b-o \ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 . 
 

 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 REDEMPTION, 
 
 ON A PLAN ENTIRELY ORIGINAL: 
 
 EXHIBITING THE 
 
 GRADUAL DISCOVERY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE 
 DIVINE PURPOSES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SALVATION OF MAN) 
 
 INCLUDING A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF 
 
 CHURCH HISTORY, 
 
 AND THE FULFILMENT OF 
 
 SCRIPTURE PROPHECIES. 
 
 BY THE LATE REVEREND 
 
 JONATHAN EDWARDS, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 
 TO WHICH ARE HOW ADDED 
 
 HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND t H E O L O G I C A L, 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 LIFE AND EXPERIENCE 
 
 OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Whofo is wife, and will conjider thefe things, even theyjkall under/land 
 the loving kindnefs of the LORD. Pfa. cvii. 
 
 N E W - Y O R K: 
 
 Printed by T. and J. SWORDS, for the Editor, 
 M,DCC,XCIII.

 
 err 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 To the/r/2 American Edition of EDWARDS s 
 HISTORY of REDEMPTION, wiih Notes. 
 
 JL HE following edition of this invaluable work 
 is humbly dedicated to the patronage of the Mini- 
 fters and Churches of every Chriftian denomination 
 throughout thefe United States, and throughout the 
 world: 
 
 And the Editor cannot think of any thing better 
 calculated to give energy to the reputation which 
 this work has already acquired; or to quicken the 
 attention of the Chriftian world to the careful peru- 
 fal and ftudy of it ; than to fay In this volume the 
 reader will find a full and well authenticated Journal 
 of the Ark of God; of that Ark in which we now 
 fail, and on which we depend for a fafe and fpeedy 
 paffage to glory. 
 
 The Ark, by Noah, is confidered as a ftriking 
 emblem a lively figure of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 whilft he bears, in fafety, from generation to gene 
 ration, through the tempefts of time, his myflical 
 body, the CHURCH. 
 
 Perufmg this Hiftory of Redemption this Jour 
 nal of the Ark of God, who can fail to admire the 
 wifdom of the GREAT MASTER-BUILDER in the 
 
 A 2 original 
 
 S22003
 
 iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 original defign the fteadinefs of his hand the 
 
 {lability of the purpofes of Heaven in the regular 
 courfe of this MIGHTY FABRIC ! Who, but muft 
 be aftoniflied at the power of that arm, which, not- 
 xviihrtanding the tempefluous weather with which 
 the Ark has been aflailed the rocks and fhoals to 
 which fhe has been often expofed the ignorance, 
 contradiction and mutiny of thofe to whom, under 
 God, its navigation has been committed; and laft 
 of all, notwithstanding the unceafmg machinations 
 of the Prince of the Power of the Air, who, I fay, 
 but mufl be aftoniflied, and admire that the Ark 
 flill fails; that ftill fhe makes good her ccurfe; ftill, 
 flie receives paflengers for the HAVEN of Celeflial 
 Glory! 
 
 Though, to the eye of unbelief, the Ark may 
 feem, now, to be involved in tempeftuous weather, 
 and foon to be foundered through the probable fai 
 lure of borrowed llrength;* yet, to the joy of the 
 ^ngei o there are thofe, who, looking through the 
 mifts of human or infernal jars, do hail the approach 
 of MILLENNIAL DAY ! 
 
 On the Ocean of the Millennium the foon ap 
 proaching feventh-thoufand years, it is predicted, 
 
 that 
 
 * It is a remark, not unworthy of obfervation, that the Gbrif- 
 tisn religion has never had opportunity to (hew what its effects 
 \v;>uld be, ur.fupported, or unoppofed by human power that now, 
 beginning with the Civil and Religious liberty of thefe United 
 States, tiial is to be had; whether, depending on its own bafis, it 
 will ; lancl or fall whether it be of God, or whether it will come 
 to nought. 
 
 The idea, no doubt, may be of ufe to thofe who are fined 
 <workt.rj together with God.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. v 
 
 that the Ark (hall fafely and uninterruptedly fail; 
 and, in her courfe around the globe, receive a thou- 
 fand-fold more paifengers, for the port of her def- 
 tiny, than have ever, before this period, lived upon 
 the earth: that, after thefe profperous gales, tem- 
 pefts fliall arife, as the lafl efforts of expiring Hell: 
 but through the fkilful management of him who fits 
 at helm, no danger mall be fuftained; but fafety 
 to the Ark, and vidtory to the Zion of God, mail 
 welcome the invaluable treafure into the HAVEN of 
 Eternal Reft ! 
 
 To fupport the faith of the called of God, and 
 to quicken the exertions of thofe, through whofe 
 management, under God, the Ark now fails, is the 
 defign of the publication of this firft American 
 edition of Edwards s Hiftory of Redemption, with 
 Notes. 
 
 That the defign may meet the good wimes of all 
 friends to Zion, and, efpecially, that it may receive 
 the patronage of Heaven, is the ardent prayer of one, 
 whofe profeifed ambition it is, to approve himfelf as 
 an induftrious hewer of wood, and drawer of water, 
 for the Church of God. 
 
 DAVID AUSTIN. 
 
 Elizabeth-Town,") 
 Dec. i, 1793. j 
 
 PREFACE
 
 R E F A C E 
 
 To the FIRST EDITION. 
 
 I 
 
 T has long been defired by the friends of Mr. 
 Edwards, that a number of his manufcripts fhould 
 be publifhed j but the difadvantages under which all 
 pofthumous publications muft necefTarily appear, and 
 the difficulty of getting any confiderable work printed 
 in this infant country hitherto, have proved fufficient 
 obftacles to the execution of fuch a propofal. The 
 firft of thefe obflacles made me doubt, for a conli- 
 derable time after thefe manufcripts came into my 
 hands, whether I could, confidently with that regard 
 which I owe to the honour of fo worthy a parent, 
 fuffer any of them to appear in the world. However, 
 being diffident of my own fentiments, and doubtful 
 whether I were not over-jealous in this matter, I de 
 termined to fubmit to the opinion of gentlemen who 
 are friends both to the character of Mr. Edwards and 
 to the caufe of truth. The confequence was, that 
 they gave their advice for publifhing them. 
 
 The other obflacle was removed by a gentleman 
 in the church of Scotland, who was formerly a cor- 
 refpondent of Mr. Edwards.* He engaged a book- 
 feller to undertake the work, and alfo fignified his 
 defire that thefe following difcourfes in particular 
 might be made public. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 * Dr. ERSKINE, of Edinburgh.
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 Mr. Edwards had planned a body of divinity, in a 
 new method, and in the form of a hiftory ; in which 
 he was firft to mew, how the mofl remarkable events 
 in all ages, from the fall to the prefent times, recorded 
 in facred and profane hiilory, were adapted to pro 
 mote the work of redemption ; and then to trace, by 
 the light of fcripture-prophecy, how the fame work 
 mould be yet farther carried on even to the end of 
 the world. His heart was fo much fet on executing 
 this plan, that he was confiderably averfe to accept 
 the prefidentfhip of Prince-town college, left the du 
 ties of that office mould put it out of his power. 
 
 The outlines of that work are now offered to the 
 public, as contained in a feries of fermons preached 
 at Northampton in 1739,* without any view to pub 
 lication. On that account, the reader cannot rea- 
 fonably expect all that from them, which he might 
 juftly have expected, had they been written with fuch 
 a view, and prepared by the Author s own hand for 
 the prefs. 
 
 As to elegance of compofition, which is now 
 efteemed fo eflential to all publications, it is well 
 known that the Author did not make that his chief 
 fludy. However, his other writings, though defti- 
 tute of the ornaments of fine language, have, it feems, 
 that folid merit which has procured, both to them- 
 felves and to him, a confiderable reputation in the 
 world, and with many an high efleem. It is hoped 
 
 that 
 
 *** This is necefiary to be remembered by the reader, in order 
 to uaderftand fome chronological obfcrvations in the following 
 work.
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix 
 
 that the reader will find in thefe difcourfes many traces 
 of plain good fenfe, found reafoning, and thorough 
 knowledge of the facred oracles, and real unfeigned 
 piety : and that as the plan is new, and many of the 
 fentiments uncommon, they may afford entertainment 
 and improvement to the ingenious, the inquifitive, 
 and the pious reader ; may confirm their faith in 
 God s government of the world, in our holy Chriftian 
 religion in general, arid in many of its peculiar doc 
 trines ; may affift in ftudying with greater pleafure 
 and advantage the hiftorical and prophetical books of 
 fcripture ; and excite to a converfation becoming the 
 gofpel. 
 
 That this volume may produce thefe happy effects 
 in all who mall perufe it, is the hearty defire and 
 prayer of 
 
 The reader s mofl humble fervant, 
 
 JONATHAN EDWARDS. 
 New Haven, Feb. 25, 1773. 
 
 B ADVER,
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THIS EDITION. 
 
 -L HE p 1 ceding Preface, by Dr. JONATHAN ED 
 WARDS of Ne .vHaven, (fonof PRESIDENTEDWARDS, 
 and Member f the Connecticut Society of Arts and 
 Sciences) h;ij fufficiently apprized the reader of the 
 nature of the following Work j we have only to add, 
 that the original papers, being remitted to Dr. ER- 
 SKINE, were by him reduced from the form of Ser 
 mons to that of a Treatife, and publifhed at Edinburgh. 
 
 Two material defects were, however, complained 
 of in that edition : Firft, that only mere hints were 
 ibmetimes dropt of an important idea, which the 
 Author would doubtlefs have enlarged on, had he pre 
 pared the work for publication : and fecondly, that 
 many of the hiftorical and critical obfervations were 
 not fupported with proper authorities, which in pulpit 
 difcourfes would have been impertinent, but became 
 highly neceffary in a publication. 
 
 For thefe defects there appeared no remedy, but 
 fupplying, in the form of notes, what, probably the 
 Author would for the mod part have inferted in the 
 body of the work. 
 
 The celebrity of the Author, from whom many of 
 the notes are felected, will (tamp them with fufficient 
 credit : for the others? the publifher has to confefs his 
 obligations to Gentlemen, whofe names he would be 
 proud to mention if permitted. 
 
 The Life and Experience of the Author? the Syllabus, 
 General Index? Table of Texii explained, and other 
 improvements of th:., Edition, will, it is hoped, alfo 
 contribute to render it more generally acceptable and 
 ufeful. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 DEC. 27, i;S8. 
 
 AUTHORS
 
 AUTHORS cited in the following Work. 
 
 Addilbn. 
 
 Ainfworth. 
 
 Allen, Dr. 
 
 Allix, Dr. 
 
 Bacon, Lord. 
 
 Barnabas, St. 
 
 Baxter, R. 
 
 Bede. 
 
 Bennett, B. 
 
 Bingham. 
 
 Blackwell. 
 
 Blair, Dr. 
 
 Burnett, Dr. 
 
 Calvin. 
 
 Cave, Dr. 
 
 Celfus. 
 
 Claude. 
 
 Clemens Roman. 
 
 Cofms, Bp. 
 
 Cruden. 
 
 De Laune. 
 
 De Lolme. 
 
 Diodorus. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Dupin. 
 
 Edwards, Pref. 
 
 Elie/.er. 
 
 Eufebius. 
 
 Fergufon. 
 
 Findlay. 
 
 Flavel. 
 
 Fox. 
 
 Faulke, Dr. 
 
 Fuller, Dr. 
 
 Geddes, Dr. 
 
 Gerundenfis. 
 
 Geffner. 
 
 Gibbon, E. 
 
 Gill, Dr. 
 
 Glynn, Dr. 
 
 Gruterus. 
 
 Guife, Dr. 
 
 Hammond, Dr. 
 
 Heidegger. 
 
 Harris, Dr. 
 
 Helvicus. 
 
 Henry, M. 
 
 Herodotus. 
 
 Hervey. 
 
 Homer. 
 
 Howe. 
 
 Hurd, Bp. 
 
 Hunter, Dr. H, 
 
 Hutchinfon, J. 
 
 jamblicus. 
 
 Jarchi. 
 
 Jenyns, Soame. 
 
 Ignatius, St. 
 
 Jofephus. 
 
 Juftin Martyr. 
 
 Kennett. 
 
 Kimchi. 
 
 La6lantius. 
 
 Lardner. 
 
 Le Pluche, Abbe. 
 
 Le Clerc. 
 
 Levi. 
 
 Lightfoot, Dr. 
 
 Lipfms. 
 
 Locke.
 
 ( xii ) 
 
 Lowman. 
 
 Lovyth, Bp. 
 
 M Ewen. 
 
 Maimonides. 
 
 Mather. 
 
 Mede. 
 
 Menachem. 
 
