteem-
ed the life of man in a Garden the happieſt he
could give him; or elfe, he would not have placed
Adam in that of Eden "*
pur-
The Garden of Eden had, doubtlefs, all the per-
fection it could receive from the hands of Him,
who ordained it to be the manfion of his favourite
creature. We may reaſonably prefùme it to have
been the earth in miniature, and to have contained
ſpecimens of all natural productions, as they ap-
peared, without blemiſh, in an unfallen world;
and theſe diſpoſed in admirable order, for the
poſes intended. And it may be obferved, that
when, in after times, the penmen of the Scriptures
have occafion to deſcribe any remarkable degree of
fertility and beauty, of grandeur and magnificence,
they refer us to the Garden of Eden. "He be-
held all the plain well watered as the Garden of
the Lord. The land was as the Garden of Eden
before them, but behind them a defolate wilder
nefs." The prophet Ezekiel, at the command of
God, for an admonition to Pharoah, thus portrays
the pride of the Affyrian empire, under the fplen-
did and majeſtic imagery afforded by vegetation in
its moſt flouriſhing ſtate. "The Affyrian was a
cedar in Lebanon, fair of branches, and with a ſha-
dowing ſhroud, and of an high ſtature, and his top
was among the thick boughs. The waters made
him great, the deep fet him up on high, with her
rivers running round about his plants, and fent out
her little rivers to all the trees in the field. There-
fore his height was exalted above all the trees of
* Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE, Gardens of Epicurus.
‡ Joel i. 3.
† Gen. xiii. 19.
the
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
37
3
the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his
branches became long, becaufe of the multitude of
waters when he fhot forth. Thus was he fair in
his greatnefs, and in the length of his branches:
for his root was by great waters. The cedars in
the Garden of God could not hide him, nor was
any tree in the Garden of God like unto him in his
beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of
his branches; ſo that all the trees of Eden, that
were in the Garden of God'envied him.” * After
having related the fall of his towering and extenſive
empire, the prophet makes the application to the
king of Egypt; "To whom art thou thus like, in
glory and greatnefs, among the trees of Eden? Yet
fhalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden,
to the lower parts of the earth." In another place
we find the following ironical addrefs to the king
of Tyre, as having attempted to rival the true God,
and the glories of his Paradife.
"Thou fealeft up
the fum, full of wifdom, and perfect in beauty.
Thou haft been in Eden, the Garden of God;
every precious ftone was thy covering-thou waft
upon the holy mountain of God-thou waft per-
fect in thy ways, from the day that thou waft cre-
ated, until iniquity was found in thee-Thine heart
was lifted up becauſe of thy beauty, thou haft cor-
rupted thy wiſdom, by reaſon of thy brightneſs: F
will caft thee to the ground, I will lay thee before
kings, that they may behold thee."+
Traditions and traces of this original Garden
feem to have gone forth into all the earth, though,
as an elegant writer juftly obfèrves, "they muft be
expected to have grown fainter and fainter in every
transfufion from one people to another. The Ro-
mans probably derived their notion of it, expreffed
VOL. I.
* Ezek xxxi. 3, &c.
D
† Ezek. xxviii. 12 &c
in
38
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
in the gardens of Flora, from the Greeks, among
whom this idea feems to have been fhadowed out
under the ſtories of the gardens of Alcinous. In
Africa they had the gardens of the Hefperides, and
in the east thoſe of Adonis. The term of Horti
Adonides was uſed by the ancients to fignify gardens
of pleasure, which anfwers ftrangely to the very
name of Paradife, or the Garden of Eden.” * In
the writings of the poets, who have laviſhed all the
powers of genius and the charms of verfe upon the
fubject, theſe and the like counterfeit or fecondary
paradifes, the copies of the true, will live and
bloom, fo long as the world itſelf ſhall endure.
It hath been already fuggefted, that a Garden is
calculated no lefs for the improvement of the mind,
than for the exerciſe of the body; and we cannot
doubt, but that peculiar care would be taken of
that moſt important end, in the difpofition of the
Garden of Eden.
From the fituation and circumftances of Adam,
it ſhould not feem probable, that an all wife and
all gracious Creator would leave him in that ftate
of ignorance, in which, fince the days of Fauftus
Socinus, it hath been but too much the faſhion to
repreſent him. For may we not argue in fome
fuch manner as the following?
If fo fair a world was created for the uſe and fa-
tisfaction of his terreſtrial part, formed out of the
duft, can we imagine, that the better part, the im-
mortal spirit from above, the inhabitant of the
fleſhly tabernacle prepared for it, fhould be left in
a ftate of deftitution and defolation, unprovided
with wiſdom, its food, its fupport, and its delight?
If men, fince the fall, and labouring under all
the diſadvantages occafioned by it, have been ena-
bled
SPENCE'S Polymetis, cited in Letters on Mythology, P. 126.
1
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
39
bled to make thofe attainments in knowledge,
which they certainly have made; and we find the
underſtanding of a Solomon replete with every ſpe-
cies of wiſdom, human and divine; can we con-
ceive ignorance to have been the characteristic of
the firſt formed father of the world, created with
all his powers and faculties complete and perfect,
and living under the immediate tuition of God?
If upon the trial of Adam, as the head and re-
prefentative of mankind, their fate, as well as his
own, both in time and eternity, was to depend,
can we ever think, his Maker would expoſe him to
ſuch a trial, with a mind not better informed, than
that of a child or an idiot?
If redemption reſtored what was loft by the fall,
and the ſecond Adam was a counterpart of the firft,
muft we not conceive Adam to have once been
what man is, when reſtored by grace to "the image
of God in wiſdom and holinefs?" And does not
he, who degrades the character of the Son of God *
in Paradife, degrade in proportion the character of
that other Son of God, and the redemption and re-
ſtoration which are by him?
Our firft father differed from all his defcendants
in this particular, that he was not to attain the uſe
of his underſtanding by a gradual procefs from in-
fancy, but came into being in full ftature and vigour
of mind as well as body. He found creation like-
wife in its prime. It was morning with man and
the world.
We are not certain with regard to the time al-
lowed him, to make his obfervations upon the dif-
ferent objects, with which he found himſelf fur-
rounded; but it thould feem, either that fufficient
time
D 2
* Luke iii. 38.-" Which was the fon of Adam, which was...
the Son of God."
40
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
time was allowed him for that end, or that he was
enabled, in fome extraordinary manner, to pervade
their effences, and diſcover their properties. For
we are informed, that God brought the creatures
to him, that he might impofe upon them fuitable
names; a work which in the opinion of Plato, *
muſt be ascribed to God himfelf. The uſe and in-
tent of names is to exprefs the natures of the things
named; and in the knowledge of thoſe natures, at
the beginning, God, who made them, muſt have
been man's inftructor. It is not likely, that with-
out ſuch an inſtructor, men could ever have form-
ed a language at all; fince it is a task which re-
quires much thought; and the great mafters of
reafon feem to be agreed, that, without language,
we cannot think to any purpofe. However that
may be, from the original impofition of names by
our firſt parent we cannot but infer, that his know-
ledge of things natural muſt have been very emi-
nent and extenfive; not inferior, we may fuppofe,
to that of his defcendant, king Solomon, who
"ſpake of trees, from the cedar to the hyffop, and
of beafts, and fowl, and creeping things and fiſhes.”
It is therefore probable, that Plato afferted no more
than the truth, when he afferted, according to the
traditions he had gleaned up in Egypt and the eaſt,
that the frit man was of all men Φιλοσοφωτατος, the
greatest philofopher.
As man was made for the contemplation of God
here, and for the enjoyment of him hereafter, we
cannot imagine, that his knowledge would termi-
nate on earth, though it took its rife there. Like
the patriarch's ladder, its foot was on earth, but its
top, doubtless, reached to heaven. By it the mind
afcended from the creatures to the Creator, and
defcended
* Τα πρωτα ονόματα οι Θ:οι έθεσαν, ---In Cratylo.
!
}
THE GARDEN OF EDEN:
41
It
defcended from the Creator to the creatures.
was the golden chain, which connected matter and
fpirit, preferving a communication between the-
two worlds.
That God had revealed and made himſelf known:
to Adam, appears from the, circumftances related;
› namely, that he took him, and put him into the
garden of Eden; that he converfed with him, and
communicated a law, to be by him obferved; that
he cauſed the creatures to come before him, and.
brought Eve to him. In thefe tranfactions, God
probably affumed fome vifible appearance; becaufe,.
otherwife than by fuch affumed appearance, no
man, while in the body, can fee God.
find, by what paffed after the fatal tranfgreffion,
that "the voice or found of the Lord God walking
in the garden," was a voice, or found, to which
Adam had been accuſtomed, though guilt for the
firft time had made him afraid of it.
And we
If there was, at the beginning, this familiar in--
tercourfe between Jehovah and Adam, and he
vouchfafed to converfe with him, as he afterwards
did with Mofes, " as a man converfeth with his
friend," there can be no reaſonable doubt, but that
he inftructed him, as far as was neceffary, in the
knowledge of his Maker, of his own ſpiritual and
immortal part, of the adverfary he had to encoun-
ter, of the confequences to which. difobedience.
would fubject him, and of thofe invifible glories, a
participation of which was to be the reward of his
obedience.
•
When God, in after times, felected a peculiar
people to be his church and heritage, to receive the
law from his mouth, and to be the guardians of his..
promifes, he "chofe one place to place his name:
there;" to be the place of his refidence, where he
D 3..
appeared.
42
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
I'
appeared and was confulted. He gave directions
for the conſtruction of a temple, or houſe, in a par-
ticular manner appropriated to him, and called his;
which, though compofed of worldly elements, was
fo framed as to exhibit an apt refemblance, model,
or pattern of heavenly things; to ferve as a fchool
for inftruction, as a fanctuary for devotion. Might
not the Garden of Eden be a kind-of temple, or
fanctuary, to Adam; a place chofen for the refi-
dence and appearance of God; a place defigned to
repreſent and give him ideas of heavenly things; a
place facred to contemplation and devotion? Some-
thing of this fort ſeems to be intimated by the ac-
count we have of the garden in the fecond chapter
of Genefis, and to be confirmed by the references
and allufions to it, in other parts of the Scriptures.
With this view, we may oblerve, that though
Paradife was created with the reft of the world,
yet we are informed, the hand of God was, in a
more eſpecial manner, employed in preparing this
place for the habitation of man. "The Lord God
planted a Garden eastward in Eden. And out of
the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree
that is pleaſant to the fight, and good for food..
And a river went out of Eden, to water the Gar-.
den; and from thence it was parted, and became
into four heads." Thus the great architect of the
univerfe, he who, in the language of the apoſtle,
built all things," is defcribed as felecting, difpo-
fing, and adorning this wonderful and happy fpot,
wherein was to be placed the creature made after
his own image and likenefs, but a little lower than
the angels. Does not this circumftance fuggeft to
ús, that fomething more was intended, than what
generally enters into our idea of a Garden?
Whenever
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
43
"
Whenever the Garden of Eden is mentioned in
the Scriptures, it is called " the Garden of God,"
or "the Garden of the Lord;" expreffions which
denote fome peculiar defignation of it to facred
purpoſes, fome appropriation to God and his fer-
vice, as is confeffèdly the cafe with many fimilar
phrafes; fuch as "houfe of God, altar of God,
man of God," and the like; all implying, that the
perfons and things ſpoken of were confecrated to
him, and fet apart for a religious ufe.
When it is faid, "the Lord God took the man
and put him into the Garden of Eden, to DRESS it,,
and to KEEP it," the words undoubtedly direct us
to conceive of it,' as a place for the exercife of the
body. We readily acquiefce in this, as the truth,
but not as the whole truth; it being difficult to
imagine, that ſo noble a creature, the Lord of the
world, thould have no other, or higher employ-
ment. Much more fatisfaction will be found in
fuppofing, that our first parents, while thus em-
ployed, like the priests under the law, while they:
miniftered in the temple, were led to contempla-
tions of a more exalted nature, "ferving to the
example and fhadow of heavenly things." The
powers of the body and the faculties of the mind
might be fet to work at the fame time, by the fame
objects. And it is well known, that the words.
here uſed,* do as frequently denote mental as cor-..
poreal operations; and under the ideas of DRESSING
and KEEPING the facred Garden, may fairly imply
the CULTIVATION and OBSERVATION of fuch reli-
gious truths, as were pointed out by the external
figns and facraments, which Paradife contained.
•
That fome of the objects in Eden were of a fa-
cramental nature, we can hardly, doubt, when we
read
שמר and צבר
1
44
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
1
read of "the tree of knowledge," and "the tree-
of life." The fruit of a material tree could not,
by any virtue inherent in it, convey the know-
ledge of good and evil," or caufe that, by eating it,
a man fhould "live for ever.” But fuch fruit
might be ordained as a facrament, upon the parti-
cipation of which, certain fpiritual effects fhould
follow. This is entirely conformable to reafon, to.
the nature of man, and of religion.
It is remarkable, that, in the earlieſt ages, a cuft
tom ſhould be found to prevail, both among the
people of God, and idolaters, of fetting apart and
confecrating gardens and groves, for the purpoſe
of religious worſhip.. Thus Abraham, we are told,
"planted a tree, or grove, at Beersheba, and call--
ed on the name of the everlaſting God.”* The
worshippers of falſe Gods are deſcribed, in the wri,
tings of the prophets, as " facrificing in gardens,"
as" purifying themſelves in gardens, behind one
tree in the midft;" and it is foretold, that they
ſhould be "afhamed for the oaks which they had
defired, and confounded for the gardens which
they had chofen."+ A furprizing uniformity in
this point may be traced through all the different
periods of idolatry, as fubfifting among the Canaan-
ites, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans.
Groves were dedicated to the Gods, and particular.
fpecies of trees were facred to particular deities.
The fame ufage prevailed among the Druids, in
theſe parts of the world. And to this day, the
ailes of our Gothic churches and cathedrals are e-
vidently-built in imitation of thofe arched groves,
which of old fupplied the place of temples. It is
not, therefore, without reafon, that the author of
a learned differtation on the ſubject makes the fol-
lowing
* Gen. xxi. 33.
+ Ifai. lxv. 3. lxvi. 175 /
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
45
lowing remark Thefe were the hallowed fanes
of the ancients, in which they performed divine.
worſhip. And indeed, if we would trace up this
rite to its origin, we muſt have recourfe to the true
God himself, who inftituted in Paradife a facred
garden, or grove; ordained Adam to be the high
prieft of it, and confecrated in it two trees, for a
public teftimony of religion."
But upon the fuppofition now made, that the
Garden of Eden ferved as a kind of Temple for our
firft parents, might we not expect to find fome re-
femblance of it in the tabernacle and temple after-
wards erected by the appointment of God, for his
refidence in the midft of his people Ifrael? The
queſtion is by no means abfurd, eſpecially if we re-
collect, that it was the defign of the Mofaic fanc-
tuary, with its apparatus, to prefigure the reſtora-
tion of thofe fpiritual bleffings, which were forfeit-
ed and loft by the tranfgreffion in Paradife: Let
us therefore enquire what fatisfaction the Scriptures
will afford us upon this point.
The principal objects in the Garden of Eden,
with which Revelation has brought us acquainted,
are the plantations of trees, and the rivers of wa-
ter, by which thofe plantations were nouriſhed and
fupported in glory and beauty. Was there any
thing of this fort in or about the tabernacle and
temple?
With regard to the plantations, two paffages in
the pfalms incline us to think, there were fuch in
the courts of the Jewish fanctuary, as well as in
that of Eden;" I am like a green olive tree in the
house of God. * The righteous fhall flourish like
a palm-tree, he fhall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ·
Thofe that be planted in the houfe of the Lord,
* PL lii, 8.
fhall
+
1
46
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
fhall flourish in the courts of our God. They fhalf
bring forth fruit in old age; they fhall be fat and
flouriſhing." *
Thefe texts feem to fuppofe the
real exiſtence of fuch plantations, and, at the fame
time, to intimate the end and defign of them,
namely, to reprefent the progrefs and improve-
ment of the faithful in virtue, through the influ-
ence of the divine favour. The fame pleafing and
expreffive image is employed to the fame purpoſe,
in the firſt pfalm-" He fhall be like a tree plant-
ted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his feafon; his leaf alfo fhall not wither,
and whatever he doth fhall profper."
As to the rivers of water which fupplied and re-
freſhed the Garden of Eden and all its productions,.
we meet with fomething analogous to them, both
in the tabernacle and temple.
During the journey of the children of Ifrael from
Egypt to Canaan, the camp in general and the fa-
cred tabernacle in particular were fupplied with wa-
ter in a miraculous manner, not only at the time
when Mofes fmote the rock, but the fame ſupply
accompanied them afterwards" They drank of
that rock," that is, the water of that rock, "which
followed them." "He led thee (fays Mofes) through
that great and terrible wildernefs, wherein were
fiery ſerpents, and ſcorpions, and drought, where
there was no water; who made water to flow for
thee of the rock of flint."+ And thefe waters, like
thoſe in Eden, were of a facramental nature. "They
did all drink the fame fpiritual drink; for they
drank of that fpiritual rock which followed them,
and that rock was Chrift."‡ How lively a repre-
ſentation of that heavenly grace, which comforts
* Pf. xcii. 12.
+ Deut. viii. 15.
our-
‡ 1 Cor. x. 4、
1
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
47
our weary ſpirits, and enables us to accompliſh our
journey through the wilderneſs of life!
*
If from the tabernacle we proceed to the temple,
we are there prefented with the facred ftreams of
Siloah, breaking forth and flowing from the mount
of God. In Ezekiel's famous vifion of the new
temple, there is a wonderful deſcription, founded
on the real fituation of things at mount Sion, ex-
plaining their fignification, and unavoidably carry-
ing our thoughts back to the waters and plantations
of the original fanctuary in Eden. "Afterward he
brought me again unto the door of the houfe, and
and behold waters iffued out from under the threſh-
old of the houſe eaſtward.-Then faid he to me,
Thefe waters iffue out toward the eaſt country, and
go down into the defert, and go into the fea: which
being brought forth into the fea, the waters fhall
be healed. And it fhall come to paſs, that every
thing that liveth, which moveth, whitherfoever the
river fhall come, fhall liveAnd by the river,
upon the bank thereof, on this fide, and on that
fide, fhall grow all trees for meat, whofe leaf ſhall
not fade; neither fhall the fruit thereof be con-
fumed it fhall bring forth new fruit according to
its months, becauſe their waters iffued out of the
fanctuary; and the fruit thereof fhall be for meat,
and the leaves thereof for medicine."*
When the prophets have occafion to foretel the
great and marvellous change to be effected in the
moral world, under the evangelical difpenfation,
they frequently borrow their ideas and expreffions
from the hiftory of that garden, in which innocence
and felicity once dwelt together, and which they
reprefent as again fpringing up and blooming in the
wilderness. Of the many paffages which occur,
* Ezek. xlvii. . et feq.
two
48
THE GARDEN OF EDEN,
.
two or three only fhall be recited. "The Lord
will comfort Sion, he will comfort all her waſte
places; he will make her wilderneſs like Eden, and
her defart like the Garden of the Lord: joy and
gladneſs ſhall be found therein, thankſgiving and
the voice of melody;"* fuch joy and gladnefs, fuch
thankſgiving and melody, at the reftitution of all
things, as were at their firſt creation, when "God-
faw every thing he had made, and behold, it was
very good;" when "the morning ftars fang toge-
ther, and all the fons of God fhouted for joy."
"When the poor and needy feek water, and there
is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the
Lord will hear them, I the God of Ifrael will not
forfake them. I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midft of the vallies; I will
make the wildernefs a pool of water, and the dry
land fprings of water. I will plant in the wilder-
nefs the cedar, the fhittah tree, and the myrtle,
and the oil tree; and I will fet in the defart the fir
free, and the pine, and the box tree together: that
they may fee, and know, and confider, and under-
ftand together, that the hand of the Lord hatir
done this, and the Holy One of Ifrael hath created.
it."+ "The wilderness and the folitary place fhall
be glad for them, and the defart fhall rejoice and
bloffom as the rofe. It fhall bloffom abundantly,
and rejoice even with joy and finging; the glory of
Lebanon fhall be given unto it, the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon: they fhall fee the glory of the
Lord, and the excellency of our God."‡
At the time appointed, theſe predictions received
their accompliſhment. Men "faw the glory of the
Lord, and the excellency of our God." By the
death and refurrection of the Redeemer, loft Para-
dife
* Ifai. li. 3.
+ Ifai. xli. 17.
‡ Ifai. xxxv. I.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
49
dife was regained; and its ineftimable bleffings,
wiſdom, righteouſneſs and holineſs, are now to be
found and enjoyed in the Chriftian church. But
as men are ſtill men, and not angels, thoſe bleffings
are ſtill repreſented and conveyed by facramental
fymbols, analogous to the original ones in Eden.
From the facred font flows the waters of life, to
purify, to refreſh, to comfort; "a river goes out
of Eden to water the garden," and to "baptize all
nations;" while the euchariſt anſwers to the fruit
of the tree of life: at the holy table, we may now
"put forth our hands, and take, and eat, and live:
for ever."
+
Let us go one step farther, and confider the ſtate?
of things, in the heavenly kingdom of our Lord.
There, it is true, all figures and ſhadows, ſymbols®
and facraments, fhall be no more; becaufe faith
will there be loft in vifion, and we fhall "know
even as we are known." But in the mean time,
till we attain that perfect confummation, was any
perfon admitted to a fight of heaven, and the won-
ders that are therein, he could no otherwiſe de-
ſcribe them to us, who are yet in the body, than
by the way of picture and fimilitude. This was the
cafe of St Paul. In a divine extafy, he had been
caught up, and made to fee and hear things, which
he could not impart to others, on account of their
incapacity to receive them. What then does he?
He refers us to the habitation of our firſt parents, for
a general and comparative idea of them. "I knew
a man (fays he) who was caught up into Paradife."
Our Lord, giving the penitent thief to underſtand,
that his forrows would foon be at an end, and he
fhould pafs, with his Saviour, into a place of reſt
and joy, uſes the fame expreffion-" This day fhalt
thou be with me in Paradife." The beloved dif-
VOL. I.
E
ciple,
50
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
喋
​ciple, who was frequently in the ſpirit tranflated to
thoſe celeftial manfions which Chriſt is gone to pre-
pare for us, gives a more particular and extended
defcription of them. But how? By bringing to our
view all Eden, its waters and plantations, together
with thoſe ſeen by Ezekiel, in his viſion of the new
temple. "He ſhewed me a pure river of water of
life, clear as chryftal, proceeding out of the throne
of God, and of the Lamb.-And of either fide of
the river was there the tree of life, which bare
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every
month; and the leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations.-To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midſt of the Paradife of God.-Bleffed are they
that do his commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life.-And the fpirit and the
bride fay, Come. And let him that heareth fay,
Come. And let him that is athirft come; and
whofoever will let him take the waters of life freely."
In theſe paffages, the divine fcenery is evidently
borrowed from objects once really exifting in the
terreſtrial Paradife, and employed to aid our con-
ceptions, in apprehending celeftial glories. If,
therefore, we are taught, that heaven reſembles the
Garden of Eden, it feems fair and reaſonable to
conclude, that the Garden of Eden reſembled hea-
ven, and was, from the beginning, intended fo to
do; that, like the temple under the law, and the
church under the Gofpel, it was, to its happy pof-
feffors, a place choſen for the reſidence of God; a
place defigned to repreſent and furnish them with
ideas of heavenly things; a place facred to contem-
plation and devotion; in one word, that it was the
primitive temple and church, formed and confecra-
ted for the uſe of man, in his ſtate of innocence.
There,
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
*
51**
There, undisturbed by care, and, as yet, unaffailed
by temptation, all his faculties perfect, and his ap-
petites in fubjection, he walked with God, as a man
walketh with his friend, and enjoyed communion
with heaven, though his abode was upon earth. He
ftudied the works of God, as they came freſh from
the hands of the workmafter, and in the creation,
as in a glaſs, he was taught to behold the glories of
the Creator. Trained, in the ſchool of Eden, by
the material elements of a vifible world, to the
knowledge of one that is immaterial and inviſible,
he found himſelf excited, by the beauty of the pic-
ture, to aſpire after the tranſcendent excellence of
the divine original. This facred Garden the firſt
Adam by tranfgreffion loft; but all the bleffings,
fignified and reprefented by it, have been, through
the fecond Adam, reftored to his pofterity. In our
ftead, he ſubjected himſelf to the vengeance of
"the flaming fword," and regained for us an en-
trance into Eden. For, "When he overcame the
ſharpneſs of death, he opened the kingdom of hea-
ven to all believers." He himfelf "the Tree of:
Life in the midft of the Paradife of God;" and, by
the effufion of his Spirit, he gives us to drink
"rivers of living water.' In his church here be---
low, he has all along communicated, and ſtill com-
municates his gifts, by external facraments, which
ſerve at once as figns, as means, and as pledges :-
but, admitted to the church above, we ſhall ſee, and -
tafte them, as they are. "Thou," O Lord Jefus,
"fhall fhew us," for thou only canft now fhew us
"the path of LIFE," the "way to the tree of life,
and introduce us to the truth and fubftance of all
that was fhadowed out by the blissful fcenes of Eden;
for in thy prefence is the fulneſs of Joy, and at
thy right hand there are PLEASURES for evermore ››
""
Eu. 3
19
DISCOURSE III.
THE TREE OF LIFE.
GEN. ii. Part of verfe 9.
The Tree of Life alfo in the midst of the Garden.
SOME arguments were offered upon a former oc-
cafion, tending to prove, that the Garden of Eden,
laid out and planted by the hand of the Almighty,
for the habitation of our firſt parents, in a ſtate of
innocence and felicity, was of a figurative and fa-
cramental nature; that, like the temple under the
law, and the church under the Gospel, it was, to
its happy poffeffors, a place chofen for the refidence
of God; a place defigned to reprefent, and furniſh
them with ideas of heavenly things; a place facred
to contemplation and devotion..
Among the objects prefented to us, there is one,
which, though then taken into the general account
with the reſt, may feem to claim a more particular
attention. It ſtands confpicuous in the Mofaic de-
fcription, the capital figure in that beautiful piece.
It is faid to have been placed in the centre of Eden,
like the fun of the little fyftem, and bears a name
fufficiently calculated to awaken curiofity. The in-
ſpired hiftorian having informed us, that "the
Lord God cauſed to grow out of the ground every
tree that was pleaſant to the fight, and good for
food;" every thing, in the vegetable way, either
ufefut,
1.
THE TREE OF LIFE.´`·
53%
ufeful, or ornamental; adds-" The Tree of Life:
alfo in the midft of the garden."
ven.
Life, we know, as it relates to man, is twofold;
that of the body, and that of the foul; animal and
fpiritual; temporal and eternal. Each requires to
be ſupported by a nutriment adapted to its nature,
and ſupplied by fomething external to itfelf. The
food of the body is, like the body, material, and
cometh out of the earth; the food of the foul is,
like the foul, fpiritual, and cometh down from hea-
The Tree of Life was, doubtleſs, a material
tree, producing material fruit, proper, as fuch, for
the nouriſhment of the body. The queffion will`.
be, whether it was intended to be eaten, in com--
mon, for that end alone; or whether it was not
rather fet apart, to be partaken of, at a certain
time, or times, as a fymbol, or facrament of that
celeftial principle, which nouriſhes the foul unto
immortality; meaning, by that term, not a natural
immortality, or bare exiſtence, but that divine, fpi-
ritual, eternal life, which was loft by the fall, and
the reftitution of which is now "the gift of God,
through Jefus Christ our Lord."
1.
If it be fuppofed, that the Tree of Life was de-
figned folely for the fupport of the body of man,
there will appear no reaſon for its being diſtinguiſh-
ed, as it is by its appellation, from the other trees
of the garden, which were all, in that fenfe, equal-
ly trees of life, being, as we are told, "good for
food." And indeed, the matter feems to be clearly
determined otherwife, by the twenty-fecond verfe
of the third chapter, where we find fallen man ex-
cluded from Paradiſe, "left he ſhould put forth his
hand, and take alſo of the fruit of the Tree of Life,
and eat, and live FOR EVER."* Immortality, there-
fore, was to have been obtained, according to God's
original
.לעולם
E. 3.
*
•
54
THE TREE OF LIFE.
original appointment, by eating the fruit of the
Tree of Life; not, furely, as the Jews idly talk, by
any medicinal quality, or virtue, preferving the eater
from fieknefs and death, neither of which, by the
way, was in the world, till introduced-by fin. No;
the thing ſpeaks itfelf. A material tree could only
confer eternal life as a divinely instituted fymbol,
or facrament; as, "an outward vifible fign of an
inward ſpiritual grace, given to Adam, as a means
whereby he was to receive the fame, and a pledge
to affure him thereof." Hereby he would be con-
tinually reminded of the truth, communicated to
him, without all doubt, from the beginning; that
there was another and a better life than that led by
him in the terreftrial and figurative Paradife; a life,
on which he was to fet his affections, and to which he
was to look, as the end, the reward, the crown of his
obedience; a life, fupported, as it was given, by ema-
nation from that Being, who only hath life in himſelf,
and is the fountain, from which, in various ways, it
flows to all his creatures. Of Him, as the glorious
fun of the intellectual world, and of his gracious gift,
ftreaming, like light through the heavens, to en-
liven and blefs the fpiritual fyftem, the Tree of
Life, with its fruit, in the midſt of Eden, is appre-
hended to have been ordained, as an inftructive and
comfortable fymbol; that fo a memorial of his a-
bundant goodneſs might be fhewn upon earth, and
new created man might fing of his righteoufnefs.
The facramental defignation of the Tree of Life
in Paradiſe may be farther evinced, perhaps, by a
paffage or two in the book of St John's Revelation..
??*
To him that overcometh," fays the captain of our
falvation, "will I give to eat of the Tree of Life,
which is in the midst of the Paradife of God."
And again--" Bleffed are they that do his com-
mandments,
* Rev. ii. 7.
1
THE TREE OF LIFE.
55
mandments, that they may have right to the Tree
of Life." * By" eating of the Tree of Life in the
Paradife of God," is here evidently meant a parti-
cipation of eternal life with God in heaven. Of
this eternal life the faithful followers of their great
leader are to be put in poffeffion, as the reward of
their labours, when thoſe labours ſhall have been ac-
complished; when they fhall have walked to the end
of their journey in the path of Chrift's command-
ments, and ſhall have finally overcome their fpirit-
tual enemies. May we not therefore, by parity of
reafon, infer from hence the fignification and intent
of the Tree of Life in Eden? By means of that fa-
crament, had Adam gone happily through his pro-
bation, and perfevered in obedience unto the end,.
he would have been admitted, in the kingdom of
heaven, to that ſtate of eternal life with God, for
which he was always defigned, and of which Para-
dife was the earthly resemblance. He would have
been removed from the fhadows of this world to
the realities of a better. His removal muſt have
differed, in the manner of it, from that of which
we now live, or ought to live, in expectation..
Without fin, death could have had no power over
him. He would have been tranflated alive, as E-
noch and Elijah, for particular purpoſes, afterwards
were. The change would have been wrought in
him at once, as it was in them, and as it will be in.
thofe, who fhall be found alive, at the coming of
our Lord to judgment.
When tranfgreffion had fubjected Adam to a fen-
tence of condemnation, the cafe was altered. Glo-
ry and immortality could no longer be obtained u-
pon the terms of the first covenant, now broken and
void. The very attempt became criminal. Man
* Rev. xxii. 14.
was
56-
THE TREE OF LIFE.
}
was to be put under a new covenant, and in a new
courſe of trial. He was to fuffer in the fleſh for
fin, and to pay the penalty of death. But, through ·
the merits of a furety, that death was to be made
the gate of immortality. By faith he was to ac-
quire, upon the mediatorial plan, a freſh right or
power to eat of the Tree of Life, and live for ever,
after the refurrection from the dead, with his pro-..
pitiated and reconciled Maker. In mercy, there-
fore, he was excluded from the garden of Eden,
and from the original fymbol of that eternal life,..
which was now to be fought after by other means,
- and repreſented by other facraments. He was fent
forth into the world to pafs his time in toil, pain,
and forrow; in mourning, contrition, and penance;
till death fhould fet him free, and introduce him to
the joys purchaſed and prepared for him by that:
bleffed perfon, in whom is Life, and the Life was
the light of men. The fame divine perfon was
always the fource of immortality, however the fa-:
cred fymbols, inftituted to adumbrate it, have been
varied under different difpenfations. To our firſt
parents, before the fall, he ftood in the relation of
Creator and Lord. To them, and to their pofteri--
ty, fince that fad cataſtrophe, he hath ftood, and .
ever continued to ſtand, in the new relation of Sa-
viour and Redeemer. The man who doth not now
acknowledge him in this latter character, will find
him, in the former, an avenger to execute wrath:
and what wrath can be fo fierce and terrible, as that
of the Lamb? It is oil fet on fire. The finner un--
leſs he be in love with condemnation, muſt not re-
vert to the firſt covenant, and aim at the acquifi-·
tion of eternal life, on the foot of the law of works,
or the performance of unfinning obedience.
""*
In
this..
* John 1. 4.
1
་
THE TREE OF LIFE.
57
this cafe the rebel claims promotion, inſtead of fu-
ing for pardon. He puts forth his hand to the
fruit of the now forbidden tree, which is no longer
food for man. Its nature is changed, with our
condition. To the eye of human pride it ſtill looks
fair and tempting; but its contents, when eaten,
are afhes and fulphur; and immortality, without re-
demption, would prove the reverfe of a bleffing.
Such being the ſtate of this matter, and the or-
der of the divine economy concerning it, all that
is faid in the Scriptures from the fall downward,
with regard to the new method of obtaining eter-
nal life, and the appointed means of fo doing, will
throw light backward, and ſerve to illuftrate the ac-
count already given of the Tree of life in Paradiſe.
To this end may be adduced the texts, which
fpeak of the Redeemer, his religion, truth, grace,
and falvation, under the very original expreffion of
the Tree of Life.
And here, the first place is due to that charming
deſcription, left us by king Solomon, in the pro-
verbs, of divine WISDOM perfonified, and reprefent-
ed as having been with God in the beginning, yet
rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and
delighting to be with the fons of men; as the way,
the light, and the life; the author and giver of
peace and comfort, joy and gladnefs; the Creator
of all things, by whom the worlds were made, and
without whom was not any thing made, that was
made.-"Happy"-fays the great teacher of Ifrael
"Happy is the man that findeth Wiſdóm, and
the-man that getteth underſtanding. For the mer-
chandiſe of it is better than the merchandiſe of fil- ·
ver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is
more precious than rubies and all the things thou
canſt deſire are not to be compared unto her.
Length
1
58
THE TREE OF LIFE
Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left
hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of
pleaſantnefs, and all her paths are peace. She is
a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her, and
happy is every one that retaineth her.”*
Thus, in another place" The fruit of the
righteous is a Tree of Life; and he that winneth
fouls is wife."+ The fruit produced by the right-
eous, through grace, copious, fair, and well fla-
voured, like that which once grew upon the Tree
of Life, invites all beholders to come and partake,,
with its owner, of that glory and immortality with
which it fhall one day be crowned: And furely
he, who, by thefe means, winneth ſouls to righte-
oufnefs and falvation, is wife indeed! He refem-
bles the eternal Wifdom, the Son of God himfelf,
who came down from heaven to win ſouls, when,
the fruit of the righteous was the true Tree of Life.
Again-
A wholefome, or healing tongue
is a Tree of Life; but perverfeneſs therein is a.
breach of the fpirit."+
If this be fo, in what paffes about the affairs of
the prefent world, how much more, when the
concerns of another make the fubject of converfa-
tion? When we extend the Proverb to them, we
cannot but think of the two capital inftances, in
which it was moſt fignally verified. We deteft the
tongue, that "perverted" mankind from the path
of life, and made a "breach in the fpirit," at which
fin entered, and death by fin. But everlafting be-
nediction be upon that tongue, which fpake, as no
other ever did, or could fpeak, pardon, peace, and
comfort to loft mankind. That was the Tree of
Life, whofe leaves were for the healing of the na-
*. Prov. iii. 13. &c. † Prov. xi. 30.
tions.
Prov. xv. 4. -
'
↑
THE TREE OF LIFE.
!
59
tions. "With the tongue confeffion is made unto
falvation."
Once more. "Hope deferred maketh the heart
fick; but when the deſire cometh, it is a Tree of
Life.":
This likewife is true, in temporals, of
any object, long wifhed for, and at laft poffeffed;
but it is emphatically fo of the hope of falvation,
which, while it is deferred, maketh the heart fick;
as we may find by the pathetic and forcible excla-
mations of thoſe who waited for it in old time. But
when the deſire, that is, the object of the defire—
he whom ſo many prophets and kings had earneſtly
defired to fee, and did not fee-he who was "the
defire of all nations"—when he came, he proved
the Tree of Life reſtored in the Paradife of God.
Two remarkable repeſentations of things fpiritual
and divine under the Gofpel difpenfation, or in
the kingdom of heaven, were exhibited to Ezekiel
and St John. Let us compare them with each o-
ther, and both of them with the original ſcenery
in Paradiſe, from which the images are evidently
borrowed, and to which unleſs they are again re-
ferred, they loſe half their beauty and fignificancy.
In Ezekiel's viſion of the Chriſtian church, un-
der the figure of the fecond temple, he tells us, he
faw" waters iffuing from the fanctuary, and giv-
ing univerſal life, wherever they went."+ St John
faw" a river of water of life, clear as chryſtal,
proceeding from the throne of God and the
Lamb." And " a river,” we know," went forth,"
at the beginning, "to water and make glad the Gar-
den of God, in Eden."-
72
"On the banks of the river, on this fide, and on
that fide,” Ezekiel beheld "very many trees;" or as
it fhould, perhaps, be rendered," a very great
tree,"
* Prov. xiii. 12. † Ezek. xlvii. 1, 9.
‡ Rev. xxii. 1,
1
1
60
THE TREE OF LIFE.
+
tree," "whofe leaf fhall not fade, neither fhall the
fruit thereof be confumed: it (in the fingular num-
ber) fhall bring forth new fruit according to it's
months; and the fruit thereof fhall be for meat,
and the leaves for medicine."+ Let us now turn
again to St John-" In the midst of the street of
it"-the new Jerufalem, fucceeding in the place of
Paradiſe, and the old Jerufalem, with its temple
and ſervices-" in the midſt of the ſtreet of it, and
of either fide the river, was there the Tree of Life,
which bare twelve manner of fruit, and yielded
its fruit every month; and the leaves of the Tree
were for the healing of the nations."+ Can we
read either of theſe deſcriptions, without immedi-
ately carrying our thoughts back to Eden, where
we fee growing out of the ground, at the command
of the Lord God, "every tree good for food, and
pleaſant to the fight, the Tree of Life alfo in the
midſt of the garden.'
But let us take a view of fome other figures and
facraments, ordained fince the fall of man, as the
Tree of Life was appointed before it, to repreſent
to the faithful the bleffing of immortality.
The loft bleffing was to be recovered and refto-
red to the human race by the ſufferings and death
of a furety, who, after dying for our fins, was to
rife again, for our juftification. The grand infti-
tution, therefore, of this kind, commencing im-
mediately upon the fall, and continuing in force
to the death and reſurrection of Chrift, was Sacri-
fice. A victim was brought to the altar, and being
flain as a ſubſtitute for the offerer, firſt ſaved him
from death, and then became food to fupport his
life. And as Providence hath been ever careful to
furnish us with continual memento's of the truths
moft
צץ רב מאד
13. + Ezek. xlvii. 1 2. + Rev. xxii. 2.
1
THE TREE OF LIFE.
61
most important and interefting to us, it ſeems to
be a circumftance worthy notice, that fince the
ufe of animals for food, and thofe chiefly which
were made choice of in facrifice, the world fubfif-
teth by fhedding of blood, and the death of the
innocent is daily the life of the guilty. This is
an additional reafon, why every meal ſhould be
"fanctified” according to the apoftolical direction,
"by the word of God, and by prayer,"* while the
meat that perisheth reminds us, in fo lively and ftrik-
ingamanner, ofthat which endurethunto eternal life.
The hiſtory of the Pafchal Lamb, with the prefer-
vation of Ifrael from the hand of the Deftroyer,
in that night to be remembered through all their
generations, the night of their leaving Egypt, is
a very particular, full, and beautiful exemplifica-
tion of the nature and defign of Sacrifice. "Chrift,
our Paffover, is facrificed for us ;" and therefore
we too "keep the feaſt."+
That miraculous fupply of food, vouchfafed by
God, to ſuſtain his people, during their journey
through the wilderneſs, till they came to the bor
ders of Canaan, was another fign or fymbol of im-
mortal life, and its fupport derived from above,
This new and extraordinary viand fprung not out
of the earth, but came down, in rain, or dew,
from heaven; white to the eye, fweet to the taſte,
and agreeable to every palate; given freely to all;
proportioned to the neceffities of each; and renew-
ed day by day, till the fojournings of Ifrael were
over, and the promifed reft attained.
St Paul,
having occafion to fpeak of thofe events, which,
as he expreffes it, "happened unto Ifrael for en-
famples," as figures or ihadows of things fpiri- .
tual and divine, mentions this miracle, with that
VOL. I.
1 Tim. iv. 5.
E
+ 1 Cor. v. 7. # Τύποι συνέβαινον.
of
62
THE TREE OF LIFE.
of the water brought out of the rock, in the follow-
ing terms" They did all eat the fame fpiritual
meat; they did all drink the fame fpiritual drink;
for they drank of that ſpiritual rock, which follow-
ed them; and that rock was Chriſt.” * Our Lord,
in the fixth chapter of St John's Goſpel, difcour-
fing with the Jews upon this fubject, fays to them-
"Mofes gave you not that bread from heaven; but
my Father giveth you the TRUE bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he that cometh down from
heaven, and giveth life unto the world."+ Chrift
here ſtileth himſelf the TRUE bread, plainly in op-
pofition to that which was fhadowy and figurative.
He is the TRUE bread, which cometh down from
heaven, and is given, day by day, to nourish and
fupport the Ifrael of God, the camp of the faints,
the church militant, during her pilgrimage in the
world, till fhe fhall come to the promifed inheri-
tance, the land of that everlafting reft, which re-
maineth for the people of God. There we fhall
find, and enjoy for ever, the truth and ſubſtance of
this facred figure. "He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit faith to the churches. To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the HID-
DEN MANNA," that is, to partake of that life,”
which is "hid with Chrift in God;" as the golden
veffel of Manna was laid up, for a memorial, in
the holy places made with hands." ||
To the fame purpofe ferved that bread, called
the Shew Bread, or Bread of the Prefence, § fet forth
new, every morning, in the tabernacle, and temple,
and denoting the fuftenance to be communicated to
the fouls of men from the body of Mefliah; to pre-
figure which body, it is well known, that both ta-
bernacle
* 1 Cor. x. 3, &c.
Exod. xvi. 33.
↑ John vi. 32.
Heb. ix. 4.
+ Rev. ii. 17.
לחם פנים $
་་
THE TREE OF LIFE.
63
}
1
Bernacle and temple were conftructed, under the
direction of God himſelf.
Laftly-What the Tree of Life was to Adam in
paradife; what Sacrifice in general was to the faith-..
ful, after the fall, from Abel downward; what the
Pafchal Lamb was to Ifrael quitting Egypt; what
Manna was to that people in the wilderneſs; what
the Shew Bread was in the tabernacle and temple;
all this, and if there be any other fymbol of like
import, it is now briefly comprehended, during tlie
continuance of the Chriſtian church upon earth, in
the holy Eucharift. The former were prefigurative
facraments, this is a commemorative one. They.
fhewed forth the Meffiah, and the life which is by
him, until his firft coming; this fhews forth the
fame Meffiah, and the fame life," until his coming
again." Excluded from the Tree of Life in Para-
dife, we are admitted to partake of the Bread of
Life in the church. Loft by the covenant of Works,
we are ſaved by that of Grace. A cheering voice
calls to us from the fanctuary, "Draw near with
faith, and take this holy facrament to your com-
fort." The elements are honoured with the names
of the Body and Blood of Chriſt, becauſe appoint-
ed to fignify and convey, to the worthy communi-
cant, the bleffings purchafed by his Body broken,.
and his Blood thed, upon the crofs; bleffings to-
the foul, like the benefits conferred upon the body
by bread and wine; life, health, ftrength, comfort,
and joy.
-
Such have been the different fymbols and facra--
ments vouchfafed to mankind under different dif-
penfations, all reprefenting and fhadowing out a
glorious immortality in another and better world,
where we fhall fit down with the author and giver
of it, at his table, to eat Bread, and drink of the
fruit.
F 2...
!
JA
THE TREE OF LIFE.
A
›
fruit of the Vine, new in his kingdom; where we
fhall give glory to the Lamb that was flain; where
we ſhall partake of the hidden Manna, and eat the
fruit of the Tree of Life, which is in the midſt of
the Paradife of God.
From the paffages of Scripture thus laid together,
the nature and defign of the Tree of Life in Eden
feem fufficiently clear. And, upon a review of
what hath been faid, it is impoffible not to admire
the confiftency and uniformity running through.
both Teftaments, from the ſecond chapter of the
Genefis of Mofes, to the twenty-fecond of St John's.
Revelation, which fo mutually illuftrate and explain
each other. The analogy of faith, in this inftance,
proclaims aloud the wiſdom and harmony of the di-
vine difpenfations, from the creation to the con-
fummation of all things.
At fundry times, in divers manners, and by va-
rious inftruments, bath heaven conveyed inftruction:
to man. But the inſtructionconveyed, with the terms.
and figures employed to convey it, befpeak, at all
times, the hand of the fame omnifcient and beneficent.
author. They muſt be conſtrued and expounded u-
pon the fame plan; and when rightly conftrued and
expounded, will be found to terminate in the fame.
awful and interefting objects, eternal life, and the
means of its attainment. To thefe great ends ferve
the ſymbols of Paradife, the facrifices of the patri-
archs, the types of the law, the vifions of the pro-
phets, and the facraments of the Gofpel, with the
numberless expreffions and defcriptions borrowed
from them, and referring to them. Thefe conſti-
tute a kind of facred language peculiar to holy writ,.
and only explicable by it. The knowledge of this
language is a ſcience by itfelf, and the ftudy of it
well worthy the attention of fuck as have leiſure
and.
THE TREE OF LIFE.
and abilities to profecute it, is its own rich and ex-·
ceeding great reward. The fubjects are of fuch in-
finite moment, that all others muft in compariſon,
appear to be as nothing. And the drefs, in which
they are preſented to us, is the most ornamental
and engaging in the world. It is of that kind, to
which both eloquence and poetry, among men, owe
all their charms. The doctrines of Scripture are
not propofed in a naked logical form, but arrayed
in the moſt beautiful and ſtriking images which the
creation affords. *
A celebrated and well known author, whoſe ef-
fays have long been the eſtabliſhed ſtandard of true-
tafte, and fine writing, makes, in one of them, the
following obfervations" By fimilitudes drawn...
from the vifible parts of nature, a truth in the un-
derſtanding is, as it were, reflected by the imagi--
nation: we are able to fee fomething like colour
and ſhape in a notion, and to diſcover a ſcheme of
thoughts traced out upon matter. And here the
mind receives a great deal of fatisfaction, and has
two of its faculties gratified at the fame time, while
the fancy is bufy in copying after the underſtand-
ing, and tranſcribing ideas out of the intellectual
world into the material. It is this talent of affec-
ting the imagination that gives an embelliſhment to
good fenfe, and makes one man's compofitions more
agreeable than another's. It has fomething in it -
like creation, and beftows a kind of existence.
>
It
makes additions to nature, and gives greater variety
to God's works. In a word, it is able to beautify
and adorn the moft illuftrious fcenes in the univerfe,
and to fill the mind with more glorious fhews and
apparitions than can be found in any part of it.Ӡ
Perhaps
* See Lord BACON's Advancement of Learning, B. vi. C. 3.
+ Mr ADDISON's concluding paper on the Pleaſures of Imagie
nation. Spectator VI. N° 441.
F 3
;
66
THE TREE OF LIFE..
Perhaps it is impoffible any where to meet with
jufter fentiments than theſe are, clothed in more
apt and elegant expreffions. And this fingle paf-
fage would have fufficed to eſtabliſh the reputation
fo juftly acquired by its author. The inference I
would beg leave to make from. it is this; If fuch be
the cafe in human compofitions, where fimilitudes
are drawn by ſhort-fighted man, to illuftrate things
temporal; what muſt it be, when they are drawn,.
to illuftrate things eternal, by him, who has a per-
fect knowledge of the nature and properties of the
objects from whence they are drawn, as well as of
thoſe to which they are applied;. nay, who, doubt-
lefs created the vifible world, among other purp-
fes, for that, to which he himself, in his Revela-
tions to mankind, has fo continually employed it,.
that of ferving as a picture, or reprefentation of the
world at prefent invifible?" Eye hath not feen,"
ſays an Apoſtle, "nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man to conceive the things.
that God hath prepared for them that love him. But
God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit ;'
and the Spirit, knowing our infirmities, and where-
of we are made, hath revealed them, from begin-
ning, by external figns, fymbols, facraments, and
a figurative language, fupplied by them. Upon
this very principle it is, that another acknowledged
mafter of ftyle and compofition grounds the cha-
racter of the facred writings, confidered in that
view" Eloquence (fays be) is that which per-
fuades: it perfuades by moving; it moves by things,"
and palpable ideas only and hence no eloquence is
fo perfect as that of the Scriptures; fince the moſt
fpiritual and métaphyfical things are there repre-
fented by fenfible and lively images."+
1 Cor. ii. 9.
>> *.
In
ROLLIN, Belles Lettres, ii. 360.-" To quarrel with our
Maker
THE TREE OF LIFE.
67
In juftification of this remark, let the appeal, in›
the inftance now before us, be made to every one-
endued with fenfibility. The pofition to be laid
down is, that through the alone merits of the Re-
deemer, we now inherit eternal life. Is it poffible
for all the art of man to convey this truth in terms
fo pleafing and informing, as thofe few ufed by St
John, with allufion to the fcenery in Eden-" And
he fhewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as
chryſtal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of
the Lamb. And in the midſt of the ſtreet of the new
Jerufalem, and of either fide of the river, was there
the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,.
and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves
of the Tree were for the healing of the nations.".
•
To whom, then, bleffed Lord Jefus, ſhould we
go? Thou haft the words of eternal life. Thou art
the true Tree of Life, in the midſt of the Paradife -
of God. For us men, and for our falvation, thou
didft condefcend to be planted, in a lowly form,
upon the earth.
But thy head foon reached to:
heaven, and thy branches to the ends of the earth.
Thy head is crowned with glory, and thy branches.
are the branches of honour and grace. Medicinal
are thy leaves to heal every malady, and thy fruits
are all the bleffings of immortality. It is our hope,
aur fupport, our comfort, and all our joy, to reflect,
that, wearied with the labours, and worn out with,
the cares and forrows of a fallen world, we ſhall fit
down under thy fhadow with great delight, and
thy fruit ſhall be ſweet to our taſte!
Maker about this way of proceeding, would be to blame him for
conveying truths to us in the most affecting and agreeable manner;
or for creating us-with thofe faculties, which are fitted to receive
truths thus conveyed. For the moſt important truths, as we are.
framed at prefent, can make but a flight impreffion on the mind;
unless they enter firft like a picture, into the imagination, and.
from thence are ſtamped on the memory." PETERS, Crit. Diff.
on the Book of Job, Part I. Sect. x.
-
DISCOURSE IV..
•
>
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE..
GEN. ii. 17.
Of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil thou
falt not eat.
THIS is the first and the only law recorded to
have been promulged in the ftate of man's inno-
cence. It may therefore be reaſonably fuppofed to
have contained in itſelf the fubftance of many other
laws. Its comprehenfion may be inferred likewife
from its importance. The tranfgreffion' of it oc-
cafioned the fall of the human race, and introduced,
the neceffity of a redemption by the Son of God.
Could we afcertain with preciſion what is intend--
ed by the knowledge of good and evil, fuch a difcove-
ry might poffibly furniſh us with a key to this part.
of Scripture, and to the tranfactions relative to the
trial of our firſt parents in Paradife. Let us there--
fore begin with an enquiry into the true meaning
of thefe words.
By the knowledge of good and evil the genera-
lity of commentators underſtand experimental know-
ledge; and they fuppofe the name to have been
given to the tree by a prolepfis, becaufe, in the e-
vent, through man's tranfgreffion, it was to become..
the means of his attaining the experimental know-
ledge of evil; thus purchafing to himſelf a know-
ledge of good, manifefted and illuftrated by com-
1
parifon
:
J
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
ба
pariſon with its oppofite; as a perfon is then ſaid
to underſtand the nature and value of health, when
he has been deprived of it by fickneſs.
:-
That fuch was the effect of the tranfgreffion,
is certain but it is not, perhaps fo certain, that
this is the right interpretation of the phraſe, which
is by no means peculiar to this place, but occurs in
other parts of the facred writings, where it cannot
be taken in the fenfe affigned. Nay, there are two,
paffages even in the third chapter of Genefis itſelf,
which do not admit of fuch expofition. The
tempter affures the woman, that, on eating the
fruit, they fhould be as gods, " knowing good and
evil." And the Almighty afterwards fays, "Man
is become like one of us, "knowing good and evil:
Now the knowledge of good and evil poffeffed by
the Deity cannot poffibly be that produced by the
experimental knowledge of evil. Let us examine ·
into the ufage of the words elſewhere.
In Deuteronomy we read-" Moreover your lit-.
tle ones which ye faid fhould be a prey, and your
children which in that day had no knowledge of good
and evil, they fhall go in thither."* Here, to
know good and evil is, evidently, to know the na-
ture of both, and fo to form a judgment upon that
knowledge, as to chufe the one, and refufe the o-
ther. Thus again the fame fentiment is expreffed
in the well known paffage of Ifaiah," Before the
child fhall know to refufe the evil, and chufe the
good." And again, the woman of Tekoah fays to
David, "As an angel of God fo is my Lord the
king, to difcern good and bad," that is, to diftin-
guifh, judge, and act accordingly. This laft paf-
fage is fimilar to thofe before cited from Genefis,
and muſt explain them; namely, "Ye fhall be as
gods,
* Deut. 1. 39 + Ifai. vii. 15.
}
‡ 2 Sam. xiv. 17,
•
70:
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
*
It
gods, knowing good and evil;" and, " Man is be-
come like one of us, to know good and evil.”
may be added, that a New Teftament writer uſes
the words in the very fame fenfe. For the Apoſtle,
fpeaking of adults in Chriſtianity, as oppoſed to
babes in the faith, ftyles them fuch as have " their
fenfes exercifed to difcern good and evil." *
Such being the plain and acknowledged import
of the expreffion in other parts of the Scriptures,
why ſhould we fuppofe it to be different in the in-
ftance before us? Let us rather conclude it to be
the fame.
The queftion then will be, how could this Tree"
in the Garden of Eden confer a knowledge of good
and evil? How could it enable man to difcern the
nature of each? How could it inform him which.
was to be purſued, and which to be avoided ?
Shall we fay, with the Jewish writers, that there
was any virtue in the fruit, to clarify the under-
ſtanding, and fo to teach man knowledge? But if
fo, why was it prohibited? For the knowledge,
which we fuppofe to be implied in the phrafe, is-
perfective of man's nature; it is true wifdom; and
if he really acquired it by tafting the forbidden
fruit, he was much benefited by tranfgreffion. We
must therefore determine, that the tree was defign-
ed to teach the knowledge of good and evil, or to
be productive of true wiſdom, not in a phyfical,
but in a moral way. It inftructed our firſt parents
to fly from and avoid death, and the cauſe of death
which muſt have been in fome manner denoted by
this Tree; as they were directed to chufe life, and
the cauſe of life, fignified to them by the other.
Tree, which bore that appellation.
The prohibition, being calculated for man's trial,
* Heb. v. 14.
was
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
A
71
7
was at the fame time calculated to give him the in-
formation neceffary for that purpoſe. Such is the
nature and defign of every law. It conveys the
knowlege of good and evil by prohibiting the lat-
ter, and confequently enjoining the former.
"By
the law, fays St Paul, is the knowlege of fin. I
had not known luft, except the law had faid, Thou
fhalt not covet."* It is the law, in every cafe,
refpectively, which gives the knowlege of good and
evil. Obedience to it is good, and the reward is
life; difobedience is evil, and the penalty, death.
And the trial of man, thus informed, is, whether
he will obey or difobey; in order to the manifefta-
tion of the lawgiver's juſtice, wiſdom, power, and
glory, by rewarding or-punifhing him, as he does
the one or the other. The difficulty lies here;
Why an action to appearance fo unimportant and
infignificant, as that of eating or forbearing to eat
the fruit of a Tree fhould have been appointed as
the teſt of his obedience?
To folve this difficulty, let it be confidered, that,
beſide thoſe laws ufually termed moral, and fuppofed
to ſpeak their own fitneſs and propriety, from an
obvious view of the nature and conftitution of
things, it is not ſtrange or uncommon for God to
try the love and obedience of man by other precepts,
ftyled pofitive and ceremonial. Such was the order
for Abraham to quit his country, and kindred, and
afterward, to offer his fon Ifaac: upon which lat-
ter occafion, notwithſtanding the proofs before gi-
ven by him of an obedient Spirit, God was pleaf-
ed to fay, Now I know thou feareft God."†
Such were the ritual obfervances regarding facri-
ficature and other particulars, obferved among the
patriarchs, and afterwards, with additions, repu-
blifhed
* Rom. vii. 7..
↑ Gen. xxii. 12.
772
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE,
blifhed in form by Mofes. Such are the injunctions
to abftinence and felf-denial, with the inſtitutions
of Baptifm and the Lord's Supper among Chriftians.
What hath been thus done under every other dif
penfation, was done likewife in Paradife.
、
And as touching theſe fame precepts called po
fitive, even they are not, what they are fometimes
deemed to be, arbitrary precepts, given for no o̟-
ther reaſon, but becauſe it is the will of God to
give them. Thy carry in them a reafon, which,
though it may not be diſcoverable unleſs revealed,
is yet
nevertheleſs founded on the ftate of human
nature, its relation to God, and its various wants,
at different times, and in different fituations. The
obfervation, indeed, made by an eminent cafuift*
with reſpect to human laws, holds much ſtronger
with refpect to laws divine. "The obedience of
that man is much too delicate, who infifts upon
knowing the reafons of all laws before he will obey
them. The legiflator muſt be ſuppoſed to have
given his fanction from the reafon of the thing;
but where we cannot diſcover the reaſon of it, the
fanction is to be the only reafon of our obedience."
This obfervation, I fay, is moſt certainly a juſt one.
But as a wife God acts not without the higheſt rea-
fon, fo a gracious God, in his difpenfations to his
reaſonable creatures, has, in many inftances, with
his commands, communicated the reaſons on which
they were founded, and has even condefcended to
argue with his people, on the juftice and rectitude
of his proceedings.
Services outward and vifible have been enjoined.
They have been always enjoined. But then they
have always been fymbolical of difpofitions and ac-
tions inward and fpiritual. When this is the caſe,
* Biſhop TAYLOR.
from
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
73
from unimportant and infignificant, they become
the moſt important and fignificant tranfactions in
the world. An uninformed perfon, living in the
times of perfecution under the heathen emperors,
muſt have been, to the laft degree, aftonifhed and
confounded, when told, that a Chriftian was in
danger of eternal rejection from the prefence of
God, if he fcattered a handful of incenfe on the
fire; and that he was bound, by his religion, ra-
ther to die in torments, than ſubmit to do it. But
every objection vanifhes in a moment, when we
know, that fuch an action, in a Chriftian ſo circum-
ftanced, was a token of renouncing his God and
Saviour, and acknowledging a falfe object of worſhip.
To come a little nearer to the point in queſtion.
Know we not, that the action of eating, in parti-
cular, from the beginning, both among believers
and unbelievers, has ever been eſteemed and con-
ftituted an action ſymbolical of religious affection;
and that, in the days of St Paul, a man denominated
himſelf either one or the other, as he partook of
the Lord's table, or the table of an idol? What
were theſe, in the new Paradiſe, the church Chrif-
tian, but the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Death?
Why fhould it feem incredible, or abfurd, that,
in man's original trial, the fame action ſhould have
been, in fome manner, fignificative of the fame af-
fection? And if in that truly golden age of inno-
cence, health, and felicity, the food allotted to man
was of the vegetable kind, then the fruit of a Tree
muft of courſe be the fubject of the prohibition.
In after ages, under the law of Mofes and the per-
miffion of animal food, the figurative fyftem of
rites was artificial and fanguinary; but in the fa-
cred grove of Eden, that firft tabernacle or tem-
- ple, planted for a place of worship as well as of
VOL. I.
Ꮐ .
abede,
74
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
abode, the whole of the religious ſcenery was com-
pofed of the beautiful and luxuriant productions of
primeval nature, unftained with blood, when as yet
there was no malediction upon the ground.
This confideration fatisfies the mind, and re-
moves every objection made to the nature of the
teft, and the wiſdom of God in appointing it. For
if in this, as in other difpenfations, the action of
eating was intended to be fymbolical of fome men-
tal difpofition or affection, whether we can now af-
certain particulars, or not, all the buffoonery of in-
fidelity falls to the ground at once. The trial of
Adam, like that of every other man, was, whether
he would fo far believe in God, as to look for hap-
pinefs in obedience to the divine command; or
would feek that happineſs elſewhere, and apply for
it to fome forbidden object, of which the Tree muft
have been an emblematical repreſentation.
You will afk, what that object was? And what
information, as to the knowledge of good and evil,
Adam could receive from the prohibition? By an-
fwering the laſt queſtion, a way may, in ſome mea-
fure, perhaps, be opened for an anſwer to the firſt.
A due contemplation of the prohibition might
naturally fuggeſt to the mind of our firſt parent the
following important truths; eſpecially if we confi-
der (as we muſt and ought to confider) that to him,
under the tuition of his Maker, all things neceffary
were explained and made clear, how obfcure foever
they may appear to us, forming a judgment of
them from a very concife narrative, couched in
figurative language, at this diftance of time.
Looking upon the Tree of Knowledge, then,
and recollecting the precept of which it was the
fubject, Adam might learn, that God was the fove-
reign Lord of all things: that the dominion veſted
in
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
75
în man over the creatures was by no means a domi-
nion abfolute and independent: that without, and
befide God, there was no true and real good: that
to defire any thing without and beſide him, was
evil; that no temporal worldly good, however fair
and tempting its appearance, was to be fixed upon
by man, as the fource of his felicity: that the fole.
rule for fhunning, or defiring things fenfible, fhould
be the will and word of God; and that good and
evil ſhould be judged of by that ſtandard alone -
that the obedience, which God would accept, muſt
be paid with all the powers and affections of the
mind, fhewing itfelf careful and prompt in every
the leaſt inſtance: that man was not yet placed in
a ſtate of confummate and eſtabliſhed blifs; but
that fuch ſtate was by him to be earnestly expected,
and inceffantly defired; and that he muſt take the
way to it, marked and pointed out by God himſelf.*
Theſe particulars feem to flow from the prohibi-
tion in an eaſy and natural train. And they lead
us to anſwer the other queftion, namely, What was
the object repreſented by the Tree of Knowledge?
It was that object, on which man is prone to fet
his affections, inſtead of placing them on a better;
it was that object, which, in every age, has been
the great rival of the Almighty in the human heart;
it was that object, which, in one way or other, has
always been "worshipped and ferved rather than
the Creator;" it was the CREATURE, the WORLD;
and the grand trial was, as it ever hath been, and.
ever will be, till the world fhall cease to exift,
whether things vifible, or things invifible, fhould
obtain the preference; whether man ſhould walk
"by fight, or by faith." To know, this was
G 2
the
>
* See VITRINGA-Obfervat. Sacr. Vol. ii. Lib. iv. Cap. xii.
from whom many of the fentiments.in this Difcourfe are borrowed...
76 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
་
the knowledge of good and evil; and this know-
ledge came by the law of God, which faid, "Thou
fhalt not covet. 23.* Man's wisdom confifted in the
obfervation of that law; but an enemy perfuaded
him to feek wiſdom by tranfgreffing it. He did fo;
and had nothing left, but to repent of his folly; a
cafe that happens, among his defcendents, every
day, and every hour.
Let us, therefore, confider the Tree of Know-
ledge, in this light, with refpect to its nature, fitu-
ation, defign, qualities, effects, and the knowledge
conferred by it.
The fruit of this Tree was, to appearance, fair
and pleaſant; but, when tafted, it became, by the
divine appointment, the caufe of death. Now,
what is it, which, in the eyes of all mankind, ſeems
equally pleafing and alluring, but the end thereof,
when coveted in oppofition to the divine command,
proves to be death? It is the World, with its plea-
fures and its glories, defired by its votaries, per fas
aique nefas, to the denial of God, and to their own
deftruction. The Scriptures proclaim' this aloud,
and the experience of all generations confirms their
teftimony. Indeed, what is there in the univerfe,
but the Creator and the Creature? And between
whom, but them, can the conteft fubfift, for the
love and obedience of man?
The Tree of Knowledge was fituated in the midſt
of the garden, as was the Tree of Life. They ſtood
near together, but they ftood in oppofition. The
divine difpenfations are always beit illuftrated by
each other. Under the Goſpel, Jeſus Chriſt is the
Tree of Life. What is it that oppofes him, and,
notwithſtanding all that he has done, and fuffered,
and commanded, and promifed, and threatened, is
continually, by its folicitations, being ever prefent
* Ουκ επιθυμήσεις.
t
and
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
by my ne
1
and at hand, feducing men into the path of death?
Scripture and experience again join in affuring us,
that it is the World. When we are in the houſe -
of God, which is Eden reftored, engaged in hear--
ing his word, and in the exercifes of devotion, we
fit down, as it were, under the ſhadow of the Tree -
of Life. No fooner are we gone from it, and too~
often even while we are there, the World intrudes,.
and draws off to other fubjects our thoughts and
our affections. What faith Mofes under the law ?-
"Behold I fet before you, this day, life and good,.
death and evil; chufe ye."
"7 * Are not theſe the
two Trees of Paradife? But imagination cannot
form to itſelf a more exquifite and affecting piece:
of ſcenery upon this fubject, than that exhibited by-
king Solomon in the book of Proverbs; a book,
whofe end and defign is, to teach us the true know-
ledge of good and evil, that we may purfue the
one, and avoid the other. In his vii. chapter, un--
der the ufual figure of an harlot, loofely decked in
a profufion of vain ornaments, he introduces the
World, or the falfe wifdom thereof, by its feveral
fictitious charms, and meretricious blandifhments,
alluring the unwary to the chambers of deftruction.
In the fucceeding chapter, by way of perfect con--
traft, appears, in the beauty and majeſty of holi-
nefs, the offspring of the Almighty, the Son of the.
Father, the true and eternal Wiſdom of God, with.
all the tender love and affectionate concern of a
parent, inviting men to the fubftantial joys and un-
fading pleaſures of immortality, in the houſe of fal-
vation. Again we are prefented with the Tree of
Death, and the Tree of Life. From Solomon let:
us paſs to St Paul. "To be carnally minded is
death; but to be fpiritually minded is life. If ye
•
G 3
1
* Deut. xxx. 154.-
1
live-
9
7
78
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
1
live after the fleſh ye fhall die; but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
fhall live."* Behold once more the Trees of Death
and Life. Such, in good truth, is the face of things-
every where offering itſelf to view; fuch is the con-
teft inceffantly carrying on in this prefent World,
which, on the one hand entices the children of
Adam, by giving themfelves up to its enjoyments,
to tafte the Tree of Death; while the Redeemer,
on the other, ftill continues to cry aloud by his
word, "To him that overcometh will. I give to eat
of the Tree of Life."
The Tree of Knowledge was defigned to be the
teft of Adam's obedience, the ſubject matter of his
trial. The World, with its defirable objects, is the
teft of our obedience, the fubject matter of our
trial, whether we will make it our chief good, or
prefer the promife of God to it. Thus, the trial.
of Abraham was, whether he would quit. his coun-
try, and kindred, and yield up his only fon in obe-
dience to the divine command, trufting to a re-
compence in reverfion. The trial of Job was, whe-
ther he would ftill ferve God, when deprived of
his poffeffions, his family, and his health. After.
this fort, was our Lord Jefus Chrift himſelf proved
by the most powerful incitements of the human
paffions. Of the Tree of knowledge Satan tempted
him to put forth his hand and take and eat, that
the fecond Adam might be tried after the example:
of the firft. The difciples alfo are tried in like
manner with their bleffed mafter. They are in-
ftructed to renounce the World, and deny them-
felves; which is only the original prohibition in
other words; " Of the Tree of the Knowledge of
good and evil thou shalt not eat.”.
*Rom. viii. 6, 13.
The
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
TO
1
The apparent qualities of the forbidden tree are
repreſented to have been thefe. It feemed "good for
food, and fair to the fight, and a tree to be defired
to make one wife." It is remarkable, that St John,
laying before us an inventory of the World, and all
that is in it employs, a divifion entirely fimilar.
"Love not the world, fays he, neither the things.
that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that
is in the world, the defire of the fleſh, and the de-.
fire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the.
Father, but is of the world. And the world paff-
eth away, and the defire thereof; but he that doth-
the will of God abideth for ever."*
"Here is a pic-
ture of the fatal Tree, full blown, with all its
temptations about it, drawn, by the pencil of truth,,
in its original and proper colours. The expreffions-
tally, to the minuteſt degree of exactneſs. The;
"defire of the flesh" anfwers to " good for food;
the "defire of the eyes" is parallel with "fair to
the fight;" and the " pride of life" correfponds
with a Tree to be defired to make one wife.".
The oppofition between this Tree and the other is.
- Arongly marked, "If any´man love the World,
the love of the Father is not in him.” And we
are informed, that one leads to death, the other to
life.
>>
"The World paffeth away, and the defire.
thereof; but he that doth the Will of God abideth
for ever." Precifely.conformable, in every circum-..
ftance, was the threefold temptation of the fecond
Adam. He was tempted to convert ftones into,
bread for food, to fatisfy " the defire of the fleſh;"
he was tempted with the kingdoms of the world.
and the glories of them, to fatisfy "the defire of
the eyes;" he was tempted to work a miracle on
+
1 John ii. 15.
the.
80 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
the pinnacle of the temple, and to fhew himſelf.
moving aloft through the air in the fight of the
multitude, to difplay " the pride of life." He re-
pelled the tempter, as our firft parents ſhould have
done, and as we their children fhould do.now, in-
ftead of judging according to appearances, by a
firm and refolute appeal to the Revelation of God.
Thus, whether we confider the Tree of Know-
ledge as to its nature, its fituation, its defign, or its-
qualities, it feems to have been a very apt and fig--
nificant emblem of the Creature, or the World,
with its delights and its glories, the objects oppo-
ſed, in every age, to God and his word.
To re-
ject the allurements of the former, and obey the
dictates of the latter, is the knowledge of good and
evil, and the true wifdom of man. So that the
forbidden Tree in Paradife, when the divine inten-
tions concerning it are explained from other parts-
of Scripture, teaches the important leffon more
than once inculcated by Solomon, and which was
likewiſe the refult of holy Job's enquiries; "Be-
hold, the fear of the Lord, that is WISDOM; and:
to DEPART FROM EVIL IS UNDERSTANDING.
>>
Whoever fhall attentively reflect on the evidence
which has been produced, and duly confider the
perfect coincidence and harmony of the Scriptures
and difpenfations of God upon the fübject, will,
perhaps, be convinced, that, in the main, we muſt
have fixed upon the true expofition of "the know--
ledge of good and evil," and the nature of man's
original trial. There is a doubt, or difficulty,
which offers itſelf and may feem to require a folu-..
tion. It is this. We all know, as the ſtate of hu-
man affairs is at prefent, by what manner, and by
what temptations, the world folicits our defires af..
ter objects forbidden; but what temptation, you
will
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
81
1
will fay, could it hold forth to our firſt parents,
exifting alone, inveſted with fovereignty over it,
and poffeffed of all its pleaſures, and its glories, in
the Garden of Eden? This queſtion will, perhaps,
be beſt anſwered, by afking one or two more.
What temptation, then, let it be afked, could the
World prefent to the people of God, when placed
in the land of Promife, and bleffed with every fpe-
cies of temporal felicity? What temptation can the
World prefent to a pious Chriftian, placed by Pro-
vidence in a ſtate of affluence, and furnished with
every good that his heart can with for? The truth
is, that the World, even fuppofing it to have been
lawfully attained, and to be in ever fo good hands,
has this power of temptation; it may engage the
attention of the human mind, and attract to itſelf
the affections of the human heart, till, by de-
It
grees, its Maker is forfaken and forgotten.
may induce a man to confider it as an abode, and
no longer to deſire a removal to higher and better
things with God above. "Beware, fays Mofes,
left when thou haſt eaten, and art full, thine heart
be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God."*
This proved to be the cafe with the Ifraelites. It
is the temptation too often fatal both to nations.
and individuals, when indulged by heaven with fuc..
cefs and profperity. And if the World, obfcured
as its brightneſs has been by the fall, can and does
now produce fuch an effect on the wifeft of thoſe
that are at any time favoured with a large ſhare of
it, how much more muft it have been able to
charm, and to deceive, when firſt formed in perfe&t
beauty! Confidering this circumftance, and withal,
how "the Creature," in the earlieſt ages, was
"worſhipped
* Deut. viii. 14:
1
}
82 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
L
"worshipped and ferved, inftead of the Creator"
one is almoſt ready to think it poffible, that Idola-
try itſelf might take its beginning in Eden.
From the fad experience of thofe who have gone
before us, let us learn to have recourſe to the Law
of God, for our knowledge of good and evil, and to
refrain from the fruit of the forbidden Tree, the
Tree of Death. Of this fruit, though procceding
from the fame root, there have been different pe-
riods of time, agreeable to the turn and temper
of each. In the days of the patriarchs, and of the
Ifraelites, it was the worship of the material ele-
ments, or powers of nature, in the place of Him
who made them, accompanied with every kind of
impurity. Such was the religion of the revolted
nations, and fuch the rites with which it was cele-
brated. Yet fuch a religion, and fuch rites, the
people of God, for many ages, notwithſtanding all
that he did for them, and faid to them, ftrange,
as it may appear to us at preſent, were ever ready
to adopt and embrace. They apoftatifed to ido-
latry, with the divine glory blazing before their
eyes, on the top of Sinai. Nor could the wifeſt
and greateſt of their princes afterwards efcape the
contagion. This corruption, which the Babyloniſh
captivity, like a well-applied cauftic ferved to eat.
out, and to do away, was fucceeded by a diſeaſe of
another kind, but one that ftuck to them, till it
deftroyed them; a miſtake as to the nature of their
œconomy; a confidence in externals; a deep hy-
pocrify; a ſpirit wholly fecularized; an ambition
to have all the kingdoms of the world fubject
to Jerufalem, and the wealth and glory of them
centered there. "The defire of the flesh, the defire
of the eyes, and the pride of life," were choſen in
oppofition to the celeftial fruits of love and obedi-
1
ence,
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
83
ence, humility and charity, faith and holinefs, pro-
duced among them by Jeſus Chriſt, the Tree of im-
mortality. They put forth the hand, and tafted."
But foon the exterminating angel difpoffeffed them
of their Paradife, and they died the death.
Since the afcenfion of Chriſt, the heathen world
has been converted to the Gofpel, and that defart
has become the garden of the Lord. But in this
garden alfo-is there no Tree of Death? No fpeci-
ous fruit held forth, to entice the unwife to perdi-
tion? What is the doctrine, which, in fome parts.
of Chriftendom, gives adoration to beings that are
not God; or that, which, in others, denies it to
Him who is fo? What is the fcheme, that afferts
the non-neceffity of a Divine Revelation, claim-
ing to man the right, and attributing to him the
power of making a religion for himſelf, and pre-
fcribing to his Maker the terms of his own accep-
tance? What is the atheiſtical policy, which ex-
cludes the Creator from the care of his works, and
his Providence from the kingdoms of the earth?
What is that ſyſtem of paganiſm revived under the
name and notion of philoſophy, as oppoſed to Chrif-
tianity, and every thing that is called Religion, by
which either the Deity is materialized, or matter
deified? What is that unbounded licentiouſneſs in
principles and manners, daily growing more and
more into vogue, and fhamelessly, by fome of the
new philoſophers, defended in form? What is the
luxury, the fplendour, the extravagance, the dif
fipation, the abandoned profligacy, and ungodlineſs
of the age?
Behold the flouriſhing ſtate of the fatal Tree!
View the extent of its branches, and the abundance
of its fruit, in theſe latter days! But remember,
that, ftill-the end is Death; to a nation, exciſion;
to
84 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
•
to individuals, without repentance and faith, de-
ſtruction everlaſting from the prefence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power, when he ſhall
defcend into his garden to make inquifition, and
call offenders to their final account. Be not ye
therefore deceived and feduced, however the temp-
tation may ſeem "fair to the fight, and good for
food;" however "defirable" it may be reprefented
"to make you wife." Take your direction, through
life, from the word of God, and be not prevailed
upon to falfify, or tranfgrefs it. The conflict may
be fharp, but it will be foon over; bear up refo
lutely under it; and for your confolation and en-
couragement in the hour of trial, when ftrongly
follicited to tafte the Tree of Death, liften to that
ftrength-conferring voice, which crieth from the
eternal throne, in words that will bear a repetition-
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the
Tree of Life, which is in the midſt of the Paradife
of God."
{
<<
DISCOURSE V.
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
ŻECH. ix. 9, 10.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zions fhout, O daughter
of Ferufalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: hè
is juſt, and having falvation, lowly, and riding upon
an aſs, and upon a colt the fole of an afs. And I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from
Jerufalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and
he ſhall ſpeak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion
ſhall be from ſea even unto fea, and from the river
even to the ends of the earth.
THIS prophecy was delivered by Zechariah, five
hundred years before the Advent of Chriſt. And
St Matthew, in the Goſpel appointed for this day,
affirmeth it to have had its accompliſhment, when
our Lord entered Jerufalem, in the manner here
defcribed, amidst the acclamations of the attending
multitude." All this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was fpoken by the prophet, ſaying,
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold thy King
cometh unto thee, meek, and fitting upon an afs,
and a colt the fole of an afs." The prediction is
of the literal kind, and it was literally and moſt
exactly fulfilled in Jefus of Nazareth. No other
King, with thefe characteristic marks upon him,
ever thus came to Sion, before him; and fince the
Jews rejected him, they have loft their temple,
VOL. I.
f
H
their
86
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
their city, and their country; nor has there been
any Sion, to which their King might come. Jeru-
falem would not rejoice, on the day when the pro-
phet had enjoined her to rejoice; and therefore fhe
hath had cauſe to mourn, from that day to this.
The rulers of Sion were vexed and chagrined at
beholding a ſcene, which fhould have excited them
to fhout aloud for joy. The difciples, indeed, ex-
ulted, and fang Hofanna to the Son of David.
Could Meffiah enter his capital, unacknowledged?
That was impoffible. Had men been filent upon
this occafion, the buildings and pavements of the
city muſt have ſupplied the defect, and borne their
atteſtation to the promiſed and long expected King
of Ifrael. "I tell you," replied our Lord to the
Pharifees, who defired him to rebuke his difciples,
"I tell you, that if theſe ſhould hold their peace,
the ftones would immediately cry out.
""
That we may perceive the full force and beauty
of the prophecy before us, it will be neceffary to
thew its connection with the preceding part of the
chapter, wherein it ſtands.
In this ix. chapter of his prophecy, Zechariah
denounceth fome of the divine judgments, which
were executed by that ſcourge of heaven, Alexan-
der the Great, when he over-ran Syria, took Da-
mafcus, burnt Tyre, deſtroyed Gaza, and, in imi-
tation of his favourite hero, dragged the governor
thereof at his chariot wheels. "The burden of
the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and
Damafcus fhall be the reft thereof-And Hamath
alfo fhall border thereby, Tyrus and Sidon though
it be very wife. And Tyrus did build herſelf a
ſtrong hold, and heaped up filver as the duſt, and
fine gold as the mire of the ſtreets. Behold, the
Lord will caſt her out, and he will ſmite her power
in
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
87
i
in the fea, and fhe fhall be devoured with fire.
