OF THEIR ANTECEDENT AND CONSEQUENT BLESSINGS.

covenant of the Lord your God." Verse 24: (Thr.) "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire." Verse 25:

"When ye shall corrupt yourselves, and do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God." Verse 26: "I call heaven and earth to witness, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land." Verse 34:

(Ant.) "Hath God assayed to go, and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by signs and wonders," &c., &c. Verse 39, 40: (Duty) “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above," &c. "Thou shalt keep, therefore, his statutes and his commandments, (Cons.) that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee," &c. Deut. v.. 6, 7:

(Ant.) "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." (Duty) "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," &c. Verse 29: "O that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, (Cons.) that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever." Verse 33 (Duty) "You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, (Cons.) that ye may live, and that it may be well with you," &c. Chap. vi. 21: (Ant.) "We were Pharaoh's bondmen, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt," &c. Verse 24 (Duty) "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, (Cons.) for our good always, that he might preserve us alive," &c. Chap. vii. 6, 7, 8:

(Ant.) "Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself: the Lord loved you and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen." Verse 9: (Duty) "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God," &c. Verse 11: "Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments which I command thee this day, to do them." Verse 12, 13, 18: (Cons.)" Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee," &c. Chap. viii. 2:

(Ant.) "Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee," &c. Verse 5: "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Verse 6: (Duty) "Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him." Verse 11: "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God," &c. Verse 19: (Thr.) "And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish." Chap. x. 15:

(Ant.) "The Lord hath a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people." Verse 12, 16: (Duty) "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart," &c. Verse 22: (Ant.) "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." Chap. xi. 1, 8: (Duty) "Therefore shalt thou love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge," &c. Verse 13, 14: "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments," &c., (Cons.) "that I will give you the rain of your land," &c. Verse 26: "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord; and a curse, if ye will not obey," &c. Chap. xii. 28: (Duty) "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, (Cons.) that it may go well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou hast done that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God;" Chap. xiii. 17, 18; xv. 4, 5. xxvii. 9, 10:

(Ant.) "Take heed and hearken, O Israel: this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. (Duty) Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments," &c. Chap. xxviii. 1: "And it shall come to pass, if thou hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do his commandments, (Cons.) that the Lord will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city," &c. Verse 15: (Thr.) "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments and his statutes, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee," &c. Verse 45: "Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee till thou be destroyed, because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God;" Chap. xxix. 2, 10. xxx. 15-18: (Duty) "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, (Cons.) that thou mayest live and multiply; and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (Thr.) But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish."

53. Whosoever peruses the first sixteen, and the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-first, and thirty-second chapters of Deuteronomy, will clearly see that all the privileges, honours, instructions, protec tions, &c., which were given them as a select body of men, were intended as motives to obedience; which, if thus wisely improved, would bring upon them still farther blessings. Thus God drew them to duty and virtue by his loving-kindness. Jer. xxxi. 3: "He drew them with cords of a man, (such considerations as are apt to influence the rational nature,) and with the bands of love;" Hos. xi. 4. But if they were disobedient, and did not make a right use of God's benefits and favours, then they were subjected to a curse, and should perish. And this is so evident from this single book that I shall not need to heap together the numerous quotations which might be collected from other parts of Scripture, particularly the prophetic writings. Only I may farther establish this point by observing, that, in fact, though all the Israelites in the

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THE JEWISH ECONOMY ESTABLISHED FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANKIND: wilderness were the people, children, and chosen of God; all entitled to the Divine blessing, and partakers of the several instances of his goodness; yet, notwithstanding all their advantages and honours, when they were disobedient to his will, distrustful of his power and providence, or revolted to the worship of idol gods, great numbers of them fell under the Divine vengeance; Exod. xxxii. 8, 27, 28; Num. xi. 4, 5, 6, 33; xvi. 2, 3, 32, 35, 41, 49; xxi. 5, 6. And though they had all a promise of entering into the land of Canaan, yet the then generation, from twenty years old and upwards, for their unbelief, were, by the righteous judgment of God, excluded from the benefit of that promise: they forfeited their inheritance, and died in the wilderness; Num. xiv. 28-36; Heb. iii. 7, &c.