 Michaelis. 
 
 Middleton, Dr. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 Moore, Dr. 
 
 Newcome, Bp. 
 
 Newton, Sir Ifaac. 
 
 B P . 
 
 Mr. 
 
 Owen, Dr. 
 
 Parkhurft. 
 
 Patrick, Bp. 
 
 Pearfon, Bp. 
 
 Pike. 
 
 Platina. 
 
 Pliny. 
 
 Plutarch. 
 
 Pope, A. 
 
 Prideaux, Dr, 
 
 Poole. 
 
 Potter, Abp., 
 
 Rapin. 
 
 Reader. 
 
 Reinerus. 
 
 Robinfon, R. 
 
 RoJlin. 
 
 Roufieau. 
 Rowe, Mrs. 
 Saurin. 
 Schindler. 
 Scott, Dr. 
 Serces. 
 Shakefpearc. 
 Sherlock, Bp. 
 Shuckford, Dr, 
 South, Dr. 
 Stackhoufe. 
 Tacitus. 
 Targums. 
 Taylor, J. 
 Tertullian. 
 Thuanus. 
 Tacitus. 
 Tennifon, Abp. 
 Toplady. 
 Turner, D. 
 Tertullian. 
 Virgil. 
 
 Univerfal Hi/}. 
 Watts, Dr. 
 Warburton, Bp. 
 Ward, Dr. 
 Whitby, Dr. 
 Whitficld. 
 Winter, R. 
 Wolfius. 
 Young, A. 
 Dr. E. 
 
 THE
 
 OF THE REVEREND 
 
 JONATHAN EDWARDS, 
 
 B 
 
 IOGRAPHY is confeffedly a very agreeable ftudy, 
 and when eminent and good men are the fubjeih of it, 
 no lefs inftru6tive and improving. We contemplate 
 with pleafure thofe who have attained degrees of virtue or 
 knowledge which ourfelves are feeking; and there is a 
 voice in a6ts of piety and benevolence, like that of the 
 Redeemer, Go thou and do likewife : but CHRISTIAN 
 BIOGRAPHY has another end in view; we are taught to 
 confider believers as The workmanfhip of Chrift Jefus, 
 ; created anew unto good works : and certainly the freenefs 
 and power of divine grace are no lefs confpicuous in thefe, 
 than are the other attributes of Deity in the works of na 
 ture and providence. Or, to borrow another metaphor 
 of infpiration, they are the living Epiftles of Jefus 
 Chrift, and have thefe particular advantages over thofe 
 infcribed with ink and pen, that they are both more 
 durable and more legible they are living and as durable 
 as eternal life ; they are feen and read of all men : for 
 the moft illiterate can read the language of a holy life, 
 though they may not be able to read a line or a letter of the 
 infpired volume. 
 
 PRESIDENT EDWARDS, the author of the enfuing Hii- 
 tory, was one of the wifeft, beft, and moft ufeful preachers 
 
 * " this
 
 4 THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 this age has produced ; his writings exhibit a remarkable 
 ftrength of intellect ; the perfpicuity of thought and depth 
 of penetration difcovered in his vindication of the great 
 dodtrines of Chriftianity, prove him to he a good fcholar, 
 a bright genius, and a great divine. 
 
 This learned and moft excellent man was born at Wind- 
 for, in the province of Connecticut, October ^th, 1703; 
 was entered at Yale College in 1716, and made bachelor 
 of arts in 1720, before he was feventeen years of age. His 
 mental powers opened themfelves fo early and fo vigoroufly, 
 that he read Locke s Eflay upon Human Understanding 
 with uncommon delight at thirteen years of age : even at 
 that period difcovering a depth, folidity, and penetration 
 of mind, which found nothing fo pleafant to itfclf as the 
 exercife of its own powers. 
 
 He lived at college near two years after taking this firft 
 degree, preparing himfelf, principally, for the facred func 
 tion. After pailing the ufual trials, he was licenfed, ac 
 cording to the cuftom of the college and the form of religion 
 in the province, to preach the golpel as a candidate. 
 
 In Anguft 1722, he received a call to preach to the 
 Englifh Prefbyterians at New York, where he continued 
 with approbation above eight months. This fociety was 
 then too fmall to maintain a minifter; and therefore, in 
 the fpring of the year 1723, he returned to his father s 
 houfe in Connecticut, where, during the following fum- 
 rner, he followed his ftudies with the clofeft application. 
 It appears, however, that he had a deep fenfe of the 
 chriftian and minifterial profeffion upon his mind during 
 his abode at New York, that the people he watched over 
 became very dear to him, and that he left them at laft with 
 great regret. 
 
 In the fpring of the year 1724, having taken his 
 mafter s degree in the year before, he was chofen tutor 
 of Yale College, and he followed this duty above two 
 years. It muft be owned, that this was an engagement 
 of great confequencc for a young man of twenty-one, 
 who, by his early introduction into the miniftry, and 
 other avocations, could not have found too many oppor 
 tunities
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 5 
 
 tunities for his own improvement; but the ftrength of 
 his mind overcame what are ufually infuperable difficul 
 ties in the way of the generality ; and perhaps his genius 
 a&ed more forcibly from its not being confined with aca 
 demical fetters, which elevated geniufes can feldom en 
 dure. 
 
 In September, 1726, he refigned his tutorihip, in con- 
 fequence of the invitation of the people at Northampton, 
 in Connecticut, for affiftance to his mother s father, Mr. 
 Srocldard, who was the fettled minitter of the town. 
 He was ordained colleague on the i5th of February, 
 1727, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, and conti 
 nued in the minifterial fervice there till the 22d of June, 
 I 75 when h was difmifled for attempting to reform 
 the church. 
 
 What feems at firft to have rendered Mr. Edwards 
 an obje6l of hatred, was a circumftance, which ihould 
 have made him, and certainly would, among peribris tru 
 ly religious, an object of love. Some young perfons of 
 his flock had procured fome obfcene publications, which 
 they commented upon among themfelves for their own 
 proficiency in lafcivioufnefs, and propagated, with the 
 ufual decency of fuch perfons, for the infection of others. 
 This came in a fhort time to Mr. Edwards s ears; and 
 therefore taking occafion after a fernion upon Heb. xii. 
 15, 16. preached for the pu~pcfe, to call the leading 
 members of his charge together, he informed them of 
 what he had heard, and procured a confent that the 
 matter ihould be examined. A committee was appoint 
 ed for this purpofe, and to aflift the pallor. When this 
 was done, Mr. Edwards appointed a time of meeting; 
 and then read a lift of the names of young perfons, ac- 
 cufmg and accufed, without fpecifying under which pre 
 dicament they ftood, who were defired to come together at 
 his houfe. 
 
 Upon the declaration of names, it appeared that al- 
 moft all the families in the town had fome relation or 
 other concerned in the matter : and therefore a great 
 number of the heads of families not only altered their 
 
 minds
 
 6 THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 minds about examination, but declared, that their chil 
 dren, &c. ihould not be called to account for fuch things 
 as thefe. The town was immediately in a blaze: and this 
 fo ftrengthened the hands, or hardened the faces of the 
 guilty, that they fet their Paftor at defiance with the greateft 
 infolence and contempt. 
 
 Thus Mr. Edwards s hands were weakened ; and we 
 are told, that he afterwards had but little fuccefs in his 
 miniftry ; but, on the contrary, that fecurity and carnality 
 much increafed among his people, and the youth in parti 
 cular became more wanton and difiblute. 
 
 All this paved the way for fomething more. It had 
 been a ftanding opinion among this people for fome time, 
 countenanced alfo by their late paftor, " That uncon 
 verted perfons," known to be fuch by the ungodlinefs of 
 their lives, or their ignorance of divine truth, "had not- 
 w t th (landing a right in the fight of God to the facrament 
 of the Lord s fupper ; and that, therefore, it was their 
 duty to partake of it, even though they had no appear 
 ance of the grace and holincfs, which the gofpel ftates 
 to be infeparable from true believers. It was fuffi- 
 cient if they were outward and \ ilible members ; fo 
 that th&y-,- who realiy rejected Jefus Chrift, and difliked 
 the gofpel-way of falvation in their hearts, and knew 
 that this was true of themfelves, might (inconceivable 
 as it appears) make the profeffion without lying and 
 hypocrify." 
 
 To the common inconveniences always attending a 
 national church, where it is impoflible to examine every 
 man s profeiiion, or to keep him from difgracing it, here 
 is an addition becoming the difciples of Ignatius of Loyola, 
 by which men may be hypocrites without the guilt of hy 
 pocrify, and lyars without the imputation of fin. A 
 convenient fort of principle indeed to men of a certain 
 caft ; but by no means to thofe, who are never to forget, 
 that Fornication and all unclcannefs, rilthinefs, or foolifh 
 talking, fhould not be even named amongft them, as be- 
 cometh faints. [ See Eph. v. 3--- 7.] 
 
 * Mr
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 7 
 
 Mr. Edwards had long been uneafy upon the preva 
 lence of this principle, (one of the moft ftrange that ever 
 any church of Chriir. avowed) and upon his own yield 
 ing to the example of his predeceflbr and to a practice 
 fettled before he came thither. His doubts and uneail- 
 nefs, as might be expected from fo good a man, increafed 
 upon him, and drove him at length to a "thorough in- 
 veftigation of the fubjecl: ; the refult of which was a clear 
 conviction of the error, and a firm determination to ex- 
 pofe it. He was convinced, that " To be a vljlble Chrif- 
 tian was to put on the appearance of a real one ; that the 
 profeffion of chriib anity was a profeffion of that, in which 
 real chriftianity confifts ;" and that, therefore, as the 
 Lord s fupper was intended for real Chriftians, none ought 
 to come to it, who were not at leaft profeflbrs of real 
 chriflianity, and to whom no imputation of allowed ungod- 
 liuefs could juftly be made. 
 
 The declaration of his mind upon this head, among 
 fuch a kind of men, raifed an* immediate clamour, and 
 put the town into as great a ferment as the preaching of 
 an holy apoftle had long before occafioned at Epiiefus. 
 They were all in an uproar : and * Difmifs him, difmifs 
 him, was the univerfal cry of men, women, and elders. 
 He had touched a favourite fin, and a favourite principle 
 which protected it : and (what was a very great truth, 
 though not in their fenfe of it) he was no longer fit to be 
 their paftor. He attempted to reafon with them calmly ; 
 but it was oppofing his breath to the winds, the general cry 
 was to have him difmifled. 
 
 Mr. Edwards, when they would not hear him, wifhed 
 to refer the matter to fome neighbouring minifters ; but 
 this being rejected, he attempted to difcufs the matter in 
 a courfe of lectures, which he began for the purpofe ; but 
 although numbers came from the adjoining parts, very 
 few ot his own congregation would attend. So intoxicat- 
 
 O D 
 
 ing is the nature of human prejudice, when once indulged, 
 that men will rather renounce their reafon than refume their 
 temper. 
 
 C He
 
 8 THELIFEOFTHE 
 
 He ufed all means in his power to reduce them at 
 leaft to a calm, if not a charitable, temper ; to hear and 
 weigh, with a little attention, what he had to fay for 
 himfelf; and not to condemn him, were it only for 
 their own fakes, without fome fhadow of a reafon ! But 
 his meeknefs and modefty were treated as conceffions 
 againft himfelf, and only raifed the infolence and fury 
 of his adversaries, inftead of foftening them into peace. 
 Nothing would ferve their turn (how plainly foever 
 againft their fpiritual and real intereft) but an abfolute 
 leparation. 
 
 Mr. Edwards, finding all methods ineffe&ual to re- 
 ftrain the torrent of viruknce, {lander, and falihood 
 rolling upon him, at length yielded to the artifice of 
 thefe men inTpacking a council, compofed chiefly of their 
 own friends ; fhefe, after fome unavailing attempts for a 
 reconciliation, paffed a refolve, by the majority of one 
 voice only, to this effect, That it was expedient that 
 the paftoral relation between Mr. Edwards and his church 
 fhould be difTolved, if they perfiftcd in requiring it. This 
 being reported to the people, they immediately voted his 
 difmiflion by a majority of two hundred againft twenty, and 
 he was accordingly difmiffed June 22, 1750. 
 