Aſkelon ſhall ſee it and fear; Gaza alſo ſhall ſee
it, and ſhall be very forrowful, and Ekron: for her
expectation ſhall be afhamed, and the king ſhall
periſh from Gaza, and Afkelon fhall not be inha-
bited." The prophet next foretelleth the mixture
and incorporation of the Philiftines, when thus
humbled by Alexander, with their old enemies the
Jews. "And a baſtard," or, an alien generation,
(λhosveis, fay the LXX)" fhall dwell in Afhdod;
and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines; and
I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and
his abominations from between his teeth; but he
that remaineth, even he fhall be far our God, and
he fhall be as a governor in Judah and Ekron as a
Jebufite." Amidft theſe revolutions and alterations
of affairs in the world, God promiſeth, in the next
verfe, to preſerve his temple, while fo many caftles
and ſtrong holds about Jerufalem were overturned,
fo many cities fwept of their inhabitants by the be-
fom of deſtruction. "And I will encamp about
mine houſe, becaufe of the army, becauſe of him
that paffeth by, and becauſe of him that returneth:
and no oppreffor fhall paſs through them any more;
for now have I ſeen with mine eyes." Then fol-
loweth the prophecy in my text-Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Sion; fhout, O daughter of Jerufa-
lem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is
juſt and having falvation, lowly, and riding upon
an aſs, and a colt the fole of an aſs. And I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horſe
from Jerufalem, and the battle bow fhall be cut off;
and he fhall ſpeak peace unto the heathen: and his
dominion ſhall be from ſea even unto ſea, and from
the river to the ends of the earth." As if the pro- :
phet had ſpoken in more words to Jerufalem thus-
"Thine
H 2
88
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
"Thine eyes, in the generations following, fhall
behold the flouriſhing pride of fundry nations, each
endeavouring to overtop others in height of glory
and temporal ſtate; each ſtriving to keep others
under, by human policy, or ſtrength of war. And
whilft the fight of their mutual conquefts fhall pof-
fefs thy thoughts, thou wilt be ready, in the pride
of thine heart, to fay, Jerufalem and Judah one
day ſhall have their turn, and in that day ſhall the
fons of Jacob, the feed of Abraham and David, be
like the monarchs of Greece and Perfia, far exalt-
ed above the kings of other nations: every one,
able to bear arms, gliftering with his golden fhield,
and leading the princes of the heathen, as prifoners,
bound in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron.
The beauty and riches of their coftly temples fhall
deck the chariots of my children, which their cap-
tives fhall draw in triumph. But thou ſhouldeſt
remember, that the proniifed prince of peace, of
benignity, and justice, fhould not be fought among
the tumultuous hofts of war: nor canft thou hope
that He, who is the Defire of all nations, ſhould
be thy Leader or General, to deftroy thofe nations.
It is glory and honour enough for thee, glory and
honour greater than the greatest conqueror on earth
could ever compafs, that the King of kings and
Lord of lords fhall be anointed and proclaimed
King upon the hill of Sion: that the inviolable de-
crees of everlafting peace fhall be given to all the
nations under heaven from thy courts. And there-
fore while horſes and chariots and other glorious
preparations of war fhall prefent themfelves to thy
view, fuffer them to pafs as they come, and reit
affured, that thy King, of whofe coming thou haft
often been admonished by the prophets, is not a-
mong them.. The manner of his coming to thee,
fo
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
89%
fo thou wilt mark it, bodes far better tidings to
thee and all the nations befides, than can accom-
pany the profperous fuccefs of wars, or any victory
ftained with blood. What king of Judah or Ifrael
did ever levy an army, though in juft defence of
their country and people, on fo fair terms, that no
poor amongst them were pinched with taxes for
the ſupply? What victory did they ever obtain fo
cheap, that many of their children were not forced
to fit down with lofs, many wounded, others maim-
ed, and fome always flain? But, lo, now I bring
thee unuſual matter of exultation and joy. For
behold thy King cometh unto thee, whenfoever he
cometh, attended with juftice for his guide, and
falvation for his train. He fhall execute judgment
without oppreffion: he fhall fave thee, fo thou wilt
be faved, without deftroying any, being able to
make thy lame to go, to give life to thy dead, wi-
thout hazard either of life or limb to any that refts
within thy territories. Such fhall be the manner
of his coming, and fuch his prefence, that the
pooreſt wretch among thy children may think him-
felf more happy, than any king of Judah or Ifrael
which was before him, fo he will but conform him-
felf to the temper and demeanour of his Saviour..
For he cometh unto thee poor and lowly, riding
upon an afs, to wean thee from the vain hopes of
the heathen, from which the prophets have fo of-
ten dehorted thy forefathers. Some put their.truſt
in horfes, and fome in chariots; but thy confidence
muſt be in the Lord thy God, who will always be
thy King, to defend thee, to protect thee, to:
ftrengthen thee through this weakneſs.”*
Having thus taken a general view of the pro--
phecy, proceed we to make fome obfervations and
reflections,
H 3
* DR JACKSON, Vol. ii. P..845.
•
90
THE PRINCE OF PEACE:
reflections upon the feveral parts of it, in the or-
der in which they lie.
Beautiful and ftriking is the manner in which it
is introduced. The prophet doth not coldly inform
Jerufalem, that her King fhould come to her, and
that, when he did come, fhe ought to rejoice.
Rapt into future times, he feems to have been pre-
fent at the glorious fcene. Standing upon mount
Olivet, he hears the Hofannas of the difciples, and
beholds the proceffion approach towards the gates
of Jerufalem: he turns himfelf to the city, and
breaks forth in tranfport, "Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Sion; fhout, O daughter of Jerufalem!"
Religion, then, hath i's joys; a prophet calleth us
to exult and fhout; and often as this holy feafon
returneth, the church fecondeth his call. Her fer-
vices difpel the gloom of melancholy, and put glad-
nefs into the hearts of all her children. They are
wonderfully calculated to renew good impreffions
in our minds, to increaſe our faith, to invigorate
our hope, to blow up the facred fires of devotion
and charity, and to fill us with all holy and hea-
venly tempers. They produce a joy which no
man taketh from us," and in which "a ftranger
intermeddleth not ;" they infpire a pleafure which
no pain can overcome, of which no time can de-
prive us, and which death will perfect and enfure
to us for ever. Perverfe Jerufalem rejected joy, and
chofe forrow for her portion. Glad tidings came
to the Gentiles, and were gladly received. The
Chriftian church, formed of them, is now the daugh-
ter of Sion, and the new Jerufalem. To her the pro-
mifes are transferred, and made good. She there-
fore obeyeth the prophet's injunction; fhe continual-
ly, with the holy Virgin, "magnifieth the Lord,
and her ſpirit rejoiceth in God her Saviour."
·
"
The
***
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
9'1
>
1
The next words of our prophet affign the reaſon
why Jerufalem was called upon to rejoice, namely,
the approach of her King; "Behold thy King co-
meth unto thee." A perſon was to vifit Jerufalem
who fhould deferve to be emphatically ftyled "her
King." The nations had their kings and conquer-
ors, their Nebuchadnezzars and Cyrus's, their A-
lexanders and Cæfars; thefe appeared, in their
turns, upon the ftage, contending for the empire of
the world. Each performed the part affigned him
by an all-directing Providence, and then vanifhed
away. Sion beheld all thefe changes, and ftill
furvived the commotions occafioned by them. The
prophets had promiſed her a King, who fhould o-
vercome her enemies, and triumph glorioufly; who
fhould erect, in the time of the fourth great mo-
narchy, an univerfal and everlafting kingdom, and
give laws to the world; nay, who thould govern all
things in heaven and earth. At the time predict-
ed, not only Jerufalem looked for a completion of
the prophecies, but the whole earth fat ftill, ex-
pecting that Judea fhould give her a King. And
lo, the promiſed King of the Jews is born of the
royal houſe and lineage of David. All the circum-
ftances of his birth, the words of his mouth, and
the actions of his life, demonftrate him to be the
Meflias, foretold by the prophets from the begin-
ning of the world. He cometh to his own, and Je-
rufalem is commanded to rejoice and fhout; but
his own receive hin not, and Jerufalem turns a
deaf ear to the voices of all her prophets, not fuffer-
ing herself to believe that any thing faid by them.
could refer to Jefus of Nazareth. Her heart was
depraved and hardened: fhe demanded to be put
in poffeffion of the empire of this world; fhe def
pifed the appearance of her King, with the accla-
mations
92
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
1
mations of an ignoble multitude, and foon nailed a
SPIRITUAL monarch to the crofs.
With how different fenfations are the members
of the church Chriftian affected, when they hear
the words of Zechariah, "Behold, thy King cometh
unto thee," and read the hiftory of their accom-
pliſhment in the Gofpel for this day. With inex-
preffible delight we carry back our thoughts to that
happy æra, when the King of the Gentiles, as well
as the Jews, made his appearance in the flesh. We
join his train, we attend him in his progreſs to-
wards Jerufalem, and feem to enter with him into
the holy city, while "the multitude of thoſe who
follow after, cry, Hofanna to the Son of David:
bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
When we behold this fcene, as prefented to our
view at this feaſon, we are taught to conceive by it
a noble idea of Meffiah, at his firft advent, uſher-
ed into the church, as her Lord and King, the pro-
phets going before, and the apoftles following after
him, all proclaiming and bearing teftimony to Je-
fus, all finging Hofanna to the`fon of David, all
pronouncing the bleffedneſs of him, who thus co-
meth in the name of Jehovah. We know that this
;
He to whom all the pro; hets give witnefs, and
that he hath fulfilled thofe things which were writ-
ten of him. We know that he hath overcome our
enemies, and triumphed glorioufly; that he hath
erected an univerfal and everlafting kingdom, and
given laws to the world; nay, that he doth govern
all things in heaven and earth. Of the manner in
which he atchieved his victories, and of the nature
and extent of his kingdom, we fhall have occafion
to ſpeak, as we proceed to confider the character
which our prophet hath drawn of this King of If-
rael.
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
93
rael. "He is juft, and having falvation, lowly,
and riding on an aſs.”
Righteoufnefs, Salvation, and Humility, diftin-
guiſh the perſon and reign of Meffiah. Righteouf-
nefs leads the way. He is juft, or righteous."
St Stephen, in his apology to the Jews, affirmeth
the prophets to have forefhewn the coming of Je-
fus, under the title of the Juft One. "Which of
the prophets have not your fathers perfecuted? And
they have flain them which fhewed before of the
coming of the Juft One; of whom ye have been
now the betrayers and murderers." David, in
fpirit, thus addreffed King Meffiah, as we are affu-
red by St Paul's application of the paffage in the
firſt chapter of the epiftle to the Hebrews. "Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a fceptre of
righteouſneſs is the fceptre of thy kingdom. Thou
haft loved righteoufnefs, and hated iniquity; there-
fore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladneſs above thy fellows."† Jeremiah
defcribeth him as righteous himfelf, and as making
others fo. "The days come faith Jehovah, that
I will raiſe unto David a Righteous Branch: and a
King ſhall reign, and fhall profper, and fhall exe-
cute Judgment and Juftice in the earth-And this
is his name whereby he fhall be called, JEHOVAH
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." And indeed, we feldom
´find the kingdom of Chrift mentioned," but Righ-
teoufnefs is immediately mentioned, as the firſt
fruits of it. Righteoufnefs, the Aftrea of the an-
cients, left the earth at the fall of Adam, and re-
turned again to vifit and to blefs it, at the birth of
Chrift. He was conceived without ftain, lived
without fin, and died without guilt. He conver-
fed in the world, yet contracted none of its pollu-
tion,
* A&ts vii. 52.
† Pf. xlv. 5.
‡ Jer xxiii. 6.
1
94
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
tion, but, like his glorious emblem the light, paff-
ed through all things undefiled. His bittereft ene-
mies, Jews and Gentiles, joined to atteft his up-
rightneſs. "Have thou nothing to do with
that juſt man, "* faid the wife of Pilate. Pi-
late himſelf, upon the ftricteft examination, de-
clared, "I find no fault in this man."+ Ju-
das, who had every poflible opportunity of know-
ing the character of his mafter, cried, out, in agony
of defpair, "I have betrayed the innocent blood;" t
and the Roman centurion, who watched at the
crofs, gave in his evidence, "Certainly, this was
a righteous man." The kingdom which he came
||
to eſtabliſh was a kingdom of Righteoufnefs. He
called men from the ways of fin by his fermons, he
allured them from its pleafures by his example, he
cleanfed them from its guilt by his blood, and re-
fcued them from its power by his Spirit. Where
the Goſpel came, idolatry gave place to true piety;
every holy and amiable temper was planted and
flouriſhed in the hearts of the regenerate; and to
be a Chriſtian, was to be every thing that was ho-
neſt, and juſt, and good. Thus did Jefus of Na-
zareth anſwer his title of "the Juft One," and e-
vince himſelf to be the true " Melchifedeck," or
"King of Righteouſneſs." The Jews chofe not to
be the fubjects of fuch a King, and declared, they
"would not have this man to reign over them."
Therefore the kingdom of God was taken from
them, and given to a people bringing forth the
fruits thereof. Be it our care, while we celebrate
the advent of our King, not to forget this part of
his character; and let us reft affured, that if we
would be his fubjects, as well as paſs for fuch, and
fhare
* Matth. xxvii. 19.
Matth. xxvii. 4.
+ Luke. xxviii. 4.
Luke xxiii. 47·
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
95
fhare the bleffings of his reign, as well as talk of
them, we muſt be like him. His fubjects are his
children; and none will be finally owned by him
as fuch, who bear not impreffed upon them the
fimilitude of their Father.
Salvation is the next fign and token which Ze-
chariah hath given us, whereby to know the King
of Zion. "He is juft, and having Salvation.”
He was to execute that part of the regal office,
which confifteth in refcuing a people from their op-
preffors. Whoever reads the hiftory of Ifrael, finds
it to contain an account of many Saviours, raiſed
up, at fundry times, for this purpoſe. Such were
Mofes, Barak, Gideon, Sampfon, and many more
in the ages after them. But no one of theſe was
"He that should come." They, like the legal
prieſts, "were not fuffered to continue, by rea-
fon of death;" the church was ftill taught to "look
for another" and a more glorious Saviour, in the
latter days; the prophecies were full of the great
Salvation which he fhould effect; fo great, that,
in compariſon of it, former deliverances were not
to be mentioned, unleſs as ſhadows and faint refem-
blances of that grand and complete one. At the
time appointed, Jefus of Nazareth appeared in this
character, and brought his credentials with him,
the authenticity of which was fairly allowed by a
maſter in Ifrael; "No man can do theſe miracles
that thou doeſt, except God were. with him." At
the birth of Chriſt, an herald from heaven proclaim-
ed him to the fhepherds by this ftyle and title. "Be-
hold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
ſhall be to all people. For unto you is born this
day, in the city of David, a SAVIOUR." And if
tidings of Salvation are not tidings of joy, what ti-
dings can be fuch? The greater the Salvation, the
greate
96
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
greater ought to be the joy. And what is the de-
liverance of a fingle people from a temporal adver-
fary, when compared with the Salvation of the
whole world from the oppreffion of the fpiritual
enemy; from fin, and fickneſs, and forrow, and
pain, and death, and hell? This was the Salvation.
which Jefus undertook to effect; and his miracles
declared him equal to the mighty taſk. He for-
gave fin, he healed fickneſs, he difpelled forrow,
he removed pain, he raiſed the dead, he caſt out
devils. Had not the prophet reafon to cry out,
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; fhout, O
daughter of Jerufalem; behold, thy King, behold,
thy righteous Saviour cometh unto thee?" But the
daughter of Zion would have fhut her gates againſt
this righteous Saviour; the daughter of Jerufalem
renounced her part and portion in fuch Salvation.
She had fet her heart upon being great in this
world, whereas Chriſt came to make her ſo in ano-
ther. And whenever Chriftians fhall reſemble Jews
in the turn of their affections, whenever they fhall
regard religon only as a means of aggrandizing
themſelves upon earth, in their hearts they will en-
tertain the fame notion of the Salvation of Jeſus,
and the fame contempt for it, that the Jews did.
But let the ſufferings of Jerufalem warn us, that
we ſhare not in her guilt, left we thare alſo in her
puniſhment, and come into the fame condemnation.
We acknowlege for our Saviour the perſon whom
Ifrael rejected. Let us not miſtake the nature of
his Salvation. "He fhall be called JESUS," faith
the angel to his holy mother, "for he ſhall ſave
his people from their SINS." *
As the Salvation to be wrought by King Meffiah
was to be fo different from that wrought by all o-
* Matt. 1. 21.
ther
1.
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
97
"'*
th kings and conquerors, different likewife was
to be his appearance and demeanour. "Behold,
thy King cometh unto thee; he is juft, and having
falvation, lowly, and riding on an afs." This is
demonſtration againſt the Jews, that how great ſo-
ever, in the end, the external glory of Meffiah is
to be, (and neither they nor we can ſet that too
high) yet he was once to vifit his people in great
humility; he was to appear, at his firſt advent, in
a ſtate of humiliation. The nature of his underta-
king required it, and their own law and prophets
are clear and exprefs upon the fubject. Though
God, he was to become man; "A virgin ſhall
conceive, and bear a fon, and they fhall call his
name IMMANUEL, which is, being interpreted, GOD
WITH US. He was to be "a man of forrows,
and acquainted with grief," a man without "form
or comeliness,"† without the glare of outward fplen-
dor to recommend him; "his vifage," on the con-
trary, by fuffering affliction, was to be "marred
more than any man, and his form more than the
fons of men." He was to keep the law, and to
die for fin. "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldeſt
not-burnt offering and fin offering haft thou not
required. Then faid I, lo I come: in the volume
of the book it is written of me; I delight to do thy
will, O my God, yea thy law is within my heart.
II
He made his foul an offering for fin; he was cut
off out of the land of the living; he made his grave
with the rich." If words can render any thing
plain, it is plain from theſe paffages, that Meffiah
was to be an humble and a fuffering character.
The types and the prophecies are as pofitive for
his humiliation, as they are for his exaltation; nor
VOL. I.
could
* Ifai. vii. 14. Matt. i. 23.
Pf. xl. 7. Heb. x. 7.
|
I
+ Ifai. lii. 14.
+ Ifai. liii.
§ Ifai. liii.
98
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
could any one perfon accompliſh them all, without
being equally remarkable for lowlinefs and meek-
nefs, glory and honour. The modern Jews, fen-
fible of this, have framed to themſelves two Mef-
fiahs; one, Ben Jofeph, of the tribe of Ephraim,
defigned to be poor and contemptible, and to un-
dergo great indignities; the other, Ben David, of
the tribe of Judah, who is to be victorious, to con-
quer all the earth before them, and to live for ever
in temporal grandeur. This idle dream, contrary
to the tenor of the whole Old Teſtament, and un-
known to their expofitors before Chrift, came,
fhews us, that blindneſs hath happened to Ifrael
not for want of light, but becauſe they have fhut
their eyes againſt it till they cannot now open them,
to behold the brightneſs of its ſhinning; to view
Jefus of Nazareth, as the end of their law, and the
accompliſhment of their prophecies. To an unpreju-
diced perfon, acquainted with that law, and thoſe
prophecies, the fight of the lowly Jefus, entering Je-
rufalem in great humility, and in ftill greater, bow-
ing his head and expiring on mount Calvary, is a no
lefs ftriking evidence of his being the Meffiah, than
his glorious refurrection from the dead, and trium-
phant afcenfion into heaven. The Scriptures muft
needs be fulfilled, in one reſpect, as well as the other.
Thus it behoved Chrift to fuffer, and thus it beho-
ved him to humble himſelf, in order to his fuffering.
Through pride Adam fell, and therefore by lowli-
nefs muft Chrift be exalted. "An haughty ſpirit
goeth before a fall; but before honour is Humility.'
"*
In this ſtate of meeknefs and lowlineſs, was Chriſt
to gain a complete victory over the enemies of man's
falvation. The warfare was new, and it is no won-
der, that the weapons employed in it ſhould be un-
* Prov. xviii 12.
common.
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
99%
common. Other warriors prepare their horſes and
their chariots, their bows, their fpears, and their
fhields. But Meffiah difarms his followers, in or-
der that they may overcome.
For thus our pro-
phet goes on; "And I will cut off the chariot from:
Ephraim, and the horſe from Jerufalem, and the
battle bow fhall be cut off: And he ſhall ſpeak
peace unto the heathen." Could a plainer declara-
tion have been made, that the conquefts of Meffiah
were not to be of a ſecular nature; that his king-
dom was not of this world?" If my kingdom were
of this world," faith he himſelf, " then would my
fervants fight."* But lo, he taketh from them the
weapons of war. Was there a fhield or fword feen
among the thouſands of the Ifrael of God? Not
fhield, but that of faith; no fword, but that of the
Spirit. Like their great leader, they encountered
their adverfaries with patience, and overcame by
fuffering. So far was the advent of Chrift from
carrying with it any appearance of war, that the na-
tions at the time lay hufhed in the tranquillity of
an univerſal peace. "He fpake peace to the hea--
then," as well as to his own people the Jews. The:
waves of this troubleſome world ceafed to tofs them-
felves, and a delightful calm feemed to forebode
the approach of thofe halcyon days, when the
Prince of Peace fhould make his abode amongſt us;
like the ſtillneſs of that hallowed night, on which
the angelic choir defcended, to fing "Peace on
earth;" peace with God, by the pardon cf fin;
peace with ourſelves, by the anſwer of a clear cor---
ſcience; peace with one another, by mutual charity.
O divine Peace, how lovely and how pleafant doft
thou appear! How happy and heavenly is the king-
dom of Meffiah, where thou art to be found! Who
I 2
would
* John xviii. 39%.
100
}
THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
}
X
would not wiſh to fee, who would not labour to
promote the full accompliſhment of the laft claufe
of the prophecy we have been confidering, in the
extenfion of this kingdom and dominion of Chrift
"from ſea to ſea, and from the river to the ends.
of the earth;" that fo all the nations of the world
might remember themſelves, and turn to the Lord
Jefus, as many did at the firft preaching of his.
Gofpel. And let the daughter of Zion lead the
way, reſtored to her pre-eminence among the chur-
ches. We will not envy her the honour, as fhe
formerly envied us Gentiles, but rather rejoice and
fhout with her, in the day when the fhall be led to
acknowledge her King; the King of Righteoufneſs,
Salvation, and Peace; the once lowly, but now
highly exalted Jefus of Nazareth; who, as at this
time, came to visit us in great humility, and fhall
come again, at the appointed hour, to judge the
world; when we ſhall behold him, glorious as Je-
rufalem herſelf can wifh, riding upon the heavens.
in power and majefty unutterable, amidst the ac
clamations of faints and angels.
F
I
2 5 2. - Ḥ 7 8 9
DISCOURSE VE.
THE KING OF GLORY.
REV. i. 7.
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye fball fee him,
and they alſo that pierced him; and all the kindreds of
the earth fhall wail becauſe of him. Even fo, Amen.
Ir is the peculiar fupputation of the Chriſtian
·
church, as a pious writer well obferves, to begin.
the year, and to commence the annual courfe of her
fervices, at this time of Advent, herein differing
from all other accounts of time whatſoever. The
reafon of which feems plainly to be this, becauſe in
the numbering her days, and meaſuring her fea-·
fons, ſhe does not fo much regard the fun in the
firmament, as the great Sun of Righteouſneſs, her
Lord and Saviour, who is in heaven. She confi--
ders herfelf as "redeemed from the earth;" and
therefore no longer confined to the calculations of
the world, or obliged to direct herſelf by the cour-
fes of the material luminaries. It is her employ-
ment to make known to her children the time of:
falvation, called in Scripture, "the year of the re-
deemed;" and this year was introduced by the
everlaſting day-fpring from on high vifiting her;
whereby the became, what the Spirit ftyles her, in
the Revelation, "a city that h s no need of the.
fun, neither of the moon to fhine in it, for the
I 3
Lord..
102
THE KING OF GLORY.
Lord God and the Lamb are the light and the glory
thereof."
The leffons and fervices therefore for the four
firft Sundays in her liturgical year propofe to our
meditations the twofold Advent of our Lord Jefus
Chrift, teaching us that it is he who was to come,
and did come to redeem the world; and that it is
he alſo, who fhall come again, to be our judge.
Theſe two Advents involve in them and compre-
hend between them the whole counfel of God for
the redemption of mankind, by the coming of
Chrift in the flesh, with the final iffue of that
counſel in refpect of each individual, to be mani-
feſted at his coming to judgment.
The end propoſed by the church, in fetting theſe
two appearances of Chrift together before us, at
this time, is, to beget in our minds proper difpofi-
tions to celebrate the one, and expect the other;
that fo, with joy and thankfulneſs, we may now
<< go to Bethlehem, and fee this thing which is come
to pafs, which the Lord hath made known unto us”
even the Son of God come to vifit us in great hu-
mility; and thence, with faith unfeigned, and hope
immoveable, afcend in heart and mind to meet the
fame Son of God in the air, coming in glorious ma-
jeſty, to judge the quick and dead.
And certainly, if any thing can lead men to re-
pentance, and turn the hearts of the difobedient to
the wisdom of that Juft One, the wifdom which
maketh wife unto falvation, through faith in Chrift
Jefus, it muſt be the united confiderations of his
mercy, and his juftice: his infinite mercy during
the day of grace, when all fins, that can be repent-
ed of, are forgiven unto men; his inexorable juf-
tice at the day of retribution, when he ſhall infalli-
bly render unto every man according as his work
fhall
103
THE KING OF GLORY.
fhall be. And perhaps there is no better method
of ſtirring up our wills to procure an intereſt, or of
diſcovering the intereſt we already poffefs in the
love of Chriſt, than by viewing in their proper co-
lours the terrors of his judgment, as they will fhew
themſelves to the aftoniſhed world at that awful
hour of his ſecond Advent; when the maſk put.
upon falfe principles and evil actions fhall drop off,
and all things be eſtimated by the meaſures of
Chriſtianity, and the ſtandard of the Gospel of Jefus.
The words of the divine and well beloved John
now read are, it is prefumed, not improper for this
purpoſe, as they evidently fall in with the defign of
our church at this feaſon, and ſpeak the fame lan-
guage with her Advent fervices" Behold, he
cometh with clouds, and every eye fhall fee him,
and they alſo that pierced him; and all the kin-
dreds of the earth fhall wail becauſe of him. Even
fo, Amen."
In theſe words we may obferve,
I. Chrift's Advent to judgment, with the man-
ner of it; "Behold, he cometh with clouds."
II. The circumftance of the world's beholding
him, and the effect it fhall produce; "E-
very eye ſhall fee him, and they alſo that
pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth
fhall wail becauſe of him.”
III. The faith and hope of the church, dif-
played by her wiſhing and praying for his
manifeſtation, notwithſtanding all the ter-
rors that are to attend it; "Even fo. A-
men.”
I. Then we are to confider Chrift's Advent to
judgment. There is fomething wonderfully awful and
affecting in the fhort defcription the text gives us
of it. The beautiful manner, particularly, in which
it
THE KING OF GLORY.
104
(C
it is introduced, is worthy notice. St John, having
occafion to mention his dear Lord and mafter, at.
whoſe command he wrote this epiftle to the church-
es, fired and tranfported at the glorious name, runs-
on with amazing rapidity, enumerating the bleffings
of the Redemption which is by him; and having.
carried him from his croſs to his throne, and aſcribed
all glory to him fitting upon it, immediately he fees
him in the clouds, and breaks forth in the words
of the text. The whole paffage runs thus ; John:
to the feven churches, which are in Afia, Grace be
unto you, and peace from him which is, and which
was, and which is to come; and from the feven
fpirits which are before his throne; and from Je-
fus Chrift, who is the faithful witnefs, and the
firſt begotten from the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth; unto him that loved us, and
wafhed us from our fins in his own blood, and hath
made us kings and priefts unto God and his father;
unto him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.-Behold, he cometh !" It is evident like-
wife, at firft fight, how well this fudden and abrupt·
introduction is calculated to awaken our attention to
what follows. The corruptible body, alas, preff-
eth down the foul that mufeth on many things,"
and eſpecially when it mufeth on the things of e-
ternity. Multitudes lie afleep in their fins, amuſed
with delufive dreams; dead to their true views
and intereſts, as a corpfe fleeping in the duft is
dead to the views and intereſts of this life. There-
fore the Holy Spirit, about to make proclamation
of Chrift's fecond Advent, firft founds a trumpet
in Sion, and an alarm in the holy mountain, and
ufhers it in with an emphatical-Behold! which,
like the voice of that wakeful bird that gives the
firſt notice of the approach of the morning, and as a
prelude
1
}
105
THE KING OF GLORY.
prelude to the Archangel's trump, which is to give
notice of the laſt morning that fhall ever riſe upon
the world, is defigned to awaken a carelefs and in-
dolent generation out of its lethargy, importing the
fame in this place, with thoſe other frequent calls
of the apoſtles and prophets-" Awake, thou that
fleepeft, and arife from the dead, and Chrift fhall.
give thee light. Arife, fhine, for thy light is coming,
and the glory of the Lord is rifing upon thee."
"Behold he cometh !" And is not this a fight-
moſt worthy of our attention? Is it not very meet,
right, and our bounden duty, that we fhould be-
hold it? That we fhould open the eyes of our:
faith, which the bewitching cup of pleaſure and
vanity, mingled by a deceitful world for our de-
ſtruction, has charmed to fleep? That we fhould
"lift up our heads, and look up, to ſee our re-
demption drawing nigh ?" For draw nigh it will
and it does, whether we confider it, or not. Eve-
ry evening takes a day from the world's duration...
The portion of the wicked is fo much lefs, and the
time of their puniſhment fo much approached.:
The fufferings of the patient fo much diminiſhed,
and their hopes of deliverance fo much increaſed..
Nay, every clock that ſtrikes bids us recollect, that
the promiſe of Chrift has then received an addi-.
tional force; "Behold, I come quickly, and my
reward is with me, to give every man according as:
his work fhall be." The precife day and hour
knoweth no man. Though.probably, as it was at
his first Advent, fo likewife will it be at his fecond.
The faithful fervants, who are watching for the re-
turn of their Lord, and "looking for redemption
in Jerufalem," will be able, by the books or the
Scriptures, and the figns of the times, to tell when
the day is approaching. But what avails a curious
difquifition
THE KING OF GLORY.
106
difquifition upon the exact period of the world's
diffolution? What is likely to be the fate of thoſe
malefactors, who, inftead of preparing for their
trial, fpend the fmall portion of time allotted them,.
in difputing with each other concerning the hour
in which the trumpet fhall found, and the judge
make his entry? In this, above all other cafes,
"bleffed is the man that feareth always. Bleffed
is that fervant, who, whether his mafter cometh at
the ſecond watch, or whether he cometh at the
third watch," is ready to receive him, and exhibit
his accounts. Bleffed, in fhort, is he, and he only,
who hears continually theſe words of the beloved
John; " "Behold, he cometh "
He cometh, indeed! But how changed? How
different his appearance, from what it once was?
How fhall we be able to conceive of it as it deferves,
to raiſe our thoughts from the voice of the tender
babe in the manger, bewailing our fins that brought
him thither, to the voice of the Son of God, from
which the heavens and the earth fhall fly away, and
no place be found for them any more for ever!
Yet fo it is. Behold, he who came in fwaddling
clothes, cometh with clouds. He who came to
preach the day of falvation, cometh again to pro-
claim the day of vengeance. He who was led as a
a lamb to the flaughter, leads his ten thouſands to
the prey, as the lion of the tribe of Judah. He
who cried not, nor lifted up his voice againſt his
enemies upon earth, thunders with the glorious
voice of his excellency againft them from heaven.
He who never brake a bruifed reed, rules the na-
tions with a rod of iron, and breaks them in pieces
like a potter's veffel. He who quenched not the
fmoking flax, extinguiſhes the great lights of the
world; darkens the fun, and turns the moon into
blood;
THE KING OF GLORY.
107
•
blood; commands the ſtars from their ſtations, and
the dead from their graves; ſhakes the powers of
heaven, and the foundations of the earth, and all
hearts, that are not fixed on him.
The trumpet ſounds, and he is coming! The ever-
lafting gates of heaven, which lifted up their heads
for the King of Glory to enter in, are again lifted
up; and behold the proceffion that comes forth of
them, defcending to this lower world, as it is de-
fcribed by one who faw it in a vifion. I faw heaven
opened, and behold a white horfe, and he that fat
upon him was called faithful and true," the accom-
pliſher of all his promifes; " and in righteouſneſs
he doth judge❞ the world, and "make war" againſt
all that oppoſe him. "His eyes were as a flame
of fire," difcerning and deftroying the counſels of
his adverfaries; "and on his head were many
crowns;" all the kingdoms of this world were be-
come his; " and he had a name written, that no
man knew, but he himſelf," the ineffable name of
the divine effence. "And he was clothed with a
veſture dipt in blood," the garment of vengeance.
"And his name," by which he is known to men,
"is called, THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies
which were in heaven followed him upon white
horſes," attending him in his glory, "clothed in fine
linen white and clean," which is the righteoufnefs
of faints. “And out of his mouth goeth a ſharp
fword," namely, his holy word, "that with it he
fhould fmite the nations. And he fhall rule them,"
that have rejected the golden fceptre of mercy,
" with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the wine-
prefs of the fierceneſs and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a
name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'
When
1
THE KING OF GLORY.
100
When Joſhua, at the head of the armies of Ifrael,
furrounded Jericho, at the found of the trumpet,
the walls fell flat. When the divine Joſhua, at the
head of the armies of the true Ifrael of God, the
church triumphant, furrounds this city of deftruc-
tion, can the event be otherwife? Affuredly it can-
not. The ftrength, beauty, and glory of the world
will fall, and come to nothing, at the moment
when the trumpet, founding from the one end of
heaven to the other, fhall give notice, that the
judge of all the earth is coming to his judgment-
feat in the air. The throne that fhall be there e-
rected for him is thus deſcribed by Daniel-" I be-
held till the thrones were caft down, and the an-
tient of days did fit; whofe garment was white as
fnow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.
His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels.
as burning fire; a fiery ftream iffued, and came
forth from before him: thouſand thouſands mini-
ftered unto him, and ten thouſand times ten thou-
fand ftood before him. The judgment was fet,
and the books were opened." In the clouds over
our heads is this judgment-feat to be formed, as it
is alſo written in the book of Pfalms-" Clouds
and darkneſs are round about him, righteouſneſs
and judgment are the habitation of his throne."
From amidſt this thick darkneſs the lightnings,
thoſe ſwift executioners of divine vengeance, ſhall
flaſh abroad over the earth while ten thoufand
thunders, rolling forth from the glorious God that
maketh them, fhall at once utter their tremendous
voices: as it is written again in the fame book of
Pfalms Our God fhall come, and ſhall not
keep filence," as once, when like a fheep dumb be-
fore his fhearers he opened not his mouth. " A
fire fhall now devour before him, and it ſhall be
very
THE KING OF GLORY.
109
:
very tempestuous round about him. The Lord,"
even the Lord Jefus, " fhall thunder out of hea-
ven, and the higheſt give his thunder, hail ſtones
and coals of fire." By the brightneſs of his coming
all enemies fhall foon be confumed, all clouds fhall
pafs away; and the judge fhall appear upon his ra-
diant throne, like his emblem the fun; fo that
there ſhall not be a tongue but muft own with the
church, in her triumphant fong, "Heaven and
earth are full of the majefty of thy glory."
And
as Chriſt upon his throne, like the fun, will fee
all, fo, like the fun, he will be feen of all, which
brings us to the
II. Thing to be confidered, namely, the circum-
ſtance of mankind beholding him, with the effect
it fhall produce upon them; "Every eye fhall fee
him, and they alſo that pierced him, and all the
kindreds of the earth fhall wail becauſe of him.”
The judge being feated on his throne, and all
things fubdued to him, "before him, fhall be ga-
thered all nations," all the innumerable multitudes
of men and women that have lived in every age,
and every country. Every eye fhall fee the God
that made it, and commanded it to be pure, and
fingle. How it has fulfilled his commandment,
will then be known. The Sight of Chrift upon his
throne will be a trying fight; the effects of it will
enter the heart like the piercings of a fword, and
reveal all its thoughts in the countenance; hypo-
crify fhall then be no more. "Every eye fhall fee
him." But who fhall be able to endure the fight?
Even they that pierced him" muft "look on him
whom they pierced." Pilate will behold the poor,
defpifed Galilean, whom he fcourged, and deliver-
ed to be crucified, now ready to judge him, and all
the world. Herod and his men of war, who mock-
VOL. I.
K
ed
110
THE KING OF GLORY.
ed and ſet him at nought, will fee him encompaffed
with ten thouſands of faints and angels, about to
ſpeak unto them in his wrath, and trouble them in
his fore diſpleaſure. A corrupt temporifing Sanhe-
drim, who were inftant with loud voices that he
might be crucified, will fee heaven and earth flic
away before the face of that prieſt, of whom they,
his repreſentatives, were the betrayers and murder-
ers. They who plaited and put on the crown of
thorns, fhall be ftruck blind with rays of glory
beaming from his facred head. And they who
drove the nails, and he who thruſt the ſpear into
his fide, ſhall ſee that ſame Jefus, whom they pier-
ced, exalted above every name that is named in
heaven and earth.
But think not that the Jews, who crucified Christ,
are the only perſons that will have reaſon to trem-
ble at this fight. There are others, who may dread
it, as well as they. Thofe, whofe fins, yet unre-
pented of, fharpened the nails, and pointed every
thorn. Thoſe careleſs ones, who are at eafe;
whofe hearts, harder than the rocks, that rent
afunder at his crucifixion, remain unmoved at
the fight of the Son of God, dying upon the croſs
for them, and calling from thence to a thoughtleſs
world" Is it nothing to you, all ye that pals by?
Behold, and fee, if there be any forrow like unto
my forrow which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger."
Biſhop Taylor, in one of his Advent fermons,
has an expoftulation with a finner upon this ſubject,
which is fo juft, beautiful, and affecting, and ſo in-
finitely beyond any thing I can offer, that I ſhall
not only have your pardon, but your thanks, for
reciting it. "It was for thy fake that the judge
did fuffer unspeakable pains, fuch as were fufficient
to
THE KING OF GLORY.
FIF
1.
to reconcile all the world to God.
And to confi
der that thou haft, for thy own particular, made alt
this in vain and ineffective? that Chrift thy Lord
and judge ſhould be tormented for nothing; that
thou wouldeſt not accept felicity and pardon, when
he purchaſed them at fo dear a price; it muſt needs
be an infinite condemnation to thee. How fhalt
thou look upon him that fainted and died for love
of thee, and thou didſt ſcorn his miraculous mer-
cies? How fhalt thou dare to behold that holy face
which brought falvation to thee, and thou didst
turn away, and fall in love with death, and defor
mity, and fin? And yet, in the beholding that face,.
confifts much of the glories of eternity. Surely all-
the pains and the paffions, the forrows and the
groans, the humility and poverty, the labours and
the watchings, the prayers and the fermons, the
miracles and the prophecies, the whip and the nails,
the death and the burial, the fhame and the ſmart,.
the croſs and the grave of Jefus, fhall be laid upon
thy ſcore, if thou haft refuſed the mercies and de-
fign of all their holy ends and purpoſes. And if
thou remembereft what a calamity that was, which
broke the Jewiſh nation in pieces, when Chriſt
came to judge them, for their murdering him, who-
was their king, and the prince of life; and confi-
dereft, that this was but a dark image of the terrors
of the day of judgment, thou mayeft then appre-
hend, that there is fome ftrange unfpeakable evil
in ſtore for one who refuſes the falvation of Jefus,
and rather chuſes that Satan fhould rejoice in his
deftruction, than that Jefus fhould triumph in his
felicity."
Thus far this excellent prelate. And all who
confider the matter in this its true and proper light,
cannot wonder at the effect which, as St John in
K 2.
the
i
112
THE KING OF GLORY.
J
the text tells us, the fight of Chrift will produce
among the kindreds of the earth. They fhall wail
becauſe of Chrift, when they fee him whom they
have pierced by their fins, and crucified afreſh.
And that wailing muſt needs be terrible, when mil-
lions of men and women fhall at the fame inſtant
fearfully cry out, and the noiſe fhall mingle with
the trumpet of the Archangel, and the thunders
of the dying and groaning heavens paffing away
with a great noife, and the roaring of the flames in
which the earth and all the works that are therein
ſhall then be diffolving. The terror and lamenta-
tion throughout the world at that time, with the
foreboding pangs and convulfions of departing na-
ture, will be fuch as never were, fince the day that
God created man upon the earth. Include in your
idea the deſtruction of the old world by the flood,
the overthrow of the cities of the plain by fire and
brimftone, and the defolation of Jerufalem by the
Roman armies, with an affemblage of the plagues
of Egypt, and the miferies and calamities felt by
men in all ages, yet your conceptions will fall as far
fhort of the things themſelves, as the fhadow does
of the fubftance. Nothing can exceed our bleffed
Lord's defcription of this laſt ſcene, but its actual
accompliſhment-"There ſhall be ſigns in the fun,
and in the moon, and in the ftars; and upon the
earth diſtreſs of nations, with perplexity, the fea
and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking after thoſe things which
are coming on the earth; for the powers of the
heaven ſhall be ſhaken. And then ſhall appear the
fign of the ſon of man in heaven; and then ſhall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they ſhall fee
the ſon of man coming in the clouds of heaven,
with power and great glory." At this moft awful
}
and
THE KING OF GLORY.
HIZ
and tremendous hour, when the fon of man fhall!
diſplay his banner the crofs in the clouds; when
the fea and the waters of the great deep ſhall roar z
when the deftroying angel fhall again go forth at
midnight into the land of Egypt, and there fhall be
a great cry throughout all the land, becauſe of death
and judgment; then fhall be brought to paſs that
which is written in the Revelation; "Ibeheld when the
kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bond man, and every freeman hid them-
felves in the dens, and in the rocks of the moun-
tains, and faid to the mountains and rocks, fall on
us, and hide us from the face of him that fitteth
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who
fhall be able to ſtand ?"
A view of the terrors of the Lord has by this
time, perhaps, made us all ready to join in afking.
this laſt queſtion? Who fhall be able to ſtand ?"
And we cannot help taking up our parable with Ba-
laam ; "Alas! who ſhall live, when God doth this?"**
But thanks be to God, an anſwer will be abundantly
miniftred unto us by a confideration of the
III. And laſt point propofed, namely, the faith
and hope of the church, who wishes for Chrift's
manifeftation, notwithſtanding all the terrors that
are to attend it, as appears by the remaining words
of my text-❝ Even fo. Amen."
For theſe are not the words of St John only, but
they carry in them the prayers and fighs of Chrif-
tians, fent up to the throne of grace through him.
It is not the Spirit" alone, fpeaking by him, that
fays "Come," but "the bride," or church, alfo
fays the fame. "How long, O Lord, holy and
true," is the voice of the departed ſpirits, refting.
K. 3.
from.
.
114
THE KING OF GLORY.
*
畜
​from their labours under the altar, in heaven, and
waiting for the completion of their glory, at the
day of their Redeemer's triumph. And that part
of the church which is ſtill militant, and fojourns.
in the wilderness, may be heard earneſtly joining
in the fame expoſtulation, in the lxiv. chapter of the
prophet Ifaiah; "O that thou wouldst rent the hea-
vens, that thou would come down, that the mountains
might flow down at thy prefence; as when the melting
fire burneth, the fire caufeth the waters to boil; to
make thy name known to thine adverfaries, that
the nations may tremble at thy prefence. When
formerly thou didft terrible things, which we look-
ed not for, thou cameft down, the mountains flow-
ed down at thy prefence." Nay, we ourſelves, e-
very one of us, daily put up the very fame petition
to God, when we pray that "his kingdom may
come" for his kingdom of glory cannot come, till
all theſe things fhall have been brought to paſs.
And again, when, ftanding at the grave's mouth,
we have before our eyes a plain proof, that “man
who is born of a woman, bath but a fhort time to
live" in this world; we earneſtly befeech the Fa-
ther of Spirits, "that it would pleafe him of his
gracious goodnefs fhortly to accomplish the num-
ber of his elect, and to haften his kingdom." Thus
the coming of that day, in which "all the kindreds
of the earth fhall wail," is the conftant fubject of
the wifhes and prayers of the fons of God. A
found Chriſtian faith gives them confidence to-
wards God, and teaches them, without hypocrify,
to pray for the fecond Advent of Chrift. For al-
though in that day "he cometh with clouds," yet
God's promife is, that whenever he brings his
cloud" over the earth, his "bow fhall be in the
cloud," the fure token of the "everlaſting cove-
naht
THE KING OF GLORY.
F15
1
And
nant of mercy between him and all fleſh."
accordingly, when Ezekiel and St John faw Chrift
upon his terrible throne, he appeared encompaffed
with a RAINBOW, to teach us that even the throne
of judgment is incircled by mercy, which rejoices
againſt judgment. All the cries of defpairing na--
tions, the thunders of heaven, and the horrible
noifes of the periſhing earth fhall not keep thofe,
who have been indeed the difciples of Jefus, from
hearing a voice faying unto them, "Come up hi-
ther." Yea, and they who in faith and patience
have waited for the Lord, as the prophet Iſaiah
fpeaks," fhall then renew their ftrength, they fhall:
mount up as eagles." They hall afcend to meet
their Redeemer in the air, and the eye of faith ſhall
ftedfaſtly behold the glories of the Sun of Righte-
oufnefs. Marvel no longer then that the church-
fo paffionately defires the manifeftation of Chrift.
Marvel not that the fhould fay, COME! when the.
Advent of him to whom fhe fpeaks is to be the day
of her efpoufals, and the day of the gladnefs of her
heart; the end of her Saviour's fufferings, and her
faith; a day of triumph, and everlaſting felicity...
Let the men of the world lament, for their joy is
ended, and their forrows beginning; but let the
redeemed be glad, for their forrows are at an end,
and their joys beginning. Let the "tribes of the
earth mourn," but "let Ifrael rejoice in him that
made him, and let the children of Sion be joyful in
their king." For the trumpet which proclaims the
deſtruction of the ungodly, declares at the fame
time the falvation of the righteous. When that
trumpet founds throughout the land, the eternal.
jubilee is begun. There is liberty for the captives,
and the opening of the prifon doors, even the gates
of the grave, for thofe to come out, who lie there
in
116
THE KING OF GLORY.
in darkneſs, and in the ſhadow of death; and eve-
ry child of God is free to return to his poffeffion
and inheritance, and to the family of his heavenly
Father. When they who have loved the world,
inſtead of him whom the world crucified, and truſt-
ed in the falſe glory and riches of earthly Babylon,
fhall" ftand weeping and wailing, to ſee the ſmoke
of her burning, faying, Alas, alas, that great city,
that was clothed in purple, and fine linen, and
fcarlet, and decked with gold, and precious ftones;
how in one hour is fo great riches come to nought?
What faith the Spirit to the church? "Rejoice
over her, thou heaven, and ye holy Apoſtles and
Prophets, for God hath avenged you on her."
And what faith the church herſelf?" The king-
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and his Chriſt, and he ſhall reign for ever
and ever. Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipo-
tent reigneth. Let us be glad, and rejoice, and
give honour to him: for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herſelf.
ready."
And now, my brethren, whoſe heart does not burn
within him, when he hears the melody of the ce-
leſtial choir chanting forth the praifes of their vic-
torious Redeemer, round his glorious. throne? Is
there a fingle perfon here, whofe foul has not a de-
fire and longing to enter into the courts of the
Lord, and to bear his part in the never-ending.
chorus? But know, O man, whofoever thou art,
that haft this defire and longing, know thou muſt
be a penitent upon earth, before thou canft be a
faint in heaven. Thou muſt be holy in time, if
thou wouldeſt be glorious in eternity. Acquaint
now therefore thyfelf with God, and be at peace
with him, thyſelf, and all mankind; thereby, and
thereby
:
THE KING OF GLORY.
117
thereby only, fhall good come unto thee at thy lat
ter end. Stop not thine ears, and harden not
thine heart againſt inſtruction, when it is the day
of trial and probation in the wildernefs. Receive
now, I pray thee, the law of the moft High; retire, and
meditate úpon it, and lay up his words in thy heart;
nor ſuffer the world to rob thee of that wiſdom
which is more precious than rubies, and to which
all the things thou canst defire are not to be com-
pared. Fear not, neither be difmayed, becauſe of
the multitude of thy paft tranfgreffions, which
preſent themſelves to thy troubled conſcience, and
fet themſelves in array againſt thee. God can for
give, if thou canst repent. Nay, he will give
thee repentance unto life," if thou wilt requeft
it of him. If thou return to the Almighty, thou
fhalt yet be built up, and impoffible as it may ap-
pear, thou fhalt put away iniquity far from thy
tabernacle: thou fhalt ceafe to do evil, and learn
to do good: thou fhalt caft off the works of dark-
nefs, and put on the armour of light, now in the
time of this mortal life: thou fhalt have thy de-.
light in the Almighty, and lift up thy face unto
God: thou fhalt make thy prayer unto him, and
he ſhall hear thee; he ſhall not lay thy fins to thy
charge, but forgive thee what is paft, and give thee
grace to amend thy finful life; to decline from the
ways of the deſtroyer, in which, perhaps, thou
haft unhappily wandered, and incline to the paths
of wisdom and righteoufnefs, and walk therein
before him all the days of thy life. And when
the work fhall be finiſhed, for which God fent thee
into the world, even the work of thy falvation,
thou wilt perceive, that to depart and to be with
Chrift is far better than to live here in poffeffion
of all that the world can give thee. Thou fhalt go
4
out
}
118
THE KING OF GLORY.
"out with joy, and be led forth with peace by angels,
who ſhall convey and welcome thy ſpirit to the re-
gions of the living, to the bofoms of our holy fa-
thers, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, whence forrow,
grief, and lamentations are baniſhed away, where
the light of God's countenance vifits and ſhines
continually. And when the trumpet fhall found,
and all the tribes and kindreds of the earth fhall
wail, thou shalt lift up thy voice and fing for the
majefty and glory of thy triumphant Lord, and
call to the heavens and the earth to bear thee
company" Let the heavens rejoice, and let
the earth be glad; let the fea make a noiſe, and
all that is therein; let the field be joyful, and all
that is in it; then fhall all the trees of the wood
rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he
cometh to judge the earth, and with righteouſneſs
to judge the world, and the people with his truth.
He which teftifieth theſe things, faith, Surely I come
quickly, Amen. Even fo, come, Lord Jefus."
DISCOURSE VII.
THE WORD INCARNATE.
JOHN. i. 14.
The Word was made flesh, and drvelt among us (and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten
of the Father) full of grace and fruth.
IN contemplating the character of man's Redeem-
er, it is hard to fay, whether our admiration be
moſt excited by the natural dignity, or the volun-
tary abaſement of his perfon. To form fuitable
ideas of either, it is expedient to take a view of
both. And they appear to the utmoſt advantage
in the exordium of St John's Goſpel, where he fet-
teth himſelf to publiſh firft, the Divinity, and then
the incarnation of his moft adorable and beloved
Mafter. He mentions in due order, and regular
gradation, the glory which the WORD had with the
Father, before man, or the world which he now
inhabits, had a being; "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God"-His glory, with refpect to the
creatures, the works of his hands; "All things
were made by him, and without him was not any
thing made that was made"-His glory, as the fole
author of life and immortality; "In him was life,
and the life was the light of men"-His glory, with
reſpect to man in general, as fallen into a ſtate of
ignorance and fenfuality; " And the light fhined
in
|
120 THE WORD INCARNATE.
in darkneſs, and the darkneſs comprehended it not”
-His glory, with refpect to the Jews, to whom he
firſt manifeſted himfelf; "He came unto his own,
and his own received him not”—His glory, with
reſpect to Chriftians; "To as many as believed on
him gave he power to become the fons of God;"
in order to effect which he himſelf became the fon
of man;
"The Word was made fleſh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.”
Can any thing be more truly noble and fublime
than the former part of the Evangeliſt's diſcourſe,
more pleafing and acceptable than the latter, de-
fcending from the loftieft of fpeculations on the
Divine Nature of the Word, to diſplay the benefits
of his advent in the flesh; like the Nile, when, roll-
ing from the heights of the Nubian mountains, it
diffuſeth riches and plenteouſneſs over all the land
of Egypt?
The union of two natures in the perfon of our
Lord, which may juftly be confidered as the fource
of every bleffing we enjoy in time, or hope to en-
joy in eternity, is expreffed by St John in theſe
terms, "The Word was made fleſh,"* each of
which will be found worthy our attention.
The Term Word (oyos) was in ufe among the
ancient philofophers, who fometimes ſpeak of a per-
fon under that appellation, as the maker of the u-
niverfe. So Tertullian informs the Gentiles.
And Eufebius, in the xi. book of his Evangelical
Preparation, cites a Paffage from Amelius, a cele-
brated
λόγος σαρξ εγένετο.
"Apud veftros quoque fapientes 20yov, id eft Sermonem ata ·
que Rationem, conftat artificem videri univerfitatis. Hunc e-
nim Zeno determinat factitatorem, qui cuncta in difpofitione for
maverit."
1
?
3.
THE WORD INCARNATE.
121
brated admirer and imitator of Plato, in which he
fpeaks of the Aoyos as being eternal and the maker
of all things. This, he fays, was the opinion of
Heraclitus; and then introduces the beginning of
the Gospel of St John; concerning whom, it ſeems,
he was wont to complain, that he had transferred
into his book the fentiments of his mafter Plato.
But it is not likely that our Evangeliſt either bor-
rowed from, or intended to copy after Plato. And
fince not only Plato, but Pythagoras and Zeno like-
wife, converfed with the Jews, it is not at all won-
derful that we meet with fomething about a EIOZ
Aorož, or DIVINE WORD, in their writings. Nor,
after all, might the philofopher and the apoſtle uſe
the fame term in the fame acceptation.
It is customary with the writers of the New Tef-
tament to exprefs themſelves, as much as may be,
in the language of the Old, to which, therefore,
we muſt have recourſe for an explanation of their
meaning, as the penmen of both, under the direc-
tion of one Spirit, uſed their terms in the fame ſenſe.
Now, upon looking into the Old Teſtament, we
find, that "the Word of Jehovah,”"* is frequently
and evidently the ſtyle of a perſon, who is faid " to
come, to be revealed, or manifefted," and the like.
As in the xv. chapter of Genefis; "After theſe
things, the Word of Jehovah came unto Abraham
in a vifion, faying,. Fear not, Abraham; I am thy
fhield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abra-.
ham faid, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, &c."
"Behold the Word of the Lord came unto him,
faying, This ſhall not be thine heir-and HE brought
him forth abroad, &c." Thus again, 1 Sam. iii.
"Jehovah revealed himſelf to Samuel in Shiloh by
the Word of Jehovah." The fame perſon is, at
VOL. I.
L
other
7
דבר יהוה
122
THE WORD INCARNATE.
of Jehovah,"
other times, characterized by the title, " the Name
as in Iſaiah xxx. 27. " Behold the
Name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with
his anger, &c."
With regard to the nature of the perfon thus de-
nominated, whoever fhall duly confider the attri
butes, powers, and actions afcribed to him, will fee
reaſon to think of him not as of a created intelli-
gence, but a perſon of the divine effence, poffeffed
of all its incommunicable properties. And it may
be noticed, that the Targums, or Chaldee Para-
phrafts, continually fubftitute the Word of Jehovah,†
for Jehovah‡, aſcribing divine characters to the
per-
fon fo named. And the ancient grecizing Jews
fpeak in the fame ftyle. Thus in that excellent
apocryphal book of Wiſdom, ix. I. O God who
haft made all things AOTO by thy Word:" and
εν ΛΟΓΟΣ σε
again, in the paffage, which fo wonderfully de-
fcribes the horrors of that night, never to be for-
gotten by an Ifraelite, wherein the first born of the
Egyptians were flain-" While all things were in
quiet filence, and that night was in the midſt of
her fwift courſe, thine Almighty WORD (AOгoz)
leaped down from heaven, out of thy royal throne,
as a fierce man of war into the midſt of a land of
deftruction; and brought thine unfeigned com-
mandment, as a fharp fword; and ftanding up,
filled all things with death; and it touched the
heaven, but it ſtood upon the earth." Ch. xviii. 14.
But whatever may be thought of theſe paffages,
certain it is, that when St John comes to treat of
this WORD, although, to fhew à diſtinction of per-
ſonality, he firft tells us, "The Word was with
God;" yet to prevent all miſtakes on the other fide
of the queſtion, he inſtantly adds, “And the Word
was
יהוה $
מימרא דיי *
שם יהוה.
THE WORD INCARNATE.
123.
was God;" thus evidently afferting an unity of ef-
fence.
And let any impartial man only lay together,
upon this fubject, and duly weigh the following
particulars; that St John tells us, "The Word
was God," and "The Word was made fleſh;" that
St Paul fays, "God was manifeft in the flesh; God
was in Chrift, reconciling the world to himſelf; and
in him dwelt all the fulneſs of the Godhead bodily;"
that our Saviour is ftiled JEHOVAH, a name appro-
priated to the Deity; that he fays of himſelf, " I
am Alpha and Omega, the firſt and the laft *-I
am he that fearcheth the hearts and reins;" that
he created the world by his power, redeemed it by
his mercy, governs it by his providence, and fhall
judge it in righteoufnefs; let any impartial man, I
fay, confider theſe things with the attention they
deferve, and determine for himſelf, concerning the
nature and dignity of him, who was incarnate for
our falvation.
Should it be aſked, why this perfon is ftiled the
WORD? the proper anfwer feems to be, that as a
thought, or conception of the underſtanding, is
brought forth and communicated in fpeech, or dif-
courſe, fo is the divine will made known by the
WORD, who is the offspring and emanation of the
eternal mind; an emanation pure and undivided,
L 2
like-
* Upon this paffage, which is found Rev. i. 11. Dr DODDRIDGE
has the following Note-" That theſe titles (which occur juſt a-
bove in ver. 8.) fhould be repeated fo foon in a connection which
demonftrates they are given to Chrift, will appear very remark-
able, whatever ſenſe be given to the eighth verfe. The argument
drawn in the preceding note upon it, would have been ſtrong,
wherever fuch a paffage as this had been found; but its immediate
connection with this, greatly ftrengthens it. And I cannot for-
bear recording it, that this text has done more than any other in-
the Bible, towards preventing me from giving into that ſcheme,.
which would make our Lord Jefus Chrift no more than a deifiedi
creature."
•
:
1
124
THE WORD INCARNATÉ.
like that of light, which is the proper iffue of the
fun, and yet coeval with its parent orb; fince the
fun cannot be ſuppoſed, by the moft exact and phi-
lofophical imagination, to exift a moment, without
emitting light; and were the one eternal, the other,
though ftrictly and properly produced by it, would
be as ftrictly and properly coeternal with it. So
true is the affertion of the Nicene fathers; fo apt
the inftance fubjoined for its illuftration; "God
of God, light of light:" in apoftolical language,
"The brightneſs of his Father's glory, and the ex-
prefs image of his perfon." And whether we
confider our Lord under the idea of the WORD, or
that of LIGHT, it will lead us to the fame conclu-
fion, refpecting his office. For as no man can dif
cover the mind of another, but by the word which
proceedeth from him; as no man can ſee the fun,
but by the light which itfelf emitteth; even fo,
"No man knoweth the Father, fave the Son, and
him to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."+
1
This glorious WORD, this uncreated LIGHT, was
united to our nature in the perfon of Chriſt;
"The Word was made flesh." Flesh, which is a
part of our nature, ftands here for the whole; and
being the bafer part of the compofition, feems pur-
pofely mentioned, to intimate, that the care and
love of heaven extend even to that; that cur bo-
dies, no leſs than our fpirits, are included in the
fcheme of redemption; fo that while the foul re-
pofeth, in humble confidence, on the mercies of
Jefus, the flesh alſo may "reft in hope." In fleſh,
and by the inſtigation of flesh, the offence was com-
mitted. By taking fleth upon him, therefore, the
great Phyfician, the fovereign healer of all our
maladies,
* Απαύγασμα της δόξης, και χαρακτήρ της υποςάσεως.
† Matth. xi 2,
THE WORD INCARNATE.
1254
maladies, corrected the bad qualities of the foun--
tain, that the ſtreams might flow pure and falutary.
In fleſh the offence was committed, and therefore
in fleſh fatisfaction must be made for it. Our
High-Prieſt was incarnate, that he might have:
fomething to offer, more valuable and efficacious:
than the fleſh of bulls and calves. "Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldeft not, but a body haft thou
prepared me. In burnt offerings and facrifices for -
fin thou haft had no pleaſure; then faid I, Lo I
come (in the volume of the book it is written of-
me) to do thy will, O God."* The nature that
finned, according to the rules of juftice, was to fuf-
fer for fin and the Word was made fleſh for the
fame reaſon, that, when fo made, he was baptized?.
by John, "To fulfil all righteoufnefs." "And as
Chriſt took manhood, that by it he might be cap-
able of death, whereunto he humbled himſelf; ſo,
becauſe manhood is the proper fübject of compaſ--
fron and feeling pity, which maketh the fceptre of
Chrift's regency, even in the kingdom of heaven,.
to be amiable; he who, without our nature, could
not on earth fuffer for the fins of the world, doth:
now alfo, by means thereof, both make interceffion:
to God for finners, and exerciſe dominion over all:
men, with a true, a natural, and a fenfible touch-
of pity."+
{
As the Divinity is an object by no means within -
the graſp of the human understanding, it were ab-
furd to expect an adequate idea of the mode of its
union with flesh, expreffed in the text by the word!
"made;" "The Word was made flesh."‡ It fuf--
ficeth, in this cafe, to maintain the general truth:
of the propofition againſt thofe, who, in different:
L 3
ways,
* Pf. xl. 6. Heb. x. 5.
+ HOOKER, Ecclefiaft. Polity, y. 5I..
- Εγένετο,
•
126
THE WORD INCARNATE.
ways, by fubtilty and fophiftry, have laboured to
oppugn and deſtroy it. We muſt not, with Arius,
deny the Saviour to be truly God, becauſe he be-
came man; nor affert, with Appollinaris, that he
was not really man, becauſe he was alfo God.
We must not, with Neftorius, rend Chriſt aſun-
der, and divide him into two perfons; nor, af-
ter the example of Eutyches, confound in his per-
fon thofe natures which fhould be diftinguiſhed.
Theſe were the four capital errors, which, in the
earlier ages, harraffed and diſtracted the Chriſtian
church, on the point of the incarnation; and in
oppofition to which, the four moſt famous ancient
general councils of Nice, Conftantinople, Ephefus,
and Chalcedon, were called. Whatever was by
them decreed, either in declaration of Chriftian
belief, or refutation of herefy, may all be com-
prifed, as judicious Hooker well noteth, in four
words, "truly, perfe&ly, indivifibly, diftinctly;"*
truly God, perfectly man, indivifibly one perfon,
diftinctly two natures. "Within the compafs of
which four heads, faith he, I may truly affirm, that
all herefies, which touch the perfon of Jefus Chriſt,
(whether they have rifen in thefe latter days, or
in any age heretofore) may be with great facility
brought to confine themfelves."+
The apoftle to the Hebrews, writing on the fub-
ject of the incarnation, thus expreffeth himfelf,
"He taketh not hold of angels, but he taketh hold
of the feed of Abraham;" he took, or affumed
the manhood into God. As the reaſonable foul
and fleth is one man, fo God and man is one
Chrift. The foul is not turned into, nor com-
pounded
* Αληθώςν, τελέως, αδιαιρέτως, ασυνχύτως. + Book v. Sect. 54.
† Ου γαρ δηπε αγγελων επιλαμβάνεται, αλλα σπερματος Αβρααμ
επιλαμβάνεται.
1
THE WORD INCARNATE.
12'7
pounded with the body; yet they two, though dif-
tinct in nature, form one man. The natures áre
preſerved, without confufion; the perfon is entire,
without divifion.*
Thus, then, as the neceffity of the cafe, and the
counfels of the moft High required, "The Word
was made fleſh ;" and being made fleſh, "dwelt
amongſt us;” not appearing occafionally, as in an-
cient times, but making his abode with his crea-
tures; "rejoicing in the habitable parts of the
earth, and delighting to be with the fons of men ;"
infomuch, that we read of thofe, who were not
afraid to aſk him, " Maſter, where dwelleft thou ?”
and received this gracious anfwer, "Come and fee."
"He pitched his tent among us," + a ftranger and
a fojourner, as his fathers were, concerning whom
it is the apostle's obfervation, that, though the heirs
of the promife, they lived in tents, fhifting from
place to place, and declaring, that here, on earth,
they had no permanent city, but looked for one to
come. The fleſhly tabernacle, in which he refided,
at the clofe of his pilgrimage, was to be taken down,
in order afterwards to be re-erected in a more glo-
rious manner, and for ever fixed at the right hand
of God; like the GLORY of old, which firfi travel-
led with Ifrael through the wilderneſs in a move-
able tent, and then, at length, reſted in a durable
temple, on the hill of Sicn. As the Captain of
our falvation, the Leader of the Ifrael of God, he
preceded his people to the battle against their fpi-
ritual enemies; and now, as King of Glory, crown-
ed with victory and honour, he is feated on his
throne
* Sic factum eft Caro, ut maneret Verbum; non immutando
quod erat, fed affumendo quod non erat: neitra auxit, fua non
minuit ; nec facramentum pietatis detrimentum Deitatis.
CONCIL. CHALCED.
† Ecznywesy »v nuv.
F28
THE WORD INCARNATE.
throne, holding forth rewards to all his faithful
foldiers and fervants, which they are to receive at
his hands, when the days of their pilgrimage and
warfare fhall be ended.
But let us not imagine, that, even in the ftate of
humiliation, his glory was altogether obfcured by
the veil, within which it dwelt; or that its frequent
irradiations were not fufficient to convince thoſe
who beheld the houfe, how illuftrious a guest it
had the honour to contain. Eye-witneffes have
given a different account. "The Word was made
fleſh, and dwelt among us; and we heheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Fa-
ther."
The fun was covered with a cloud; but it
was the fun ftill; and often manifefted, through
the cloud, the power and brightnefs of its beams.
That Chrift was man, the labours and the for--
rows, the ſtripes, the wounds, the pains, and the
death, which, as man, he fuffered, did fully atteft..
But they who faw the moſt boisterous elements in
nature ceafe from raging, and compofe themfelves
into a perfect calm, when he ſaid, "Peace, be ſtill;"
they who faw a foul and inveterate leprofy done
away in a moment, by the words, "Be clean;"
they who faw a body, that had been four days,
dead, ariſe from its tomb, when he called, "La--
zarus, come forth;" thefe might well afk, "What
manner of man is this, that even the winds and
the fea," diſeaſe, and death itſelf, " obey him?”
Outwardly indeed he appears to be a man; but
furely, under that form, a celeſtial vifitant is come
among us. Is not this the Lord of nature? Is not:
this man's Almighty Redeemer ?-
་
When, at the marriage in Cana, he had caufed
water to change its nature and properties, and to
become wine, it is faid, "This beginning of mira--
cles:
1
THE WORD INCARNATE.
1.29
:
cles did Jefus in Cana of Galilee, and manifefted
forth his glory; and his difciples believed on him."
But our Evangelift faw more. He was one of thoſe
who attended their Mafter on the mount of trans-
figuration, and to whom was vouchfafed a glimpfe
of that excellent glory, which the WORD "had
with the Father before the world was," and with
which the humanity, by him affumed, is now for
ever invefted. The Divinity, enfhrined within,
communicated its radiance outwardly to the body,
and even to the garments,. till mortality feemed to
be ſwallowed up of life; "His face did thine as the
fun, and his raiment was white as the light." The
"Lord our God became exceeding glorious, he
was clothed with majefty and honour, he decked
himſelf with light as it were with a garment."
And if we reflect upon the manner in which it
pleaſed the Father to exalt and ennoble the moſt
ahafing circumſtances of his life and death, by the
choir of angels that defcended to celebrate his
birth; the new ftar which appeared in the fkies,
guiding the eaftern fages to Bethlehem; the voice
which anſwered him from heaven, in the audience
of the Jews; the preternatural eclipfe of the fun
at his crucifixion; recollecting at the fame time,
the triumph of his refurrection and the manner of
his afcenfion in the prefence, of his difciples; all
thefe particulars confpire to declare the glory not
of a fervant, as Mofes, but of a Son, of " the on-
ly begotten;" a glory not of magnificence only, or
one befet with terrors, like that at Sinai, but bear-
ing towards man, in every inftance, a benign and
most friendly afpect; as the fame bright luminary,
which rifes in glorious majeſty upon the earth, gives
life, health, and gladnefs to all its inhabitants.
❝.We
130
THE WORD INCARNATE.
"We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only be-
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
In a fubfequent verfe of this chapter, we find
"grace and truth," fet in oppofition to the Mofaic
law. "The law was given by Mofes, but grace and
truth came by Jefus Chrift." The law was the
difpenfation of juftice, auftere, rigorous, inflexible.
"He that doeth thefe things, fhall live in them;"
and, "Curfed is he that continueth not in all things.
that are written in the book of the law,, to do
them." The Gofpel is the difpenfation of mercy,
mild, gracious, forgiving, faying to the unhappy
tranfgreffor of the law, Believe in the Lord Jefus,
and thou fhalt be faved." The law could only
make fin known, and, by confequence, aggravate
its guilt; the Goſpel can pardon fin, and aboliſh
its guilt. Such is the contraft between the moral
law and "grace." The ceremonial ftands oppofed.
to "truth," not as being falfe, but figurative. "The
law had a fhadow of good things to come; but the
body," the ſubſtance, the reality, the truth, point-
ed at, and delineated by fuch a fhadowy reprefen-
tation, is of Chrift." The blood of bulls and
goats, for instance, was offered, but it could not.
take away fin; it was never intended fo to do; it
was "a figure for the time then preſent," defigned
to direct the faith of the offerer to its correfpon-
dert truth, namely, the blood of Meffiah, to be
afterward fhed for that purpofe. In itfelf, the law
was ineffectual, and, of courſe, if reſted in, proved
fallacious and deſtructive.
But the words, as they ftand in the text, may
be taken in a more extended fenfe, comprehending
the whole world, which, at the time of Chrift's
advent, was in a ſtate of error, and condemnation.
The two bleffings, therefore, of which it ftood
moft
THE WORD INCARNATE.
131
moft eminently in need, were, "grace and truth;"
grace to deliver it from condemnation, and truth
to correct its errors. Both theſe God by Chriſt
did vouchfafe to bestow upon it. "He hath made
us accepted* in the Beloved," remitting our fins,
and receiving us to favour. He hath alſo fhewn
us the true and the right way, enabling as well as
directing us to walk therein. Grace, without truth,
can only mock us; truth, without grace, can only af-
fright us. But when grace hath brought us to him,
truth will keep us with him: and through grace we
fhall accomplith what truth requireth at our hands.
“Surely his falvation is nigh them that fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and
truthare met together, righteoufneſs and peace have
kiffed each other."+
With wonder, gratitude, and joy, therefore, let
us reflect upon the honour done us by the WORD
being MADE FLESH. Our nature is exalted to the
throne of God; there is a MAN in heaven! The
difciples beheld Chriſt's glory in the days of his hu-
miliation; but eye hath not feen, nor ear heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man to con-
ceive the glory with which God hath now inveſted
"that body which it hath pleafed him to make
his own; that body wherewith he hath faved the
world; that body which hath been and is the root
of eternal life, the inftrument wherewith Deity
worketh, the facrifice which taketh away fin, the
price which hath ranfomed fouls from death, the
leader of the whole army of bodies that fhall riſe
again. For though it had a beginning from us,
.yet God hath given it vital efficacy, heaven hath
endowed it with celeftial power, that virtue which
it
EXKÓITWσLY NURS. Ephef. 1. 6.
:
† Pf. lxxxv. 9, 10.
!
132
THE WORD INCARNATE.
it hath from above, in regard whereof, all the an-
gels in heaven, adore it."*
·
And if "no man ever yet hated his own fleſh,"
can God hate the flesh, which, by being taken in-
to one perfon, with the WORD, is united to the
Godhead? Can the Father hate Him, of whom he
more than once declared from heaven, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleafed ?"
"And we are members of His body, of HIS fleſh,
and of His bones. It is a great myſtery," faith
the apoſtle, "but I ſpeak concerning Chrift and the
church." +
When man had offended, he fled from his Ma-
ker, and dared no more to approach the divine pre-
fence. But now that the WORD incarnate hath
publiſhed his general invitation-"O thou that
heareft the prayer, unto thee fhall all fleſh come!"
If the Son of God became the Son of man, why
fhould it ſeem a thing incredible, that the fons of
men ſhould become the fons of God? " Beloved,
now are we the fons of God; and it doth not yet ap-
pear what we ſhall be; but we know, that when
Chrift, who is our life, fhall appear, then ſhall we
alfo appear with him in glory; for we ſhall fee him
as he is."t
Delight we, then, to talk (and, fince the incar-
nation of the WORD, why fhould we not delight to
talk) of the dignity of human nature? Let us be
careful to act up to it. To a Chriftian the advice
of the philofopher comes with redoubled force;
"Reverence yourſelf.". -Confider, to whom you
are related, by whom you have been begotten a-
gain to a lively hope of an unfading inheritance,
The flock, from which you are fprung, is noble,
* HOOKER, Book v. Sect. 54.
+ Ephef. v. 30.
1 John ii. 2.
it
1
!
THE WORD INCARNATE.
133
*
1
*
it is royal, it is divine. Difgrace it not by baſe and
unworthy actions. Your inheritance is with the
faints in light; have no fellowſhip with the works
of darkneſs. Let your education be ſuitable to your
birth, your conduct anſwerable to your expecta-
tions. The infirmities and difhonours, to which
mortality is, and muſt be fubject, need not difcom-
pofe and afflict you. Be not difmayed at the ap-
proach of pain and fickneſs; let not the coffin- and
the fhroud terrify you. For though "all fleſh be
as grafs, and all the goodlinefs of man as the flower
of grafs;" though "the grafs withereth, the flower
fadeth," kindly admonishing you to prepare for an
autumn and a winter, when the fpring of youth
and the fummer of manhood fhall be paffed and
gone; yet "the WORD of God abideth for ever."
And this is the WORD, which hath been "made
fleſh, and dwelt among us;" this is the WORD, to
which your nature is in Chriſt united; "this is the
WORD, which by the Goſpel is preached unto you;"
whofe glory there diſplayed," as the glory of the
only begotten of the Father," you may now be
hold; and who, by his "grace" preceding, and his
"truth" accompanying, will lead you to glory, the
excellence of which, enjoyment only can enable.
you to comprehend.
Utile effe civitatibus, dicit Varro, ut fe viri fortes, etiamfi
falfum fit, Diis genitos effè credant, ut eo modo humanus animus
velut divinæ ftirpis fiduciem gerens, res magnas aggrediendas præ-
fumat audacius, et agat vehementius. Auguftin. de Civit. Dei.
Lib. iii. p. 49. See Leland, Advant, and Neceſſ. of Rev. i. 182.
VOL. I.
M
DISCOURSE VIII.
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
JOHN i. 11.
His own received him not.
THAT the eternal Son of God fhould condefcend,
in human form, to vifit his people, as their Saviour
and Redeemer, is an event, which may well be al-
lowed to excite our admiration. But how does our
aſtoniſhment rife, when we are informed, that his
people refuſed to receive fo gracious a viſitant?
The unbeliever, who is continually prying into
every corner of ancient and modern hiftory, for ar-
guments to countenance him in his unbelief, ſeizes,
we may be fure, with avidity, on this prominent
and marvellous circumftance, and labours to make
his advantage of it; affecting to conclude, that the
incredulity of the Jew can only be accounted for,
by fuppofing a deficiency in the evidence laid be-
fore him. And the believer, though fatisfied that
the miffion of Jefus ftands inconteftibly proved,
will yet often find himſelf perplexed, when he re-
flecteth, how ſtrange an occurrence it is, that a
people, felected from all others to be the peculium
of the Moft High; by his mighty hand and ſtretched
out arm reſcued from bondage; conducted through
all kinds of difficulties and dangers; at length
fettled in a country deftined for their habitation;
and there conftituted the depofitaries and guardi-
ans
THE CASE OF THE JEWS:
*35
ans of the divine oracles and inſtitutions; that this
people fhould reject and crucify the perſon all along.
foretold, as we fay, by thofe oracles, and pointed
out by thoſe inſtitutions.
The truth is, that in all the annals of mankind,
and in the whole compafs of fpeculation, we meet:
not with a ſubject of fo very fingular and extraor-
dinary a nature, as that now before us, namely, the
cafe of the Jews. It may be added, that there is
none, on every account, more deferving the deep-
and attentive conſideration of Chriſtians. Let us,
therefore, enquire into the caufe of the phænome-
non, with which they prefent us. Let us hear-
their plea, and examine the grounds and reafons,
on which it is founded.
They did not, becauſe they could not, deny that:
the Son of Mary wrought miracles; miracles,
though differing in kind, yet equal, in number and
magnitude, to thoſe performed by their own great:
lawgiver. Why, then, believing Mofes, did they
not believe him? What was it, that could occafion
their infidelity? That which occafions it at all times,
and in all places,, when proper evidence is offered,
and rejected-The adoption of certain prejudices:
and prepoffeffions, as firſt principles, in oppofition
to which no evidence is to be admitted. Four
points were by them taken for granted, from which
flowed all their reafonings, and all their proceed--
ings.
The points were theſe :
'
First, That, as the chofen feed of Abraham,.
they had an exclufive indefeaſible right to
the favours of heaven.
Secondly, That the law of Mofes, on account.
of its own intrinfic efficacy, and without a
M. 2.
viewe
3:35
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
view to any thing farther, was ordained for
perpetual obfervance.
Thirdly, That the poffeffion of their city, tem-
ple, and country, in peace, wealth, and prof
perity, was the end of the promiſes.
Fourthly, That the prophecies warranted them
in the expectation of a Mefliah, who, as a
temporal prince, fhould fecure them in fuch
poffeffion, by fubduing their civil enemies,
and reigning over them, in Judea.
If theſe things were fo, they had much, indeed,
to fay for themfelves. But let us fee, whether
there be not, in their own Scriptures, evidence fuf-
ficient to ſet theſe pofitions afide, and to condemn
thoſe men, who, upon the ftrength of them, rejec-
ted and crucified Jefus of Nazareth.
Their firft pofition was, that, as the chofen feed
of Abraham, they had an exclufive and indefeaſible
right to the favours of heaven.
For thus, in reading the goſpel hiſtory, we find
them continually priding themfelves in their defcent
from Abraham; as if, in order to their acceptance
with God, nothing were required, but a proof of
their relation to that patriarch; and as if, while
that relation fubfifted, no miſconduct of their own
could occafion them, as a nation, to forfeit fuch ac-
ceptance. When our Lord ſpake to them concern-
ing that liberty wherewith he came to make them
free, they, miftaking fpiritual for civil liberty, con-
fidently and roundly replied, "We are Abraham's
feed, and were never in bondage to any man ;” *
unaccountably forgetting, as it fhould feem, what
they had formerly fuffered in Egypt and Babylon,
and the ſtate in which they lived, at that very time,
under the Roman power. The mention of hea-
*. John viii. 33.
ven's.
THE CASE OF THE JEWS:
1377
*
ven's mercy being extended to the Gentiles, al---
ways put them beſide themſelves.
Chriſt only.
hinted the cafe of Elijah healing Naaman the Sy-
rian, and that of Elisha being fent to a widow of
Sarepta, leaving the application to themſelves..
They underſtood him, and endeavoured inftantly,
to destroy him. St Paul, relating the ſtory of his..
converfion, was patiently heard, till he touched..
upon the circumftance of his miffion to the Gentiles...
"They gave him audience to this word, and then
lifted up their voices, and faid, Away with fuch a
fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he
ſhould live!"†
Now this notion was taken up, in direct oppo-
fition to their own Scriptures.
For they neglected to obferve, what it was very
obvious for any one to obferve, who read the Scrip-
tures, that Abraham himſelf was not chofen and. ·
bleffed, merely as Abraham the fon of Terah; but:
as a fervant of God, tried in various ways, and, in
all, found faithful and obedient. They fhould,
therefore, have reflected, that his defcendents, of
courſe, ſtood on the fame foot, and would not be..
accounted the children of Abraham, when they
ceaſed to do the works of Abraham.‡
→
The faine leffon might have been learned from
that part of the facred hiftory, which records the...
rejection of Ishmael the eldeſt ſon of Abraham;
and afterward, of Efau. the first born of Ifaac..
Thefe tranfactions evinced, that no dependence. :
could be placed on the incident of being the feed of
Abraham; fince, of that feed, for certain reaſons,..
fome have been rejected, while others were accep--
ted. So it had been formerly; and therefore, in
parallel circumftances, fo it might be again.