54. From all this it appears that all the high privileges of the Jews before mentioned, and all the singular relations in which they stood to God, as they were saved, bought, redeemed by him; as they were his called and elect; as they were his children whom he begot, created, made, and formed; his sons and daughters, born to him; his heritage, church, house, and kingdom; his saints, whom he sanctified; his vine or vineyard, which he planted; his sheep and flock;-I say these, and such like honours, advantages, and relations, as they are assigned to the whole body, do not import an absolute final state of happiness and favour of any kind; but are to be considered as displays, instances, and descriptions of God's love and goodness to them, which were to operate as a mean, a moral mean, upon their hearts. They were, in truth, motives to oblige and excite to obedience; and only when so improved, became final and permanent blessings; but neglected, or misimproved, they were enjoyed in vain, they vanished and came to nothing; and wicked Israelites were no more the objects of God's favour than wicked heathens. Amos ix. 7, speaking of the corrupt Jews : “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord."

55. And upon the whole, we may from the clearest evidence conclude that the selecting the Jewish nation from the rest of the world, and taking them into a peculiar relation to God, was a scheme for promoting true religion and virtue in all its principles and branches, upon motives adapted to rational nature; which principles and branches of true religion are particularly specified in their law. And to this end, no doubt, every part of their constitution, even the ceremonial, was wisely adapted, considering their circumstances, and the then state of the world.

56. The love of God, as it was the foundation and original of this scheme, so it was the prime motive in it. God began the work of salvation among them, antecedently to any thing which they might do, on their part, to engage his goodness. They did not first love God; but God first loved them their obedience did not first advance towards God; but his mercy first advanced towards them, and saved, bought, redeemed them; took them for his people, and gave them a part in the blessings of his covenant. And as for his displeasure, they were under that only consequentially; or after they had neglected his goodness, and abused the mercy and means, the privileges and honours, which they enjoyed. This, I think, must appear very evident to any one who closely and maturely deliberates upon the true state of the Jewish Church.

Thus, and for those ends, not excluding others before or afterwards mentioned, the Jewish constitution was erected.

§ IV. The Jewish peculiarity not prejudicial to the rest of Mankind; the Jewish Economy being established for the Benefit of the World in general.

57. But although the Father of mankind was pleased, in his wisdom to erect the foregoing scheme, for promoting virtue and preserving true religion in one nation of the world, upon which he conferred particular blessings and privileges; this was no injury nor prejudice to the rest of mankind. For, as to original favours, or external advantages, God, who may do what he pleases with his own, bestows them in any kind or degree, as he thinks fit. Thus he makes a variety of creatures; some angels in a higher sphere of being, some men in a lower. And, among men, he distributes different faculties, stations, and opportunities in life. To one he gives ten talents, to another five, to another two, and to another one, severally as he pleases; without any impeachment of his justice, and to the glorious display and illustration of his wisdom. And so he may bestow different advantages and favours upon different nations, with as much justice and wisdom as he has placed them in different climates, or vouchsafed them various accommodations and conveniencies of life. But, whatever advantages some nations may enjoy above others, still God is the God and Father of all; and his extraordinary blessings to some are not intended to diminish his regards to others. He erected a scheme of polity and religion for promoting the knowledge of God, and the practice of virtue in one nation; but not with a design to withdraw his goodness or providential regards from the rest. God has made a variety of soils and situations; yet he cares for every part of the globe; and the inhabitants of the North Cape, where they conflict a good part of the year with night and extreme cold, are no more neglected by the universal Lord, than those who enjoy the perpetual summer and pleasures of the Canary Isles. At the same time God chose the children of Israel to be his peculiar people in a special covenant, he was the God of the rest of mankind, and regarded them as the objects of his care and benevolence. Exod. xix. 5: "Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; , although all the earth is mine." So it should be rendered. Deut. x. 14, 15: "Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth with all that therein are. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day." Verse 17, 18: "For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a

THE JEWISH DISPENSATION PERFECTED BY THE GOSPEL.

mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, (or is no respecter of persons, Acts x. 34, through partiality to one person or one nation more than another,) nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.” A stranger was one who was of any other nation beside the Jewish. Psa. cxlvi. 9: “The Lord preserveth the strangers ;” viii. 1 ; xix. 1, 2, 3, 4; xxiv. 1. xxxiii. 5: “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Verse 8: "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." Ver. 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Verse 13: "The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth; he fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works." xlvii. 2, 8: "The Lord most high is a great king over all the earth. God reigneth over the heathen;" lxvi. 7; cvii. 8, 15, 21. cxlv. 9: "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Many more passages might be brought out of the Scriptures of the Old Testament to show that all the nations of the earth were the object of the Divine care and goodness; at the same time that he vouchsafed a particular and extraordinary providence towards the Jewish nation.