 Thus had thefe people the infamy of endeavouring 
 to ruin the moft able and celebrated divine, who hath 
 as yet been born in America. But they knew not their 
 own mercies ; fuch a man as Mr. Edwards would im 
 part honour to any country or profeffion, and be readily 
 embraced by the wife and good in all. The few abhor- 
 rers of this atrocious a 61 entered an lUnavailing proteft 
 againft *it. The good man, fhocked rather for his ene 
 mies than for himfelf, preached a moft folemn and af 
 fecting farewell difcourfe, which was afterwards publifh- 
 ed, on 2 Cor. i. 4. on which he raifed this doctrine, 
 " That minifters, and the people who have been under their 
 care, muft meet one another at the tribunal of Chrift." 
 The malice of his enemies did not ftop here ; for when 
 at tinies there was no preacher to fupply the pulpit, he 
 <heerfu!ly gave them his fervice, rather than it mould be 
 
 empty.
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 9 
 
 empty. This kindnefs, which would have conciliated 
 more ingenuous minds, only increafed the unhappy flame 
 kindled in theirs, infomuch that they called the town to 
 gether and voted that he fhould preach among them no 
 more. And fo they frequently went without preaching, 
 rather than have the free miniftrations of a man, of whom 
 the world itfclf zvas not worthy. 
 
 Thus ended his fervice of near four-and-twenty years 
 to an undifcerning and ungrateful people, who had been 
 much upon his heart, and for whom he had always ex- 
 preffed a very tender concern. " For their good he was 
 always writing, contriving, and labouring ; for them he 
 had poured out ten thoufand fervent prayers ; and in their 
 welfare he had rejoiced as one that findeth great fpoil." 
 Yet all their deteftable conduct did not alter the frame 
 of his mind. " He was calm, fedate and humble under 
 the moft injurious treatment; his refolution and con 
 duit in the whole affair were wonderful, and cannot 
 be fet in fo beautiful and affecting a light by any de- 
 fcription, as they appeared in to his friends who were eye- 
 witneffes." 
 
 This incomparable man was now in the decline of 
 life, with little or no income befides his flipend : and 
 this throws the greateft light upon his faithfulnefs and 
 fincerity : nor had he any view of fupport from another 
 appointment ; for he knew not how far the malice of his 
 people might extend to prevent it, or the prejudice of his 
 difmifllon operate againft him elfewhere: neither was he 
 capable (alas, what pity he ihould be driven to think of 
 it !) to take up any other bufmefs for a fupport. Thus 
 poverty and difgrace were before him. But he knew that 
 he had a good Mafter. He had divine comfort in his foul ; 
 and in a mort time Providence provided for both him and 
 his family. 
 
 Afliamed of this unparalleled bafenefs to fo excel 
 lent a man, his friends, or rather the friends of god- 
 lineis, adminiftered to his relief: and he was foon after 
 appointed to the miflion at Stockbridge ; but not before 
 C 2 fome
 
 jo THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 fome other infolent and bitter attempts had been madt 
 to ruin his reputation, as well as to deprive him of 
 bread. 
 
 It may not be improper here to add, that one of the 
 ringleaders in this iniquitous bufmefs was fo ftung with 
 his conduct towards Mr. Edwards, that he afterwards 
 made a public confeffion of his guilt, in a letter to the 
 Rev. Mr. Hall, of Sutton, which letter, after having enu 
 merated the particulars of his oppofition to that good man, 
 concludes thus, " In thefe inftances, Sir, of my conduct, 
 and others (to which you was not privy) in the courfe 
 of that moft melancholy contention with Mr. Edwards, 
 wherein I now fee that I was very much influenced by 
 vaft pride, felf-fufficiency, ambition, and vanity, I ap 
 pear to myfelf vile ; and doubtlefs much more fo to 
 others who are more impartial ; and do, in the re 
 view thereof, abhor myfelf, and repent forely : and if 
 my own heart condemns me, it behoves me folemnly 
 to remember, that God is greater, and knowcth. all 
 things ; and I hereby own, Sir, that fuch treatment of 
 Mr. Edwards, as is herein before mentioned, wherein 
 I was fo deeply concerned and adtive, was particularly 
 and very aggravatedly iinful and ungrateful in me, be- 
 caufe I was not only under the common obligations of 
 each individual of the fociety to him, as a moft able, 
 diligent, and faithful paftor ; but I had alfo received 
 many inftances of his tendernefs, goodnefs, and gene- 
 rofity to me, as a young kintman, whom he was dif- 
 pofed to treat in a moft friendly manner. Indeed, Sir, 
 I muft own, that by my condu6l in confulting and act 
 ing againft Mr. Edwards, within the time of our moft 
 unhappy difputes with him, and efpecially in and about 
 thr.t abominable remonftrance, I have fo far fymbolized 
 with Balaam, Ahithophel, and Judas, that I am con 
 founded and filled with terror oftentimes when I attend 
 to the moft painful fimilitude. And I freely confefs, 
 that on account of my conduct above mentioned, I 
 have the greateft reafon to tremble at thofe moft folemn 
 and awful words of cur Saviour, Matt, xviii. 6. and 
 
 thofe
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. n 
 
 .liofe in Luke xth, at the i6th: And I am moft forely 
 fenfible that -nothing but that infinite grace and mercy, 
 which faved fome of the betrayers and murderers of our 
 blefTed Lord and the pcrfecutors of his martyrs, can. 
 pardon me : in which alone I hope for pardon, for the 
 fake of Chrift, whofe blood (bleffed be God) cleanfeth 
 from all fin. And I moft heartily wilh and pray, that 
 the town and church of Northampton would ferioufly 
 and carefully examine whether they have not abundant 
 caufc to judge, that they are now lying under great guilt 
 in the fight of God ; and whether thofe of us, who 
 were concerned in that moft awful contention with Mr. 
 Edwards, can ever more reafonably expet God s favour 
 and blefling, until our eyes are opened, and we become 
 thoroughly convinced that we have greatly provoked the 
 moft High, and been injurious to one of the beft of 
 men ; and until we (hall be thoroughly convinced that 
 we have dreadfully perfecuted Chrift by perfecuting and 
 vexing that juft man and fervant of Chrift ;-, until we 
 fhall be humble as in the duft therefore, and till we 
 openly in full terms, and without baulking the matter, 
 confefs the fame before the world, and moft humbly and 
 earneftly feek forgivenefs of God, and do what we can 
 to honour the memory of Mr. Edwards, and clear it 
 of all the afperfions which are unjuftly caft upon him ; 
 fmce God has been pleafed to put it beyond our power 
 to afk his forgivenefs. Such terms I am perfuaded the 
 great and righteous God will hold us to, and that it will 
 be in vain for us to hope to efcape with impunity in any 
 other way. This I am convinced of with regard to my- 
 felf, and this way I moft folemnly propofe to take to 
 my felt" (if God in his mercy fhall give me opportu 
 nity) that fo by making free confemon to God and man 
 of my fin and guilt, and publickly taking fhame to i^y- 
 felf therefore, I may give glory to the God of Ifrael, 
 and do what in me lies, to clear the memory of that ve 
 nerable man from the wrongs and injuries I was fo ac 
 tive in bringing on his reputation and character ; and I 
 
 thank
 
 iz THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 thank God that he has been pleafed to fpare my life and op 
 portunity therefore to this time, and am forry that I have 
 delayed the affair fo long.", 
 
 Mr. Edwards, who was able to fhine in the feats of 
 learning, and fome time hence was called to prefide over 
 one, was now delegated- to the inftruftion of favage In 
 dians at Stockbridge. This place is in the weftern part 
 of Maflachufetts Bay, and about fix miles from Mr. 
 Edvvards s former refidence at Northampton. He was 
 fixed here on the 8th of Augiut, 1751 ; and here he con 
 tinued his labours, in more peace and quietnefs than he 
 had ever known before, for fix years. In this interval, 
 though much in years, he made greater attainments in 
 knowledge, and wrote more for the church of God, than 
 he had ever been able to do, within the fame fpace of time, 
 during the former part of his life. In this retirement, he 
 compofed his deepeft and moft valuable works ; fo that 
 when, in his own judgment, as well as that of others, his 
 ufefulnefs feemed to be cut off, he found greater opportu 
 nities of fervice than ever. A pleafmg calm, after fo grie 
 vous a ftorm, to his troubled mind ! 
 
 On the death of Mr. Aaron Burr, prefident of New 
 Jerfey College, which was on the 24th of September, 
 1757, the truflees of that feminary unfolicited chofe 
 Mr. Edwards to fucceed him : but our excellent author 
 was with difficulty prevailed upon to accept it ; modeftly 
 alledging his own infufficiency, ill health, and difufe to 
 that kind of life. At length, upon the arguments and 
 perfuafions of his brethren in the miniftry, he accepted 
 of this prefidency, and went from Stockbridge to Prince 
 Town in January, 1758. But the end of his labours 
 was approaching ; he had only preached two or three fer- 
 mons, and had not entered fully upon the duties of his 
 new office, when he was called to glory. The Imall 
 pox, which has always been unufually fatal in America, 
 had infected Prince Town, which induced the phyfician 
 of the place to advife him to be inoculated, with the 
 confent of the corporation. Accordingly he was inocu 
 lated
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 13 
 
 Inted on the i3th of February, and his diforder at firft 
 feemed to be favourable; but a fever coming on, and the 
 puftuleslaying much in his throat, noproper medicines could 
 be adminiitered, and therefore the violence of it raged, till 
 it put an end to his ufeful life, on the 22d of March, 1 758, 
 in the fifty-fifth year of his age. 
 
 When he was fenfible that death was approaching, he 
 called his daughter (who was the only part of his family 
 which had yet removed with him,) and addreffed her in 
 the following words: -Dear Lucy, it feems to me to be 
 the will of God, that I muft ihortly leave you : there- 
 fore, give my kindeft love to my dear wife, and tell her, 
 
 * that the uncommon union, which has fo long fubfifted 
 
 * between us, has been of fuch a nature, as I truft is fpi- 
 ritual, and therefore will continue for ever. I hope 
 flie will be fupported under fo great a trial, and fubmit 
 
 * cheerfully to the will of God. And as to my children, 
 
 * you are now like to be left fatherlefs, which I hope will 
 be an inducement to you all to feek a father, who will 
 never fail you. He defired that his funeral might not be 
 attended with parade (as is ufual in America,) but ra 
 ther fomething be given to the poor. He could fay but 
 little in his ficknefs. owing to the nature and feat of his 
 diforder ; but juft at the laft, when furrounded by friends 
 lamenting their own lofs and that of the church and col 
 lege, he faid, to their great furprize, as they did not ima 
 gine he heard them or was able to fpeak, Trull in God, 
 and ye need not fear : and then, almoft literally, fell 
 afleep in Jefus. 
 
 We are perfuaded our readers will be abundantly gra 
 tified with the account of our author s experience as written 
 by himfelf ; and therefore mall make no apology for fub- 
 joining almoft the whole of it. 
 
 In this narrative we find our great and celebrated me- 
 taphyfician relating the manner of God s dealings with 
 his foul, in a (lile that breathes all the humility and 
 fimplicity of a little child. " It is peculiarly fweet to 
 obferve," fays an evangelical writer, " that in matters of 
 
 fpiritual
 
 H THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 Ipiritual concern, the philofopher and the ploughman, if 
 truly regenerated, have the fame feelings, and fpeak the 
 fame language : they all eat of the fame fpiritual meat, 
 and drink of the fame fpiritual rock, which follows them, 
 and that rock is Chrift. Hence that limilitude of expe 
 rience or (to fpeak figuratively) that Icrong and ftriking 
 family likenefs, which obtains among the converted people 
 of God, in every period of time, and in every nation un 
 der heaven. They ail without exception feel themfelves 
 totally ruined by original fin ; they all without exception 
 take refuge in the righteoufnefs and crofs of Chrift ; and 
 unite in aicribing the whole praife of their falvation to 
 the alone free grace and fovereign mercy of Father, Son, 
 and Spirit." 
 
 " I had," fays Mr. Edwards, " a variety of concerns 
 and exercifes about my foul from my childhood ; but 
 had two more remarkable feafons of awakening, before I 
 met with that change by which I was brought to thole 
 new difpofitions, and that new fenfe of things, that I 
 have lince had. The riril time was when I was a boy, 
 fome years before 1 went to college, at a time of remark 
 able awakening in my father s congregation. I was then 
 very much affeled for many months, and concerned 
 about the things of religion, and ray foul s falvation; 
 and was abundant in duties. I ufed to pray five times a 
 day in lecret, and to fpend much time in religious talk 
 with other boys ; and ufed to meet with them to pray to 
 gether. T experienced I know not what kind of delight 
 in religion ; my mind was much engaged in it, and had 
 much felf-righteous pleafure ; and it was my delight to 
 abound in religious duties. I, with fome of my fchool- 
 mates, joined together and built a booth in a fwamp, in 
 a very fecret and retired place, for a place of prayer. 
 And, beiides, I had particular fecret places of my own in 
 the woods, where I ufed to retire by myfelf, and ufed to 
 be, from time to time, much affected. My affections 
 feemecl to be lively and eafily moved, and I fecmed to be 
 in my element, when I engaged in reljgious duties : and 
 I am ready to think, many are deceived with fuch affec 
 tions,
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 15 
 
 lions, and fuch a kind of delight, as I then had in religion, 
 and miihke it for grace. 
 