M 3
Remarkable,
* Luke.iv. 29.
† A&s xxii. 24. -
See John vi. 39.5-
138
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
{
1
1
Remarkable, to this purpofe, was the cafe of
their anceſtors, who came out of Egypt. A pro-
mife was made, that they fhould enter into Canaan.
But the promiſe was afterwards revoked, becauſe it
was conditional. They fell in the wilderneſs, and
others fucceeded to the inheritance. And why did
they not enter into reft? For the fame reafon
which keeps the Jews out, at this hour; becauſe of
their unbelief, and hardnefs of heart.
The light of God's countenance was frequently
withdrawn from the Ifraelites, when they finned,
and again reſtored, upon their repentance. Other
qualifications were therefore requifite, without
which, it little availed them to be of the houſe and.
lineage of Abraham.
L
It fhould have been recollected by the Jews, that
the grand and capital promife made to Abraham
was not limited. to his natural pofterity, but, on the
contrary, in the moſt exprefs terms that language
could afford, extended to all others. It was the
promiſe of the Seed, that is, the Meffiah, in whom,
not Ifrael only according to the fleſh, but "ALL
THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH fhould be bleffed." *-
And for this reafon, the promife was made, previ-
.ous to the covenant of circumcifion, under which
the Jews claimed. In the fate of uncircumcifion
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto-
him for righteoufnefs;" plainly becoming thereby
the father of them who fhould afterward believe
like him, though not circumcifed; that is to fay,
the father of the Gentiles, or "nations of the
earth," one day to be bleffed," in the promiſed
Seed, or Meffiah.
The Jews trufted in Mofes. Wherefore, then,
did they not hear Mofes, and attend to what he
* Gen. xii. 3.
had
THE CASE OF THE JEWS..
139*
1
had to fay to them? In the plaineſt words he had
told them, 1500 years before, what at length appear-
ed to St Peter, who, for fome time, had the preju.
dices of a Jew about him; that " God did not re-
fpect perfons ;"* He had told them, that if they
rebelled against their God, they fhould be "pu-
nished, as ftrangers were punished; and as the na-
tions, fo fhould they perish." Nay, he had clearly
predicted, that the days would come, when upon their
rejection for their abominable iniquities, the Gen-
tiles ſhould be taken in their room, to "provoke
them to jealouſy." Before the time of Mofes,
their progenitor Jacob had declared, that whenever
Shiloh fhould come," the nations would be ga-.
thered to him."|| How very bold and explicit
Ifaiah continually is upon this topic of light, life,
and falvation to be manifefted, through Meffiah, to
the Gentiles, is well known. Malachi was the laſt
of their prophets. He lived within 400 years of
the appearance of Jefus. What a prophecy did he
leave upon the ſubject, penned, as it were, with a
fun beam-" I have no pleaſure in you, faith the
Lord of hofts, neither will I accept an offering at
your hand: for from the rifing of the fun unto the
going down of the fame, my name fhall be great.
among the Gentiles, and in every place incenfe thall
be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for
my name ſhall be great among the Heathen, faith.
the Lord of hoſts."
Such are the documents and the warnings, con-
tained in the Scriptures of the Old Teftament, againſt
the firſt tenet of the Jews, that, as the chofen feed
of Abraham, they had an exclufive and indefeaſible
right
* Dent. x. 17. See Acts x. 34.
Deut. xxxii. 20, 21.
§. Mal. i. 10, II.
+ Deut. vii. 19, 20.
Gen. xlix. 10,
ર
140
THE CASE OF THE JEWS:
.
right to the favours of heaven. Yet, with theſe
Scriptures in their hands, in their heads, in their
mouths, and upon their phylacteries, boafting and.
glorying upon every occafion, in an exact and ac-
curate knowledge of them, did thofe men, after
having crucified Jefus, perfecute his apoftles unte
the death, from city to city, becaufe the Gentiles
were invited to ſhare the benefits and bleffings of
the Gofpel. Such is the force of prejudice! Such
the illufion of felf-love!
Proceed we to confider their fecond pofition,..
namely, that the law of Mofes, on account of its
own intrinfic efficacy, and without a view to any
thing farther, was ordained for perpetual obfer-
vance.
It was by no means fafe, before an audience of
Jews, to hint, though ever fo remotely, at the in--
efficacy of the Mofaic rites confidered in themſelves
to procure the divine favour; or to infinuate,
though ever fo covertly, the termination and abo-
lition of that fyftem. Some of the "blafphemous
words," charged upon the protomartyr St Stephen,
and for which he was ftoned, were thefe; "that
Jefus of Nazareth fhould change the cuftoms, or
rites, which Mofes delivered."* In their ears, this.
was the worſt of blafphemies. It does not appear,
that Stephen had uſed fuch an expreffion; it is
probable, at that feafon, he was more guarded;
and, they, who depofed their teftimony against him,
are ſtyled," falfe witneffes." By urging fome pro-
phecy, or parallel, from the Old Teftament, as he
afterwards urged feveral in his apology, it is likely.
he had intimated as much; and the words them-.
felves, with which he ftands charged, contain no-
thing more than the truth, ſufficiently attefted by
* Aûs vi. 13, 14.
the:
A
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
14F
the law itfelf; which all along carried in it the
most plenary and abundant evidence of its own pre-
fent inefficacy, and future diffolution; as they, who
prided themfelves in the ftudy and interpretation
of it, ought to have known.
For, upon the firſt view of the law-Let us, for
a moment, fuppofe, with the Jew, that the legal
ceremonies, in themſelves, without having refpect
to any thing above and beyond them, were indeed
effective of the purpoſes, for which they were faid
to be deſigned.—To what ſtrange conclutions fhall
we be led? We must conclude, that the death of
a beaſt could render the Deity propitious to the of-
ferer; that a goat could carry the tranfgreffions of
a congregation into the wilderness; that the blood
of bulls could atone for fin; that water, with the
afhes of a red heifer infuſed in it, could purge a-
way the pollutions of the mind; and the like.
But againſt ſuch conclufions common fenfe exclaims.
aloud, and forces us to draw another, and the on-
ly juſt and proper inference, namely, that ſuch rites
derived their virtue not from themſelves, but from
perfons and actions repreſented by them; that they
were a figure for the time being; a fhadow exhi-
biting to the faith of the pious and intelligent vo-
tary the ſhape and lineaments of a fubftance, which
did not appear. This muſt ever be the cafe of ex-
ternal ceremonies in religion; and we ourſelves
fhould be in a fituation fimilar to that of the Jew,
if blindly and ignorantly adhering to the letter of
our own facraments, exclufive of the things they
fignify, and the difpofitions they require, we ſhould
ſuppoſe a power inherent in the baptifmal water,
to wash away guilt, and in the euchariftic elements,
to confer pardon and peace.
Again.
142
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
1
Again. Be pleaſed to obſerve the oppofite cha-
racter given, at different times, of the fame rites.
One while it is faid, that they were highly accep-
table to God; that he was delighted with the fa-
vour of the facrifices, and well pleaſed, as it is na-
tural to fuppofe he ſhould be, with the obſervance
of his own inftitutions. At other times, we hear-
him declaring, with indignation, that his foul was
weary with offerings, and hated the appointed feaſts;
that he could not away with the new moons and
fabbaths; that incenfe was an abomination to him;
and, in a word, that he would not eat the fleſh of
bulls, or drink the blood of goats. Now, if we
take the law and its rites to have been the things
really and ultimately defigned, as in themſeves ex-
cellent and efficacious, they would have been al-
ways pleafing to God, like duties intrinfically good
and virtuous, of which we never hear the Almighty
ſpeaking, as he doth of thefe facrifices and obla-
tions. But if the legal rites were figurative; if they
were fymbolical of internal difpofitions and actions;
then would they neceffarily become pleafing and
difpleafing to God, in different refpects: pleafing,
when accompanied by fuch internal difpofitions and
actions; when disjoined from them, and reſted in
as meritorious, to the laft degree diſpleaſing, hate-
ful, and abominable. They are faid to have been
both the one and the other; and therefore, were moſt
indubitably figurative. To any confidering perſon
the thing ſpeaks itſelf.
+
But the Scriptures of the Old Teſtament did not
leave a truth of fuch importance to be inferred.
They have exprefsly declared it.
To inftance in that rite, which was the difcrimina-.
ting and characteriſtic mark of the feed of Abraham,.
circumcifion. Mofes himſelf hath affirmed that a
fpiritual:
A.
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
143
""*
fpiritual or mental circumcifion was intended; and
that the end of that commandment was the love of
God, out of a pure heart, and faith unfeigned.
Cirumcife (fays he) the foreskin of your hearts
and be no more ſtiff necked." And again, "The
Lord thy God fhall circumcife thy heart, and the
heart of thy feed, to love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy foul, that thou may-
eft live."+ When a Jew, reading this, ftill conti-
nues to think, that the legal rites were inftituted for
their own fake, and that their value lies in the opus
operatum, is the veil on Mofes' face, or on his
heart? For hath not Mofes told him, in terms as
plain as thofe in which St Paul hath told us, that
He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly, nor is that
circumcifion, which is outward in the flesh; but
he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circum-
cifion is that of the heart, in the fpirit, and not in
the letter; whofe praife is not of men, but of
God."+
•
Thus with regard to the many ablutions enjoin-
ed and practifed under the law" Wafh ye, make
ye clean," faith God to his people, by the prophet
Ifaiah. So far, the terms are legal, and may be
deemed ambiguous: but by what immediately fol-
lows, their meaning is explained and fixed; "Put
away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes,
ceafe to do evil, learn to do well."] As if he had
faid, what avails the outward and viſible fign, with-
out the thing fignified by it? When we read in the
li. Pfalm, "Purge me with hyffop, and I fhall be
clean; waſh me, and I ſhall be whiter than fnow;" §
we may think we hear the voice of a Jew. But let
us hear him again" Wafh me thoroughly from
* Deut. x. 16. + Deut. xxx. 6.
Ifai. i. 16, 17.
摯
​mine
Rom. ii. ult.
§ Ifai. li. 7.
"
144
THE CASE OF THE JEWS,
mine iniquity, and cleanſe me from my fin. Hide
thy face from my fins, and blot out all mine iniqui-
ties. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and re-
new a right fpirit within me. Caft me not away
from thy prefence, and take not thy Holy Spirit
from me. Reſtore unto me the joy of thy falva-
tion, and uphold me with thy free Spirit."* What
can a Chriftian-What can the devouteſt and beſt
informed Chriftian in the like unhappy circumftan-
ces, fay more, than thus to pray, that God would
by his mercy pardon the guilt, and efface the ftain
of fin, and renew the heart and foul again to righte-
ouſneſs, by the grace and power of his Holy Spirit ?
And whoever perufes with attention the writings
of the prophets, will find, that it is always one
part of their employment, to recall the Ifraelites
from the dead letter to the living fpirit of their law;
to prefs upon them the neceflity of ſuing for the
divine favour by that true repentance, and that
ftedfaft faith in God's promifes, in the exercife of
which it was the deſign of their ritual to train them.
The office of a Chriſtian miniſter, mutatis mutandis
is, in this particular, the fame; and it may be exe-
cuted, with the utmoſt propriety, in the very fame
language. The noble and affecting exhortation
in our Commination office affords a ftriking proof
of this; where the prophetical and the evangelical
expreffions are finely interwoven, and, like the co-
lours in a good picture, moft harmoniouſly melt
into each other.
To ſpeak a word more, touching the perpetuity
of the law of Mofes. The Jew argues for it, from
the immutability of God. But it is no more a re-
flection upon the divine immutability, that the law,
having anſwered its end, fhould be abolished, than
Pf. li. 2, 9, et feq.
it
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
145
it is, that the world ſhould be deſtroyed, after the
accompliſhment of the defign, for which it was cre-
ated. He, who gave the law, foretold, in the clear-
eft terms, by his prophets, that, at a certain period,
it ſhould ceafe; that he would make a new covenant
by the Meffiah, and that the old covenant ſhould be
difannulled;* that the old things fhould pafs away,
and be forgotten; † that the ark of the covenant
ſhould come no more to mind;‡ that the legal facrifi-
ces ſhould ceaſe, and facrifices of a purer kind be eſta-
bliſhed in their room; || that the Aaronical order of
priesthood ſhould be diffolved, and the order of Mel-
chifedeck be introduced by the Meffiah; and that this
latter priesthood ſhould be an ordinance for ever. §
From thefe confiderations it appears, that the
law, in its nature, was figurative and tranfitory, be-
ing a diſpenſation interpofed between the promiſe
and its accomplishment. Previous to the law, the
Gofpel was preached to Abraham, that in his feed,
the Meffial, all nations ſhould be bleffed. The
fame Gospel, at the beginning, had been preached
to Adam, that the feed of the woman, or the Mef-
fiah, fhould bruife the head, that is, deftroy the
power of the old ferpent, who is called the devil
and Satan, who deceived our firſt parents, and de-
ceiveth the whole world. But as there was to be
a long interval between the promiſe and its perfor-
mance, in the mean time, till the feed fhould come,
to whom the promiſe was made, the law took men
under its tuition, preſcribed to them their duty,
fhewed them their guilt and their pollution, and
pointed out the means of pardon and fanctification.
When the promiſe was fulfilled, and the feed came,
it had executed its office, and ceafed of courſe,
VOL. I.
giving
Jer xxxi. 31.
Mal. i. 10.
N
+ Ifai. xliii. 18, 19. Jer. iii. 16.
See PASCHAL's Thoughts, P. 187,
§ Pf. cx. 4.
*
1
740
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
giving place to him, whom it had hitherto prefi-
gured and predicted. It ſpoke by the mouth of
the aged and dying Simeon, when, upon embracing
the child Jefus in the temple, he exclaimed, "Lord,
now letteft thou thy fervant depart in peace, ac-
cording to thy word; for mine eyes have feen thy
falvation, which thou haft prepared before the face
of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
to be the glory of thy people Ifrael."
The third point, taken for granted by the Jews
in our Saviour's time, was, that the poffeffion of
their city, temple and country, in peace, wealth,
and profperity, was the end of the promiſes.
But their own Scriptures militate, with equal
force, against this notion likewife.
For here, we muſt recollect again, that the pro-
mife, emphatically fo ftiled, was made, in Abraham,
to "all the nations of the earth," who could not
poffibly have any concern in the bleffing of Canaan.
We muft obferve, that, if Canaan were indeed
the end of the promiſe, the fathers of the Jewiſh
people, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, never were,
nor could hope to be partakers of it. They fo-
journed in the land of Promife, as in a ſtrange land.
God gave them none inheritance in it, not fo much
as to ſet their foot on. They confeffed themſelves
to be ſtrangers and pilgrims, travelling towards a
country, in which they might fix their abode.
Such they lived, and fuch they died. The coun-
try, therefore, which they fought, was one beyond
the grave.
When the children of Abraham were fettled in
Canaan, true Ifraelites underſtood, that the reſt
they there enjoyed was by no means the real, per-
manent, final reft, promifed and intended. In the
xcv. Pfalm, David, though king of liracl, and ſeat-
ed
:
*
S
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
147
ed on the hill of Sion, ftill fpeaks of another future
reft, warning the people of his time, that they fell
not fhort of it, as their anceſtors, who came out of
Egypt, fell fhort of Canaan, through unbelief and
difobedience. If Joshua had given them the true
final reſt, David ſo long afterward could not have
fpoken of another day of trial, and another reft re-
ferved in ſtore for the faithful. For this reaſon it
is, that the fame David, in that fublime and devout
act of praiſe and thankſgiving uttered just before
his death, recognizing the mercies of God to Ifrael
in the land of Promiſe, yet makes the very confef-
fion which the ancient patriarchs had made, when
they had none inheritance in that land.
"We are
ſtrangers before thee, our God, and fojourners, as
were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as
a fhadow, and there is none abiding."
"" *
If, therefore, the land of Canaan were not the
true and final feat of reft, peace and felicity for the
people of God, we muft conclude concerning that,
as we did above concerning the law, that it termi
nated not in itſelf, nor was given for its own fake,
but was alſo, in its kind, a figure, for the time then
prefent, of a glorious and permanent poffeffion in
a better world, where all thofe, who live and die.
in the Lord, fhall indeed reſt from their labours.
The Jews had fufficient grounds, from their own
Scriptures, to confider it as fuch. They fhould
have confidered it as fuch; and they fhould have:
carried on their thoughts to the reſt and the inhe-
ritance of the faints in light, whither their fathers
were gone before them through faith in the promiſed
feed, the Mefliah, whofe office it was, like another
Joshua, by vanquishing the adverſe powers, to open
the kingdom of heaven, that true land of Promiſe
to all believers.
N 2
*1 Chron. xxix. 15,
The:
148
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
The fourth pofition maintained by the Jews was,
that the prophecies warranted them in the expecta-
tion of a Meffiah, who, as a temporal prince, ſhould
fecure them in their poffeflions, by fubduing their
civil enemies, and reigning over them in Judea.
The fame prejudice which operated with regard
to the family of Abraham, the law of Mofes, and
the land of Promife, operated likewife with regard
to the Meffiah. This was but a natural and necef-
fary confequence. For if they had fixed their
thoughts on their national privileges, their ceremo-
nies, and the inheritance of Canaan, the Meffiah
by them defired muft needs be one, who would de-
fend and preſerve them in the enjoyment of thoſe
privileges, thofe ceremonies, and that inheritance.
Accordingly, the notion current among the Jews,
when our Lord was upon earth, and which, we
find, ſtuck faft to his difciples even after his refur-
rection, was, that Meffiah, when he came, ſhould
"reftore again the kingdom to Ifrael." And the
grand argument inſiſted on in the Talmud, and by
the Rabbins, is, that he did not fubdue the nations
by the force and terror of his arms. He overcame
not the Gentiles, fay they, with martial power; he
loaded us not with their fpoils; he neither enlarged
our dominion, nor increaſed our power. †
Now the Scriptures do undoubtedly defcribe
Meffiah, as one, who fhould deliver his people
from their enemies, and reign over them in glori-
ous majesty. The Jews conftrued thofe paffages of
a temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and
a temporal reign in Paleftine. But did they con-
ftrue them aright? Do not the fame Scriptures un-
fold the defign of his coming, and the proceſs of
the redemption by him, in the fulleft and moft par-
ticular
* Afts i. 6.
† See PASCHAL. P. 190.
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
149)
ticular manner? Surely they do. How many paf-
fages are there, always allowed by the ancient, and
not now denied, by the modern Jews, to belong.
to Meffiah, which defcribe him as poor, lowly, de-
fpifed, afflicted, oppreffed, dying, dead? Would
you now compofe a man's character, without ac-
counting for the contrarieties in it? Can you be
faid to have compofed that of the Meffiah, while
you leave out one half of it? Are you not bound.
to find a perfon, in whom all the feemingly con-
tradictory particulars are reconciled? They are
eafily, they are completely reconciled in the perfon
of Jefus, as ſet forth, by us Chriſtians, in his two-
fold nature, as God and man. They never were,,
they never will, they never can be reconciled in
any other and the Jews, by their modern fiction:
of two different Meffiahs, to anſwer the purpoſe,
have at once juftified us, and given fentence againſt
themfelves.
But that the force of the prophetical teſtimony-
in favour of the Meffiahfhip of Jefus may appear at
one view, permit me, in a concife and fummary
way, to recall the feveral particulars of it to your
remembrance, as I find them collected by a very
learned and eminent writer.
The prophets ſpeak of a new and fecond cove
nant, which God would make with his people:
they mention, not once, or twice, but very often,.
the converfion of the Gentiles from fuperftition and.
idolatry, to the worſhip of the true God: they:
fpeak of four fucceffive empires, the laft of which:
was the Roman empire; and under this laſt em-
pire, they ſay, that a new and everlaſting kingdom
fhould be eſtabliſhed, by one, to whom God fhould
give abfolute power and dominion. A great per--
fon was to come, who fhould be Immanuel, or God.
N 3
with!
150
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
with us, the Son of God and the Son of man, the
feed of Abraham and of David; born of a virgin,
poor and obfcure, and yet one whom David calls
his Lord; the Lord to whom the temple belonged,
the mighty God, a great king, an everlafting prieft,
though not of the tribe of Levi; born at Bethle-
hem; a prophet like unto Mofes, but greater than
Mofes; a prophet, who fall preach to the poor
and meek, and proclaim liberty to the captives,
and comfort the mourners, and heal the broken
hearted; who fhould proclaim his Gofpel, firft and
principally, in the land of Zebulon and Naphtali,.
in Galilee of the Gentiles; who ſhould have a fore-
runner in the ſpirit of Elias, crying in the wilder-
nefs, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; who ſhould.
inftruct in a mild and peaceable manner, without
wrath and contention, before the deftruction of the
temple, in which temple he fhould be ſeen and
heard; who fhould enter Jerufalem meek and hum-
ble, and riding on an afs; who fhould work mira-
cles more than Mofes and all the prophets, and.
miracles of the merciful and beneficent kind, open.
the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the deaf, and
make the dumb to praiſe God, and the lame to
leap as an hart; who, notwithſtanding all his pow-
er and goodnefs, fhould be rejected by the greater-
part of the nation, to whom he ſhould be a ftum-
bling block; who should be defpifed and afflicted,,
a man of forrow, and cut off from the land of the
living; who fhould have enemies numerous, pow-
erful, crafty, and wicked; who fhould be accufed
by falfe witneffes, betrayed by an intimate and par-
ticular friend, fold for thirty pieces of filver, and
the money given for a potter's field, when it had
been flung away by the traitor, who fhould not
live long after his crime, and whofe office fhould
be
THE CASE OF THE JEWS:
151.
he filled up by another: that the enemies of this.
bleſſed perſon fhould uſe him contumeliouſly,buf-
fet him, and fpit upon him, while he fhould be led
like a lamb to the flaughter, not opening his mouth,.
but to intercede for the tranfgreffors; that his e-
nemies ſhould ſtrip him of his raiment, divide it
among themſelves, and caft lots upon it, furround
him, pierce his hands and his feet, mock him, and
hake their heads at him, give him gall to eat, and
vinegar to drink; that he fhould be reduced to fo
weak and languishing a condition, that his bones.
might all be counted, his heart fhould melt within
him, and his tongue cleave to the roof of his
mouth; that he thould be brought to the duft of
death; that he ſhould be pierced, and yet not one
of his bones be broken; that he fhould be laid in
the fepulchre of a rich and honourable man, none
of his enemies hindering it; that he fhould rife a-
gain, before he had feen corruption, and fubdue
his enemies, and afcend into heaven, and fit at
God's right hand, and be crowned with honour
and glory, and fee his feed, and profper, and juſ-
tify many, and be adored by kings and princes ;..
that then Jerufalem thould be made defolate, and
the Jews difperfed in all lands, and, the Gentiles
fhould be converted, and flow into the church.*
In the application of a fingle prophecy, eſpecially
if it be a figurative one, intereft and ingenuity may.
raiſe many doubts and difficulties; but against the ac-
cumulated weight of evidence, καθ' υπερβολήν εις υπερβολην
afforded by fo many plain literal predictions, all
pointing to one perfon, all punctually and exactly
fulfilled in Jefus Chrift, and in him alone, no to-
lerably plaufible objection can ever be made. Let
candour and integrity, reafon and common ſenſe.
* Dr JORTIN'S Remarks on Ecclef. Hift. Vol. I. P. 112.
be
1
}
152
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
be judges in the caufe, and they must determine-
they have already determined by the virtuous Na-
thanael-" Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou
art the king of Ifrael."
Such, then, is the cafe of the Jews, fuch the e-
vidence they rejected, and fuch the caufe of the
rejecting it. Having fixed their eyes and their
hopes upon the thadew, they fet at nought the fub-
ſtance, though appearing at the time and in the
manner deſcribed by their own prophets. Having
rejected their God, they have been rejected by him;
and the fatal errors, which occafioned their infide-
lity, have received a final and tremendous refuta-
tion, by the divine judgments inflicted upon them.
To demonftrate, that, as the feed of Abraham,
they had no exclufive and inde feaſible right to the
favours of heaven, thofe favours have been with-
drawn from them, and conferred on the Gentiles.
To fhew, that the law of Mofes was not in itſelf
efficacious, or defigned to be perpetual, they are
put under an abfolute incapacity of obferving it
any more.
They have no altar, no prieft, no
temple.
To reprove the fond notion, that Canaan was
the end of the promiſes, they have been driven out
of it, and forbidden to approach it. In a ſtate of
utter defolation, it has paffed fucceffively into the
hands of their enemies of every denomination, and.
never reverted to them.
To eradicate the ideas of a temporal Meffiah, and
dominion over the nations, after beholding the
fceptre departed from Judah, after having been de-
ceived by a multitude of impoftors, they continue
to this hour, at the end of 1700 years, fugitives
and vagabonds upon the earth.
And.
Li
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.]
153
And now let us be permitted, in our turn, to
addrefs an argument to the deift, upon this topic.
You demand ocular proof of prophecy accompliſhed.
It is before you, in an inftance without a parallel.
It was repeatedly foretold, both in the Old and
New Teftament, that, for the rejection and mur-
der of their Meffiah, the Jews fhould be difperfed
into all countries; yet that they should not be
fwallowed up and loft among their conquerors, but
fhould ftill fubfift, to lateſt times, a diftinct people.
By Jeremiah, God declared he would make an end
of the nations their oppreffors, but he would not
make an end of them.* You will not fay, this
prediction was written fince the event; and certain-
ly, an occurrence. more fingular, or improbable,
could not have been predicted. In the courfe of hu-
man affairs, who hath heard fuch a thing; who hath
ſeen ſuch a thing? Yet, fo it is. The mighty mo-
narchies of Affyria, Perfia, Greece, and Rome,
are vanished, like the fhadows of the evening, or
the phantoms of the night. Their places know
them no more. Nothing remains of them, but
their names: while this little contemptible people,
as you are wont to ftyle the Jews, ſtrangely fecure,
without a friend or protector, amidst the wreck of
empires; oppreffed, perfecuted, harraffed always,
by edicts and executioners, by murders and maf-
facres, hath outlived the very ruins of them all.
Except you fee figns and wonders, you will not be-
lieve. Behold then a fign and a wonder, the ac-
compliſhment of prophecy in a ſtanding miracle;
the buſh of Mofes furrounded by flames, ever bur-
ning, and never confumed! Contemplate the fight,
as it deferves; and be not faithlefs, but believing;
* Jer. xxx. II.
for
3
{
154 THÉ CASE OF THE JEWS.
4
for this is the Lord's doing, and therefore ſo mar-
velous in our eyes.
That the Gofpel, when flighted by the Jews,
might not be without its fruit, and that God might
have a church and people to fupply their place, the
Apoſtles turned to the Gentiles; fo that their fall be-
came the riches of the world, and good was brought
out of evil. Let the warning, given us by our own
Apoſtle, be ever founding in our ears, though
when we confider the ſtate of religion among us, it
may perhaps make them tingle.
Becauſe of un-
belief they were broken off, and thou ftandeft by
faith. Be not high minded, but fear; for if God
ſpared not the natural branches, take heed left he
alfo ſpare not thee.” *
The caufe of Jewish infidelity was an hatred of
the power of godlinefs, concealed under the cloke
of zeal for its form, and occafioned by a love of
wealth, power, and parade, a notion of privilege,
pre-eminence, and indefectibility. And is it not
aftoniſhing, that, with fuch an example before her
eyes, the church of Rome ſhould be purſuing the
fame courſe, and fplitting upon the fame rock?
Let us be thankful, that we are come out of her;
and let us guard againſt the fhadow of her crime,
by conſtantly bearing in mind, that the promiſes
are fpiritual, and that they are conditional; that
if the light of the Gofpel, which is vouchfafed us,
be abuſed, God can remove it; that, like the
bright ruler of the day, it may proceed weftward,
and leave us in darkness; that he who converted
Britons and Saxons, can call the tribes of America
to the faith, and " of thoſe ſtones raiſe up children
unto Abraham.”
* Rom. xi. 20, 21.
To
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
155
To conclude-When we fee the Jews, for ſo
great a length of time, preſerved under calamities,
which would have been long fince the ruin of any
other people, our regard and attention ought to be
ſtrongly excited towards them. Extraordinary was
their beginning, and their progrefs: more extraor➡
dinary, perhaps, will be their end: for if they a-
bide not ſtill in unbelief, they, as the natural bran-
ches, may furely be grafted in again: and there can
be little doubt, but that fuch an event will take
place. It is faid, they are difperfed, " till the times
of the Gentiles fhall be fullfilled;"* and that
"blindeſs in part is happened to Ifrael, until the
fulneſs of the Gentiles be come in." It ſeems e-
vidently to be implied, that at the period mentioned,
whenever it ſhall come, their difperfion will ceafe,
and their blindneſs be removed.
Glorious things
are ſpoken of them by their own prophets, which
do not feem, as yet, to have received their full and
proper accompliſhment. When the Gentiles had
revolted from the true religion, revealed after the
fall, the church fubfifted, for two thouſand years,
in the family of Abraham. Since the apoſtacy of
the Jews, it hath ſubfifted nearly the ſame ſpace
of time among the Gentiles. And what faith St
Paul?" As ye in times paſt have not believed God,
yet have now obtained mercy through their un-
belief; even fo have theſe alfo now not believed,
that through your mercy they alſo may obtain mer-
cy.” *
The very mercy fhewn to the Gentiles is
to be a means of bringing the Jews to the faith:
and perhaps, we can no where meet with an in-
ſtance of a more popular and affectionate turn,
than that, by which St Paul feems to find a rea-
fon for his zeal to convert the Gentiles, in his
love
† Rom. xi. 30, 31.
* Luke xxi. 24. † Rom. xi. 25,
156 THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
1
}
love to his own countrymen the Jews, that he
may thereby provoke them to emulation. Let us
fecond his endeavours to effect this, by our love
and our good works: let us, in our lives and
converfations, fhew them a religion, whofe attrac-
tive excellence may invite and compel them to
embrace it. Nor let us omit to obſerve, that, as
Gentiles, while we labour to promote their intereſt,
we likewife fhall, by fo doing, promote our own.
So fignal an event, as the converfion of the Jews,
cannot but operate again on the lukewarm and de-
generate nations, as well as on thofe that are ſtill
unconverted, to the production of a more plentiful
and joyful harveſt, than has yet perhaps been ſeen.
"For if the fall of them were the riches of the
world, and the diminishing of them the riches of
the Gentiles; how much more their fulneſs? If
the cafting away of them were the reconciling of
the world, what fhall the receiving of them be,
but life from the dead ?” * The refurrection of
Chriſtianity, in all the fplendor of truth, and the
beauty of holinefs !-Nor let us be ftaggered by the
contrary appearances of things in the world. Thefe
cannot be more contrary, at the converfion of the
Jews, than they were, at the converfion of the
Gentiles. From the Jewish church, when in its
loweſt and moſt unpromifing ſtate, went forth thoſe,
who brought the nations to the faith; from the
Gentile church, when in a condition equally low
and unpromifing, may go forth thofe, who fhall
cauſe Ifrael to return to it-Bleffed times! Delight-
ful profpect?-We ſee it, but not now; we behold
it, but, perhaps, not near. We live, and probably,
like the ancient patriarchs, we may die, not having
received the promiſes. But a generation to be
* Rom, xi. 12, 15.
born
THE CASE OF THE JEWS.
*57
born fhall receive them, and fhall praiſe the Lord,
who thus, at different periods, "hath ſhut up all
in unbelief, that he may" finally "have mercy upon
all."-Happy in the mean feafon, fhall we be, if,
while we are preparing ourfelves, we may, in any
the leaſt degree, by our prayers and our endeavours,
contribute towards the preparation of our elder
brethren, the once beloved and highly favoured
feed of Abraham, for the approach of that awful
and important day, when their and our Meffiah,
who, as at this time, came in humility, to abaſe the
proud, ſhall return in glory, to exalt the humble.
VOL. I
DISCOURSE IX.
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE,
JOHN xxi. 7.
That Difciple whom Jefus loved.
No writings are better calculated to improve
mankind, than thofe which relate the hiftory of
the lives of fuch perfons, as have been famous, in
their generations, for wiſdom and virtue. We are
apt to be terrified by the ftrictnefs and feverity of
holinefs, while it meets us only in precept; but
when we behold it realized in the example of one,
made of the fame flesh and blood, living in the
fame world, and expofed to the fame temptations
with ourſelves, we are fired at the fight, with a
noble emulation, and are afhamed of any longer
fancying ourſelves not able to do what fo many
others have done before us. St Auguſtine, in his
Confeffions, defcribing the conflicts he endured
with temptation in his younger years, tells us, how
greatly he was ftrengthened, and animated to the
fight, by imagining he faw virtue ſtanding, in a
viſible form, before his eyes, and pointing to the
noble company of thoſe who had been confpicuous
examples of purity; with which confideration fhe
gently reproached him in theſe words" Why
canst not thou do what theſe have done ?" From
the fair light of one good example, innumerable
others may catch the heavenly flame, until the
whole church become illuminated and adorned
with
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
159
·
with bright and fhining patterns of every thing.
that is lovely and praife worthy.
Biography hath alfo another advantage, namely
that it is fure to entertain, becauſe it gratifies that
natural curiofity men have to be acquainted with.
the hiftory of others; which curiofity is then direc-
ted to its proper end, when it incites us to make
the wifdom and experience of paft ages our own,
in order to become proficients in the mystery of
godlinefs, and to practife every art of virtuous living.
But what chiefly recommends this kind of writing.
to Chriftians is, the ufe made of it in the holy
Scriptures, which are, for the most part, hiflorical,
the wifdom of God having thought it better to fet:
before us the duties of our calling, as they prefent
themſelves in the life of Chrift and thofe of his
faints, than to give us any regular and exact fyftem
of them. The church, by the appointment of her-
feſtivals, hath contrived to turn our thoughts from:
time to time upon thefe lives, that fo, neglect and.
forgetfulneſs may not deprive us of the many bene-
fits refulting from a due contemplation of them.
The faint of this day is John the Apoſtle and
Evangelift. And where will heraldry, among all
her boafted titles of honour, find one that can
ſtand in competition with that which was confer-
red upon him;-"The difciple whom Jefus loved!""
Beloved of Him, who was himfelf the beloved of
his Father! Could we fuppofe a prince to reign.
univerfal monarch over all the kingdoms of the
world, the fole fountain of every kind of earthly
honour to every individual man under the whole
heavens, how gladly, at the hour of death, would
he refign all, to be the beloved difciple of fuch a
Mafter? And if nothing be efteemed too high a
price for the favour of an earthly fovereign, a man,
Q 2
whofe
160
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
whoſe breath is in his noftrils, what fhall we not
give to obtain the love of him who abideth for ever,
and will make us partakers of his own immortality?
We are all the difciples of Chrift, and candidates
for his favour. Let us, therefore, take a view of
the life and character of the perfon who enjoyed fo
large a fhare of it, as to be filed eminently-
"that difciple whom Jefus loved;" fince to be like
him, is the way to be loved of our Mafter as he was.
St John was the fon of Zebedee and Salome;
the fame Salome whofe pious care had provided
fpices to embalm the body of our Lord, when
Mary Magdalen and fhe, coming early to the fepul-
chre, found him rifen from the dead. The place
of his birth was one of the fea towns in Galilee,
probably either Bethfaida, or Capernaum, where,
with his father Zebedee, and his elder brother
James, afterwards diftinguiſhed from another of
that name, by the title of St James the Great; he
followed the fiſhing trade. Youth is no obftacle
in the way of obtaining the favour of Chrift. The
diſciple whom he loved was the youngeft of all the
Apoſtles. And certain it is, that religion never
appears to greater advantage, than in the perfons
of those who "remember their Creator in the days
of their youth," and are admitted early into the
number of the difciples of the holy Jefus. It is
then like a diamond fet in gold. There is fome-
thing more noble in renouncing the world for the
love of Chrift, when the relifh for fenfible enjoy-
ments is at the higheft, than there can be in doing
it when the evil days come, in which there is no
farther pleaſure or fatisfaction to be had in earthly
things. He furely is not fo likely to accomplish
his journey, who begins it when the fun is going
down, as he is, who fets out at the hour of its
rifing.
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
1611
•
rifing Youth, like the morning, is the proper-
feafon for every task that requires time and pains.
Then all the powers of body and foul are freſh and
vigorous, as thoſe of one awaked from a found and
kindly fleep. Then is the golden opportunity, the:
fweet hour of prime, and the day is before us.
"The night cometh, when no man can work. I
have written unto you, young men (faith John
himſelf,) becaufe ye are ſtrong, and the word of
God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one.”* Rejoice then, O young man, in
thy youth, not becauſe thou art not able to riot in
excefs and wantonnefs as the heathen who know
not God, but becauſe thou haft it in thy power to
become, like the youthful John, the beloved of thy
Mafter, who feeketh fuch to worship him.
Nor let him of low degree neglect to take com--
fort in the confideration, that the beloved difciple
of Chrift was a common, fiberman. The diftinc--
•
**
tions of high and low, rich and poor, noble and
vulgar, obtain in this world, and in this world only..
In the kingdom of God they ceafè, and are no
more. Their virtue only gives precedence, and
the meanest mechanic takes place of the nobles and
kings of the earth, if he were a better Chriftian
than they were. The vanity and the folly of thoſe,
whofe confidence is placed in titles and pedigrees,
will then appear in its proper light, when the fup-..
pofed carpenter's fon fhall be feen on his throne of:
glory, and the fiſherman feated at his right hand.
The account of John being called by our bleffed
Lord, from his employment of fishing, to that of
preaching the Gofpel, is thus given us, Mat. iv. 21..
"And Jefus going on from thence," that is, from:
the place where he had juft before called Peter and
Andrew,,
03
1 John ii. 14.
།
162
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
Andrew, "faw other two brethren, James the for
of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a fhip withy
Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he
called them. And they immediately left the fhip,.
and their father, and followed him." Their minds
had been prepared for the advent of the Meffiah
by the fermons of the Baptift, who indeed had
pointed him out to Andrew, and another difciple,
not improbably John himſelf, for the Lamb of God.
Upon his appearance and call, therefore, they rea-
dily received and obeyed him, laying the foundation
of the Chriſtian building in the renunciation of the
world. And here it always must be laid by every
one who is defirous of being the difciple whom
Jefus loveth." All are not called to forfake their
occupations, and to commence preachers, as the
Apoftles were, Chrift having appointed in his
church a regular way of entering into the miniftry;
and at this door, when duly prepared for it by a
fuitable education, all are now to enter, who find
themſelves inclined and difpofed by the good Spirit
of God to undertake that bleffed work. But every
one is called to be ready, in heart and mind, to
quit all that comes in competition with duty, and
to follow the Saviour in the path of holy living.
It is neceffary for us all to leave thofe companies,
and engagements, and ways of living which enfnare
our fouls, and entangle our affections in the toils
of fin. And when duty to God requires it, we
muſt forſake our friends and relations, rather than
reject the falvation of Chriſt. Whoever is in error,
or in fin, will, by the good providence of God, be
often called to come out of it in the courſe of his
life. He fhall, perhaps, hear a fermon that fhews
him to himſelf, and awakens him; or fome kind
and charitable friend fhall admonish him; or the
+
holy
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
163
holy Spirit fhall caufe his own confcience to be his.
reprover. Then, O finner, it is, that Jefus calleth
thee. Obey him inftantly; leave all that, what-
ever it be, whereby thou offendeft, though near
and dear to thee; join thyfelf to him, as thy Maf-
ter, and director, in all things; and thou, as well
as St John, fhalt be beloved of him.
When our Lord gave his Apoítles their commif-
fion to preach the Gofpel, he furnamed our Evan-
gelift and his brother James, Boanerges, that is, in
our language, Sons of thunder. Thereby he intima-
ted the powerful effects of their preaching that,
word, which is frequently compared to thunder;
being, like that, the voice of God fpeaking from
heaven, mighty in its operation. If the one fhake:
the earth, throw down lofty trees and towers, and
by the lightning which accompanied it, diffolve the
hardeit fubftances, the other ſhaketh the empire of
fin, caſteth down every thing which exalteth itſelf
againſt heaven, blafting and confuming the corrup--
tion of the heart. Such are the effects of the word,、
when preached with power: and happy are they
who experience them, in reading and hearing the
Goſpels, and more eſpecially that of St John, who,,
on the wings of contemplation and faith, foaring
aloft, like his own eagle, bears the thunder of the
word, and cauſes its glorious voice to be heard un-
der the whole heaven.
In the courſe of the evangelical hiftory, we find
St John, in conjunction with St Peter and St James,
admitted to the knowledge and view of fome more
private miracles and tranfactions, when the other
Apoftles had not that honour. Thefe were the
three who attended their Maſter, when he raiſed
the daughter of Jairus from the dead. "He fuf-
fered no man to go in, fave Peter, and James, and
John."
TỐ4
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE..
7 -
John." And this is, in fome fenfe, the happy lot:
of every diſciple whom Jefus loveth. For although
he no more "know Chriſt after the fleſh," or fee
him working his miracles in perfon, as St John did,
yet, by faith, the wonders of divine love and mer-
cy are manifeft unto him; and he beholds accom-
pliſhed in himſelf and others that great work,
which the miracles of Chrift were defigned to re-
prefent, the work of convertion and falvation.
This work Jefus only can effect, and none but his
beloved difciples know and understand it. This
fecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and、
he fheweth to them the glory of his power in rai--
fing a foul from fin to righteoufnefs, no lefs than
he fheweth it to the Apoftles in raifing the maid:
from death to life.
The fame three difciples accompanied their Lord,
exclufive of all the reft, at the two moft remarka-
ble fcenes of his exaltation and humiliation; that
is to fay, when he was transfigured upon mount :
Tabor, and when he was in an agony, in the gar-
den of Gethsemane. With regard to the former
we read, that "he took Peter, and James, and
John, up into an high mountain, apart, and was
transfigured before them." There they beheld his-
mortal body fuddenly clothed upon with light, as
with a garment; they beheld his glory, as the glo-
ry of the only begotten; they faw the Sun of
Righteoufnefs fhiring in his ftrength; they faw
Mofes and Elias glorified with him, as the Law
and the Prophets always appear, when feen in com-
pany with Jefus; and they heard the voice from
heaven declaring him to be the beloved of the Fa-
ther. Again, at his paffion, he taketh with him
Peter, and the two fons of Zebedee, James and
John, and began to be fore amazed, and very hea-
77.2
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE. τός
vy. Then they beheld him encompaffed with the
infirmities of a man, and befet by the powers of
darkneſs; they beheld him humbled under the load
of our fins; they faw the Sun overcaft with a cloud;
and heard the fame divine perſon praying in a bit-
ter agony, as one fmitten of God in his anger, and
afflicted unto death. And happy is every difciple,
whom Jefus fo loveth, as to admit him, by faith,
to behold and dwell upon the contemplation of his
bleffed Mafter, in theſe his two ſtates of exaltation
and humiliation; the glory of his divine, and the
fufferings of his human nature. Thefe are fubjects,
on which a man can never meditate, but with infi-
nite profit and advantage. By aſcending the holy
mount, and there viewing, in the transfiguration of
Jefus, the glory of his perfon, and an enfample of
that glory which he thall beftow on his faints, at
the refurrection, he is armed against the pain and
fhame of the crofs, and ftrengthened to undergo
his portion of fufferings in the world. By attend-
ing his Redeemer in the garden, during his agony,
he learns the intolerable punifhments due to fin,
and the amazing love of him who would defcend
from Tabor to Gethfemane, to bear them for fin-
ners; he is prepared to take up his crofs, and to
be conformed to Chriſt in ſufferings, from thence
looking back to the glory which the Son of God
left for a time, that he might beſtow it on his be-
loved difciples for ever. Whofoever hath fo di-
gefted in his heart theſe two ſubjects, as to be able
to reduce the confiderations on them to practice,
hath attended his Mafter, with St John, on the
mount, and in the garden.
Three times we hear in the Goſpels the beloved
Difciple reproved by his Maſter, to fhew us that
whom the Lord loveth he chafteneth and purgeth,
till
:
166
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
till, like the branch of a well dreffed vine, he bring
forth more and better fruit. Once, a spark of am-
bition, lighting upon the fpirits of the two bro-
thers, James and John, had fuddenly inflamed
them with a vehement defire of pre-eminence above
their colleagues in the miniftry: they wanted to
"fit, one on his right hand, and the other on his
left, in his kingdom." Our Lord gave them to un-
derſtand, that they, who were called to be his dif
ciples and Apoſtles, were called to do his work, to
labour and to fuffer for the fervice of the church,
and the falvation of fouls, and ſhould eſteem it fuf-
ficient to be exalted, like their bleffed Mafter, in
heaven, after the work was done. Thus the two
young candidates for promotion ftood reproved..
Made wifer by the inftructions of their Lord, and
the deſcent of the Holy Ghoft upon them at the
day of Pentecoft, they thought no more of preee-
ding their brethren, except in diligence and pa-
tience: they renounced felf, preached the Gospel,
fuffered perfecution, were crowned indeed, but it
was with thorns: and thus, at length, in a far bet-
ter fenfe, they obtained their wifh, of fitting upon
thrones with Chrift, in his kingdom.
At another time the two difciples James and John,
not bearing to ſee their Lord rejected by the fchif-
matical Samaritans, were for calling fire from heaven
to conſume thein, after the example of the prophet.
Elijah. But Chrift rebuked them, telling them,
"they knew not what manner of Spirit thy were
af, for the fon of man was come to fave the lives
of men, not to deſtroy them." The preſent is the
day of grace and mercy, long fuffering and forbear-
ance, with Chrift, and it ought to be fo with his
difciples. The hour is coming, when, like Elijah,
who reprefented him in his judicial capacity, he
Shall
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
167
fhall execute the vengeance written, and burn
up his enemies on every fide. But the time is not
yet.
The third reproof St John met with from his
Mafter was likewiſe for an inſtance of indiſcreet
zeal, in forbidding a perſon to caſt out devils in
Chriſt's name, becauſe he followed not them. “For-
bid him not (fays Chriſt) for there is no man which
fhall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly
ſpeak evil of me. For he that is not againſt us, is
on our part. For whoever shall give you a cup of
water to drink in my name, becauſe ye belong to
Chrift, he fhall not loſe his reward."*
No emu-
lation or jealouſy ſhould prevent our encouraging
every man to do good, though not in all points as
we are, or could with him to be. Whatever real
good he does, it is God who does it in him, and
in time that God may reveal all other things to him;
towards which, we ourſelves, by treating him with
tenderneſs and kindneſs may be made inftrumental.
But theſe offences, upon Chrift's admonitions,
having been repented of and forfaken, thy deprived
not our Apoſtle of the place he had obtained in
his Lord's favour. For at the laſt fupper we find
him fitting next to Jefus, and, as the manner then
was, reclining on his breaſt: as it is the privilege
of the beloved difciple, when admitted to the fup-
per of the Lamb, to pour all his prayers and com-
plaints into the bofom of his Redeemer, who is al-
ways ready to hear, always mighty to fave.
At the apprehenfion of Jefus, John fled with the
reft, but, quickly returning again, entered into the
High Prieft's palace, and attended his bleſſed Maſ-
ter through every ſtage of his paffion, till we be-
hold him taking his ftation at the foot of the cross,
where
* Mark ix. 38.
'
168
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
7
{
where he is ufually drawn in pictures of the crucia
fixion, with a countenance full of grief and love
unutterable. From the crofs Jefus commended his
holy mother to the care of St John, who from
thenceforth, happy in an opportunity of fhewing
his love to his Lord, as well as of entertaining fuch
a gueſt," took her to his own home," where ſhe
continued till her death, treated by him with the
duty and affection of a fon. Let the difciple, then,
who would fhew himſelf worthy the love of Chrift,
often contemplate and fympathize with his fuffe-
ring Lord, placing himſelf, in imagination, at the
foot of the cross, and looking, with the eye of faith
on him who was crucified thereon; let him abide
by the perfecuted truth and the afflicted fervants of
Jefus, in the hour of darkneſs and forrow; and let
him, for Chrift's fake, and in obedience to his re-
peated injunctions, honour and fhew kindneſs to
the church, ſo long as he lives, and be a dutiful
fon to her.
Upon the firſt tidings of the refurrection, St
John, running with St Peter, outran him, and
came firft to the fepulchre, as the foul, that has
the love of Chriſt abiding in her, will always be
foremoſt in queft of him.-It was St John who dif-
covered Jefus to St Peter, when he appeared in the
habit of a ſtranger, at the fea of Tiberias. "That
difciple whom Jefus loved, faith to Peter, it is the
Lord." He who loves Chrift, will always know
him when he comes in the diſguiſe of a ſtranger, or
a poor man: he will know, that it is the Lord whọ
aſks relief of him in their perſons; and he will in-
form others of the fame great truth.-It was con-
cerning St John that a report went among the dif-
ciples as if he was never to die, grounded by mif-
take on our Lord's anſwer to St Peter's queſtion
66 Lord
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
179
"Lord, what fhall this man do? If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ?" But,
alas, St John loved Chriſt too well, to think an
exemption from death, for the fake of living in
fuch a world as this, a thing to be defired. And
whoever loves his Mafter as he did, will be of the
fame opinion.
After the effufion of the Spirit at the day of Pen-
tecoſt, we read of St John, in the character of an
Apoſtle, ufing his gifts for the good of mankind,
healing the fick, preaching the Goſpel, thrown in-
to priſon, and brought forth before the Jewiſh
council, but ſtill undaunted in bearing his teftimo-
ny; herein leaving an example to his fucceffors,
the minifters of Chrift, through all generations.
From the ecclefiaftical hiftories we learn, that
after preaching the Gofpel, and founding many
churches in Afia, he was fent bound from thence
to Rome, at the command of the tyrant Domitian,
who had him caft into a caldron of boiling oil.
But the God, who preferved the three children in
the midft of the fiery furnace, brought the Apoſtle
out of the caldron unhurt, to convince us, that no-
thing can harm "the difciple whom Jefus loveth."
The emperor, however, not at all moved by this
miraculous deliverance, banifhed the holy man to
a wretched and comfortleſs ifland, called Patmos,
where he faw heaven opened and beheld thofe glo-
rious vifions recorded in the book of Revelation:
as God often vouchfafes a larger portion of ſpiritual
joys and comforts to his fervants, when they are
fecluded from thofe of the world.
Upon the death of the emperor Domitian, many
of his cruel edicts were revoked by his fucceffor;
when St John, taking advantage of the indulgence,
returned to Ephefus: and finding Timothy the
VOL. I.
P
biſhop
1
ཟླ་༡༠
biſhop of that church martyred, he took upon him.
ſelf the government of it, till in a good old age of
about an hundred years, he moft willingly refigned
his meek and gentle fpirit into the hands of his
Lord and Saviour, to experience the fulneſs of his
love, and poſſeſs the glories he had ſo often con-
templated.
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.
Theſe are the great outlines of St John's life and
character. But, after all, whoever would be tho-
roughly acquainted with him, in order to become
like him, muft furvey and copy that fair picture
which he hath drawn of himſelf in his divine wri-
tings, where we fometimes behold the lofty flights
of the eagle, and at others hear the plaintive voice
of the turtle; we behold him viewing and defcribing
the glories of Chrift in his Godhead and kingdom;
we hear him relating the fweetly-forrowful and
loving diſcourſes of his dear Maſter, in his ſtate of
humiliation. Let theſe holy books, therefore, be
in our hands, until they fhall have wrought their
proper work in our hearts; that is to fay, until, by
believing the doctrines and practising the duties
taught therein, we fhall have learned to live the life
of faith and charity. So fhall we be CHRISTIANS,
in word, and in deed; fo fhall we be true followers
of the faint of this day; ſo ſhall we be "the DIS-
CIPLES whom Jeſus will LOVE.”
י
DISCOURSE X.
RACHEL COMFORTED.
JER. XXXI. 15, 16, 17.
Thus faith the LORD, a voice was heard in Rama,
lamentation, and bitter weeping: Rachel, weeping.
for her children, refuſed to be comforted for her chil-
dren, because they were not. Thus faith the Lord,
Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from
tears; for thy work fhall be rewarded, faith the
LORD, and they ſhall come again from the land of the
enemy. And there is hope in thine end, faith the
LORD, that thy children fhall come again to their
own border.
·
OF
F the events which befel the church of Ifrael,
in old time, many were by Providence ordained
and difpofed to be figurative of other events, in the
latter days, relative to the church Chriftian, or
Univerfal. Let it be fuppofed, for example, in the
prefent inftance, that the Babyloniſh captivity, and
fubfequent restoration, to which thefe words of Je-
remiah relate, did, like the Egyptian bondage, and
the redemption therefrom, reprefent that more.
wretched, durable, and general captivity, in which
mankind were detained by their grand enemy, with
the reſtoration from it, which the Son of God, as
at this feaſon, was born to effect. And let us try,
upon this plan, to fhew the beauty and propriety
of the application which St Matthew has made of
P 2
the:
172
RACHEL COMFORTED.
the paffage to the flaughter of the Bethlehemitiſh
infants, and the lamentations of thoſe who were
thus bereaved of their children, by the fword of
Herod.
It is not eafy, perhaps, to find a more judicious
illuftration of the cafe in hand, than the following
one, given by the excellently learned Dr JACKSON,
to whoſe moſt uſeful labours, on a curious and dif-
ficult fubject, I muft here once for all, acknow-
ledge myſelf indebted for the fubftance of what I
am now about to lay before you.
"We know," fays this able Divine, "that a
map, though in itſelf a thouſand times lefs than the
leaſt parcel of inclofed ground, may repreſent the
exact form or proportion of the country whofe
name it bears, though that be ten thousand times
bigger than the largeft field that our eyes can look
upon. And thus hath the wifdom of God, under
the fame words and phrafes, included two deliver-
ances, of which the one is a map to the other. He
therefore who fhall deny paffages to be literally
meant of the deliverance of Judah and Benjamin
from Babylon, becauſe they are only fulfilled in
our deliverance by Chrift, will give the Jew no
fmall advantage; he will commit as great an over-
fight, as if an heir, poffefied of a goodly eftate,
fhould burn the map, or terrar of it, which his an-
ceſtors had truly taken for the benefit of their fuc-
ceffors, if they fhould know how to uſe it, when
any controverſy ſhould ariſe concerning the bounds
or extent of their inheritance. The Jew, on the
contrary, in denying theſe places to be meant of
Christ and us, becauſe they have been literally ve-
rified of the deliverance of his fathers by Zoroba-
bel and Joshua the prieft, is like a man diftracted,
who boafts he hath a goodly heritage, becauſe he
can
RACHEL COMFORTED.
173"
can fhew the map, or engroffed terrar of thoi
lands, of which the law has deprived him, fince
he knew not how to uſe them aright."
In the profecution of this defign, permit me,.
in the
First place, To collect and prefent to you the
hiſtorical circumftances concerning the per--
fon introduced by Jeremiah, as making la-
mentation over her children, and the occa-
fion of her fo doing, with the prophet's con-
folotary addreſs to her, upon that occafion.
after which we thall be prepared, in the
Second place, To take a view of thoſe parallel.
circumftances, which offer themfelves in the
laientation made by the Bethlehemitiſh
mothers, and the caufe thereof, with the
confideration which was to adminiſter com-
fort to them, in the day of their great and..
bitter affliction.
The mournful fcene is laid. by Jeremiah in Ra-
mah, a city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, of
which tribe, it may be obferved, the prophet him-
felf was a member, as we learn from the firſt verſe
in his book; "The words of Jeremiah the ſon of
Hilkiah, of the prieſts that were in Anathoth, in:
the land of Benjamin." The perfon introduced by
him, as making lamentation, is Rachel, the beloved:
wife of Jacob, and the mother of that tribe.
She:
had before borne Jofeph, at which time by divine
inftinct with allufion to the name juft impofed, fhe:
faid-" The LORD fhall add to me another fon."
In child-birth, however, through the prevalence of
her pains, fhe was induced to give up her former
hopes of a fecond fon, for loft. Her attendant en
deavoured to comfort her with her own prediction ;;
"Fear not, for thou fhalt have this fon alfo." Yet,,
"when
P 3.
1
en--
174
RACHEL COMFORTED.
1
"when her foul was in departing (for fhe died!)”
-never furely was there a more affecting parenthefis
"when her foul was in departing (for fhe died !)
the called his name Benoni," that is, the fon of my
forrow. "His father," feeking to avert the omen
with fpeed," called him Benjamin," or, the fon of
the right hand, that is of power and glory.
Heu nunquam vana parentum auguria-the obfer-
vation of an heathen poet, is found more particu-
larly verified in the hiftory of the patriarehs, be-
cauſe among them there was often a forefight more
than human, and the profpect into futurity was
opened to them by a light from above. The dif
ferent fates of the tribe of Benjamin feem to have
anſwered the different names impofed at the birth
of its founder, by father and mother. No tribe
more valorous than that; none more afflicted with
diſaſters and calamities. At one time flaughtered
by its fellow tribes, almoſt to excifion, a true Benoni
to Rachel, who had he been alive, muſt liave
6 wept for her children, with an exceeding bitter
weeping;" at another, reftored to populoufnefs and
profperity, placed, as it were, at the head of the
reft, furniſhing the first king, who ruled God's
people Ifrael, and realizing the name and character
of Benjamin, the ſon of the right hand.
Upon the revolt of the ten tribes, Benjamin ad-
hered to Judah, then the royal tribe, the tribe that
gave birth to David, the tribe from which, in the
fulneſs of time, a greater than David was to de-
fcend. When Jeremiah uttered the words now un-
der our confideration, Judalı was cloſely befieged
in Jerufalem by the Chaldean army, in whole way
thither the land of Benjamin lay. It. experienced,
therefore, of courſe, all the horrors of invafion.. It
was miferably wafted, and its inhabitants were car✩
1
ried
RACHEL COMFORTED.
175
ried away into captivity. This is the reaſon why old
Rachel ſtill renews her former complaint, and will
not be perfuaded, but that Benjamin muft ftill be
Benoni. She and her daughters, (for under the:
name of Rachel we must comprehend all the wo--
ful inothers of that tribe) fill the heavens with their
outcries, whilſt their children are forced from their
embraces into miferable bondage in Babylon. And.
though mention be only made of Ramah, a city of
Benjamin, yet muſt we imagine the wailings to have.
been as loud and bitter about Bethlehem, which,.
though in the tribe of Judah, was upon the bor-
ders of Benjamin, and near unto the place where
Rachel died; as we read in Genefis; "Rachel
died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which
is Bethlehem, and Jacob fet a pillar upon her grave;
that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.
Such was the voice heard" in the days of Jere-
miah, the "lamentation, and the bitter weeping;"
when "Rachel," as the general mother, and re-
prefentative of all the mothers in the tribe, "weep-
ing for her children, refufed to be comforted, be-
cauſe they were not.' As a people, they had no
civil exiſtence. They were, in that fenfe, loſt;,
they were dead; they were gone into captivity.
"*
ว
It was under thefe circumftances, that the pro-
phet addreffed the difconfolate mother-confider-
ing him as a Benjamite, we may fay, his difconfolate.
mother" Thus faith the LORD, Refrain thy voice
from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy
work fhall be rewarded, faith the LORD, and they
ſhall come again from the land of the enemy; and
there is hope in thine end, faith the LORD, that
thy children ſhall come again to their own border.”
-As if he had faid in other words-
* Gen. xxxv. 20,
-Remember,
1
176
RACHEL COMFORTED.
But:
-Remember, O Rachel, my mother, the days
that are paſt, and call to mind God's wonders of
old time. Remember how thou forrowedft, when
thou broughtſt forth my father Benjamin, as fear-
ing left he ſhould have died with thee, or before
thee. Yet after thy pains, hadft thou this joy, that.
a man was born into the world. And though thou
didft impofe upon him a name betokening forrow,
yet his father wifely changed it into one predictive
of better things. Remember, when Benjamin, for
the good of his brethren, was called to go down.
into Egypt, how Jacob fuppofed him loft, and com-
plained that he was bereaved of his children.
notwithſtanding thefe ill bodings, Benjamin, at
length, returned in fafety, with his brother Judah;
the father was again bleffed with the fight of his.
youngeſt and beſt beloved fon, the light of his eyes'
and the ſtaff of his old age.. Such, at this time,
my mother, is thy fear and forrow; but greater,
hereafter, fhall be thy comfort, and thy joy. Ben-
jamin is indeed led captive into Babylon; but Ju-.
dib is once more gone with him, as his pledge, and
if he bring him not back again, let the blame be:
his, yea mine, yea God's for ever. "For thus
faith the LORD, if my covenant be not with day
and night, and if I have not appointed the ordi--
nances of heaven and earth, then will I caft away
the feed of Jacob and David my fervant, fo that I
will not take any of his feed to be rulers over the
feed of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob-for I will cauſe.
their captivity to return, and have mercy on them-
yea I have fworn by my holiness that I will not fail
David." Now, my mother, while this promife laſts,.
in general, to Ifrael, as Abraham's feed, Benjamin:
muſt have his portion in the bleffing. And while it.
remains good in particular to the feed of David, Ben--
jamin,
1
RACHEL COMFORTED.
177
-
jamin, for his faithful adherence to Judah, in pro-
fperity and adverfity, muft participate with him in
the prerogative. And when the kingdom fhall be
reſtored, as reſtored it will be, whoever ſhall fit on
the left hand, faithful Benjamin muſt fit on the
right hand of the throne of David.-
This, taking all circumftances into the account,
feems to have been the import of Jeremiah's con-
folatory addreſs to Rachel, in the day of her ca-
lamity. And his words, or rather thofe of the Al-
mighty, were, in their fulleft import, made good
to her. Within feventy years, it came to paſs,
that the poſterity of Benjamin returned, with Judah,
into the land of Promife, and inhabited Jerufalem,
Bethlehem, and other bordering cities, promifcu-
oufly with the royal tribe. "Her work was re-
warded;" her patient expectation, in faith and hope
of the promiſes made her, failed not of its fruit, in
the appointed ſeaſon: her "children came again
from the land of the enemy to their own border,”
as the LORD had foretold by his prophet; they
"returned, and came to Sion with fongs; joy was
upon their heads," and in their hearts;" and for-
row and fighing flew away
We are now prepared to take a view, as was pro-
pofed in the
Second place, of thofe parallel circumftances,
which offer themfelves, in the lamentation of the
Bethlehemitiſh mothers, and the caufe thereof,
with the confideration which was to adminiſter
comfort to them, in the day of their great and moſt
bitter affliction.
The death of the tribe of Benjamin, in conjunc-
tion with the tribe of Judah, in the time of Jere-
miah, was a civil death, a departure into captivity.
Their reſtoration from it was, confequently, a civil
reſtoration,
178
RACHEL COMFORTED.
reſtoration, a reſtoration to their ancient city and
polity, in their own land. The death of the Beth-
lehemitiſh infants was a bodily death, by the ſword
of Herod; their restoration muft, therefore, be a
reſtoration to the bodily life, thus violently taken
from them, that is, it muſt be a refurrection. Ra-
chel's prefent lamentation for the bodily death of
her children muſt have a comfort anſwerable to it,
as her former lamentation for their civil death had
a comfort anſwerable to that. Let us fee what an-
alogy and proportion the forrow and joy in one cafe
bear to the forrow and joy in the other.
There is no need to fhock your feelings, by en-
deavouring to draw a picture at large of this day's
moſt abominable maffacre. Suffice it to fay, that
the bloody murder of children in their tendereſt
and moſt helpleſs eftate, torn from the arms, and
butchered, in fuch multitudes, before the eyes of
their mothers, muft again cauſe "a voice to be heard,
lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning;"
great, beyond the conception of any, but thoſe who
then expreffed, or were witneffes to it. We can-
not read the words which defcribe it, without ima-
gining that we hear Rachel, called from her tomb
near Bethlehem, "weeping for her children;" that
we fee her turning away, and refufing to be com-
forted for her children, becauſe they were not; be-
cauſe they were departed hence, and were no more
to be found in the land of the living; they were
led away into that other captivity, more wretched
and durable than the captivity of Benjamin, with
Judah, in Babylon; they were deprived of light
and life, they were hurried from the warm and
chearful precincts of day, to be impriſoned in the
cold and dark dominions of the king of terrors.
And who can bring them from thence? Not the
High
RACHEL COMFORTED.
179
High Prieſt Joſhua, the ſon of Joſedek; not Zoro-
babel, who conducted their father from captivity;
not Sampfon, though, in the prime of his ſtrength,
he carried away the gates of Gaza; not David, nor
their father Benjamin, though both had been alive
to command, or lead the whole pofterity of Ifrael.
All theſe might have faid of the fons of Rachel
this day commemorated by us, as David did of his
child-"We ſhall go to them, but they ſhall not
return to us." But the holieft of the ancient prieſts
and prophets, the mightiest among the ancient
kings and rulers, were ftill fubject to death, and
had taken their laſt repofe with the beggar in the
duft. Where then is the wonted promife of Ra-
chel's reward? Who fhall comfort her in this ca-
lamity?
Nothing, certainly, can wear a more gloomy
and comfortleſs aſpect, than things here feem to do.
Yet in this as in the former inftance, "Thus faith
the LORD" to the mourner, and who elſe can fay
it?" Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine
eyes from tears; for thy work fhall be rewarded,
faith the LORD, and they ſhall come again from
the land of the enemy; and there is hope in thine
end, faith the LORD, that thy children fhall come
again to their own border."
Recollecting what hath been faid above, and
bearing in mind the circumftances of time and
place, pointed out in the application made of the
former part of the paffage by St Matthew, we may
ſuppoſe this latter part to ſpeak to the Bethlehemitiſh
mothers in ſome fuch manner as the following.-
-At Bethlehem, the birth place of Benja-
min, where the pillar was erected over Rachel's
grave, a child is born, who has caufed the children
of Benjamin and Judah once more to become Beno-
ni's
180
RACHEL COMFORTED.
*
ni's, true fons of forrow to their mothers; a charac-
ter he himſelf is to ſuſtain on earth, infomuch, that
"a fword fhall pierce through the foul" of her
that bare him. As the feed of the woman, and
with regard to the nature derived from her, he is
to be a man of forrows, and acquainted with
grief But, like Benjamin, from his Father he fhall
receive a name expreffive of far different things;
"a name above every name; he ſhall be exalted
from mifery and mortality to "the right hand of
the majesty in the heavens ;" there to take poffef
fion of an inheritance in the true land of Promife.
Of this his inheritance in a ſtate of power and glo-
ry, he will not fail to make thoſe partakers, whoſe
blood has been ſhed by the executioners of Herod,
on his account. Look upon this their final delive-
rance and reſtoration, as it is delineated in that
map, or chart of it, the deliverance of your ancef
tors from the Babylonifh captivity, and the reſto-
ration to their own land. Call to mind what was
ſaid by them, at that time, on the ground of their
own happy experience." They that fow in tears,
fhall reap in joy; he that goeth forth, and weep-
eth," as if, ignorant of the art of huſbandry, he
feared the corn he was fowing would periſh in the
earth, "fhall doubtlefs come again with joy, bring-
ing his fheaves with him." The heavens, echoing
with your cries, and the earth, moistened with
your tears, are witneffes to men and angels, that
you have more plentifully fowed in grief, than your
ancefiors. As the forrows of your feed-time have
abounded, fo the joys of your harveft fhall fuper-
abound. The LORD's promife of old is not yet ex-
pired, but extends, in full force, to you and yours.
With what more precious feed could the land of
Judah and Benjamin be fown, than the blood of
tender
V
RACHEL COMFORTED.
181
tender infants, harmleſs and undefiled even in
thought? Scattered upon the ground by cruel
hands, it fhall be gathered by the power of him,
who diſpenſeth the breath of life to all things living.
None of this feed fhall be loft, or prove unfruitful.
Every grain fhall produce its ear, and every ear
its proportion of incorruptible and pleaſant fruit.
Great, therefore, as your affliction is allowed to be,
yet mourn not as they that have no hope, but,
even in the midſt of your bitter complaints, ftill
remember, that Rachel's pains muſt have a joyful
recompence, and her exceeding forrows portend
extraordinary comforts in the iffue. Only let pa-
tience have its perfect work through faith, and that
"work fhall be rewarded" with the poffeffion of
the promiſes. For, through the Saviour who is
born, "there is hope in the end," that, like as
your fathers, in God's good time, “came again
from the land of the enemy to their own border,"
fo your children, whofe untimely excifion you la-
ment, fhall come again from the ftrong holds of
the grave, whither they had been led away captive,
to the lot of their inheritance in the heavenly Ca-.
naan, and the new Jerufalem, there to live and
reign with him, for whom they have now fuffered
and died. Theſe children of Judah and Benjamin,
like their progenitors, " fhall return, ard come to
Zion with fongs, and everlafting joy nall be upon
their heads; they, and you with them, fhall obtain
joy and gladneſs, and forrow and fighing ſhall again
flee away."
The words, thus explained, will fuggeft to us
fome uſeful reflections, fuicable to the festival, on
the cafe of the flaughtered infants, and that of the
lamenting mothers.
VOL. 1.
е
With
1
182
RACHEL COMFORTED.
With regard to the infants, we may obſerve the
choice, made by the church, of proper perfons to
attend the bleffed Jefus, upon the commemoration
of his birth. Theſe are St Stephen, St John, and
the Innocents. He was born to ſuffer; and there-
fore, the feſtival of his nativity is immediately fol-
lowed by the feſtivals of thoſe who fuffered for him.
St Stephen was a martyr, and the firſt martyr,
both in will and in deed: St John, the beloved
difciple, was fuch in will, but not in deed, being
miraculouſly preſerved from the death intended for
him by Domitian. The Innocents were martyrs in
deed, but not in will, by reafon of their tender
age.
Of theſe laſt, however, it pleafed the prince of
martyrs to have his train compofed, when he made
his entry into the world, as at this feafon; a train
of infants, fuited to an infant Saviour; a train of
Innocents, meet to follow the fpotlefs Lamb, who
came to convince the world of fin, and to redeem
it in righteouſnefs. They were the firft-fruits of
fered to the Son of God, after his incarnation, and
their blood the first that flowed on his account.
They appeared as to many champions in the field,
clad in the King's coat of armour, to intercept the
blows directed against him.
The Chriftian poet, PRUDENTIUS, in one of his
hymns, has an elegant and beautiful addrefs to
thefe
young lufferers for their Redeemer-
Salvete, flores Martyrum,
Quos, lucis ipfo in limine,
Chrifti infecutor fuftulit,
Ceu turbo nafcentes rofas.
Vos, prima Chrifti victima,
Grex immolatorum tener,
Aran. ante ipfam, fimplices,
Palma et coronis luditis.
" Hail
V
RACHEL COMFORTED.
183
ང་
"Hail ye firſt flowers of the.evangelical fpring,
cut off by the fword of perfecution, ere yet you had
unfolded your leaves to the morning, as the early
rofe droops before the withering blaft. Driven,
like a flock of lambs, to the flaughter, you have
the honour to compofe the firſt facrifice offered at
the altar of Chrift; before which, methinks I fee
your innocent fimplicity ſporting with the palms
and the crowns held out to you from above.'
""
So remarkable an event neceffarily attracts our
attention to that age, which is propofed by our
Lord, as, in many refpects, a model for us all to
copy, in forming our tempers and difpofitions.
"They brought young children to Chrift, that he
fhould touch them, and his difciples rebuked thoſe.
that brought them. But Jefus was much difplea-
fed, and faid, Suffer little children to come to me,
and forbid them not, for of fuch is the kingdom of
God." And again, when the difciples "afked him,
who fhould be the greateſt in the kingdom of hea-
ven, he took a little child, and fet him in the midft,
and faid, Except ye be converted and become as
little children, ye fhall not enter into the kingdom
of God." To be fit for the inheritance of the
faints in light, we must put off the paffions which:
are too apt to infeft us as men, ambition, pride, craft,
envy, hatred, malice, anger, revenge, covetouſneſs,
and concupifcence of every fort, and put on their
oppofites, humility, meeknefs, modefty, charity,
purity, fimplicity; we muſt become fuch in heart
and mind, by the difcipline of religion, as little
children are, by their age; poffeffed of the fame
unlimited confidence in the care of a Father, who,
as we are affured, careth for us; looking up to him
for all we want, and flying to him for protection
from all we fear; never entertaining a ſuſpicion of ·
Qur
-
184
RACHEL COMFORTED.
\
4
our being forfaken, or neglected by him, nor the
leaſt inclination to refift his will; equally infenfible
to the promiſes and threatenings of the world; re-
figned to fuffer, and not afraid to die, when we are
called fo to do; able to fmile at the drawn dagger,
and ready to embrace the arm that aims it at our
heart.
This idea of a child of God was daily realized,
to the admiration of the whole pagan world, in the
firſt ages of the church. The fame inexhaustible
and all powerful grace will realize it in theſe latter
days, when religion ſhall be confidered by us as an
art, rather than a fcience; when non magna loquimur
fed vivimus, fhall be the device adopted by the
Chriſtian philofopher; and the precepts of the
Goſpel fhall be practiſed with as much diligence as
that with which its evidences are ſtudied.
And, lo, for our encouragement, in the portion
of Scripture this day appointed for the Epiſtle, the
veil is rent which feparates the two worlds; the
proſpect is opened into another fyftem; the "ho-
lieft of all" is diſcloſed; the celeſtial mount is dif
covered; and on its ſummit "we fee a Lamb ſtand,
with an hundred and forty four thousand," of the
like ſweet and innocent difpofition, "having his
Father's name written on their foreheads. Theſe
are they which follow the Lamb, whither foever he
goeth. T'hefe were redeemed from among men,
being the firſt-fruits unto God and the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no guile, for they were
without fault before the throne of God." From
their ſtation they beckon us after them, fhewing
us, for our inſtruction and direction in the way,
that" of fuch is the kingdom of heaven.”
And now, we are ready, perhaps, to fay with
St Peter, on an occafion fomewhat fimilar, It is
good
RACHEL COMFORTED.
185
good for us to be here! let us make our abode on
the mount! But the time is not yet. We muſt re-
turn, and conclude, as we began, with the lament-
ing mothers, whom we left behind us, in the valley
of tears.
Their cries, like thofe of Rachel, portending the
birth of a Benoni, a fon of forrow, teach us, his diſ--
ciples, to expect forrow for our portion in this life,
and to look forward to another, for comfort. and
joy.
In the world, as in Rama, "a voice is heard,
lamentation and weeping, and great mourning.""
Earthly poffeffions and fatisfactions, of every fort,
are, by their nature, tranfient. They may leave
us; we must leave them. To him who views them,
-in their moſt ſettled ftate, with the eye of wiſdom,
they appear, as the air in the calmeft day does to
the philofopher through his teleſcope, ever undu--
lating and fluctuating. If we place our happinefs
in them, we build upon the wave. It rolls from
under us, and we fink into the depths of grief and
defpondency.
Children, relations, friends, honours, houſes,
lands, revenues, and endowments, the goods of
nature and of fortune, nay even of grace itſelf, are
only lent.
It is our misfortune to fancy they are
given. We ſtart, therefore, and are angry, when
the loan is called in. We think ourſelves mafters,
when we are but ftewards; and forget, that to each:
of us will it one day be faid, "Give an account of
thy ſtewardſhip, for thou muft-be no longer ſtew-
ard."
Youth dreams of joys unremitted, and pleaſures
uninterrupted; and fees not in the charming per-
fpective the croſs accidents that lie in wait to pre-.
vent their being fo. But fhould no fuch accidents
Q. 3.
for-
186
RACHEL COMFORTED.
17
•
for a while intervene, to diſturb the pleaſing vifion,
age will certainly awake, and find it at an end..
The ſcythe of time will be as effectual, though not
fo expeditious, as the fword of the perfecutor; and
without a Herod, Rachel, if fhe live long, will be
'heard lamenting; fhe will experience forrows, in
which the world can adminifter no adequate com-
fort. She must therefore look beyond it.
The patriarchs and people of God, in old time,
were often delivered from adverfity. They often
enjoyed profperity. But after all the wonders
wrought for them, and all the bleffings conferred
upon them, the iffue of things was ftill the fame.
Theſe friends and favourites of heaven ſtill faw
their relations, frequently their children, falling
around them, and at length dropped, themfelves,
into the grave, to be mourned over by thofe that
furvived them. This was the caſe even in the land -
of Promiſe itſelf. Deplorable indeed, therefore,
and deſperate, like the worst of the heathen, would
have been their condition, had they not been
taught, through temporal deliverances, and tem-
poral profperity, in a temporal land of Promife, to
contemplate another deliverance from the power of
the deftroyer, another profperity that ſhould have
no end, in another land of Promife, which fhould
never be taken from them, and from which they
ſhould never be taken; where they, their parents,
and their children, fhould meet again, to part no
more. What elfe is "the hope of Ifrael," what
elfe can it be, but a "reſurrection from the dead.”*
Nothing can be plainer than the words of the
Apoſtle on this fubject. Having enumerated the
ancient worthies, from Abel to David and the fuc-
ceeding prophets, he thus concludes; "Thefe all,.
* Aûts xxiv. 15. xxvi. 6. xxvii. 20.
having
RACHEL COMFORTED.
1.87
*
having obtained a good report through faith, re-
ceived not the promife," THE promife, emphati-
cally, the grand promiſe, in faith of which they
died, and of which all other promifes were only
fhadows, and known by them to be fuch; "God
having" all along forefeen and "provided fome
better thing for us ;" better than any of thoſe figu
rative promiſes which they did receive; to wit, an
eternal redemption, and an eternal inheritance;
that, in fuch eternal redemption and inheritance,
"they, without us, fhould not be made perfect,Ӡ
as God intends that we, together with them, at
the general refurrection, fhall be made perfect in.
heaven.
If, then, the mothers in Judah and Benjamin
had been properly inſtructed in the faith of the an-
cient church, when Jeremiah addreffed to them
the words we have been confidering, though they
muft underſtand them immediately as a promife
that their children fhould be delivered from Baby--
lon, and brought back again to their own land; yet.
their thoughts would naturally be carried on, for
further comfort, to that other deliverance and re-
ſtoration from death, promiſed by all the holy pro-
phets, fince the world began; even as we may pre-
fume the thoughts of a Chriſtian parent would now
be, whoſe ſon was a flave in Barbary, ſhould a pro-
phet be fent to him, with the following meffage
from God; "Your fon is gone into captivity, but
he fhall certainly be redeemed from it."
This, however, is indifputable; that in the ap-
plication which St Matthew has taught us to make.
of the paffage, it can admit of no other conftruc-
tion; becauſe there can be no deliverance from bo-
dily death, but by a bodily refurrection.
Την επαγγελίαν.
↑ Héb. xi. 40.
Learn
188
RACHEL COMFORTED.
Learn we, therefore, and a more important and
ufeful leffon cannot be learned-whenever death,
deprives us of thoſe who are near and dear to us,
to comfort ourfelves and one another with theſe
words; and let each of us, as occafion for confola-
tion fhall offer itſelf, liften to Jeremiah's prophecy,
as if it were ſpoken to himſelf; "Thus faith the
LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine
eyes from tears; for thy work fhall be rewarded,
faith the LORD, and they fhall come again from the
land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine
end, faith the LORD, that thy children," thy rela-
tions, or thy friends, " fhall come again to their
own border;" that from the dark and defolate re-
gions of the grave they fhall come to the light and
glory of the heavenly Jerufalem; where, as holy
John tells us, "there thall be no more death, neither:
forrow, nor crying;" where Rachel fhall finally.
ceafe her lamentations, lay, afide her mourning veil,
and wipe away all tears for ever from her eyes..
* Rev..xxi. 42-
DISCOURSE XI.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
1
LUKE ii. 21.
And when eight days were accompliſhed for the circum
cifing of the child, his name was called JESUS, which
was fo named of the angel, before he was conceived
in the womb.
THESE words conclude the Gofpel for the day,
taken from a chapter which hath, afforded ample
matter of wonder and delight through the courfe
of the prefent joyful feafon, when the church, like
the bleffed virgin mother, is never feen, but with
the holy child in her arms. By the portions already
felected from it, we have been made to liſten to the
fermon preached by an angel upon the fubject of
the Nativity; and the fweet anthem, fung by the
choir of heaven immediately after, are ſtill found-
ing in our ears. With the happy and obedient
shepherds we have been at Bethlehem, and there
have feen "this great thing which is come to paſs,
which the Lord hath made known unto us;" and
have found reaſon to return, like them, "glorify-
ing and praifing God for all the things, that we
have heard and feen, as it was told unto us." Nor
fhall we ever forget, it is to be hoped, (at leaſt, ne-
ver, at this hallowed and gracious time) to imitate
her example, who kept all theſe fayings, and
pondered them in her heart."