58. And, agreeably to this, the Israelites were required to exercise all benevolence to the Gentiles, or strangers; to abstain from all injurious treatment; to permit them to dwell peaceably and comfortably among them; to partake of their blessings; to incorporate into the same happy body, if they thought fit; and to join in their religious solemnities. Exod. xxii. 21: "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him;" xxii. 9, 12. Lev. xix. 10: "Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger; I am the Lord your God;" xxiii. 22. xix. 33, 34: "And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born amongst you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." XXV. 35: "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner; that he may live with thee." Num. xv. 14, 15: "And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so shall he do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations; as ye are, so shall the stranger be, before the Lord." Deut. xxvi. 11, 12: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you;" Ezek. xxii. 7, 29.

59. And not only were they required to treat strangers, or men of other nations, with kindness and humanity; but it appears from several parts of Scripture that the whole Jewish dispensation had respect to the nations of the world. Not, indeed, to bring them all into the Jewish Church, (that would have been impracticable as to the greatest part of the world,) but to spread the knowledge and obedience of God in the earth. Or, it was a scheme which was intended to have its good effects beyond the pale of the Jewish enclosure, and was established for the benefit of all mankind. Gen. xii. 3: “And in thee (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed." xxii. 18" And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Exod. vii. 5: "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel." ix. 16: "And indeed for this very cause have I raised thee (Pharaoh) up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name shall be declared throughout all the earth;" xv. 14; Lev. xxvi. 45; Num. xiv. 13, 14, 15.

60. But though the Jewish peculiarity did not exclude the rest of the world from the care and beneficence of the universal Father; and though the Jews were commanded to exercise benevolence towards persons of other nations; yet, about the time when the Gospel was promulgated, the Jews were greatly elevated on account of their distinguishing privileges: they looked upon themselves as the only favourites of Heaven, and regarded the rest of mankind with a sovereign contempt, as nothing, as abandoned of God, and without a possibility of salvation, unless they should incorporate, in some degree or other, with their nation. Their constitution, they supposed, was established for ever, never to be altered, or in any respect abolished. the true and only Church, out of which no man could be accepted of God; and consequently, unless a man submitted to the law of Moses, how virtuous or good soever he were, it was their belief he could not be saved. He had no right to a place in the Church, nor could hereafter obtain life.

§ V. The Jewish peculiarity was to receive its perfection from the Gospel.

They were

61. But the Jewish dispensation, as peculiar to that people, though superior to the mere light of nature, which it supposed and included, was but of a temporary duration, and of an inferior and imperfect kind, in comparison of that which was to follow, and which God from the beginning (when he entered into covenant with Abraham, and made the promise to him) intended to erect, and which he made several declarations under the Old Testament that he would erect, in the proper time, as successive to the Jewish dispensation, and, as a superstructure, perfective of it. And as the Jewish dispensation was erected by the ministry of a much nobler hand, even that of the Son of GOD, the Messiah, foreordained before the world was made, promised to Abraham, foretold by the prophets, and even expected by the Jews themselves, though under no just conceptions of the end of his coming into the world. He was to assume and live in a human body, to declare the truth and grace of God more clearly and expressly to the Jews, to exhibit a pattern of the most perfect obedience, and

THE JEWISH DISPENSATION PERFECTED BY THE GOSPEL.

to be obedient even unto death in compliance with the will of God.*

When Christ came into the world, the Jews were ripe for destruction: but he published a general indemnity for the transgressions of the former covenant, upon their repentance; and openly revealed a future state, as the true land of promise, even eternal life in heaven. Thus he confirmed the former covenant with the Jews as to the favour and blessing of God; and enlarged, or more clearly explained it, as to the blessings therein bestowed; instead of an earthly Canaan, revealing the resurrection from the dead, and everlasting happiness and glory in the world to come.