 " But in procefs of time, my convictions and affections 
 wore off, and I entirely loft all thofe affections and delights, 
 and left off fecret prayer, at leaft as to any conftant per 
 formance of it: and returned like a dog to his vomit, and 
 went on in ways of fin. 
 
 " Indeed I was at fome times very uneafy, efpecially 
 towards the latter part of the time of my being at college. 
 Till it pleafed God, in my laft year at college, at a time 
 when I was in the midft of many uneafy thoughts about 
 the ftate of my foul, to feize me with a pleurify ; in which 
 lie brought me nigh to the grave, and fhook me over the 
 pit of hell. 
 
 " But yet, it was not long after my recovery, before I 
 fell again into my old ways of fin. But God would not 
 fuffer me to go on with any quietnefs ; for I had great and 
 violent inward ftruggles: till after many conflicts with 
 wicked inclinations, and repeated refolutions, and bonds 
 that I laid myfelf under by a kind of vows to God, I was 
 brought wholly to break off all former wicked ways, and 
 all ways of known outward fin, and to apply myfelf to 
 feek my falvation and practife the duties of religion ; but 
 without that kind of affection and delight that I had for 
 merly experienced. My concern now wrought more by 
 inward ftruggles and conflicts, and felf-reflections : 1 made 
 feeking my ialvation the main bufmefs of my life ; but yet 
 it feems to me, I fought after a miferable manner ; which 
 has made me fometimes iince to queftion, whether ever it 
 iffued in that which was faving ; being ready to doubt, 
 whether fuch miferable feeking was ever fucceeded. But 
 yet I was brought to feek falvation in a manner that I never 
 was before ; I felt a fpirit to part with all things in the world 
 for an intereft in Chrift. My concern contimied and pre 
 vailed, with many exercifmg thoughts and inward ftruggles ; 
 but yet it never fecmed to be proper to exprefs my concern 
 that I had, by the name of terror. 
 
 " From my childhood up, my mind had been wont 
 to be full of objections agaiaft the doctrine of God s 
 
 D love-
 
 16 THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 fovereignty, in choofing whom he would to eternal 
 life, and rejecting whom he pleafed; leaving them 
 eternally to perim It ufed to ap 
 pear like a horrible doctrine to me ; but I remember 
 the time very well, when I feemed to be convinced, and 
 fully fatisfied, as to this fovereignty of God,- and his juf- 
 tice in thus eternally difpofmg of men according to his 
 fovereign pleafure; but never could give an account how, 
 or b what means, 1 was thus convinced ; not in the 
 leaft imagining, in the time of it, nor a long time after, 
 that there was any extraordinary influence of God s Spi 
 rit in it; but only that now I faw farther, and my reafon 
 apprehended the juilice and reafonablenefs of it. How 
 ever, my mind rcfted in it ; and it put an end to all thofe 
 cavils and objections that had till then abode with me all 
 the preceding part of my life. But I have oftentimes, 
 fmce that firft conviction, had quite another kind of fenfe 
 of God s fovereignty than I had then. I have often 
 fmce, not only had a conviction, but a delightful con 
 viction. The doctrine of God s fovereignty has very 
 often appeared an exceeding pleafant, bright, and fweet 
 doctrine to me ; and abfolute fovereignty is what I love 
 to afcribe to God. But my firft conviction was not 
 with this." 
 
 This part of our excellent Author s experience reminds 
 us of the feventeeth Article of the Church of England, 
 which aflerts, that " The godly confideration of predef- 
 tination, and of our election in Chrift, is full of fweet, 
 pleafant, and unfpeakable comfort to godly perfons." 
 Such indeed have many found it; but let it be remem 
 bered, it is only the godly confederation of predeftination 
 that is thus comfortable; that tins muft be connected 
 with the evidence of our election in Chrift, and that to 
 godly perfons only is this contemplation fweet and profit 
 able; to others it may be dangerous, and it muft be pain 
 ful. An amiable divine has obierved, " That none 
 fhould go to the univerfity of Predeftination, until they 
 have been at the grammar fchool of Faith and Repent 
 ance." 
 
 " The
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 17 
 
 *< The firft that I remember that ever I found any thing 
 of that fort of inward fweet delight in God and divine 
 things, that I have lived much in fince, was on reading 
 thofe words, [i Tim. i. 17.] I^ow unto the King eter- 
 
 * nal, immortal, invillble, the only wife God, be honour 
 and glory for ever and ever, Amen. As I read the 
 words, there came into my foul, and was as it were dif- 
 fufcd through it, a fenfe of the glory of the Divine Being ; 
 
 quite different from any thing I ever expe 
 rienced before. Never any words of fcripture feemed to 
 me as thefe words did. I thought with myfelf, how ex 
 cellent a Being that was, and how happy I fhould be, if I 
 might enjoy that God, and be wrapt up to God in heaven, 
 and be as it were fwallowed up in him. I kept faying, 
 and as it were fmging over thefe words of fcripture to 
 myfelf; and went to prayer, to pray to God that I might 
 enjoy him ; and prayed in a manner quite different from 
 what I ufed to do; with a new fort of affedtion ; but it 
 never came into my thought that there was any thing fpi ri 
 tual or of a faving nature in this. 
 
 " From about that time, I began to have a new kind 
 of apprehenflons and ideas of Chrift, and the work of re 
 demption, and the glorious way of falvation by him. 1 
 had an inward fweet fenfe of thefe things, that at times 
 came into my heart, and my foul was led away in plea- 
 fant views and contemplations of them ; and my mind 
 was greatly engaged to fpend my time in reading and me 
 ditating on Chrift, and the beauty and excellency of his 
 perfon, and the lovely way of falvation by free grace in 
 him. I found no books fo delightful to me, as thofe that 
 treated of thefe fubje&s. Thofe words, [Cant. ii. i.] 
 ufed to be abundantly with me, I am the rofe of Sharon, 
 
 * and the lily of the vallies. The words feemed to me 
 fweetly to reprefent the lovelinefs and beauty of Jefus 
 ChriiL And the whole book of Canticles ufed to be plea- 
 fant to me, and I ufed to be much in reading it about 
 that time; and found, from time to time, an inward 
 fweetnefs that ufed, as it were, to carry me away in my 
 contemplations. The fenfe I had of divine things, 
 
 D 2 would
 
 i8 
 
 would often of a fucldcn, as it were, kindle up a fwect 
 burning in my heart, an ardour of my foul, that I know 
 not how to exprels. 
 
 " After this my fcnfe of divine things gradually in- 
 creafcd, raid became more and more lively, and had more 
 of that inward iweetnefs. The appearance of every thing 
 was altered; there feemed to be, as it were, a calm, fwect 
 caft or appearance of divine glory, in almoft every thing. 
 God s excellency, his wifdom, his purity and love, feemed 
 to appear in every thing ; in the fun, moon, and ftars ; 
 in the clouds, and blue iky ; in the gfafs, flowers, trees; 
 in the water, and all nature ; which ufed greatly to fix 
 , my mind. I often ufed to fit and view the moon for a 
 long time : and fo in the day-time fpent much time in 
 viewing the clouds and iky, to behold the fvveet glory of 
 God in thefe things ; in the mean time finging forth, 
 with a low voice, my contemplations of the Creator and 
 Redeemer : and fcarce any thing, among all the works of 
 nature, was fo fweet to me as thunder and lightning ; 
 formerly, nothing had been fo terrible to me. I ufed to 
 be a perfon uncommonly terrified with thunder, and it 
 ufed to ftrike me with terror when I faw a thunder-ftorm 
 rifmg: but now, on the contrary, it rejoiced me. I felt- 
 God at the firft appearance of a thunder-ftorm, and ufed 
 to take the opportunity, at fuch times, to fix myfelf to 
 view the clouds, and fee the lightnings play, and hear the 
 rnajefUc and awful voice of God s thunder, which often 
 times was exceedingly entertaining, leading me to fwect 
 contemplations of my great and glorious God ; and while 
 I viewed, ufed to fpend my time, as it always feemed 
 natural to rue, to fing or chant forth my meditations; 
 to fpeak my thoughts in foliioquies, and fpeak with a 
 finging voice. 
 
 " I felt then a great fatisfadtion as to my good eflate ; 
 but that did not content me. I had vehement longings 
 of foul after God and Chrift, and after more holinefs, 
 wherewith my heart feemed to be full, and ready to 
 break ; which often brought to my mind the words of 
 the Pfalmift, [Pfa. cxix. 28.] My foul breaketh for the 
 
 longing
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. j 9 
 
 longing it hath. I often felt a mourning and lament 
 ing in my heart, that I had not turned to God fooner, 
 that I might .have had more time to grow in grace. My 
 mind was greatly fixed on divine things ; I was almoft 
 perpetually in the contemplation of them : fpent moft of 
 my time in thinking of divine things, year after year; 
 and ufed to fpend abundance of my time in walking alone 
 in the woods and folitary places for meditation, folilo- 
 quy, and prayer, and converfe with God : and it was al 
 ways my manner, at fuch times, to fing forth my con 
 templations ; and was almoft constantly in ejaculatory 
 prayer wherever I was. Prayer feemed to be natural to 
 me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my 
 heart had vent. 
 
 " The delights which I now felt in things of religion 
 were of an exceeding different kind from thofe fore-men 
 tioned, that I had when I was a boy; they were xotally 
 of another kind ; and what I then had no more notion 
 or idea of, than one born blind has of pleafant and beau 
 tiful colours : they were of a more inward, pure, foul- 
 animating and refrefhing nature. Thofe former delights 
 never reached the heart ; and did not arife from any fight 
 of the divine excellency of the things of God ; or any 
 tafte of the foul-fatisfying, and life-giving good, there is 
 in them." 
 
 Mr. Edwards muft certainly be the beft judge of his 
 own feelings ; but we have fometimes queried whether 
 our author and fome other excellent men have not erred 
 in imputing their firft conviction and early experience in 
 religion to fome other caufe, which ought rather to be 
 attributed to the agency of the Divine Spirit. It certainly 
 does not follow, that becaufe our firft views of divine 
 things are lefs clear, and our firft religious affections lefs 
 fpiritual, than afterwards, that they do not proceed from 
 the fame caufe. The early beamings of the dawn, and the 
 noon-tide fun beams, though they differ immcnfcly in 
 their degree of light and heat, are certainly of the fame 
 nature, and proceed from the fame caufe. When our Lord 
 firft anointed the eyes of the blind rnrm. [Mark viii. 24.] 
 
 he
 
 20 THELIFEOFTHE 
 
 he faw Men as trees walking ; but when he put his hands 
 on him again, he law every man clearly ; yet hv the fame 
 hands were both effects produced, and to the fame Redeemer 
 was the glory of both due. 
 
 " My fenfe of divine things feemed gradually to in- 
 creafe, till I went to preach at New York, which was 
 about a year and a half after they began. While I was 
 there, I felt them, very fenfibly, in a much higher de 
 gree than I had done before : my longings after God and 
 holinefs were much increafed ; pure and humble, holy 
 and heavenly chriftianity, appeared exceeding amiable to 
 me. I felt in me a burning defire to be in every thing a 
 complete Chriftian ; and conformed to the blefled image 
 of Chrift ; and that I might live in all things according 
 to the pure, fweet, and bleffcd rules of the gofpel. I had 
 an eager thirfting after progrefs in thefe things ; my long 
 ings after it put me upon pnrfuing and prefling after them. 
 It was my continual ft rife day and night, and conftant 
 inquiry, how I fhould be more holy, and live more ho- 
 lily, and more becoming a child of God, and difciple of 
 Chrift. I fought an increafe of grace and holinefs, and 
 that I might live an holy life, with vailly more earneft- 
 nefs than ever I fought grace, before I had it. I uled 
 to be continually examining myfelf, and ftudying and 
 contriving for likely ways and means how I itiould live 
 holily, with far greater diligence and earneftnefs than 
 ever I purfued any thing in my life; but with too great a 
 dependence on my own ftrength, which afterwards proved 
 a great damage to me. MY experience had not then 
 taught me, as it has done fince, my extreme feeblenefs 
 and impotence, every manner of way ; and the innumer 
 able and bottomlefs depths of fecret corruption and deceit 
 that there were in my heart. However, I went on with 
 my eager purfuit after more holinefs, and fweet confor 
 mity to Chrift. 
 