"
We
190
THE CIRCUMCISION.
We are now conducted from the birth to the cir
cumcifion of our Redeemer, an account of which
immediately follows the hiftory of the fhepherds,
in the words of the text. And very meet, and
right, and our bounden duty it is, that we ſhould
at this time, and in this place, employ our thoughts
upon it; feeing it was the begining of forrows to
the Son of God, and the beginning of joy, becauſe
the beginning of redemption, to the fons of men,
for whom the first blood of the all-propitiating vic-
tim was now ſhed. A ftumbling block it may
prove to the Jew, foolifhnefs it may appear to the
Greek, and to all thofe, who, like the one, defire a
fign of earthly fplendor and magnificence, or, like
the other, feek after the wisdom of falfe philofophy:
but to the intelligent, and therefore humble belie-
ver, Chrift, in this ftate of weakneſs, pain, and
forrow, is "the wiſdom of God" to contrive, "and
the power of God" to effect the deliverance of his
people.
It is obfervable, that whenfoever, in the Scrip-
tures, mention is made of any particular relative to
the abaſement, the infirmity, and the fhame, fub-
mitted to by Chriſt, it is preſently contraſted by
fomething concerning his exaltation, his power,
and his glory; that fo, the objection arifing in the
mind from a view of the former, may be obviated
at once by the confideration of the latter, and the
Christian may never lofe fight of that capital article
of his faith, the union of the two natures, divine
and human, in the perfon of his Saviour. Thus we
behold him in fwaddling clothes; but inftantly we
hear the heavenly hoſt ſinging an Hallelujah to him.
He lies in a manger; but the brighteft ftar in the
firmament points the way to his abode.
He ex-
pires upon the cross; but all nature fuffers with
him.
THE CIRCUMCISION,
191
him, almoſt to a diffolution. And thus, in the
inftance now before us, he is circumcifed indeed
on earth, as the fon of Abraham; but a name is
given him from heaven, as the Son of God. For
in theſe lowly and ignominious circumſtances, he
receives the name enjoined before to be impofed
on him by the angel; a name above every name;
a name which evil fpirits fear, and good ones adore;
a name, at which every knee ſhould rejoice to bow,
and which every tongue ſhould exult to confeſs;
fince it is by this name that glory is given to God
in the higheſt, peace reſtored to earth at war with
its Maker, and good will ſtreams forth to finful
men.
In order to unfold the myſtery of the circum-
cifion of Chriſt, it will be neceffary to enquire
into the inſtitution of this rite, with the reafon and
end thereof. Mofes (faith our Lord to the Jews)
gave you circumcifion, not becauſe it is of Mofes,
but of the fathers ;"* this being one of the many
legal ceremonies, which were originally communica-
ted to the ancient patriarchs, and afterwards re-
ordained in writing by Mofes. The first account
of it occurs in the hiſtory of our father Abraham ;
and St Paul difcourfing at large upon the point,†
informeth us, that it was given as a "fign or ſeal of
the righteouſnefs, which is by faith." Now the
object of Abraham's faith was redemption by the
promiſed Seed, that is to fay, by Meffiah, who
fhould fpring from his loins; and in whom, by
reaſon of that redemption, " all the nations of the
earth were to be bleffed" with the bleffings of eter-
nity. And the righteouſneſs which is by fuch faith,
confifteth in the juftification of believers by the
cutting off and doing away the body of fin through
the
John vii. 32.
† Rom. iv.
192
THE CIRCUMCISION.
the facrifice of Chrift, by which they are pardoned
and made holy, being feparated from fin, and fin
from them, in order to a final feparation from eve-
ry thing that offendeth, at the refurrection of the
juft. This is the righteoufnefs of faith," with
which Abraham having been before invefted, he
received circumcifion, not as any thing which could
make him righteous, but as a ſign and ſeal of that
evangelical righteoufnefs, "which he had being
yet uncircumcifed; to the end that he might be the
father of all them who believe, though they be not
circumcifed ;" and that we Gentiles, as well as the
Jews, might become the children, and inherit the.
bleffing of Abraham. But from the inftitution of
this rite to the manifeftation of the promiſed Seed,
it became to the natural deſcendants of the patriarch
Abraham, what baptifm hath been ever fince to
the fpiritual progeny of him, who is, in a much
higher fenfe, the Father of us all, it became the fa-
crament of initiation into the true church and faith.
Now, in a facrament, the outward and viſible ſign
is intended to introduce us to the inward and ſpiri-
tual grace figured by it as a fign, conveyed by it as
a means, and infured by it as a pledge. And what
the inward and ſpiritual grace fignified by circum-
cifion was, not only St Paul, but Mofes himſelf
will tell us, who in the book of Deuteronomy ex-
preffeth himſelf in theſe terms; "Circumcife the
foreskin of your heart, and be no more ſtiff-neck-
ed." And again; The Lord thy God will cir
cumcife thine heart, and the heart of thy feed, to
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy foul, that thou mayeft live."+ From
theſe paffages laid together, the following truths
feem to be fairly deducible; namely, Firft, That
circumcifion
"'*
* Deut. x. 16.
+ Deut. xxx. 6.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
193
+
circumcifion was an outward and viſible ſign of an
inward and ſpiritual grace to be wrought in the
heart; Secondly, That this inward and fpiritual
grace was the cutting off and cafting away of fin;
Thirdly, That for this work they were not fufficient
as of themſelves, but their fufficiency was of the Lord
their God, who would work in them, and with them,
through faith, by the holy Spirit; Fourthly, That
the effect and confequence of this fpiritual circum-
cifion would be the love of God thed abroad in their
hearts, with its genuine fruit of unfeigned obedi
ence to his commandments; and, Laftly, That this
would prepare the way to eternal life; "that thou
mayeft LIVE," faith Mofes; "that thou mayeft live,"
not only on earth, under grace, but hereafter in
glory: fince "purification of the heart" is in order
to a better life in that celeftial Canaan, the ultimate
end of all the promiſes, that good land which the
Lord our God fhall give to every Ifraelite indeed,
and in which he himself, after having been the
"fhield" of Abraham and his feed, fhall be their
"exceeding great reward.” * And fo it is written;
"Bleffed are the pure in heart, for they fhall fee
God." Thus do thefe two texts from the wri-
tings of Mofes involve in them the fubftance of the
Gofpel; they begin with the cleanfing of the heart.
from fin, thence proceeding on to the love of God
till they terminate in the beatific vifion of him in an
endleſs life. And could the Jews have read their
law, without that veil, which infidelity had drawn
over the eyes of their underſtanding; could they
have beheld, with open face, the glory of the
Lord, enshrined in the Mofaic myfteries; could
they have difcerned the "apple of gold" through
the "net-work of filver," inſtead of miſtaking the
VOL. I.
· R
cafket
Gen. xv. I. ↑ Matth. v. 8.
*
+ Prov. xxv. II.
194
THE CIRCUMCISION.
caſket for the jewel which it contained and prefer-
ved; they had then faved an Apoftle the trouble
of informing them, that "he is not a Jew, which
is one outwardly, nor is that circumcifion which is
outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is
one inwardly, and, circumcifion is that of the heart,
in the fpirit, and not in the letter, whofe praiſe is
not of men, but of God."*
We will venture then to fuppofe, that the infti-
tution of the rite now before us, with the reaſon
and end thereof, is fufficiently cleared, and circum-
cifion proved to be a facramental fign of the cut-
ting off and cafting away of fin from the heart.
But what mean ye then, as faith St Bernard, by
circumcifing the child Jefus, who did no fin, and
knew none; who was conceived in the womb of a
virgin, by the Spirit of eternal purity; why muſt
hè undergo this painful ceremony? To this we
anſwer, befides the example of humility and obedi-
ence herein afforded us by our Lord; as alfo the
proof from hence refulting of the reality of his hu-
man nature; befides theſe collateral confiderations,
I fay; the reaſon why Chrift was, as on this day,
circumcifed, is the fame with the reafon why he
was born, why he lived, and why he died. What
he did, and what he ſuffered, he did and fuffered
not for himſelf, but for us. The whole of this
momentous and falutary truth is expreffed by the
Apoſtle in thoſe few words; "He was made fin
for us, who knew no fin, that we might become
the righteouſneſs of God in him." He bore our
griefs, that we might enter into his joy: he put on
the bloody garment of fin and death, that we
might be inveſted with the white and ſpotlefs robes
of righteouſneſs and life. He became not only one
* Rom. ii, 28.
+ 2 Cor. v. 21.
with
THE CIRCUMCISION.
195
with us, as the head is with the members; but one
for us, or in our ftead, as a furety is for a debtor.
And therefore, though, as the all perfect Son of
God, he could need neither circumcifion nor bap-
tiſm, yet, as the ſuffering reprefentative of fallen
human nature, he fubmitted to both, with the
fame view, namely, "to fulfil all righteoufnefs."
This was the argument he uſed to John, in the
caſe of his baptiſm, and it holdeth equally in that
of his circumcifion. For having once undertaken
to appear as our furety and fubftitute, it became
incumbent on him "to fulfil all righteouſneſs," to.
perform what we fhould have performed, and to
fuffer for what we did not perform. As the chil-
dren therefore were compounded of flesh and
blood, he partook of the fame; he was "made of
a woman:" as they were circumcifed, he was cir-
cumcifed alfo; he was made under the law."
23 *-
And indeed, it had profited us nothing, that he
was made of a woman, had he not likewife been
"made under the law;" for then the law could
never have apprehended him; the law, with its
penalties, having no concern with a perfon, who,
like him, was not an offender againſt it. For
"the law was not made for the righteous, but
for the lawleſs and difobedient."+ We are the
tranfgreffors, the debtors, whofe bond was forfeit-
ed, and "the handwriting of condemnation” ſtand-
ing in full force against us. But Chriſt, by fub-
mitting to the act of circumcifion, voluntarily put
himſelf under the law, and took the whole burthen
of it, as he did the croſs, upon his own fhoulders:
fince it is an axiom in theology, that "if any man
be circumcifed, he is a debtor to do the whole
law." Chrift therefore, by being circumcifed, be-
7
R 2
came
* Gal, iv. 4. † 1 Tim. i. 9.
Gal. v. 3
196
THE CIRCUMCISION.
came that debtor, and entered into covenant anew,
as man's furety, to pay the utmoſt farthing. But
the debt was not a pecuniary one. The law was
capital, and death the penalty incurred by the
breach of it. Life was the debt due from us, and
paid by Chrift to the juſtice of heaven. And there-
fore, when he took upon himſelf the obligation of
paying it, which was as at this time, the covenant
was made in the body of his flesh, and figned with
his precious blood; to fhew that in him, now
"made fin for us," the body of fin was to be cut
off and deftroyed; that the curfe of the law had
feized on him as the malefactor, (for fuch he vouch-
fafed to be accounted, and among fuch he did not
difdain to be numbered) and that his difciples,
who were really malefactors, might therefore "
go
their way"* free; the blood now fhed being an
earneft, that in due time he would fhed the whole,
and make his human nature an offering for fin.
This he hid upon the crofs, when he paid indeed
the uttermoſt farthing that the law itſelf could de-
mand, and fo fulfilled all juftice; thereby "can-
celling the hand writing of ordinances, taking it
out of the way, and nailing it to his cross,"† never
more to appear in judgment against us. And ac-
cordingly, to our great and endless comfort, it is
declared from the apoftolical chair, that "there is
now no condemnation to them that are in Chrift
Jefus." +
The way therefore is now open for us to proceed
to a confideration of the impofition of the name
JESUS, at the time of circumcifion. For then it
was, that Chriſt laid himſelf under the obligation
to SAVE, and began to anſwer to that facred and
glorious name. From the very moment in which
a
* John xviii. 8.
+ Col. ii. 14.
† Rom. v. i.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
197
a fufficient furety appears, and becomes refponfible
for the debt, "deliver the man," faith the creditor,
"I have found a ranfom."* The greatneſs of the
deliverance may be eftimated by the value of the
ranfom; and reciprocally, the value of the ranfom
by the greatneſs of the deliverance. The ranſom.
was the dear and only Son of God; the deliverance
was a deliverance from all the terrors of angry and
avenging heaven. "The law worketh wrath;" +
becauſe it condemneth the tranfgreffors thereof,
that is, without the intervention of the evangelical.
covenant of repentance, it condemneth every child:
of Adam; feeing that according to the conclufion-
fairly deduced by the fame Apoftle from undeniable
premiſes, "all have finned, and come fhort of the
glory of God." ±
But who fhall exprefs, or conceive adequate ideas:
of that condemnation, from which Chrift hath de-
livered us; of that wrath, which the law worketh
againſt every man, who ſhall have no furety to ap-
pear for him, in the day when God fhall come to
require an account? As far indeed as the elements
of nature can diſplay to human fenſe the terrible
majeſty of their great Creator: as far as his eternal:
power and Godhead can be manifeſted to the fons:
of earth by the things that are made; fo far did it
once pleaſe God to manifeft and diſplay them; and.
that, upon an occafion, which evidently pointeth
out to us his intention in fo doing. The occafion
I mean, was the giving of the law, the circumſtances:
of which are prefumed to be the beſt and fulleft
comment upon the apoftolical text before cited ;
"The law worketh wrath.' 22
Let imagination therefore place us for a few mi--
nutes at the foot of Sinai, where every man muſt
place:
R 3
Job xxxiii. 24.
†. Rom. iv. 25.
Rom. iii, 23..
1
198
THE CIRCUMCISION.
place himſelf, who would form an eſtimate of the
falvation wrought for him by Jefus Chrift. We
fhall find the mountain carefully fenced about, and
guarded by this awful prohibition; "Charge the
people, left they break through unto the Lord to
gaze, and many of them perifh.-For if fo much
as a beaft touch the mountain, he fhall be ftoned,
or ftruck throught with a dart. Take heed to
yourſelves therefore, ftand at the nether part of
the mount."* There then let us take our ſtation,
and behold a thick cloud, blacknefs of darkneſs,
fettling upon the mountain, and diffuſing itſelf a-
round; in the midft of this moft horrible night,
the flame of devouring fire rolling forth in dreadful
waves, and burning to the midft of heaven; light-
nings every moment iffuing from it, and breaking
through the furrounding gloom; the air inceffantly
thundering from every quarter; and above all, the
voice of a trumpet piercing the heavens, founding
long, and waxing louder and louder; the mountain
ſmoking like a furnace, and quaking greatly from
its foundations; all the people in the camp trem-
bling and dying for fear: nay, "fo terrible was
the fight, that even Mofes faid, I exceedingly fear
and quake."+ And if Mofes, who, as the figure of
him that fhould come, had the honour to be a me-
diator between an offended God and his offending
people, if he exceedingly feared and quaked at this
terrible fight, what muſt be the ftate of the care-
defs finner, who having incurred all this heavy dif-
pleaſure, nor ever employed an hour in meditating
his efcape, fhall be fuddenly called upon by death
to meet it all, unprepared? And who is there a-
mong us, that thinks himſelf prepared to meet his
God, as he appeared upon mount Sinai? Let the
experiment
Exod. xix, 12, 17, 21.
+ Heb. xii. 2h
THE CIRCUMCISION.
199
1
experiment be made only in an ordinary tempeſt
of thunder and lightning. No fooner is that glo-
rious voice of Jehovah heard in the heavens, but
the earth trembles and is ftill. "Hear attentively,"
faith Elihu in Job, "the noife of his voice, and
the found that goeth out of his mouth. He direc-
teth it under the whole heaven, and his light-
ning to the ends of the earth. At this my heart
trembleth, and is moved out of his place."+ What
fenfations then would be produced in the hearts
even of the beſt of men by a manifeftation like that
at Sinai? And if the righteous fcarcely fuftain it,
where fhall the ungodly and the finner appear?
Nor let any man think himſelf unconcerned in
that ſcence, becauſe it is paſt. The terrors of
mount Sinai are ſtill in force againſt every one who
is not found in Chrift Jefus; unless we fuppofe
that the deſpiſers of the Gofpel will fare better than
the contemners of the Law, and not rather be
thought worthy of much forer puniſhment. The
hour is coming, when our ears thall hear more
terrifying founds, than were feen and heard by the
houſe of Ifrael in the wilderness. For yet a little
while, and the fame God who was revealed from
heaven in flaming fire to give the law, fhall again
be revealed from heaven in flaming fire to enquire
how it hath been obferved, and to take vengeance
on thoſe who have not fecured unto themſelves a
ſponſor to ſtand in the gap for them. So that al-
though the things feen and heard at mount Sinai
did not affect us, yet the argument enlarged upon
by the Apoſtle, Heb. xii. undoubtedly doth; name-
ly, that if the law was fo terrible, when enacted,
how much more terrible muſt it be when required
at our hands by Gol, coming in glorious majefty
* Job xxxvii. 1, 2, 3.
to
200
THE CIRCUMCISION.
to judge the world? Then fhall there be blackness
of darkneſs, not for a time, but for ever; then
fhall the lightnings of Sinai be extended over all
the earth, and a fire be kindled which fhall not be
quenched; then fhall the heavens pafs away with.
the noiſe of a great and intolerable thunder; a far
louder trumpet fhall then not only pierce the ears
of the living, but alſo found an alarm through all
the regions of the grave, and awaken thofe who
ſhall have flept for ages in the duft; then he whofe
voice formerly fhook the earth, fhall fulfil his pro-
mife, "Yet once more I thake not the earth only
but alfo heaven :"* both of which fhall be remo-
ved, and their place no more be found; then fhall.
all the tribes of the earth, as well as thofe of Ifrael,
tremble, and mourn, and wail; and who, where
is he, that thinketh he ſhall not then find cauſe to
fay with Mofes, "So terrible is the fight, that I
exceedingly fear and quake !”
'
Such therefore is the wrath which the law work-
eth, and fuch is the condemnation of that "hand.
writing against us," from which our dear Maf-
ter and Redeemer, as at this time, the time of
his circumcifion, engaged to reſcue all who fhould
believe in him. Then it was, that he took upon
himſelf the law, and the penality annexed to the
breach of it, being (as an Apoftle has expreffed it)
"made a curſe for us, to redeem us from the curfe
of the law;" that is, to deliver us from the black.
darkneſs of fin and death; from the thunders and
lightnings of the Father's vengeance; from the
dread of the trumpet of eternal judgment; the diffo-
lution and deftruction of the world; the words of con-
demnation, and the unextinguishable flame: and ha-
ving delivered us from all thefe terrors, to introduce
* Heb. xii. 26.
* Gal. iii. 13.
us
THE CIRCUMCISION.
201
us to a far different ſcene of things; to the light of
righteouſneſs and immortality; to the peace and
love of God; to the ſtill fmall voice of evangelical
grace; to the harps of angels, and the mufic of
Hallelujahs; to the final fentence of abfolution,
"Come, ye bleffed;" to a kingdom that cannot
be moved; to the joys of heaven, and the glories .
of eternity. "For we are not come unto the
mount that might be touched, (the palpable, mate-
rial mount) that burned with fire, nor unto black-
nefs, and darkneſs and tempeft, and the found of
a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice
they that heard, intreated that the word ſhould not
be fpoken to them any more (for they could not
endure that which was commanded, and if ſo much
as a beaſt touch the mountain, it fhall be ſtoned or
thruſt through with a dart: and fo terrible was the
fight, that even Mofes faid, I exceedingly fear and
quake). But we are come unto mount Sion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Je-
rufalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general affembly and church of the firſt born
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge
of all, and to the fpirits of juſt men made perfect,
and to Jefus the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of fprinkling which fpeaketh bet-
ter things than that of Abel;"* the one crying as
loud for mercy, as the other did for vengeance.
And therefore, when this blood of fprinkling was
firſt ſhed, "when eight days were accompliſh-
ed for the circumcifing the child, his name was
called JESUS, which was fo named of the angel,
before he was conceived in the womb, faying, Thou
fhalt call his name JESUS, for he ſhall SAVE his peo-
ple from their fins."*
The
* Heb. xii. 18, &c.
Matth. i. 21,
202
THE CIRCUMCISION.
The doctrine of the day being thus ſtated and
explicated, nothing remains, but that we reduce it
to practice. Something Chrift hath left us, in eve-
ry myſtery, to believe, and to admire; fomething
alfo to love, and to imitate. The legal ceremony
of circumcifion, having received its accomplishment
in Jefus, became of courfe-null and void; infomuch,
that the performance of it afterwards was juftly
deemed a renunciation of Chriſt, a denial of his
advent in the flesh; for fo the Apoftle witneffeth;
"Behold, I Paul fay unto you, that if ye be cir-
cumcifed, Chrift fhall profit you nothing." This
is the unhappy cafe of the Jews, to this day; who,
having loft the evangelical faith of their fathers,
ftill continue under the law, with all its judgments
in force against them; and this muſt be their cafe,
until their heart fhall turn to the Lord their God,
until they ſhall be led to acknowledge the holy Je-
fus, as the end of the law, and the Saviour of the
world. In the mean time, by us who believe, the
doctrine is to be tranfmitted from the head to the
heart, there by the operation of the eternal Spirit
to do away what St James ftyleth "the fuperfluity
of maliciouſneſs," + cleanſing us from all filthineſs
of flesh and fpirit, that we may perfect holiness in
the fear of God. It is true, that fin was myftical-
ly cut off, and deſtroyed, in the body of Chriſt;
but wherefore? That it might live and flouriſh in
us? God forbid. Chrift was made fin for us, not
that we might continue in fin, but that we
might become the righteouſneſs of God in him.
For if we be dead to fin in Chrift our repre-
fentative, how can we, confiftently with our pro-
feffion, live any longer therein? How can the cir-
cumcifion of Chrift profit any one, who celebrates
* Gal. v. 2.
† Пsgirelay kaxix; -Jam, i. 1,
the
1
THE CIRCUMCISION.
203
the feftival as conftantly as it returns, himſelf ſtill
continuing "uncircumcifed in heart and ears?” Or,
in other words, how can his baptifm fave him,
whoſe life is one perpetual renunciation of it? For
baptifin, which fucceeded in the place of circum-
cifion, takes up the mystery, where that left it.
The one fheweth fin cut off, in and with the body
of Chrift; the other reprefenteth it as buried in his
grave, and the new man, through the power of his
refurrection, rifen again, without fin, unto falvation.
And one cannot but admire the manner in which
St Paul hath interwoven the fpiritual application of
thefe two facraments of the old and new law. "Ye
are compleat (faith he to his Colloffians) in Chrift,
who is the head of all principality and power. In
whom alfo ye are circumciſed with the circumcifion
made without hands, by the circumcifion of Chriſt
buried in baptiſm, wherein alfo ye are rifen
with him, through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raiſed him from the dead:
and you, being dead in your fins and the uncir-
cumcifion of your flesh, hath he quickened toge
ther with him, having forgiven you all trefpaffes."*
We are to labour therefore after the fpirit and
power of theſe two facraments in our hearts, that
they may be manifeſted in our lives and converfa
tions. Otherwife, the letter of them can only con-
demn us
For as he is not a Jew, ſo neither is he
a Chriftian, who is one outwardly; but he is a
true Jew, and he is a true Chriftian, who is fo
inwardly; from whofe heart and members the luft
of the flesh, the luft of the eyes, and the pride of
life are cut off who is dead and buried to fin, and
riſen again to righteoufnefs. This bleffed work fa-
cramentally fhewn forth and begun in baptifm, is
* Cel. ii. 10.
to
ป
204
THE CIRCUMCISION.
to be continued through life by the fucceffive reno
vations of repentance, by daily acceffions of know-
ledge, faith, and charity, producing and carrying
on a gradual growth in grace, until it be perfected.
And as the feafon annually returns, when it plea-
feth God to begin again his work which men ſo of-
ten behold, of renewing the face of the earth, by
commanding the fun to revifit and cheer our world,
where nature, during his abfence, hath drooped
and languiſhed away, but is again to be raiſed from
the death and deformity of winter, to the life and
beauty of fpring, until, by a filent, progreffive ope-
ration, the year being crowned with the loving
kindneſs of the Lord; are we not hereby directed
to look up by faith to the great luminary of the in-
tellectual world, who declareth from his glorious
throne, "Behold I make all things new ;"* be-
ſeeching him to arife upon us with healing in his
wings; to vifit us with the light of his countenance
and the joy of his falvation, that fo old things may
paſs away, and we may be renewed in the ſpirit of
our minds; to diſperſe the clouds and darkneſs of
ignorance; to lay the wintry ftorms and tempefts
of difordered paffions, and introduce into our
hearts the calm and gladſome ſpring of everlaſting
righteouſneſs and peace; to pour upon the year all
the bleffings of that glorious feſtival, with which
it commenceth; and, in one word, by making it
HOLY, to make it HAPPY,
* Rev. xxi. 5..
DISCOURSE XII.
THE EPIPHANY.
MATTH. ii. 1, 2.:
Now when Jefus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in
the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wife
men from the east to Jerufalem, faying, Where is he
that is born king of the Jews? For we have feen his
ftar in the east, and are come to worſhip him.
IN this remarkable part of facred ftory there are
two particulars, on which, at the prefent feaſon,
we are called upon to employ our meditations.
And as they will fuggeft ample matter for that
purpoſe, I ſhall crave your leave to enter upon a
difcuffion of them without any farther preface.
The particulars are theſe:
First, The perfons here mentioned by St Mat
thew.
Secondly, Their journey.
Firſt, then, let us contemplate the perfons here
mentioned by St Matthew, their country and condition.
With regard to their country, the text gives us
no farther information, than that they came from
the east. Of the ancient expofitors fome mention
Chaldea, others Perfia, but others, among whom
are Juftin Martyr, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Epi-
phanius, with more probability perhaps, affign
Arabia Felix, a country lefs diftant from Judea,
and lying to the fouth east of it; the fame country
VOL. I.
9
pointed
206
THE EPIPHANY.
pointed out by the Pfalmift, when, predicting the
acceffion of the Gentiles, he faith, "The kings of
Sheba and Seba fhall offer gifts:" the country from
whence, attended by a train of camels bearing
ſpices, came the queen of Sheba to the court of the
temporary and reprefentative PRINCE OF PEACE;
the country particularly ſpecified in the lx. chapter
of Ifaiah "All they from Sheba * fhall come;
they fhall bring gold and incenfe, and they fhall
fhew forth the praiſes of the Lord:" a country re-
markable, by the teftimony of hiſtorians, for plenty
of gold, and of the moſt precious aromatics: a
country, in the neighbourhood of which Balaam
uttered and left behind him his famous prophecy,
concerning the "Star that ſhould arife out of Jacob.'
As to the condition of theſe eaftern travellers, it
is faid by the Evangelift, .they were Mayo; a term
then applied, among all the nations of the eaſt, in
its primary and good fenfe, to thoſe who gave them-
felves up to the purfuit of wisdom and knowledge,
by all the means in their power. They were the
great mathematicians, philofophers, and divines of
the ages in which they lived, and had no other.
knowledge but that which, by their own ſtudy, and
the inſtructions of the ancients of their fect, they
had attained unto. But as their credit in the
world, on theſe accounts, was fo great, that a learn-
ed man and a Magian became equivalent terms, the
vulgar looking on their knowledge to be more than、
natural, entertained an opinion of them, as if they
had been actuated and infpired by fupernatural
powers, in the fame manner as has too frequently
happened, at other times, and in other places. In
the number of thefe Magi, or learned men, of old,
perfons
* Sabea-extrema Arabiæ Felicis regio, Perfico finui proxima.
VITRINGA in loc.
THE EPIPHANY.
207
!
}
perfons not only of noble but of royal extraction
often thought proper to enliſt themſelves. Many,
therefore, have imagined thefe Magi to have been
fuch; and the fuppofition, all circumftances con-
fidered, is not improbable.
But the particular, of which we are certain, in
which we are chiefly interefted, and which at this
time, claims our attention, is, that they were Gen-
tiles, aliens, by nature, like ourſelves, from the com-
monwealth of Ifrael, and ftrangers to the covenant:
of promife.
P
·
In the family of Noah, the true religion was uni-
verſal or catholic. It continued to be fo, till the
days of Abraham, when the general apoftacy of the
nations to idolatry made it neceffary that a family
fhould be called forth, and ſeparated from the pol-
lution that was in the world, to be the happy in-
ftrument of preſerving faith upon earth, "till the
feed fhould come, to whom the promiſe was made.”
By this ſtep in the divine diſpenſations, it was never
intended to "put the candle under a buſhel, but
to place it on a candleſtick," and there to keep it
burning, that it might give light to thofe that were:
in the houſe, and to thoſe who ſhould enter into it.
Many; from time to time, did enter into it; and
therefore many more might have entered in, had it
fo pleaſed them. The tranfactions of God with his
chofen people were not carried on in a corner; and
there was no period, in which he left himſelf with-
out witneſs among the nations round about them.
Let us take a curſory view of the divine proceed-
ings, in this light only.
Of Abraham's call the inhabitants of the country
from which he was called, and, in confequence of
that call, departed for ever, could not have been
ignorant; and as many as were difpofed to obey
S. 2
the:
208
THE EPIPHANY.
A
the admonition of heaven, might, doubtlefs, have
had permiffion to attend him.
The patriarchal families, in their fojournings,
travelled through many of the countries inha-
bited in thofe early ages. By the governors of
thofe countries we find them treated with reve-
pence, and acknowledged to be prophets, nay,
"mighty princes of God." The ftory of their di-
vine call and deſtination muſt have been the ſubject
of converfation, wherever they came, nor would.
they be backward to make it fo. They would, of
courſe, communicate to others what heaven had
communicated to them. They would exhort men,
as they went, to fave themſelves from that unto-
ward generation. That fuch converfations and
fuch exhortations were not without fruit, we may
conclude from the mention that is made of "the
fouls which they had gotten in Haran," or the per-
fons they had converted, and adopted into the holy
. family. The behaviour of Abimelech and his fub-
jects is very obfervable, and fhews there was, even
among them, a fenfe and fear of God, which, it is
to be apprehended, we might now look for in vain,
in countries calling themſelves Chriftian.
The deliverance of Abraham's brother Lot, and
the unparalleled overthrow of the cities of the plain,
by fire from heaven, muſt have been a very awa-
kening and affecting call to all within hearing.
In procefs of time, we find Egypt, then the moſt
powerful and learned of nations, opening its hofpi-
table arms to receive the family of Jacob, having
owed its prefervation, in the days of dearth to one
of that family, ordained, in a wonderful manner,
to fave much people alive. Here the church was
fettled, increaſed, and flouriſhed for more than
three hundred years, bearing teftimony to the true
religion, in the eye of the world.,
Let
}
THE EPIPHANY.
2092
}
Let any one confider with himſelf the aſtoniſh-
ing feries of miracles wrought by Mofes on a ftage
fo public as this; the paffage through the Red Sea;
the deſtruction of Pharaoh and his hoft; the march
of the Ifraelitiſh army, with the divine Shechinah,
or Glory, in the midst of it; the awful and tre--
mendous appearance on mount Sinai, at the pro--
mulgation of the law; their entrance into Canaàn;
the paffage of Jordan; the fall of Jericho; the ex-
cifion of the devoted nations; could all theſe things
be done, and the rumour of them not fpread, in:
thoſe days, among the nations, both thofe that:
were near, and thoſe that were afar off?
you
The fame of this diftinguiſhed and extraordinary
people muſt have increaſed with their conqueſts,.
till univerfal peace was eſtabliſhed in the days of
Solomon. To his court the princes of the earth
reforted; ftruck with his glory, charmed with his
wiſdom, and defirous of being inftructed by him...
Would know the exalted fentiments entertain-·
ed by them of him, and of the people over whom he
prefided?. Liſten to the queen of Sheba ſpeaking for
them all. "It was a true report that Fheard, in-
mine own land, of thine acts, and of thy wiſdom.
Howbeit, I believed not the words until I came,
and mine eyes had feen it: and behold, the half
was not told me; thy wiſdom and profperity ex-
ceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy-
men, happy are theſe thy fervants, which ſtand
continually before thee, and that hear thy wiſdom.
Bleffed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in
thee, to ſet thee on the throne of Ifrael; becaufe
the Lord loved Ifrael for ever, therefore made he:
thee king, to do judgment and juftice." **
X
S 3
J
The:
* "In Solomon's time there were 153000 profelytes in the land
of Ifrael. 2 Chron. ii, 17." See FLEURY'S Hiftory of the Ifraelites,
Parks
1
2:10-
THE EPIPHANY.
1
The miffion of the prophet Jonah to preach re
pentance to the inhabitants of the great city Nine-
veh, the capital of the Affyrian empire, is an event,
which deferves a place in your confiderations on-
the fubject before us.
When the Babylonian power was at its height
under Nebuchadnezzar, the people of God, for
their tranfgreffions, were carried into captivity by
him. Reflect upon the very remarkable incidents
to which that captivity gave birth; the interpreta-
tion of the monarch's dreams; the accomplishment
of one of them, by his degradation, and fubfequent
reſtoration; the preſervation of the three children
in the furnace, and of Daniel, in the den of lions;
with the decrees, in favour of true religion, pro-
mulgated through the whole extent of that enor-
mous empire, to which most of the kingdoms of
the known world were at that time fubject.
·
Upon the ruins of the Babylonian empire arofe
that of the Medes and Perfians; the celebrated
founder of which began his reign with the publica-
tion of a decree, for the return of God's chofen
people to their own land, with leave to rebuild their
city and temple.
The profperity and felicity of Ifrael after their
return from Babylon; the interview between the
High Prieſt and Alexander, when upon his march
to the conqueft of Perfia, as it ftands recorded by
Jofephus; the well known exploits of the Macca-.
bees againſt Antiochus; the connection formed, a-
bout
Part ii. Chap. ix. P. 84. This little book contains a conciſe,
pleaſing, and juſt account of the manners, cuſtoms, laws, polity, and
religion of the Ifraelites. It is an excellent introduction to the
reading of the Old Teftament, and ſhould be put into the hands
of every young perfon. An elegant English version of it, by Mr
FARNEWORTH, dedicated to the prefent Archbishop of CANTER
BURY, was printed in 1756, for WHISTON, WHITE, and BALDWIN,
THE EPIPHANY.
21E
!
bout that period, between the Jews and the Ro
mans; the tranflation of the Scriptures into Greek,
and the univerfal expectation produced thereby a-
mong the nations, of a ruler that fhould come out
of Judea-All theſe confiderations, though perhaps
they are fuffered, in the courfe of our reading to
glide by us unobferved, as they occur feparately,
and unconnected with each other, yet when they
are thrown together, and duly weighed, may ferve
greatly to affift us in forming our judgment con-
cerning the ſtate of the Gentiles, and the teſtime-
ny from time to time borne to the true religion, by
the then church of God, in the heathen world. *
Notwithſtanding the light heaven has been pleafed
to manifeft, whether in former or in latter times,
many, both individuals and nations, have ſtill con--
tinued to fit in darkness, and the fhadow of death.
The fate of fuch it is not our bufinefs to determine.
One thing we know, and more we cannot, more
we need not know; that in the laft great day,
when that point and all others fhall be finally fet-
tled, He is to fettle them, who, before men and
angels, "will be juftified in his faying, and cleár-
when he is judged," What mercy can do, mercy
will do. All iniquity fhall then ſtop her mouth,
and no perſon that fhall be condemned, will have
power or reaſon to complain. To the curiofity,
which, negligent, of its own intereſt in Chriſt, is
ever anxioufly enquiring into the future deftination
of thoſe who never heard of him, the proper an-
fwer,
พ
* The reader will find many curious and valuable obſervations
upon this important and intereſting ſubject, in the Bishop of Car-
LISLE's Theory of Religion, Part the 2nd; as alfo, in a differtation
of Dr WATERLAND, fubjoined to Scripture vindicated. See alfo ·
LELAND's advantage and neceffity of the Chriftian Revelation, Part. i. .
Ch, 29:
!
ふ
​212
THE EPIPHANY.
fwer, furely, is" What is that to thee? Fol
low thou me. ""
*
That the Jew, with the Scriptures in his hands,
fhould be blind to the counfels of God refpecting
the Gentiles and their return to the church, is in--
deed truly marvellous. It was foretold, that the
pofterity of Japheth fhould one day " dwell in the
tents of Shem;"* that in the promiſed feed of A-
braham "all the nations of the earth fhould be
bleffed;" + that to Shiloh fhould "the gathering
of the nations be." Ifaiah is very exprefs, and
faith; There ſhall be a root of Jeffe," which fhall
ftand for an enfign of the people; to it fhall the
Gentiles feek, and his reft fhall be glorious. -It.
is a light thing that thou ſhouldeſt be my fervant,
to raiſe up the tribes of Jacob, and to reſtore the
preferved of Ifrael; I will alſo give thee for a light; `
to the Gentiles, that thou mayeft, be my falvation
to the ends of the earth §-Arife, fhine, for thy
light is come, and the glory of the Lord is rifen
upon thee. For behold, darknefs fhall cover the:
earth, and grofs darkneſs the people; but the:
Lord fhall arife upon thee, and his glory fhall be:
feen upon thee. And the Gentiles fhall come to»
thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rifing.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and fee; all they
gather themſelves together, they come to thee; thy
fons ſhall come from far, and thy daughters ſhall·
be nurfed at thy fide. Then thou fhalt fee, and
flow together, and thine heart fhall fear, and be
enlarged; becauſe the abundance of the fea fhall
be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles
fhall come unto thee." No lefs clear are ſeveral
paffages in the Pfalms, which never failed to make
a part
* Gen. ix. 27.
↑ Ifai. xi, 10.
+ Gen. xii. 3.
§. Ifai. xlix. 6.
¡
Gen. xlix. 10.
¶ Ifai. lx. 1, &c. .
THE EPIPHANY."
213
1
a part of the fynagogue fervice. "All the ends of
the world fhall remember, and turn unto the Lord,
and all the kindreds of the nations fhall worthip
before him. *-The princes of the nations fhall be
joined to the people of the God of Abraham. †—
Praiſe the Lord all ye heathen, praife him all ye
nations; for his merciful kindneſs is ever more and
more towards us, and the truth of the Lord endu-
reth for ever."‡
>
The event, which bore fo capital a fhare in the
gracious defigns of the Almighty, which was thus
predicted, and celebrated beforehand, by patriarchs
and prophets, began, as at this feaſon, to take
place, by the coming of the eaſtern fages to Beth-
lehem, in the name of us all, as reprefentatives of
the heathen world. They were the firſt-fruits of
that glorious harveſt, afterwards reaped and ga-
thered by the Apoſtles and their fucceffors; they
were the ftandard-bearers of that noble army,
which, from the four quarters of the globe, hath
fince marched into the church, throw the gates
mercifully thrown open to admit them. From the
confideration of the perfons mentioned in the text,
we proceed therefore to confider,
Secondly, their journey; the occafion, and the
end of it; They came to Jerufalem, faying,
Where is he that is born king of Jews? For we
have feen his ftar in the eaſt, and are come to wor-
fhip him."
The birth of Chrift was first revealed to the thep-
herds, who were Jews. For that purpoſe, the an-
gel of the Lord defcended from heaven, and the
glory of the Lord ſhone round about them; a pro-
per intimation of his appearance, at the brightneſs
of whoſe rifing on the intellectual world, darkneſs
was
through
* Pf. xxii. 27.
† Pf. xlvii. 9..
† Pf. cxvii.
}
214
THE EPIPHANY.
ý.
was to vaniſh, and the fhadows fly away.
A fign
of the fame import was vouchfafed to the Gentiles
as their conductor to the new born Redeemer of
mankind. "A ftar, which they faw in the eaſt,
went before them, till it came, and ftood over
where the young child was."
I fhall not take up your time in propofing con-
jectures on the nature and form of this ftar. It
was undoubtedly fuch, as might beſt anſwer the
end in view; and probably far exceeded the other
ftars, to appearance, in magnitude and brightneſs;
as it notified the birth of one, who was fairer than
the children of men, on whom refted the ſpirit of
grace and glory.
ધ
•
How jutt and how beautiful an emblem was ſuch a
ftar of the bleffed perfon to whom it pointed! Celeſtiak
in its original; framed of the pureft materials; ad-
mitting no drofs and bafenefs into its compofition;
without ſpot, or the fhadow of a cloud; fhedding
a luftre incapable of being fullied by the objects
on which it fell, and paffing through all things un-
defiled; moving above the world, though moving
in it; placed in heaven, to give light upon the
earth; rifing in the eaft, but diffufing its glories to
the weft; the firſt-fruits of the day, the bright and
the morning ftar, difpelling the fhades, clearing
fkies, eclipfing the other luminaries, reigning alone
and unrivalled in the firmament; from thence, not
more bright than beneficial, exerting an influence,
powerful, though filent and fecret; directing and
attracting men to the falvation it portended!*
The eaftern Magi, as is evident from the text,
underſtood, before they began their journey, that
the
See thefe particulars beautifully expanded and enlarged upon,
by the admirable Dr South, in a difcourfe upon Rev. xxii. 16.
"I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and
morning ſtar." Vol. iii. Serm. vii.
1
THE EPIPHANY.
215
the ftar which they faw did by its appearance indi-
cate the birth of " the King of the Jews," that is
of the perfon foretold and expected, under that
character, among the people of God. They un-
derſtood, that this perfon, though ftiled "King
of the Jews," would accept the oblations of the
Gentiles, and extend to them the bleffings of his
reign. They understood, as it ſhould feem, that
he was more than man; "We have ſeen his ſtar
in the eaſt, and are come to worship him.' By.
what means is it likely they ſhould have attained
this knowledge?
It is certain, that at the period when theſe things
happened, and for fome time preceding it, a gene-
ral expectation of a ruler to arife in Judea prevailed
all over the world. Suetonius, not to mention o-
ther hiftorians, expreſsly tells us, that an ancient
and uninterrupted opinion had prevailed in all the
eaft, that at that time (namely, at the beginning of
the laft Jewish war) it was decreed by the fates,
that ſome coming out of Judea ſhould obtain the
fovereignty. And no wonder, as a learned writer
well obferves, that fuch an opinion fhould be pro-
pagated throughout the eaft, when we confider the
vaft number of Jews, which were ſpread over all
the eaſtern countries. In the reign of Ahafuerus,
of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the Jews were difper-
fed throughout all the provinces of the Perfian mo-
narchy, and that, in numbers fufficient to defend
themſelves againſt their enemies in thoſe provinces
and many of the people of the land alfo, as we
read in the book of Efther, became Jews. After
the Babyloniſh captivity, the Jews increaſed ſo
mightily, that we find them not only throughout
Afia, but in Africa, and in many cities and iſlands
of Europe, mentioned in the ſecondchapter of the
Acts.
}
216
THE EPIPHANY.
?
Acts. Wherever they dwelt, they made many profe-
lytes to their religion; and in their attempts to this
purpoſe, they muft very much ſpread the expecta-
tion of the Meffiah's coming; an article fo important
in itſelf, and fo flattering to their national vanity.
Theſe opportunities of being informed of the ap-
proaching Advent of the great King, the Magians
of the eaſt enjoyed in common with many other
people. To which it may be added, that Zoroaf-
ter, the famous reformer of the Magian fect, is
generally faid to have been by extraction a Jew,
and to have lived as a fervant with one of the pro-
phets, probably Daniel; he was well acquainted-
with the writings of Mofes, and has inferted in his
book many particulars from them.
Now, if we ſuppoſe the minds of men, of learn-
ed men more eſpecially, to have been in this man-
ner prepared, and rendered attentive to what hap-
pened, the fudden appearance of a new ſtar in the
heavens, fuper-eminent in fplendor, and pointing
towards Judea, might, perhaps, even without any
farther information, be conftrued by them as a fign
that the long looked for Prince and Saviour was
actually born.
If we farther fuppofe, that the famous prediction,
delivered in the mountains of the eaſt, by Balaam,
a prophet of their own, who, having his eyes open-
ed, faw, and mentioned, fo many ages before its
appearance, "the STAR that ſhould arife out of Ja-
cob, the fceptre that ſhould come out of Ifrael ;" *
if we ſuppoſe, I fay, that this famous prediction
was carefully preferved, and handed down from
one generation to another, as would moſt probably-
be the cafe, it doubtless might have lent its affift-
ance at this time, and upon this occaſion.
* Numbers xxiv. 17.
1
As
THE EPIPHANY.
217
But after all, when we confider, that every cir-
cumſtance relative to the birth of Chrift was, and
muft needs be, extraordinary and ſupernatural, full
of wonder, and full of myftery; when we reflect
on the journey and oblations of thefe fages, thus
repreſenting, as it were, the whole heathen world,
nowat length returning to the acknowledgement and
adoration of its Redeemer, who fhould have been
all along an object of faith to the nations, as well as
to the Jews; why fhould we not conclude, that as
an angel accompanied the glory that ſhone round
the Jewiſh fhepherds, and proclaimed to them the
nativity of Jefus ;. fo fome beneficent fpirit was en-
joined to communicate to theſe Gentile philofophers
the fame gracious and comfortable intelligence.
This, however, we may moft affuredly conclude,
that he who hung out the ftar in the firmament,
viſible to their outward eyes, took care that it
fhould not be hung out in vain; but that ſome at-
tendant light fhould at the fame time fhine inward,
and irradiate their minds with the knowledge of its
fignification and import.
The fact is clear. They faw, they underſtood,
they fet out. No diftance, no difficulties, no dan-
gers, were fufficient to deter them. They paffed
the rocks and fands of the deferts, "the tents of
Kedar,” and “the hills of the robbers." Children
of the faith of Abraham, they left their own country,
obeying the heavenly call. Led by the ftar, as the
Ifraelites of old by the pillar of fire, they purſued
their way through the wildernefs to the land of
Promife, there to feek him, "in whom all the
promifes of God," made to the Gentiles, as well
as to the Jews, "were yea and amen."
Arrived at Jerufalem, they imparted the glad
tidings to thoſe from whom they ſhould have received
VOL. I.
them.
T
218
THE EPIPHANY.
↓
them. Neither afraid of Herod, nor afhamed of
Meffiah, they profeffed openly the occafion of their
journey. They believed, and therefore they ſpake.
"Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" To
you, O ye rulers and teachers in Ifrael, we apply
ourfelves. You must know the birth-place of the
Redeemer. Saw ye him whom we feek? Tell us
where we may find, and adore him.
Far other fentiments were excited, by this quef-
tion in the breaft of Herod. Human policy would
not ſuffer him to hear of a king, without thinking
of a rival; and therefore he immediately projected
a plan for the deftruction of the new born prince.
For this end he fummoned a council of the chief
prieſts and elders, and demanded of them, where
Chrift fhould be born? Their lips were intended
to preſerve knowledge; and they did fo. They
anſwered, in Bethlehem of Judea; and cited their
authority from the prophet Micah. They gave true
information, and directed others aright, though they
went not, themfelves. Herod enquired concerning
Chriſt, as many do concerning his religion, in order
not to revere and obey, but to oppoſe and deftroy.
The Magi, having now obtained the defired in-
formation, proceeded to Bethlehem; and left their
ardour ſhould be damped by any doubt, lo the ſtar
which they faw in the eaft, and which, therefore,
had difappeared for a time, again "went before them,
till it came and ſtood over where the young child
was." The fight of their original and faithful mo-
nitor cheared their fpirits, difpelling every anxious
and uneafy thought. "When they faw the ftar,
they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
When their guide had conducted them to their
journey's end, we read not that they were at all of-
fended, or difconcerted, at the humble and lowly
Mtate
I
2
THE EPIPHANY.
219
•
ftate in which they found the heaven-proclaimed
king. The queen of Sheba came from far to hear
the wisdom, and fee the glory of Solomon. She
accordingly heard his wifdom, and faw his glory.
both beyond even her high raifed expectation. Thefe
men came from far, to behold the king of the
Jews. But in his appearance there was neither
beauty, nor glory, that they fhould defire, or ad-
mire him. They faw, they heard nothing, but
figns of poverty and weaknefs. Great, furely, was
their faith; and greater, one is tempted to think,
muſt have been their knowledge of the divine dif-
penfations, than we are aware of. Where the ſtar
refted, there was the perſon whom they had been
directed to ſeek. They therefore entered, and a-
dored; and the Gentiles acknowledged him, whom
the Jews difowned and rejected. They offered to
him the richest productions of the country from
whence they came; fuch things as were moft pre-
cious, and of higheſt uſe and fignification in orna--
menting and exalting the fervices of the temple and
altar. All they (fays Ifaiah) "from Sheba fhall
come; they fhall bring gold and incenſe, and," by
fo doing, "they fhall fhew forth the praiſes of the
Lord," while they thus devote themfelves and
their ſubſtance to his fervice. And fince the eaf-
tern Magi, as hath been before obferved, are upon
this occafion to be confidered by us as the delegates ·
and deputies of the heathen world, the hiſtory of
their journey and their oblations fpeaks the fame
language with that employed by St John in the Re-
velation, concerning the Chriftian church. "And
the nations of them that are faved fhall walk in the
light of it; and the gates of it fhall not be fhut at
all; and the kings of the earth do bring their glo-
ry and honour into it."†
?
Some
* Ifai. lx. 6.
† Rev. xxi. 24.
220
THE EPIPHANY.
}
Some reflections on the ſubject naturally offer
themſelves, in the way of application.
And firft, Let us evermore, on this returning
feſtival, give thanks unto our Lord God, for the
revelation of that great mystery of mercy, the re-
ftoration of the Gentiles to the church, from which
they had been, for ſo many ages, excluded; rather
fhould we fay, they had excluded themfelves. The
unhappy prodigal voluntarily left, his father's houſe,
the door of which was ſtill open, whenever he
fhould be difpofed to return, and re-enter. But
the time was long, ere he came to himſelf, and
thought of being again received into the family of
the faithful. No fooner was that the cafe, than
the Father, as if he had all along been looking out
in hope and expectation of his child, faw him while
he was yet a great way off, ran to meet him, em-
braced him with a parent's tenderness, brought
him into his houfe, made a feaft for him, and com-
manded that no voice fhould be heard but that of
joy and gladneſs, becauſe he that had been loft was
now found; he that had been dead was now alive.
again!-O fing unto the Lord a new fong; fing
unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord,
blefs his name; thew forth his falvation from day
to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his
wonders among all people. For the Lord is great
and greatly to be praifed; he is to be feared above
all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols:
but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and ma-
jeſty are before him: ftrength and beauty are in his
fanctuary !" *
-
Secondly, it may be remarked, that the perfons
who came as at this time to Bethlehem, were the
learned of their country, men particularly addicted
* Pf. xcvi. 1, &c.
to
THE EPIPHANY.
221
·
to the ſciences of philoſophy and aſtronomy. They
contemplated the heavens, and at length were fa-
voured with the fight of a ftar, which led them to
him who made the heavens, and who was then de-
ſcended from on high, to perform a work ftill more
wonderful. Man was formed with an underſtand-
ing, for the attainmen: of knowledge; and happy is
he, who is employed in the purfuit of it. Igno-
rance is in it's nature unprofitable; but every kind
of knowledge may be turned to ufe: Diligence is
generally rewarded with the difcovery of that which
it feeks after; fometimes, of that which is much
more valuable. Human learning, with the blef-
fing of God, upon it, introduces us to divine wif-
dom; and while we ſtudy the works of nature, the
God of nature will manifeft himſelf to us; fince,
to a well tutored mind, "The heavens," without
a miracle, " declare his glory, and the firmament
fheweth his handy work."
Thirdly, from the example of the Magi, Let us
learn to be very watchful and obfervant of thoſe
lights, which at fundry times and in divers manners
are vouchfafed to us. At the last day, when the
fecrets of all hearts fhall be difclofed, and the cir-
cumftances of our lives fhall pafs in review, it will
then be ſeen, that God did not "leave himſelf
without witnefs.". It will appear, that the finner
had many calls, both from within, and from with-
out, to which he might have hearkened; and to
which if he had hearkened, they had been the
means of correcting, inftructing, and faving him.
Above all things, how attentive fhould we be to
the Scriptures, wherein are contained the words
that muſt finally decide the fate of thofe who have
them in their hands, and are capable of perufing
them. In them fhines, with pure and ever-increaf-
ing
222
THE EPIPHANY.
ing luftre, the fure word of prophecy, pointing al-
ways from the beginning to the Saviour of mankind,
and at laſt marking out the very place of his birth;
like the ftar in the eaft, moving onward in its
fphere, "till it came, and ftood over, where the
young child was.” If we are not led by the one
to feek after the Redeemer, furely they who fet
out for Judea, upon the evidence of the other, `
muſt riſe up in the judgment againſt us, and con-
demn us.
Laftly, When we reflect upon the difficulties
→ and dangers that lay in the way of theſe eaſtern ſa-
.ges, and the unremitting perfeverance which van-
quiſhed them all, we fhall blufh at the remem-
brance of thoſe trifling obftructions in our Chrif-
tian courſe, which we have fo often been tempted
to deem infuperable. Our faith, once fixed on the
bafis of its proper evidence, fhould never be fha-
ken by the cavils of fceptical and licentious men.
For when there is great ftrength of argument fet
before us, if we refufe to do what appears moft fit
to be done till every little objection is removed that
metaphyfical refinement can invent, we fhall never
take one wife refolution, as long as we live. Let
faith, therefore, have its perfect work; let it go
on, conquering, and to conquer, till we have there-
by compleatly overcome the world. Though He-
rod fhould be moved, and all Jerufalem with him,
let us follow our heavenly conductor, and, rejoi-
cing with exceeding great joy, proceed directly to
Bethlehem. There, through meannefs, poverty,
and obfcurity, let us diſcern the king of the Jews,
give him the honour due unto his name, acknow-
ledge and adore him, as our Lord, and our God.
And fince we are commanded not to appear before
the Lord empty, let us bring preſents, when we
come
THE EPIPHANY.
223
come into his courts. Let us offer to him of our
fubftance, and the firft fruits of our increafe; let
us offer to him of the true riches, with which he
has bleſſed us; faith, tried, precious, refplendent,
as gold; devotion, afcending from fervent affec-
tions, like the fmoke of frankincenfe from the holy
altar; love, peace, joy, and the other graces of
fanctification, fragrant, cheering, and diffufive,
like "myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief fpices,
and powders of the merchant." Let us offer to
him our ftrength, our time, and our talents, our
fouls and bodies, all we have, all we are, to wor-
fhip and obey him this day, and every day which
it fhall pleaſe him to add to our lives. With theſe
difpofitions and refolutions if we now come to his
light, and haſte to the brightneſs of his rifing, we
ſhall hereafter behold him in his meridian exalta-
tion, when heaven and earth fhall be full of the
majesty of his glory; when, the laft enemy being
deſtroyed, he fhall appear, as the "Prince of
Peace," in a city that hath foundations; when all
kings fhall fall down before him, all nations fhall
ferve him; when he fhall reign for ever and ever,
King of kings, and Lord of lords; when he fhall
receive, as his juſt and rightful tribute (the only
tribute which can then be paid) the praifes of his
redeemed fubjects, and the everlaſting hallelujahs
of the celeftial choir, afcribing, as we now do, to
him, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, all
bleffing, and honour, and glory, and power, might,
majeſty, and dominion, for ever and ever.
let all the people fay, AMEN.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
And
DISCOURSES
}
ON
SEVERAL SUBJECTS
AND
OCCASIONS.
BY GEORGE HORNE, D. D.
LATE BISHOP OF NORWICH,
AND PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD.
THE FOURTH EDITION;
TO WHICH IS NOW PREFIXED,
1
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR.
ND.
VOLUME SECOND.
1
PERTH:
PRINTED BY R. MORISON JUNIOR,
FOR R. MORION & SON, BOOKSELLERS, PERTH.
M,DCCXCIV.
CONTENT S
,
DISCOURSE I.
The Righteous Delivered.
Gen. xix. 29.
A
And it came to pass, when God deftroyed the cities of the
plain, that God remembered Abraham, and ſent Lot
out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew
the cities in which Lot dwelt.
IN
Preached before the Univerſity of Oxford, at St
Mary's, Feb. 12, 1769, being the 1ft Sunday in Lent:-
DISCOURSE II.
The Sinner called..
EPHES. V. 14.
1
Awake, thou that ſleepeſt, and arise from the dead, and
Chrift fhall give thee light.
17
Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, at St
Peter's, March 1, 1761, being the 4th Sunday in
Lent.
DISCOURSE III.
The Noble Convert.
ACTS viii. 34, 35:
And the eunuch anfwered Philip, and faid, I pray thee,
of whom Speaketh the prophet this; of himself, or of
Jome other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and
began at the fame Scripture, and preached unto him:
JESUS.
34
Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, at St
Mary's, March 30, 1760, being Palm-Sunday.
محمد
CONTENTS:
DISCOURSE IV..
Jefus Rifen.
LUKE xxiv. 34.
The Lord is rifen indeed.
al.com
50%
Preached before the Univerſity of Oxford, at St
Peter's, April 3, 1763, being Eafter-Day.
DISCOURSE V.
The Refurrection of the Body.
PHIL. iii. 20, 21.
From whence alſo we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jefus Chrift; who fhall change our vite body, that
it
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, accord-
ing to the working whereby he is able even to fubdue·
all things to himself.
65.:
Preached before the University of Oxford, at St:
Mary's, April 19, 1756, being Eafter-Monday.
DISCOURSE VI.
The Unfpeakable Gift.
EPHES. iv. 7.
Unto every one of us is given grace, according to the
measure of the gift of Chrift.
84.
- Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, at St
Mary's, June 8, 17:57, being Whitfun. Tueſday.
DISCOURSE VII.
The Prevailing Interceffor.
NUMB. XVI. 47, 48.
And Aaron took, as Mofes commanded, and ran into the
midst of the congregation, and behold the plague was be-
gun among the people; and he put on.incenfe, and made
an atonement for the people; and he ftood between the
dead and the living, and the plague was ſtayed. 101
·
CONTENTS:
DISCOURSE VIII.
Daniel in Babylon.
DAN. vi. 10.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was figned,
he went into his houfe; and his windows being open :
in his chamber towards Ferufalem, he kneeled upon
his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave
thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 115
Preached before the University of Oxford, in
Magdalen College Chapel, April 25, 1761, being
the Feſtival of St. Mark
DISCOURSE IX;
The Redemption of Time.
Redeeming the Time.
EPHES. v. 16..
130
Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, at St
Mary's, Aug. 14, 1763.
DISCOURSE X.
Patience Pourtrayed...
1.TIM. vi. II..
Follow after Patience.
144:
Preached before the University of Oxford, at St
Mary's, Nov. 21, 1762.
DISCOURSE XI.
The Great Affize..
ACTS xvii. 31.
He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the-
world in righteouſneſs, by that man whom he hath
ordained.
156.
Preached before the Rt. Hon. Lord Chief Juftice
Mansfield and the Hon. Mr Baron Smythe, and be-
fore the University of Oxford, at St Mary's, on
Thursday, July 22, 1762.
CONTENTS:
1
DISCOURSE XII:
The Origin of Civil Government.
ROM. xiii. 4.
He is the minifter of God to thee for good.
172:
Preached before the Hon. Mr Juftice Yates, and
the Hon. Mr Baron Perrot, and before the Univer-
fity of Oxford, at St Mary's, on Thurſday, March
2, 1769.
DISCOURSE XIII.
The Prodigal Son.
LUKE XV. 32.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad :-
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again;
and was loft, and is found.
-186
Preached before the University of Oxford, at St
Mary's, May 6, 1759.
DISCOURSE XIV.
Knowledge and Charity..
i COR. viii. 1.
I
Knowledge puffeth up, but Charity edifieth.
205
Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, in
Magdalen College chapel, on Sunday, June 24, 17599,
being the Feſtival of St John the Baptift.
}
A
DISCOURSE I.
}
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
GEN. xix. 29.
And it came to pass, when God deſtroyed the cities of the
plain, that God remembered Abraham, and fent Lot
out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew
the cities in which Lot dwelt.
}
E
hear.
XTRAORDINARY interpofitions of Provi-
dence demand extraordinary attention. If
God fpeaks, it is but reaſonable than man ſhould
And when he executed the vengeance to
which the text referreth, he certainly fpake, in an
audible voice, to the hopes and fears of all the
dwellers upon earth. By the deliverance vouch-
fafed to his righteous fervant,, he encouraged the
hopes of fuch as, like him, preferved their integri-
ty in the midft of a crooked and perverfe genera-
tion while, by the unparalleled deftruction of the
cities of the plain, he alarmed the fears of thoſe
who refembled them in impiety and iniquity. And
although ſo many hundred years have paffed, ſince
that aſtoniſhing catastrophe took place, yet the hif-
'tory ſhould anſwer the fame purpoſe now, that the
event itſelf was defigned to do then. No time can
deſtroy the efficacy of this falutary medicine for the
diforders of the world. Virtue and vice are not
changeable things; they continue ftill the fame;
"and there is no alteration in the divine decrees con-
VOL. II.
A
cernin
"
1
2
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
1
cerning them. Sooner or later, in this life or the
next, a deliverance fimilar to that of Lot will be
granted to the righteous; a deſtruction correfpon-
dent to that of Sodom will be the portion of the
wicked. For, as St Peter argues on the fubject,
"If God, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomor-
rah into aſhes, condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an example to thofe that after ſhould
live ungodly; and delivered juft Lot, vexed with
the filthy converfation of the wicked-the Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of tempta-
tions, and to referve the unjuft unto the day of
judgment to be punished."*
...
It is with the utmoft propriety, therefore, that
the church, in the courſe of her proper leffons,
openeth the prefent, feafon of humiliation with a
difplay of fo awful and affecting a fcene of mercy
and judgment; that the finner may know how teṛ-
rible is the wrath of an incenſed God, and the pe-
nitent be taught the way to efcape it.
In conformity to fo judicious an appointment, it
is propofed, in the following difcourfe, to take a
view of the whole narrative, illufträting the feveral
parts of it with fuch obfervations and reflections as,
it may be prefumed, the church intended we fhould
make upon it, with an eye to the great doctrine of
repentance, at this time more eſpecially to be recom-
mended and inculcated.
In the preceding chapter, the eighteenth of Ge-
nefis, we find the holy patriarch Abraham inter-
ceding with Jehovah for finful Sodom. And we
find (fuch is the amazing extent of divine mercy)
that had there been only TEN righteous perfons in
the city, the reft would have been fpared for their
fakes. But univerfal corruption brings on univer-
2 Pet. ii. 6.
fal
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
3
1
}
ners,
A
fal deftruction, and Abraham himfelf can intercede
no longer. "The Lord left communing with
Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place."
Our bleffed Lord, in whofe name Abraham, as
a prophet, and as the father of the faithful, inter-
ceded for Sodom, intercedes, in like manner, for
the world, which, notwithſtanding the wickedness
of its inhabitants in general, is continued in being,
on account of the righteous it contains, and the
execution of God's counfels concerning his church.
When the faithful fhall be "minifhed from among
the children of men," when unbelief and difobedi-
ence fhall have overspread the earth, the intercef-
fion of Chrift will alſo be at an end, and vengeance
will be poured out on the world of the ungodly.
Then he, who now "maketh interceflion för fin-
"will no more "offer their offerings, or take
up their names into his lips." Then, that which
alone hath fo long ftood between an angry God
and a guilty world, fhall ceafe to do fo, and a de-
luge of fiery indignation will iffue from the prefence
of the Lord, to devour the whole earth; even as
the waters of the fea once brake forth, and de-
ftroyed all flesh, upon the removal of thofe bars:
and doors appointed by the Almighty to confine
them within their channel. Let every man, there-
fore, be diligent to fecure a part in the benefits of
that gracious interceffion, which is one day to have
an end.
Behold" the great High Prieſt of our
profeffion" ftanding before the altar in heaven,,
with his golden cenfer in his hand, ready to offer
up the prayers of his fervants, with the fweet in-
cenfe of his own merits, to make them accepted
with the Father. Now, then, let prayer afcend
from earth to heaven, to glorify God, and pardon
will defcend from heaven to earth, to blefs man-
A. 2.
kind
4
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
1
*
kind-as we read in the epiftle for the day-" Now
is the accepted time, now is the day of falvation."
The deftruction of Sodom being thus determined,
Lot was to be first called out of it. Accordingly,
"There came two angels to Sodom," on the even-
ing before the dreadful ſentence was put in execu-
tion; " and Lot fat in the gate of Sodom."
'
Happy were the days, when celeſtial vifitants
thus deigned to defcend, and converſe with men,
❝as a man converſeth with his friend." But furely,
we have no reaſon to complain of any partiality
fhewn, in this refpect, to our fathers; we, to whom
God hath been manifefted, not under a fimilitude,
or temporary appearance, but verily and indeed, in
a body of our flesh, no more to be depofited, or.
laid afide, but actually taken up into heaven with
him; we, to whom the word of life hath been fent
by the hand of fuch a meffenger, " the angel of the
covenant;"* we, to whom this comfortable pro-
miſe hath been made by the mouth of TRUTH itſelf,
"If a man love me, my Father will love him, and
WE will come, and make our abode with him:”
By his Word, and by his Spirit, Chrift continually
vifiteth his people, and dwelleth in the hearts of
the faithful. Bleffed is the man, who "fitteth at
the gate of Sodom," ready to arife and depart out
of a wicked world, at the moment when his Lord
fhall call him hence. He ſhall be vifited with the
vifitation of the Almighty, inſtructed in the coun-
fels of heaven, and delivered in the day of vengeance.
Upon the fight of his divine gueſts, "Lot rofe
up to meet them, and he bowed himfelf with his
face toward the ground; and he faid, Behold now
my Lords, turn in, I pray you, into your fervant's
houfe, and tarry all night, and wath your feet, and
Mal, iii. r.
↑ John xiv. 23.
ye
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED
5*
ye fhall rise up early, and go on your ways. And
they faid, Nay, but we will abide in the ſtreet all
night. And he preffed upon them greatly, and
they turned in unto him, and entered into his
houfe: and he made them a feaſt, and did bake:
unleavened bread, and they did eat.”
The admonition of the Apoſtle, grounded upon
this occurrence, naturally offers itfelf; "Be not
forgetful to entertain ftrangers, for thereby fome:
have entertained angels unawares.' It may be
added, thereby Chriftians entertain their 'Redeem--
er, who for their fakes, was once a franger upon
the earth, and who therefore regards hofpitality
fhewn to ftrangers on his account, as fhewn to him--
ſelf." I was a ftranger, and ye took me in; for
inafmuch as ye did it to the leaſt of theſe my bre--
thren, ye did it to me."+
Inftructed moreover by this example of Lot,
when we have the honour, like him, to entertain
heavenly gueſts, who prefent themſelves to us by
means of the word and facraments, in the church,
let us inftantly "arife," in heart and mind, "to
meet them," laying afide, for a time, all worldly
bufinefs, and forgetting thofe things that are be-
hind. Let us "bow ourſelves with our faces to--
ward the ground," in humble and fervent prayer,.
ſaying, in the words of holy David, " Remember
us, O Lord, with the favour that thou beareft un-
to thy people, O vifit us with thy falvation." +
"Turn into the houſe of thy fervants, and tarry
with us." At first, perhaps, our prayers may feem
not to be heard, as the angels faid, they would
"abide in the street all night," and as Chrift,.
when invited by the two difciples at Emmaus,,
"made:
A 3
Heb. xiii. 2. † Matth. xxv. 351 40.. #Pf. cvi. 4*-
6
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
"made as though he would have gone farther."
But all this is done with the fame intent that our
Lord fpake the parable of the poor widow and the
unjuft judge, to teach us, that "men ought always
to pray, and not to faint."+ By delaying the re-
turn of our prayers, God defigns to try our love
and train us to perfeverance, not to reject our peti-
tions, and to hide his face from us for ever. When
Lot earnefly preſſed the angels, they went in and
tarried with him; and the two difciples constrained:
Jefus to go in and fup with them. Faint hearts
and feeble hands obtain not the kingdom of heaven,
which "fuffereth violence," and must be taken by
"an holy force." The "unleavened bread of fin-
cerity and truth" is the feaft which our Eord ex-
pecteth, when he is pleaſed to come and dwell in
our hearts. "No leaven" of hypocrify, deceit, and
fraud, fhould then be " found in our houſes.”
No fooner had Lot received and lodged his di-
vine gueſts; but he ſuffered perfecution on their
account. And although he went out and fpake
with all the mildneſs imaginable to the wretches
that "compaffed the houſe about, old and young,
from every quarter-I pray you, brethren, do not
fo wickedly; to thefe men do nothing; for there-
fore came they under the fhadow of my roof;"
what was the return made to this reaſonable requeſt,
worded in the moft humble and fubmiffive terms?
"Stand back. This fellow came in to fojourn,
and he will needs be a judge. Now will we deal
worſe with thee than with them. And they pref-
fed fore upon the man, even Lot, and came near
to break the door. But the men put forth their
hand, and pulled Lot into the houſe to them, and
ſhut the door. And they ſmote the men that were
+
Luke xxiv. 28.
† Lake xvii. I.
at
*
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
7:
at the door of the houſe with blindneſs, both ſmall
and great; fo that they wearied themfelves to find:
the door."
Truth and righteoufnefs are gueſts that often
bring thoſe who entertain them into trouble; and
our Lord himſelf tells us, that, in one fenfe, he
came "not to fend peace on earth, but a ſword.”
At his birth, "Herod was troubled, and all Je-.
rufalem with him." Wherever the Goſpel was
preached, it produced a commotion among thoſe
who could not bear the luftre of its beams, and
·
hated the light, becauſe their deeds were evil.”-
The world oppoſed its Redeemer, when he "tef-
tified concerning it, that its deeds were evil." Lot.
had lived too long in Sodom, and knew too much
of its inhabitants, to defire the office of a judge a-
mong them or any farther connection with them,
than was neceffary. But his righteous example
condemned their wickednefs; and that circumſtance
provoked them more, than if he had really ufur-
ped the government. It was charged, likewife, u-
pon our Saviour, though the meekeft and lowlieft
of characters, that he "made himfelf a king," and
endeavoured to fupplant the authority of Cæfar.
'And for that crime, if we believe the fuperfcription
on the cross, he was executed. But the true cauſe
both of the accuſation and execution was no other
than this, that, by doctrine and example, he de-
'tected and expofed a fet of the vileft hypocrites the
earth ever bore: Nor let the difciple of Chrift
vainly imagine, that the moſt inoffenfive carriage,
framed by the rules of Chriftian prudence, and ac-
tuated in all points by the fpirit of meeknefs and
charity, will prevent him from being fometimes
accuſed of defigns, to which his foul is an utter
ſtranger. Would he efcape the cenfures of the
t
world?
8 THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
world? He muſt ceaſe to convict it of fin and› er-
ror; he muft conform to all its ways, and pace-
quietly in its trammels; a conduct, which, as they
well know, who tempt him to adopt it, will foon
deprive him of all authority and ability to do his
heavenly Maſter fervice, and promote his religion
among men. So far, therefore, let him imitate the
example of Lot, as to part with any thing, rather
than fuffer violence to be done to his divine gueſts.
Let him guard his faith and his confcience, and
truft God for every thing elfe. He who preferved:
Lot, and fmote his adverfaries with blindnefs, can.
fave them that love him in every age, and fecure
them under the wings of his Providence, until the:
tyranny of the wicked be overpaft; while the une
godly that trouble them, blind to their eternal in-
tereft, find not the gate of heaven, and come not
into the dwellings of the righteous; but falling.
from one wickedness to another, and filling up the
meaſure of their enormities, perifh, at the laſt,.
from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power, when "he cometh to judge the world!
in righteouſneſs."
:
4
Lot, being thus preſerved from the malice of his
enemies, is now informed concerning the decrees
of heaven. "The men faid unto Lot, Haft thou
here any befides? Son-in-law, and thy fons, and
thy daughters, and whatſoever thou haft in the ci-
ty, bring them out of this place. For we will de-
troy this place, becauſe the cry of them is waxen
great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord
hath fent us to destroy it." How alarming this in-
telligence! No farther refpite allowed; inftant de-
fruction determined; the day of grace expiring.
and a stormy night about to fucceed it! He who
would
4
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.··
!
would not periſh, muſt leave all, and eſcape for his
life!
•
f
But are the cities of the plain" only concerned
here? Or is not this written for our fakes? For
our fakes, no doubt, it is written; fince the Scrip-
tures of truth, and, from them, the minifters and
meffengers of God, give us the fame information,
relative to the world in which we dwell, namely;
that "the Lord will deftroy this place," and will
"purge away the iniquity thereof with the fpirit
of judgment, and with the ſpirit of burning." For
Behold the Lord cometh out of his place, to
vifit the wickedness of fuch as dwell upon the earth.
But who may abide the day of his coming? Who fhalt
be able to ſtand, when he appeareth? His fan is in
his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor;
and gather his wheat into the barn, but he will
burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. The day
of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night; and
when men fhall fay, Peace, and all things are fafej
then ſhall fudden deſtruction come upon them, as
forrow cometh upon a woman travailing with child,
and they fhall not eſcape. Then ſhall appear the
wrath of God in the day of vengeance, which ob-
ftinate finners, through the ſtubbornnefs of their
hearts, have heaped unto themſelves, who defpifed
the goodneſs, patience, and long fufferance of God,
when he called them continually to repentance.
Thẹn fhall it be too late to knock, when the door
ſhall be ſhut; and too late to cry for mercy, when
it is the time of juftice. O terrible voice of moft
juft judgment, which fhall be pronounced upon
them, when it ſhall be faid unto them, Go,
ye curfed, into everlafting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels."* Such, thereforé, be-
1
* Exhortation in the Commination Office,
ing
!
10
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
1.
ing the meffage delivered to mankind, may it
not be faid to every one of them-Haft thou
here any befide? Son-in-law, and thy fons, and
thy daughters, and whatfoever thou haft, bring
them out of this place;" endeavour to withdraw
their affections from a world doomed to ruin, and
take them to heaven with thee. In a word, give
all thy relations, thy friends, and thine acquaint-
ance, the warning which is given thee.
17/
The injunction received by Lot from the divine
perfons was immediately obeyed. "He went out
unto his fons-in-law, faying, Up, get ye out of
this place, for the Lord will deftroy this city. But
he feemed as one that mocked unto his fons-in-law."
A denunciation of approaching deftruction, in the
midft of peace and fecurity, appeared fo very extra-
ordinary to them, that they could not bring them-
felyes to believe it poffible, their father-in-law fhould
be in earneft. They looked around them, and faw
no fymptoms of impending ruin. The city wore
its accuſtomed face of gaiety and pleaſure. No al-
teration was to be obferved in the heavens above,
or in the earth beneath. And that the knowledge
of an event fo important fhould be hidden from
the rich and the great, the wife and the prudent,
and revealed only to one perfon a fojourner amongft
them-How could thefe things be?
They who have gazed on earthly glories, till
they are grown giddy; to whom want and mifery
are known only by their name; who make every
day a day of fulnels and indulgence, fitting down
to eat, and to drink, and rifing up to play; fuch
find no fmall difficulty in believing, that a world,.
fo delightful as they think this to be, fhall fhortly
be burnt up, and all its beauties wither in a mo-
ment. They fee that "all things continue as they
were
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
ii
were from the beginning; and are therefore ready
to fay. "Where is the promiſe of his coming?"*
In the polite circle of their acquaintance they hear
nothing of this kind mentioned; it is foretold on-
ly by a few deſpiſed prieſts; and as to what theſe
fay concerning the wickedness of men, and the
judgments of God, philofophers place it to the ac-
count of fuperftition, if they are Papiſts; enthuſiaſm;
if they are Proteftants.. Thus it is that finners de-
ceive, or fuffer themfelves to be deceived, till the
deftruction predicted, falling upon them demon-
ſtrates, when, alas, it is too late for them to profit by
the demonſtration, the fallacy of their reafonings,
or rather, the vanity of their imaginations. For
furely, did not thefe priefts "feem as they who
mock," when they declare what the facred writ-
ings authorize them to declare upon the fubject, it
could not be, but their words muſt have more effect
upon the minds and manners of men, than they
are generally found to have. The intemperate per-
fon who heard them, would become temperate; the
impure, pure; the avaricious, liberal; the turbu-
lent, peaceable; the calumniator, charitable; the
proud, humble; the envious, loving; the liar a
ſpeaker of truth. Should the Judge of the world
appear in the clouds, this would be the cafe. And
as faithis "the evidence of things not feen," render-
ing them prefent, and fetting them before us, à
right belief in that article of the creed, which re-
lates to the appearance of our Judge, would ope-
rate like his actual prefence. "All men have not
faith," and therefore all men do not " work righte-
oufnefs." But "whether they hear or whether they
forbear," Lot is to deliver the divine meffage to his
fons-in-law; the watchman is to blow the trumpet
* 2 Pet. iii. 4.
.in
72
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
*
?
in Sion; and every Chriſtian is to exhort his bro-
ther; after which, the matter must be committed
to other hands.
The day now dawned, which was the laft the
men of Sodom were ever to behold. "When the
morning arofe, the angels haftened Lot, faying,
Arife, take thy wife, and thy two daughters which
are here, left thou be confumed in the iniquity of
the city."
Let us paraphrafe this admonition of the angels,
and fuppofe it addreffed by the minifters of God to
the finner, at this penitential ſeaſon-Arife, O man,
repent, and be converted; break off thy fins, and
eſcape from the pollutions of the world, while thy
God calls thee, and allows thee time fo to do. Per-
haps the day hath dawned, which is to be thy
laft, and the deſtroying angel is even now come
forth, with his fword drawn, to cut thee off from
the land of the living, and confign thee to thy por-
tion in the unknown region of ſeparate fpirits, wait-
ing, either with joyful hope, or infupportable a-
mazement, for the revelation of the day of God,
Arife, therefore and come away.
It is obfervable, that Lot himſelf, though he
fully believed there fhould be a performance of
thoſe things that were told him, yet made not that
hafte to get out of Sodom, which the cafe requir
ed. For "While he lingered, the men laid hold u-
pon his hand, and upon the hand of his two daugh-
ters, the Lord being merciful to him: and they
brought him forth and fet him without the city.”
How apt is the finner to linger, and to defer his
repentance! How often is God forced, as it were,
to arrest him, by fickneſs, or fome grievous cala-
mity, and fo to drag him from perdition! And O
how merciful is the Lord to that man whom, by
any
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
any means, however painful and afflicting, he
bringeth forth into fafety, and." fetteth him with-
out the city!" Let fuch an one hear the voice of his
gracious Deliverer faying to him in the perfon of
Lot," Eſcape for thy life; look not behind thee,
neither ſtay thou in all the plain: eſcape to the
mountain, left thou be confumed"-Eſcape, O fin-
ner, for thine eternal life; look not behind thee
on the pleaſures thou haft left, neither let thine af
fections ſtay upon the earth; eſcape to the holy
mountain, left thou be confumed with the world.
Lot, defpairing of being able to eſcape to the
mountain, intercedes for the preſervation of a little
city in the neighbourhood of Sodom, and is accep
ted concerning it, God being graciouſly pleaſed to
fay, "Haſte thee, efcape thither, for I cannot do
any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore
the name of the city was called Zoar," that is, the
little city.
Thus, in times of public calamity, there is often
fome little Zoar provided for them that love God,
where they are wonderfully preferved from the
judgments that fall on their country and their kin
dred. The Roman armies, which furrounded Je-
rufalem, to execute on it the vengeance predicted,
drew off, in an unaccountable manner, as if their
defign' had been to give the Chriftians, contained
within its walls, an opportunity of withdrawing to
a little adjoining city, called Pella, which proved a
Zoar to them, from whence they beheld the Roman
eagles fly again to their deſtined prey, to be left no
more till they had devoured it. And what is the
church upon earth, but a Zoar, a little city (is it
not a little one?) fpared at the interceffion of its
Lord? Here the penitent, n yet ftrong enough
to eſcape to the heavenly mountain, findeth reſt
VOL. II.
B
and
7
14
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED,
and refreſhment, and is invigorated to purſue his
journey. Hither let him eſcape, and his foul fhall
live.
But let him bear in mind, that in making his ef
cape, perfeverance alone can fecure him.
"He
that endureth to the end," and he only, " fhall be
faved." Of the four, who left Sodom, one perifh-
ed by the way, in heart and affection turning back
to the forfaken city. Within fight of Zoar ftands
a pillar of falt, the mohument (faith the author
of the book of Wiſdom) of an unbelieving foul."*
"No man having put his hand to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
"Remember Lot's wife."+
{
The hour was now come, when Sodom, the gay
the haughty Sodom, fhould be no more.
*
"The
fun was rifen upon the earth, when Lot entered
into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the
Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew thoſe
cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of
the cities, and that which grew upon the ground."