62. That the Gospel is the Jewish scheme enlarged and improved, will evidently appear, if we consider that we, Gentiles, believing in Christ, are said to be incorporated into the same body with the Jews; and that believing Jews and Gentiles are now become one, one flock, one body in Christ. John x. 16: "And other sheep I have which are not of this (the Jewish) fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, (so the word Tоμνη signifies, and so our translators have rendered it in all the other places where it is used in the New Testament. See Matt. xxvi. 31; Luke ii. 8; 1 Cor. ix. 7. And here also it should have been translated flock, not fold,) and one shepherd." 1 Cor. xii. 13: "By one Spiri are we all baptized in one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles." Gal. iii. 28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus;" that is, under the Gospel dispensation. Ephes. ii. 14, 15, 16: “For he is our peace, who has made both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, (Jews and Gentiles.) Having abolished by his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby."

63. And that this union or coalition between believing Jews and Gentiles is to be understood of the believing Gentiles being taken into that Church and covenant in which the Jews were before the Gospel dispensation was erected, and out of which the unbelieving Jews were cast, is evident from the following considerations.

Rom. iv. 16, 17:

64. First, that Abraham, the head or root of the Jewish nation, is the father of us all. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, (the Jews,) but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, (the believing Gentiles,) who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed;" that is to say, in the account and purpose of God, whom he believed, he is the father of US ALL. Abraham, when he stood before God and received the promise, did not, in the account of God, appear as a private person, but as the father of us all; as the head and father of the whole future Church of God, from whom we were all, believing Jews and Gentiles, to descend; as we were to be accepted and interested in the Divine blessing and covenant after the same manner as he was, namely, by faith. Gal. iii. 6, &c.: "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. For the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify (would take into his Church and covenant) the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith (of what country soever they are, heathens as well as Jews) are blessed, (justified, taken into the kingdom and covenant of God,) together with believing Abraham," (and into that very covenant which was made with him and his seed.)f In this covenant were the Jews during the whole period from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to Christ. For the covenant with Abraham was with him, and with his seed after him," Gen. xvii. 7. "To Abraham and his seed were, the promises made," Gal. iii. 16. And the apostle in the next verse tells us that (the promises or) the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was (given by Moses) four hundred and thirty years after could not disannul, that it should make the promise (or covenant with Abraham) of none effect; consequently the Jews, during the whole period of the law, or Mosaical dispensation, were under the covenant with Abraham; and into that same covenant the apostle argues, Rom. iv. and Gal. iii., that the believing Gentiles are taken. For which reason he affirms that they are no more strangers And that the great mystery, and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, that is, the patriarchs, &c.

not understood in other ages, was this, That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body with his Church and children, the Jews, Eph. ii. 19; iii. 5, 6.

65. Secondly. Agreeably to this sentiment, the believing Gentiles are said to partake of all the spiritual privileges which the Jews enjoyed, and from which the unbelieving Jews fell; and to be taken into that kingdom and Church of God out of which they were cast. Several of the parables of our Lord are intended to point out this fact; and many passages in the epistles directly prove it.

66. Matt. xx. 1–16. In this parable the vineyard is the kingdom of heaven, into which God, the householder, hired the Jews early in the morning; and into the same vineyard he hired the Gentiles at the eleventh hour, or an hour before sun-set.

67. Matt. xxi. 33, 34. The husbandmen to whom the vineyard was first let were the Jews; to whom God first sent his servants, the prophets, ver. 34-36, and at last he sent his Son, whom they slew, ver. 37

Yes, and thus to become a sacrifice for sin, that those who believe in him might have redemption in his blood. This is the light in which the New Testament places the death of Christ.-A. C.

+ Being justified does not merely signify being taken into covenant. so as to be incorporated with the visible Church of God; it is used repeatedly by St. Paul to signify that act of God's mercy whereby a penitent sinner, be lieving on Christ as a sacrifice for sin, has his transgressions forgiven for Christ's sake. Rom. v. 1, &c. 17

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39, and then the vineyard was let out to other husbandmen; which our Saviour clearly explains, ver. 43: "Therefore I say unto you, (Jews,) the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation (the believing Gentiles) bringing forth the fruits, thereof." Hence it appears that the very same kingdom of God, which the Jews once possessed, and in which the ancient prophets exercised their ministry, one after another, is now in our possession; for it was taken from them and given to us.