 " The heaven I defircd was a heaven of holinefs ; to 
 be with God, and to fpcnd my eternity in divine love, and 
 holy communion with Chrift. My mind was very much 
 taken up with contemplations on heaven, and the enjoy 
 ments
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 21 
 
 iiients of thofe there; and living there in perfect holinefs, 
 humility, and love. And it ufed at that time to appear a 
 great part of the happinefs of heaven, that there the faints 
 could exprefs their love to Chrift. It appeared to me a 
 great clog and hindrance, and burden to me that what I 
 felt within, I could not exprefs to God, and give vent to, 
 as I defired: the inward ardour of my foul feemed to be 
 hindered and pent up, and could not freely flame out as 
 it would. I ufed often to think how in heaven this fvveet 
 principle fhould freely and fully vent and exprefs itfelf. 
 Heaven appeared to me exceeding delightful as a world of 
 love. It appeared to me that all happinefs confided in living 
 in pure, humble, heavenly, divine love. 
 
 " I remember the thoughts I ufed then to have of ho 
 linefs. I remember I then faid fometimes to myfelf, I do 
 certainly know that I love holinefs, fuch as the gofpel pre- 
 fcribes ; it appeared to me, there was nothing in it but 
 what was raviihingly lovely: it appeared to me to be the 
 higheft beauty and amiablenefs, above all other beauties, 
 that it was a divine beauty, far purer than any thing here 
 upon earth; and that every thing elfe was like mire, filth, 
 and defilement, in comparifon of it. 
 
 " Holinefs, as I then wrote down fome of my con 
 templations on it, appeared to me to be of a fweet, pleafant, 
 charming, ferene, calm nature ; it feemed to me, it brought 
 an inexpreflible purity, brightnefs, peacefulnefs, and ra- 
 vifhment, to the foul ; and that it made the foul like a 
 field or garden of God, with all manner of pleafant flow 
 ers, that is all pleafant, delightful, and undifturbed ; en 
 joying a fweet calm, and the gentle vivifying beams of the 
 fun. The foul of a true Chriftian, as I then wrote my 
 meditations, appeared like fuch a little white flower as 
 we fee in the fpring of the year, low and humble on the 
 ground, opening its bofom to receive the pleafant beams 
 of the fun s glory ; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rap 
 ture, dirFufmg around a fweet fragrancy, ftanding peace 
 fully and lovingly in the midft of other flowers round 
 about ; all in like manner opening their bofoms to drink in 
 the light of the fun. 
 
 " Therr
 
 22 T H E L I F E O F T H E 
 
 " There was no part of creature-holinefs that I then , 
 and at other times, had fo great a fenfe of the lovelinefs 
 of, as humility, hrokennefs of heart, and poverty of fpi- 
 rit ; and there was nothing that 1 had fuch a fpirit to 
 long for. My heart, as it were, panted after this, to lie 
 low before God, and in the duft, that I might be no 
 thing, and that God might be all ; that I might become as 
 a little child. 
 
 " While I was there, at New York, I fometimes was 
 much affected with reflections on my paft life, confider- 
 ing how late it was before I began to be truly religious, 
 and how wickedly I had lived till then ; and once fo, as 
 to weep abundantly, and for a confiderable time toge 
 ther. 
 
 " On January 12, 1722-3, I made a folemn dedica 
 tion of myfelf to God ; and wrote it down ; giving up 
 myfelf and all that I had to God; to be for the future in 
 no refpect my own; to act as one that had no right to 
 himfelf in any refpect ; and folemnly vowed to take God 
 for my whole portion and felicity ; looking on nothing 
 elfe as any part ot my happinefs, nor a6ling as if it were ; 
 and his law for the conftant rule of my obedience, en 
 gaging to tight with all my might againft the world, the 
 flefh, and the devil, to the end of my life. But have reafon 
 to be infinitely humbled, when I conilder how much I have 
 failed of anfwering my obligation. 
 
 " I had then abundance of fweet religious conveHation 
 
 O 
 
 in the family where I lived, with Mr. John Smith, and his 
 pious mother. My heart was knit in affection to thofc, in 
 whom were appearances of true piety; and I could bear the 
 thoughts of no other companions, but fuch as were holy, 
 and the difciples of the bleffed Jefus. 
 
 " I had great longings for die advancement of Chrift s 
 kingdom in the world; my fecrct prayer ufed to be in 
 great part taken lip in praying for it. If I heard the 
 lead hint of any thing that happened in any part of the 
 world, that appeared to me, in fome refpcct or other, to 
 have a favourable afpect on the intereft of Chrift s king 
 dom, my foul eagerly catched at it, and it would much 
 
 animate
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 23 
 
 animate and refrefh me. I ufed to be earned to read pub 
 lic news letters, mainly for that end, to fee if I could not 
 find fome news favourable to the interefb of religion in the 
 world. 
 
 " I very frequently ufed to retire into a folitary place 
 on the banks of Hudfon s River, at fome diftance from the 
 city, for contemplation on divine things, and fecret con- 
 verfe with God; and had many fweet hours there. Some 
 times Mr. Smith and I walked there together, to converfe 
 of the things of God ; and our converfation ufed much to 
 turn on the advancement of Chrift s kingdom in the world, 
 and the glorious things that God would accomplifti for his 
 church in the latter days. 
 
 " I had then, and at other times, the greateft delight 
 in the holy fcriptures of any book whatfoever ; often 
 times in reading it, every word feemed to touch my 
 heart. I felt a harmony between fomething in my heart, 
 and thofe fweet and powerful words: I feemed often to 
 fee fo much light exhibited by every fentence, and fuch 
 a refrefning ravifhing food communicated, that I could 
 not get along in reading: ufed oftentimes to dwell long 
 on one fentence, to fee the wonders contained in it; 
 and yet almoft every fentence feemed to be full of won 
 ders. 
 
 " I came away from New York in the month of 
 April 1723, and had a moft bitter parting with Madam 
 Smith and her fon : my heart feemed to fink within me, 
 at leaving the family and city, where I had enjoyed fo 
 many fweet and pleafant days. I went from New York 
 to Weathersfield by water. As I failed away, I kept 
 fight of the city as long as I could, and when I was out 
 of fight of it, it would affecl: me much to look that way, 
 with a kind of melancholly mixed with fweetnefs. How 
 ever that night, after this forrowful parting, I was greatly 
 comforted in God at Weftchefter, where we went afhore 
 to lodge, and had a pleafant time of it all the voyage to 
 Saybrook. It was fweet to me to think of meeting dear 
 Chriftians in heaven, where we fhould never part more. 
 At Saybrook went aihore to lodge on Saturday, and there 
 
 E kept
 
 4 THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 kept Sabbath ; where I had a fweet and refreshing feafori, 
 walking;; alone in the fields. 
 
 O 
 
 " After I came home to Windfor, remained much in 
 a like frame of mind as I had been in at New York, but 
 only fometimes felt my heart ready to fink, with the 
 thoughts of my friends at New York ; and my refuge 
 and fuppcrt was in contemplations on the heavenly ftate, 
 as I find in my Diary, of May i, 1723. It was my 
 comfort to think of that ftate, where there is fulnefs of 
 joy ; where reigns heavenly, fweet, calm, and delightful 
 love, without alloy ; where there are continually the 
 deareft expreflions of this love ; where is the enjoyment 
 of the perfons loved, without ever parting ; where thefe 
 perfons that appear fo lovely in this world, will really be 
 inexpreffibly more lovely, and full of love to us. And 
 how fweetly will the mutual lovers join together to fing 
 the praifes of God and the Lamb ! How full will it fill 
 us with joy to think that this enjoyment, thefe fweet 
 exercifes, will never ceafe or come to an end, but will 
 laft to all eternity ! 
 
 * Continued much in the fame frame in the general, 
 that I had been in at New York, till I went to New 
 Haven, to live there as tutor of the college ; having one 
 fpecial feafon of uncommon fweetnefs, particularly once 
 at Bohon, in a journey from Bofton, walking out alone in 
 the fields. After I went to New Haven I funk in religion, 
 my mind being diverted from my eager and violent pur- 
 fuits after holinefs, by fome affairs that greatly perplexed 
 nd diftra&ed my mind. 
 
 " In September 1725, was taken ill at New Haven, 
 and endeavouring to go home to Windfor, was fo ill at 
 the North Village, that I could go no further ; where I 
 lay Tick for about a quarter of a year. And, in this fick- 
 nefs, God was pleafed to vilit me again with the fweet 
 influences of his Spirit. My mind was greatly engaged 
 there on divine, pleafant contemplations, and longings 
 of foul. I obferved, that thofe wlio watched with me 
 would often be looking out for the morning, and feemed 
 fo wiili for it; which brought to my mind thofe words 
 
 of"
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 25 
 
 of the Pfalmift, which my foul with fweetnefs made its 
 own language, My foul waiteth for the Lord, more than 
 
 * they that watch for the morning, I fay, more than they 
 
 * that watch for the morning. And when the light of 
 the morning came, and the beams of the fun came in at 
 the windows, it refreshed my foul from one morning to 
 another : it feemed to me to be fome image of the fwect 
 light of God s glory. 
 
 " I remember, about that time, I ufed greatly to long 
 for the converfion of fome that I was concerned with. It 
 feemed to me I could gladly honour them, and with delight 
 be a fervant to them, and lie at their feet, if they were but 
 truly holy. 
 
 " But fome time after this, I was again greatly diverted 
 in my mind with fome temporal concerns, that exceedingly 
 took up my thoughts, greatly to the wounding of my foul ; 
 and went on through various exercifes, that it would be 
 tedious to relate ; that gave me much more experience of 
 my own heart than ever I had before. 
 
 " Since I came to this town,* I have often had fweet 
 complacency in God, in views of his glorious perfections, 
 and the excellency of Jefus Chrift. God has appeared to 
 me, a glorious and lovely being, chiefly on the account 
 of his holinefs. The holinefs of God has always appeared 
 to me the mod lovely of all his attributes. The do6lrines 
 of God s abfolute fovereignty and free grace, in mewing 
 mercy to whom he would fhew mercy, and man s abfolute 
 dependence on the operations of Godfs Holy Spirit, have 
 very often appeared to me as fweet and glorious dodtrines. 
 Thefe doctrines have been much my delight : God s fo 
 vereignty has ever appeared to me as great part of his 
 glory ; it has often been fweet to me to go to God, and 
 adore him as a fovereign God, and afk fovereign mercy 
 of him. 
 
 " I have loved the doctrines of the gofpel; they have 
 been to my foul like green paftures : the gofpel has feemed 
 to me to be the richefl treafure ; the treafnre that I have 
 
 E 2 moft 
 
 * Northampton.
 
 2 6 THELIFEOFTHE 
 
 moft defired, and longed that it might dwell richly in me. 
 The way of falvation by Chrift has appeared in a general 
 way, glorious and excellent, and moft pleafant and moft 
 beautiful. It has often feemed to me that it would, in a 
 great meafure, ipoil heaven, to receive it in any other way- 
 That text has often been affecting and delightful to me, 
 [Ifa. xxxii. 2.] A man ihall be an hiding place from the 
 wind, and a covert from the tempeft, &c. 
 
 " It has often appeared fweet to me to be united to 
 Chrift; to have him for my head, and to be a member 
 of his body ; and alfo to have Chrift for my teacher and 
 prophet. I very, often think, with fweetnefs and long 
 ings, and pantings of foul, of being a little child, taking 
 hold of Chrift, to be led by him through the wildernefs 
 of this world. That text, [Matt, xviii.] at the beginning, 
 has often been fweet to me, Except ye be converted, and 
 
 * become as little children, &c. I love to think of com 
 ing to Chrift to receive falvation of him, poor in fpirit, 
 and quite empty of felf ; humbly exalting him alone ; cut 
 entirely off from my own root, and to grow into, and 
 out of Chrift : to have God in Chrift to be all in all ; 
 and to live by faith on the Son of God, a life of humble, 
 unfeigned confidence in him. That fcripture has often 
 been fweet to me, [Pfa. cxv. i.] * Not unto us, O Lord, 
 not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy 
 
 * and for thy truth s fake. And thofe words of Chrift, 
 [Luke x. 2I-] In that hour Jefus rejoiced in fpirit, and 
 
 * faid, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 that thou haft hid thefe things from the wife and pru- 
 dent, and haft revealed them unto babes : even fo, Fa- 
 
 * ther, for fo it feemed good in thy fight. That fove- 
 reignty of God that Chrift rejoiced in, feemed to me to 
 be worthy to be rejoiced in ; and that rejoicing of Chrift 
 feemed to me to fhew the excellency of Chrift, and the 
 fpirit that he was of. 
 