In this manner, to uſe the words of the above cited
author, "When the ungodly perifhed, wISDOM
delivered the righteous man, who fled from the
fire which fell upon the cities, of whofe wicked-
nefs, even to this day, the wafte land that ſmoketh
is a teftimony,, and plants bearing fruit that never
come to ripenefs." ||
"As it was in the days of Lot, fo fhall it be alſo
in the days of the Son of man; § when that laſt
morning ſhall dawn, and the fun of Righteouſneſs
fhall ariſe in glorious majeſty upon the earth. No
fooner ſhall he make his appearance, than the hea-
Ch. x. 7. † Luke ix. 62.
⇓
Wiſdom x. 6.
vens,
Luke xvii. 32.
§ Luke xvii. 28.)
:
THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
15
""*-
vens, being on fire at his prefence, fhall be diffol
ved, and paſs away with a great noife; the earth
alfo, with the works that are therein, fhall be burnt
up. Then fhall be fulfilled that which was ſpoken
by the Pfalmift, in terms evidently borrowed from
the hiſtory before us;" Upon the ungodly he fhall
rain fire and brimftone, ftorm and tempeft: this
fhall be their portion." * And it may be obſerved,
that St John, at the conclufion of his prophecy, de-
fcribing the deftruction of the ungodly, referreth
likewife to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
which, as St Jude informeth us, " are ſet forth for
an example," or figure, "fuffering the vengeance
of eternal fire."+ In the xx. chapter of the Reve
lation, we view the Antichriftian powers making
war against the church, "encompaffing the camp
of the faints, and the beloved city," the habitation
of the great King, as the men of Sodom furround-
ed the houſe where the facred guefts were lod-
ged. After which, it is faid-" And fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil, that deceived them, was caft into
the LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE (an expreffion
plainly alluding to the LAKE Afphaltites, or the
dead fea) where the beaft and the falfe prophet are,
and ſhall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever." What Sodom is, the world fhall be: and
at the laſt day, when we fhall arife, and look to-
ward the place, where its enchanting pleaſures and
delights, its dazzling beauties and glories once ex-
ifted, as "Abraham arofe in the morning, and
looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward
all the cities of the plain," we fhall behold a fight
like that which prefented itfelf to the patriarch,
B2
"The
• Pf. xi. 6.
t Jude, Ver. Ze
1
1
16 THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED.
"The ſmoke of the country going up as the fmoke
of a furnace ?”
But the fame all gracious and merciful God, who,
"when he deſtroyed the cities of the plain, remem-
bered Abraham, and fent Lot out of the midſt of
the overthrow," when he fhall deftroy this place
wherein we dwell, will remember the true Abraham,
"the father of us all," our Redeemer and Intercef
for; and for his fake, if we now repent, and be-
lieve in him, will fave us, in that day, from the
ruins of a burning world, and from thofe fires
which are never to be extinguiſhed; that fo, being
delivered from the wrath to come, and admitted to
a participation of the felicities of his kingdom, we
may there, with angels and archangels, and the
whole company of the redeemed, glorify him for
his mercy, through the endless ages of a bleffed
eternity; afcribing, as is due, to the moſt holy and
adorable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt,
three perfons co-equal and co-eternal, all honour
and power, might, majeſty, and dominion, for ever
and ever.
ว
DISCOURSE IL
£
THE SINNER CALLED.
EPHES. V. 14.
Awake, thou that fleepeſt, and arise from the dead,
and Chrift fhall give thee light.
WE are now in the midft of that hallowed fea-
fon, when the church, by the voice of all her holy
fervices, calleth the world to repentance, from the
rifing of the fun to the going down thereof. And
if ever there was an inftitution calculated to pro-
mote the glory of God, by forwarding the falvation
of
man, it is this appointment of a certain fet time
for all perfons to confider their ways, to break off
their fins, and to return from whence they have
fallen through the infirmities of the flesh and the
prevalence of temptation. For though moſt certain
it is, that forrow fhould be the conftant attendant
upon fin, and daily tranfgreffions call for daily pe-
nitence, yet fatal experience convinces us of ano-
ther truth no leſs certain, that in a body fo frail, and
a world fo corrupt, cares and pleafures foon opprefs
the heart, and infenfibly bring on the flumbers of
liftleffnefs and negligence as to its fpiritual con-
cerns, which, unlefs diffipated and difperfed by
frequently repeated admonitions, will at length feal
it up in the deep fleep of a final impenitence. It
was wifely forefeen, that ſhould the finner be per-
mitted to reſerve to himſelf the choice of a conveni-
B. 3.
L
enz
1
18
THE SINNER CALLED.
1
ent feafon wherein to turn from fin to righteouf
nefs, that convenient ſeaſon would never come; and
that the fpecious plea of keeping every day holy
alike would often be found to cover a defign of
keeping none holy at all. It feemed good there-
fore to the church to fix a ftated time, in which
men might enter upon the great work of their re-
pentance. And what time could have been ſelec-
ted with greater propriety than this Lenten, or
Spring ſeaſon, when univerfal nature, awaking from
her wintry fleep, and coming out of deformity, and
a courſe of penance, impofed for the tranfgreffion
of man, her lord and maſter, is about to rife from
the dead, and, putting on her garments of glory
and beauty, to give us a kind of prelude to the re-
novation of all things? So that the whole creation,
moft harmonioufly accompanieth the voice of the-
church, as that ſweetly accordeth to the call of the
Apoſtle, "Awake, thou that fleepeſt, and ariſe
from the dead, and Chrift fhall give thee light."
Theſe lively and animating words, the peculiar
force and energy of which it would be an affront.
to every underſtanding and every heart to point.
out, like the found of that wakeful herald of the-
morning, which once called Peter to repentance,
and which, daily admonishing the world of the:
fun's approach, calls up the inhabitants thereof, to
behold the brightnefs of his rifing, and to walk in
his light, addrefs themfelves to the finner, as to
one faft holden in the bands of fleep, exhorting
him to awake and look up, becauſe the night is far
fpent, the day is at hand; and feem to be an evan-
gelical paraphrafe of that paffage in the prophet
Ifaiah, which is a fpiritual application of the moſt
beautiful and magnificent image in nature, the riſing
of
THE SINNER CALLED.
19
of the fun upon the earth, with its effects and con
fequences; "Arife, fhine, for thy light is come,,
and the glory of the Lord is riſen upon thee.”
The text then, upon examination, will be found
to imply this much, that the world, without re-
pentance and faith in Chriſt, is in a ſtate of dark-.
nefs, infenfibility, and delufion, for fuch is the fſtate-
of them that fleep. We will take a view therefore.
of each of thefe particulars.
And firft, thefe words plainly fuppofe the per-
fon to whom they are addreffed to be in a ſtate of:
darkness. For "they who fleep (as the Apoftle elfe-
where obferveth) fleep in the night," which is the:
time of darkneſs and therefore the ſeaſon for re-
pofe. When the ſhadows of the evening are ſtretch-
ed out and the earth, turning away from the-
fun, finketh into the fhadow of death, and there-
by loſeth all its form and comclinets; when the
veil, that is caft over the face of nature, oblitera--
teth the variety of colours which owe their being
to the light, and abolitheth all the diſtinction of
objects thence arifing, introducing a jöylefs and un-
comfortable uniformity, and rendering it impoffible
for any to "go forth to their labour;" when " the.
-night cometh, in. which none can work," then it
is, that deep fleep falleth upon man. Here there-
fore we have, according to the text, a reprefenta-
tion of the ſtate into which the foul is caft by fin,
and in which it continueth, till recovered out of it
by repentance and faith. "Darkneſs," as faith the
prophet Ifaiah, "covereth the earth, and grofs
darknefs the people." Midnight overwhelmeth
not the earth with a groffer darkneſs, than that
which is fuperinduced upon the heart of man,
when it departeth from God, and is turned away
from its Maker. He that followeth not Chrift
walketh
*
20
THE SINNER CALLED.
*
•
walketh indarkneſs," becauſe the light of life fhineth
no longer upon his tabernacle. When he has loſt
fight of the Sun of Righteoufnefs, wifdom foon fa-
deth away, and underſtanding perifheth, and coun-
fel is brought to nought, and the diftinctions of
good and evil are confounded. And now the man,
walking in darkneſs, and not knowing whither he
goeth, prefently groweth weary and faint in his
mind; whence, as natural darkneſs bringeth on
fleep, ignorance, which is the darkneſs of the un-
derſtanding, becometh the parent of indolence and
inactivity, and cafteth men by degrees into that
deep fleep, which is a ſuſpenſion of the powers and
faculties of the foul from the work of the ſpiritual
life, as natural reft is a fufpenfion of the m bers
of the body from the labours of the animal life.
This is the night when no man can work out his
falvation, for lack of knowledge; and the world, in
this ſtate, may not unfitly be refembled to the king-
dom of Egypt, during the three days of thick dark-
nefs, when it is obferved, that " no one ſtirred from
his place." Such is the condition of thoſe, who, in
the proper and exact language of holy writ, are
faid fo SIT in darkneſs, and in the fhadow of death,"
no one moving from his place to go forth to his
work, or to walk in the way that leadeth unto life.
In this comfortleſs fituation was the whole world at
the coming of Chrift; and every man, whom the
concerns or the pleaſures of this life keep from the
knowledge of the Scriptures, and the wiſdom there-
in contained, and fo render negligent in the bufi-
nefs of working out his own falvation, and contri-
buting his utmoſt towards forwarding that of others,
every fuch man is fo far relapfed into the fame fi
tuation, and ftandeth in need of the Apoftolical
call, “Awake, thou that ſleepeſt.”
But
THE SINNER CALLED.
21
But fecondly, The text plainly intimates to us,
that the finner, or man of the world, to whom it
addreffes itſelf as to one fleeping, is in a ſtate of
infenfibility. For no fooner has fleep taken poffef
fion of any one, but forthwith all the fenfes are
locked up, and he neither feeth, heareth, fmelleth,
tafteth, or feeleth any thing. Incapable of being
affected with what paffes in the world, regardleſs
of every thing that relates to his real intereft in life,
and no longer fufceptible of pleaſure or pain, joy
or grief, from the objects which produce thoſe fen-
fations in others who are awake, he becometh like
unto them that are gone down to the chambers of
the grave, and fleep in the duft of the earth.
Wherefore the Apoftle faith, ufing fleep and death
as fynonymous terms, "Awake, thou that SLEEP-
EST', and ariſe from the DEAD.” This addrefs there-
fore to the finner, or man of the world, is found
ed upon a fuppofition, that the foul, by fin and
the love of the world, is caft into the fame ftate
of infenfibility with regard to things heavenly, that
the body is in, while fleeping, with regard to things
earthly; a ſtate in which its fpiritual fenfes,
thoſe fenfes which the Apoſtle tells us fhould
be" exerciſed to difcern good and evil," are
fealed up, and admit of no impreffion from their
proper objects. And that this is in truth the cafe,
a curfory view of the ideas transferred in Scripture
from the bodily fenfes, as rendered unfit for their
refpective uſes by fleep, to the powers and opera-
tions of the mind, as impeded by fins, will quickly
convince us.
{
The prophet Ifaiah, defcribing his wretched coun-
trymen, in their ſtate of apoftacy and obduracy of
heart, fays of them, "The Lord hath poured out upon
you the ſpirit of deep fleep, and hath clofed your
eyes
282
22
THE SINNER CALLED.
1
4
eyes." Prefent the moſt finiſhed and beautiful pic-
ture before the eyes of a perfon afleep; he fees no
more of it than if it was not there. And how of-
tèn are the pictures of our fin and deformity, and
the righteouſnefs and beauty of the Redeemer,
drawn by the pencil of the Spirit in the Scriptures
of truth, how often are they offered to the under-
ftandings of men, who yet fee neither? And why?,
Becauſe a ſpirit of deep fleep," induced by their
attachment to fomething in the world, that comes
in competition with the doctrines or precepts of
the Goſpel," is fallen upon them," fo that "ha-
ving eyes they fee not"" Go into the chamber of
him that fleepeth, and read unto him a piece of
the moſt intereſting news, play him the fweeteft
notes on the fineſt inſtrument, or found the loud-
eft and fhrilleft trumpet; while he fleeps, he hears
nothing. To as little purpoſe do the minifters of
the Goſpel preach to the obdurate worldling the
glad tidings of great joy, that unto us is born a
Saviour," or the awful tidings of as great terror,
that "he cometh to execute judgment on all that
are ungodly." The heavenly ftrains of love and
mercy founded forth by the harp of David, when
breathed on by the ſpirit of the Holy One, or the
piercing trumpet of eternal judgment, waxing loud-
er and louder on the top of Sinai, are equally un-
heard by him. He fleeps on ftill, and takes his
reft; and therefore, "having ears, he hears not."
Offer to the noſtrils of one who fleepeth the moſt
fragrant flowers that grow, the rofe and the lily in
their higheſt perfection, or the richeſt ſpices pro- .
duced in the warmest climes: the flowers have no
fragrance, the fpices no odours for him. And are
there not, who take no delight in that bleffed per-
fon, from the comfort and refreſhment he affordeth
·
x
ta
THE SINNER CALLED.
23
?
to the drooping foul, as well as from his matchleſs
beauty and perfection, ſtiled " the roſe of Sharon,
and the lily of the vallies:" who can perceive no
"fweet ſmelling favour of life unto life," in that
Goſpel of peace, which is compared unto " myrrh,
and frankincenfe, and all powders of the mer-
chant?" Open the mouth of him that fleepeth, and
fill it with the choiceft honey: you have no thanks
from him, for he tafteth it not. As little relifh
hath one in a ſtate of fin and worldly-mindedness
for thoſe promiſes, which when the penitent be-
liever tafteth, he crieth out in tranſport, "O how
fweet are thy words unto my mouth; yea fweeter
than honey unto my throat !" Laftly, a perfon, du-
ring the time of fleep, feels no wounds, or bruiſes,
and paffes imperceptibly into the regions of death.
And this is the very apoftolical defcription of har
dened finners, who have given themſelves over to
lafciviouſneſs, to work all uncleannefs with greed-
inefs they are faid to be" paft feeling, having
their confcience feared with a hot iron." Awa-
*
kened by the fires which burn for, the impenitent,
they feel at laſt the avenging hand of an angry God,
and lift up their eyes in thoſe torments, which will
forbid the clofing them any more for ever.
Thirdly, It appears from the text before us,
that the world is in a ftate of delufion; for fuch is
the ſtate of them that fleep. To all things that
really concern them they are infenfible, but they
are earnestly employed, meanwhile, in a fhadowy
fantaſtic ſcene of things, which has no exiſtence
but in their imaginations. And to what can
the life of many a man be fo fitly compared, as
to a dream? What are the vain employments
and amuſements of multitudes, but "vifions of
I Tim. iv. 2,
4
the
24
THE SINNER CALLED.
4
the night? And is not he who wafteth his time
and breath in relating the hiftory of them, "as
a man telling a dream to his fellow?" Is a dream
made up of illufive images, falfe objects and pur-
fuits, falfe hopes, and falfe fears? So is the life of
a man of the world. Now he exults in vifionary
blifs, now he is racked with difquietudes created
by his own fancy. Ambition ſtrains every nerve
to climb to a height that is ideal, till with all the
eagerness of defire, graſping at the fummit, fhe
feems to feel herſelf half dead by a fall that is as
much fo; fince neither if a man be in power, is he
really and in the fight of God the greater; nor if
he be out of power, is he the lefs. Avarice flies
with fear and trembling from a poverty of which
there is no danger, and with infinite anxiety and
folicitude heapeth up riches that have no uſe. And
while pleaſure is inceffantly thifting her painted
fcenes before the fancies of the gay, infidelity of-
ten times feduceth the imaginations of the ferious
and contemplative into the airy regions of abſtrac-
tion, fetting them to conftruct intellectual fyftems,
without one juft idea of the fpiritual world, and to
delineate ſchemes of religion, exclufive of the true
God and his difpenfations. Thus doth man walk
in a vain fhadow, and difquieteth himſelf in vain,
like one endeavouring to win a race in his fleep,
ſtill ſtriving after that which he cannot attain unto,
fo long as he expects to find, a folid, fubftantial,
and durable comfort in any thing but "the king-
dom of God, and his righteoufnefs."
Again. Is a dream ever wandering from one
thing to another that has no connection with it,
and patched up of a thouſand inconfiftencies, with-
out beginning, middle, or end? Not more fo than
the life of him, who, being devoted to the world,
and
'i
1
THE SINNER CALLED.
23
and at the mercy of his paffions, is now in full
chafe after one ſhadow, now after another; fo con-
tinually varying and changing, and yet withal fo uni-
formly trifling and infignificant in all his fentiments
and proceedings, that were the tranfactions of his
days noted down in a book, it may be queſtioned,
whether a dream would not appear, upon the com-
pariſon, to be a fenfible and regular compofition.
Once more. Is à dream fleeting and tranfitory,
infomuch that a whole night paffeth away in it as
one hour, nay as one minute, fince, during ſleep,
we have no idea of the fucceffion of time? And
what is a life of fourfcore years, when looked back
upon ?It is but as yesterday, feeing it is paft as
a watch in the night." How beautifully is the
fading nature of all thofe things, on which worldly
men place their affections, fet forth to us in the
Holy Scriptures, under this moft expreffive image!
"Knoweft not thou this of old (fays Zophar in Job)
fince man was placed upon the earth, that the tri-
umphing of the wicked is fhort, and the joy of the
hypocrite, but for a moment? Though his excel-
lency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach
unto the clouds yet he ſhall periſh for ever like his
own dung: they who have feen him fhall fay,
where is he? He fhall fly away as a dream, and
fhall not be found; yea he fhall be chafed away
as a vifion of the night."*"I was envious (fays
the Pfalmift) at the fooliſh, I faw the profperi-
ty of the wicked. Their eyes ftand out with
fatnefs: they have more than heart could 'wiſh
-Behold, theſe are the ungodly that profper in
the world, they increaſe in riches." The fight at
t
firft ftaggered his faith, and he was tempted almoſt
to diftruft the promiſes of God made to the righte-
VOL. II.
* Job xx. 4. et feq.
C
+
† PC. lxxiii. 3.
ous
26,
THE SINNER CALLED.
ous.
"Verily, I have cleanfed my heart in vain,
and waſhed my hands in innocency. But when he
went into the fanctuary of God," and confulted the
divine oracles, as we all fhould do, upon theſe mat-
ters, then he "faw the end of fuch men," and the
tranfient nature of that wealth which had excited
his envy.
"How are they brought into defolation
as in a moment; they are utterly confumed with
terrors! As a dream when one awaketh, fo, O
Lord, fhalt thou make their image to vaniſh.”
And was the taſk enjoined us, to defcribe that dif
appointment and wretched emptinefs which the
miferably deceived foul of him who lives and dies
in carnality and worldly mindedneſs will experience
upon the moment of her feparation from the body,
what words could we find for the purpofe, like
thefe of the prophet Ifaiah? "It fhall be as when
a hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth;
but he awaketh and his foul is empty; or as when
a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh;
but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his
foul hath appetite,”* remaining altogether unfatis- ·
fied with the pleaſures which he feemed for a while
to enjoy. Such a state of delufion is the ftate of the
world; fo vain, fo incoherent, ſo tranfitory, are
the ſchemes and deſigns of worldly men: and how-
ever important they may appear to the projectors
of them, at the time, yet moſt certain it is, that
what the Scripture faith of Pharoah, may be faid,
with equal truth, at the death of every man, who
has spent his days in things pertaining to this life
only; "So he awoke, and behold, it was a dream!”
But it is high time to change this gloomy fcene
for one that is more agreeable. Permit me, there-
fore, to contraſt the foregoing defcription of the
* Ifai. xxix. 8.
ſtate
привет
*
THE SINNER CALLED.
27
ſtate of man, a ftranger to repentance and faith in
Chriſt, with one of the oppofite ſtate, to which we
are called in the text; " Awake, thou that ſleep-
eſt, and ariſe from the dead, and Chriſt ſhall give
thee light."
And firſt, the fincere penitent, who really and
truly turns from fin to righteouſneſs and from the
world to Chrift, paffes from darkness to light. He
undergoes a change, like that made in man and in
univerſal nature by the dawning of the morning,
when there is a reſurrection of both. For then it
is, that man awaketh out of a fleep, and ariſeth as
it were from the dead, to behold the light looking
forth of the windows of the eaſt, and the day break-
ing upon the tops of the hills; at which time the
fhadows fly away, and the clouds, parting aſunder,
open a paffage for that life-giving luminary, whoſe
appearance the expectation of the creature impa-
tiently waiteth for. The fun," that marvellous
inftrument of the Moft High," arifeth in glorious
majefty, diſcloſing and adorning all things in hea-
ven and earth. And now, the darkneſs is paſt,
and the light ſhineth, to the end that all who are
rifen may go forth to their work, and to their la-
bour, until the evening. So is it likewife in the
repentance of a finner. At the powerful call of
God, whether by his word read or preached, by
the admonition of charitable friends, by fome happy
incident, or change of fortune, by the death of
others, or the fick nefs of the party himfelf-for
various are the methods made ufe of by divine Pro-
vidence for this gracious purpoſe-at the powerful
call of God, he awaketh to righteoufnefs, and find-
eth himſelf in a new world. He perceiveth that,
through the tender mercy of God, the day-fpring
from on high hath visited him, to give unto him
C 2
the
28
THE SINNER CALLED.
Į
the knowledge of falvation for the remiffion of his
fins, concerning which he was before in darkneſs.
and the fhadow of death. But now, all the fha-
dows of his former ignorance fly away, all his earth-
ly prejudices and paflions are overcome, and dif-
perfing like the clouds before the morning fun, the
way is prepared for the Sun of Righteoufnefs to
arife upon him. By his glorious light, all the dif-
penfations of God, in heaven and upon earth, are
made manifeft; and the man, being arifen to a life
of grace, goeth forth to the work of his fälvation,
and to his labour of love, until the evening of his
day.
Secondly, A finner by repentance is brought out
of a ſtate of infenfibility into one of fenfibility. No
fooner is a perfon awaked out of fleep, but he finds
himſelf endued with the ufe of all his fenfes, powers,
and faculties. He walketh abroad, and his eyes are
bleffed with a fight of the whole creation rifen with
him from the dead, and rejoicing in the glorious.
light ſhining upon it from above. He furveys that
lovely variety which diſplays itſelf upon the face of
the earth, and beholds the beauty and brightness
of the firmament of heaven. But chiefly his atten-
tion is fixed on the Great Ruler of the day, who
gives live and comelinefs to all things. His ears
are entertained with the mufic of the birds of the
air, whọ fail not with their fprightlieſt notes to fa-
lute the riting fun; and his noftrils are refreshed
with the grateful fiell fent forth, in the hour of
prime, from the ground and its productions. He
is prepared to tafte with delight the food afforded
him by the bounty of God; and no part of his.
body is without the fenfation proper and neceffary
for it. Similar to this is the alteration which takes
place in the foul of the humble penitent, when at
the
THE SINNER CALLED.
20
:
the call of God he awakes, and arifes from the dead.
If the light be fweet, and it be a pleaſant thing to
the eyes to behold the fun, ſweet to the mind like-
wife is the light of life, and a pleaſant thing it is to
the eyes of the underſtanding to behold the Sun of
Righteouſneſs, who beftows by his word that divine
knowledge, that heavenly wifdom, which is to them:
what the material light is to the bodily organs of
vition. Hereby the penitent believer is enabled to
behold the wonderful works of the Lord, the migh--
ty things he hath done for his foul, having created.
all things anew in Chrift Jefus, and brought the
world out of darkneſs into his marvellous light.
But above all the works, he is led to contemplate,
and to adore the author of them all; to look up-
ftedfaftly, with St Stephen, into heaven, and fee:
Jefus enthroned at the right hand of the Majefty
on high, enlightening and enlivening all things:
with the glory of his grace. And this is what St
Paul fo earneſtly begs of God for his Ephefian con--
verts, that being now awake from fin, they might
behold the works and the glory of the Redeemer.
"I ceaſe not, fays he, to make mention of you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jefus Chriſt,.
the father of glory, may give unto you the fpirit of
wiſdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him ;,
the eyes of your underſtanding being enlightened,,
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance:
in the faints, and what is the exceeding greatneſs
of his power to us-ward who believe, according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought.
in Chrift, when he raiſed him from the dead, and
fet him at his own right hand in the heavenly pla-
ces, far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named not
C 3
only
X
30
THE SINNER CALLED.
only in this world, but that which is to come: and
hath put all things under his feet, and given him.
to be the head over all things to the church, which
is his body, the fulness of him who filleth all in
all." The hearing ear is another gift of God to
the fincere penitent, who is now no longer deaf to
the voice of his Redeemer, fpeaking to him by his
holy word, which entereth through his cars into
his heart: he heareth and delighteth in the melody
of praife and thankſgiving, that mufic of the church,
that voice of joy and health in the dwellings of the
righteous; nay, faith carries him to the door of.
heaven, where liftening, he heareth that new forg,
and thofe everlafting Hallelujahs, in which he one
day hopeth to bear his part. And now, he walk-
eth forth in the garden of God, the Holy Scripture,.
to enjoy that fweet fmelling favour of life unto life,
which arifeth from the comfortable promifes there-
in contained, grateful as the fragrance of the holy
vestments in the noftrils of the patriarch, as the
fmel of a field which the Lord hath bleffed." He
hungreth and thirfteth after righteoufnefs, and hath
a true tafle and relish for the bread of life, info-
much that he inviteth all men to partake with him,
in the words of the Pfalmift; "O tafte, and fee
that the Lord is gracious!" And fuch is the fenfi-
bility of his foul, that as he feels an exquifite de-
light in the teftimony of a good confcience, ſo is he
pained at the recollection of the leaft fin; nor can
he find any reſt, till he has invoked the aid of the
great phyſician of fouls by fervent and importunate
prayer, opened his grief to him by a full and free •
confeffion of his guilt, and received a perfect cure-
from his hands, by a freih application of his all
fufficient merits.
Ephef. i. 16, et fex.
Thirdly,
THE SINNER CALLED.
JD
}
ས{
Thirdly, The penitent is tranflated from a ftate
of delufion to a found judgment and right apprehenfion
of things, froin fhadows to realities; even as one
awaketh from the romantic fcenery of a dream, to
behold all things as they really are, and to do his
duty in that ſtation in which God has placed him.
No fooner is a man awaked to righteoufnefs, and
rifen with Chrift to work out his falvation, but all
his former vâin and unprofitable life feemeth as a
night vifion. When the Lord turneth away the
captivity of one, whom Satan hath long bound with
the chains and fetters of evil habits; when he des
livereth him out of the hands of his enemies to
ferve God without fear; the time of his bondage
under the elements of the world, and the dominion
of fin, appeareth as a dream, from which he now
findeth himſelf moft happily awaked; awaked to
the profpect of a blifs that is not visionary, of a
real and fubftantial good, that melteth not into air,
as the fhalowy enjoyments of this world do, but
alfordeth folid comfort to the perſon who is poffefs- ·
ed of it; awaked to follow after that honour which
cometh from God only, thote riches which neither
moth nor ruft doth corrupt, thofe pleafures which
are at God's right hand, and that wildom which
maketh wife unto falvation; awaked to a steady
and uniform purfuit of thefe glorious objects, in-
ftead of that endlets defire of novelty and variety,
which wearieth the men of the world, leaving them
always difappointed of their hope; in a wo d, awa-
ked to the knowledge and love of an inher.tance in
light, that fadeth not, but thall endure for ever in
heaven, even when the world itſelf thail fly away
as a dream, and the very remembrance of it vaniſh
as a viſion of the night.
If
}
32
THE SINNER CALLED.
If therefore theſe things be fo-and furely the
Scriptures fay they are fo; if the ftate of the fin-
ner, or man of the world, be one of darkness, infen-
fibility, and delufion; and if ſuch a ſtate be not jud-
ged preferable to one of light, and ſenſe, and ſubſtan-
tial reality; let no man be diſobedient to the voice
of the church, which, through the courſe of this
penitential feafon, inceffantly addreffeth every one
of her children; "Behold, now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of falvation."
wake, therefore, thou that fleepeft: awake, and
fing, ye that dwell in the duft, and mind earthly
things awake, O thou Chriftian foul, and utter
a fong in praífe of him who hath redeemed thee:
awake, awake, put on the Lord Jefus thy ftrength,
put on righteouſneſs and holineſs thy beautiful gar-
ments; shake thyfelf from the duft, and fet thy affec-
tions on things above: the night is far ſpent, the day
is at hand; cast off therefore the works of darkneſs,
and put on the whole armour of light: ariſe, ſhine,
for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is.
rifen upon thee: arife, and ftand up from the dead,
and Chriſt ſhall give thee the light of life.
Awakened by theſe repeated calls, be it our care
to arife without delay to newneſs of life, not ſuf-
fering ourſelves, through floth and indolence, to
relapſe into evil habits, like the fluggard upon his
bed, who requireth always a little more fleep, a
little more flumber, a little more folding of the
hands to fleep." Let us arife at the firft admo-
nition, becauſe, that being rejected, God may not
vouchſafe us another; and there will be more diffi-
culty in obeying it, if he fhould do fo. Let us
therefore dread a relapfe, and guard againſt it.
For this purpoſe, let us be conftantly employed in
fome good work, and much of the danger will be
removed;
1
THE SINNER CALLED.
33
removed; fince liftleffneſs in the mind, like a le-
thargy in the body, is beſt cured by motion, and
exercife; and when temptations are creeping upon
us, there is no better method of baffling and put-
ting them to flight, than by forcing ourſelves to
reid, or pray, or perform fome other work of pie-
ty to God, or charity to our neighbour. Above
all things, let us beware, that furfeiting and excefs.
do not opprefs and weigh down the heart, indu-
cing fleep upon the foul, as well as the body. Let
us be temperate, let us be fober, walking evermore
as children of the light, not in rioting and drunk-
ennefs, not in chambering and wantonneſs, not in
ftrife and envying; for all theſe are the works of
darkneſs but that darkneſs is paft, and the true
light now fhineth. Thus fhall we be qualified to
fet and keep that conftant watch, which is abfo-
lutely neceffary to perceive and repel the enemy, at
his first approach. "What I fay unto you (faith
Chrift to his diſciples) I fay unto all-WATCH."
This if we do, we ſhall ſpend our day, as it ought
to be ſpent, in working out our falvation, and not
dream away, in vanity and folly, the precious and
fleeting hours allowed us for that purpofe. And
happy, thrice happy the man, who, in the evening,
of life, taking a furvey of what is paft, fhall be able
to ſay, with an humble confidence, as his bleſſed
Mafter, in the days of his flesh, faid to the Father;
"I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finish-
ed the work which thou gavest me to do." His
body fhall lie down in the duft in perfect peace,
and rest in hope, till the dawning of the great day;
when that likewife thall receive its fummons from
heaven, by the voice of the archangel; " Awake,
thou that fleepeft,, and arife from the dead, and
Chriſt fhall give thee light."
1
DISCOURSE III.
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
1
}
1
f
ACTS viii. 34, 35.
And the eunuch anſwered Philip, and faid, I pray thee,
of whom speaketh the prophet this; of himself, or of
Some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and
began at the fame Scripture, and preached unto him
JESUS.
1
WE
are now drawing towards the cloſe of that
penitential ſeaſon, fet apart by the wifdom of the
church for retirement and recollection, confeffion
and humiliation, mortification and felf-denial, me-
ditation and devotion; to the end that having dif-
covered and caft out our fins, having ſubdued pride,
and extinguiſhed concupifcence, having brought
the body into fubjection, and rendered the fpirit
tender, and humble, and holy, we might be pre-
pared to attend our bleffed Redeemer, at the cele-
bration of his laft paffover; toaccompany him from the
garden to the high prieft's palace, from thence to the
prætorium, and from thence to mount Calvary; there
to take our ſtation, with the virgin mother, and
the beloved difciple, at the foot of the crofs, and
"look on him whom we have pierced." The hif-
tory therefore of the Ethiopian nobleman's conver-
fion, effected by St Philip's expounding to him the
liii chapter of Ifaiah, feemeth no improper fubject
whereon to employ our thoughts, at a time when
the
1
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
35
1
r
the church is inforcing on us the duties of repen-
tance and faith, by the fame argument which firſt
produced them in the heart of that illuftrious per-
fon; namely, the unexampled forrows and fuffer-
ings of the Son of God for the fins of the world;
to the contemplation of which is dedicated the great
and holy week upon which we this day enter; a
week, fpent in fuch a manner by them of old time,
as made it evident to every beholder, that theſe
were "the days in which the bridegroom was taken
away." For now (as the ancient canons and con-
ſtitutions inform us) men gave over all wordly
employments, and making the happy exchange of
earth for heaven, betook themſelves wholly to de-
votion, heightened and improved by thofe religious
exerciſes, which the experience of pious men in
all ages hath evinced to be conducive to that end.
Difmiffing therefore from our thoughts the cares
and pleaſures of a vain and tranfitory world, every
thing that perplexeth, and every thing that defileth,
let us take a view of the no leſs engaging than in-
tereſting circumftances of the hiftory, before us..
}
St Philip, commonly ſtiled the Evangelift, one
of the ſeven deacons, and next in order to St Ste-
phen, being driven from Jeruſalem by the perſecu-
tion which arofe at the time of the protomartyr's
death, went down to the city of Samaria, and ever
mindful of the commiffion he had received, and
.the neceffity of executing it, preached Chrift to
the people there. So that the ftorm raiſed by the
adverſary againſt the church turned out to the fur-
therance of the Goſpel, being made a means of
wafting the feeds of evangelical truth to diftant
lands, in order to a more plentiful and glorious
harveft.
While
香​高
​1
36
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
1
While he was employed in edifying his Samari-
tan converts, a fresh opportunity was offered him
of advancing his maſter's kingdom; as indeed op
portunities of doing that bleffed work are feidom
wanting to him who has the piety and ſkill to feize
and improve them aright. "The angel of the
Lord fpake unto Philip, faying, Arife, and go to
wards the fouth, unto the way that goeth down
from Jerufalem to Gaza, which is defart." The
moſt unpromifing journey fhall be a profperous one,
when undertaken in obedience to the the divine
defignation, intimated by a lawful call. Nor let
the minifter of Chriſt deſpair, whoſe lot is caft in
the midſt of ſpiritual barrenneſs and defolation. He
who fent Philip to a defart place, did not fend him
there for nought; fince even in fuch a foil he raif-
ed a fair and fragrant flower, which having bloomed,
for its appointed time, on earth, in the beauty of
holinefs, now difplays its colours, and diffufes its
odours, in the paradife of God; who, whenever
he pleafes to blefs the labous of his fervants, can
caufe "the wildernefs and the folitary place to be
glad for them, and the defart to rejoice, and blof-
fom as the rofe."
This Philip knew, and therefore made no ob-
jections, and afked no queſtions, but "arofe and
went."
And he who thews the fame unreſerved
obedience to the will of his Lord, fhall reap the
fruits of it in this world, and that which is to come.
For no fooner was Philip arrived at the place ap
pointed, but (the wiſdom of God fo ordering) be-
hold, arrived at the fametime, "a man of Ethioe,
pia, an eunch of great authority under Candac
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of
all her treafure." But what made this ftatelman
great in the fight of God, was his extraordinary
piety,
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
31.
I
piety, which led him to the temple at Jerufalem.
For the fame of this temple, diffuſed abroad among
the nations round about, brought many continually
to enquire "concerning the Name of the Lord,
who refided in it, and to worship him in the court
affigned them for that purpoſe, which was there-
fore ftiled the court of the Gentiles. Among others
came this Lord Treaſurer of Ethiopia, who, en-
gaged, as he muft of courſe be by his office, in a
multiplicity of worldly buſineſs, and advanced to
the height of worldly honour, could find time and
inclination, it feems, to take a long journey on the
account of religion; thinking himſelf never fo well
employed, as when attending the city and court of
the great king, never fo highly honoured, as when
fuffered to proftrate himſelf before JEHOVAH, the
GOD of Ifrael; "he had been to Jerufalem to wor
ſhip, and was returning."
But as the tide of fecular affairs, if fuffered to
break in, will preſently extinguifh the fpark of de-
votion, though kindled in the foul by a coal from
the altar; in order to cheriſh the heavenly thoughts
and affections produced in his mind by worshipping
towards the holy temple of the Lord, as he returned
home in his chariot," he read Efaias the prophet ;"
thereby teaching us where to look for Chriſt, and
how to fanctify with pious reading all our leifure
hours; out of the many thouſands of which ſo care-
lefsly and extravagantly fquandered, (though God
knows we have need enough of them all) there is
not one, but, if rightly uſed, might fet us confider-
ably forward in our way to glory., How will this
illuſtrious perfonage ariſe up in the judgment againſt
all thofe Chriftians, who in the hours of domeſtic
eafe and tranquillity never open a bible, when he
would not even travel without one in the chariot
VOL. II.
D
with
ན
38
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
with him. "Sitting in his chariot he read Efaias the
prophet.” A nobleman thus employed was an ob-
ject that engaged the attention of heaven, and an
Evangelift was fent to fow the feed of eternal life in
a ground fo well prepared. "Arife (fays the ever-
gracious Spirit of God to Philip) and go toward the
fouth, to the way that goeth down from Jerufalem
to Gaza, which is defart;" for there he might be-
hold a miniſter of ftate, fitting in his chariot, and
reading the Scriptures! So ready is God to teach,
when man is ready to hear.
Such an opportunity of inftructing the well dif
pofed was not to be neglected, for a fingle moment,
by the faithful meffenger of Chrift. No fooner
therefore did the Spirit order Philip to "go near
and join himſelf to this chariot," but he " ran thi-
ther" inftantly.
Being come to the fide of the chariot, he "heard
him read Efaias the prophet;" and his introductory
queftion to him was, "underſtandeft thou what
thou readeft ?" A queftion, which every reader of
the facred books muft frequently put to himſelf, if
he would not read in vain. And happy they, who,
like this nobleman, are not offended when it is put
to them, but ſhew the meek and teachable difpo-
fition of their minds by returning his anfwer;
How can I, except fome man fhould guide me ?”
Such will have the wiſdom and grace to defire the
company of thoſe (however lowly their appearance
and condition in the world may be, compared with
their own) who can tell them words, whereby they
may be faved. "He defired Philip, that he would
come up, and fit with him.”.
The Evangelift being feated in the chariot, they
proceed to confider the place of the Scripture, to
which the providence of God, predifpofing thoſe
incidents
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
Fo
incidents commonly aſcribed to chance, had direc
ted the nobleman; which was the following paffage
in the liii. chapter of Ifaiah; "He was led as a
fheep to the flaughter, and like a lamb dumb'be-
fore his fhearers, fo he opened not his mouth. In
his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and
who fhall declare his generation? for his life is
taken from the earth.”
It is obvious, at firſt fight, that the prophet is
here drawing a picture of afflicted innocence. But
it was impoffible for the nobleman to underſtand
the place, becauſe he knew not to whom the de-
ſcription belonged; as appears by his aſking Philip
"I pray thee, of whom fpeaketh the prophet
this; of himſelf, or of fome other man ?””
This great leading queſtion in the interpretation
of the Scriptures Philip will teach us how to an-
fwer, who, having waited all this time to hear his
new difciple read the paffage, and propofe his dif-
ficulties upon it, now at length, "opened his
mouth, and began at the fame Scripture, and
preached unto him JESUS"-may we not fuppofe,
without prefumption, in words to the following:
effect-
Be not furprifed to find, that you cannot, with
out affiſtance, attain to a right underſtanding of the
ancient prophecies, feeing you want that key which
alone can open them, and admit you to a 'difcern--
ment of the holy myfteries they contain. For pro-
phecy, being not the word of man, but given by
inſpiration of the Spirit of God, terminates not in
the temporary affairs of this world, but extends to
the eternal concerns of another and better life,
leading men to that diſpenſation of love and mercy,,
which is now about to be unfolded to you.
D 2
Know
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
Know then, that the prophet Iſaiah, in the paf-
fage before us, is by no means fpeaking of himself,
or his own private fufferings, but thoſe of another
man, in whom the world is interefted; and who is
mentioned by him elfewhere under the title of
IMMANUEL, or GOD WITH US; that divine perſon,
ordained from the beginning to reverſe the fad ef-
fects of the fall of Adam, which you read of in the
books of Mofes, and to be the Redeemer of man-
kind from fin and forrow, from death temporal
and eternal. This perfon, the object of the faith
and hope of the people of God in all ages, prefi-
gured in the law, foretold by the prophets, and
celebrated in the pfalms, the Meffiah of the Jews,
and the defire of all nations, of whofe appearing,
as at this time; a general expectation prevails among
both, has accordingly been manifeſted in the fleſh,
to fulfil all that was written of him; and having
kept the law for man, and fuffered death for his
tranfgreffion of it, he arofe again on the third day,
and aſcended into heaven, from whence he ſent
down his Spirit, to eſtabliſh his kingdom among
the Gentiles, by the preaching of that Gofpel
which the Jews have rejected, expelling thofe char-
ged with the publication of it out of their coafts.
The behaviour of this ſtubborn and ſtiff-necked
people, who, as they crucified the mafter, never
ceafe to perfecute his fervants, forces us to cry out
in the words fpoken by the prophet in ſpirit fo
long before; Lord, who, among thy once faithful
people Ifrael, hath believed our report concerning
the manifeſtation of thy Chrift; and to whom hath
this arm of Jehovah, this mighty power of God,
been revealed, by our miniftry, to the purpoſes of
falvation?
You
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
4
!
Your may wonder, perhaps, what could induce:
them to reject their Saviour, whom they were all
along taught by their own Scriptures to expect. It
was the poverty and humility in which he came to
vifit us, fo contrary to their modern proud and
carnal conceits. For this being the feafon of his
humiliation for our fins, he grew up, as Ifaiah here:
defcribes him, fmall and of no reputation, from a
family near extinct, like a tender plant fpringing.
unnoticed from its root hidden in a barren and dry
land, out of which nothing eminent was expected
to ariſe. In the manner of his appearance he had
no form nor comelinefs, none of the advantages of
worldly grandeur; no ornaments of ſtate to fet him-
off; and when we faw him with our outward eyes,,
there was no beauty that we ſhould defire him; his
vifage was fo marred with fufferings more than any
man, and his form more than the fons of men..
For the ufage he met with from the world was even
more diſcouraging than his poor and lowly appear-
He was defpifed and rejected of the men he
came to fave: all his life-long a man of forrows,
and acquainted with grief, his bofom friend and
companion night and day, during his pilgrimage:
upon earth. Unheeded and unregarded he walk--
ed amongst us, while we, not difcerning his glory
through the veil of fleſh caſt over it, hid as it were:
our faces from him, and would none of his com-
pany; but finding him defpifed by the many and
the great, we efteemed him not, for the very rea-
fon which ought to have made him moſt dear unto '
us. For furely the griefs he bare, and the forrows
he carried, were not his own, but ours; yet we,
not confidering for whom he fuffered, did efteem
him the outcaft of heaven and earth, ftricken in juft
judgment from above, fmitten of God in his anger,
·D 3
ance.
andi
42
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
·
and afflicted by his heavy difpleafure. And indeed
he was wounded, but it was for our tranfgreffions;
he was bruifed, but our iniquities bruifed him; the
chaftifement he underwent procured our peace;
and the ſtripes inflicted on his pure and innocent
body, were as balm to heal the wounds of our pol-
luted and guilty fouls. Our fins were the true
cauſe of his forrows. All we, the wretched ſons.
of wretched Adam, like ſheep ever ready to war-
der from the fold, have gone aftray; we have turn-
ed from the only right way, the path of God's
commandments, every one to his own evil way;
and the merciful Lord, inftead of punishing us,
laid on him the iniquities of us all; a burthen,
which the world could not have fuftained a mo-
ment. He, the Son of God himſelf, was fore op-
preffed and afflicted with it; his foul was exceeding
forrowful, even unto death. But his love to man
was invincible, burning and fhining amidst a fea of
troubles unutterable; all the waves of affliction,
which broke over him could not quench it, neither
could the floods of Belial drown it. His refolution
to fave us, like a branch of the victorious palm, re-
ceived ftrength from the weight laid upon it. He
could have commanded the armies of heaven to
have attended him in a moment; but thus it beho-
ved Chrift to fuffer; and therefore, the inhabitants.
of the regions of glory, inftead of vindicating his
innocence, taught the church of the redeemed to a-
dore his paffion; which, bitter as it was, (for never
was forrow like unto his forrow!) extorted not one
repining or complaining word from him. He was
oppreffed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not
his mouth. He was brought to the cross, all meek-
nefs and quietnefs, as a lamb to the flaughter; and
as a sheep before her fhearers, that livelieft portrai-
ture
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
43
ture of refigned innocence, is dumb, fo opened he
not his mouth, before his malicious perfecutors. In
his humiliation his judgment was taken away; the
judge of all the earth was condemned by one who
acknowledged him to be guiltlefs; and though a
perſon of fuch high and unfpeakable dignity, that
neither men nor angels can declare the manner of
his generation, yet he fhared with us the lot of
mortality, and tafted death for every man; he was
cut off from the land of the living, for the tranf
greffion of the people was he fmitten. He, whofe
ftile is, "the Lord our righteoufnefs," died with
the wicked, and the poffeffor of heaven and earth
was beholden to the rich for a grave. Although
he had done no violence, neither was there deceit
in his mouth, for in his perfon mercy and truth
met together, yet it pleafed the Lord to bruiſe him,
as one made fin for us, though he himſelf knew no
fin; he hath put him to grief, that we might re-
joice evermore, feeing he made his foul an offering,
and was accepted of the Father, as a full, perfect,
and fufficient facrifice, oblation, and fatisfaction,
for the fins of the whole world. Accordingly, the
debt man had contracted being diſcharged, his ſub-
ftitute was releaſed from the prifon of the grave,
and afcended into his glory, where he reaps the
fruit of his labours. For now he fees his feed, the
generation of the faithful converts adopted into his
family, and made his children; he has prolonged
his days and thofe of his fpiritual offspring, for e-
ver and ever; and the pleaſure of the Lord, the
work of man's falvation, profpers glorioufly in his
hands. He fees the numerous iffue of the travail
of his foul in thoſe bitter pangs it endured upon the
crofs; and efteeming it an ample recompenfe for
them all, is ſatisfied, and filled with joy. By the
knowledge
44
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
knowledge of his heavenly doctrine, to be preach;
ed in all the world, fhall the righteous fervant of
Jehovah juſtify an innumerable multitude of all na--
tions, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, who
like the ſpangles of early dew, or the ftars of the
firmament, fhall fhine evermore by communications
of his glory; for he has borne their iniquities, and
done away their fins. Therefore, the multitudes
of the nations are given him for the portion of his
inheritance, and the ftrong and mighty kingdoms
of the world, reſcued from the tyranny of Satan,,
fhall become his; becauſe for them, though they
knew him not, he hath poured out his foul unto
death, and was numbered with tranfgreffors and
malefactors, and bare the fin of Adam and all his
pofterity; and being hereby exalted to the throne:
of God, there continueth ever to make interceffion:
for you, and for me, and for all tranfgreffors.--
This view of things fo affected the nobleman,
and the love of his Saviour thus dying for him took
fuch entire poffeffion of his foul, 'that when, by the:
direction of the fame good Providence that fuper-
intended this whole affair, "they came," as they
journeyed on, "to a certain water, he faid," in
tranfport, "fee, here is water; what doth hinder.
me to be baptized into the name of this JESUS,.
whom thou preacheſt?. And Philip faid, If thou
believeft with all thine heart, thou mayeft. And
he anſwered, and faid, I believe that Jesus is the.
Son of GOD. And he commanded the chariot to
ſtand ſtill, and they went down both into the wa-
ter, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized.
him. And when they were come up out of the
water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip,
and the eunuch faw him no more. How careful
ought we to be to ſnatch, and improve to the ut-
most,
•
1
1
י
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
·45
moft, every opportunity of making our calling and
election fure? How watchful, left the day of falva-
tion paſs unheeded away, and the Sun of Righte-
oufnefs fet upon our impenitence and unbelief?
Philip had other work in great abundance to do,
and one fermon had converted the nobleman.
"He went on his way rejoicing," full of joy in the
Holy Ghoft; and he who came from Ethiopia, Lord
treaſurer to queen Candace, made his entrance in-
to it again in a far different character, that of an
Apoſtle of Jeſus Chriſt; for as fuch, the ecclefiaf-
tical hiftorians inform us, he was commiffioned to
preach the Goſpel to his countrymen, the truth of
which he finally fealed with his blood. * In hea
ven he again beholds the face of his own paftor,
and father in Chrift. Numbered with the faints of
the moſt high in glory everlaſting, with what plea-
fure do they now look back upon the time they
ſpent together in the chariot, over the liii. chapter
of Ifaiah; that ſmall portion of time, productive of
fo much never ending joy and comfort to them both!
And now, let us make a fuitable application of
this delightful and profitable part of facred ſtory.
When therefore we behold this great man laying
afide the cares of ftate, turning his back on the
pomps and vanities of a court, and fetting out from
a far diftant land to pay a visit to the temple at Je-
rufalem, learn we duly to prize the inestimable
bleffings of church communion. The hill of Sion
is a fair place, the joy of the whole earth. On its
top, filent and refreſhing as the dew, defcend the
influences of heaven, and the benedictions of eter-
nity at its foot break forth the freſh fprings of di-
viné grace, fending abroad the waters of comfort into
every land. The Lord hath choſen Sion to be an ha-
bitation
Jortin's Remarks on Ecclef. Hift. Vol. I. p. 304.
!
46
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
bitation for himſelf; he hath reared his throne of glo→
ry in the midſt of her, and made her to be the refi-
dence of his Spirit. The Lord is in his holy temple.
There will he be found of fuch as diligently feek
him there is he to be worſhipped with holy wor-
ſhip: there is offered the morning facrifice of pray-
er and thankſgiving, rendered acceptable through
the meritorious righteoufnefs of the Redeemer,
that fweet incenfe which accompanies the prayers
of all faints to the throne of grace: there the light
of evangelical doctrine goeth not out: and there
is fet forth the fhew-bread of eternal life. Who
can wonder at the melting ſtrains poured forth by
devout and holy fouls, excluded, in calamitous
times, from a participation of ſuch invaluable pri-
vileges? "O how amiable are they dwellings, thou
Lord of hofts! My foul longeth, yea even fainteth
for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God." How happy is our
lot, who have not a journey from Ethiopia to take,
in order to worship at Jerufalem, but hear the
daily call of the church founding in our ears;
"Come unto him all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and he will give you reſt.' Bleffed are
they who know the joyful found, and fuffer no
indulgence, no amufement, no employment, to
prevent their accepting fo friendly and loving an
invitation.
Let a fight of this nobleman's great love of the
Scriptures, thus rewarded by a manifeftation of the
Mefliah to him, ftir us up to afpire after the fame
reward, by a like ardent defire of underſtanding
thoſe holy books, which, when underſtood, will
not fail to lead us to Chrift. "He is the end of
the law: and to him give all the prophets witneſs :"
fo that whether Philip had found the nobleman
reading.
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
47
reading in one or the other, he would have "be-
gun at the fame Scripture, and preached unto him
JESUS." And the minifter of Chrift, who writes
after his copy, fhall do well. He may not perhaps
e able to explain the whole: but fhall he therefore
explain none? He may err in the interpretation of
particulars, and fancy he finds Chrift where he is
not to be found; but is not this better than, by
ceafing to interpret, to preclude the poffibility of
finding him where he certainly is? If the doctrine
deduced be according to the analogy of faith, the
fermon will be edifying, even although the expo
ſition ſhould not be quite exact, as is often the cafe
in the homilies of the Fathers; which, with all
their inaccuracies, no one can read without being
a better man; becauſe, whatever part of the Scrip-
ture be the fubject, the reader is always fure to
find fome point of Chriftian faith or practice ex-
plained and enforced. But if the application of the
Scriptures to Chriſt and the concerns of his church
be rejected, becauſe ſome are unſkilful in making
it, an argument is drawn from the abufe of a thing
againſt its uſe; the opinion and practice of the
church for 1700 years fet afide; the Bible fealed
up; and the Chriftian commences Jew: for what
is the characteriſtic and fundamental error of that
unhappy people, but the not difcerning Jefus of
Nazareth in the Scriptures of the OLD Teftament?
If the minifters of the Gofpel would make the
hearts of their hearers to burn within them, it muſt
be by an imitation of their bleffed Mafter, who
wrought that effect on the two difciples going to
Emmaus, by " expounding unto them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF
Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked
with us by the way, and while he OPENED to us
the
3
48
THE NOBLE CONVERT.
the SCRIPTURES ?" Permit me to recite a ſhort paf-
fage from the writings of the learned and pious
Biſhop Andrews, who thus accounts for the fyno-
nymous ufe of the words prophefying and preaching
in the New Teftament language. We (fays he
that is, the minifters of the Chriftian church) do
prophefy, as it were, the meaning of ancient pro-
phecies: not make any new, but interpret the old
well: take off the veil from Mofes's face, find
Chriſt and the myſteries of the Goſpel under the
types of the law; apply the old prophecies, ſo as
it may appear that the ſpirit of prophecy is the teſ-
timony of JESUS. And he is the beſt prophet now,
that can do this beſt."*
But the hiſtory we have been confidering recom-
mends more peculiarly to our frequent perufal, and
deepeſt meditations, that portion of holy writ,
which was made the inftrument, in St Philip's
hands, of bringing the Ethiopian nobleman to the
knowledge and faith of Chrift, the liii. chapter of
Ifaiah; a chapter, no lefs remarkable for the migh-
ty and wonderful change effected by it in the heart
of another nobleman, of our own country. For
in the fermon preached at the funeral of that ex-
traordinary penitent, the Earl of Rochefter, we
find the following ftriking and affecting relation,
"This eſtate of mind continued till the liii. chap-
ter of Iſaiah was read to him, wherein there is a
lively deſcription of the fufferings of our Saviour,
and the benefits thereof; by the power and efficá-
cy of which, affifted by his holy Spirit, God fo
wrought upon his heart, that he declared, the myf-
teries of the paffion appeared as plain to him, as
ever any thing did that was repreſented in a glaſs ;
fo that the joy and admiration, which poffeffed his
foul
Serm. on Acts ii. 16. et feq.
THE NOBLE CONVERT:
49
foul upon the reading God's words to him, was re-
markable to all about him; and he had ſo much
delight in his teftimonies, that he begged the fame
might be read to him frequently; and was unfatis-
fied, notwithſtanding his great pains and weakneſs,
till he had learned the liii. chapter of Ifaiah with-
out book." Let us therefore at all feaſons, but
more eſpecially at the prefent, by a frequent peru-
fal of this wonderful chapter, recollect our thoughts,
and compofe our fpirits, and foften our hearts, and
mortify our paffions, and fix our affections on him
who loved us, and for our fakes faſted, and mourn-
ed, and wept, and lived poor, and died forſaken.
"Let us alfo go, (as St Thomas once faid) that
we may die with him;" that being baptized in
the baptifm of repentance, as the eunuch was by
Philip in the water, we may die to fin, and arife,
as he did, to newness of life, with our under-
ſtandings prepared to receive, our hearts to love,
and our tongues to publish the truth; our hands
to work out our ſalvation, and our feet to run with
delight the way of God's commandments, though
it lead us through the valley of the fhadow of death.
Thus we shall go on our way to heaven rejoicing in
hope, and become patient and refigned under all
the tribulations we can fuffer, for our hope's fake.
A mournful Lent (hall terminate in a joyful Eafter;
and every tear be wiped away at the refurrection
of the juft; when we ſhall meet St Philip and his
convert, with all thofe who, having performed
their appointed penance in this world, are admitted
to the communion of the church triumphant; to
which God of his infinite mercy vouchſafe to bring
us all, through the merits and mediation of Jefus
Chrift, the Saviour of finners, the end of the law,
and the fulneſs of the Goſpel.
E
VOL. II.
DISCOURSE IV.
!
JESUS RISEN.
1
LUKE XXIV. 34.
The Lord is rifen indeed.
•
1
OUR meditations, for this week paft, have been
employed on the forrows and fufferings of the Son
of God, undergone for the fins of the world. We
have viewed him fold, betrayed, denied, mocked,
fcourged, reviled, and evil.intreated, crowned with
thorns, and nailed to the crofs; from thence taken
down, and laid in the grave, as a man that had
been long dead; a large ftone placed at the mouth
of the fepulchre, properly fealed, and the watch
carefully fet. During the folemn commemoration
of thofe days, in which the Bridegroom was thus
taken away, the mirth of tabrets hath ceafed, and
the noiſe of them that rejoice hath given place to
the penitential accents of grief and lamentation.
For a little feaſon, even the facred mufic of the
church hath not been heard; but her harp alſo,
like that of holy Job, " hath been turned to mourn-
ing, and her organ into the voice of them that
weep; while either, with one of the Maries, the
hath ftood under the crofs, or watched, with the
other, at the grave of her Lord.
But as a woman, who in her travail hath forrow,
becauſe her hour is come, yet afterward remember-
L.....
* Job xxx. 31.
eth
JESUS RISEN.
5 F
eth no more the anguiſh, for joy that a man is born
into the world; with fuch unfeigned exultation do
we on this day celebrate the fecond birth of the
holy Jefus, from the tomb; by which he realized
to his deſponding difciples, in a peculiar manner,
one of his own beatitudes; "Bleffed are they that
mourn, for they fhall be comforted!" Bleffed are
they, who have mourned for the death of Chriſt,
and the fins which occafioned it; for they are the
perfons, who will be comforted by the tidings of
his refurrection; their forrow will indeed be turn-
ed into joy, when they hear that their warfare is
accompliſhed, that their iniquity is pardoned; fince
he, who died for their fins, is rifen again for their
juftification. Defervedly, therefore, hath this ever
been efteemed the queen of feftivals, worthy to give
laws to the reft, to appear at the head of the holy
band, crowned with everlafting joy, and hailed by
inceffant Hallelujahs. For now it well becometh.
us to obey that injunction, iffued of old from the
Lord, by his prophet Ifaiah; "Sing, O ye heavens,.
for the Lord hath done it; fhout, ye lower parts.
of the earth, break forth into finging, ye moun-
tains, O foreft and every tree therein; for the Lord
hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himſelf in I
rael." Let fongs of praife, therefore, fill the hea-
yens, from the comforted fpirits of juſt men made-
perfect, of patriarchs, and prophets, and faints,
upon this triumph of their God, whom they wait-
ed for. Let the inhabitants of the earth diffufe in
loud acclamations the glorious name of the mighty
conqueror, who, by his refurrection, hath procured
and given an earnest of their own. Let mount Sion
and all her fifter churches break forth into finging,
and utter the praifes of him who hath delivered
E 2
them
* Ifai. xliv. 23
L
52
JESUS RISEN.
1
;
them from the curfe of the law, and from the guilt
of fin, and from the power of the fecond death, as
well as from the dominion of the firſt. Let the
Gentile world, and every tree of righteoufnefs plant-
ed therein, burft out into the fruits of praife and
thankfgiving for this, great manifeftation of the
power and glory of God, in the redemption of our
nature from the grave.-Such be the joy produced
in heaven and in earth, among angels and men,
Jews and Gentiles, by the tidings of this day, "The
Lord is rifen indeed.”
The province allotted me at prefent is, to dif
play the grounds and reaſons of this general joy, or
to ftate evidence for the fact which gives occafion
to it, namely, the refurrection of Jefus our Lord,
from the dead; which being the key-ftone of the
Chriftian fabric, and the foundation of all our
hopes, it muſt always be a tafk no leſs prófitable
than delightful, to eſtabliſh fo important and com-
fortable a doctrine upon its proper bafis.
The evidence for the refurrection of Chrift is of
two kinds, predictive and historical. From the
Old Teftament it appears that Meffiah was to riſe;
from the New, that Jefus of Nazareth did riſe, and
therefore is the Meffiah.
Among the predictive witneffes, the first place is
due to that ancient and venerable order of men,
ftiled Patriarchs, or heads of families, whofe lives
and actions, as well as their words, were defcrip-
tive of the perfon in faith of whom they lived and
acted, inftructing, interceding for, and conducting
their dependents, as reprefentative prophets, prieſts,
and kings; looking forward unto the author and
finiſher of their faith and our's, who, by dying and
and rifing again was to exhibit to the world the di
vine fulneſs of all thefe characters; to teach, to
¿
atone,
*
JESUS RISEN.
33***
·
7
atone, to reign; to bruife the ferpent's head; to
comfort the fons of Adam concerning the work
and toil of their hands; to gather, and to bleſs the
nations. The extraordinary incidents, with which
the hiftory of thefe holy perfons aboundeth, the
frequent revolutions of their affairs from the depth.
of adverfity to the height of profperity, brought a-
bout by the remarkable interpofitions of heaven in:
their favour, naturally direct our attention to pa-
rallel circumftances in the after difpenfations of
God, to which foregoing ones were defigned to
bear teftimony: In this light, the hiftory of Ifaac,.
intentionally offered in facrifice, and received again.
from the dead, in a figure; of Jofeph, fuffering.
perfecution from his brethren, and by them fold.
into the hands of ftrangers, but afterwards taken.
from prifon and from judgment, exalted to power
and honour, and becoming the preferver of men;
and, under the Mofaic difpenfation, the hiftory of
David, anointed to the kingdom, but wading.
through a fea of troubles and forrows to the poſ--
feffion of it; of Sampfon arifing at midnight, dif-
mantling the fortifications of the city where he was
contined as a prifoner, and leading captivity captive;.
together with the accounts of many other temporal
faviours and deliverers raited up to Ifrael in time
of need, to refcue them from the oppreffion of
their enemies; all theſe hiftories have been, from.
the beginning, confidered as bearing an afpect to
the exaltation of mankind from miſery and thame:
to felicity and glory, through the fufferings and re--
furrection of the Son of God, the champion of the:
church, and Redeemer of the world. And confi-
dered in this view, they will always afford matter
of inſtruction, of wonder, and delight, to the pious:
and difcerning Chriſtian.
E 3
1
Ina
&
54
JESUS RISEN.
i
In the clafs of the predictive witneffes of our
Lord's refurrection, the fecond place is claimed by
the Law. Nor will its claim be difputed by any
one, who fhall reflect, that it prophefied until John,
executing the office of a ſchool-mafter, to lead men,
by material elements and rudiments, to an appre-
henfion of the fpiritual ideas fignified and conveyed
thereby, until the Baptift fucceeded it in that office;
who, pointing to Jefus as he walked, fpake the
language of its inftitutious, when he faid, "Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the fins of
the world." And indeed, when, after the faera-
mental atonement made by the death of the inno-
cent victim, we fee the Levitical high priest array-
ed in the garments of glory and beauty; when we
behold him purifying all the parts of the figurative.
tabernacle with blood, and then entering, within the
veil, into the holiest of all, to prefent that propi-
tiating blood before the offended Majefty of hea-
ven; is it poffible, even though an apcftle had not
applied all thefe circumftances for us, to detain
the imagination a moment from fixing itfelf on
the great high priest of our profeffion; the ple-
nary fatisfaction made on the crofs; his refurrec-
tion in an immortal body, no more to ſtand char-
ged with fin, no more to fee corruption; the
purification of the church by his precious blood;
his aſcenſion into heaven, and interceffion for us,
in the prefence of God? Again, when we read the
command given to the prieſt, that on the morrow
after the fabbath he ſhould wave a fheaf of the firſt
fruits,* as an earneſt and fanctification of the future
harveft; doth it not immediately fuggeft to us,
that on the fame day, on the morrow after the fab-
bath, Chrift arofe from the dead, and became the
* Levit. xxxiii.
firft
1
t
1
JESUS RISEN.
53
J
រ
first fruits of them that flept, the fanctification and
earneſt of that harveſt which ſhall be at the end of
the world; at which time he, who, in the days of
his fleſh, went on weeping, a man of forrows, and
acquainted with grief, bearing forth the precious
feed of the word of life, fhall doubtlefs come again
with rejoicing, bringing his fheaves with him. Nor
can we, it is apprehended, perufe the account of
the flowering rod of Aaron, depoſited in the moſt
holy place, for a perpetual memorial of the inveſ-
titure of the priesthood in him and his family,*
without being led to reflect on the afcertainment
of the eternal Melchifedecian priesthood to the
perfon of Chrift, by the reflorefcence of that mortal
part, which he drew from the ftem of Jeffe, and.
which hath now taken up its refidence in heaven
itſelf, being an everlaſting memorial to God and
man, of the true and availing priesthood and inter-
ceffion of the holy Jefus.
Next to the Patriarchs, and the Law, the Pro-
phets prefs for admittance, to deliver their teftimo-
ny; for the teftimony of Jefus (as faith the an-
gel in the Revelation) is the fpirit of Prophecy."+
Some of thefe give their evidence in the ancient way.
of figure and emblem; others, with lefs referve,
in exprefs literal declarations. Of the former kind
is that of Jonah, devoted for the fafety of the vef-
fel in which he failed, detained three days in what
he ftlleth "the belly of hell," and then reſtored
to the world again, to preach repentance to the
heathen; circumftances too plain and ftriking to
need any comment, after that given. by our Lord
himſelf; " As Jonas was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly, fo fhall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth.'
See Numb. xvii.
† Rev. xix. 10.
"
A
1
56
JESUS RISEN.
earth.”*
Of a like nature is that vifion of Zecha-
riah,† in which he feeth Joſhua the high priest
clothed with filthy garments, which are taken from.
him, and he is clothed with change of raiment,
and other facerdotal ornaments, denoting the pu-
rity, and glory of Chrift, when our iniquity paffed
from him, and he arofe, without fin, unto falva--
tion. And thus again, the prophecy of Haggai,
that the "glory of the latter houfe fhould be great-
er than that of the former," is as true of the
temple of our Lord's body, after his refurrection,
compared with that before his death, as it is of the
fecond material temple, compared with the firſt,
on account of the preſence of God incarnate in the
one, which was not in the other. Hofea de-
livers a prediction of the reſtoration of the church
then oppreffed and afflicted, in terms literally ap-
plicable to the virtual reſurrection of the members
in the Head of the church.-" Come and let us re-
turn unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he
will heal us; he hath imitten, and he will bind us
up; after two days he will revive us; in the third
day he will raiſe us up, and we fhall live in his
fight."||___But Ifaiah is very explicit, and faith, in
the perſon of Chriſt addreffing himſelf to the
church; Thy dead men fhall live, together with
my dead body ſhall they arife; awake, and fing,
ye that dwell in the duft, for thy dew is as the
dew of herbs, and the earth fhall caft out the
dead." And elfewhere, difcourfing of the Meffiah,
he foretelleth exprefsly, that " when he had made
his foul an offering for fin, he fhould fee his feed,.
he fhould prolong his days, and the pleaſure of the
Lord fhould profper in his hands; that he fhould
fee
1
* Mat. xii. 40.
[ Hofea vi.. I, 2.
+ See Zech. iii.
‡ Haggai ii. 9..
§ Ifai. xxvi. 19.
JESUS RISEN.
57
"Thou
fee of the travail of his foul, and be fatisfied; that
becauſe he had poured out his foul unto death,
God would afterwards give him a portion with the
great."*
I fhall cloſe the predictive evidence with.
the famous paffage from the lxi. Pfalm.
wilt not leave my foul in hell, neither wilt thou
fuffer thy holy one to fee corruption: thou wilt
fhew me the path of life;" where, as St Peter af-
fureth us, in his fermon, Acts ii. David fpake not
in his own perfon, but "being a prophet, and
knowing that God had ſworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the fleſh,
he would raiſe up Chrift to fit upon his throne, he
feeing this before, fpake of the refurrection of
Chriſt, that his foul was not left in hell, neither
did his fleſh fee corruption."
A fact of fo extraordinary a nature as the refur-
rection of a body from the dead, predicted, as we
have ſeen, at fundry times and in divers manners,
by the Patriarchs, the Law, and the Prophets, can-
not be ſuppoſed to have happened without ſuffi-
cient witneffes of its accompliſhment. Theſe are
} now to be collected, and made to pafs in due order
before us.
$.
And first, we fhall cite Heaven and Earth to
give in their evidence; for both of them perceived
the power of their Lord at his rifing, and both
proclaimed it to the inhabitants of the world, by
thofe awful figns and appearances, which ufhered
in the morning of the refurrection. At the time
fore-appointed in the divine counfels, "the angel of
of the Lord defcended from heaven," bringing with
him a strange and more glorious day fpring, his
brightness covering the heavens, and enlightening
the world. "His countenance (faith St Matthew)
* Ifai. liil
was
1
1
58
JESUS RISEN.
was like lightning, and his raiment white as fnow;
all purity, and joy, and triumph, and glory. At
this manifeftation of fplendour and majefty from
heaven, the earth trembled and quaked, as decla-
ring itſelf unable any longer to detain the body
which had been committed to it for a little feafon.
"Behold, there was a great earthquake; for the
angel of the Lord defcended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the ftone from the door, and
fat upon it." At the inftant of this univerfal com-
motion, the bleffed Jefus, awaking right early from
that which was but a fleep to him, and will be no
more to us who believe in him, left the bed of
death. He arofe, and came forth, almighty, all
glorious, fresh as the light of the morning, as a
bridegroom proceeding out of his chamber, as a
Atrong man prepared to run his courfe; and faying,
or feeming to fay, "I am he that liveth, and was
dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore.
The next witneffes which appear in favour of the
refurrection, are the holy Angels. For as the de-
vout women, who came betimes in the morning,
with a pious but needlefs care, to perform the in-
ftance of duty and affection to the body of their
Lord, were much perplexed at what they faw, lo,
two of the inhabitants of heaven, ever rejoicing to
minifter to the heirs of falvation, appeared in robes
of glory, and reproved them for expecting to find
their mafter among the tombs, as if it were poffible
that he fhould be holden of death, who was to
give life to all. "Why feek ye the living among
the dead? He is not here, he is rifen. Remem-
ber how he spake unto you, when he was yet in
Galilee, faying, the Son of man muſt be delivered
into the hands of finful men, and be crucified, and
* Rev. i. 18..
the
J
JESUS RISEN.
59
1
the third day rife again."* As if they had faid,
"How long will ye be ignorant of the divine dif-
penfations concerning the Meffiah, and continúe
feeking the Lord of life in the regions of death?
He died, indeed, unto fin once, as he told you he
ſhould;"but do you not bear in mind what he told
you at the fame time, that after payment of the
debt, he fhould be releafed from prifon, naming
the very day of his diſcharge, the third day, which
is now come. He is rifen, as he faid; and being
fo rifen, he dieth no more, death hath no more
dominion over him, nor hath he any farther con-
nections with mortality." The fame heavenly mef
fengers were ſeen by Mary Magdalene in the fepul-
chre, arrayed in white, and fitting, the one at the
head, and the other at the feet, where the body
of Jeſus had lain. The grave was now rendered a
ſcene of joy and triumph, where Chriſt had over-
come the ſharpneſs of death; and where, from
thenceforth, the bodies of the faithful reft in peace,
under the care of heaven, till the general refurrec-
tion; when they fhall become as the angels of God,
and fhall "walk with him in white."+
"
As one ſet of witneffes defcended from above, to
bear teftimony to the refurrection of Jefus, fo o-
thers afcended, for the fame purpofe, from the
lower parts of the earth. For many bodies of
of faints which flept arofe, and came out of their
graves after his refurrection, and went into the holy
city, and appeared unto many." The aftonifh-
ment produced in Jerufalem by the fudden appear-
ance, of thefe new and unexpected evidences, is
more eafily conceived than expreffed.
We may
=
only obſerve, that if this fact had not been as the
Goſpel repreſents it, it muſt have expoſed the in-
[* Luke xxiv. 7
ventors
Rev. iii. 4. † Mat. xxvii. 52.
60
JESUS RISEN.
:
!
ventors of the tale to utter fcorn and contempt,
and prove the ruin of the caufe which it was in-
tended to ſupport.
¿
But it is time to alledge the many appearances of
Chriſt himſelf, after his refurrection, to Mary Mag-
dalene apart; to the other devout women with her;
to the two going to Emmaus; to St Peter, to.St
James, to the eleven; to "above five hundred bre-
thren at once;" to St Stephen, juſt before his mar-
tyrdom, and to St Paul, at his converfion. And
fo far were theſe witneffes of the appearances of
Chrift from being credulous, that they were alto-
gether fceptical; God having in a wonderful man-
ner provided for the confirmation of our faith, by
fuffering them to doubt. For not only the reports
of thofe who had feen him were diſbelieved by
thoſe who had not, but when he prefented himſelf
in the midſt of the eleven, they could not credit
their own fenfes. And when all the reft were con-
vinced, Thomas ftill ftood out, till ocular and palpable
demonſtration forced from him that ever memora-
ble confeffion, MY LORD, AND MY GOD! "Thus
was there no capacity of mankind, no time, no
place, but had vifible proof of the refurrection of
Chrift. He appeared to men and women, to cler
gy and laity, to finners of both fexes; to weak
men and to criminals, to doubters and deniers, at
home and abroad, in public and in private, in their
houſes, and their journies, unexpected and by ap-
pointment, betimes in the morning, and late, at
night, to his difciples in conjunction, and to them
in difperfion, when they did look for him, and
when they did not; he appeared upon earth to
many, and to St Paul and St Stephen from heaven.
So that we can require no greater, teftimony than
all theſe are able to give us, who faw for them-
felves
*
JESUS RISEN.
61
ގ
felves and for us too; that the faith and certainty
of the refurrection of Jefus might be conveyed to
all ages and generations."
To enable the apoftles thus to convey it, the Spi-
rit of truth himſelf fet his feal to this article of our
creed, by coming down upon them on the day of
Pentecoft, and beſtowing on them wiſdom to teach,
power to confirm, and patience to fuffer for the
doctrine of the refurrection, until, converted by
their preaching, the nations of the earth bore uni-
verſal teftimony to the reality thereof. For that
"a religion which taught men to be meek and
humble, difpofed to receive injuries, but not to do.
any; a religion which gave countenance to the poor
and lowly, at a time when riches were adored, and
ambition and pleaſure had poffeffed the hearts of
all mankind; that fuch a religion in fuch an age,
by the fermons and conduct of fiſhermen, men of
mean breeding and illiberal arts, fhould fo fpeedily
triumph over the philofophy of the world, and the
arguments of the ſubtle, and the difcourſes of the
eloquent; the power of princes and the interefts of
ſtates, the inclinations of nature and the blindneſs
of zeal, the force of cullom and the ſolicitation of
paffions, the pleaſures of fin and the bufy arts of
the devil; that is, againſt wit and power, ſuperſti
tion and wilfulneſs, fame and money, nature and
empire, which are all the cauſes in this world that
can make a thing impoffible; this, this is to be af-
cribed to the power of God, is the great demonſtra-
tion of the refurrection of Jefus. Every thing was
an argument for it, and improved it; no objection
could hinder it, no enemies deſtroy it; whatſoever
was for it made the religion to increafe; whatſoever
was againſt it made it to increaſe. If the Chrifti-
ans had peace, they went abroad and brought in
VOL. II.
F
converts ?
1
$2
JESUS RISEN.
:
converts? if they had perfecution, the converts
came in to them. In profperity they allured and
enticed the world by the beauty of holiness; in af-
fliction and trouble they amazed all men with the
fplendor of their innocence, and the glories of their
patience. Quickly therefore it was, that the world
became diſciple to the glorious Nazarene, and men
could no longer doubt of the refurrection of Jefus,
when it became demonftrated by the certainty of
thoſe who ſaw it, and the courage of thofe who
died for it, and the multitude of thoſe who be
lieved it; who by their fermons and their actions,
by their public offices and difcourfes, by feftivals
and facraments, by arguments of fenfe and expe-
rience, by reaſon and religion, by perfuading ra-
tional men, and eſtabliſhing believing Chriftians,
by their living in the obedience, and dying for the
teftimony of Jefus, have greatly advanced his king-
dom, and his power, and his glory, into which he
entered upon his refurrection from the dead.
Thus we have taken fuch a view, as the ufual
time allotted to diſcourſes of this kind will allow
us to take, of the evidence for our Lord's refurrec-
tion, predictive and hiſtorical; to the completion
of which, it is hard to conceive any thing wanting,
unleſs it were the testimony of the adverfary to the
truth of the difputed fact, by the futility of an ob-
jection ſtarted to overthrow it. And with this
proof
* Bishop TAYLOR's Moral Demonftration of the Truth of Chrifti-
anity, republished, fince this Difcourfe was written, by a learned
and amiable prelate of our church. May it meet with the fuccefs
it deferves; for no tract ever came from the pen of man, better
calculated to diſpel tiroſe doubts and difficulties which may ariſe
in the mind of a believer, or to work conviction and converfion
in that of the unbeliever, who can bring himſelf to give it a fair
and attentive perufal. This has ever appeared to me to be its
true character, ſince the hour when, with equal furprize and plea-
fure, I first met with it, where it ſo long lay hidden from the fa-
Thionable world, in the Dufor Dubitantium.
JESUS RISEN.
63
proof likewife the Roman guard, under the direc-
tion of the Jewish rulers, has thought proper to
furnish us. "The difciples, fay they, came by
night, and ſtole him away, while we flept." The
difciples came and ftole the body! They, who all
forfook their master at his apprehenfion, and fled;
they, who from that time, had abfconded, for fear
of the Jews, without hope, without courage, with-
out contrivance, became all at once fubtil in coun-
ſel, and daring in execution. They projected a
plan to diſplace the guard, break the feal, remove
the ſtone, and reſcue the body, in order to perfuade
the world, that their mafter was rifen from the
dead. And all this they effected, not with the pre-
cipitation of men engaged in a bad defign, who
feared a discovery, and would therefore have haftily
feized the body, wrapped as it was in the fepulchral
veftments; but with all the compofed fedulity of
domeflics, carefully disentangling it from the linen
clothes, and then depofiting them in the exacteſt
order. It is now proper to enquire, where were
the foldiers appointed to watch the fepulchre, all·
this while? What were they doing? The anſwer
is ready; they were afleep. Notwithstanding the
rigour of the Roman difcipline, and the care that
would doubtless be taken to felect proper men upon.
this great occafion, yet the difciples came and ftole-
the body," while they flept." But did they indeed
fleep? Did they all fleep? Determine then, ye
Jews and infidels, what degree of credit is due to
the teftimony of men concerning what happened,
when, by their own confeffion, they were afleep!
This idle tale, which thus carries its own confuta-
tion with it, could have been the offspring only of
a corrupt and infatuated Sanhedrim, to whom the
watch told what had happened-not that the dif~--
F 2
cipless
64
JESUS RISEN.
}
ciples came and ftole the body while they flept-
but that, while they were half dead with fear, at
beholding the heavens around them in a blaze of
glory, and feeling the earth under them trembling
from its centre, the Galilean arofe from the dead,
to the confufion of all his enemies. But to stifle
this evidence, and prevent the report from ſpread-
ing, the foldiers had large money given them by the
chief prieſts (and indeed the work deſerved the wa-
ges) to propagate a flory fo abfurd and fhameleſs, that
inftead of invalidating the truth of the refurrection,
it is of itſelf fufficient to make any man believe it,
who was before determined to the contrary.
If therefore the patriarchs, the law, and the pro-
phets; if heaven and earth; if angels from above,
and the dead from beneath; if the appearances of
Chriſt himſelf on earth and from heaven; if the
Spirit of truth, with all his gifts and graces; if the
miracles of the apoſtles, the lives of faints, the fuf-
ferings of confeffors, and the deaths of martyrs;
if the converfion of the world to the faith of a cru-
cified Saviour, without power, wealth, or learning;
if the church, with the antiquity, univerfality, and
conſent of her inftitutions and fervices for above
feventeen centuries, from the day on which Chrift
was firſt ſeen by the eleven after his refurrection,
to this hour, in which we are now affembled for
the commemoration of it; and laftly, if the objec-
tions of the adverſary eſtabliſhing the truth which
they were intended to fubvert; that is to fay, in
one word, if all the evidence which God can give,
or man receive, be fufficient to prove a matter of
fact; then may we evermore rejoice, and evermore
let us therefore rejoice, in all the glorious confe-
quences of the propoſition in the text-" the Lord
is rifen indeed."
DISCOURSE V..
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
3
:
PHIL. iii. 20, 21.
From whence alfo we look for the Saviour, the Lord'
Jefus Chrift; who ſhall change our vile body, that
it may be faſhioned like unto his glorious body, accord-
ing to the working whereby he is able even to fubdue
all things to himſelf.