68. Rom. xi. 17-24. The Church or kingdom of God is compared to an olive-tree, and the membres of it to the branches. "And if some of the branches (the unbelieving Jews) be broken off, and thou (Gentile Christian) wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree;" that is, the Jewish Church and covenant. Ver. 24: "For if thou (Gentile Christian) wert cut out of the olive-tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted, contrary to nature, into the good olive-tree," &c.

69. 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8, 9, 10: “Unto you Gentiles who believe, he (Christ) is an honour, run, but unto them which be disobedient, (the unbelieving Jews,) the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and also a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence.* They stumbled at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed, (they are fallen from their privileges and honour, as God appointed they should, in case of their unbelief.) But ye (Gentiles, are raised into the high degree from which they are fallen, and so) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of the heathenish darkness into his marvellous light."

70. Thirdly. The Jews vehemently opposed the admission of the uncircumcised Gentiles into the kingdom and covenant of God, at the first preaching of the Gospel. But if the Gentiles were not taken into the same Church and covenant in which the Jewish nation had so long gloried, why should they so zealously oppose their being admitted into it? Or why so strenuously insist that they ought to be circumcised in order to their being admitted? For what was it to them, if the Gentiles were called, and taken into another kingdom and covenant, distinct and quite different from that which they would have confined wholly to themselves, or to such only as were circumcised? It is plain the Gentiles might have been admitted into another kingdom and covenant without any offence to the Jews, as they would still have been left in the sole possession of their ancient privileges. And the apostles could not have failed in using this as an argument to pacify their incensed brethren, had they so understood it. But, seeing they never gave the least intimation of this, it shows they understood the affair as the unbelieving Jews did, namely, that the Gentiles, without being circumcised, were taken into the kingdom of God, in which they and their forefathers had so long stood.

71. Fourthly. It is upon this foundation, namely, that the believing Gentiles are taken into that Church and kingdom in which the Jews once stood, that the apostles drew parallels, for caution and instruction, between the state of the ancient Jews and that of the Christians. 1 Cor. x. 1-13: "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses, and did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink; but with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now those things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; neither let us provoke Christ, as some of them provoked," &c. Heb. iii. 7, &c. "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day,† when or while you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me: wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief." Chap. iv. 1, 2: "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us hath the Gospel been preached, as well as to them," that is, we have the joyful promise of a happy state, or of entering into rest, as well as the Jews of old. Ver. 11: "Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

72. Fifthly. Hence also the scriptures of the Old Testament are represented as being written for our use and instruction, and to explain our dispensation as well as theirs. Matt. v. 17: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." And when our Saviour taught his disciples the things pertaining to his kingdom, he opened to them the Scriptures, which were then no other than the Old Testament; Luke iv. 17-22; xviii. 31. xxiv. 27: "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself." Verse 45: "Then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the Scriptures." Thus the apostles were instructed in the things pertaining to the Gospel dispensation. And always, in their sermons in the Acts, they confirm their doctrine from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. And in their Epistles they not only do the same,

*We render this passage thus: A stone of stumbling and rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, &c., as if it were one continued sentence. But, thus, violence is done to the text, and the apostle's sense is thrown into obscurity and disorder, which is restored by putting a period after offence, and beginning a new sentence, thus: They stumble at the word, &c. For observe, the apostle runs a double antithesis between the unbelieving Jews and believing Gentiles.

† Σημερον, εαν της φωνης αυτού ακούσητε. ΕΑΝ, if, should here have been rendered when, as it is rendered, 1 John iii. 2, and should have been rendered, John xii. 32; xiv. 3; xvi. 7; 2 Cor. v. 1. In like manner the particle ON, Psa. xcv. 7, (whence the place is quoted,) should have been translated WHEN or WHILE. For it is translated when, 1 Sam. xv. 17; Prov. iii. 24; iv. 12; Job vii. 4; xvii. 16; Psa. 1. 18; and might have been so translated in other places.

t