 " The fweeteft joys and delights I have experienced, 
 have not been thofe that have arifen from a hope of my 
 own good eftare, but in a diredl view of the glorious 
 things of the gofpel. When I enjoy this fweetnefs, it 
 
 feems
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 27 
 
 j cems to carry me above the thoughts of my own fafc 
 eftate : it fecms at fuch times a lofs that I cannot bear to 
 take off my eye from the glorious, pleafant objet I behold 
 without me, to turn my eye in upon myfelf, and my own 
 good eftate." 
 
 Such remarks abound in the writings of the New Eng 
 land divines ; and we have no right to deny what they afiert? 
 upon their own experience. But when this attainment 
 is made the teft of Chriftianity, and the criterion of true 
 grace, we muft oppofe it. It is the love of God med 
 abroad in our hearts that muft enkindle our nrft affec 
 tions to him. And the moft dear and affectionate apoftle 
 afferts, that * We love him becaufe he nrft loved us. 
 [i John iv. 19.] 
 
 " My heart has been much on the advancement of 
 Chrift s kingdom in the world ; the hiftories of the paft 
 advancement of Chrift s kingdom have been fweet to me. 
 When I have read hiftories of paft ages, the pleafanteft 
 thing in all my reading has been, to read of the kingdom 
 of Chrift being promoted : and when I have expe6led in 
 my reading to come to any inch thing, I have lotted upon 
 it all the way as I read ; and my mind has been much en 
 tertained and delighted with the fcripture promifes and 
 prophecies of the future glorious advancement of Chrift s 
 kingdom on earth. 
 
 " I have fometimes had a fenfe of the excellent ful- 
 nefs of Chrift, and his meetnefs and fuitablenefs as a 
 Saviour, whereby he has appeared to me, far above all, 
 the chief of ten thoufands : and his blood and atonement 
 has appeared fweet, and his righteoufnefs fweet ; which is 
 always accompanied with an ardency of fpirit, and inward 
 ftrugglings, and breathings, and groanings, that cannot 
 be uttered, to be emptied of mvfelf, and fwallowed up in 
 Chrift. 
 
 " Once, as I rode out in the woods for my health, 
 Anno 1737, and having lighted from my horfe in a re 
 tired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk 
 for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that 
 for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of 
 
 God,
 
 2 8 THELIFEOFTHE 
 
 God, as mediator between God and man; and his won 
 derful, great, full, pure, and fweet grace and love, and 
 meek and gentle condefcenfion. This grace, that ap 
 peared to me fo calm and fweet, appeared great above the 
 heavens : the perfon of Chrift appeared ineffably excel 
 lent, with an excellency great enough to fwallow up all 
 thought and conception, which continued, as near as I 
 can judge, about an hour, which kept me the bigger part 
 of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt 
 withal an ardency of foul to be, what I know not other- 
 wife how to exprefs, than to be emptied and annihilated, 
 to lie in the duft, and to be full of Chrift alone ; to love 
 him with a holy and pure love ; to trull: in him ; to live 
 upon him ; to ferve and follow him ; and to be totally 
 wrapt up in the fulnefs of Chrift ; and to be perfectly 
 fanctiried and made pure, with a divine and heavenly pu 
 rity. I have feveral other times had views very much of 
 the fame nature, and that have had the fame effects. 
 
 "I have many times had a fenfe of the glory of the 
 third perfon in the Trinity, in his office of Sanctifier, in 
 his holy operations communicating divine light and life 
 to the foul. God, in the communications of his Holy 
 Spirit, has appeared as an infinite fountain of divine glory 
 and fweetnefs ; being full and fufficient to fill and fatisfy 
 the foul ; pouring forth itlelf in fweet communications, 
 like the fun in its glory, fweetly and pleafantly difFufmg 
 light and life. 
 
 " I have fometimes had an afrecting fenfe of the excel 
 lency of the word of God, as a word of life ; as the light 
 of life ; a fweet, excellent, life-giving word ; accompanied 
 with a thirfting after that word, that it might dwell richly 
 in my heart. 
 
 " I have often, fmce I lived in this town, had very 
 affecting views of my own iinfulncfs and vilenefs; very 
 frequently fo as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping, 
 fometimes for a confiderable time together : fo that 1 have 
 often been forced to Ihut myfelf up. I have had a vaftly 
 greater fenfe of my own wickednefs, and the badnefs of 
 my heart, fmce my converfion, than ever I had before.
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 29 
 
 It has often appeared to me, that if God fhould mark 
 iniquity againft me, I fhould appear the very worft of all 
 mankind, of all that have been fince the beginning of the 
 world to this time ; and that I fhould have by far the loweit 
 place in hell. 
 
 " And yet I am not in the leaf! inclined to think, that 
 I have a greater conviction of fin than ordinary : I know 
 certainly, that I have very little fenfe of my fmfulnefs ; 
 that my fins appear to me fo great, don t feem to me to be, 
 becaufe I have fo much more convi6tion of fin than other 
 Chriftians, but becaufe I am fo much worfe, and have fo 
 much more wickednefs to be convinced of. 
 
 " I have greatly longed of late for a broken heart, and 
 to lie low before God. And when I alk for humility of 
 God, I can t bear the thoughts of being no more humble 
 than other Chriftians. It feems to me, that though their 
 degrees of humility may be fuitable for them, yet it would 
 be a vile felf-exaltation in me, not to be the loweft in hu 
 mility of all mankind. Others fpeak of their longing to 
 be humbled to the duft : though that may be a proper 
 expreffion of them, I always think for myfelf, that I ought 
 to be humbled down below hell. It is an expreffion that 
 it has long been natural for me to ufe in prayer to God. 
 I ought to lie infinitely low before God." 
 
 On this fubjecT: Mr. Edwards feems to delight in hyper 
 boles ; and may teach us this remark, that true grace is ex 
 ceedingly humbling. It taught the great apoftle to efteem 
 bimfelf the chief of fmners, and lefs than the leaft of 
 
 all faints. It is poffible, however, to ufe extravagant 
 expreffions on any fubje6t, and " to be humbled below 
 hell," or " infinitely low," may be thought fuch. The 
 humble and amiable Dr. Watts defined humility to confiit 
 in a man s having " a juft opinion of himfelf," not a 
 degrading one. We are all fo much indebted to divine 
 mercy, that there feems little danger of hyperboles on that 
 lubjeft ; there is no occafion however to link our language 
 below the poffibility of a meaning. 
 
 " I have vaftly a greater fenfe of my univerfal exceed 
 ing dependence on God s grace and ftrengtth, and mere 
 
 good
 
 30 THE LIFE OF THE 
 
 good pleafure, of late, than I ufcd formerly to have" ; 
 and have experienced more of an abhorrence of my own 
 righteoufncfs. The thought of any comfort or joy arif- 
 ing in me, on any confideration, or reflection on my 
 own amiablenefs, or any of my performances or expe 
 riences, or any goodnefs of heart or life, is naufcous and 
 deteftable to me ; and yet I am greatly affiicled with a 
 proud and felf-righteous fpirit, much more fenfibly than 
 I ufed to be formerly : I fee that ierpent rififig and put 
 ting forth its head continually, everywhere, all around 
 me. 
 
 " Though it feems to me, that in fome refpch, I was 
 a far better Chriftian for two or three years after my firft 
 conversion than I am now, and lived in a more conftant 
 delight and pleafure ; yet of late years I have had a more 
 full and conftant fenfe of the abfolute fovereignty of God, 
 and a delight in that fovereignty ; and have had more of 
 a fenfe of the glory of Chrift, as a mediator, as revealed 
 in the gofpel. On one Saturday night, in particular, 
 had a peculiar difcovery of the excellency of the gofpel of 
 Chrift, above all other doctrines, fo that I could not but 
 fay to myfelf, * This is my chofen light, my chofen doc- 
 trine: and of Chrift, This is my chofen prophet/ 
 
 Another Saturday night .... had fuch a fenfe 
 
 how iweet and blefled a thing it was, to walk in the way 
 of duty, that it caufed me to cry out, * How happy arc 
 they which do that which is right in the fight of God ! 
 They are bleffed indeed, they are the happy ones ! 
 1 had at the fame time a very affecling fenfe, how meet 
 and fuitable it was that God mould govern the world, 
 and order all things according to his own pleafure ; and 
 i rejoiced in it, that God reigned, and that his will was 
 done." 
 
 Thus clofes the extraordinary experience of our Au 
 thor, and by way of caution to iincere but inferior 
 Chriftians, we beg it be coniideved that it was extraordi 
 nary; that few Chriftians have arrived to equal attain 
 ments in the divine life, particularly as to a fettled ac- 
 quielcence in the divine will, and a devotednefs of heart 
 
 to
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 31 
 
 to the Redeemer. But let us not confider his, or any 
 man s experience, as an abfolute criterion to try the fafety 
 of our ftate, or the truth of our converfion. The word 
 of God is our rule, and the only one on whicli we can 
 rely with certainty. There are as many degrees of growth 
 in grace, as in nature ; the beloved apoftle wrote to chil 
 dren, young men, and fathers in Chrift. And there is no 
 lefs variety in the manner of the Holy Spirit s operation. 
 
 * The wind bloweth where it lifteth, faith our divine 
 teacher, [John iii. 8.] and thou heareft the found 
 
 * thereof, but canft not tell whence it cometh, and whi- 
 
 * ther it goeth ; fo is every one that is born of the Spirit.* 
 So free, fo fovereign, fo multiform and incomprehensible, 
 are the operations of divine grace ; but this remark is not 
 intended to induce any to reft fatisfied in their prefent at 
 tainments. It is not only the duty but one of the beft 
 criteria, of a true Chrift ian, to go on unto perfection. 
 [Heb. vi. i.] 
 
 We (hall detain the reader with only one other remark 
 on the preceding narrative, viz. That the fubject of ths 
 fubfequent work [the Hiftory of Redemption] was long 
 one of our author s molt favourite topic s of reflection, 
 " When. I have read," faith he, " hiftories of paft ages, 
 the pleafanteft thing in all my reading has been, to read 
 of the kingdom of Chrift being promoted, .... and 
 my mind has been much entertained and delighted with 
 the fcripture promifes and prophecies of the future glo 
 rious advancement of Chrift s kingdom on earth." And, 
 what is very obfervable, he even objected at lirft to ac 
 cept the prefidentihip of New Jerfey College for this 
 among other reafons " I have had on my mind and 
 heart, which I long ago began, not with any view to pub 
 lication, a great work, which I call, a Hijlory of the Work 
 of Redemption," &c. [See his letter to the truftees of 
 the above college, dated Oct. 19, 1757, in the life pre- 
 , fixed to his fermons, p. 95.] which circumftance is alfo 
 remarked in a letter of his fon, the Rev. Jonathan Ed- 
 watds, of New Haven, Feb. 25, 1773. 
 
 F V We
 
 32 THELIFEOFTHE 
 
 We fhall clofe our account of Prefident Edwards \vith 
 the following particulars of his habit of life, and cha 
 racter : 
 
 Though he was of a tender and delicate confutution, 
 yet few ftudcnts were capable of more clofe application 
 than he was. He commonly fpent thirteen hours every 
 day in his ftudy. His moft ulual diversions in the fum- 
 mer were riding on horfeback and walking; he would 
 commonly, unlefs diverted by company, ride two or three 
 miles after dinner to fomc lonely grove, where he would 
 difmount and walk a while. At which times he generally 
 carried his pen and ink with him, to note any thought 
 that fhould be fuggefted, which he chofe to retain and 
 purfue. In the winter he was wont, almoft daily, to take 
 an axe and chop wood moderately for the fpace of half 
 an hour or more. He had an uncommon third for know 
 ledge, in the purfuit of which he fpared neither cofl nor 
 pains. He read all the books, efpecially books of divi 
 nity, that he could come at, from which he could hope 
 to get any help in his purfuit of knowledge. And, in 
 this, he confined not himfell to authors of anv particu 
 lar fedl or denomination ; but took much pains to come 
 at the books of the nioft celebrated writers whofe fcheme 
 of divinity was mo ft contrary to his own principles : but 
 he ftudied the Bible more than all other books, and more 
 tjian mofc other divines do. His uncommon acquintancc 
 with it appeals in his lermons, and in mo ft of his publi 
 cations : and his great pains in Itudying it are manifeft 
 in his manufcript notes upon it. He was thought by 
 fon;e, who had but a flight acquaintance with him, to be 
 flifF and unfociable ; bin this \vas owing to want of better 
 acquaintance. He was not a man of many words indeed, 
 and was fomewbat referved among ft rangers ; but among 
 fuch whole candour and friendlhip he had experienced, he 
 threw o-F that referve, and was molt open and free ; and 
 remarkably patient of contradiction. He was not ufed 
 to fpcnd his time in fcandal, evil fpenking, and backbiting, 
 or in foolifh jetting and idle chat ; but his mouth was 
 
 that
 
 REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 33 
 
 that of the juft, which bringeth forth wifdom, and his lips 
 difperfed knowledge ; fo that none of his friends could 
 enjoy his company without inftrnclion and profit, unlefs 
 it was by their own fault: he kept himfelf quite free from 
 worldly cares ; and left the direction of the temporal con 
 cerns of his family almoft entirely to Mrs. Edwards ; who 
 was better able than moil of her fex, to take the whole 
 care of them on her hands. 
 