THE text treats of a moft amazing change to be
one day wrought in the bodies of men, as alfo of
the perfon who is to effect it, namely, our Lord
Jefus Chrift. And indeed, "we trufted it had
been he who ſhould have redeemed Ifrael-from all
his troubles." But are we "ftrangers in Jerufalem,.
and know not the things that have come to país:
there within theſe days;" that this fame Jefus,
falfely accufed, through envy, by the nobles of Ju--
dah, has been caft into the den of lions, with a
ftone brought and laid upon the mouth of the den,
and fealed with a fignet, that. the purpoſe might
not be changed concerning him, * nor any poffibi--
lity remain of his efcaping from thence ? In this
ftate, he is by no means able to perform the great
work, afcribed to him in the text. For it muft:
be obſerved, that though he be indeed God over
all, he is not the Saviour, without his Humanity,
Though the raifing the dead be an act of Omnipo--
T 3.
Dan. vi. 17,
tences's
66
THE RESURRECTION OF
,tence, and confequently one which must be wrought
by his Divinity, yet it is not Jefus Chrift that does
it, unleſs the Divinity does it in Jefus. And thus
the text runs-" We look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jeſus." But from whence do we look for him?
From the fepulchre? No: from heaven; "Our
converſation is in heaven, from whence we look for
the Saviour." Surely then "the God whom he
ſerved has delivered him from the power of the
lions." Surely "the king has fént and delivered
him, the prince of the people has let him go free :"+
"He is eſcaped as a bird out of the fnare of the
fowler the fnare is broken, and he is delivered," t
and fled away towards heaven. For how fhould a
perfon, once laid in the grave, come from heaven,
unleſs he were first rifen, and: afcended thither?
Four days ago he was carried captive into the king-.
dom of death, and confined in that ſtrong city, the
grave and now we look for him to come from.
heaven. For thus doth the prophet Ifaiah moſt
magnificently deſcribe him returning to his capital,.
from the land of the enemy, after his paffion;
"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with died.
garments from Bozrah; this that. is glorious in his
apparel, travelling in the greatneſs of his ſtrength?
I who ſpeak in righteoufnefs mighty to fave." I
Well therefore may we look for the Saviour
from heaven," for there moft certainly he is.
And from thence, as the text affirms, he fhall
as certainly come, to raife us. He who died on.
the croſs to redeem, who rofe from the fepulchre
to juſtify, and who fent his Spirit from heaven to
fanctify our fouls, he, even he, fhall come to glorify
our bodies, and finiſh his work. And then fhall
* Dan. vi, 22, 27.
Pf. cxxxiv. 7.
+ Pf. cv. 20.
Ifai. Ixiii. 1.
we
THE BODY.
67
we hear from the throne the voice of mighty thun-.
derings, faying, it is done. I am Alpha and Ome-
ga, the firft and the laft, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirft, of the
water of life freely." May we not therefore addreſs
the world in the words of Mofes' divine Song, and
fay, "Give ear, O ye heavens, and he will ſpeak;
and hear, O earth, the words of his mouth. His
doctrine ſhall drop as the rain, and his fpeech fhall
diftil as the dew;"* for, as it is elſewhere written,
his dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth.
fhall caft out the dead."+ The dew, like himſelf,.
arifes from earth, but we look for it from heaven;
❝ whence alſo we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jefus Chrift, who fhall change our vile body, that
it may be faſhioned like unto his glorious body, ac--
cording to the working, whereby he is able even to
fubdue all things to himſelf."
Let us then confider Chriſt coming from heaven
as a Saviour.
Man conſiſts of two parts, both of which ftand
in need of a Saviour, becauſe both fell, and became
ſubject to the deftroyer. The falvation here ſpo-
ken of is plainly the falvation of the body, not ex--
cluding that of the foul, but perfective of it. For.
if Chrift be her edenominated a Saviour, becaufe
he comes to change the body, then is he here ſpo-
ken of as the Saviour of the body, which he comes
to change. Now, a Saviour is one that delivers us
from our enemies, as it is written-" he hath raiſed
up an horn of falvation for us, that we ſhould be
faved from our enemies." But the enemy that
deſtroys the body is death, and therefore the body
cannot be faved from that enemy without a refur-
rection, nor can Chrift be its Saviour, unlefs he
raife
* Deut. xxxii. 2. † Ifai. xxvi. 19.
Luke i 69-73.
1
68
THE RESURRECTION OF
raife it from the dead. But the apoftle here ſtiles
him the Saviour, with refpect to the body; there-
fore he will be its "refurrection and its life, and
whofoever believeth on him, though he were dead,
yet-fhall he live."
*
Indeed, the work of redemption is left unfiniſh-
ed, if this be not the cafe. For notwithstanding
the fufferings and refurrection of Chrift, "the
whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain to-
gether, until now; and not only they, but our-
felves alſo, which have the firſt fruits of the Spi-
rit, even we ourſelves groan within ourſelves, wait-
ing for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the
body." This, and this only, crowns and makes.
effectual the labours of the Redeemer. "For this..
end (fays the apoſtle). Chriſt both died, and rofe,
and revived, that he might be Lord, both of the
dead, and of the living." And again, " he hath
appointed a day in which he will judge the world
by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he
has given affurance unto all men, in that he raiſed
him from the dead.”‡ Chrift was incarnate that
he might rife, he arofe that he might afcend, he
afcended that he might take poffeffion of his king-
dom, and he took poffeffion of his kingdom that he
might raiſe the dead, and judge the world. "The
God of our fathers (fays St Peter) raiſed up Jefus,
whom ye flew, him hath God exalted with his
right hand"-for what end?" To be a prince,
and a Saviour." He therefore that "has done fo
great things for us already, whereof we do rejoice,
yea, and will rejoice," will never leave us in our
enemy's hand, but " fhall reign till he has put all
enemies under his feet;" and we know, "the laft
enemy that ſhall be deſtroyed is DEATH."
• Rom. viii. 22.
† Rom. xiv. 9%
I Aûts v. 30.
Again..
Acts xvii. 31.
1
>
THE BODY.
69
Again. He who is eternal truth, and who pro-
mifed to raiſe Chrift, has promiſed to raiſe us.
He has fulfilled one part of his promife, and there-
fore will accomplish the other.
Nor is this all. But fuch is the intimate union
between Chriſt and us, that his refurrection in ef-
fect is ours and we are looked upon by our hea-
venly Father as already rifen in his beloved Son.
For we must confider Chrift as fuffering and rifing,
not for himſelf alone, but for us. We must not
view him as a private perfon, as a fingle individual,
but as the reprefentative and fubftitute of human-
nature, and of all the perfons in that nature; we
muſt view him as the fecond Adam, containing in
his loins all who are or fhall be born of the will of
God, of incorruptible feed, by fpiritual regenera-
tion ; as in the loins of the firſt Adam lay all his
pofterity, afterwards born of the will of man, of
corruptible feed, by natural generation. In this
capacity, as furety and father of us all, he entered
the grave, and lay under the arreft of death, for
our fin; and in this capacity he arofe from the
grave, and came forth, for our juftification; that
as 66 IN Adam all died, even fo IN Chrift fhould all
be made alive." The words, therefore, which he
fpake, are fulfilled; "Becauſe I live, ye fhall live
alfo." "> * For if Chrift be rifen in our nature, then
our nature is rifen in Chriſt; and if our nature be
rifen, then they who partake of that nature ſhall
rife too. We are, as the apoftle ſpeaks, ouμpura,
"planted together in the likenefs of his death,"
that we may grow together " in the likenefs of his
refurrection.' He for us, and we in him; that
"the fame Spirit 'which raiſed the Lord Jefus from.
the dead, may alfo quicken our mortal bodies." +
For
* John xiv. 19.
† Rom. viii. LL,
70
THE RESURRECTION OF
1
•
*
For who amongst us ever heard of a living head
joined to dead members? Now that he is joined to
us is moſt certain. For when the foot was bruiſed
on earth, the head from heaven cried out, as fen-
fible of the pain, "Saul, Saul, why perfecuteſt
thou ME?" The head, lifted up from the waters
which had overwhelmed it, drew in the breath of
the Spirit of life, to enliven and invigorate every
member of the body. And though the members
:are, as yet, wading through thofe waters, and be-
ing covered with the waves, live only by their vi-
tal union with the exalted head, yet have they this
promife, on which they may with confidence rely
“I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men un--
to me." The Apoſtle obferves, that if any one
member be honoured, all the members rejoice with
it" How much more muſt this be the caſe,
when the head is become as the most fine gold,
and on it are many, crowns;" when all the king-
doms of this world are become the kingdoms.
of our Lord, and his Chrift;" which Chrift is
the head of the church, and he is the Saviour
of the body." It is an acknowledged axiom, that
as is the root, fuch are the branches. If then the
root, though fet in dry ground, yet through the
influences of heaven, and the water of life, became
full of immortality, how fhall not the branches.
partake of that immortality which the root receives
only to beftow it upon them, as it is written; .The
father hath given to the Son to have life in himſelf,
that he ſhould give eternal life to as many as he has
given him." He is the root, we are the branches.
He is the first begotten from the dead: therefore o-
thers, whom he is not aſhamed to call brethren,"
fhall be begotten from the dead, and declared the
* John xii. 32.
fons.
I Cor. xiii. 26. 4. John xvi. 2..
THE BODY.
ΤΙ
1
fons of God, as he was, by their refurrection, and
the power of the Almighty. Many other Scrip-
ture illuſtrations of the fame point might be addu-
ced; but theſe are fufficient. Well then might
the apoſtle argue, as he does, in that truly irrefra-
gable manner; "Now, if Chrift be preached, that
he rofe from the dead, how fay fome among you,
that there is no refurrection of the dead? But if
there be no refurrection of the dead, then is Chrift
not rifen; and if Chrift be not rifen, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith is alfo vain. Yea,
and we are found falfe witneffes of God; becaufe
we have teftified of God, that he raifed up Chrift,
whom he raiſed not up, if fo be that the dead rife
not. For. if the dead -rife not, then is not Chriſt
raiſed. And if Chrift be not raiſed, your faith is
vain, ye are yet in, your fins. Then they alfo,
which are fallen afleep in Chrift, are perifhed. If
in this life only we have hope in Chrift, we are of
all men moſt miferable. But now, is Chriſt riſen
from the dead,. and become the firſt fruits of them
that flept." The first fruits are preſented by the
great high priest. "On the morning after the
fabbath, he waved them before Jehovah." Then
the heavens were bowed, and the earth fhook. And
meet it was, when the fheaf of Jofeph thus arofe
and ſtood upright, that every fheaf in the field fhould
make obeifance; that every knee fhould bow, of
things in heaven, and things on earth, and every
tongue confefs that Jefus is Lord; that he is the
firft-fruits, forefhewing, fanctifying, and infuring
that future harveſt, which will be at the end of the
world; that he is the firft fruits of them that flept,
and therefore that they who are in the graves "are
not dead, but fleep ;" and " if they fleep in him,
they
*
Gen. xxxvii. 7.
+ Philipp. ii. 10.
72
THE RESURRECTION OF
they ſhall do well." For yet a little while, and he
will call from heaven to his people, faying in the
words of his prophets-" Awake, and fing, ye
that dwell in the duft," and let the voice of melody
be heard through all the chambers of the grave:
"Awake up, my glory, awake lute and harp; a-
wake, thou that fleepeft; fhake thyſelf from the
duft; awake, utter a fong; break forth into joy,
fing together, ye wafte places of Jerufalem, for the
Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeem-
ed Jerufalem. Hath he faid, and fhall he not do
it? I will redeem them from death, I will ranſom
them from the power of the grave; O death, I will
be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy deftruction.
Repentance ſhall be hid from mine eyes. I am Je-
hovah, and change not."
But how is this falvation to be effected? The
text expreffes it by a change; « Who ſhall change
our vile body." And otherwiſe than by a change
from the ſtate in which it is to one very different,
the deliverance cannot be wrought; fince the ſub-
ject of it is a body now vile. In the original it is
OWUX TNS TAKEIWOEWS nuwv, the body of our humiliation. Hu-
miliation implies a fall from fome higher ftate.
And fuch a fall our nature has fuftained. For
though the body of man was originally formed out
of the earth, it was of the earth, before the curfe
of corruption was inflicted upon it.
"God crea-
ted man to be immortal, and made him an image of
his own eternity." Other things were produced by
the word of his power, but man by the counſel of
the eternal Three, who faid, "Let us make man."
The workmanſhip ennobled the materials; the
hand of the Almighty beftowed perfection as it
paffed upon them, and the creature rofe under it,
beautiful in his form, excellent in his glory, the
moft
THE BODY.
73
1
*
moft perfect image of his maker. There was no
feed of corruption within, to caufe difeafe and de-
formity without; no contending paffions in the
foul, like moths to fret and wear out its garment
the body. The foul, clothed with the Spirit of
Holiness, was all glorious within, and could not
but communicate ſome portion of its excellence to
its earthly tabernacle, thereby rendering matter a
fit companion for an upright ſpirit, breathed into
it from above. God made not fin, neither hath
he pleaſure in the puniſhment of it. But man
chofe it. And behold what deſtruction it hath
brought upon the earth, and upon our body form-
ed out of it. What dreadful attendants has this
ravager of the world introduced! Corruption, and
ſhame, and mifery, and trouble, and infirmity, and
deformity, and forrow, and death. The foul is
become a fea, whereon the paffions, like winds,
ftrive for the maſtery, ſhaking the earthly frame
with divers diſeaſes, and fundry kinds of death.
It is now "a body of fin ;" and what wonder,
that it ſhould be a body of humiliation?" Sin has
laid it low, even to the duft. Pamper it with the
luxuries of ſea and land, array it in gold and dia-
monds, it will be ſtill the fame. Only undraw the
curtains of affliction, and you view it languiſhing
upon the bed of ficknefs; unlock the doors of the
grave, or enter the fecret receffes of the charnel-
houſe, and you behold it ſtripped of the world's
tinfel pomps and vanities, reduced to putrid fleſh,
mouldering duft, and dry bones; no longer able to dif
guife or diſown its original; brought at laſt to know
itfelf, and introduced to an acquaintance proper for
it, "earth to earth, afhes to aſhes, duſt to duſt.”
Here then, O thou, whofoever thou art, that de-
lighteſt to contemplate the dignity and rectitude of
Ꮐ
human
་
74
THE RESURRECTION OF
human nature, here fit down, and begin thy me-
ditations. Is it thus, that virtue is its own reward?
Or fay, is the body no part of the man? If it be,
why is it in this ſtate? Or how is it to be changed?
Men talk much of the moral fenfe. Can the moral
fenfe acquaint us with the refurrection of the dead?
Reafon is placed on the throne, and her kingdom,
it is faid, ruleth over all. Can Reafon diſcover the
change of corruption into glory? We know fhe can-
not; and when ſhe ſpake upon the ſubject at A-
thens, her language was,-" What will this bab-
bler fay ?"
Nay, fince that time, we have heard her mutter-
ing from the duft, by the mouth of certain philofo-
phers-"How are the dead raiſed up, and with
what body do they come ?" With what body, O
man, ſhould they come, but the body with which
they went? What body fhould be raiſed from the
grave, but the body that was laid in the grave?
Had we ſeen Jofeph of Arimathea depofit the Re-
deemer of the world in the fepulchre, and been
told, that the Redeemer fhould arife again, could any
one have thought of afking, with what body "he
ſhould come?" Whether with the body which he
had, when he went with his parents to Jerufalem,
at twelve years old; or the body he had at twenty;
or the body he had at thirty, when he began his
miniſtry? Upon this ſubject two meh, of equal a-
bilities, might difpute, if they were to live fo long,
till Chrift came in the clouds to judgment, and
found them doubting whether he were rifen or not,
becauſe they could not conceive, with what body
he fhould rife, or how it was confiftent with the
juſtice of God, to raiſe and reward one body only,
when, as they apprehend, he was born in one body,
lived in another, and fuffered in a third; becauſe,
•
it
THE BODY.
75
i
it is faid, the body undergoes a thorough change
in a certain term of years. This metaphyſical ar-
gument, therefore, though feemingly no more
than a difficulty propofed as to the manner of our
refurrection, really ftrikes at the truth of the arti-
cle of Chrifi's refurrection, and is calculated to
darken the counfel and Revelation of the Moft
High, by words without knowledge: fo much with-
out knowledge, that the plain matter of fact is a ſuf-
ficient anſwer. Jefus Chrift was laid in the fepul-
chre, and the fame Jefus Chriſt aroſe out of the
fepulchre. And if it were fo with his natural bo-
dy, why ſhould it be otherwife with his myftical?
The Scriptures are clear that it will not. For as
they who are alive at Chrift's coming, are to be
"changed in the twinkling of an eye;" and confe-
quently, that body muſt be changed which is found
at the inſtant of his coming, and no other; ſo they
that are in their graves fhall come forth to be
changed likewife, and confequently, thoſe bodies on-
ly muſt be changed that were laid in the graves.
"Who ſhall change our vile body," fays the text:
therefore the vile body muſt be there to be changed.
Otherwiſe it would not be a change μraxnuations, a
transformation, or transfiguration, of vile into glori-
ous, but a fubftitution of glorious for vile. It is
this mortal, and this corruptible; Taro ro bintov; this-
very maſs of mortality and corruption.
"IT is
fown, IT is raiſed.". The fame, in fhort, may be
faid to theſe objectors, which Chrift faid to the
Sadducees upon a like occaſion; "Ye do greatly err,.
not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.'
For if you knew the power of God, you would
know that he can do it; and if you knew the Scrip-
tures, you would know that he will do it. And
if they fay he will do it, all the objections in the
G2
world
76
THE RESURRECTION OF
world fhew but one thing, namely," an evil
heart of unbelief" in the objectors. For fince
the Scriptures (and particularly the procefs in Eze-
kiel's vifion of the refurection) plainly fhew, that
the body is firſt to be raiſed, and all the parts of it
put together, before the change takes place, no-
thing remains, but an atheiſtical denial of the power
of God to collect the parts, and put them together;
a denial that he, who made all things of impalpable
duft, and beheld the fubftance of the world, be-
fore two atoms of it were joined: who formed the
body of man out of thofe created for that purpoſe,
and diffolves and difperfes them at pleaſure; a de-
nial that he can collect them again when diſperſed;
a denial that the Almighty can do this. Only fup-
poſe a man not ignorant of the power of God, and
all difficulties vaniſh. For then, whether the duft
lie quiet in the grave, or be blown to the four
winds, or be entombed in a whale, or buried in
the great deep, it is equally under the eye of the
omnifcient, and the power of the omnipotent.
Theſe are all his ftorehouſes and repofitories, to be
opened by him who has the keys of hell and death,
when the fea fhall deliver up the dead that are in
it, and death and hell deliver up the dead that are
in them: when, as the fame Jonas came out of
the whale, and the fame fon of man from the
heart of the earth, ſo the ſame bodies of faints, that
lay down at night, ſhall arife in the morning. God
is not unrighteous, that he should forget the bo-
dy's work and labour of love. From thoſe eyes,
which have poured forth tears of repentance, ſhall
all tears be wiped, and they fhall be bleffed with
the vifion of the Almighty. Thofe hands which
have been lifted up in prayer, and ſtretched out to
the poor, ſhall hold the palm of victory, and harp
of
THE BODY.
77
of joy. Thoſe feet which have wearied themſelves
in going about to do good, fhall ftand in the courts
of the Lord, and walk in the garden of God, and
in the ſtreets of the new Jerufalem. That fleſh
which has been chaſtiſed and mortified, fhall be re-
warded for what it has fuffered; nay, the very
hairs of our head are all numbered; how much more
then, the parts of our bodies?" This (fays the Re-
furrection himself) is my father's will that has ſent
me, that of ALL which he has given me, ПANô dedans poly-
I ſhould lofe nothing, but raiſe IT up at the laſt
day."* We might indeed follow the objectors to
the refurrection into the cold obfcure of metaphyfic.
But what has been alledged from the Scriptures,.
and the power of God revealed in thofe Scriptures,,
(the only topics of argumentation upon fubjects of
this nature) overturns the foundation of every thing.
the objectors have to offer; and it will, I prefume,
be much more profitable, to lay open from the
Scriptures the manner in which this change is to
be wrought.
The greatneſs of the change appears from this,
that "our vile body" is to be "fashioned like unto
Chrift's glorious body." Of this he was pleaſed to
give a fpecimen to Peter, and James, and John,
and in them to all his difciples, who, by faith and
devotion, will accompany their mafter, in "the
body of His humiliation," to the top of mount Ta-
bor. There they may behold an enfample of this
moſt amazing change; the power of the higheſt,,
which dwelt in Chrift, diffufing itſelf outwardly,
till he appeared all over exceeding glorious, his
face ſhining like the fun, and his raiment beco-
G 3-
John vi. 39
ming
78
THE RESURRECTION OF
ming white as the light*. Who is not ready to
fay, "It is good for us to be here, to behold the
fair beauty of the Lord, even the glory of God in
the face of Jefus Chrift?" But here we muſt not
ftay, becauſe he did not. For though, at the bright-
nefs before him, the cloud paffed, and the fun,
for a little while, appeared in his ftrength, the
cloud foon returned, and overſhadowed him, and
he entered into it. He defcended from the mount
of transfiguration to the heart of the earth, and
then "there was darknefs over all the land;" but
he foon went up to an higher mountain than Tabor,
was again transfigured, and introduced a day, which
no cloud fhall ever overcaft more. He became, as
it was foretold that he ſhould do, "as the light of
the morning when the fun ariſes, even a morning
without clouds." The world indeed fees him not,
but to us, who believe," a door is opened in hea-
ven, and behold a throne fet, like the fiery flame,
and it's wheels as burning fire, and one fits on it,
to look upon like a jafper, and a fardine ſtone;
his garment white as fnow, and the hairs of his
head like the pure wool; his eyes as a flame of fire,
and his feet like unto fine brafs, as if they burned
in a furnace, and his countenance as the fun fhin-
eth in his ftrength."‡ "Beloved (fays St John) it:
does not yet appear what we fhall be," but this we
know, that "when he fhall appear, we fhall be
like him, for we fhall fee him as he is, and by fee-
ing him, be transformed into the fame image, from
glory to glory." He has power, as the text in-
forms us, to fubdue all things to himſelf, becauſe
he is the Almighty God, and this power he will
exert
* See the refurrection of the body in an ingenious and beauti-
ful manner illuftrated from the transfiguration of Chriſt, by the
Reverend Mr HOLMES, in his excellent Sermon on that fubject.
+ Sam. xxiii. 4.
Dan. vii, 9. x. 6. Rev. I. 14.
$
THE BODY-
70%
exert on our bodies. Yet a little while, and he
will rend the heavens, and come down, and heaven.
and earth will be filled with the overflowing flood
of the majesty of his glory, "as the waters cover
the fea;" the heavens over our heads melting away
before it, and the mountains flowing down, in li-
quid fire, at its prefence. At that inftant, "when
the fhriek of millions, fearfully crying out, fhall
mingle with the trumpet of the archangel, with
the thunders of the departing heavens, and the
noife of a world fhaking into diffolution," at that
inftant," the dead fhall be raiſed, and we fhall
be changed." Changed not by the corruptible-
being taken away, and the incorruptible introduced.
in its room, but by a fuperinduction of the incor-
ruptible upon the corruptible. For thus fays the
apoſtle-"We that are in this tabernacle do groan
earneſtly, defiring to be cloathed upon with our houſe
which is from heaven. Not for that we would be
uncloathed," or loſe the earthy body, "but cloathed
upon," with a fuperinveftiture of the house from hea-
ven, namely, the divine light, which is to enwrap
and inveft the mortal body, as a garment. And
not only inveſt it outwardly, as a garment, but by
the divine energy of its almighty power, penetrate
and pierce through and through its moſt intimate
fubftance, till it has converted, fubdued, worked,
and changed it all into itſelf, fo that mortality is
fwallowed up of life, and corruption quite abforbed
and loft in the, ocean of the all-encircling glory.
Then ſhall the righteous be ſeen ſtanding, victorious,
through faith in Jefus, transformed (to compare
the things of this world with thofe of another)
from the darkneſs of duſt and afhes, to the clear
tranſparency of glaſs, the pure luftre of diamonds
the inconceivable agility of light, and the perfect
impaflibility
80
THE RESURRECTION OF
+
i
impaffibility of heaven. No reafonable man can com-
plain, that the Scriptures are not explicit enough up-
onthefubject. But the transformation of mortality in-
to glory is one of thofe things of God, which the na-
tural man never will know, or difcern. Though
furely, if nature teach any religion, it is the Chrif-
tian; if the preach any doctrine, it is this refur-
rection and change. And were not the book of na-
ture, as well as that of grace, become, a fealed
book, what man, that ever travelled with the
earth, through the viciffitudes of a year, could de-
ny a refurrection? Afk the furrows of the field;
and they fhall tell thee. For "except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone;
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The
parts of the feed cannot ſpring afreſh, till they have
been firſt diffolved. It is true, the huſbandman
foweth only bare grain; but it arifes, clothed u-
pon" with a beautiful verdure. And if God fo
clothe the grafs of the field," how much more
fhall he clothe your mortal bodies with a glorious
immortality, O ye of little faith? But why need
we take the compaſs of a year? Every twenty-four
hours there is a rehearſal, in nature, of man's death
and refurrection. Every evening, the day, with:
its works, dies in darknefs and the ſhadow of death.
All colours fade, all beauty vanishes, all labour and
motion ceaſe, and every creature, veiled in dark-
nefs mourns, in folemn filence, the interment of
the world. Who would not fay, " It is dead, it
ſhall not rife!" Yet, wait only a few hours, in
faith and patience, and this dead and entombed
earth, by the agency of heaven upon it, fhall burſt
afunder the bars of that fepulchral darkneſs, in
which it was imprifoned, and "arife, and be en-
lightened, and its light. fhall come; the day-fpring
from
•
I
THE BODY.
81
•
from on high fhall vifit it, and deftroy the cover-
ing caft over all people," and array univerfal nature
with a robe of glory and beauty, raifing thoſe that
fleep, to behold themſelves and the world changed
from darkness to light, and calling them up, to
give glory to God, and think of the reſurrection.
Happy are they, who make this uſe of it. God
fhall help them, when that morning appeareth, of
which every morning has been to them a bleffed
prelude; to fuch, day unto day uttereth the word
of the everlafting Gofpel, and night unto night
fheweth the knowledge of falvation. They under-
ſtand how "the heavens declare the glory of God”
in the felicity of his chofen, and furniſh us with
ſome ideas of our approaching glorification. No-
thing earthly can fully reprefent that which is
changed from earthly to heavenly, for the "glory
of the celeftial is one, and the glory of the terref-
trial is another. There is one glory of the fun,
and another glory of the moon, and another glory
of the ſtars, for one ftar differeth from another ftar
in glory. So alfo is the refurrection of the dead."
There is one glory of the Sun of Righteouſneſs,
another glory of the moon, his church, walking
in the brightneſs the receives from him, and ano-
ther glory of the ftars, his faints; for here alfo,
one ftar differeth from another ftar in glory. All
ſtand in their order, in fhining circles, round the
throne of the Sun. There thefe morning ftars fing
together unto the Lord a new fong, and all the fons
of God, even the children of the refurrection,
fhout for joy; for they reft not day or night, mak-
ing one found to be heard through all the heaven-
ly courts-Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come! Heaven and
earth
1
82
THE RESURRECTION OF
earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O
Lord, moft high!
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, ſeeing theſe
our bodies are to become inftruments of glory here-
after, how ought they to be inftruments of grace
here? for grace is the dawn of glory, as glory is
the meridian of grace. Seeing we are to have ſuch
bodies, what ought our fouls to be, for whom fuch
bodies are prepared? And how ought we to fpend our
fhort moment of probation in "cleanfing ourſelves
from all filthiness of flesh and fpirit, perfecting ho-
linefs in the fear of God!" The conſideration of
our glorious change cannot but make our hearts to
burn within us. And then is the time to reflect,
that bleffed is he, whofe foul is changed from grace
to grace, for his body ſhall be changed from glory
to glory. And if the foul of a Chriſtian be ever
"transformed by the renewing of his mind," it muſt
be, not while he is in the hurry and vanity of the
world below, but when he leaves the world, and
following the ſteps of his dear Lord and maſter,
afcends, by faith, to the mount of transfiguration,
and is on his knees before God, remembering it is
written- "While he PRAYED, he was TRANS-
FIGURED. Bleffed therefore is he who breaks
away from idle and vain converſation, to meditate
in the law of God day and night; to commune
with his own heart, and in his chamber; to call
his paſt ways to remembrance, in the bitternefs of
his foul; to confefs his wickedness, and be forry
for his fin. "Rejoice, O-young man, in thy
youth," fays the world. "Bleffed are they that
mourn," fays he whom the world crucified. Let
thofe, therefore, who enjoy a life of perfect leifure,
and are continually complaining how heavy time
hangs upon their hands, confider whether they
་
""
could
t
}
THE BODY.
83
could tell, if God fhould call upon them at this
moment, when they ever freely and voluntarily
withdrew for one hour, to attend the buſineſs of
changing their fouls from fin to righteouſneſs, that
fo their bodies may be changed from duſt to glory.
And if this queſtion, from the mouth of the all-
feeing judge, will ftrike the unprofitable ſpeech-
lefs at his footstool, where fhall the ungodly and
the finner appear? Let us confider this, and be
wife unto falvation, and in every thought, word,
and action, remember our latter end. Let us re-
member, that "our Redeemer liveth, and that he
ſhallindeed ſtand at the latterdayupon the earth, and
though after our ſkin, worms deftroy this body, yet
in this flefh fhallwe fee God." And may we fo "look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jefus Christ," by the eye of
faith, that when we fee him as he is, he may
"change our vile body, that it may be faſhioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the work-
ing, whereby he is able even to fubdue all things
to himſelf."
}
?
DISCOURSE VI.
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
EPHES. IV. 7..
Unto every one of us is given grace, according to the
meafure of the gift of Chriſt.
THE church, having in the courfe of her holy
offices led us through all the different ftages of
the life of Chrift, from his advent in the fleſh to
his death on the croſs, and from thence to his glo-
rious refurrection, and triumphant afcenfion, has
now at length brought us to the celebration of that
joyful feftival, wherein fhe propofes to our medi-
tation the bleffed fruit and crown of her Redeem-
er's labours, the effufion of the Spirit from on
high. And with good reafon it is, that the calls.
us together more than once to contemplate this
greateſt of God's mercies, from which alone we
derive all our power and ability to contemplate the
leaft of them. For though it was Chrift who died,
and rofe, and afcended, it was the Spirit that pro-
claimed the news of his having done fo to the
world; though it was Chrift who wrought our fal-
vation, it was the Spirit that communicated the
knowledge of it to the fons of men, and makes that
knowledge effectual in their hearts. To his defcent
we owe the publication of the glad tidings, and
the converfion of the nations that were once
"afar off, but are now made nigh by the blood of
Jefus
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
83
Jefus,* having acceſs by one Spirit to the Father."+
They that dwelt in the uttermoft parts of the earth
have been ſtruck with an holy fear and reverential
awe at the figns and miracles of Jefus, and from
thence have been heard fongs, even Glory to the
righteous Redeemer and Judge of the world; fince
even theſe iſles of the Gentiles fing the praiſes of
Jehovah, and glorify the Lord God of Ifrael in his
church, as it is at this day.
"Every good and perfect gift (faith St James) is
from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableneſs, neither ſha-
dow of turning." The variablenefs and the fhadow
of turning are only in man.
The Father of lights,
like his glorious repreſentative the fun, ſhines ever-
more with the fame unvarying brightnefs and bé-
nignity, fending down his good and perfect gifts,
as the fun does his light, on all. At the beginning,
when God had finiſhed his wonderful and glorious
works, and pronounced them to be good, he made
a deed of gift of the whole to his creature man,
who might have continued, as he was placed, in
the light of his heavenly Father's countenance.
But by fin man turned away from God, as the earth
does from the fun; and therefore, ftripped of all the
good and perfect gifts of glory and beauty, he fate
defolate and difconfolate, in the fhadow of death.
Sin having thus occafioned a general forfeiture,
man has now more reaſon than ever to acknowledge
every good thing he enjoys to be a free gift of God,
coming down from above. And accordingly, we
find, that a right notion of this matter is one of the
marks which characterize a believer, and diſtinguiſh
him from a man of the world. The one ſpeaks of
poffeffing as his own, what the other acknowledges
* Ephef. ii. 13.
† Ephef. vi. 18.
86
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
to have received from God.
"Soul, faith the car-
nal worldling in the Goſpel, thou haft goods laid
up for many years." * "What haft thou, faith St
Paul, that thou didst not receive?" The language
of Efau is, "I have enough." Jacob fpeaks in
another ftile; "The good things which God hath
given me." Pilate interrogates Chrift, "Knoweſt
thou not that I have power to crucify thee?" §
Chriſt replies to him, "Thou couldeſt have no
power at all againſt me, except it were given thee
from above." The fame may be faid with regard
to the internal goods of the mind, as well as the
external advantages of body, or fortune. The
heathen, who knows not God, or his gifts, calls
his fuppofed virtue E, a habit, an acquifition of his
own; the Chriftian fpeaks of his real holiness in
no other ftile than that of δωσις, or δώρημα, a gift from
God.
¶
And this gift of holiness, or of the Spirit, whofe
title is the Holy One, was indeed the good and the
the perfect gift, the joy, the crown, and the glory
of all gifts; infomuch, that Chrift calls it emphati-
cally," THE gift of God," ſaying to the woman of
Samaria, "If thou kneweſt the gift of God, and
who it is that faith to thee, Give me to drink, thou
wouldeſt have aſked of him, and he would have
given thee living water." ** St Peter ufes the fame
form of expreffion, when he fays to Simon Magus,
"Thy money perifh with thee, becauſe thou haft
thought that the gift of God might be purchaſed with
money."++ As it came down from the Father of
lights, it is more precious than fine gold, and all
the things which are the objects of man's defire
upon
+ I Cor. iv. 7.
$ John xix. 10.
* Luke xii. 19.
Gen. vi. 5.
** John iv. 10.
+ Gen. xxxiii. 9.
¶ John vi. 11.
†† Acts viii. 20.
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
817
1
the text.
upon earth are not to be compared unto it. Where-
fore St Paul fays of it; "Thanks be to God for his
unspeakable gift ;"* a gift, which no tongue of man
could treat of as it deferved; fo that a new fet of
tongues, endued with the force and activity of fire,
were fent from heaven, to diſplay and deſcribe to
the world the glories of this manifold grace of God.
But we are to confider the Giver of this unfpeak-
able gift, which is Chrift; "the gift of Chriſt," ſays
And it could be the gift of no other, be-
cauſe man having by rebellion forfeited the original
grant, the attainder muſt be taken off, before the
grant could be renewed. Chrift only could take off
the attainder, and therefore Chrift only could re-
new the grant. And as he did renew the grant, it
is plain he has taken off the attainder. He died
on the croſs to atone for fin; he arofe from the
grave to fhew that the penalty was paid to the ut-
termoſt farthing, becaufe the furety was releaſed
and ſet free for ever; he afcended to plead the me-
rits of what he had done for his brethren; and he
fent down the Spirit upon the church to demon-
ftrate the acceptance of thofe merits, fince he who
pleaded them was in full poffeffion of the forfeited
riches of grace in the kingdom of heaven. "Where-
fore he faith, When he afcended up on high, and
led captivity captive, he gave gifts unto men."†
When, having overcome the fharpnefs of death,
and vanquished the powers of hell, he went up, a
glorious conqueror, in triumph to his throne in
heaven, then it was, that he fcattered abroad the
tokens of his victory, and poured forth the pledges
of his munificence on the church, for which he
died to purchaſe them. That fame Jefus who was..
crucified, "being exalted to the right hand of God,"
hath
H 2
2 Cor. ix. 15.
+ Ephef. iv. 8..
88
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
hath fhed forth thoſe ſtreams of the water of life,
which have been flowing ever fince from the throne
of God and the Lamb, through the appointed
channels, to water every plant and flower in the
garden of God.
22.
I fay every plant and flower, becauſe "unto every
one of us," as the Apoſtle declares, "is given grace.
No member of Chrift is without the grace of Chriſt,
which is conveyed, with his blood, by the facra-
ments, and other ordinances, to quicken and ani-
mate the whole body of the church, as the vital
heat is diffuſed with the natural blood, through the
arteries, to fupport and invigorate all the parts of
the body of a man. The ſpirit and blood of Chrift
are as neceffary for the life of the church and her
members, as the vital heat and natural blood are of
for the life of the body and its members. When
therefore all fiefh, Gentile as well as Jew, became
incorporated into the church, which is the body of
Chrift, the Lord poured out of his Spirit upon all
fleſh, and there was no age, fex, condition, or na-
tion, that did not partake of the fountain of life
freely, which flowed from the heart of Chrift pier-
ced on the crofs, and which, when circulated in
the church, as the blood is in the body, wherever
it came, brought life, and health, and falvation
with it to all flesh. In no place was its "way ma-
nifeſted upon earth" by the preaching of the word,
and the inſtitution of the ordinances, which were
as fo many veffels to convey it; but there was ma-
nifeſted, at the fame time," its faving health unto
all nations," all being "one body in Chriſt Jeſus,:
and every one members one of another."
But though grace be given to the whole body,
and every member has his ſhare, we muſt not for-
get, that every member is to have no more than
1
his
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
89
his fhare. For as "all members have not the fame
office," but there are diverfities of adminiſtrations,"
fo likewiſe muſft there be "diverſities of gifts.”
For the Spirit was given in different meaſure to dif-
ferent perfons, and at different times: as to the
apoſtles, for eſtabliſhing the church, in one mea-
fure; to the ordinary minifters, for governing it,
in another; and to every individual, for his fanc-
tification, in a third. "Unto every one of us is
given grace, according to the meaſure of the gif
of Chrift."
The firſt meaſure, which may be ftiled the apof-
tolical, differs from all the reſt in the nature of the
gifts, as well as their end, and the manner of their
being given.
As to their nature, it is written, that "God bore:
the apoſtles witnefs with figns, and wonders, and
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghoft *,”’
who was conſtantly with them, difplaying to the
world his almighty power by numberlefs external
demonftrations of his prefence, as well as manifeft-
ing his infinite wifdom by his internal operations
and gifts. They had " the word of wifdom," or a
fupernatural revelation made to them of that wif
dom of God in a myſtery, the whole ſcheme of
his difpenfations in Chrift. They had "the word
of knowledge," or the gift of underſtanding the
Scriptures, which contain and deſcribe this wiſdom.
They had "faith," to remove all mountains that
ftood in their way by miracles, and to give them
an holy confidence and courage, invincible by all
the powers of earth and hell. They had the gift
of "healing," all the diſeaſes of foul and body by
a fingle word; the power of working all "mira-
cles," controlling the agency of created nature,
raiſing,
:
H 3
* Heb. ii. 4.-
90
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
raifing the dead, and inflicting puniſhments on the
diſobedient, as Mofes did on Egypt, by the rod of
their apoftolic power. They had the gift of "pro-
phecy," to explain things paft, and foretel things
future, to preach and pray at all times by the Spi-
rit, till all things were put in order, and the church-
fervices framed and eſtabliſhed. They could « dif-
cern fpirits," and fee through all the devices and
difguifes of Satan, at a glance. Add to all this the
gift of "tongues, and their interpretation," by
which the fame perfons were enabled to ſpeak and
underſtand all the languages under heaven, without
a moment's labour.
ces
The end for which theſe extraordinary gifts were
beſtowed, was the public benefit of the church,
then rifing out of the nations, and oppofed on the
one fide by the envy and malignity of the blind Jew.
on the other by the falfe wifdom and earthly pow-
er of the idolatrous Gentile. In thefe circumftan-
❝ the word of knowledge" was neceffary to con-
fute the Jew from the Scriptures; "the word of
wifdom, and the demonftration of the fpirit," to
bring to nothing the wifdem and overthrow the
power of the Gentile; and all the gifts of God to
caſt out and deftroy the works of the devil. As
the church was to be gathered out of an unbelie-
ving world, there was need of miracles, which, as
the Apoſtle fays, " are a fign to them that believe
not."
And this may perhaps intimate to us the
time when they ceafed, namely, when the fpirit of
heathenifm and oppofition was overcome and ex-
tinguiſhed by them. Theſe gifts therefore were
given" for the work of the miniftry, and edifica-
tion of the body of Chrift;" not for the private or
inward fanctification of thoſe that had them, who
were not the better men for them, but were to be
fanctified
1
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
91
"
fanctified in their degree by the ordinary means, as
other men were. To prevent men from being puf-
fed up with what is beſtowed on them for the be-
nefit of others, it fhould be recollected, that Saul
was among the prophets, and Judas among the a-
poſtles. Wherefore Chriſt tells us, that "many
will fay to him in the day of judgment, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophefied in thy name? and in thy
name caſt out devils, and in thy name done many
wondrous works? And then will I profefs unto
them, I never knew you, depart from me ye work-
ers of iniquity."* And fo again, when the apoftles,
having received and made trial of their gifts, return-
ed to him full of joy, "faying, Lord, the very de-
vils are fubject to us through thy name;" his an-
fwer was, in this rejoice not, that the ſpirits are
fubject unto you, but rather rejoice becauſe your
names are written in heaven.' And the reafon
is plain; for fo far were thefe miraculous powers
from neceffarily transforming their minds, and re-
newing their fouls, that they could not, like one
one fingle act of genuine repentance and faving
faith, give the title to the kingdom of God. St
Paul, the great converter of the Gentile world,
was obliged to ufe the proper means of mortifica-
tion and felf-denial, to "keep under his body, and
bring it into ſubjection, left after he had preached
the goſpel to others," in all the demonſtration of
the power of the omnipotent Spirit, he, this great
St Paul himſelf, fhould become a caft-away.
""*
The manner in which theſe apoftolical gifts were
conferred, fhews them to have been extraordinary,
and for extraordinary purpoſes. For whereas the
Spirit in its ordinary work of fanctification acts u-
pon the fouls of men, as his reprefentative, the air,
* Matth. vii. 23.
† Luke x. 17, 20.
or
92
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
or material fpirit, does upon their bodies, by a fi
lent, equable, and imperceptible mode of operation,
giving to all things life and motion; his coming at
the day of Pentecoft was fudden, impetuous, and
irreſiſtible; not in the ſtill ſmall voice of the com-
mon breathing air, but in " the found of a mighty
rufhing wind;" and that not blowing, as in the
common courſe of nature, horizontally, but def-
cending directly from above; not ſpreading itſelf
abroad, and diffufing its agency univerfally, but
"filling that houfe," and that houfe only, "where
the apostles were fitting." From thence indeed it
went forth, by a diſplay of its miraculous gifts, to
the ends of the world. But as it had a work to
perform, which never was performed but once, fo
its operations were fuch as no fpirit in after-times
can pretend to, without proving itſelf, by the at-
tempt, to be a ſpirit of error and delufion: fince
there is as much difference between the extraordi-
nary effufion of the Spirit at the day of Pentecoft
for the purpoſe of founding the church and the or-
dinary gift of grace for the fanctification of belie-
vers, as there is between that mighty fpirit, which,
at God's command, moved at the beginning upon-
the face of the deep, to form the earth, and the
common air acting continually for its fupport and
prefervation.
The ſecond meaſure of grace is the ecclefiaftical
meaſure, or that which is given to the ordinary
miniftry, for the ftanding government and conti-
nual edification of the church. This likewife is the
gift of Chrift, he being the fountain head of all
principality and power; and it is conferred by the
Spirit, who only commiffions men to be the repre-
fentatives of Chriſt, and to act in his name. Thus
it is written in the Acts of the Apoſtles; "The
Holy
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
93%
Holy Ghoft faid, Separate me Barnabas and Saul."*
This ecclefiaftical meaſure is as diftinct from the
common meaſure of fanctification, as the apoftoli-
cal, which will be ſeen by confidering (as in the
former cafe) its nature, the end for which, and
manner in which it is given.
15.
No
As to its nature, it is a commiffion, or an office,
concerning which it is a rule eſtabliſhed beyond all
controverſy, that "no man taketh it unto himſelf."
Internal gifts and graces may qualify a perſon for
an office, but they cannot put him into one.
man, however righteous and holy through faith and
the fanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, can have
authority to act in the name of Chrift, till Chrift
gives him that authority. Before that is done, let
his life and character be what they will, his minif-
trations can have no validity. Whatever he may
be in other refpects, in this particular he is a grie-..
vous offender, and will be found guilty before God
of facrilegioufly intruding into an office, to which he
can have no pretenfions. A crime, for which the
leprofy once roſe up in the forehead of a monarch,†
* Acts xiii. 2.
and
+ “When Uzziah was ſtrong, his heart was lifted up to his
deſtruction: for he tranfgreffed againſt the Lord his God, and
went into the temple of the Lord, to burn incenfe upon the altar
of incenſe. And Azariah the prieſt went in after him, and with
him fourfcore prieſts of the Lord, that were valiant men. And
they withſtood Uzzłah the king, and faid unto him, it appertain-
eth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incenfe unto the Lord, but
unto the prieſts, the fons of Aaron, that are confecrated to burn
incenfe; go out of the fanctuary, for thou haft trefpaffed, neither
fhall it be for thine honour from the Lord God. Then Uzziah
was wroth, and had a cenfer in his hand to burn incenſe; and
while he was wroth with the prieſts, the leprofy even roſe up in
his forehead, before the prieſts, in the houfe of the Lord, from
beſide the incenſe altar. And Azariah the chief prieſt and all the-
prieſts looked upon him, and behold he was leprous in his fore-
head, and they thrust him out from thence, yea himſelf hafted
alfø
94
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
and Korah and all his company (holy as they ſaid
they all were) went down alive into the pit. And
that none in the Chriſtian church might imitate the
prefumption of Uzziah, or "go in the gainfaying
of Korah," even Chriſt" took not this honour u-
pon himſelf, nor glorified himſelf to be made an
high priest, (for a glory it was to him) till he was
called of God," by the vifible defcent of the Holy
Ghoſt upon him in the prefence of the people, and
by the voice from heaven, faying, "This is my be-
loved Son, in whom I am well pleaſed. From that
time Jefus began to preach."-Who then is that
follower of Jefus, that fhall offer to begin before?
The end for which this ecclefiaftical meaſure of
the gift of Chrift was beſtowed on the church, con-
firms the diftinction between that and the com-
mon meaſure of fanctifying grace. The end of the
apoftolical gifts was the eſtabliſhment of the church;
the end of the ecclefiaftical is the prefervation of it,
by the exerciſe of difcipline, the preaching of the
word, and the adminiſtration of the facraments.
Perfons are ſeparated from a common condition to
holy offices, that by their miniftration fouls may be
ſeparated from the pollutions of fin to holiness of
life. So that holiness of office is as diftinct from
holinefs of life, as the cauſe from the effect; one is
given to the miniftry, that the other may be pro-
duced in the people. And though all that are in
holy offices ought to lead holy lives, and it fhould
be a part of our daily prayers to God that he would
enable them to do fo, yet a failure in duty is not a
forfeiture of authority. The vices of a miniſter
make not void the acts of his miniftry, dominion,
in
alfo to go out, becauſe the Lord had ſmitten him. And Uzziah
the king was a leper unto the day of E. death, and dwelt in a ſe-
veral houfe, being a leper, for he was cut off from the houſe of
the Lord." 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. et fq.
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
១៨
in this caſe, as in all others, not being founded on
grace, but on a pofitive commiffion given by him
who is empowered to give it, and continuing in
force till he takes it away. It is with an officer of
the church as with an officer of the ftate: a mif-
demeanor does not vacate his office, or entitle ano-
ther to ſtep into it. The king, or an agent appoint-
ed by him, muſt take it from one, and give it to
another. If this neceffary diftinction between ho-
linefs of office and holiness of perſon be not kept up,
the end for which a miniftry was appointed will
not be attained; all will be teachers, and no hea-
rers; all governors, and no fubjects; the church,
as a fociety, will be diffolved, and a confufion in-
troduced into the fpiritual ſyſtem, like that which
prevailed in the natural, when the earth was
without form, and void, and darkneſs lay upon the
face of the deep."
The manner of the conveyance of this ecclefiafti-
cal meaſure of grace has likewiſe been always dif-
tinctive of it. Under the law the priesthood was
conveyed by Unction. And to fhew how far remo-
ved it was from every thing common or ordinary,
it is written concerning the holy anointing oil uſed
upon the occafion, "Upon man's flefh fhall it not
be poured, neither fhall ye make any other like it,
after the compofition of it; it is holy, and ſhall be
holy unto you. Whofoever compoundeth any like
it, or whofoever putteth any of it upon a ſtranger,
fhall even be cut off from his people. When
Chriſt, after his refurrection, appointed his apoſtles
to the work of the miniſtry," he breathed on them,
and faid, Receive ye the Holy Ghoſt." * The next
words fhew for what purpoſe the Spirit was then
given by his breathing on them; "Whofe foever.
fins
* Exod. xxx. 32,
"> *
† John xx. 22.
96
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
fins ye remit, they are remitted; and whoſe foever
fins ye retain they are retained." The apoſtles af-
terwards ordained by the "laying on of hands,"
as their fucceffors have done, and do to this day,
faying, after the example and by the authority, of
their great Lord and Maſter
Lord and Mafter; "Receive thou the
Holy Ghoſt. Whofe foever fins thou doft remit,
they are remitted; and whoſeſover fins thou doft
retain, they are retained." +
The third meaſure of the gift of Chrift is that
given for the perfonal fanctification of individuals.
Now in order to form a clear idea of fanctification,
it muſt be confidered, that man, as a fallen crea-
ture, ſtands in need of two things, a deliverance
from the guilt of fins paft, and an emancipation
from the power of fin preſent and future. The
former of thefe is ftiled juftification, the latter fanc
tification. The one is performed without a man,
by the blood of Chrift effectually offered and plead-
ed for him in the preſence of God, upon his re-
pentance and faith; the other is wrought within
him, by the Spirit fent into his foul, in confequencè,
as well as evidence of its juftification. Chrift firft
made the atonement for fin by fhedding his blood,
then afcended to plead it, and then fent the Spirit.
The atonement he made once; but he liveth con-
tinually to make interceffion for us, by pleading it
on our behalf; and as continually to fend the Spi-
rit to renew the foul of every finner, who, by re-
pentance and faith through the miniſtration of the
church, lays hold on the benefits of that prevailing
interceffion, and is "accepted in the beloved." Juf-
tification, whenfoever granted, must be perfect, be-
cauſe forgivenefs cannot be partial; fanctification
may be imperfect, and always is fo till death, be-
caufe
Church of England Ordination Office.
1
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
97
t
caufe till then, "in many things we offend all,"
and ſtill ſtand in need of freſh juftification and for
giveneſs: elfe why pray we for it, to our laſt breath,
in the words which Chrift himſelf has taught us,
faying, "Forgive us our trefpaffes?" And why
faid the holy and experienced Auguftine, "that
the beſt poſture in which death can find the moſt
perfect Chriftian, is upon his knees, confeffing his
fins, and intreating forgiveneſs ?"
The firſt portion of fanctifying grace is given at
baptifm, which is the feal of juftification, and the
beginning of fanctification; inafmuch as the finner
being then facramentally buried with Chrift into
his death, ariſes with him in the power of his re-
furrection, juſtified from the guilt of fin through
repentance and faith in his blood, and renewed
unto holiness by the operation of his Spirit. This
total renewal, as firft conferred by the baptiſmal
laver, is ftiled regeneration, and anſwers, in things
natural, to the birth of an infant. But then, as
an infant, though born compleat in all its parts,
yet comes to its full ftature and ftrength by flow
and imperceptible degrees; by being fupplied with
proper kinds of food for its nouriſhment when in
health, and proper medicines for its recovery when
otherwife: fo is it with the regenerate ſpirit of a
Chriftian, while it is (as St Peter calls it) a babe in
Chrift, it must be fed with the milk of the word;
when it is more grown in grace, with the ftrong
meat of its falutary doctrines; when it is infirm, it
muſt be ftrengthened by the comforts of its pro-
mifes; and when fick, or wounded by fin, it muft
be recovered and reſtored by godly counfel and
wholeſome diſcipline, by penance and abfolution,
by the medicines of the word and facraments, as
duly and properly adminiſtered in the church, by
VOL. II.
I
the
'
£98
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
58
•
•
the lawfully and regularly appointed delegates and
repreſentatives of the phyfician of fouls. This gra-
dual and complex work of our fanctification is car-
ried on through our whole lives, by the Spirit of
God, given, in due degree and proportion, to every
individual, for that purpoſe. And it is marvellous
to behold (as the excellent Bishop Andrews - ob-
ferves) how, from the laver of regeneration, to
the adminiftration of the Viaticum, this good.
fpirit helpeth us, and poureth his benefits upon
us, having a grace for every ſeaſon. When we are
troubled with erroneous opinions, he is the Spirit
of truth; when affaulted with temptations, he is
the Spirit of holinefs; when diffipated with worldly
vanity, he is the Spirit of compunction; when bro-
ken with worldly forrow, he is the Holy Ghoft the
Comforter. It is he who, after having regenerated
us in our baptiſm, confirms us by the impofition of
hands; renews us to repentance, when we fall away;
teaches us, all our life long, what we know not;
puts us in mind of what we forget; ftirs us up when
we are dull; helps us in our prayers; relieves us in
our infirmities; confoles-us-in our heavinefs; gives
fongs of joy in the darkest night of forrow; feals
us to the day of our redemption; and raiſes us up
again in the laſt day; when that which was fown
in grace fhall be reaped in glory, and the work of
fanctification in fpirit, foul, and body, fhall be
compleated.-What Chriſtian, that confiders this
unfpeakable gift of God, but muft fay of him, with
the Pfalmift, "He hath put a new fong in my
mouth, even a thankſgiving unto our God?" See-
ing every one of us may now fo properly take up
thofe other words of the fame fweet Pfalmift;
«Surely goodneſs and mercy fhall follow ´me all
* Pf. xl. iii.
*
the
}
•
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
907
1
the days of my life, and I will dwell in the houſe
of the Lord for ever.
€
What therefore remains, but that we fhew forth
the thankfulneſs of our hearts by the holineſs of
our lives, and live as becometh thofe, whom Chrift
having redeemed by his moft precious blood, hath
fanctified with his moft Holy Spirit. Seeing Chrift
our Saviour has bestowed fuch a gift upon his
church, let us never provoke him to take it from
us. As it is a gift, let us always be forward to ac-
knowledge much; not attributing to nature whats
is due to grace, or robbing the Holy Ghoſt to a-
dorn reafon. As, though a gift, it is given to every
man to profit withal, let us have that day continu--
ally in our thought, when an account of our pro-
fiting will be required; and let us never forget, that
the fame fire burns for the unprofitable and unbelievers:
for him who neglects this gracious gift, and for him
who rejects it. Since by the afcenfion of Chriſt the
heavens have been opened, and the Holy Dove has
been fent down upon the earth, let us not give
Пleep to our eyes, or flumber to our eye-lids, till we
have prepared in our hearts an habitation for him.
Let pride depart, that it drive not away the Spirit
of humility; let anger be put from us, that we
quench not the Spirit of meeknefs; and let not
that which is unchafte be named, or thought of,
that we grieve not the Spirit of purity. So fhall.
we be meet entertainers of this heavenly gueft, and
❝to every one of us will be given the gift of Chrift."
1
But as there are different meaſures of this gift,
let every one take care that he think not more.
highly of himſelf, or arrogate more to himſelf, than
he ought; but let him know himſelf, his ftation,
and his abilities, and think and act foberly, accord-
I 2
Pf. xxiii. ult.
ing
1
•
100
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
{
ing as God has dealt the meafure to him. The
God who fent the Spirit is a God of order, and
from the beginning "has appointed divers orders
in the church," and fet different officers in differ-
ent pofts. Let every man therefore, in his own or-
der, do the work allotted him. Let not the lay-
man take upon him the office of a deacon; nor the
deacon intrude into the function of the prieſt; nor
the prieſt ufurp the authority of the bifhop; much
lefs fancy himſelf invefted with the ecumenical
commiffion of an apoftle. Good men have had oc-
cafion to lament the calamities that have been
brought upon the church, from age to age, through
a neglect of this important confideration; a confi-
deration, on which is fufpended the felicity of every
fociety, in heaven and earth. When the foul of
the learned, the pious, the incomparable author of
the Ecclefiaftical Polity was about to take her flight
to the regions of everlaſting harmony and love, a
friend aſked him, what might then be the fubject
of his contemplations? He replied, that " he was
meditating the number and nature of angels, and
their bleffed obedience and order, without which
peace could not be in heaven-and O that it might
be fo on earth!" With our endeavours let us add
our prayers to his, that our eyes may behold Jeru-
falem," a city at unity in itſelf," a city, on this ac-
count, equally confpicuous for beauty and ftrength;
to its friends appearing " fair as the moon;" to its
ſpiritual adverſaries, "terrible as an army with
banners."
*
DISCOURSE ου
VII.
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR
NUMB. XVI. 47, 48.. -
And Aaron took, as Mofes commanded, and ran into the
midft of the congregation, and behold the plague was
begun among the people; and he put on incenfe, and
made an atonement for the people; and he stood be
tween the dead and the living, and the plague was
frayed.
IT
may be queftioned, whether any hiſtory in the
world ever afforded a finer fubject for a picture,
than this before us. Aaron, in his facerdotal veſt-
ments, the fmoke of the incenfe afcending from -
the, holy cenfer in his hand, might be drawn, ftand-
ing up amidſt crowds of Ifraelites, fmitten with the
peftilence. The wrath of God might be repreſent- -
ed, rolling forth in fiery waves from the tabernacle,
and almoſt reaching the High Prieſt; but recoiling,
as checked in its progrefs by his powerful inter-
ceffion. On one fide of the Interceffor might be
pourtrayed the most ghaftly horrors in the counte-
nances of the dead; on the other fide might be dif
covered the reviveing gleams of hope and joy in the
faces of the living, on perceiving that the plague:
was stayed.
But in order to enter thoroughly into all the
parts of this fuppofed picture, it will be neceffary:
to take a view of the whole hiftory to which it rés
1.3.
lates
1
102 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR..
!
lates; that we may learn the crime of the ſufferers:
which brought on their punishment, and the na-
ture of that interceffion which put a stop to it.
Mofes and Aaron were appointed by God the go-
vernors and conductors of his peo, le. But though:
they ruled with the utmoſt wiſdom. and integrity,.
it happened, that they could not pleaſe every body.
Korah, a difcontented factious Levite, charged:
Aaron with prieftcraft: "all the congregation, he-
faid, were holy, and the Lord was among them;"
every man was qualified to be his own prieft, to
inftruct, and to fave himfelf; and who was Aaron,.
that he ſhould fet himſelf up above his brethren,.
and lord it over. God's heritage? At the fame time
that a fchifm was thus forming in the church, a
rebellion was likewife fomented in the ftate. For
Dáthan and Abiram, who were laymen, and prin-
ces of the congregation, accufed Mofes of tyranny,
and a defign to establish arbitrary power; which
they affirmed to be fo clear a cafe, that unlefs he
"put out the eyes" of the people, they must fee ha..
intended to enflave, and to make."himſelf alto-
gether a prince over them." Matters foon came
to an open rupture; God himſelf was appealed.to
and a day fixed to determine the caufe. And a
moſt tremenduous determination indeed it was.
For when the two parties, according to order, had
feparated from each other, and all with eager ex-
pectation ftood waiting the event, behold "the
ground," which was under the rebels, fuddenly
·
L
clave afunder, and the earth opened her mouth,
and ſwallowed them up, and, their houfes, and all
that appertained to them; they went down alive*
into the pit, and the earth cloſed upon them, and
they perished from among the congregation. And
there came out a fire from the Lord, and confu-
med
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. 1033
med the two hundred and fifty men that offered
incenfe." They who have not ftudied human na-
ture, who have not feen or heard much of man-
kind, will perhaps imagine, that ſuch a decifion as
this, muft needs have filenced every objection, and
put an end to the murmurings of difcontent. And
fo far indeed it is truc, that "the people fled at the
cry of thofe who fuffered, for they faid, left the
earth ſwallow us up alfo." But as foon as the dan-
`ger was over, they difcovered the real fentiments
of their corrupted hearts. After a fingle night's.
reft, the fpirit of rebellion again took poffeffion of
them; and, all reverence laid afide, they go in a.
tumultuous and infolent manner to their leaders,
requiring at their hands, truly, the blood of Korah.
and his followers. "On the morrow, all the con→
gregation of the children of Ifrael murmured
againſt Mofes and againſt Aaron, faying, ye havė
flain the people of the Lord." Thus, by ſtanding,
up for thefe offenders, they fhewed a fecret appro--
bation of their offence; and being partakers of
their crime, they juftly became partakers alſo of
their puniſhment. The divine wrath therefore
went out againſt them. "Get you up, faid the
Lord to Mofes and Aaron, from among this con
gregation, that I may confume them in a moment."
A moft dreadful peftilence enfued; and then it
was, that Aaron did, as is recorded of him in the
text; "he took a cenfer, with fire from off the
altar, and put on incenfe, as commanded, and ran .
into the midft of the congregration, and made an
atonement for the people." He expofed himfelf,
for their fake, to the vengeance of heaven, which
was rolling on, like an irreſiſtible terrent, and had
already fwept away near fifteen thousand of his
brethren; he ſtood in the midway between the
*
1
wrath
2
1
104. THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR:
wrath and them, "between the dead and the li
ving, and the plague was ftayed." It ſtopped
where Aaron ftood; before him all were confum-
ed
all behind him were faved. An action this fo
full of faith and love, as to deferve the admiration
of all ages; fo wonderfully bleffed in its confequen-
ces, that it cannot but well repay the time and pains
we thall employ in enquiring into the grounds and
reaſons of them, and learning how it fhould come to
paſs, that the interceffion of Aaron fhould arreſt the
wrath of God in its impetuous courfe, and fave-
from impending death the remnant of rebellious If-
rael. And in the profecution of the fubject it may
perhaps appear, that this awful and affecting fcene
which we have been contemplating, as affording fine
matter for a picture, is itſelf a picture only of ano-
ther more auguſt and interefting fcene, in which
all the children of Adam are concerned, and do
bear their parts.
Let us then afk-Was it for Aaron's fake, that
God fpared the remnant of his people? Had Aa-
ron any merit of his own, any fuperfluous righte-
oufnefs, which might be imputed to them? Far-
from it; fince however comparatively holy and
faithful he might be, yet was he a defcendant of
that Adam, of whofe children it is teftified, that
"there is none that doeth good; no not one."
He, and "every high priest taken from among
men," were neceffarily heirs of the univerfal cor
ruption; they had their infirmities, as the apoſtle
argues, and were obliged to offer up facrifices for
their own fins, as well as for thofe of the people:
Aaron therefore, of himſelf, could make no atone
ment for them; and without an atonement, the
juftice of God could not let them efcape. To ac-
count for this wonderful deliverance, we muſt car--
*
་་
·
ry
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. 105
ry on our thoughts farther; we must look to fome
higher atonement, fome greater and more power-
ful Interceffor and High Priest, in whofe name
Aaron might act, and in virtue of whofe merits he
might, as a reprefentative, prevail with God to be
gracious to his people.
}
And here, there is but one perfon upon whom
all our thoughts muft immediately be fixed, name-
ly, our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, the great
High Prieſt of our profeffion, the effectual Inter-
ceffor for the falvation of finners. Had we any
doubt, whether Aaron, when officiating according
to the law, reprefented Him, St Paul, in the epif-
tle to the Hebrews, has determined the point be-.
yond all contradiction. He tells us, that the law
had a fhadow of good things to come, of which
Chriſt and his heavenly truths were the body and
fubftance; that Aaron and all other high priefts
were the repreſentatives of him who is our gracious
Interceffor and High Prieſt for ever; that the holy
of holies in the temple was the figure of heaven it-
felf; that all which Aaron" did there, foreſhewed
what our Lord did and does for us above; that the
blood there offered by Aaron and his fucceffors,
under the law, pointed out the blood of Chriſt, by
him offered to the Father in heaven; and the in-
cenfe, which was fumed upon thofe occafions, to
diffuſe a grateful fmell, denoted the merits of our
bleffed Redeemer, which appeafe the wrath of
God, render all our prayers and oblation accep-
table, and fill heaven and earth with the fweet
fmelling favour of life, peace, and falvation.
*
Theſe things being underſtood and confidered,
we may eafily collect, from what has been faid,
the reaſon why Aaron's interceffion on the behalf
of offending Ifrael was fo powerful and effectual
For
106 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR.
For if Aaron, in the office of high priest and me-
diator, repreſented the world's Redeemer; and if
the atonement, which he made for Ifrael, fhewed
forth that great atonement to be one day made by
Jefus Chrift for the church univerfal of all ages and
nations; then God had undoubtedly refpcct unto
that great atonement, and for his fake who was to
make it, pardoned thofe for whom it was to be
made. In the perfon of Aaron he beheld his be
loved fon, in whom he is well pleafed, interceding
for the tranfgreffors; Ifrael was fpared for the fake
of Aaron, but Aaron himſelf was accepted for the
fake of Chrift.~
And now, I would willingly hope, that this ſcene
begins to open upon you, in all its glory. For fure
ly the brighteſt imagination cannot figure to itſelf
a more exact and lively repreſentation of our fin-
fulneſs, of the divine wrath, and the mercies of
redemption. Under this moſt affecting image of
rebellious Ifrael, fmitten with a peftilence, and fa-
ved by the interceffion of Aaron, are deſcribed to
us the miferable and loſt ſtate of man after the fall,
the terrible execution of God's juſtice on the one
hand, and the gracious nterpofition of our Re-
deemer on the other, with the effects of both.
Were the men of Ifrael finners and rebels againſt
their God? So we are all. All have finned; alt
have broken their allegiance to their Creator and
Sovereign, and gone over to his and their enemy.
When we read of the repeated tranfgreffions of Ilf-
rael, with the mercies and the judgments of hea-
ven freſh in their memories, nay even before their
eyes, we are amazed and confounded, and almoſt
tempted to diſbelieve the accounts of fuch horrible
perverfeneſs and ingratitude. But confcience fleep-
eth, all this while, and we ſtand in need of a Na-
than,
f
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. 107
}
7
·
than, to tell each of us, "Thou art the man."
For who amongſt us has not experienced the mer-
cies of God; and who has not abuſed them? Who
has not trembled at his judgments; and who has not
forgotten them again? Who, in the hour of fick-
nefs and forrow, has not made vows and refolutions
of amendment; and who, in the day of health and
gladneſs, has not broken thoſe vows and refolutions?
Alas, my brethren, our own hearts, if we do but
confult them, muft tell us, that the hiftory of If-
rael is true, and that we all have in us, derived from
our common father Adam, a portion of the fame
rebellious fpirit which was in them. "Are we
better than they? No, in no wife, for, as faith
an apoſtle, we have charged both Jews and Gen-
tiles," that is, all the world," that they are all
under fin; as it is written" in the Scriptures of
truth, "There is none righteous, no not one;
there is none that underſtandeth; there is none that
feeketh after God. They are all gone out of the
way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there
is none that doeth good, no not one. Their throat
is an open fepulchre; with their tongues they have
ufed deceit; the poifon of afps is under their lips;
whofe mouth is full of curfing and bitterness; their
feet are ſwift to thed blood; deftruction and mife-
ry are in their ways, and the way of peace have
they not known; there is no fear of God before
their eyes-All have finned, and come ſhort of the
glory of God." Such is the Scripture account of
fallen man ; fuch are the works of which the world
hath been full from the beginning, and is likely to
continue fo unto the end. Mankind, therefore,
refemble the people of Ifrael in their fins. Let us
next examine, whether they do not likewife re-
femble them in their punishment.
Did
ro8 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR.
;
Did Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, with all their
company, go down into the pit? Did a fire come
Forth from the Lord, and confume the two hun-
dred and fifty men that offered incenfe? And did
a raging peftilence fweep off the murmurers by
thouſands? What are we taught by all this, but
the fame concerning leffon, which the apoftle
teaches us in words, that "the wages of fin is
death," and that "death paffed upon all men, for
that all have finned." Forfeiture of life and in-
heritance neceffarily followed the tranfgreffion. In
Adam all died; all became mortal in their bodies,
and fubjected to the fentence of natural death.
And not only fo, but the fouls of men were depri-
ved by fin of communication with God, who is the
fountain of ſpiritual life; and both foul and bɔ-
dy were in danger of eternal death. When, there-
fore, we behold the camp of Hrael in the wilder-
nefs, vifited by the divine judgments; when we
fee fome going down alive into the dreadful pit ;
others burnt up in a moment by fire from heaven;
and a peftilence threatning to confume the reft;
when we look around, and view, in every part of
the picture, the dying and the dead; do we not
at once acknowledge the original from which it is
drawn, and difcern in it the too, too faithful por-
trait of a fallen world, full of miſery and death,
becaufe full of fin and rebellion!
But what? Muſt we then indeed perifh? Muft
we all perish? Will the Lord caft off for ever,
and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy
clean gone for ever? Doth his promife fail for e-
vermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath he in anger fhut up his tender mercies ?" Is
`the plague begun among the people, and is there
no perfon who can ftay it? O not fo, bleffed be
our
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. 100
1
1
our gracious God; there is yet hope of comfort,
health, and falvation. Turn your eyes once more
to the inſtructive picture, and there view the Inter
ceffor making atonement, and faving the remnant
of his people. Deftruction was not the end for
which God formed man. "For God made not
death. He created man to be immortal, and made
him an image of his own eternity. Through envy
of the devil came death into the world, and ſtill,
as at the firft, they alone who hold of his fide do
find it." The covenant of works being broken by
tranfgreffion, the covenant of grace immediately
fucceeded in its room. This was the remedy pro-
vided againſt fin and death, and the bleffed means
of reconciliation fore-ordained by the Divine Per-
fons, before the foundation of the world; that the
finner, who had no righteoufnefs of his own to
plead in arreſt of judgment, upon the new terms
of this act of grace, might, again find acceptance
and life, through the divine fatisfaction and in-
terceffion of our Lord Jefus Chriſt. He was con-
fecrated to be our High Prieſt, and otdained to per-
form an office in attempting which, every high prieſt
taken from among men muſt elfe have failed. He
had no need to offer facrifice for his own fins, fince
he had none; but being himſelf all righteous, was
perfectly qualified to fave others. Nor was his
priesthood to paſs from one to another, or to have
an end, like that of Aaron, but it was eternal and
unchangeable, as the Son of God who exerciſed it.
Such was our High Prieft, who perceived that, on
account of man's tranfgreffion, wrath was gone
forth from the prefence of the Lord, and that the
plague was begun among the people. And he faw
VOL. II.
K
that
"
A
.
110 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR.
that there was no man, and wondered that there
was no interceffor. Therefore he arrayed himſelf
in the holy garments of glory and beauty; he put
on a breaſt-plate of righteouſneſs, and a robe of
inviolable fanctity, and he was clad, over all, with
zeal as a cloke. He was anointed with the oil of
gladneſs, with the Holy Ghoſt and with power;
and on his head was a crown of falvation and glo-
ry. Thus adorned and fitted for the work, he
put on, for incenfe, the merits of his fufferings.
He ran into the midſt of God's people as a media-
tor, interpofing himſelf between the parties at va-
riance, in order to reconcile them. He met the
burning wrath, and turned it afide from all belie-
vers. He ſtood, and ſtands now, between the dead
and the living, between those who, by oppoſing his
method of falvation, will die in their fins, and thoſe
who, living and believing in him, fhall never die
eternally. He is at the right hand of God, ever ma-
´king interceffion for us. And fo, the plague is
ftayed. A ftop is put to the progrefs of everlaf-
ting deſtruction. The fiery fword of offended juſ-
tice cannot reach, nor ſhall the fecond death have
any power over fuch as accept the atonement which
he hath made for them, and thankfully receive the
benefits of his all-prevailing interceffion. "There
is now no condemnation to them that are in Chriſt
Jefus."
And can any thing then, my brethren, prevent
our accepting this atonement, and thankfully re-
ceiving the benefits of this interceffion? Can any
thing induce us, when the bountiful hand of mer-
ey hath filled, and holdeth out the cup of falvation,
to daſh it untafted from us? Nothing can, but an
utter ignorance of our fin, and of our danger.
Could
3.
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. TIE
!
Could a dying Ifraelite have been prevailed upon,
think you, to reject the atonement and interceffion
of Aaron? No furely. Only fee how hope revives
in their countenances, and joy ſparkles in their
eyes, all turned and fixed upon him in the execu-
tion of his priestly office. And why? Becauſe
they were fentible of their wretched and perilous
eftate. They needed not to be told, that they were
expiring by the peftilence. They knew it, they
felt; they were looking wiſhfully around them for
help and deliverance, ready, with eagerness and
impatience, with gratitude and thankfulneſs, to
fnatch at it, and embrace it, the moment it ſhould
appear. O why are not we fo? Why do we hear
of the atonement and interceffion of the holy Je-
fus, with fo much cold indifference? Why, but
becauſe we ſee not, we know not, we feel not the
want of them. And yet, what is there, within
us, or without us, that doth not teach and fhew
it us? To tell you that the world is full of forrow,
is no news; to tell you that the world is full of
fin, is, I prefume, no news. And from what
would you defire to be delivered, if not from fin
and forrow? To tell you that a fentence of death
is paffed upon the bodies of men, and that, with-
out redemption, a ſentence of condemnation will
be paffed upon their fouls and bodies too, this like--
wife is no news to any of you.. Daily experience
proves the firſt, and the Scripture afferts the fe-
cond.. And from what would you wish to be fa-
ved, if not from death and condemnation? Or
what, in point of wretchednefs and horror, was
the camp of Ifrael with the peftilence in the midſt
of it, if compared to fuch a world as this? Go
thou who art tempted to reject, or to neglect the
K 2..
fatisfactions
}
112 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR.
fatisfaction of Chrift, go to the bed of fickness,
and undraw the curtains of affliction; afk him
who lies racked with pain, and trembling at the
thoughts of the wrath to come, what his opinion
is concerning the doctrine of atonement; and ob-
ferve how the name of a Saviour and Interceffor
puts comfort and gladnefs into his forrowful and
affrighted foul, at a time when the treaſures and
the crowns of eaſtern kings would be utterly con-
temned, as equally vain, worthlefs, and unprofita-
ble, with the duft of the earth. Then reflect, that
fuch, one day, muft be thy ftate; and, in that ſtate,
fuch infallibly will be they thoughts and fenfations.
And did the cares and pleaſures of the world fuffer
living men to think and feel as dying men do, the
interceffion of Chrift would be regarded and ac
cépted by Chriſtians, as that of Aaron once was
by Ifrael. Now, indeed the fentiments of men
on this great point may be different, becauſe their
paffions and their prejudices are different; but we
Thall all think alike upon the fubject, when paffion
fhall ceaſe, and prejudice be no more, at the hour
of death, and in the day of judgment In that
laſt and concerning day, the fcene on which we
have been meditating fhall be again exhibited,
in its moft awful and tremendous acccompliſh-
ment. Inſtead of the earthly pit opening it's
mouth to ſwallow up Korah and his company,
the infernal pit of everlaſting deftruction fhall dif-
clofe its bottomlefs depth, to receive alive into it
the great adverſary and all that have taken part
with him againft God and Chrift. Inftead of fire
from the prefence of the Lord, to confume the two
hundred and fifty that offered incenfe, "Behold
the day cometh, that ſhall burn as an oven, and
alk
1
1
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR. 13
all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, fhall
be as ftubble, and the day that cometh fhall burn
them up, and leave them neither root nor branch."
Inſtead of the peftilence to deſtroy fourteen thou-
fand only of his murmuring people, the inexhauf
tible floods of almighty vengeance, heaped up for
ages, fhall be poured out, to drown rebellious fpi-
rits in irreſiſtible perdition. Then, when the hea--
vens fhall melt with fervent heat all around, the
fiery gulph rolling beneath, and the earth, upon
which we ftand, finking down into the flames,
then what a fight will it be, to behold our bleſſed-
Aaron, our great mediator, ftanding up and inter--
pofing his merits between the dead and the living;,
between those who, difbelieving, have murmured
against him, and thofe who, believing, have ferved
and obeyed him. Then tremble, thou wretch,.
who haft blafphemed, or flighted the interceffion
of Jefus. But rejoice greatly, O faithful ſoul, whoſe
truft hath ever been in Him; thy falvation is fure,
and the day of thy redemption is come: rejoice,
and fhout aloud for joy; join the chorus of an-
gels, and the fpirits of juſt men made perfect, the
ten thousand times ten thoufand, and thouſands
of thoufands, whom the well-beloved John heard
faying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was flain, to
receive power, and riches, and wifdom, and
ftrength, and honour, and glory, and bleffing."
And with them let "every creature which is in:
heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and
fuch as are in the ſea, and all that are in them,
exalt their voices, and proclaim," Bleffing, and
honour, and glory, and power, to him that fitteth
་
K. 3~
upon
•
*
14 THE PREVAILING INTERCESSOR..
!
·
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever
and ever." Amen. *
* The plan and ſubftance of the foregoing Diſcourſe are taken.
from one publiſhed fome years ago, by my late learned and va-
luable friend, the Reverend Mr WATSON. But it always feem-
ed to me, as I frequently used to tell him, that he had much
abated the force and energy which the compoſition would other-
wife have poffeffed, by introducing a fecondary and fubordinate
fubject, which continually diverted the attention of his reader-
from the primary and piincipal one. I was therefore tempted
to work up his admirable materials afresh, with fome few alte-
rations and additions, that fo noble a fubject as the Interceffion
of Chrift, illuftrated by that of Aaron, might ftand out: to obfer
vation, fimplex duntaxat,et.unum.
..
DISCOURSE VII
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
DAN. vi. 1O..
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was figned.
he went into his houſe; and his windows being open
in his chamber towards Jerufalem, he kneeled upon
his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave
thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
THE chapter relates to us a confpiracy formed
by the Babylonian princes againſt Daniel, becauſe
the king, "finding an excellent fpirit in him," had
preferred him above them all. For we read of no
crime but his merit, which indeed is a crime fuffi
ciently heinous in the eyes of thoſe who are defti
tute of it. At all events therefore Daniel muſt be
impeached. The only queftion was, in what form
it ſhould be done.. "Concerning the kingdom,'
and his fidelity to his fovereign," they could find
(and we may be fure it was not for want of diligence
in fearching) none occafion or fault; forafmuch as
he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault
found in him.' And now, what do they fix upon,
as an article of impeachment against him? Why
truly, his PIETY. "We ſhall not find (ſay theſe
ftatefmen) any occafion againſt this Daniel, unlefs.
we find it againſt him concerning the law of his
God." But fome difficulty there ftill remained in
the execution of this project; as, it ſeems, there:
""
4
was
衡
​:
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
115
+
was no law yet in being, even in Babylon itſelf,
that inflicted a penalty upon a man for being emi-
nently devout. The great men therefore affembling
together, went in a body to the king, and prevail-
ed upon him to fign a decree, which flattered his
pride, that "whofoever fhould afk a petition of
any God, or man, for thirty days, fave of him,
fhould be caft into the den of lions." Thus was·
atheiſm eſtabliſhed by law in the court, city, and
empire of Babylon, for the ſpace of one month :.
and now, let any one pray, who dared:
But the
contrivers of this new law were well enough ac--
quainted with Daniel's character, to know, that fear
of the lions would never cauſe him to give over his
devotions for one day, much lefs for thirty. And
fo accordingly it turned out. For "when Daniel
knew that the writing was figned, he went into his
houſe; and his windows being open in his chamber·
towards Jerufalem, he kneeled upon his knees three-
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before
his God, as he did aforetime." Never, furely, did
the ſpirit and power of devotion fhine forth with
greater luftre, than at this time, in the perfon of
Daniel, upon his knees, in fuch circumftances. Let
us therefore meditate. for a while on an object,
which, as we are affured by the fequel, engaged
the attention of heaven itſelf.
·
If we confider the fituation of Daniel in Babylon,
it will teach us that we ought on no account to omit
our daily devotions. And if we confider the man-
ner of his praying, it will teach us how we ought
to perform them.
With regard to Daniel's fituation in Babylon, we
may contemplate him as one in captivity in a ftrange
and heathen land; as one incumbered with the con-
cerns
→
117
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
}
cerns of a vaſt empire; and as one in danger of his
life for what he did.
→
It had been no wonder to have ſeen Daniel de-
vout in Jerufalem. For there was the temple of
God, the true church and worthip, frequented by
all his countrymen. There dwelt the holy one of
Ifrael, and the light of his countenance vifited, and ·
fhone continually upon them. But when Jerufa-
lem was trodden down of the Gentiles, and the
temple laid low in the duft; when the Lord had
"covered the daughter of Sion with a cloud in the
day of his anger;" when " the glory was departed
from Ifrael," and Daniel, with the reft of thoſe that
eſcaped the flaughter, had been led away into cap-
tivity, among infidels and fcoffers; that the holy
fire of devotion fhould burn and fhine through alk
thefe difadvantages and temptations, this was in-
deed a fight, which God himſelf delighted to be-
hold; as fuch devotion could fpring from nothing
elſe, but that love of him in the heart, mentioned
by king Solomon, which "many waters cannot
quench, neither can the floods drown it;" all the
forrows and afflictions in the world cannot ex-.
tinguiſh it; but it will break through, and triumph
glorioufly, as we find it did, in the cafe before us.
In Babylon, as well as in Jerufalem, "Daniel pray-
ed three times a day." And there are two circum-
ftances mentioned, which feem to have contributed
towards keeping his faith and devotion alive and
vigorous in thoſe worſt of times, namely, medita-
tion in the Scriptures, and a fevere temperance.
For in this ix. chapter he tells us, that "he under-
stood by books the number of the years whereof
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the pro-
phet, that he would accompliſh ſeventy years in the
defolations of Jerufalem.” And in the firſt chapter
we
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
117
[
•
we have an account of his refufing the luxuries of
the regal table, and choofing to live upon diet of
the plaineft kind. Through patience and comfort
of the Scriptures, therefore, he had hope, and lived
in expectation of ſeeing the divine promifes accom-
pliſhed, in the reſtoration of Ifrael to their own
land, and the rebuilding of the temple, for which
he continually prayed; while, by a ſtrict and holy
abſtinence, he kept his heart from being enfnared
by the good things of Babylon, and fuffered not his
body to gain the afcendant over his foul. O great
and glorious example to every Ifraelite in Babylon,
that is, to every Chriftian in the world! Let him
likewiſe underſtand, by the divine books, the wri-
tings of the prophets and apoftles, that the time
approaches, when the church univerfal fhall be de-
livered from her captivity, and the bondage of cor-
ruption, into the glorious liberty of the fons of
God; and therefore, as a ftranger and pilgrim here
upon earth, let him abstain from fleſhly lufts, and
not be brought under the power of fenfe; praying
always, and haftening unto the coming of the day
of God. This if he fhall neglect to do, let him
know affuredly, that Daniel will rife up in the
judgment against him, and condemn him. And
much more fo, if living in a Chriftian country,
where the true church and worſhip are eſtabliſhed,
he fall omit to do that which Daniel never omit-
ted to do, among his heathen enemies.
But perhaps we have too much bufinefs upon our
hands, to ſpare time for our devotions. Time is.
very precious with moſt people, when they are to
perform their devotions; and if they have not
enough for every body, they generally make free,
in the first place, with their Creator. But let theſe
men of buſineſs conſider the caſe of Daniel, Have
they
}
118
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
" At
they more buſineſs than he had, who was the firſt
of the three prefidents appointed to receive and
audit all the accounts of an hundred and twenty
princes, fet over the vaft empire of Perfia, of which,
at that time, almoſt all the kingdoms of the earth
were provinces? It would puzzle one to conceive a
man in a fituation that would afford him lefs leifure.
Yet all this bufinefs did Daniel difcharge faithfully
and punctually, and found time to pray, and give
thanks before his God, thrice every day conftantly.
The fame we may obſerve of king David, who,
though frequently engaged in war, as well as the
management of a kingdom, yet made and kept the
very fame reſolution as to his devotions.
evening and at morning, and at noon day (fays he)
will I pray, and that inftantly, and he fhall hear
my voice." Nay, this did not content him in the
matter of thankſgiving; for, "feven times a day
(fays he elſewhere) do I praife thee, becaufe of
thy righteous judgments." And it was he who,
amidſt all the cares of ftate, compofed and fung
to the harp thofe divine hymns, which have been
the delight of the faithful from that day to this,
and fhall be fo to the end of the world. To
thefe examples from the facred hiftory we may
add that of a prince of our own, the great and good,
king Alfred, whoſe wiſdom and diligence restored
this kingdom from a ftate of the greatest confufion
to one of the most perfect order, and preferved it
in the ſame all the while he fat upon the throne.
Yet no less than eight hours, out of the four and
twenty, did this monarch, fo engaged, allot to read-
ing, meditation and prayer. Now all theſe are
matters of fact, and fhew us what may be done by
perfons, who will fet to work in good earneſt, and
make a prudent difpofition of their time. For in
one
T20
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
one of theſe two refpects it is moſt certain that man
muſt be deficient, who pretends that he cannot find
time to ferve God; fince Daniel, when prime mi
niſter in the court of Perfia," prayed and gave
thanks before his God, three times a day."
And this he continued to do, even when the law
was paffed, which made it certain death. "When
Daniel knew that the writing was figned, he went
to his houſe, and his windows being open in his
chamber towards Jerufalem, he kneeled upon his
knees three times a-day, and prayed, and gave
thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." He
did his duty exactly according to his uſual cuſtom,
as if nothing had happened, and no law had been
paffed, or any thing faid at court about it. He
would not go to any other place, where his ene-
mies might not have found him, but went to his
own houſe, whither he might fuppofe they would
follow him. He would not fecrete himſelf in any
private or remote corner of the houſe, but repair-
ed forthwith to his own chamber, the place where-
unto he always reforted. He thought it not e
nough to pray inwardly with his mind, which he
might have done in any poſture, without being per-
ceived, but made his body bear its accuſtomed part
in the fervice; "he keeled upon his knees.' He
contented not himſelf with praying once, or twice
only, dropping the third time in the middle of the
day, on account of the imminent danger he was in,
but made up his full and uſual complement; "He
kneeled upon his knees three times a day." Nor
did he pray only, and not give thanks, cutting off
fome part of the ſervice, to make the time of dan-
ger' fhorter, but performed the whole, without
curtailing or diminiſhing ought; "He prayed, and
gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."
""
And,
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
121
And, in ſhort, he would not ſo much as fhut his
windows, but did all this, "His windows in his
chamber being open towards Jerufalem." In or
der to fhew the meaning of this laft circumftance,
we muſt have recourfe to a noble paffage in king
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple,
which Daniel had in his eye, and by which he di-
rected his conduct. 1 Kings viii. 46, &c. "If
thy people fin againſt thee (for there is no man
that finneth not) and thou be angry with them,
and deliver them to the enemy, fo that they carry
them away captives to the land of the enemy, far
or near: yet if they fhall bethink themſelves in the
land whither they were carried captives, and re-
pent, and make fupplication unto thee in the land
of them that carried them away captives, faying,
we have finned, and have done perverfely, we
have committed wickednefs; and fo return unto
thee with all their heart, and with all their foul,
in the land of their enemies which led them away
captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which
thou gaveft unto their fathers, the city which thou haft
chofen, and the houſe which I have built for thy name;
then hear thou their prayer and fupplication in hea-
ven thy dwelling place, and maintain their caufe
and forgive thy people that have finned againſt
thee, and all their tranfgreffions wherein they have
tranfgreffed against thee, and give them compaffion
before them that carried them captive, that they
may have compaffion on them." The circumftance
therefore of "praying towards Jerufalem" being
thus enjoined, Daniel would by no means omit it.
And now, let us confider with ourfelves, how clear
the confcience, how holy the foul, bow ftedfaft. the
faith, how lively the hope, how fervent the chari-
ty, how invincible the courage of Daniel muft have
been
· La
122
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
been, who, in fuch circumftances, could calmly
and compofedly go on in the regular and exact per-
formance of his ftated devotions. Let us confider
of how great confequence the due performance of
them is, if with death in its moſt horrible form
before his eyes, he thought he could not juſtify a
fingle omiffion of them.
And whenever we are
tempted to neglect our prayers, let us remember
that Daniel, though the den of lions was to be the
confequence, "kneeled upon his knees three times
a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God,
as he did aforetime."
We have now taken a view of the fituation of
Daniel in Babylon. We have confidered him as
one in captivity in a ſtrange and heathen land; as
one encumbered with the concerns of a vaft em-
pire; and as one in danger of his life for what he
did; and hence we have been convinced, it is to-
be hoped, that nothing ought to make us omit
our daily devotions.
From the fame great example we may learn how
we ought to perform them, with regard to place,
poſture, time, and matter.
As to place, Daniel, we find, «went to his.
houfe, and fhut himſelf up in his chamber." And
our bleffed Lord has enjoined us all to do the ſame.
"Thou when thou prayeft, enter into thy cham-
ber, and ſhut the door." And the reafon is plain.
He who would pray, muft firft retire. The fpirit
of the world and the ſpirit of prayer are contrary
the one to the other, and experience will teach any
one, that he cannot well pray in a croud. Bufi-
neſs, or pleaſure, or even common converfation,
if it be about the things of this world, and conti-
nued for any long time, will ftrangely indiſpoſe the
mind for devotion; and the foul, before the can
•
take
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
123
take her flight to heaven, muft plume and balance
her wings by holy meditation. She muft rally her
ſcattered and diffipated thoughts, and fix them on
the buſineſs ſhe is going about. She must confider
the nature of God, to whom fhe is to pray; of her-
felf who is to pray to him; and, of thofe things for
which, fhe is to pray to him. She muft know the
fins ſhe has been guilty of, to confefs them; and
the graces fhe ftands in need of, to petition for them.
All this is not to be done but by deep meditation; and
meditation, which is the mother of devotion, is the:
daughter of retirement. They who do not medi-
tate, cannot pray; and they who do not retire, can
do neither. God help, and have mercy upon all
thoſe, who are in this moft wretched and deplo-
rable ſtate; as all muft be, who pass their days in
a fenfeleſs round of vain amuſements and diverfions,
in a continual hurry and diffipation of thought, igno-
rant of the benefits and comforts of the cloſet, and
therefore ignorant of the true ſtate of their minds,.
ignorant of their Saviour, ignorant of their duty,
ignorant of every thing which they were fent into
the world to learn. Thus they live, and thus
they die ! If therefore we conceive a dread of fuch
a death, (and too great a dread we cannot conceive):
let us learn of holy Daniel to commune with our
own heart, and with God, in our chamber.
then let us judge ourſelves to have made fome pro-
grefs in the divine life, when the pleaſures we find
there are preferred (as every experienced Chriftian
knows they ought to be preferred) to all the plea-
fures the world can offer.
And
Next to the place, we are to confider the poſture--
in which Daniel prayed. He "kneeled upon his
knees, with his face towards Jerufalem.' The
Chriftian warrior differs from all others in this par-
ticular, that he is never fo fure of conqueft, as
L. 2.
when:
124
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
when he enters into the battle in this attitude.
The adverſary had rather find him in any fituation
than this, which is indeed his beft pofture of de-
fence againſt all temptations whatfoever. Daniel
was ſo entirely fecure in it, that he valued not the
roaring of all the lions in the den of Babylon, juſt
opening their mouths to devour him. Nor need
the devout foul regard a whit more the rage and
fury of that "roaring lion," fpoken of by the a-
poſtle, "who goeth about continually up and down
in the earth, feeking whom he may devour." I
fay, the devout foul need not regard it; for we
muſt not forget, that the poſture of the body can
profit nothing, unleſs it be accompanied with that
difpofition of mind, which it is defigned to repre-
fent. We are found hypocrites, if we are not in-
wardly what we appear outwardly to be, when wẹ
fall upon our knees. For the intention of fo doing
is to teftify an awful fenfe of the power and glory
of God, and as deep an one of our own infirmity
and unworthinefs, under which we fink down to
the earth from whence we were taken, and ac-
knowlege ourſelves to be but finful duft and aſhes.
By this act, when rightly performed, the mind
going along with it, we obey the divine command,
"Humble yourſelves under the mighty hand of
God;" where the apoftle addreffes us as criminals,
under the hand of juftice, uplifted to ſtrike the fatal
ftroke, which there is no way of avoiding, but by
falling to the earth. In a word, the duty of pray-
er is founded upon the fufficiency of God, as an
almighty Creator and. Redeemer, and our wants,
as finful creatures; both which great truths we
confefs at once, by meekly kneeling upon our knees;
and therefore this is the proper pofture for prayer.
But what ſhall we fay of Daniel «fetting his
face
DANIEL IN BABYLON:
2
?
.<
face towards Jerufalem," when he prayed? Are:
we to imitate him in that likewife? Undoubtedly..
Not according to the letter, but the fpirit. The
old Jerufalem and temple are deftroyed, to be re-
built no more; in the room of which a new Jeru--
falem and a new temple have long fince arifen.
The new Jerufalem is the Chriſtian church, and
the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple. To
Chriſt we must turn our eyes; in the union and
communion of his church we must offer up our
prayers. Daniel praying in Babylon looked towards.
Jerufalem; the Chriftian praying in the world
ſhould look towards heaven, towards that new, ſpi--
ritual, and celeftial city of the living God, whofe
foundations are upon the holy and everlaſting hills,
and which cannot be removed, but ftandeth faſt:
for ever.
Thither let him look, thither, let him.
pray, in this land of his captivity.
#
But when, and how often is he to pray? With
regard to this point alfo, Daniel will inftruct him,.
who "kneeled upon his knees three times a day;'
that is to fay, in the words of holy David before
cited, "At morning, and at evening, and at noon
day." What man is he, that can help offering up-
his morning facrifice of devotion, when awaking
from fweet fleep, refreſhed and renewed, he be--
holds all things as it were new created? The fun
arifes, and finds the cattle upon a thoufand hills ·
waiting for his appearance, and all the birds of the
air ready to pay their tribute of thankſgiving, for
the return of his glorious and enlivening beams.
And fhall man-man, for whofe ufe and benefit all:
theſe things were made-ſhall man alone lie buried
in fleep; or, when arifen, forget to worship his
God? Shall he not rather roufe all his affections at:
ence, with thefe and the like ftrains of the ſweet:
finger.
L 3:
"
į
126
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
J
finger of Ifrael;—" Awake up my glory, awake
lute and harp," every organ of my body, and fa-
culty of my foul; "I myſelf will awake right early..
O God, thou art my God; early will I feek thee.
I will fing of thy power, O Lord, and praiſe thy
mercy betimes in the morning. I will magnify
thee, O God my king, and praiſe thy name for
ever and ever. Every day will I give thanks unto
thee, and praiſe thy name for ever and ever."
Now is the time for us to take a view beforehand
of every thing that is to be done in the day, to of
fer it to God with purity of intention, and pray for
his grace to direct us in all things; but more eſpe-
cially in thoſe inftances, in which we are moſt likely
to need it; as the conftitution, temper, fituation,
and circumſtances of every perſon in the world
make fome particular temptations more dangerous
to him than others. Again: who, that was in his
fenfes, when the evening clofes upon him, and
configns him to the darkness of the night, would
venture to go to fleep (when for aught he knows he
may awake in another world) without having firſt
examined himſelf concerning the thoughts, words,
and actions of the day, and fo confeffed and repent-
ed him of the fins therein committed, as to have
rendered himſelf a proper object of the divine mercy
through Chriſt, into whofe hands he ſhould now
commend his fpirit, as he would do with his dying
breath. Bleffed is he, who thus begins and ends
the day with God, and fo paffes a life of piety and
peace. His fleep fhall be fweet indeed. And
fweeteſt of all ſhall be that laſt ſleep, out of which
he ſhall awake to glory, in the morning of the re-
furrection. With regard to Daniel's third hour of
prayer, namely, noon, if they who have it not in
their power to retire for that purpofe, would ac-
cuſtom
#
:
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
127
cuſtom themfelvés daily to think, at that hour, on
Chrift, who was then nailed to the croſs for their
fins, and lift up their fouls to God in a fhort prayer
for falvation by him, they would find themfelves
much ſtrengthened and refreshed thereby. As to
thoſe whom God has bleffed with more leifure, let
them by all means follow Daniel's example, till
they can find a better. Let them "kneel upon
their knees THREE times a day;" and let thofe who
retire at that feaſon to adorn their perfons, take
the opportunity of putting on the ornaments of
grace, and renewing the fpirit of their minds..
Laftly, this fame great and fruitful example of
holy Daniel affords us a direction likewife as to the
matter of our devotions. He "prayed and gave.
thanks before his God as he did aforetime." Prayer
and thankſgiving therefore were the two parts of
his daily fervice. What the nature of his prayer
was, we inay know from that recorded in the ix.
chapter, where he fets himſelf to confefs his fins,
and thoſe of his countrymen, and to intreat for
mercy on Jerufalem, with a fervour and affection
never to be exceeded. Our devotions then, ac-
cording to this model, muſt confiſt of confeffion of
fins; deprecation of the puniſhments acknowledged
to be justly due to them; fupplication for pardon,
deliverance, and grace; and interceffion for the
church, and all included in her, our relations,
friends, countrymen, and fellow Chriftians, and
more eſpecially for all the fons and daughters of
affliction; the whole to be concluded with thankf
giving;* concerning which we may obferve, that
•
*
no
Let me be permitted to recommend to the reader, for Kis
companion and directory in this way, The Devotions of Biſhop
ANDREWS, tranflated from the Greek by Dean STANHOPE; a new
and beautiful edition of which has been lately printed for Mt
RIVINGTON, in St Paul's Church-Yard,
:
*
1
128
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
no fituation in this world can exclude the neceffity,.
and take away the ground of it; fince we find Da-
niel "giving thanks," when the city and temple of
God were in afhes, and himſelf a captive in Baby-
lon. Even then he not only "prayed," but alſo
gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”
And indeed, nothing but a brutish ftupidity can
hinder any man from feeing reafon to thank God,.
fo long as he grants him life, and ſpace, by repent-
ance and faith, to fecure to himſelf a part and por-
tion in the glories of eternity. The pooreft beg--
gar, in rags upon a dunghill, ought to blefs and
praife the Lord without ceafing, that he has yet
this priviledge allowed him; a priviledge denied:
to fo many thouſand miferable fpirits; whofe day
of grace has long fince expired in the night of
everlaſting death. Whatever therefore be our lot
in this world, let us remember the apoftolical in-
junction, "In all things give thanks :" and in order
to ftir ourselves up to the obeying it, let us only.
recount the mercies we have received through our
Lord Jefus Chrift, at fundry times, and in divers
manners, fpiritual and temporal, from the day of
our birth to this prefent moment; and the refult
will be, it muſt be, that we fhall all, the pooreft:
and moſt afflicted among us, make the pfalmift's
refolution our own; "I will always give thanks un-
to the Lord, his praife: fhall ever be in my mouth:
and whenever, like holy Daniel, we "kneel upon
our knees to pray," we fhall, at the fame time,
like him, give thanks before our God."
Thus therefore does: Daniel not only ſtrip, us of
every excufe for neglecting our devotions, but give
us likewife full inftructions how to perform them,.
with regard to place, pofture, time, and matter.
And let the bleffed effect and reward of his devo-
·
tign
+
:
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
120
tion fire our fouls to an imitation of fo great and
glorious an example. Would we be delivered from
the power of the devil, and the bitter pains of eter-
nal death? Would we be holy, and juſt, and good?
Would we be filled with wifdom and underſtanding
in the counfels of the Almighty? Would we be
high in the favour of heaven? Nay, would we be
faved from temporal calamities, and brought to ho-
nour, eſteem, and reverence, in the fight of men?
Conftancy in prayer can open a way to all theſe
bleffings. For if we afk, why Daniel was preferved
from the lions? Why he was endued with fuch in-
nocency of life? Why he was admitted into the fe-
crets of the divine economy? Why he was ftiled,
by way of eminence," the man greatly beloved ?
And why the name of God was glorified by his
promotion in a heathen court? The anſwer to all
is- -"He kneeled upon his knees three times a day,
and prayed, and gave thanks before his God."
•
DISCOURSE IX.
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
3
EPHES. V. 16.
Redeeming the Time.
MAN is often in Scripture compared to a mer
chant; and there are three things more efpecially,
which, confidered in that capacity, he is enjoined
to purchaſe at any rate. The firft is the Kingdom
of Heaven, likened by our Saviour, in one of his
parables, to " a pearl of great price, which a mer-
chant having met with, went and fold all that he
had, and bought it." The fecond is Truth. «Buy
the truth, (faith Solomon) and fell it not." The
third purchaſe we are to make is that mentioned in
the text: "Redeeming the Time." And this in-
deed opens the way to the other two; fince it is by
a right employment of our Time, that we come to
a knowledge and love of the Truth, which leads
us to the Kingdom of heaven, through him, who
is "the way, the truth, and the life."
The phrafe, "redeeming the time," fuppofes us.
to have been formerly negligent in this fort of fpi-
ritual traffic, and fo to have fuffered lofs; which
therefore we are to make up, by taking every op-.
portunity of trading to advantage for the future.
The inestimable value and right improvement of
time are therefore the ſubjects ſuggeſted to our me-
ditations by theſe words of the apoftle; in the pro-
fecution
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
131
1
fecution of which, let us confider, Why Time fhould
be redeemed, and How it may be redeemed.
Time, little as men account of it, is the moſt
choice and precious thing in the world. "The
merchandiſe of it is better than the merchandiſe of
filver, and the gain thereof than fine gold." And
this God feems to have pointed out to us, by the
very manner of his giving it, fo different from that
in which he vouchfafes his other gifts. For where
as he is graciouſly pleaſed to beſtow many of them
upon us in large quantities, fo that we can keep
fome ftroe of them by us, with Time it is not fo.
Of that there is but a moment in the world at once,
which is taken away when another is given. If
therefore the value of a thing rifes in proportion to
its fcarcenefs, what fhall a man give, or rather
what ſhall he not give, for the redemption of Time
which is thus dealt out by heaven, like fome rich
and invaluable cordial in fingle drops, to the end,
doubtless, that not one of them ſhould be fuffered
to fall to the ground? We take no account of
Time, but by the lofs of it; the clock which ſtrikes,
informs us-not that we have ſo much in our pof-
feffion, but that fo much is gone from us for
which reafon it hath been ſtiled "the knell of a
departed hour," which rings out for the death of
another portion of our time, admonishing us to
make a better uſe of that which remains. The
prefent moment only is our own. As to the future,
God alone knows whether they will ever be preſent
to us and for the paſt, they are never more to re-
turn; which is a
Second reaſon why Time ought to be redeemed
by all means in our power, becauſe, when once
paſt, it never returns. The merchant, who knows
that there is a precious commodity to be purchaſed
at.
132
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
.
at a reaſonable rate, by which his fortune may be
made at once; and knows withal, that if he inifs
this, he ſhall never have fuch another opportunity,
what pains will he not take? How early will he
rife; how late take reft? How diligent will he be
in fitting out his veffel? With what hafte will he
put to fea? With what earneſtneſs and anxiety will
he watch the wind, and fpread all his fails, to
catch every breath that may waft him in time to
the port for which he is bound? This is our very
cafe, to a tittle. Time is that precious commodity,
by a right ufe of which our fortunes are made forever.
for ever and ever, to all eternity. And Time, when
once gone, never returns. For where is yefter-
day? It is "with the years beyond the flood;" and
we can as foon bring back one, as the other. Were
all the princes of the earth to unite the wifdom of
their counfels, and the might of their kingdoms,
they could not recall one fingle moment. How
plain and obvious is this to the common ſenſe of
every man? But who is there, that pays fo much
regard to this well known truth, as to regulate his
conduct by it, and to make his actions conformable
to his knowledge? Where is the Chriftian, who, in
order to fecure a portion in the glories of eternity
by a right employment of his time, ufeth half the
diligence which is continually ufed by the merch-
ants of the earth, to purchaſe an uncertain tenure
of its periſhable goods? But fo it is, that let us
look where we will, whenever the things of this
world are in view, we find men acting, in their
feveral profeffions and callings, according to the
beſt and moſt approved maxims of each; projec-
ting their ſchems wifely, and executing them vigor-
oufly; in a word, taking their meaſures as if they
were in earneft; whereas, behold the fame men
confidered
·
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME. 133
、
confidered as Chriftians, engaged in the concerns
of a better world; and a view of their conduct is
really fufficient to make a thinking unbeliever con-
clude, that nine parts in ten of them either believe
no more than himſelf, or elſe that a ſtatute of lu-
nacy ought forthwith to be taken out againſt them.
If therefore we acknowledge, that time once paſt
never returns, let us acknowledge likewife that this
is a good reaſon why we ſhould redeem what is paſt
by making a right ufe of what is prefent. And let
us act accordingly.
爨
​A third reaſon why time ought to be redeemed,
is the confideration that it muſt be accounted for.
A fteward entrusted with the management of his
lord's goods, and a perfon employed to trade for
another, fhould of all men be the moft diligent
and careful: feeing that at a certain ftated time
they are to deliver in an account of what they re-
ceived, and the profits they have made; upon the
fidelity and exactneſs of which, their future welfare
is to depend. By theſe two cafes oùr Lord has
thought proper to repreſent to us our ſtate and con-
dition in this life, in the parable of the Únjuſt
Steward, and that of the Ten Talents. The goods
and talents committed to our truft, to manage and
improve to the beft advantage, are all the gifts of
God, whether thofe of nature, fortune, or grace,
that is, in fhort, every thing we are, and every
thing we have. Of the ufe and improvement we
fhall have made of all theſe an account is to be de-
livered in at a day appointed; and our eternal wel-
fare depends upon its being fuch an one as will a-
bide the ftrict fcrutiny of him who committed them
to us. The fteward, who appeared to have waſted ·
his lord's goods, was difmiffed from his fervice;
and from the unprofitable ſervant, who, inftead of
VOL. II.
trading
M
134
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
!
trading with his talent, buried it in the earth, that
talent was taken, and he was "caft into outer
darkneſs, where was weeping and gnashing of
teeth." Now time being, ás I have fhewn, one of
the choiceft and moft precious gifts of God to men,
will, at the laſt great day, be accounted for with a
ſtrictneſs proportionable to its value. Let us there-
fore take care that the Accufer of the brethren,
the ever watchful and malicious adverfary of our
falvation, have it not in his power to lodge an ac-
cufation againſt us with our Lord, of our having
wafted that good thing committed to us; of having
hidden that moſt precious talent in the earth, in-
ftead of trading with it to the beſt advantage; of
having killed and buried our time in fenfuality,
floth, and idlenefs. For this murder, like others,
will not always be concealed; the hours deftroyed
in fecret will appear, when we leaſt expect it, to
the unspeakable terror and amazement of our fouls
they ariſe from the dead, and fly away to heaven
(whither they might have carried better news) and
there tell fad tales of us, which we ſhall be ſure to
hear of again, when we hold up our hands at the
bar, and they fhall come as fo many ſwift witneſſes
against us. The confideration therefore that we
are to account for our time will be allowed as a
third reaſon why it fhould be redeemed.
;
A fourth, and that no lefs ftrong and powerful
than the former, is the ſhortnefs and uncertainty
of human life. No man knows preciſely when his
accounts will be called for; but this he does know
moſt infallibly, that it cannot be very long, and
that it may be very foon. "Why, alas, does mor-
tal man think to live long, when he cannot pro-
miſe to himſelf the next minute! How many have
lamentably deceived their own hearts in this point,
and
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME. 135
?
and been fuddenly fnatched away? How often do
we hear, how often do we read, fuch a man is flain,
another is drowned, a third has broke his neck
with a fall, this man died eating, and that playing;
one perished by fire, another by the fword, ano-
ther of a difeafe, another was flain by thieves.
Thus death is quickly the end of all, and man's
life paffeth away like a fhadow that departeth;"*
like a tale that is told; like a flower that fadeth
like a poft that hafteth by; like a bubble that rifes,
and fhines, and finks again into the common mafs
like a vapour that appeareth for a little while, and
then vaniſheth. This again is a truth univerfally
acknowledged, infomuch that it is difficult to be
for an hour in company, where the rapid progreſs
of time is not made the ſubject of an obfervation.
And yet we are under ſuch a delufion in our rec-
konings of this matter, that although the time
paſt be certain, yet we regard the former as no-
thing, and truft to the latter as if we could com-
mand at leaſt half the days of Methuselah, and had
entered an effectual caveat againſt any claim which
death might have upon us, -unt the expiration of
four hundred years. Whereas though men be
ftrong," that fometimes, and that but very ſeldom
indeed, comparatively fpeaking, "they come to
fourfcore years, yet is their ftrength then but la-
bour and fortow, fo foon paffeth it away, and we
are gone-" And what ufe does the Pfalmift make
of this confideration? It follows in the next verfe
but one; "Lord, teach us ſo to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wifdom;" that
is, teach us fo to meditate on the ſhortness of our
time, that we may improve it aright to the purpo-
fes of falvation. The fame reflection, and the fame
inference:
M 2
* KLMPIS
“
136
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
inference drawn from it, occur in the xxxix. Pfalm.
"When thou with rebukes doft chaften man for
fin, thou makeft his beauty to confume away like
as it were a moth fretting a garment: every man:
therefore is but vanity." This thought melts the
heart of the royal fuppliant into a religious tender-
neſs, and diffolved in penitential tears, he pours
forth the following moſt affecting ftrains; ftrains,
that ſhould be continually in the mouth of the
Chriſtian pilgrim. "Hear my prayer, O Lord,.
and with thine ears confider my calling, hold not
thy peace at my tears: for I am a ftranger with
thee, and a fojurner, as all my fathers were. O
fpare me a little, that I may recover my ftrength
before I go hence, and be no more feen."
It may
be further obferved, upon this head, that we may
learn an ufeful leffon from an enemy. It is faid of
the devil, that "he is come down upon the earth
having great wrath, becaufe he knoweth that he
hath but a short time." Now, if the fhortnefs of
the time allowed be an argument with him for la
bouring hard to deſtroy our fouls, furely it ought
to be one with us for labouring as hard to fave
them: eſpecially if we confider what that work is,
and the difficulty of accompliſhing it, which ſhall
therefore be the
睿
​Fifth argument adduced for the redemption of
time. Time ought to be redeemed, becauſe of the
work we have to do, and the difficulty of doing it.
Did we fee the husbandman dreaming away his
time, when all his fields lay uncultivated; or the
generals of an army killing an hour at cards, when
the enemy was preparing to ftorm the camp; or a
pilot aſleep, when the fhip was running directly
upon a rock; and did all thefe alledge, as the rea-
fon of their behaviour, that they had nothing to do,
we
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
137
we ſhould think a madhoufe the only proper place
for them and we ſhould think right. But why
do we not perceive, that there is not lefs of abſur-
dity and madneſs in the conduct of that Chriftian,
who waftes his precious hours in idleness, and apo--
logizes for it by faying, in the fame manner, that
he has nothing to do when perhaps the work of
his falvation, that greatest of all works, the very work:
for which God fent him into the world, is not yet fo
much às entered upon, or even thought of. The
heart lies fallow; it is overrun with corrupt lufts
and evil affections; the ground not yet broken up,
much leſs the feed fown; and the time of harveſt
approaching: the Chriſtian huſbandman, it ſeems,.
is dreaming, for he has nothing to do. The world
the flesh, and the devil, have united their forces,
and temptation is at the gates, ready to carry all:
before it: the Chriftian warrior is taking his paf-
time. for he has nothing to do. The poor weather-
beaten foul is driving, at the mercy of winds and
waves, upon the ftormy and tempeftuous fea of
this troubleſome world, amidſt rocks and quick-
fands: the Chriſtian ſteerſman is afleep, for he has
nothing to do. Our Lord bids us watch and pray;
he orders us to ftrive to enter in at the ſtraight
gate, by the narrow way; he enjoins us to labour
for the meat that endureth; his apoftle preffes it:
upon us to work out our falvation; yet we can
perfuade ourſelves, that we have nothing to doa
How is it then? Are temptations fewer then they
were, fo that there is no danger of falling into
them, though we do not watch and pray againſt
them? Is the gate grown wider, or the way made
broader, fo that we may enter in without ftriving ?
Will the meat that endureth, any more than that
which perisheth, drop into our mouths without la-
bouring
M. 3.
138 THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
bouring for it? Can we obtain falvation now, with-
out working it out? Such news, perhaps, is fome-
times brought us, and it cannot but be agreeable
to flesh and blood. There is only one misfortune,,
which is, that it cannot poffibly be true, the Gof-
pel of Jefus Chrift being intended for the uſe of all
ages and generations, and therefore remaining,
like it's divine author, "the fame yefterday, to
day, and for ever." Nay, it feems to be a truth
as clear as Scripture and experience can make any
truth, that the world grows worfe as it grows old-
er; confequently, the difficulty of working out
our falvation is increaſed in proportion, and freſh
force is daily added to the apoftolical argument;
Redeeming the time, becauſe the days are evil."
And thus much for the fifth reaſon why time ought
to be redeemed, namely, the work we have to do,
and the difficulty of doing it.
The laft reaſon fhall be this, becauſe we have alễ
ready loft fo large a proportion of the time allow
ed us for the purpofe. For if we confider, how
many of our firſt years paffed in a ftate of child-
hood; how many more were played away in the
heat and folly of youth; how long it was before we
fat down to reflect upon our true condition in this
world, upon the works which Chrift had done for
us, and thoſe which he had enjoined us to do,
through his grace, for ourſelves; how high we
might by this time bave ftood in the fcale of vir-
tue, had we well employed the numberless hours
which we certainly might have well employed, and
withall how low we now ftand, by having neglect-
ed fo to employ them; I fay, if we ferioufly confi-
der theſe things (for very ferious confiderations
they are) we fhall think it but reaſonable that we
endeavour by double diligence to repair former ne-
glects
:
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
130
glects-reaſonable, did I fay? We fhall embrace e-
very opportunity with joy, and on our bended
knees adore that mercy, fo much beyond all we
could hope for, which has made it poffible for us
by any means to redeem the time we have loft. For
although this lofs, through a ftrange thoughtleff
neſs and blindneſs of mind, generally troubles and
afflicts us less than any other, yet think what tri-
bulation and anguiſh will feize upon us, if by theſe
means our work fhould be found unfiniſhed at the
day of death! How precious will the hours then
feem, that have formerly been thrown away on
trifles! How many worlds fhall we then be ready to
offer for one of them? And who can fay, that it
will be granted? Think on thofe wretched ſpirits,
who miffpent their time, while in the body, and
are therefore now entered upon their portion of e-
verlaſting forrow. What would they give for the
opportunity vouchfafed us of being reconciled to
God, and bringing forth fruits meet for repentance?
Could any of them be releafed from their prifon
houſe, and fent back into the world for one year,
in how holy and heavenly a manner would they
fpend it? How deeply would they mourn for their
fins! How fervently would they pray for pardon !
How earneſtly would they exhort others to do
likewife! What therefore they would do, to be de-
livered from the bitter pains of eternal death, let
us do, to avoid falling into them. I fhall cloſe this
head, with that amazing deſcription, given us by
St John in his Revelation, of a tranfaction which is
one day to happen. "I faw another mighty angel
come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and
a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was, as
it were, the fun, and his feet as pillars of fire.
And he fet his right foot in the fea, and his left
foot
:
140
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
-
foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as
when a lion roareth, and when he had cried, ſeven
thunders uttered their voices." But this wonder-
ful and glorious perſon has a meffage to deliver to
the inhabitants of the world, far more terrible than…
his cry, or the feven thunders that followed it.
"And he lift up his hand to heaven, and fware by
him that liveth for ever and ever, who created hea-
ven and the things that therein are, and the earth.
and the things that therein are; and the fea and
the things that are therein, that THERE SHOULD
BE TIME NO LONGER." The proper inference fure-
ly is this; "While we HAVE TIME, let us do good.
unto all men.”
Theſe then are the reaſons why time fhould be
redeemed; becauſe it is the moft choice and preci
ous thing in the world; becauſe when once gone,
it never returną; becauſe it is to be accounted for.
becauſe it is fo fhort and uncertain; becauſe of the-
work we have to do, and the difficulty of doing it;.
and becauſe we have already loft fö large a propor-
tion of the time allowed us to do it in.
In order to fhew how time may be redeemed,
permit me to lay down a few fhort rules for the
management and improvement of it.
Firſt, Obferve a method in the diftribution of your
time. Every hour will then know its proper em-
ployment, and no time will be loft. Idlenefs will
be ſhut out at every avenue, and with her that nu-
merous body of vices, that make up her train.
This method muft vary, according to the different
callings and circumſtances of mankind. They
whom
* It may be added, as a fupplement to this rule-Have always
fome work in hand, which may be going on, during the many intervals.
(for many there will always be) both of buſineſs and pleaſure. On
this part of the ſubject read the RAMBLER, Vol. iii. No 108. and
confider well the inſtance of ERASMUS, there adduced. Read:
Likewiſe SPECTATOR, Vol, i, No. 93, 94, and Vol. iv. No. 310.
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
F4F
whom God hath bleffed with plentiful fortunes,
which fet them above the neceflity of engaging in
any profeffion, are happy in this refpect, that they
have more command of their time, and confequent-
ly may give a larger proportion of it to the improve-
ment of their minds by reading, meditation, and
prayer, as well as to the employment of difcovering
and relieving the wants of their poor neighbours.
They, on the other hand, who must go forth to
their work and to their labour, whether of mind
or body, are happy in this reſpect, that a great part
of their time is laid out for them, and they are pre-
vented from wafting it in idlenefs, by the order of
Providence. Be it their care, to confecrate their
labour to God, by regarding it as a penance impo
fed on them for fin, and performing it in a ſpirit of
contentment and refignation, chearfulneſs and joy,
even as Chrift performed his, looking for and haft-
ing to that time, when they fhall enter into the
promifed reft. In the morning let the mind be
feafoned with devotion and heavenly wifdom, to fit
it for its employment; and in the evening, to pre-
pare it for its repofe. Let the fabbaths and fefti-
vals of the church be in no fenfe days of idleness,
much leſs of vice and folly; but given to the works
of religion and charity; that they may be to us,
what they were defigned to be to all, ininute re-
prefentations of the fabbath that remaineth for the
people of God; little preludes to that everlafting
jubilee, that fhall be one day celebrated in the hea-
venly Canaan. Wo be to that man, who waſtes
thefe hallowed portions of his time upon the con-
cerns of the world, and the lufts of the flesh, do-
ing nothing, or worse than nothing: ftranger.to
the refurrection of Jefus, the glories of the faints,
and the joys of heaven, he rejects the pledges of
his
142
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
1
his eternal inheritance, and throws thofe jewels in-
to the mire, that fhould have adorned his crown
of righteousness.
Secondly, Be moderate in your recreations. Re-
creations, we all know, are neceffary. It is the
Chriſtian's concern to take care that they are inno-
cent; which they will be, if they give rife to no
evil paffion, fuch as anger, or avarice, too general-
ly attendants upon games of all forts; and if no
more time be fpent in them than is neceffary to
unbend the mind, and fit it for a return to its em-
ployment. But when recreation becomes (as of
late in this nation) a trade and a profeffion, and is
made a means of putting the foul upon the rack of
contending paffions, it no longer deſerves the name,
but is in reality a drudgery impoſed by the adver-
fary of human happineſs upon thofe, who will not
-give their time to the fervice of their Maker. In
one word, it is Egypt and the task-mafters over a-
gain. From which we have reafon to pray that
our good Lord would vouchfafe to deliver us all!
Thirdly, Cut off, as much as may be, unneceffary
vifits. Of all thieves, they are the worft, who rob
us of our time, becauſe for the lofs of that no a-
mends can ever be made us.* And there are in ·
every place fome, who, being idle themſelves, do
their beſt endeavours to make others fo; in which
work, partly through a diſpoſition in thoſe others
to be made fo, and partly through a falſe fear and
flame, which hinders them from fraying away fuch'
birds of prey, they are often fuffered to fucceed.
An affembly of fuch perfons can be compared to
nothing but a flaughter-house, where the precious
hours, and oftentimes the characters of all their,
friends
* On the Robbery of Time, ſee a moft excellent paper in. the
INLER. Vol. I. No. 14..
1
S
THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.
133
*
friends and acquaintance, are butchered without
mercy. And perhaps there are few maxims that
have more truth in them, than one laid down
by a great mafter in the art of Holy Living. «No
man can be provident of his Time, who is not pru-
dent in the choice of his Company.'
•
""
Laftly, Examine, every evening, how you have spent
the day. For how can that man know the ftate of
his affairs, who keeps no account? The taſk, at
firft, will be irkfome, and the adverſary will try
every way to make you neglect, and by degrees
drop the practice. And why; Becauſe he knows
that no perfon, who continues it, will long remain
under his power. It will let you into fome fecrets,
that will greatly fhock and alarm you. But you
muſt know your follies, how elfe can you reform
them? Whereas, when a conftant and faithful per-
formance of this exerciſe (the benefits and advan-
tages of which are without number and without
end) has brought you acquainted with your errors,"
every day will correct thofe of the preceding. You
will find that God has given you time enough for
every good purpoſe,* but none to waſte. You will
foon know the true value of time, and become an
adept in the management of it. And of this be af
fured, for your comfort and encouragement, that`
the time rightly employed, be it when it may, is
with God "an acceptable time;" and that every
day well ſpent is to yourſelves "a day of falva-
tion."
* This feems to be intimated to us in that question of our Lord
"Are there not twelve hours in the day ?" John xi, 9.
}
*
DISCOURSE X
PATIENCE POURTRAYED.
}
I TIM. vi. II.
Follow after Patience.
AMONG all the graces that adorn a Chriftian ſoul,
t
like fo many jewels of various colours and luftres, a
gainſt the day of her efpoufals to the Lamb of God,
there is not one more brilliant than this of patience;
not one which brings more glory to God, or contri-
butes ſo much towards making and keeping peace
on earth; not one which renders a man more hap-
py within himſelf, more agreeable to all about him;
infomuch that even they who themſelves poffefs it
not, yet are fure to commend it in others. They
fet their feal to the truth, though by fo doing they
condemn their own practice. Patience is a virtue
common to us with God; it is the characteriſtic
of Chrift, and the leading precept of the Gofpel;
it is recommended by the examples of all the
faints; rendered neceffary by the preſent ſtate of
man; and fet off by the manifold inconveniencies
of its contrary, impatience, as well as its own in-
comparable excellencies and advantages. By en-
larging upon theſe particulars, I fhall endeavour to
recommend this celeftial grace to your efteem, and
excite you to the attainment of fo invaluable a
treaſure.
I
In
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
145
-
I.. In the first place, Patience is a virtue common
to us with God. Long-fuffering is his darling attri-
bute; and what is dear in his fight, ought not to
be leſs precious in our's. And how marvellous is
his patience, who daily pours his bleffings on thoſe
men, who as daily offend, affront, and diſhonour
him; making his fun to rife on the evil and on the
good, fending rain on the unjufi as well as the juſt,
and not excluding the worst of us from thoſe blef-
fings, to the leaſt of which the beſt of us have no
title! For the benefit of the guilty as well as the
innocent, of the impious as well as the pious, of
the ungrateful as well as the grateful, the feafons
take their rounds, the elements work together, the
light and air exert their kindly influences, the foun
tains fend forth their falutary ftreams, the corn
fields grow yellow, the grapes ripen upon the vines,
the boughs of the fruit trees bend down, the groves
are clothed, and the paftures flouriſh. The Gofpel is
ſtill preached to thoſe who flight it; falvation is ftill
held forth to thofe who have ſo often dafhed it from
them; Chrift is ftill offered to thoſe who have blaf-
phemed him. And although God be provoked every
day, yet he holds his hand, and waits patiently, till the
laſt minute of man's trial and the world's duration
be paft. Although he have the power in his own
hands, and the weapons of his indignation are all
ready, he defers to ſtrike, if perhaps men may at
length be led by his long-fuffering to repentance;
becauſe he wills not the death of a finner, but
rather that he should be converted, and live;" and
while judgment fleeps, mercy calls night and day
to finners, "Why will ye die; Repent, and ye
dhall be forgiven; turn ye, and ye fhall live." Yet
God's bleflings are abuſed to the purpoſes of luxury
and lafciviouſnefs; his truth is denied, his com-
VOL. II.
mandmeuts
N
1
146
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
}
4
mandments are broken; his church is perfecuted;
his minifters are infulted; his Son is crucified åfreſh;
and his long-fuffering is made an argument a-
gainſt his exiſtence-And he is ſtill patient. What
is man, then, that he ſhould complain?
II. The patience which we fo much admire in
God, fhone forth yet more amazingly in the perfon
of his Son Jefus Chrift. For was ever patience like
that patience, which, defcending from a throne of
glory, bore a long impriſonment in the womb, to
fanctify finners; and lay in a ſtable, to bring them
to a kingdom? Behold the maſter baptized by the
fervant, and he who alone could give remiffion of
fins, fubmitting, to be waſhed in the laver of rege-
neration. He fafts forty days, who filleth all things
living with plenteoufnefs, and who is himſelf the
Bread of Life. He endures the temptations of
Satan, and anſwers them one by one from the Scrip-
tures, who could have remanded him to his chains.
in a moment, by the word of his power. With his
diſciples he lived, not as their Lord, but the fervant
of all. How tenderly did he bear with all their
ignorances and infirmities, leading them on gently,
as they were able to follow him! And that they
might never refufe to do offices of kindneſs for
each other, he waſhed all their feet, and amongſt
them thoſe of Judas, from whom he meekly recei-
ved the kiſs that betrayed him. How patiently did
he endure the contradiction of finners, and, in his
difputes with the Jews, how lovingly did he try to
perfuade the incredulous, and to melt by kindneſs
the hearts that were hardened! How quietly did
he fubmit to the infolence of the proud, and give
place to the fury of the wrathful, defirous, even to
his laft hour, to fave, if poffible, thofe murderers
of the prophets, thofe rebels againſt their God!
But
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
147
But when the time of his paffion came, what rail-
ings and revilings were patiently heard by him,
what mockery and infult patiently fuffered; How
was he wounded, who heals every diſeaſe? How
was he crowned with thorns, who crowns his mar-
tyrs with unfading garlands? How was "he ftript
naked, who clothes the field with flowers, and all
the world with robes, and the whole globe with the
canopy of heaven, and the dead with immortality?"
How was he fed with gäll and vinegar, who reaches
out to his people the fruits of paradiſe, and the cup
of falvation? Innocent and righteous, nay inno-
cence and righteoufnefs itſelf, he was numbered
with the tranfgreffors. The Truth was oppreffed
by falfe witneffes; he was judged who is to judge
the world; the Word of God became dumb as a
lamb before his fhearers. And when, at the cru-
cifixion, the heavens were confounded, and the
earth trembled, and the fun, that he might not be
forced to behold the villainy of the Jews, withdrew
his fhining, and left the world in darkneſs, ftill the
bleffed Jefus faid nothing, and betrayed no emotion
of anger, but endured.without murmuring all that
earth and hell could lay upon him, till he had put
the laſt ſtroke to this moft finiſhed picture of per-
fect patience, and prayed for his murderers; whom
be has been ever fince and is now ready to receive,
upon their repentance, not only to pardon, but to
a participation of the glories of his kingdom.
III. The patience thus practifed by Chrift is en-
joined by his holy Gospel, being indeed the badge
of that Gofpel, and its profeffors. For thus faith
the bleffed Jefus to all his difciples; "Ye have
heard that it hath been faid by them of old time,
thou fhalt love thy neighbour; and hate thine:
enemy; but I fay unto you, love your enemies,.
N 2.
and
!
148
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
and pray for them which defpitefully uſe you
and perfecute you, that ye may be the children of
your Father which is in heaven, who maketh his
fun to riſe on the evil and on the good, and fend-
eth rain on the juft and on the unjuft." Is the
mind tempted to impatience by the difappointment
of its defires, and the lofs of worldly goods and
enjoyments? The Scripture, to eradicate the temp-
tation, is full of precepts enjoining us to contemn
the world, and not to fet our hearts upon things
that paſs away, and that cannot fatisfy the foul,
when it is poffeffed of them. If our defires after
thefe perishable goods are immoderate, our impa-
tience at the lofs of them will be always in propor-
tion. And then how ſhall he ever fulfil the royal
law of charity, or willingly give away his money,
who cannot part with it patiently, when God in
the courſe of his providence is pleaſed to reſume
his own again? The worldly man is always impa-
tient, becauſe he prefers his body to his foul: the
Chriſtian prefers his foul to his body, and there-
fore knows how to give largely, and lofe patiently.
Nay, he can be meek and refigned under all the
injuries which malice can offer to his perfon; and
to him who fmites him on the one cheek can pre-
fent the other, rejoicing that he is counted worthy.
to fuffer fomething for his Saviour, who fuffered fo
much for him; and referring the decifion of his
cauſe to the righteous judgment of God at the laſt
day. For what are we, that we ſhould avenge our-
felves, and not rather, by giving place unto wrath,
at once diſappoint the malice of the enemy, and
fecure to ourſelves the patronage of heaven?
IV. We find all the faints of God, who have
been eminent for their Faith in Chriſt, to have been
as eminent for their Patience, without which their
faith
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
149*
•
1
faith muft have failed in the day of trial; it being.
not through faith alone, but, as the Apoftle fays,
"through faith and patience," that they " inherit-
ed the promiſes." Faith begat patience, which,.
like a dutiful child, proved the fupport of its pa-
rent. Abel, the firft fon of Adam celebrated for:
his faith, through patience continued faithful unto
death, and fo received the crown of life., Patience
preferved Noah's faith all the time the ark was
building, and while it floated upon the waters,
which deftroyed every thing elfe. Through pa-
tience Abraham endured the fevereft trial that faith:
was ever put to, and offered up his only fon; who,
through the fame patience, neither lifted up his
hand, nor opened his mouth against his father.
Through patience Jacob, perfecuted by his bro-
ther, quietly departed out of his own country, and
afterwards pacified him with gifts and prefents..
Through patience Jofeph endured and forgave the
ill ufage of his brethren, and fed them in the time
of dearth. Through patience Moſes, ſo often abu-
fed, and infulted, and only not ſtoned by a ſtiff-
necked people, ftill intreated the Lord for them..
Through patience David would not flay his implac-
able enemy Saul, when he had him in his power,,
and afterwards revenged his death by executing the
perfon who flew him. Through patience Job en-
dured the lofs of all things, and the utmoft malice'
of the tempter, and came forth as choice gold from.
the furnace of adverfity, an example for all ages.
and generations to follow. Through patience St
Paul lived a life of inceffant toil and trouble, and
refted not till he had accompliſhed the miniſtry
which he had received of the Lord Jefus, and preach-
ed the Goſpel to the heathen world. Through pa-
tience, in a word, the glorious company of the a-
poſtles,,
t
N 3
1
'
15.0
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
>
poftles, the goodly fellowſhip of the prophets, and
the noble army of martyrs and confeffors, fought
the good fight, finished their courfe, and kept the
faith, neither allured nor terrified from their duty,
but triumphing, upon the rack, and in the flames,
over the world, the flesh, and the devil, and going
to "the kingdom," through "the patience of Jefus
Chriſt."
V. The preſent ftate of man renders the prac→ -
tice of this virtue abfolutely neceffary for him, if
he would enjoy any happineſs here, or hereafter.
Could we indeed live in the world without fuffer-
ing, then were there no need of paticnce. But
thus runs the univerfal fentence; "Curfed is the
ground for thy fake. In forrow fhalt thou eat of
it all the days of thy life: thorns alfo and thilles
fhall it bring forth to thee. In the fweat of thy
face fhalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the
ground out of which thou waft taken." By this.
fentence are we all bound, as by a chain of adamantį.
and every man, "from him that fitteth upon the
throne, to him that lieth in the dungeon," muft
have labour and forrow for his portion, till he de-
part out of this mortal life. And to this fad truth
we all bear teftimony, as foon as we come into it.
The cries of the new born infant teftify that it is
born to forrow. Tribulation, thus neceffarily en-
tailed upon us, admits of no remedy but patience
the reaſonableness of which is ftrongly enforced by
the confideration, that our fufferings are the punish-
ment of our fins. "We indeed receive the due
reward of our deeds :" one man only fuffered, who
"had done nothing amifs." In Chriftians it is
more eſpecially requifite, who, befides the ordi-
nary calamities of life, have the devil with all his
wiles to refift, the flesh with all its defires to mor-
tify
1
PATIENCE PORTRATED.
F5F
i
1
tify, the world with all its temptations and terrors to
overcome. The devil cannot be refift:d, the fleſh
cannot be mortified, the world cannot be overcome
without Patience; by which alone repentance is
perfected, faith is fupported, hope is preferved a-
live, charity is nouriſhed, and all thofe holy tem-
pers are formed in us, which Chrift in his fermon
on the mount hath pronounced bleffed; yea and
they ever fhall be bleffed. We therefore furely
have of all men the moft need of patience, that af
ter we have thereby done and fuffered the will of
God, we may receive the promiſes: for the pro-
mifes are thefe-" He that endureth to the end
fhall be faved.
Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life." But how fhall we
endure to the end? how fhall we be faithful unto
death, if we have not patience? as the wife man
pathetically exclaims; "Wo unto you that have
loft Patience; and what will ye do, when the Lord
fhall vifit you?"* Patience is the only armour that
is proof against all affaults, and he who has well
buckled it on, needeth not to fear any temptation.
Money cannot tempt him, who can endure pover-
ty: honour cannot corrupt him, who can endure
difgrace pleaſure cannot feduce him, who can en-
dure pain; in fhort, nothing can prevail over him,
who can endure all things, waiting the Lord's time
for his deliverance and reward. Over him the evil
one hath no power, and all the comfort to be had
in this world is his. It is vain to fay, "Bleffed is
the man that hath no trouble;" for there is no
fuch man, nor ever was, nor ever will be; but we
muft fay, "Bleffed is the man who beft beareth
that portion of trouble, which falleth to his fhare."
:
VI. The manifold inconveniencies of impatience
will fet this truth off to great advantage. As pa-
tience
!
* Eccluſ, ii, 14.
152
PATIENCE PORTRATED.
1
1
tience is the attribute of God, impatience had its
beginning from Satan. "Through envy of the
devil (faith the wife man) came death into the
world." And whence proceeds envy, but from
impatience of beholding the happinefs of another?
Impatience and malice therefore had one father,
and they have grown together in his children ever
fince. An impatient defire of the forbidden fruit.
loft paradife, which patience to perſevere in obe--
dience to the commandment, had preferved to this
day. Impatient at beholding his brother's facrifice
accepted, and his own rejected, Cain murdered A-
bel. Unable, through impatience, to bear the
uneafinefs of hunger, Efau fold his birth right..
Through impatience the patriarchs, moved with
envy at the love which Jacob bare to Jofeph, and
the predictions of his exaltation, fold their brother
into 'Egypt. Through impatience the Ifraelites,
when Mofes was gone up into the mount, turned
afide to idolatry. Through impatience of a fuperi-
or, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, became fchịf-
matics and rebels. And, to mention no more ex-
amples, through impatience of found doctrine, and
wholeſome reproof, the Jews killed the prophets,
and crucified the Son of God. In a word, as Pa-
tience is the foundation of all good, impatience is
the feed-plot of all evil, which may not improper-
ly be called " impatience of good;" as no man
commences vicious, but for want of patience to
perfevere in virtue, and to refift temptation. And
as that which is the cauſe of fin can be but an ill
cure for forrow, he that is impatient under any
load which it pleaſes God to lay upon him, only
renders it heavier, and new points the thorns of
the Fall, that they may the more fenfibly gall and
afflict him. All fufferings are infinitely aggravated
by
#
PATIENCE PORTRATED.
153
+
by impatience, and fome owe their very being to
it; infomuch that a peevish fretful temper will be
❝vexed, even as a thing that is raw," by every
object it touches; it will moft ingeniouſly contrive
to keep itſelf always on the rack, on account of
trifling incidents, which, in a mind endued with
the grace of patience, could not have produced the
leaft fhadow of uneafinefs. In this therefore, as
in other cafes, God hath annexed a bleffing to vir-
tue, and hath made man's real happinefs to confift
in the performance of his duty.
Laftly, let me fet before you, in one view, the
incomparable excellencies and advantages of this
Lovely grace of Patience. Patience then commends
us to God, and keeps us his. Patience is the
guardian of faith, the preferver of peace, the che-
rifher of love, the teacher of humility: Patience
governs the flesh, ftrengthens the fpirit, fweetens
the temper, ftifles anger, extinguiſhes envy, fub-
dues pride; fhe bridles the tongue, refrains the
hand, tramples upon temptations, endures perfe-
cutions, confummates martyrdom: Patience pro-
duces unity in the church, loyalty in the ftate, har-
mony in families and focieties; fhe comforts the
poor, and moderates the rich: fhe makes us hum-
ble in profperity, cheerful in adverfity, unmoved
by calumny and reproach: the teaches us to for-
give thoſe who have injured us, and to be the firſt
in afking forgiveneſs of thoſe whom we have in-
jured the delights the faithful, and invites the un-
believing fhe adorns the woman, and approves the
man is loved in a child, praifed in a young man,
admired in an old man: ſhe is beautiful in either
fex, and every age. Behold her
Behold her appearance and
her attire. Her countenance is calm and ferene as.
the face of heaven, unfpotted by the fhadow of a
''
cloud
154
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
cloud, and no wrinkle of grief or anger is feen in
her forehead. Her eyes are as the eyes of doves
for meekneſs, and on her eye-brows fit chearfulneſs
and joy. Her mouth is lovely in filence; her com-
plexion and colour that of innocence and fecurity;
while, like the virgin, the daughter of Sion, ſhe
fhakes her head at the adverfary, defpifing and
laughing him to fcorn. She is clothed in the robes
of the martyrs, and in her hand ſhe holds a ſcep-
tre in the form of a CRoss. She rides not in the
whirlwind and ſtormy tempeft of paffion, but her
throne is the humble and contrite heart, and her
kingdom is the kingdom of peace.*
If, therefore, to be made like unto God; if to
be conformed to the image of Chrift; if to follow
the precepts of the Gofpel; if to write after the
copies of faints; if to render our preſent ſtate com-
fortable, and inſure our final redemption from fin
and forrow; if to avoid the manifold inconvenien-
cies of impatience, and enjoy the incomparable ex-
cellencies and advantages of patience; if theſe are
things defirable; let us from henceforth give our-
felves to the purfuit of this divine virtue; let us:
"follow after Patience." And for this purpoſe,
let us adore and imitate the long-fuffering of God;
let us contemplate and tranſcribe into our practice
the patience of Jefus Chrift; let us ftudy and fulfil
the precepts of the Goſpel; let us look at and emu-
late the examples of the faints; let us cónfider and
alleviate the forrows of our pilgrimage; let us per-
ceive and avoid the horrible confequences of impa-
tience; let us court till we obtain the heavenly
grace of patience, with her dowry of benefits and
bleffings
* The portrait here prefented to the reader is copied from.
TERTULLIAN's noble treatife on the fubject, to which we owe.
that of CYPRIAN. This Diſcourſe is an abſtract of both.
PATIENCE PORTRAYED.
155
bleffings conferred on her by Jefus Chrift, into
whofe patience the Lord direct your hearts, until
ſhe have her perfect work in the falvation of your
fouls, through the fame Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, to
whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, be
afcribed, as is moſt dué, in all churches of the faints,
bleffing, and honour and glory, and power, now
and evermore. Amen.
4
༣
7
DISCOURSE XI
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
ACTS xvii. 31.
He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the
world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath
ordained.
THE diftinction between good and evil hath been
From the beginning the great end of the law of hea-
ven, at ſundry times and in divers manners promul
gated to the fons of men. From this celeſtial foun-
tain particular ſyſtems of human laws have been
drawn forth, and adapted to the exigencies of dif-
ferent ages and countries, by wife and good men ;
´they have been enacted by the authority of kings
with the advice of fenates, and carried into execu-
tion by faithful and diligent magiftrates, " to the
puniſhment of wickedneſs and vice, and to the
maintenance of true religion and virtue." The ad-
vantages of theſe inſtitutions, and the praiſe and
honour which are due from all mankind to thoſe
who employ the treafures of learning, and exert
the powers of eloquence, for the public good, muſt
be evident to every one, who thinks but a moment.
upon the fubject. The excellent Hooker clofes a
furvey of Law, in all its different departments,
with the following encomium, conceived and ex-
preffed in a manner peculiar to himſelf." Of law
there can be no lefs acknowledged, than that her
feat
1
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
157
feat is the bofom of God, her voice the harmony
of the world. All things in heaven and earth do
her homage, the very leaſt as feeling her care, and
the greateſt as not exempt from her power. Both
angels, and men, and creatures of what condition
foever, though each in different fort and manner,
yet all with uniform confent, admiring her as the
mother of their peace and joy."
But true and juſt altogether as this character of
law in general moſt certainly is, yet it muſt be con-
feffed, that the penal fanctions of human laws will
not always come up to the neceflity of the cafe, nor
will the medicine reach the diforder, in a multitude
of inftances. It is in the power of the civil magif-
trate to chaſtiſe many public enormities, to regulate
in fome meaſure the external deportment of men,
and to preſerve the frame of fociety from fuffering
thoſe convulfions which muft otherwiſe bring on a
ſpeedy diffolution. But when prudence hath enact-
ed all her ſtatutes; and intruſted vigilance with the
execution of them, men will ſtill continue to “ put
evil for good, and good for evil." Monſters of i-
niquity will creep from their dens to infeft and an-
noy the public, although they cannot be dragged
from thence, to fuffer as they deſerve. Much
wickedness muſt remain unpuniſhed, and great mi-
fery muſt go unrelieved. Avarice and ambition
will conceive and bring forth crimes, of which no
earthly tribunal can take cognizance. Some fins
will be too common, and ſome finners too power-'
ful, to be animadverted upon in this world. The
profperous villain will often die unmoleſted in his
bed, and bequeath the fruits of his oppreflion to
his heir; while injured innocence fhall defcend be-
fore him with forrow to the grave, and quickly
paſs away out of remembrance. The cries of or-
VOL. II.
phans
7
158
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
•
phans will ſtill afcend to heaven; the tears will ſtill
run down the widow's cheek; and the poor man
will frequently find no helper upon earth. This
the royal preacher and judge of Ifrael faw, who was
fo renowned through all the world for his wiſdom
and juftice; he faw and mourned the impoffibility
of preventing it. "I confidered, fays he, all the
oppreffions that are done under the fun; and be-
held the tears of fuch as were oppreffed, and they
had no comforter; and on the fide of their oppref-
fors there was power, but they had no comforter."*
The conclufion which king Solomon drew from
what he faw of this kind under the fun, muſt be a-
dopted by us likewife. "I faid in mine heart, God
fhall judge the righteous and the wicked."
The
interefts of virtue and juſtice require that many
caufes fhould be heard, which cannot be brought
to a trial here below; and therefore the day will
furely come, when God fhall erect a tribunal uni-
verfal and fcrutinizing as the light of heaven;
where all thofe offences, which the beft of magif
trates taken from among men are neceffitated to
fuffer and overlook, ſhall be enquired into by him-
ſelf. And when we behold this auguft affembly,
our thoughts are naturally carried on to that great
and awful procefs, the confideration of which will
furnish the beſt rules for the conduct of all who
are concerned in theſe earthly judicatories; from
whence there lieth an appeal to the judgement-feat
of Chriſt. There every caufe muſt be re-heard,
and finally determined, until virtue and vice fhall
be diſtinguiſhed by the voice of God adjudging them
to ſeparate habitations for evermore.
"He hath ap-
pointed a day, in which he will judge the world in
righteouſneſs, by that man whom he hath ordained."
The
Ecclef. iv. 1.
+ Ecclef. iii. 17.
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
159
The words direct us to employ our meditations
on the appointment of a day for judgment; the
perſon and appearance of the judge; and the
judgment itſelf.
}
Man may abufe his liberty, and tranfgrefs the
law of the great King; but the punishment will
follow and overtake the offence, though not imme-
diately; nor can we deduce any inference from its
being deferred, but that God is merciful, and that
the finner fhould repent. The day of vengeance
was fixed from the foundation of the world; but
it was likewife then determined, that another day
fhould precede it, commenſurate to the duration
of this prefent fyftem, which may be called the
day of man, when the earth is given into his hands,
and he executes his will upon it. Now he may
"rejoice, and let his heart chear him;" he may
"walk in the ways of his heart, and in the fight
of his eyes;" he may devote his youth to pleaſure,
facrifice his manhood to ambition, and wear out
his old age in avarice. He may corrupt the inno-
cent for the indulgence of the firft, depopulate
kingdoms for the gratification of the fecond, and
impoverish thouſands to fatisfy the cravings of the
laft. But let him know, that " for all theſe things
God will bring him into judgment," in that day,
which the Scriptures therefore ftile his day, "the
day of God," or "the day of the Lord." Then
God fhall fpeak, and man muſt hear; then the
viol and the harp fhall no longer lull the effemi-
nate in fenfuality, nor the trumpet any more rouſe
the warrior to the battle; and then, the thouſands
of gold and filver fhall have loft all their charms
in the eyes of the mifer. In that day, the merry
hearted fhall figh, thame fhall be the portion of
pride, and covetoufnefs fhall inherit eternal pover-
0 2
ty.
}
160
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
:
ty. Of theſe two days, the day of man, and the
day of God, which give fo very different an aſpect
to the world and all that is therein, the facred hif-
tory holdeth forth to us many fignificant and in-
Atructive repreſentations in the divine proceedings
with regard to particular perfons, cities, and king-
doms. Theſe anſwer the fame end with the fo-
lemn ſcene now before our eyes, being intended as
preludes, or (if I may ſo ſpeak) as rehearſals of the
judgment to be finally executed upon the world of
the ungodly. Thus, when the divine long-fuffer-
ing waited in the time of Noah; when the wicked
vexed the foul of righteous Lot in Sodom; when
Pharaoh oppreffed the church in Egypt; when the
ten tribes, revolting from the fervice of God, and
the houſe of David, became and continued fchif-·
matics, rebels, and idolaters; when Zedekiah
threw the prophet Jeremiah into the dungeon, for
declaring the will of heaven; and when the Jews
crucified Chrift, and perfecuted his apoftles, for
the fame reafon; then was it, refpectively in each
caſe, the day of man. But it was the day of God,
when the fountains of the great deep were broken
up, and the antediluvian generations fwept away
from the face.of the earth; when the windows of
heaven were opened, to rain fire and brimftone
upon the cities of the plain; when Ifrael faw
the Egyptians dead upon the fea fhore; when
Salmanazar led Ephraim away into Affyria; when
Nebuchadnezzar carried Judah captive to Babylon;
and when the Roman armies overthrew Jerufalem,
and ſet fire to the gates of Zion. But the united
terrors of all theſe partial vifitations will enable us
to form only a faint idea of that great and terrible
day, when God " ſhall judge the world in right-
coufnefs, by that man whom he hath ordained."
Let
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
161
Let us confider the perſon and appearance of him
who fhall then come to be our judge.
The text characterizes him by the words, " that
man whom he (God) hath ordained." The human
nature of our Lord, ever intimately and indiffolubly
united to the divine, being, after his refurrection,
taken up to heaven, was thereupon in form, amidſt
the acclamations of angels and beatified fpirits, in-
vefted with the glory and dominion of the God-
head, to be from thenceforth difplayed and exerci-
fed in the government of his church; until the fi
nal act of judgment fhall cloſe the amazing ſcene,
and put a period to the mediatorial kingdom; which
when the Son, the man Chrift Jefus fhall have de-
livered up to the Father, then God, or the bleffed
Trinity, thall be all in all, reigning and ruling to
eternity, as was the cafe from eternity, previous to
the intervention of the Chriftian fyftem. In the
mean time, as the light which fills the circumfe-
rence of heaven, penetrating to the utmoſt bounds.
of creation, and giving life and motion to all things
that live and move, proceedeth forth from its cen-
tral throne in the body of the fun; fo the riches,
and the wiſdom, and the providence, and the pow-
er, and the majefty of the Deity, are diſpenſed to
mankind, through the glorified humanity of the
holy Jefus; to whom every creature in heaven and
earth is therefore taught to afcribe bleffing, and
honour, and glory, and power. Thus hath it
been done unto the man whom God delighteth to
honour. And for this reafon it is faid, that "the
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment to the Son;" in exact conformity to
what St Paul afferteth in the text, that "God fhall
judge the world" in the perfon of his Son Chriſt
Jefus; "he fhall judge the world by that man,
whom,"
03.
{
}
162
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
whom," having united to himſelf, "he hath ordain-
ed” and conſtituted head over all things, for that
purpoſe.
And by whom ſhould God judge mankind, but
by that man by whom he firft redeemed them?
"God was in Chrift reconciling the world to him-
felf; and God in Chriſt will reward every man ac-
cording to his works." He who took upon him the
form of a fervant, was crowned king of glory; and
crowned for that reafon. "Becauſe he humbled
himſelf, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross; therefore God highly ex-
alted him, and gave him a name which is above
every name;" therefore by himſelf he hath fworn,
that to him, when fitting on the throne of judge-
ment, "every knee fhall bow, and every tongue.
confefs, that the man Chrift Jefus is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father."
And can there then be a tongue, which doth
not exult in the confeffion of the glorious and fa-
lutary truth? For furely had heaven indulged us
in the option of our judge, where could all our
wiſhes have centred, but in a man like ourſelves;
our near kinfman, our brother, as concerning the
fleſh; one who bore our fins, and carried our
forrows; one in all things tempted like as we are,
and therefore touched with a feeling of our infirmi
ties? In whofe hands fhould we rather defire to
fee the law, than in his, who, having himſelf ful-
filled it for us, beftows on repentance what was on-
ly due to innocence? Whom can we behold with
fo much comfort on the judgment-feat, as the
the perſon who once ftood at the bar, and fuffered
the execution of an unjuſt fentence, that we might
eſcape the execution of a juſt one? And fince we
muft needs be tried by unerring wifdom, impartial
juſtice,
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
163
•
juſtice, and boundleſs power, what a reviving con-
fideration is it, that they are under the direction of
infinite and tendereft mercy? Abufed and infulted
mercy indeed will rule with a rod of iron, and no
wrath can be fo terrible as that of the Lamb: but
the humble penitent, believing in Jefus as a Savi-
our, and obeying him as a Maſter, ſhall behold
with joy the golden fceptre reached forth, in the
day of his appearance as a judge.
The figns which are to precede that appearance,
and like fo many heralds to prepare the way for it,
fhall be eminently calculated for the purpoſe.
Strange and portentous phænomena fhall caufe a
fearful looking for of judgment, while every part
of the creation fhall difcover horrible fymptoms of
its approaching diffolution. The heavens, thoſe
moſt beautiful and glorious of the works of God,
ſhall ſhrink at the proſpect of the fire in which they
are to melt; and the powers of the heavens, which
fuftain the world, fhall be fhaken, as the leaves of
the wood are ſhaken by a mighty wind. The fun,
that marvellous inftrument, that fountain of light,
that heart of the fyftem, whence are the iffues of
life, and health, and joy, fhall fuddenly ceaſe from
fhining, and by that means depriving the moon of
her borrowed brightneſs, fhall leave the aſtoniſhed
inhabitants of the world in darkneſs and the fha-
dow of death. The ftars, quitting their ftations
and courſes, and falling in wild diforder on each
other, fhall increaſe the horrors of the night ſpread
over the world, an image of the darkneſs foon to
to receive the wicked for ever. The fea mean-
while will rife into vaft mountains, and roll itſelf
upon the fhore, with the moſt tremendous and ter-
rifying noiſe. All theſe things fhall come upon
the earth, at a time when it is filled with wars and
rumours
1
164
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
.
rumours of wars; when there fhall be fore diftrefs
of nations, vifited with all the judgments of God,
and become the fcourges and deftroyers of each
other; when divine truth, like the fun, fhall be
obfcured; when the church, as well as the moon,
fhall be turned into blood, through the abundance
of perfecutions; and when they, who, for the
brightness of their doctrines and the purity of their
lives, fhone as the ſtars, through the prevalence of
iniquity and temptation, fhall fall away from their
integrity, minding earthly things, and worldly in-
tereſts. Confternation and perplexity unutterable
fhall feize and diftract the hearts of men fainting
for fear, and for expectation of the changes about
to happen.
And now, the voice of that trumpet, which was
once heard from the top of Sinai, fhall again be
heard from heaven; and the judge of all the earth
ſhall make his entry with power and great glory,
having in his retinue an innumerable company of
angels, and the ſpirits of the righteous. Thus at-
tended, he fhall defcend towards us, riding upon
the clouds of heaven, and take his feat on the
throne prepared for him. There he ſhall be ſeen,
in the form and fafhion of a man, exceeding glòri-
ous, clothed with the robes of majesty and honour,
from whence we may ſuppoſe him opening his com-
miflion, in thoſe words of his own; "All power
is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. The
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son." The apoftles are pla-
ced around him; the court is fet; and all things
are prepared for him to " judge the world in righ-
teouſneſs." The nature and manner of this judge-
ment call for our ſtricteſt attention.
cr
ļ
Let
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
165
Let us therefore transfer our thoughts from a
temporary tribunal to the throne of eternal judge-
ment. And here it muſt be confidered, that as the
whole world is become guilty before God, fo we
muft all appear before the judgment feat of Chrift.
Not only they who ſhall be found alive at his co-
ming, but they alfo who fhall have been detained
by death in the prifons of earth and fea. For at
the found of the laſt trumpet, the prifon doors fhall
be opened, and all that are within ſhall come forth
to judgment. "I faw the dead," faith the well
beloved John, "I faw the dead, both ſmall and
great, ftand before God." All the fenates that
ever were convened, and all the affemblies that
ever met upon bufinefs or pleaſure; all the armies
that were ever conducted into the field, and all the
generals who conducted them; all the kings and
princes who ever fwayed a fceptre, and all the mul-
titude of the nations that were ever in fubjection
to them; in a word, all the men and women that
fhall have lived, from the firſt pair to their laſt
born fon and daughter, are to appear together, and
to take their reſpective trials, at the day of the
great affize. High and low, rich and poor, learn-
ed and unlearned, will then be diftinguifhed only
by their virtues and their vices; fo that the whole
world fhall perceive and acknowledge, that " God
is no refpecter of perfons." The injured virgin,
the afflicted widow, and the oppreffed orphan, fhall
then fee thofe, face to face, who have ſpoiled them
of their innocence, their reputation, or their ſub-
ftance. There men fhall meet all thofe who have
feduced them, or whom they have feduced, into
the ways of fin; and all thofe who have directed
and encouraged them, or whom they have directed
and encouraged, to proceed in the paths of righte
oufneſs.
166
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
لم
oufneſs. From the former they fhall turn away,
with fhame and fear; the latter they fhall behold
with joy and rejoicing. There they fhall view the
wifdom of religion in the perfons of the righteous,
and wonder why they did not fee it before, and
give themſelves up to the ſtudy of it; there they
fhall clearly behold the folly of irreligion in the
perfons of the wicked, and be aftoniſhed at their
infenfibility in following fo hard after it. Amidſt
all this unimaginable multitude, there fhall not be
one idle and unconcerned fpectator; not one that
ſhall have leiſure to trouble himfelf with the affairs
of his neighbour. Every man will have a caufe to
be heard, and how will he be ftraightened, until it
be determined?
The prifoners, thus brought to the bar, are to
be judged concerning the counfels of their hearts,
the words of their lips, and the works of their
hands, which will be found regiſtered against them
in the volumes of their confciences. Theſe volumes
indeed are often clofed during the prefent life, by
the hands of negligence and forgetfulneſs. But at
the laſt day they fhall be unfolded to all the world.
Thefe, perhaps, are the books, which, as Daniel
and St John inform us, fhall be opened before the
throne of Chrift, that men may be judged out of
thofe things which are written therein. The duſt
fhall be wiped away from theſe important writings;
each obliterated character fhall be renewed and re-
ſtored; and a Night fhining from above fhall make
them legible to every eye. There is nothing now
hidden, which fhall not then be known; nothing.
ſpoken or done in the fecret chambers, which fhall
not be proclaimed in public. Confcience ſhall then
do the work perfectly, which, through our own
faults, it doth at prefent imperfectly; and we fhall
know,
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
167
•
know, as we are known; we ſhall know ourſelves,
as God knoweth us. But befides this, the great
Accufer ſhall ſtand forth at the laſt day in his pro-
per character, and aggravate with all his malice the
fins, to the commiffion of which he tempted the
ungodly. "Thefe wretches," may he ſay to the
judge," my power never created, nor my provi-
dence fuftained; I never was incarnate, nor did I
ever hang three hours upon the croſs for them; I
gave them no grace, and promiſed them no glory.
Yet, by their own choice, they have forfaken thee,
who didft all this for them, and voluntarily yielded
themſelves fervants to me. Mine therefore they
are, and with me fhall be their portion." They
who have beheld the countenance of a malefactor,
when fuddenly confronted by an accomplice appear-
ing as an evidence againſt him, may form fome idea
of that confufion which fhall overwhelm the finner,
when confcience, awaking out of fleep, fhall wit-
nefs his iniquity to his face; when the very thoughts
of his heart fhall be made manifeft, and the tempter
fhall be his accufer.
Nor fhall the faithful eſcape the malice of him
who is ftiled the Accufer of the brethren; but he
ſhall accuſe them alſo before their God; alledging
againſt them the follies of their youth, and the in-
firmities of their old age; their fruitless repentances,
and frequent relapfes; their exceffes in the plea-
fures of fenfe, and their deficiencies in the duties of
religion; the wanderings of their prayers, and the
coldneſs of their charity. And alas, if God ſhould
be extreme to mark what is done amifs, who could
ftand? But for thoſe who believe, upon the preach-
ing of the Gospel, who lay hold on the benefits of
that act of grace, and come in upon the eaſy terms of
the Chriſtian covenant, for them there is ПagaxλNTOS,
an
168
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
".
י.
an advocate ready to appear, even the Spirit, which
now "maketh interceffion for them," and fhall do
the fame at the laft day; againſt the allegations of
Satan, pleading the merits of the Redeemer, and
the promiſed pardon made effectual by grace; what
he wrought for his people, and what he wrought in
them; the groans and the tears of the penitent,
the faftings and the watchings, the prayers and the
alms of the faithful; the weaknefs and imperfec-
tion of which fhall be forgiven, and they fhall be
accepted, not for their own fake, but for the fake
‚of the beloved; through whofe blood all fhall be
faved, who depart in the faith and fear of God,
notwithſtanding their lapfes through infirmity, in
the days of their fleſh. Theſe therefore, go to the
portion on the right hand, becauſe the Lord their
God doth anfwer for them. They shall hear the
joyful found of pardon and peace: the angels who
miniſtered to them, and often rejoiced at their re-
pentance, fhall place them in everlaſting habitations
of pleaſure and glory; while the wicked, forfaken
by their guardians, and condemned by the righteous
judgment of their God, are configned over to the
executioners of eternal vengeance.
A confideration of theſe important truths fug-
gefteth the beſt rules for the conduct of thoſe who
are concerned in human judicatories.
Mindful therefore of "that man by whom God
fhall judge the world in righteouſneſs," he who fit-
teth on the feat of judgment, as the reprefentative
of an earthly fovereign, will confider himſelf like-
wife as his minifter, "by whom kings reign, and
princes decree judgment," and at whoſe bar kings
and princes, with all in authority under them, muſt
one day appear. At prefent, "God ftandeth in
the congregation of princes," obferving the manner
in
1
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
169
In which they exercife the power delegated to them;
but hereafter he fhall fit as a judge even of them,
who, by reaſon of that delegated power, are ftileď
Gods. The care then of the magiftrate, when he
goeth up to the judgment-feat, will be, to put on
righteouſneſs as a glorious and beautiful robe; and
to render his tribunal a fit emblem of that eternal
throne, of which juſtice and judgment are the ha-
bitation.
Mindful of thoſe holy and exalted perfonages,
who fhall fit with their Lord, upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Ifrael, they to whom
the laws of their country commit the lives and pro-
perties of their fellow fubjects, will not fuffer them-
felves to be biaffed by any worldly confiderations.
They will neither be intimidated by the frowns of
the mighty, nor feduced by the promiſes of the
opulent, to depart one ftep from the difintereſted
uprightneſs and integrity, which characterize the
apoſtles of the Son of God.
Mindful of that true and faithful witnefs which
every man carries in his bofom, which no gift can
blind, no power can filence, or prevent its appear-
ing, to teftify concerning his thoughts, his words,
and his actions, at the laft day, they who are called
upon to give evidence, will do it with fimplicity
and fincerity; neither palliating the crimes of the
guilty, nor aggravating the calamities of the wretch-
ed; but fo fpeaking "the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth," as their confciences
will hereafter infallibly do, and as they expect help.
from the God of their falvation, in that dreadful
hour.
Mindful of that bleffed and gracious Spirit, who
how "make thinterceffion for us with unutterable
groanings," and who fhall plead our caufe at the
VOL. II.