 Thus ornamental to the chriftian name and character 
 lived the excellent fubjecT: of thefe memoirs ; and his death 
 perfectly harmonized with the tenor of his life: " Never 
 did any mortal man," fays his phyfician, in a letter to 
 Mrs. Edwards, " more fully and clearly evidence the fin- 
 cerity of his profeffion, by one continued, univerfal calm, 
 cheerful resignation, and patient fubmiffion, to the divine 
 will, through every ftage of his difeafe, than he : not fo 
 much as one difcontented expreffion, nor the lead: appear 
 ance of murmuring through the whole." 
 
 Pretkient Edwards left the following works, befides fun- 
 dry MSS. yet unpublished, which will doubtlefs perpetuate 
 his memory to remote ages of the church. 
 
 I. A Narrative of the furprifmg Work of God in the 
 Converfion of feveral hundred Souls in Northampton, 
 New England. 1737. 
 
 IT. Five Sermons on Juftification by Faith alone : 
 Preffing into the Kingdom of God Ruth s Refolu- 
 tion The Tuftice of God in the Damnation of Sinners 
 and the Excellency of Jefus Chrifl:. 1738. 
 
 III. Thoughts on the Revival, of Religion in New 
 England. 1742- 
 
 IV. A Treatife on religious Affection. 1746. 
 
 V. Aa Attempt to promote the Union of God s 
 People in extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Reli 
 gion. 1747. 
 
 VI. The Life of Mr. David Brainerd, Miffionary. 
 1749. 
 
 VII. An Inquiry into the Qualification for full Com 
 munion, Sec. 1749- 
 
 ^ F 2 VIII. A
 
 34 T H E L I F E O F, &e. 
 
 VIII. A Reply to the Rev. Mr. William s Anfwer to 
 this Inquiry. 1752. 
 
 IX. An Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will. 1754. 
 
 X. A Number of fmgle Sermons, on various Subjects 
 and different Occafions. 
 
 XI. The Chriftian Do6lrine of original Sin. 1758. 
 N. B, This was in the prefs when he died ; the follow 
 ing works were pollhumous. 
 
 XII. A Hiftory of Redemption. [The fubfequeut 
 work] 1774. 
 
 XIII. His Life and eighteen Sermons. 1735- 
 
 SYLLABUS
 
 SYLLABUS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY (^REDEMPTION. 
 
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 TEXT [Ifa. li. 8.] explained. 
 
 Obferve, i . How fhort the profperity of the church s 
 
 enemies. 
 
 2. The happy and eternal portion of God s 
 people. 
 
 DOCTRINE. The work of REDEMPTION is a work which 
 God carries on from the fall of man to the end of the world. 
 
 Premife, i. An explanation of the terms. 
 
 2. God s defigns in this work, were 
 To triumph over his enemies ; 
 To rcftore the ruins of the fall ; 
 To gather all the elect in Chrift ; 
 To complete their happinefs ; 
 To glorify the blefled Trinity. 
 *Tkefttbjt8 divided into three PERIODS. 
 
 PERIOD I. 
 
 From the FALL to the INCARNATION. 
 From the FALL to the FLOOD. 
 
 1. Chrift began his office immediately on the fall. 
 
 2. The firft promife. 
 
 3. The origin of facrifices. 
 
 4. Salvation of Abel. 
 
 5. Revival of Religion. 
 
 6. Holy life of Enoch. 
 
 7. His prophecy. 
 
 8. His tranflation. 
 
 o. Prefervation of religion in Noah s family. 
 
 in.
 
 36 SYLLABUS. 
 
 II. From the FLOOD to the Call of ABRAHAM. 
 
 1. The Flood. 
 
 2. Noah s prefervation in the ark. 
 3. New grant to Noah. 
 
 4. Renewal of the covenant with him. 
 
 5. Deftruftion of Babel. 
 
 6. The confequent difperfion. 
 
 III. From the Call of ABRAHAM to MOSES. 
 
 I The Call of Abraham. 
 
 2. Farther difcovery of the covenant of grace. 
 
 3. Prefervation of the ancient: Patriarchs. 
 
 4. Deftru6rion of Sodom. 
 
 5. Covenant renewed withlfaac and Jacob. 
 
 6. Hiftory of fofeph. 
 
 7. Jacob s prophecy. 
 
 IV. From MOSES to DAVID. 
 
 T. IfraePs redemption from Egypt. 
 
 2. Other nations given up to heathenifm. 
 
 3. The law given at Sinai. 
 
 4. The jewifh typical law. 
 
 5. The Pentateuch written by Mofcs. 
 
 6. Ifracl s paffage through the wildcrnefs ; typical. 
 
 7. Human life ihortened. 
 
 8. Miracles in the wildernefs. 
 
 9. Prophecies of Balaam and Mofes. 
 
 10. God s Spirit poured out on the riling generation. 
 
 11. HVacl brought into Canaan. 
 
 12. The tabernacle pitched at Shiloh. 
 
 13. The land preferved while Ifrael went up to 
 
 Jerufalem. 
 
 14. Ifrael preferved during their frequent apoftafies. 
 15 Their repeated deliverances from captivity. 
 
 16. The appearances of Chrift under the Old Tefta- 
 
 incnt. 
 17. The fchool of the prophets inftituted by Samuel. 
 
 V. From DAVID to the Babylon i fa CAPTIVITY. 
 
 1. David anointed. 
 
 2. His life wonderfully preferved. 
 
 3. Samuel s writings. 
 
 4. David s infpiration. 
 
 5. David crowned. 
 
 6. Jerufalem chofen by God. 
 
 7. God s covenant renewed with David. 
 
 8. Ifrael urft poffefs the whole promifcd land. 
 
 cj. Jewifh
 
 SYLLABUS. 37 
 
 9. Jewiili vvorfhip perfected. 
 
 10. "Writings of Nathan and Gad. 
 
 11. Kingdom of Judah preferved in David s family. 
 
 12. The building of Solomon s temple. 
 
 13. The Jewiili church at its higheft glory in his 
 
 time. 
 
 14. God s Work carried on during the fubfequenr 
 
 decline. 
 Qbferve, this prepared the way for Chrift s coming. 
 
 15. The canon of Scripture enlarged. 
 
 16. The church kept in times of general apoftafy. 
 
 17. The book of the law wonderfully preferved. 
 
 18. The tribe of Judah preferved. 
 
 19. A fucceflion of Prophets from Samuel. 
 
 VI. From the Babykmifh CAPTIVITY to the INCARNA 
 TION. 
 Premife, (i.) This period more the fubject of Prophecy 
 
 than Hiftory. 
 
 (2.) Full of remarkable revolutions. 
 (3.) The church preferved in the midft of them 
 all. 
 
 1. The captivity in Babylon its ufeto the Jews. 
 
 2. Additions to the canon of Scripture. 
 
 3. Babylon destroyed by Cyrus. 
 
 4. The Jews return. 
 
 5. The prophecies of Haggai and Zachariah. 
 
 6. The Spirit, of Gcd remarkably with Ezra. 
 
 7. The book of Ezra written. 
 
 8. The canon of Scripture compiled. 
 
 9. The public reading of the law. 
 
 10. The Jews preferved from Haman s cruelty. 
 
 1 1. The books of Nehemiah and Efther written. 
 
 12. Malachi s prophecy. 
 
 13. The Spirit of Prophecy ceafed. 
 
 14. The Perfi an Empire deftroyed. 
 
 15. The Septuagint tranflation. 
 
 1 6. The church preferved during the Greek Em 
 
 pire. 
 
 17. The erection of the Roman Empire. 
 
 1 8. Learning and philofophy at their height. 
 
 19. Roman Empire in peace and glory. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT, i. Jefus the true Mefliah. 
 
 2. The Old Teftament infpired. 
 
 3. An objection anfwered. 
 
 4. God s
 
 38 SYLLABUS. 
 
 4. God s wifdom difplayed in divine re 
 
 velation. 
 
 5. Chrift the grand fubjecl: of the Bible. 
 
 6. The ufefulnefs of the Old Teftament. 
 
 7. Folly of neglecting the Bible. 
 
 8. Grandeur of Chrift s character and 
 
 million. 
 
 PERIOD II. 
 
 From CHRIST S INCARNATION to his RESURRECTION. 
 I. The INCARNATION why neceflary. 
 
 1. Included Chrift s conception and birth. 
 
 2. Accomplifhed in the fulnefs of time. 
 
 3. The greatnefs of this event. 
 
 4. Poverty of Chrift. 
 
 5. Several concomitants of this event ; as 
 
 The return of God s Spirit ; 
 
 Notice taken of the Incarnation both in heaven 
 
 and earth ; 
 
 Circumcilion of Chrift ; 
 ChrilVs appearance in the fecond temple ; 
 The fceprre s departing from Judah. 
 II. The PURCHASE of Redemption. 
 
 1. The term explained. 
 
 2. General Obfervations ; viz. 
 
 (i.) Chrift s fatisfa&ion confided inhis fufferings. 
 (2.) During the whole of his humiliation. 
 (3.) By the fame things Chrift fatisried for fin, 
 and purchafed eternal happinefs. 
 
 3. Confider Chrift s obedience, as to 
 
 (i.) The laws he obeyed as a Man, a Jew, and 
 
 as a Mediator. 
 A T . B. Obferve the excellency of this obedience. 
 
 (2.) The different periods of his obedience ; 
 In his private life ; 
 
 In his public miniftry ; concerning which, 
 Obferve, Chrift s forerunner ; 
 His baptilm ; 
 
 His public works ; preaching, working mira 
 cles, and calling his ditciples; 
 His miniftry linitlied, by counfelling his dif- 
 ciples, inftituting his fupper, and offering 
 himfelf a lacritice. 
 
 (3.) The
 
 SYLLABUS. 39 
 
 (3.) The virtues he exercifed ; with refpect to 
 
 God, himfelf, and other men. 
 4. Confider Chrift s fufferings: 
 (i.) In his infancy; 
 
 (2.) private life; 
 
 (3.) public mirriftry; 
 
 (4.) death. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT, i. Reproof, 
 
 Of unbelief; 
 Self righteoufnefs ; 
 Ncglecl of falvation. 
 2. Encouragement; 
 
 Completenefs of Chrift s purchafe ; 
 Chrift rejects none who come to him. 
 
 PERIOD III. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, i. The times of this period called the 
 
 latter days. 
 2 . end 
 
 of the world. 
 3. defcribed as a 
 
 creation of a new heaven and earth 
 4. called the 
 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 Obferve, God s defign to exhibit his wifdom and victories 
 over Satan. 
 
 I. Thofe things WHEREBY CHRIST WAS CAPACITATED 
 for this work. 
 
 1. His refurre&ion. 
 
 2. His afceniion. 
 
 ^ II. DISPENSATION of PROVIDENCE, by which the 
 means of the fuccefsof it were eftabliihed, viz. 
 
 1. The end of the Jewifh difpenfation. 
 
 2. The Chriftian Sabbath. 
 
 3. The inftitution of a gofpel miniftry. 
 
 4. The gift of the Holy Ghoft. 
 
 5. The full revelation of gofpel truth. 
 
 6. The appointment of deacons. 
 
 7. The miffion of St. Paul. 
 
 8. The inftitution of ecclefiaftical councils. 
 
 Q. Committing the New Tedamentto writing. 
 
 G $ III.
 
 40 SYLLABUS. 
 
 III. This SUCCESS CARRIED ON in a SUFFERING ftate. 
 
 I. From ChrijTs refurrcftion to the dejlrutiion of 
 
 Jcrufalcm. 
 (i.) Its fuccefs among the Jews, Samaritans, and 
 
 Gentiles. 
 
 (2.) Oppofition made to it. 
 (3.) God s judgments on the oppofers. 
 
 2. From the dejlruft ion of Jerufalem to Conftantine. 
 
 (i.) Oppofition made by writing and perfecution. 
 
 (2.) Succefs of the gofpel notwithftanding. 
 
 (3.) Particular circumftances of diftrefs juft be 
 fore Conftantine. 
 
 (4.) Revolution in Conftantine s time. 
 
 Chriftians delivered from perfecution. 
 Terrible judgments on their enemies. 
 Heathenilm in a great meafure abolimed. 
 Peace of the church. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT. "The truth of ChrljYianity. 
 