P
judgment
1
:
170
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
judgment feat of Chrift, the advocate will rejoice in
the godlike taſk of patronizing the injured and op-
preffed; of contributing, by his ſkill and induſtry,
towards the elucidation of truth, the detection of
villany, and the vindication of innocence. But he
will never employ his learning for the eſtabliſhment
of falfehood, nor difplay his eloquence in favour of
injuftice.
Mindful of their happy lot, whom mercy fhall
receive to glory, and of their fad eftate, whom juf-
tice ſhall hurry away to torments, we ſhall all pro•
vide againſt that day, which is to determine our
fate for everlaſting ages. Should a door of hope
be opened to thofe unhappy wretches who are now
reſerved in chains, to be brought forth to judgment.
before an earthly judge, how eagerly would they
prefs into it? Could forrow for their paft offences,
and unfeigned refolutions of amendment, procure
the royal pardon, reftore them to a ftate of proba-
tion, and enable them to lay hold on life, how
thankful would they be for the offer, how readily
would they cloſe with the propofal? This favour is
gracioufly vouchſafed to us. For "behold, now
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
falvation. The judge ftandeth before the door,"
but his entrance is not yet. The evangelical act of
grace continueth in full force, and all are invited
to partake of the benefits of it; that fo, having
repented, and believed the Goſpel, having kept the
faith in a pure confcience, and kept it unto the end,
they may obtain their pardon under the feal of the
living God, and receive the promiſed reward, in
the day of eternal recompence. For "there is no
condemnation to them that are in Chrift Jefus,
who walk not after the fleſh, but after the fpirit."
While therefore we blefs God, who preferveth to
us
THE GREAT ASSIZE.
FI
us the adminiftration of juſtice in our land, let the
preſent folemnity, by reminding us of the trial we
likewiſe muſt undergo, be made profitable in things
pertaining not only to this life, but alfo to that
which is to come; that fo, when we fhall all meet
again, after our feparation by the chances of life,
and the ſtroke of death, we may remember that we
met on this day; and remember with pleaſure, that
we met not in vain.
DISCOURSE XIL
THE ORIGIN OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT:
T
1
Rom. xiii. 4..
He is the minifter of God to thee for good.
It is impoffible for any one to confider, with at-
tention, the harmony in which all the parts of the
natural world confpire to act for the benefit of the
whole, without feeling an ardent defire to learn,.
by whom and in what manner they were firft fram
med and compacted together; how the agents were
fuited to the patients, and the cauſes proportioned
to the effects; fo that the former have ever fince
operated invariably in the production of the latter;
and the refult hath been an uniform obedience
to the laws originally impofed upon inanimate
matter.
A diligent furvey of the bleffings, for which the
moral world is indebted to civil polity, and the
due execution of its edicts, muſt needs excite a cu-
riofity equally earneft, and equally laudable, to en-
quire into the origin of ſo uſeful and neceffary an
inftitution; to know, at what time, and under
whofe direction, a machine was conftructed, capa-
ble by a variety of well adjuſted ſprings and move-
ments, of controuling the irregularities of depraved
nature, and of enfuring to us amidſt the reſtleſs.
and contradictory paffions and affections of finful.
men, a quiet poffeffion of our lives, and properties.
A
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
1732
}
Aftate of nature" hath been fuppofed by
writers of eminence upon this fubject, "when men
lived in a wild and diſorderly manner; and though
they had a principle of reſtraint from religion, and
a kind of general law, that exacted punishment of
evil doers, yet, as the adminiſtration of this law
was in common hands, and they had no one arbi-
ter, or judge, with authority over the reft, to put
this law, with any regularity, in execution; fo,
from the excefs of felf-love, many mutual violences
and wrongs would enfue, which would put men
upon forming themſelves into civil focieties, under
fome common arbiter, for remedy of this difor-
der”—And it hath been, accordingly, concluded,
that "the civil magiftrate was called in as an ally
to religion, to turn the balance, which had too
much inclined to the fide of that inordinate ſelf-~
love."
·
In the "wild and diforderly ftate" here fuppo--
fed, when mankind were mere favages, it is not
eafy to conceive, how they had obtained "a prin-
ciple of reſtraint from religion," or " a kind of ge-
neral law, that exacted punishment of evil doers."
And it is no lefs difficult to imagine, what benefit:
could accrue to them from either; fince, as the re-
ligion had no prieſt, to teach and enfòrce it, the
law had no magiftrate, to promulgate, and to exe--
cute it. "The adminiſtration of this law was in
common hands,” that is, in the hands of every man,
who had his own law, canon as well as ftatute,.
fuited to his prefent occafion, convenience or ca-
price. And what was this, but to be truly and.
properly deftitute both of law and religion?.
As this independent ſtate of nature was a ſtate of
perfect liberty; and as they, who had the happi-
nefs to live under ſo pure and primitive a diſpenſa-
tion,
P 3
1
174
THE ORIGIN OF
tion, were doubtlefs, too fenfible of their happi
nefs, to exchange it readily for government, always
liable to degenerate into tyranny and oppreffion, it
is obvious to think, that when the project for
calling in the civil magiftrate as an ally to religion"
was first propoſed it would not fail to meet with a
very vigorous oppofition." "An inordinate felf
love," we find, was in poffeffion and no poffeffor
is with more difficulty ejected. Of the privilege
enjoyed by every man, to do without controul what
was "right in his own eyes," every man would be
exceedingly tenacious; and no one who thought
himſelf, by his fuperior ftrength of body, or intel-
lect, better entitled to an ox, or an afs, than his
neighbour, could be preſently made to fee the pro-
priety of his ſuffering, for the good of the com-
munity.
"The free confent of every individual, we are
told, is neceffary to be obtained for the inflitution
of civil government." But upon what plain ſhall
the univerfal affembly be covened? Or who, in a
ſtate of nature, hath authority to convene it? How
fhall the proceedings of this tumultuary. congrefs of
independents be regulated, or the votes of its mem-
bers be collected? And when will all agree to inveſt
fome with a power of inflicting pains and penalties,
which others cannot but be fenfible they fhall foon
incur ?
It is by no means reaſonable to imagine, that
each perfon would confent from thenceforth to be
determined by a majority of the whole body, which
might chance, upon queftions of the utmost impor-
tance, to exceed the minority, only by a fingle vote.
And that one half of the fociety thould thus do-
mineer over the other half, it would be deemed
an infringement on liberty; to which men, born
free
;
}
CIVIL GOVERNMENT:
175
free and equal, might, with great apearance of rea-
fon, fcruple to fubject themſelves.
It is indeed fometimes afferted, that "no man
can ſubmit himſelf to the abfolute will of another :"
in which cafe, he certainly cannot fubmit himſelf
to any governmet what foever; fince the legislature,
in every government, is abfolute, having a power
to repeal or diſpenſe with its own laws, upon ọc-
cafions, of which itfelf is judge.
1
The reafon affigned for the above affertion,
"that no man can fubmit himſelf to the abfolute
will of another," is this, tha "no man can give
that, of which himſelf is not poffeffed, namely the
power over his own life." But how then came
any government to be inveſted with a power of life
and death? And what would a government avail,
which was not invefted with that power? If laws,
inflicting capital puniſhments, are frequently bro-
ken, in what a ſtate would the world be, if there
were no fuch laws? Here, then, is a dignus vindice
nodus; and therefore, DEUS interfit! For, without
the interpofition of fome power fuperior to human,
a fyftem of civil polity, calculated to anfwer, in
any degree, the end of its inftitution', can neither
be framed, nor fupported.
And the truth is, when we reflect a little farther
upon the fubject, we cannot but perceive our ap-
prehenfions greatly fhocked at the fuppofition, that
the wife and good Creator, who formed mankind.
for fociety in this world, and defigned to train them.
by a performance of its duties, for a more noble and
exalted fellowship with angels in the world to come,
fhould place them, at the beginning, in the above-
mentioned wild and diforderly ftate of indepen-
dence, to roam in fields and forefts, like the brutės
that perish, and to fearch for law and government,
where
·
176
THE ORIGIN OF
where they were not to be found; that he ſhould
give them no rules, by whom, or how they ſhould
be guided and directed, but leave them to chufe for
themſelves, that is, to difpute and fight, and, in
the end, to be governed by the ftrongeft. One
cannot think of multitudes in fuch a ſtate of equa-
lity, with fierce and favage tempers and diſpoſitions,
prepared to contend for fuperiority, but it brings.
to mind that army, which, according to a pagan
fiction, from the teeth of ferpents fown in the earth,
fprang up together, ready armed for battle, and
deftroyed each other.
·
But are theſe things fo? Did God indeed, at the
beginning, bring into being, at the fame time, a
number of human creatures, independant of each
other, and turn them uninftructed into the woods,
to fettle a civil polity by compact among them-
felves? We know he did not. He who "work-
eth all things according to the counfel of his own -
will," or that law which his wifdom prefcribes to
his power; he who appointed a regular fubordina-
tion among the celeftial hierarchies; he who "made:
a law for the rain, and gave his decree to the fea,
that the waters fhould not paſs his commandment;'
he who is the God of peace and order, provided
for the eſtabliſhment and continuation of thefe
bleffings among mankind, by ordaining, firſt in the
cafe of Adam, and then again in that of Noah, that-
the human race fhould fpring from one common
parent.
Unlefs, therefore, fome other origination of
mankind be difcovered, all equality and indepen-
dence are at an end. The ſtate of nature was a
ftate of fubordination; fince, from the beginning,
fome were born fubjects to others; and the power.
of the father, by whatever name it be called, muſt
have
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
177
have been fupreme at the firſt, when there was
none fuperior to it. "To fathers within their pri-
vate families," faith the judicious Hooker, "na-
ture hath given a fupreme power; for which cauſe
we ſee throughout the world, even from the foun-
dation thereof, all men have ever been taken as
lords and lawful kings, in their own houſes.” And
had children the power to chufe for themſelves,
what could they with for, beyond the care and pro-
tection of a parent?
The creation of one pair, the inſtitution of mar-
riage, and the relations flowing from it, do fo evi-
dently fhew fubordination, at the beginning, to
have been natural, and not founded on compact
between peers, that two of the ableft advocates for
a different hypothefis have, in fact, reduced the
fuppofed compact at laft to a probable or tacit con-
fent of the children to be governed by their father.
So that we may fairly look upon this point to be
given up. Let us, therefore, go on to trace, as
well as we can, the progrefs of fociety in the early
ages of the world; to point out the manner in
which a number of families became united under
one civil polity, and governments arofe, differing
from each other, no- lefs in form, than in extent.
As mankind multiplied, they neceffarily found
themſelves obliged, to feparate and difperfe; which
they did accordingly, under their natural rulers,
the chiefs of families and tribes, who, by reaſon of
their longevity, faw themfelves, in a courſe of
years, at the head of a numerous train of defcen-
dants and dependents. By thefe means the earth
became gradually filled with little governments; and
as there was land fufficient for them all, in this
ftate they continued, till through the workings of
corrupted nature, difputes were engendered, which.
terminating.
THE ORIGIN OF
178
terminating in war, victory at laſt declared for one
of the parties, and the other was obliged to fubmit.
Thus the larger governments arofe by conqueft,
firſt ſwallowed up the leffer into themfelves, and
then contended with, and overthrew each other.
In the tenth chapter of Genefis, we have an
account of the families, tribes, or leffer govern-
ments, with which the earth was overfpread by
the progeny of the fons of Noah.
And in the
fame chapter we read, that, very foon after, by
means of Nimrod, a mighty one, a warrior, a con--
queror, the kingdom, or larger government of Ba-
bel began to rear its head, which, in proceſs of
time, under different names, became univerfal; till
grown too great to fupport its own weight, it was
fubverted by the Perfian, as the Perfian was by the
Grecian, and the Grecian by the Roman, out of
which laft were formed the empires, kingdoms,
and ftates, at this day fubfifting.
·
L
Thus it was, that the leffer governments were,
from the beginning, founded in the patria poteftas,
and "multiplied as long as there was room enough,
or they could agree together; till upon diffenfions
arifing, the ſtronger, or more fortunate, fwallow-
ed up the weaker: and thoſe great ones, again
breaking in pieces, diffolved into leffer dominions."*
Power dropped from the hands of one, but was
always feized by another, before it could deſcend
to the people, who indeed often changed their go-
vernors, but were never left to rove at large, with-
out any government at all. Compact had no place,
unlefs either when the leffer ftates united, as the
Greeks did under Agamemnon, against a common
enemy, which was only for a time; or elfe, when:
ſeveral ſtates united, to go and feek freſh fettle-
ments,,
* Mr LOCKE.
´CIVIL GOVERNMENT,
179
F
ments, they chofe a head, with referve of privi-
leges to the leaders under him. As to thofe ille-
gitimate forms of government called aristocratic,
and democratic, they are comparatively, of late
ſtanding, and were indeed founded on compact,
though generally among peers in rebellion, who
having broken off from their allegiance to their na-
tural rulers, and thrown the public into convul-
fions, and being determined to admit no common
fuperior, were obliged, by the neceffity of their
circumftances, to fettle themſelves by compact, into
a government, in which a certain mock equality of
all was pretended, but a conjunct tyranny of a few
was exercifed. Orators, haranguing upon liberty,
to get themſelves a name among the populace,
have extolled thefe forms, as the most accompliſh-
ed and genuine of all. But if we confider, as an
acute writer directs us to do, that "the utmoſt
energy of the nervous ſtyle of Thucydides, and the
great copioufnefs and expression of the Greek lan-
guage feem to fink under the hiftorian, when he
attempts to defcribe the diforders, which arofe
from faction, throughout all the Grecian common-
wealths," that "Appian's hiſtory of the Roman
civil wars contains the moft frightful picture of
maffacres, profcriptions, and forfeitures, that ever
was prefented to the world;"* if, at the fame time,
we recollect the confufion and defolation once oc-
cafioned in our own country, by the project of
erecting a government upon the plan of thofe fa-
mous democracies, we ſhall find no temptation to
exchange a regular and well conftituted monarchy
for a RE-PUBLIC, eſpecially as we muſt be firſt
thrown into that imaginary political chaos, falfely
called a ſtate of nature, before the fair creation
* Mr HUME.
can
180
THE ORIGIN OF
can emerge.
Like the Ifraelites of old, we muft
break off all that is precious and valuable, and caft
it into the fire, that from thence may come out
this boafted idol, at the feet of which kings and
kingdoms are to fall down, and worſhip.
But if the foregoing be a true reprefentation of
facts, it may be afked, How came men into that
favage ftate, in which many nations have been,
and are at preſent, and which, if it be not a ſtate
of nature, yet doth much reſemble that which is
defcribed as fuch, and perhaps gave birth to the
ideas that have been entertained concerning it, and
the political fyftems erected upon the fuppofition
of it.
In order fatisfactorily to anſwer this queſtion,
it muſt be remembered, that after the confufion
at Babel, and the apoftacy of the nations from the
worſhip of the true God to idolatry, the world was
gradually peopled by colonies fent forth from places
overſtocked. Thefe colonies would confiſt of a
mixture of people, often the meanest and loweſt,
fometimes driven out by conquering enemies, def-
titute of neceffaries, to feek for fettlements in dif-
tant quarters of the globe. If they fixed in a cold-
er latitude, which rendered the want of clothes
and a variety of well prepared food more ſenſibly
felt, and in a place conveniently fituated for traf--
fic, they would employ all the underſtanding, of
which they were mafters, to contrive things firſt
for uſe, and afterwards for elegance and ornament.
But as this was a work of ages; as fome imperfect
notices of their ruder times would be handed down
to their more polite ones; as they had no writing
to record events; there muſt needs be a wide chaſm
in their history, between the defertion of their old
fettlements, and the completion of their new ones.
So
1
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
181
→
So that when, in their civilized and poliſhed ftate,
they came, at their leifure, to look back, and gueſs
at their own rife and progrefs, they would be loft
in the darkneſs of thoſe times, which preceded their
preſent improvements. They would then imagine
a ſtate of nature, in which all were favages, and all
were equal; they would fancy themfelves to have
been Auroxfoves, judge of other nations by their own,
make the fyftem univerfal, and fuppofe all govern-
ment to have been founded on compact among
peers, in that "wild and diforderly ſtate." As
their laws, though of late date, were the firſt written
accounts of their civilization, they would conclude
that, till then, there had been no law, or civil polity
in the world; though, in every country, there is a
jus fcriptum, and a jus non fcriptum, of which the
latter is always the oldeft, being coeval with the
conftitution, or even prior to it, having fometimes
been brought from the place whence the colony
came, and perhaps delivered down from the begin-
ning.
In circumftances like thefe, we are not to be fur-
priſed, if we find the hiſtorians, philofophers, and
poets, among the Greeks and Romans, believing
civil government to have ariſen at firſt by an agree-
ment among independent favages, as fome of them
imagined, that the world itſelf was formed by a for-
tuitous concourfe of independent atoms, floating
up and down in an infinite void. In conftructing
thefe vifionary ſyſtems, political and phyfical, they
diſplayed their ingenuity, and we can only lament
their want of information with regard to what had
happened in former. ages, of which they had no
means of obtaining more than was derived to them
by an imperfect disjointed tradition, difguifed in the
dreſs of fable, and deftitute of any authority to re-
VOL. II.
commend
е
182
THE ORIGIN OF
1
commend and gain it credit. They erected the beſt
fabric they could with the materials in their hands,
and it would be unreaſonable to expect brick from
artificers, to whom ftraw was not given. But in
us who have the Scripture hiftory before us, it
would be fomething worſe than unreaſonable, to
overlook the information with which that fupplies
us, and have recourfe to romantic fchemes, which
owed their being to the want of it.
On the other hand, let us ſuppoſe a colony, upon
its migration, to have ſettled itſelf in a warmer cli-
mate, where men would find little or no occafion
for clothes, houſes, or the preparation of food by
fire; and where they were cut off from all commu-
nication with the reſt of the world. In this fitua-
tion, they would not concern themſelves about the
conveniencies, much leſs the elegancies of life.
Naked, or nearly fo, living upon the fruits of the
earth, and fuch other provifion as the chafe, or the
net would procure, and ftrangers, for want of com-
merce, to arts and learning, they muſt continue in
the deepeſt intellectual poverty, retaining only fome
of thoſe fuperftitious cuſtoms, and diabolical rites,
derived from their idolatrous anceſtors, and im-
ported with them. And thus degenerating, as they
muft of neceffity do, every day more and more, they
would come at laft into that deplorable ftate of igno-
rance and barbariſm, in which ſome nations are in-
deed found at this day. But is this a ſtate of nature?
Was this the ſtate in which the Lord of all things pla-
ced the nobleft of fublunary beings, the heir of glory
and immortality, when his own hands had formed
and faſhioned him, and he had breathed into him
the breath of life? No, furely, it is a ſtate the moſt
unnatural in which rational creatures, made in the
image of their Creator, can be conceived to exift!
A
J
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
183
A ſtate into which, through apoftacy from revealed
truth, and confequent lofs of all knowledge, by the
juft judgment of God upon them, fome nations
were permitted to fall, and are fuffered to continue,
in terrorem to others. And does a maſter of reaſon,
an enlightened philofopher, in an enlightened age,
fend us to learn the firſt principles of government
from Floridans, Brafilians, and Cherokees, becauſe
it is faid, that they have no kings, but chufe leaders,
as they want them in time of war? Though fuch is
the force of primeval inſtitution, fuch the neceffity
of government, and fuch the voice of nature con-
cerning it, that even in America, upon its diſcove-
ry, fome nations, as the Mexicans, and Peruvians,
were found in the ſtate of the larger governments-
which aroſe by conqueft, while others, in the form
of the leffer, were fubject to the chiefs of their re-
fpective clans and tribes. Savages themſelves can-
not live in a ſtate of abfolute equality and indepen-
dence. In civilized communities, a fhip cannot be
navigated, a regiment cannot march, a family can--
not be holden together without a fubordination
eſtabliſhed and preferved. And was all govern-
ment once diffolved, and the world really reduced
to that ſtate, out of which civil polity is fuppofed
to have originally fprung, it would be a fcene of
uproar and confufion, and a field of blood, till the:
day of the confummation of all things.
A long and uninterrupted enjoyment of bleffings
is apt to extinguifh in us that gratitude towards the
author of them, which it ought to cheriſh and in-
vigorate; and juſtice is the leſs regarded, when ſhe
maketh thefe her awful proceffions through the
land, preferving peace and tranquillity in our bor-
ders, becauſe ſhe maketh them periodically and
conftantly. Far different would be our fenfations
2
at
184
THE ORIGIN OF
at fuch times, had fad experience ever taught us
what it was to fee government unhinged, to want
the protection of regal power, and the due execu-
tion of laws, by thoſe to whom that power is dele-
gated, "for the puniſhment of evil doers, and the
praiſe of them that do well.” The courfe of na-
ture often glides on unobſerved, when there are no
variations in it; and the fun himſelf ſhineth unno-
ticed, becauſe he fhineth every day. "Since the
time that God did firft proclaim the edicts of his.
law," fays the excellent Hooker, "heaven and earth
have hearkened unto his voice, and their labour hath
been to do his will. But if nature ſhould intermit
her courſe, and leave altogether, though it were but
for a while, the obſervation of her own laws; if
thoſe principal and mother elements, whereof all
things in this lower world are made, fhould loſe
the qualities which now they have; if the frame of
that heavenly arch, erected over our heads, ſhould
Joofen and diffolve itfelf; if celeftial ſpheres ſhould
forget their wonted motions, and, by irregular vo-
lubility, turn themfelves any way, as it might hap.
pen; if the prince of the lights of heaven, which
now, as a giant, doth run his unwearied courſe,
fhould, as it were, through a languiſhing faintnefs,
begin to ftand, and to reft himfelf; if the moon
fhould wander from her beaten way, the times and
feaſons of the year blend themſelves by difordered
and confuſed mixture, the winds breathe out their
laft gaſp, the clouds yield no rain, the earth be de-
feated of heavenly influence, and her fruits pine
away, as children at the withered breafts of their
mother, no longer able to yield them relief; what
would become of man himſelf, whom theſe things
do all now ferve;" and how would he look back
upon thoſe benefits, for which, when they were
daily
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
185
daily poured upon him in boundlefs profufion, he
forgot to be thankful?
While, therefore, we partake, in fo eminent a
degree, the benefits of civil polity, let us not be:
unmindful of our great Benefactor. Let theſe fo-
lemn occafions ferve to remind us, that there is an
intimate connection between religion and govern-
ment; that the latter flowed originally from the:
fame divine fource with the former, and was, at the:
beginning, the ordinance of the most High; that
the ſtate of nature was a ſtate of fubordination, not
one of equality and independence, in which man--
kind never did, nor ever can exiſt; that the civil
magiſtrate is "the miniſter of God to us for good;"
and that to the gracious author of every other va-
luable gift we are indebted for all the comforts and
conveniencies of fociety, during our paffage, through
this turbulent fcene, to thofe manfions, where, as
violence is no more committed, puniſhment is no
more deferved; where eternal JUSTICE hath fixed
her throne, and is for ever employed in diftribu→
ting rewards to her fubjects, who have been tried
and found faithful..
t
DISCOURSE XIII. **
THE PRODIGAL SON.
LUKE XV. 32.
It was meet that we ſhould make merry, and be glad’::
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and
was loft, and is found.
THESE words conclude the parable of the Pro-
digal Son. A parable, for its variety of incidents,.
and the affecting manner in which they are related,
remarkably beautiful, even in the letter of it. A
younger fon, gay and thoughtlefs, as youth often
is, grown weary of being in the houſe and under
the direction of a kind and tender father, defires to
have his fortune configned over to him, that he
may go out into the world, and manage for him-
felf. Having obtained his requeſt, he immediately
makes uſe of the fo much wifhed for liberty and
independency, quits the habitation of his father,
and takes his journey into a far country. Here,
falling into bad company, and ſtrong temptations,
he found his good refolutions preſently ſtaggered;
and his old principles not being firmly fixed, and
having no fupport, foon gave way to a fet of new
ones, better adapted to the times, and the fafhion
of the country he was now in. Loofe practices
were the neceffary confequence of falſe principles;
and as the paths of fin are not only flippery, but
all upon the defcent too, he fell from one wicked-
nefs
THE PRODIGAL SON.
187
•
aefs to another, plunged into all manner of riot.
and debauchery, and ſpent the laft farthing. To
complete his mifery, there arofe at that time a.
mighty famine in the land where he was; and he
was ſoon at a lofs where to get a piece of bread.
Nay, to fo great extremity was he driven by the vio-
lence of the famine, that having been forced to fub-.
mit to the very abject employment of feeding fwine,
he tried in vain to fatisfy the cravings of nature,
with the dry and empty huſks that the fwine did
eat. Thefe had nothing in them fit to nouriſh the
human body. Hungry and thirfty, his foul fain-
ted in him, and there was no man that took any ·
thought or care about him. The affliction was
fharp; but the cafe required it; and now it began
to work the intended cure. For by this time the
fenſe of his mifery had, through God's grace,
brought him to a fenfe of his folly, from which
that mifery flowed; and when he was ftarving at
night in the fields with cold and hunger, he could
not help thinking of the happy fouls he had left
behind him in his father's houfe, where there was
joy, and comfort, and plenty of every thing. In
that houſe he was once a beloved fon. But his
wickedneſs had been too great to fuffer him to hope
he fhould ever be owned there again in that capa-
city. Tribulation is the ſchool of humility, and an
excellent ſchool it is. For by it the man whoſe
pride and gaiety of heart were fuch, that he could
not bear to ſtay in the houſe where he was a fon,
became fo very meek and fubmiffive, that to be in
that fame houſe as an hired fervant, was now
the utmoſt of his wifhes. Nay, he hardly could
bring himſelf to hope, that his father would take
him in again, even as a fervant. In fear and tremb-
ling therefore he arofe, and returned to him whofe
face
1:88
THE PRODIGAL SON.
face he was yet afraid, though fo defirous to fee-
But lo, the bowels of the good old man yearned
after his loft child, and he was continually looking
out for him; fo that at his return, he ſaw him
while he was yet a great way off; and with an
heart overflowing with love and joy, ran forth to
meet him, embraced him in his arms, fell upon his
neck, and kiffed him. He would hardly ftay to
hear his humiliation of himſelf, and confeffion of
his unworthineſs, but ordered his fervants inſtant-
ly to produce the beſt robe, and put it upon him,
and to put a ring on his hand, and ſhoes on his feet,
and to bring forth the fatted calf, and kill it, that
they might eat and be merry. All this was accord-
ingly done, and now there was nothing to be heard
but mufic and melody, and the voice of joy and
thankfulneſs, in that houſe. But the elder brother,
who had lived with the father, and happened at
this time to be abroad in the field, about his bufi-
nefs, coming home and drawing near to the houſe,
was furpriſed with the noiſe of mufic and dancing;
and calling one of the fervants out, he aſked what
it meant? The fervant told him, that his long loft
brother was come home again, and that his father
had killed the fatted calf, becauſe he had received
him ſafe and found. Upon this, inſtead of parti-
cipating in the common joy, he fuffered pride and
envy to get poffeffion of his heart; he was angry,
and would not go in. Therefore came his father
out, and intreated him; to whom he complained,
that having ferved him fo long, without tranfgref-
fing at any time his commandments, he had never
had fo much as a kid given him, that he might
make merry with his friends
with his friends; but as foon as this
other fon was come, who had devoured his living
with harlots, the fatted calf had been killed for
him.
THE PRODIGAL SON.
180*
!
him. Son (fays the good old man to him) thou
art ever with me, and all that I have is thine, ſo
that thou mayeſt have a feaſt at any time, or ra-
ther indeed haft a continual feaſt; but furely, upon
fuch an extraordinary occafion as this, it was meet
that we ſhould make merry, and be glad; for this
thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was
loft, and is found.
Such is the parable of the Prodigal Son, accord-
ing to the letter. Let us now endeavour to difco-
ver the ſpirit and interpretation of this beautiful:
parable.
"A certain man had two fons.'
This father is
God himſelf, the father of both Jew and Gentile,
reprefented here, as in many other places, under
the figure of the two fons. The Jew is confidered
in Scripture as the elder; the Gentile as the young-
er. For thus, the rejection of the Jew, and the ac-
ceptance of the Gentile, were fhewed forth by the
rejection of Cain, and the acceptance of Abel; the
rejection of Ishmael, and the acceptance of Ifaac;
the rejection of Efau, and the acceptance of Jacob.
Theſe two fons, Jew and Gentile, at the begin-.
ning, lived together in their father's houfe, that is,
the church, which (as fays St Paul) is "the houſe
of the living God." There, under their father's
immediate protection, they partook alike of the di-
vine promiſes and facred fervices, and had all things.
common; and there was, for fome time, no diffe-
rence between them.
f
"But the younger fon faid unto his father, fa-
ther, give me the portion of goods that falleth to
me; and he divided unto them his living. And
not many days after, he gathered all together, and
took his journey into a far country, and ſpent his.
fubftance with riotous living." In thefe words is
deſcribed:
190
THE PRODIGAL SON.
1
deſcribed the departure of the Gentiles from God,
who having conferred his divine promifes, and in
them the riches of the kingdom of heaven, on all
alike, is faid to have " divided his living between
his two fons." The elder, the Jew, continued
with him in the church. This we know by the hif-
tory of Abraham and his pofterity, till the coming
of Chrift. But the younger, the Gentile, grow-
ing weary of the fervice of God, and fond of inde-
pendency, and the liberty of making his own reli-
gion, gathered together all the talents and abilities
beſtowed upon him, with the knowledge he had
acquired from the divine revelations and inftitu-
tions," and took his journey into a far country,"
in other words, he went out from the prefence of
God in his church, and in his heart departed far
from the Lord. Whence we often find the Gen-
tiles fpoken of, under the phrafe, "Thofe that
are A FAR OFF." Thus this poor filly prodigal be-
came (as St Paul ftiles him)" an alien from the
commonwealth of Ifrael, a ftranger from the cove-
nants of promife, having no hope, and without
God in the world." The promiſes and ſervices
carried off by him were applied to falfe objects ;.
and he foon " wafted his ſubſtance," the riches of
his underſtanding, "in riotous living," and de-
voured his eftate, the means by which his fpirit
was to be ſupported, with harlots; in a word he
fell into idolatry, which not only is itſelf ſpiritual
fornication, but opened a door to all manner of laf-
civioufnefs, by introducing it even into the temples
and ſervices of the gods. For which reafon St Paul
clofely connects them in his account of this very
tranfaction, the apoftacy of the nations, Rom. i.
"They changed the glory of the incorruptible God
into an image-WHEREFORE God alſo gave them
up
THE PRODIGAL SON.
191
up to uncleannefs." But let us proceed to confi-
der the confequences of this behaviour.
"And when he had ſpent all, there arofe a
mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in
want.
"
Having forfaken God, and loft his grace and
love, and at length all knowledge of him, he could
find nothing elſewhere but that poverty, mifery,
and want, which the fall had brought upon the
earth. This wretched ftate of the Gentile world
is pictured to us by the lively and ftriking idea of
a famine. "There aroſe a mighty dearth in that
land," a mighty dearth and ſcarcity of divine know-
ledge, which is the bread of life to the foul; for
"man doth not live by bread alone, but by the
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
A famine of this fort is thus deſcribed by the pro-
phet Amos; "Behold the days come, faith the
Lord God, that I will ſend a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirſt for water, but
of hearing the words of the Lord. And they fhall
wander from fea to fea, and from the north even
to the eaſt, they ſhall run to and fro to feek the
word of the Lord, and ſhall not find it." This
was exactly the cafe of the Gentiles, when they
had fquandered away the riches of divine know-
ledge, which they had received from their heaven-
ly father at the beginning. Then there aroſe a ſad
famine of the word of God, and they began to be
in want of fomething that would fatisfy the empty
foul. Then their philofophers and feckers after
wiſdom ran to and fro from one end of the earth
to the other, to procure a little true religious know-
ledge; but it was not to be found. And the fa-
mine was over all the face of the Gentile world,
and the land fainted by reafon of the famine. But
as
192
THE PRODIGAL SON.
3
¡
as there was no true bread of life to be procured,
the foul muſt endeavour to fatisfy itſelf with ſome
thing. Accordingly, we read of our young prodi-
gal, that,
"He went and joined himſelf to a citizen of that
country; and he fent him into his fields to feed
fwine. And he would fain have filled his belly
with the hufks which the ſwine did eat, and no
man gave unto him.”
"No man (fays Chrift) can ſerve two maſters."
But one he muſt ferve.
And if he quits the fer-
vice of God, he foon becomes a flave to the devil.
This was the cafe of the Gentile prodigal. When
he had deferted the ſervice of his heavenly father,
God Almighty, the next thing we hear of him is,
that he had joined himſelf to another maſter, name-
ly, to him who, fince he has been caft out of hea-
ven, walks up and down in the earth, feeking thoſe
who he left their old maſter and father, to hire
them into his fervice. The prodigal was in that
condition; and accordingly Satan took poffeffion of
him. For thus St Paul tells the Ephefians, that
before their converfion, they walked according
to the prince of the power of the air, the fpirit that
worketh in the children of diſobedience.” And
the defign of the Goſpel is elfewhere faid to be, to
❝turn the Gentiles from the power of Satan to
God." While they were Gentiles therefore, they
were under "the power of Satan." Now the em-
ployment which the grand adverſary of man's hap-
pinefs finds for him, when once engaged in his fer-
vice, is this. He fends him into proper fcenes of
fin and wickedrefs, vanity and folly, there to gra-
tify the defires of corrupt nature, inflaving him by
this means to his own brutiſh lufts and paflions.
This is moſt exactly deſcribed in the parable, by
the
$
{
THE PRODIGAL SON.
193.
the circumſtances of his being " fent into his maf-
ter's fields to feed fwine;" to which ravenous and
unclean animals, the infatiable, earthly lufts of con-
cupifcence are, with great propriety, refembled in
Holy Scripture. The mifery of the employment is,
that theſe lufts are never to be fatisfied. A truth
to which the heart of every finner will bear a fad
teftimony. Befides, God made the foul of man
for himſelf, and therefore bequeathed it unquiet-
nefs, till poffeffed of its maker. Vain then is
the employment of thoſe, who feek to procure
the happineſs of the foul, by indulging the appe-
tites of the body. Men are daily inventing new
fchemes to effect it, till diverfion is grown a fcience,
and amuſement become a toil. But if we ask them,
they will one and all tell us, it is not yet effected.
Something, to a man poffeffed of all that earth can
give him-Something is ftill wanting. O fools and
flow of heart to believe what the prophets and the
apoſtles have ſpoken! The comforts of religion are
wanting, and theſe they will not look after; but
ftill, copying the example of their anceſtor, the
poor Gentile prodigal, they would "fain fill their
bellies with the hufks which the fwine do eat;"
they are endeavouring to nouriſh their immortal
fpirits with the empty unfatisfying things of this
corruptible world, which are calculated for the bo
dily appetites only. But let all who have followed
this prodigal in his departure from his father, come
hither, and hearken, and he will tell them what
God hath done for his foul, and call them to fel-
low the noble example he has fet them in his re-
turn, and reconciliation.
And here, let us obferve with attention a com-
pleat deſcription of the proceſs of true repentance
and juſtification in the Gentiles, and all who are
VOL. II.
finners,
R
ހ
す
​1
194
THE PRODIGAL SON.
¿
4
finners, like them. The violence of the famine
had brought the wretched prodigal to the laſt ſtage
of diftrefs. He had tried in vain to fatisfy himſelf
with "that which was not bread. Hungry and
thirfty, his foul fainted in him, and he drew near
to the gates of death." But now the grace of God,
which leadeth to repentance, began to work upon
him. It had been ready to do fo all along; but as
It is faid of Chrift, that he "could do no mighty
works in fome places, becauſe of men's unbelief,"
fo his grace does not work upon men's minds, when
they are determined not to ſuffer it. While the
prodigal's heart was in the flutter, and hurry, and
diffipation of pleaſure and extravagance, no mighty
works of falvation could be wrought in it. But
when it was humbled by affliction, and broken with
continual tribulation, it became a proper fubject for
the operations of divine grace. Accordingly, the
good Spirit of God immediately began with his
preventing favour, and led him ſtep by ſtep, till
his repentance and reconciliating were compleated.
"And when he came to himſelf, he faid, how
many hired fervants of my father have bread en-
ough, and to fpare, and I periſh with hunger? [
will arife, and go to my father, and will fay unto
him, father, I have finned againſt heaven, and be-
fore thee, and am no more worthy to be called´
thy fon; make me as one of thy hired fervants.'
3.
A fenfe of fin is the beginning of repentance,
and a ſenſe of mifery begets a fenfe of fin. The
Gentiles (and the cafe is the fame with finners of
all ages) could not but feel the poverty and wretch-
edneſs into which they had fallen. And when a
man feels himſelf miferable, it is but
him to confider how he came to be fo.
appeared plain enough to the Gentile,
natural for
The cauſe
when en-
lightened
1
THE PRODIGAL SON:
195
lightened at firſt by the Scriptures of the Old Tef-
tament difperfed in the Septuagint verfion, and
then by the Gofpel preached through all nations.
Aided in his meditations by theſe helps, he quick-
ly, traced all his misfortunes up to the fountain
head, which was his leaving the church, the houſe
of the living God, his heavenly father. Now he
began thoroughly to comprehend the mifery of his
ftate, and to envy the happineſs of thoſe who had
continued in their father's houſe, and ferved him
day and night in his temple. They were not con-
founded in the perilous time, and in the days of
dearth they had enough, and to fpare. They feaſt-
ed ever-more at the table of their heavenly Father,
and found the light of his countenance to be life,.
and his favour and grace as a cloud of the latter
rain; while his foul was ftarving for lack of know-
ledge and truth, and frozen for want of charity.
"How many hired fervants of my father have
bread enough, and to fpare, and I perifh with
hunger?" He was now (as it is finely expreffed):
"come to himſelf," and to a remembrance of his
true condition and intereft. From the hour he left:
his father's houſe to this moment, he had been in
a dream, and found himſelf, juft awaked out of
what may be called a deep fleep, in the language
of St Paul, who thus addreffes a finner, "Awake,
thou that fleepeft, and arife." Accordingly, being
now awake, he determined inftantly to arife, and
tread back the steps by which he had departed
from his father; to make a frank and full confef-
fion to him of his paft fins? to acknowledge him--
felf utterly unworthy of any favour at his hands.;
and to declare his readinefs to fubmit to any pen-
ance, to live in any state of humiliation, that his
father fhould be pleaſed to impofe; only begging,
R. 3
+
196
THE PRODIGAL SON.
at any rate, to be admitted into the church, to
ferve him again. This refolution he had no foon-
er formed, but he made hafte, and prolonged not
the time to put it in practice. He arofe, returned
to his father, and ſaid unto him, "Father, I have
finned againſt heaven, and before thee; and am no
more worthy to be called thy fon; make me as one
of thy hired fervants." Which words, as put in
the mouth of the prodigal Gentile, returning, at
the preaching of the Goſpel, to the church of God,
the houſe of his heavenly father, may, it is appre-
hended, be thus paraphrafed-" Almighty God,
father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, maker of all things,
judge of all men; I acknowledge and bewail my ma-
nifold fins and wickednefs, which I from time to
time, from the first hour of my departure, moſt
grievouſly have committed, by thought, word, and
deed, against thy divine majefty, provoking moſt
justly thy wrath and indignation against me.
earnefily repent, and am heartily forry for thefe
my mifdoings; the remembrance of them is grie-
vous unto me; the burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, moft
merciful father. For thy fon my Lord Jefus Chrift's
fake forgive me what is paft, and grant that I may
ever hereafter ſerve and pleaſe thee in newnefs of
life, to the honour and glory of thy name, through
Jefus Chrift our Lord." This is the confeffion
which the church enjoins us poor prodigal finners
of the Gentiles to make, as often as we return from
feeding upon huſks in the world, to eat the bread
of life in our father's houfe. And a noble comment
it is upon the fhort but full confeffion of the pro-
digal in the parable. Let us now hear what was
the reception this returning penitent met with, and
confequently,
I do
THE PRODIGAL SON.
1977
confequently, what reception we fhall meet with,
when we return like him.
"But while he was yet a great way off, his fa
ther faw him, and had compaffion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kiffed him;" and while he
was confeffing his finfulness and unworthinefs, "he:
faid to the fervants, Bring forth the beft robe, and
put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and
fhoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf,
and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.. For this
my fon was dead, and is alive again; was loft, and
is found. And they began to be merry."
+
Here let all finners (and finners we all are) be-
hold the loving kindnefs of our heavenly father
to thoſe who truly repent and turn to him, as it
was diſplayed towards the Gentiles, upon their
converfion. The bowels of his mercy yearned over
them in their loft eftate; and he longed for their
return, as a father for that of his child gone from
him. When the time of life was come, he faw
them while they were yet afar off, and had com-
paffion on them, and ran forth to meet them by
the preaching of the apostle, and embraced them in
the arms of his mercy, and gave them the fure pledge-
and token of reconciliation and love, by the word
and ſpirit of his mouth. No fooner did he behold
them making their humble confeffion to him, meek--
ly kneeling upon their knees, but he ordered his
minifters to bring forth from the wardrobe of hea--
ven the beſt robe, the robe of righteouſneſs, and
garment of falvation; that fine white linen, fpot-
lefs and bright as the fun, which is the righteouf
nefs of faints, the wedding garment of the church
of the redeemed. Thefe robes the father com-
manded the minifters of his fanctuary to bring
forth, and put them on the new converts, by in--
R 3
veſting
198
THE PRODIGAL SON.
•
veſting them in baptifm with all the righteouſneſs,
merits, and graces of the Lord Jefus Chrift; giving
them, at the fame time, a lively impreffion of his
fpirit, which is the feal of adoption, a pledge of
the inheritance in heaven, an earneft of the eter
nal promiſes, a token of their efpoufals to the
Lamb of God; fignified in the parable by "put-
ting a ring on his hand." Beſtowing on them
fuch graces and affiftances as might enable them to
walk in the way of his commandments, and in the
practice of good works; to fecure themſelves from
the thorns of worldly cares, and the mire of earth-
ly pleaſures; and to tread upon ferpents and fcor-
pions, and all the power of the enemy, the devil
and his temptations; all which is defcribed by
« putting fhoes upon his feet." And lastly, the
miniſters were to prepare the Chriftian facrifice,
on which the now accepted Gentiles were to feaſt
at the table of their heavenly father, finging and.
making melody to the Lord, with angels and arch-
angels, and with all the company of heaven. ❝ 0.
fing unto the Lord a new fong: fing unto the Lord
all the earth. Sing unto the Lord: bleſs his name;.
fhew forth his falvation from day to day.. He hath
remembered his mercy and truth; his righteouf-
nefs hath he openly fhewed in the fight of the hea..
then, and all the ends of the earth have ſeen the
falvation of our God. Therefore make a joyful
noife unto the Lord all the earth, make a loud
noife, and rejoice, and fing praife. Sing unto the
Lord with the harp, with the harp and the voice
of a pfalm. With trumpets and found of cornet
make a joyful noife before the Lord the king."
Such was the joy, at the reception of the return-
ing prodigal, becauſe he who had been dead in
fin, was alive to righteoufnefs; and. he who had
been
1
7
THE PRODIGAL SON.
∙1.99·
been loft to the church for ages and generations,
was found and restored to it. Well, furely, might
they begin to be merry."
Who would not be
merry with them? Who could have any objection
to their being fo? Alas! there is one that never
would be merry with them, and to this day cannot
bear that they thould be fo, but gnafhes his teeth,
and confumes away with envy. And that is our
elder brother the Jew, whofe unreaſonable beha-
vicur upon this occafion, with the father's juft re-
proof to him, is reprefented to us in the conclud-
ing part of the parable.
"Now his elder fon was in the field; and as he
came, and drew nigh to the houſe, he heard mu-
fic and dancing. And he called one of the fer
vants, and aſked what theſe things meant? And
he faid unto him, thy brother is come, and thy
father hath killed for him the fatted calf, becauſe
he hath received him ſafe and found. And he
was angry, and would not go in; therefore came
his father out, and intreated him. And he an-
fwering, faid to his father, lo, thefe many years.
do I ferve thee, neither tranfgreffed I at any time
thy commandment, and yet thou never gaveſt mé
a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.
But as foon as this thy fon was come, who hath
devoured thy living with harlots, thou haft killed
for him the fatted calf. And he faid unto him,
Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is
thine. It was meet that we should make merry,
and be glad; for this thy brother was dead and is
alive again; and was loft, and is found.":
The Jews hearing the found of the Goſpel, and
the voice of joy and rejoicing in the church, were
continually "calling to the fervants" of God, the
apostles and firſt preachers of the word, and "af
king
PRAS =
200
THE PRODIGAL SON.
1
king what theſe things meant ?" and were always:
anſwered, as in the parable, that "their brother
was come;" that God had granted to the Gentiles
repentance unto life; that they were now come into.
the church; and the one great facrifice was offered
for them, and for all men. And are not the words
of the parable fulfilled, to this day? They are
angry, and will not come in." No, not though their
father, God Almighty, time after time came out,
and intreated by the voice of his Son, by the preach-
ing of his apoftles, by the allurements of his mer-
cies, and by the terror of his judgments. All, 'all
would not do. Their father they rebelled againſt,
his fon they crucified, his apoftles they perfecuted,
his mercies they forgot, and his judgments they de
fed. Seventeen hundred years are paft; ftill, ſtill
they are angry, and will not come in!" Their
plea is, as repreſented in the parable, that they fer-
ved God many years; that they never tranfgreffed
at any time his commandment; that God had not:
fhewed them fufficient marks of his favour; but
treated this worthlefs prodigal Gentile better than
he had treated them. A plea, every article of
which is full of pride, falfhood, and envy. Pride
is at the bottom of all. They loved to juſtify.
theinfelves by the works of the law, as St Paul fays
of them; "going about to eſtabliſh their own
righteoufnefs, by the works of the law, they did
not ſubmit themſelves to the righteoufnefs of God,
which is by faith in Jefus Chrift." Accordingly,
their plea runs altogether in the boaſting ſtrain.
Firft," They had ferved God many years.
Not
to mention how they had ferved him, it was God
that enabled them both to will, aı:d to do; ſo that
there was no room for boafting. Secondly, "They:
had never at any time tranfgreffed his command-
•
ment;'
THE PRODIGAL SON.
201
+
་
1
•
ment;" in other words, they thanked God they
were not as other men were, adulterers, fornicators,
extortioners, unjuft, or even as this prodigal Gen-
tile. Now, fuppofing all this to be true, they were
ſtill unprofitable fervants; they had done only that
which it was their duty to do. But St Stephen
convinced them that they were infamous tranfgref
fors, having indeed received the law, but not kept
it; fo that what they reckoned matter of glorying,
was in reality the ſentence of their condemnation.
In this part of their plea, therefore, there is a mix-
ture of pride and falfehood. Thirdly, "God had
not fhewed them fufficient marks of his favour."
This was falfe, for he was continually fhowering
his benefits upon them; and for many, many years,
their fleece had the dew, when all the rest of the
ground was dry. Fourthly," He treated the Gen-
tiles better than he had treated them." This was
falfe again, as well as envious; for if they would
have come in, they might have partaken with the
Gentiles in the feaſt and the joy, and been for ever
with them in the church; nor would the acceffion
of the nations have diminifhed aught from them,.
but rather it would have added an infinite increaſe
of joy and pleafure to them, had the love of God
and of their brother been in their hearts; as the
light of the fun is not leffened, but increafed, by
being reflected at once from all the innumerable
waves of the wide ocean. Indeed, the father in the
parable, ever tender, and loving, and willing to try
every way to bring them in, does not object their
tranfgreffions to them, but anfwers upon their ſtate
of the caſe; that even fuppofing they had ſerved
and obeyed him, as they faid they had, they could
never complain of wanting marks of his favour,
feeing they had ever been in his houfe," the
church,
1
X
202
THE PRODIGAL SON.
church, with him, as his children, and all that
he had was their's; for to them pertained the adop-
tion and the glory, and the covenants, and the
giving of the law, and the fervice of God, and the
promifes; their's were the fathers; and of them,
as concerning the flesh, Chrift came." Why there-
fore ſhould they be angry, becauſe the poor Gen-
tiles were fuffered to partake of theſe good things,
when they had qualified themfelves for it by repent-
ance and faith? And what fort of materials muſt
their hearts be made of, when they could not ac-
quiefce in that tender, merciful, and loving decla-
tation of their heavenly Father-" It was meet that
we ſhould make merry, and be glad; for this thy
brother was dead, and is alive again; was loft, and
is found."
33.
Beholding therefore the fad confequences of de-
parting from our Father's houſe, let us take up the
refolution of the Holy Pfalmift; "I will dwell in
the houſe of the Lord for ever. Let us think
that we hear our bleffed Mafter, aftoniſhed, as it
were, to fee himfelf forfaken by fo many of his
difciples, faying unto us, as once he did to the
twelve," Will ye alfo go away?" And let us an-
fwer with one accord, as they did by the mouth of
St Peter, "Lord, to whom ſhall we go? Thou
haft the words of eternal life." But what was it
that feduced the prodigal Gentile to leave fo graci-
ous a Father, and to quit the houſe where his glory
dwelt? What but an impatience of reftraint, a fond
defire of inependency, and of being wife above what
is written. Warned therefore by his fate, let us
love the difcipline that withholds us from fin; let
us glory (if we muſt glory) in that dependency on
our Maker, and thofe whom his providence has fet
over us, by which alone, after all, the church and.
the
THE PRODIGAL SON.
203
+
the world are fupported and preferved; and let us
at laſt learn to believe in God, and reft affured, u-
pon his word, that the wisdom of this world is as
unfatisfactory as its riches, honours, and pleaſures;
and that amidſt the greateſt abundance of them all,
"a mighty famine will arife" in the foul, for want
of more ſubſtantial food, which, if it be not reme-
died in this life, by "feeking meat from God,"
will continue to torment, in thofe regions of for-
row, where hunger and deſpair are co-eternal.
: Let the finner, whom the chaftifing hand of God
has brought to himself; whofe eyes have been ope
ned by affliction, to behold his real ſtate and con
dition; who has felt the truth which he refufed to
believe, that the world is vanity, fin and folly; let
fuch an one liften to the admonitions of confcience
and cheriſh the firſt dawnings of divine grace in his
heart; that fo the Sun of Righteoufnefs, there aris
fing, may difperfe every cloud, and caufe every
fhadow to fly away; till having by flow and imper
ceptible degrees afcended the heights of the fky, he
ftands fixed in his meridian, diffuſing on all be-
neath him the perfect day. For however darkneſs
may at prefent cover the tranfgreffor, and grofs
darkness overwhelm his foul, as once it did the
Gentile world, yet let him know, to his great and
endlefs comfort, that upon his fincere repentance
the Lord fhall arife likewife upon him, and his glo
ry fhall be feen upon him. Let him only follow
the example of the returning prodigal, and he fhall
not fail of his reward, even reconciliation, and peace,
and love, and joy, and rejoicing, in the houſe of
his heavenly Father.
Lastly, let us of the nations, whom undeferved
mercy has numbered amongst the children of God,
let us beware that we copy not after the pattern of
the
204
THE PRODIGAL SON.
·
the Jew, or envy him the glory of his future con-
verfion and reſtoration. Rather let us endeavour
to the utmoſt to forward fo happy an event. And
fince of all human means, that of fhewing him the
difpenfations of Jefus, whom his wicked hands cru-
cified, in his own Scriptures of the Old Teſtament,
is the moſt likely to contribute towards the bleffed
work, let this be an additional motive to us to ftu-
dy day and night the true import of thoſe lively o-
racles. But fince fuch a converfion as this muft
be most eminently the work of the Almighty, let
not our moſt fervent prayers be ever wanting to
him, that he would now at length look down from
heaven upon his ancient people; that he would
take from them all ignorance, hardneſs of heart,
and contempt of his word, and fo fetch them home
to his flock, that they may be faved among the
remnant of the true Ifraelites. May it be our hap-
py lot, by our prayers and labours, to haſten the
coming of that glorious day (though our eyes may
not behold it) when the elder brother fhall feel the
juft reproof of his Father piercing his inmoſt ſoul,
and be prevailed upon to lay afide his pride, envy,
and obftinacy; when the fulneſs of the Gentiles
ſhall meet with the converfion of the Jews, and the
two brothers, reconciled to their Father, and to
each other, by the blood of Jefus, fhall, with uni-
ted hearts and voices, praiſe the Lord for his good-
nefs, having each in his turn experienced, that his
mercy endureth for ever.
DISCOURSE XIV.
1
.
T
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY,
I COR. viii. I.
Knowledge puffeth up, but Charity edifieth.
IN a place dedicated to the advancement of Science,
No
and before an audience of perfons fet apart for that
purpoſe, it might feem an undertaking no lefs im-
proper than invidious, to point out its ill effects,
had not the great Doctor of the Gentiles authoriſed
fuch a proceeding, and the preſent pious and judi-
cious inftitution* demanded it at our hands.
perfon ever entertained an higher idea of true wif
dom than St Paul, who has employed the moft ex-
alted ſtrains of divine oratory, to fet forth the ex-
cellency of knowledge and underſtanding. But
yet the holy Apoftle faw, that learning makes not
the man of God perfect; that fomething may ftill
be wanting in him, who is at the top of intellectual
attainments; and that the compleat fcholar may
fall fhort, at-laft, of the kingdom of heaven. He
faw, that ſpiritual, like bodily wealth, unlefs ufed
for the benefit of others, would prove no bleffing
to its owner, ferving only to haften his fall, and in-
creaſe his condemnation. And therefore, that the
wife man might not glory in his wifdom, but fink
VOL. II.
into
S
A Benefaction left by Mr MASTERS, for two Sermons to be
preached on certain texts by him felected, tending to inculcate the
duty of Chriftian Humility, as oppoſed to the pride of ſcience, and
to point out the true nature and end of the miniſterial office.
1
2
206 KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
\
into himſelf by humility, as he rifes above others
in underſtanding, remembering always the account
he muſt make, proportionable to the talents deliver-
ed, the Apoſtle determines, that not only human
learning, but the knowledge of all prophecies and
myfteries, that is, of all the difpenfations of God,
and every truth in the Scriptures, and that know-
ledge formed into an orthodox faith, animated by
a lively hope, will profit a man nothing, if Charity,
or, divine Love, be not fuperadded, which, like the
vital heat in the human frame, may difperfe and ac-
tuate all to the edification of the body.
This is the great argument of his epiftle to the
Corinthians; a people, in whom their reputation
for polite literature, and diſtinguiſhed taſte, had
produced not a little conceit of themſelves and their
endowments. This temper and difpofition they
moſt unhappily brought with them into the church,
where, not being mortified, as it ought to have
been, by the Spirit of the meek and humble Jefus,
it began to diſplay itſelf in religious, as it had be-
fore done in fecular learning. The object was
changed, but the paffions were the fame; and Chriſt
himſelf was made the occafion of pride, envy, and
contention, among thoſe, who all alike profefſed
themſelves to be his difciples. The new converts
were foon divided into little parties, ftruggling for
the pre-eminence of their refpective leaders, like fo
many fects of philofophers, rather than zealous for
the glory of their Lord, as`members of his one uni-
verfal church. St Paul does not accuſe them of
ignorance. On the contrary, he bears them wit-
nefs, that they were "enriched with all knowledge,
and came behind in no gift;" but complains, not-
withſtanding, that they were ftill carnal; they did
not "all ſpeak the fame thing," as brethren of one
family,
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 207
1
family, and fellow members of the fame body ſhould
do, but formed themfelves into feparate factions
and fchifms; infomuch, that he feared, left, in con-
tending for Knowledge, Charity fhould have been
pulled in pieces of them, while all fought to excel
for the fake of excelling, and not to the edifying of
the church; all regarded their own glory, not the
advantage of their brethren, whom they cared not
how much they offended, fo they had but an op-
portunity of manifefting their own fuperiority.
A remarkable inſtance of this preſented itſelf in
the cafe of meat offered to an idol, concerning
which the Apoftle tells them, "they had know-
ledge;" they knew that an idol was nothing,',
and that therefore they might as well eat meat fo
offered, as any other, provided it was not brought
to them as fuch, and made a teſt of their faith.
But then he obferves, there was not in every man
that degree of knowledge. There were fome who,
through infirmity and over fcrupulouſneſs, could
not fo eat, without confidering themfves as par-
takers of an idol-facrifice. The danger therefore
was, left fuch, emboldened by the example of a
brother better eſtabliſhed in the faith, ſhould be led
to fin againſt their own confciences, and fo through
the other's greater knowledge a weak brother ſhould
periſh, for whom Chrift died, no less than for him
that was ſtronger. Knowledge, thus uſed to the
deftruction of others, could never further the fal-
vation of its poffeffor. And therefore St Paul de-
clares, that if the cafe were to be puſhed even to
the utmoſt, Charity fhould make him wave all the
privileges of his knowledge, for the edification of
his brother. "Wherefore if meat make my bro-
ther to offend, I will eat no fleſh while the world
ftandeth, left I make my brother to offend."
S. 2
Upom
208 KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
Upon this occafion it is, that he advances the
general affertion in the text, which refolves itſelf
into theſe two propofitions-
19
I. That Knowledge without Charity endeth in
pride, and confequently in the deſtruction of
him that hath it. "Knowledge puffeth up.'
II. That Charity directeth it to its proper end,
the edification of the church; "Charity
edifieth."
I. Knowledge without Charity endeth in pride;
it puffeth up, faith the Apoſtle, it produceth an in-
flation in the mind, which, like a tumour in the
body, carries the appearance of folidity, but has in
reality nothing within, and only indicates a diftem-
pered habit.
And indeed Knowledge, as well as
faith, if it be alone, is vain; it is dead. For all
knowledge is given as a means to fome end. The
means, abſtracted from their end, ceafe to be means,
and anſwer no purpoſe whatsoever. The end of
Knowledge is action. "If ye know theſe things,
happy are ye if ye do them."* Every article of the
creed involves in it a correfpondent duty, and it is
practice alone that gives life to faith, and realizes
Knowledge. What is true of human wifdom, with
regard to things temporal, is as true of divine, with
relation to things fpiritual; "Through wifdom is
an houſe builded, and by underſtanding it is efta-
blifhed, and by knowledge fhall the chambers be
filled with all precious and pleaſant riches. A wife
man is ſtrong, yea a man of knowledge increaſeth
ftrength; and by a man of underſtanding and know-
ledge the ftate of a land-fhall be prolonged."
The fcience that terminates where it begins, in
the intellect, what availeth it? Or what profit is
there in the learning, which promoteth not, in any
meaſure,
•
John xiii. 17,
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
209
meafure, the intereft either of the church or the
ftate, of which its proprietor is a member? "The
manifeſtation of the Spirit (as that Spirit himſelf
teftifies) is given to every man to PROFIT withal."
Otherwife it is of no effect, and the man becomes,
ase St Jude finely defcribes fuch a character, like
a cloud without water,” raiſed aloft, as it fhould
feem by its appearance, for the benefit of thoſe be-
neath it; but how wretchedly are they difappointed?
It fails along before the wind, proudly fwelling in
the fufficiency of its own emptinefs, inftead of drop-
ping fatneſs and plenty on the lands, over which it..
paffes. "Knowledge puffeth up." And that thi
will always be the effect of it, where Charity 19
wanting, we may fairly conclude from hence, that
it always has been fo; as fhall be evinced by an in-
duction of particulars.
But before we confider the inftances of this
truth, which have happened upon the earth, we
we mufi afcend into heaven; and if the luftre of
the object be not too ftrong for our organs, there
view the glories that once encircled Lucifer, the:
fon of the morning, the bright leader the ar-
mies above, firft,- as in command, fo in the great-
nefs of his Knowledge. What the prophet Ezekiel
fays of the prince of Tyre, feems primarily appli-
cable to him. "He fealed up the fum, full of
wiſdom, and perfect in beauty. He was perfect in
his ways from the day that he was created, till ini-
quity was found in him."+ Confined not, like
man, within the bounds of a material creation, or
limited to ideas framed by analogy from fenfe, he:
beheld, without a glafs, the wonders of the king--
dom of heaven, and faw, face to face, the eternal!
power and Godhead of him who made him. He
Law
1 Cor. xii. 7.-
S 3
† Ezek. xxviii. 12.-
110 KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
23.
faw, he knew; but he loved not. "His heart
was lifted up becauſe of his beauty, and he cor-
rupted his wifdom by reaſon of his brightnefs."
Conceit of his own excellency made him difdain.
the thought of man, in the perfon of the Meffiah,
being exalted over him, and he became, from the
beginning, an oppofer of the gracious counſel of in-
finite Love to redeem the human race.
The pro-
mulgation of this counfel before the world, is af
figned by fome divines, as the time of the angels"
fall; that being moft probably the ground of the
war begun in heaven against the head, and fince-
rried on upon earth againſt the members. * But
however this be, certain it is, that through pride-
he fell. A proof to the learned of all ages, that
Knowledge, without Charity, will turn a good an-
gel into an evil one; an admonition to them, not
to expect that that alone ſhould put man in pofſeſ-
fion of heaven, which, becauſe it was alone, caft
Lucifer himself out of it.
Yet is has all along been the fatal mistake,.
and the Tree of Knowledge ftill proved the ocafi-
on of all. Next to the majefty of Lucifer at the:
head of the angelic legions, was, the glory of A-
dam, the Lord of this lower world, in Paradife..
Formed in the image of his Maker, to have domi-
nion over the creation, he was repleniſhed, for
that purpoſe, with the treaſures of wiſdom from.
above; and the magnificence of his palace, great:
as it was, bore no proportion to the riches of his
underſtanding. "He was in Eden the garden of
God, every precious ftone was his covering, the
fardius, topaz, and the diamond;, the beryl, the
onyx, and the jafper; the faphire, the emerald,
and
* See Mr LESLEY's Hiftory of Sin and Herefy, in the firſt vo
lume of his Theological Works..
•
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 212
1
and the carbuncle, and gold."* He had a perfect
knowledge of the nature, ufe, properties, and ope
rations of the creatures; expreffed in the names
impoſed by him. Nor ftaid his wifdem here, but
in the things that were made he beheld reflected,.
as in a faithful mirror, the inviſible things of God,
who had taught him fo to do. With him he con-
verfed frequently, as a man with his friend, in the
holy fanctuary of Eden; that happy feat of inftruc
tion, contemplation, and devotion, framed, after
the example of heavenly things, like the tabernacle,.
the temple, and the church, which have fince the fal
fupplied, and are to fupply, its place in the wo
till all fhall be fully reftored at the reſurrection of
the juft. There lived our firſt parent a life which
we are now little able to conceive; a life not much
fhort of angelical perfection, antedating by holi-
nefs, in the earthly copy, the felicity referved for
him, in the heavenly original. But man, though
placed by God in the ſtate of honour, did not con-
tinue in it. Knowledge was the temp on; and
even in Paradiſe it proved but to fucfsful. It
wrought deftruction, we find, ⇓prite. "The
ferpent, fays Eve, beguiled me;" or, as it is in:
the original, elated, puffed me up. He perfuaded-
her, it was not as God had faid; fhe" muſt know
better: Revelation was an impofition upon the
rights and liberties of the human underſtanding,
and the command evidently contrary to the nature
and reaſon of things; for "the faw the tree was,
pleaſant to the eyes and good for food, and a tree to
be defired to make one wife." Wiſdom was to be-
-be acquired by a proper exertion of her faculties,
and knowledge to be attained, without being obli-
ged for it to the Revelation of God. Thus was fhe
deluded
Ezek. xxviii. 13.
.השיאני *
712
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
*
deluded into fcepticiſm under the notion of a Free
Enquiry, and induced to renouuce God and hea-
ven, as her feducer had done before her, upon the
principles of the first philofophy; hereby furniſhing
us with another fad proof, that Knowledge, with-
out Charity, endeth in pride, and the deftruction
of the perſon who is poffeffed of it.
Were we to confider the feveral apoftafies of
mankind, after their reſtoration by the promife of
a Redeemer, and the eſtabliſhment of the church
upon that promife, it might perhaps appear, that
all the fruits of error and vice have fprung from
the fame root of bitterneſs. But as St Paul, con-
cluding all under fin, has divided the world into
Jew and Gentile, it may fuffice to take a curfory
view of each.
To begin with the Gentiles, of whofe fall the
Apoftle gives this account. "When they knew
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their fooliſh heart was darkened. Profeffing
themfelves to be wife, they became fools." Lack
of Knowledge, therefore, was not their original.
fault; "they knew God;" for that knowledge
was univerfal in the family of Noah; and though
depraved, it could not be quite extinguiſhed for
many generations. But Knowledge in the under-
ftanding, for want of Charity in the heart, did not
operate to a holy obedience;" When they knew
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
were thankful." The truth, held, or detained in
unrighteouſneſs, and impriſoned in an unholy con-
fcience, paffed not from their minds into their ac-
tions, that God might be glorified thereby, and
fome return made to him (for ſuch he is pleaſed to
efteem
Rom. i. 21.
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
113
efteem it) by the gratitude of his creatures. In-
ftead of this, they were filled with fantaſtic dreams
of their own perfection, which put them upon dif-
puting with each other for place and precedence in
Knowledge. "They became vain in their imagi-
nations, rois diaλogies, their altereating reafonings."
They wrangled upon every fubject, till at length
the moſt knowing among them gave up all for loſt.
Their learning confifted in being able to recount
the various errors of preceding philofophers, and
all that wiſdom could do, was to deny the exiſtence
of truth. Thus it was, that "their fooliſh heart
was darkened." The light which they had abufed
fhone no more; the Sun of Revelation fet, by
their departure from it; the knowledge tranfinit-
ted by tradition gradually died away like the twi-
light, and a long night of darknefs and blindneſs
of heart fucceeded. The world by wifdom, and
the efforts of its own reaſon, knew God no more.
Wiſdom indeed was what the philofophers ftill con-
tinued to profeſs; but "profefling to be wife, they
became FOOLS;" and all may profit by their expe
rience, which confirms the truth of the apoftolical
affertion in the text, that " Knowledge puffeth up.”
Let us now turn our eyes towards the Jew. Be-
hold him, the fon of Abraham, and heir of the pro-
mifes, inveſted with the priviledges of God's chofen,
"having the form of knowledge, and of the truth
in the law," which he not only ftudies, but carries
about, as a perpetual monitor, upon the borders.
of his garments, zealous for it, even to madnefs.
Yet behold. him become an outcaft of heaven and
earth, his law abrogated, his city burnt to afhes,
himſelf a fugitive and a vagabond, without king,
prieft, prophet, temple, or habitation, a by-word
and an hifling among all the nations of the earth.
Who
•
114
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
Who is not curious to enquire into the cauſe of
fuch aftonishing mifery, fuch unprecedented cala-
mities? The caufe is this. Knowledge puffed him
up; his privileges became an occaſion of boaſting
himſelf againſt his brethern, and envy eat out his
Charity. "Going about to eſtabliſh his own right-
coufnefs," upon the ſtrength of his own wiſdom, he
rejected the Lord his righteouſneſs, and nailed him,
who is the fource of wifdom, to the crofs, perfe-
cuting to the death all who offered to preach that
righteouſneſs, and teach that wifdom, to,a finful
and ignorant world.
When the diſtinction of Jew and Gentile ceafed,
and one church (for that reafon called Cathiloc)
comprehended within its pale the believers of both
denominations, knowledge puffed men up into he-
retics and fchifmatics. Pride made them rather
Ichufe to fee themſelves exalted at the head of a
faction, then the church edified by their labours in
an inferior ſtation. This was the cafe in the church
of Corinth, and has been the cauſe of every herefy
and fchifm fince. Novices, and perfons whofe
heads are filled with religious notions, while their
hearts and affections are not yet fubdued by Charity,
are apt to fancy themſelves formed for fomething
great and extraordinary. They think it matter of
general lamentation, that talents like their's fhould
be buried in obfcurity. And therefore, fince they
cannot prefide in the church, they are determined
to prefide out of it.
Theſe inſtances, it is prefumed, are fufficient to
evince, that" Knowledge puffeth up ;" Knowledge,
I mean, without Charity; for had that accompaini-
ed it, all theſe things had never happened. Cha- .
rity had kept Lucifer fhining in his ſtation, and
rejoicing in the falvation of the human race. Cha-
rity
th
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 115
man.
rity had prevented the tranfgreffion and fall of
Charity had employed the knowledge of the
Gentile in glorifying God who gave it, and that of
the Jew in promoting the kingdom of the Meffiah,
and the converfion of his brethren; and Charity,
among the members of Chrift's body, had prefer-
ved it in peace and unity. But to fhew more at
large that it is Charity which, directeth Knowledge
to its right end, the edification of the church, was
the
II. Thing propofed. And this will be beft done,
by fetting before you fome inftances, the reverſe of
the foregoing.
1
If therefore we afcend a fecond time into heaven,
we ſhall find that the principle which oppofed and
triumphed over the Knowledge of Lucifer, inflated
by pride, was the wiſdom of God actuated by Love.
Praiſe and glory are due from man to all the divine
attributes, for all were concerned in effecting his
redemption. Wiſdom contrived, and power ex-
ecuted; but Love fet all to work, Love perfected and
crowned the whole. "The Lord is a God of
Knowledge;" but it was Love which communicated
that knowledge to mankind; which made the eter-
nal Wiſdom to " rejoice in the habitable part of
the earth, and delight to be with the fons of men."
He is a God of power; but that could only terrify
us, till Love employed it againſt our enemies. For
which reaſon, when the Pfalmift fingeth, "Great
is our Lord, and great is his power, yea and his
wiſdom is infinite;" he crowneth all by adding;
"The Lord is loving unto every man, and his mer-
cy is over all his works." Pride would have uſed
Knowledge to the aggrandizing itſelf at the expence
of others; but Love turned it to the advancement
of others, by humiliation of itſelf. The accufer of
ม
man
116
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
man was caft down, and man, in the perſon of the
Meffiah, exalted to an union with God. The
Knowledge, which terminated in itſelf, funk into
the loweſt hell; while that, which fought the
good of others, took its feat at the right hand of the
moft High. The Knowledge of Satan puffed him
up, to the deſtruction of himſelf and his adherents;
the Love of God built up the church of the redeem-
ed, untoſalvation and glory everlaſting.
To reverfe the fad effects of a vain thirft after
Knowledge in our firft parent, divine Love became
incarnate, and appeared upon earth in a bodily fhape,
in the form and faſhion of a man, "That which
was from the beginning the diſciples heard, they
faw with their eyes, and their hands handled the
Word of life." All that he did, and all that he
fuffer, he did and fuffered, becauſe he loved us,
for the good of his church. Not for his own ad-
vantage, but for us men, and for our falvation,
he came down from heaven; and becauſe he had
taken upon him to deliver man, therefore he did
not abhor the virgin's womb. For the uncircum-
cifion of our hearts he underwent circumcifion;
and to wash away our pollutions, he was baptized.
Becauſe man, by the temptation of Knowledge, was
feduced to infidelity and difobedience, he encoun-
tered and overcame the temper by the word of
God, and by Love, keeping the commandments.
Jehovah by his prophet Ifaiah had foretold of him,
"By his knowledge fhall my righteons fervant juf-
tify meny." The end of his Knowledge was to be
the juſtification of his chofen. And the promiſe
was fulfilled. For having " increafed in wifdom,
he went about doing good." His learning pro-
duced not a morofe felf-complacency, but a lovely
affability, and a deſire to teach others the glad
tidings
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 217
tidings of joy. The treaſures of wiſdom and know-
ledge were not fuffered to ruft and canker, locked
up from the public by a fupercilious refervednefs,
but out of them he continually diſperſed abroad,.
and gave to the poor in ſpirit. Of thoſe who came
to him he rejected none, and went to thoſe who
came not. The fun at its rifing found the good
fhepherd engaged in the care of his flock, and af-
ter it was fet he did not forget them; but fpent
his nights in praying for thofe, whom his days
were employed in teaching. If his wiſdom inftruc
ted the ignorant, and counfelled the doubtful, his
power afforded relief to the broken in heart, and
diſeaſed in body, forgiving all their fins, and heal-
ing all their infirmities. His unwearied diligence
in acting can only be equalled by his invincible pa-
tience in fuffering. Behold him defpifed and re-
jected of men, a man of forrows, and acquainted
with grief. Behold him without guile, condemned
for an impoftor; without fin, fuftaining the puniſh-
ment due to all the fin that ever was committed.
He was wounded, but it was for our tranfgreffions;
he was bruifed, but our iniquities bruifed him. He
carried our forrows, becauſe he bore our fins, in
his own body on the tree. There Love regained
what pride had loft, and the wound made in our
nature by the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, was
healed by the leaves of the Tree of Life. The
gates of Paradife were again unbarred, and the
kingdom of heaven opened to all believers.
·
▼
To combat the vain wifdom of the Greek, and
the ſelf-juftifying arrogance of the Jew, the Apof-
tles were fent forth. "The Lord gave the Word,
great was the company of thofe who publifhed it.":
The Philiftine held not David in greater contempt,
than was poured upon them by the Scribe and the
T
diſpute
218
KNOWLEEGE AND CHARITY.
}
1
The
difputer of this world. But they went to the at-
tack, as David did, " in the name of the Lord of
hofts;" and therefore the ſpear and the ſhield were
of no account againſt them. God was with them,
no less than with Ifrael before Jericho. Again the
trumpet founded, the walls again fell flat.
ftrong holds of falſe knowledge could not ſtand be-
fore the Gospel, and human imagination was foon
captivated to the obedience of Chrift. Blafted by
the lightning of infpired eloquence, the arm of falſe
philoſophy withered, and loft all its hold on the
minds of men. Then kings with-their armies did
flee, and were diſcomfited. They were affembled
against the church, as clouds, in black and dark
array, portending her utter deftruction; but at
God's rebuke they fled; at the voice of his word,
more powerful than the thunder in the heavens,
they paffed by together. They faw the effects of
it, and fo they marvelled; they were troubled, and
hafted away. They acted the parts affigned them
for a time, and then diſappeared from the ſtage for
ever. The Roman empire wondered to fee itfelf
Chriſtian; to ſee the croſs exalted in triumph over
the globe, and the kingdoms of this world become
the kingdoms of our Lord and his Chriſt. But
what was it that gained this victory over the pride
of earth and hell? What, but the fame a-fuffer-
ing, and therefore all-fubduing Charity, which
taught the diſciples of a crucified Jefus, after his
example, to endure all things for the falvation of
their brethren? Infpired with that love, they count-
ed all things, which the world could give them,
but lofs, that they might win fouls to Chrift. They
renounced all riches, but the riches of grace; they
fought no pleaſure, but that of doing their duty;
and thought it honour fufficient to ferve God. La
bour,
}
豐
​}
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 、
219
bour, with perfecution, they choſe for their por-
tion on earth; and looked for their advancement,
with their Mafter, in the kingdom of heaven. The
lamp, kindled in their hearts by the celeftial fire of
charity, never went out; the many waters of afflic-
tion could not quench it, neither could the floods
of perfecution drown it: and when the fury of the
oppreffor broke the earthen veffel that contained
it, then was their victory, like that of Gideon,.
compleat.
If, in the last place, we view the unity of the.
primitive church, as oppofed to the fad divifions:
and diftractions fince produced by herefy and fchifm,
it will appear, that Charity built up that folid and
durable edifice, fo different from the airy fantaſtic
ftructures of men puffed up in their fleſhly minds.
As, to the formation of the church, the Spirit de-
fcended upon the difciples, when "they were all
with one accord in one place," fo, in like manner,
after more were added to them, it is remarked, for
our inftruction, that "the multitude of the belie-
vers were of one heart and one mind." The Spi-
rit of unity knit all the, members together, info-
much, that if one member fuffered, the reft fym--
pathized with it, and the honour of one was the
glory of all. Each had its diftinct office in a due
fubordination, but all confpired to preferve and
fupport the body, to which all were neceffary.
And thus they" grew up into him in all things who
is thehead, even Chrift, from whom the whole body
fitly joined together, and compacted by that which
every joint fupplieth, according to the effectual
working in the meafure of every part, made in-
creafe of the body to the edifying itſelf in Love.'
Wherefore, feeing we are compaffed about with
fo great a cloud of witneffes to the truth of both
T 2.
the
220
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY.
the propofitions contained in the text, all the inha-
bitants of heaven, and the generations of men, and
the fpirits in the infernal priſon, being engaged on
the fide of one or other of them, what remains,
but that we endeavour to efcape the puniſhment,
by avoiding the crime, of thoſe who bear a mourn-
ful teftimony to the truth of the former; and that
we afpire after the reward, by copying the exam-
ple, of thoſe who joyfully atteft the certainty of
the latter. It is our happineſs to live in an Uni-
verfity, endowed by the liberality of founders and
benefactors, for our improvement in Knowledge.
As fuch fhe has long flourished, and her renown
has gone forth into all lands. Long may fhe fo
flouriſh, even to the years of many generations,
and lift up her facred towers, as long as the fun
and the moon fhall endure, above all her enemies
round about: never reduced to the neceffity of ſub-
fifting upon her former reputation, but ftill, reap-
ing a freſh harveſt from the learning of her chil-
dren. Upon them all eyes are turned. The ad-
vantages they enjoy of devotion, folitude, leifure,
and a mutual intercourſe of ſtudy-advantages ex-
tolled and envied by all, but fuch as have neglect-
ed to uſe them-loudly call upon them to be ever
vigilant, and moft exceedingly zealous for the in-
tereſt and honour of their common parent; to ſee
that the decline not with a declining world, nor
become infected with the corrupt and erroneous
principles of a licentious and ungodly age; but that
The follow after fuch a Knowledge as may profit,
and ufe that Knowledge aright unto edification.
For if even the Knowledge that can fave, works
deftruction, unlefs brought into action by Charity,
what fhall we fay, in the day when we are judged,
fhould we be found to have laboured after a Know
ledge
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY. 221
ledge that cannot fave? - Our founders (let it never
be forgotten) were the difciples of the Lord Jefus
Chriſt, and the friends of mankind; and if ever
the glory of the one, and the good of the other di-
rected the actions of any men, they certainly were
the motives of planting thefe illuftraious femina-
ries of truth and piety. Let the Knowledge that
tends to promote this bleffed end, fuch a Know-
ledge as Charity may employ to the uſe of edifying,
be therefore the grand fubject of all our ftudies,
and the daily entertainment of our moſt ſerious
thoughts. This wiſdom is the principal thing,
therefore let us get it; and with all our gettings
let us get this underſtanding. And when, in the
well spent hours of a ftudious retirement, we fhall
have fecured the inestimable treaſure, let Charity
go forth, and diſperſe it abroad. For fo the blef-
fed faint of this day, having been trained to know-
ledge in the fchool of folitude, was called forth to
action upon the theatre of the world. Sequefter-
ed, for a ſeaſon, from the fcenes of vanity and ini-
quity, he paffed his firſt years in the receffes of the
defert, under the diſcipline of the Holy Ghoſt, the
tuition of angels, and in converfation with God by
meditation and prayer. But when, in the provi-
dential difpofition of men and things, the day came
for his "thewing unto Ifrael," then he brake forth
like a ſtream from the bowels of the earth, or the
fun from a cloud, to refreſh the thirfty foul with
the glad tidings of the Goſpel, and enlighten the
world with the glorious truths of the kingdom of
heaven. Hereby fhewing us, that Knowledge and
Charity, between them, make up the character of
a miniſter of Chrift. Charity cannot edify without
Knowledge; nor will Knowledge edify without
Charity. Let our retirement, therefore, refemble:
that
222
KNOWLEDGE AND CHARITY:
i
that of the Baptift, that our manifeſtation alſo may
be like his, and that as our Charity abounds in
Knowledge, our Knowledge may not be unfruitful
in Charity. So fhall we efcape the condemnation
of the heretic and fchifmatic, by adhering to the
communion of the faithful; avoid the philofophi-
cal pride of the Gentile, and the pharifaical felf-
fufficiency of the Jew, by writing after the copies
of the Apoftles; guard againſt the fin of our firſt
parent, by an imitation of Jefus Chrift; and final-
ly inherit the thrones of the fallen angels, by an.
union with the God of Love. To which bleffed
eſtate may God of his infinite mercy bring us all,.
by the means of that Knowledge which worketh by
Love, unts the edification of his church, and his
own glory, through Jefus Chrift our Lord..
THE END..
1
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
}
3 9015 06391 2706
PROPERTY OF
University of
Michigan
Libraries
13
317.
VERITAS
A 555401