 The gofpel the only means of bringing men to 
 
 the knowledge ot God. 
 The hand of God vifible in this work. 
 No other caufe fufficient to account for it. 
 The event agreeable to Chrift s predictions. 
 
 3. From Conjlantinc to the rife of Antichrift. 
 
 (i.) Oppofition made by herefies and paganifm. 
 (2.) Succefs of the gofpel notwithftanding. 
 
 4. From the rife of Antichrift to the reformation. 
 
 (i.) The devil s oppofition by Popery and Maho- 
 metanifm. 
 
 (2.) The church wonderfully preferved. 
 
 Some nations late in fubmitting to popery. 
 Some in every age oppofed it, 
 Particularly the Waldenfes, 
 Alfo Wickliffe and his difciples. 
 
 5. From the reformation to the prcfent time. 
 
 (i.) The reformation itfelf coniidered. 
 (2.) The oppofition made to it, 
 
 By the Council of Trent, 
 
 By private confpiracies, 
 
 By open wars, 
 
 By bloody perferutions, 
 
 By erroneous opinions. 
 
 (3.) The
 
 SYLLABUS. 4 t 
 
 (3.) The fucccfs of the gofpel lately, 
 In reformation of dotrine ; 
 In the fpread of the gofpel ; particularly in 
 
 America, Mufcovy, and the Eaft Indies. 
 Revivals of religion of late, efpecially in 
 
 Saxony and New England. 
 (4.) The prefent ftate of religion; 
 In fome refpets better, 
 In others worfe. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT. ---Evidences of Chriftianity, 
 
 From the oppoiition of wicked men, 
 
 prefervation of the church, 
 
 fulfilment of prophecies, 
 
 fpirit of Chriftianity. 
 
 The credibility of remaining prophecies. 
 6. From the prefent time to the fall of Antichrift. 
 
 (i.) A dark time will precede this event. 
 
 (2.) The fall of Antichrift will be gradual, 
 though fwift. 
 
 (3.) It will be accomplished by the out-pouring 
 of God s Spirit. 
 
 (4.) Great oppoiition will be made. 
 
 (5.) Chrift will obtain complete victory. 
 
 (6.) Satan s vifible kingdom be univerfally de- 
 ftroyed. 
 
 (7.) This event compared to the day of judgment. 
 
 IV. This SUCCESS carried on in a PROSPEROUS ftate for 
 the moft part. 
 
 1. Its profpenty through the greater part of this 
 
 period, 
 (i.) This moft properly the kingdom of heaven 
 
 on earth. 
 (2.) This the grand period for the fulfilment of 
 
 prophecy. 
 (3.) The duration of this period. 
 
 2. The grand apojlafy which will immediately pre 
 
 cede Chrift s coming. 
 
 V. COMPLETION of this work in GLORY. 
 
 Prcmlfc, (i.) How great the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe. 
 (2.) All preceding deliverances preparatory and 
 
 typical of this. 
 To accompl:jh this work, 
 
 i. Chrift will appear in the clouds : 
 
 G 2 2. The
 
 42 SYLLABUS. 
 
 2. The dead fhall be raifed ; 
 
 3. The faints mall meet the Lord in the air; 
 
 4. The righteoufnefs of the church and wickednefs 
 
 of her enemies mall be manifeft ; 
 
 5. Final fentence pafs on all men ; 
 
 6. Chrift and his church afcend to glory ; 
 
 7. This world be burnt; 
 
 8. The church made completely and eternally 
 
 happy. 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 1 . How great the work of redemption ! 
 
 2. God the Alpha and Omega in it. 
 
 3. Chrift in all things hath the pre-eminence. 
 
 4. The harmony ot divine Providence. 
 
 5. The truth ot the Scriptures. 
 
 6. Difplay of the divine power and glory. 
 7. wifdom. 
 
 8. mercy and faithfulnefs. 
 
 9. Happinefs of the church. 
 10. Mifery of wicked men. 
 
 HISTORY
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 REDEMPTION. 
 
 ISAIAH. It 8. 
 
 FOR THE MOTH SHALL EAT THEM UP LIKE A GAR 
 MENT, AND THE WORM SHALL EAT THEM LIKE 
 WOOL : BUT MY RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL BE FOR 
 EVER, AND MY SALVATION FROM GENERATION TO 
 GENERATION. 
 
 T 
 
 H E defign of this chapter is to comfort the church 
 under her fufferings, and the perfections of her enemies; 
 and the argument of confolation infifted on, is, the con- 
 ftancy and perpetuity of God s mercy and faithfulnefs, 
 which fhall be manifeft in continuing to work falvation; 
 protecting her againft all aflaults of her enemies, and car 
 rying her through all the changes of the world, and finally 
 crowning her with victory and deliverance. 
 
 In the text, this happinefs of the church of God is fet 
 forth by comparing it with the contrary fate of her enemies 
 that opprefs her. And therein we may obferve, 
 
 i. How {holt-lived the power and profperity of the 
 church s enemies is : The moth fliall eat them up like 
 . a garment, and the worm fhall eat them like wool; (A) 
 
 /. e . 
 
 (A) The MOTH and the vfWNifiall eat them.~\ There is a flight 
 inaccuracy in this rendering which is worth correcting, becaufe 
 
 it
 
 4* HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 i.e. however great their profperity, and however great their 
 prefent glory, they fhall by degrees confume and vanifh 
 away by a fecret curfe of God, till they come to nothing ; 
 and their power and glory, and confequently their perfe- 
 cutions, eternally ceafe ; and themfelves be finally and ir 
 recoverably ruined : as the rineft and moft glorious apparel 
 will in time wear away, and be confumed by moth and 
 rottennefs. We learn who thofe are that fhall thus con- 
 fume away, by the foregoing verfe, viz. thofe that are the 
 enemies of God s people : Hearken unto me, ye that 
 
 * know righteouinefs, the people in whofe heart is my law, 
 
 * fear ye not the reproach of MEN, (B) neither be ye afraid 
 
 * of THEIR revilings. 
 
 Obferve, 2. The contrary happy lot and portion of God s 
 church, cxpreffed in thefe words, My righteoufnefs (hall 
 
 < be 
 
 it will throw a farther beauty on the text. It fliould feem that 
 the word [5#y] gnti/Ij, rendered moth, ftrittly fignifies, not the 
 moth-Jly, but the moth-iuorni, or caterpillar, and receives its name 
 from its corroding and dejlroyins the texture of cloth. [PARKHURST 
 Lex. Heb. in Verb, and SCOTT in Job.] " The young moth," 
 [or moth-worm] fays the ingenious Abbe LE PLUCHE, " upon 
 leaving the egg, which a papilio [or moth] has lodged upon a 
 piece of fluff .... commodious for her purpofe, finds a habita 
 tion and food .... it grows and lives upon the nap, and likewife 
 builds with it its apartment. . . . The whole is well fattened to the 
 ground of the ftuff with feveral cords and a little glue. The moth 
 [worm] . . . devours and demolifhes all about her ; . . . and when 
 fhe has cleared the place . . . . fhe draws out all the ftakes of this 
 tent, after which (he carries it to fome little diftance, and then 
 fixes it with (lender cords in a new fituation. In this manner fhe 
 continues to live at our expence till fhe is fatiated with her food, 
 at which period fhe is firit transformed into a nymph, and then 
 changed into zpnpi io, or moth. [Nature Difplayed, vol. i. p. 35.] 
 And this is what is intended to be exprefled by the latter word 
 [DD] fas, which is the proper name of the moth itfelf, from its 
 agility. [So the LXX render it Srjra?, and the Vulgate, Tinea. 
 And hence is derived n?, ufed in the Greek and Syriac of Matt. 
 vi. 20.] We would read the text thus, The MOTH-WORM fhall 
 eat them like a garment, and the MOTH fhall devour them like 
 wool. So fecret, rapid, and complete fhall be the deftruftion of 
 the church s enemies ! 
 
 (B) Reproach of ;r.:n. ~] Bifhop LOWTH [inloc.] renders the 
 latter word [il UX] fomewhat more elegantly and literally, " Re 
 proach of \VP. ETCHED MAN."
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 45 
 
 be for ever, and my falvation from generation to gene- 
 ration. Alfo who thofe are that mall have the benefit 
 of this, by the preceding verfe, namely, They that know 
 
 * righteoufnefs, and the people in whofe heart is God s 
 law ; or, in one word, the church of God. And con 
 cerning this their happinefs we may obferve two things, 
 wherein its confifts, and its continuance. 
 
 (i.) Wherein it confifts, viz. In God s righteoufnefs 
 and falvation towards them. By God s righteoufnefs here, 
 is meant his faithfulnefs and fulfilling his covenant pro- 
 mifes to his church, or his faithfulnefs towards his church 
 and people, in beftowing the benefits of the covenant of 
 grace upon them ; (c) which benefits, though they arc 
 beftowed of free and fovereitm erace, and are altogether 
 
 O O O 
 
 undeferved ; yet as God has been pleafed, by the promifes 
 of the covenant of grace, to bind himfelf to beftow them, 
 fo they, are beftowed in the exercife of God s righteoufnefs 
 or juftice. And therefore the apoftle fays [Heb. vi. 10.] 
 
 * God is not unrighteous, to forget your work and labour 
 of love. And the Evangelift [i John i. 9.] If we 
 
 * confefs our fins, he is faithful and juft to forgive us our 
 
 * fins, and to cleanfe us from all unrighteoufnefs. So the 
 word righteoufnefs is very often ufed in fcripture for God s 
 covenant faithfulnefs ; as in Nehem. ix. 8. Thou haft 
 performed thy words, for thou art righteous. So we are 
 often to underftand righteoufnefs and covenant mercy for 
 the fame, as [Pfa. xxiv. 5.] He (hall receive the bleffing 
 from the Lord, and righteoufnefs from the God of his 
 
 * falvation. [Pfa. xxxvi. 10.] Continue thy loving 
 kindnefs to them that know thee, and thy righteoiifnefs 
 to the upright in heart. [Pfa. li. 14.] Deliver me 
 
 * from blood guiltinefs, O God, thou God of my falva- 
 
 * tion, and my tongue fhall fing aloud of thy righteouf 
 nefs. [Dan. ix. 1 6.] O Lord, according to thy righ- 
 
 teoufnefs, 
 
 (c) God s righteoufnefs. ~\ " The word [pip] righteoufnefs is 
 ufed in fuch a great latitude of fignification . . , that it is not eafy 
 fometimes to give the precife meaning of it; .... it means here 
 the faithful completion of God s promifes to deliver his people. 1 
 Bp. LOWTH, in ver. 5.]
 
 46 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 teoufnefs, I befeech thee, let thine anger and thy fury 
 be turned away. -And fo in innumerable other places. 
 
 The other word here ufed is falvation. Of thefe, God s 
 righteoufnefs and his falvation, the one is the caufe, of 
 which the other is the effeh God s righteoufnefs, or 
 covenant mercy, is the root, of which his falvation is the 
 fruit. Both of them relate to the covenant of grace. The 
 one is God s covenant mercy and faithfulnefs, the other 
 intends that work by which this covenant mercy is accom- 
 pliihed. For falvation is the fum of all thofe works of 
 God, by which the benefits of the covenant of grace are 
 procured and beftowed. 
 
 (2.) We may obfervc its continuance, iignified here 
 by two expreffions ; for ever, and from generation to 
 generation. The latter feems to be explanatory of the 
 former. The phrafe for ever, is varioutly ufed in forip- 
 ture. (D) Sometimes thereby is meant as long as a man 
 
 lives. 
 
 (D) The phrafe FOR. EVER is iiarloujly ufed in fcnptiirc. ] The 
 meaning of this and the like expreffions is fo intimately connected 
 with feveral controverfies, particularly the pei-yetuity of the law of 
 Mofcs, the duration of future torments, and the divinity of Chriit, 
 that it is of confiderable confequence to afcertain it. SCHIND- 
 LERUS fays of the original term in Hebrew, " JEvum, feculum^ 
 certum tcmporis fpacium : longum tempus prxteritum aut futu- 
 rum : tempus, cujus duratio ell abfcondita : duratio finita juxta 
 fubje&am materiam,de qui agitur." PARKHURST [Lex. in CD^] 
 whofe words perfectly corrcfpond, interprets it of " Time, hidden 
 or concealed from man, as well indefinite and eternal, as finite ; as 
 well pall as future. It feems to be much more frequently ufed for 
 an indefinite than for an infinite time." And even Mr. LEVI 
 explains it by " Perpetual ; everlafting ; figuratively ^ a certain 
 number of years. [Heb. DiL in Q^J?.] 
 
 We think the moil accurate method of explaining the different 
 meanings of this phrafe would be, to reduce them to a general 
 term, and none feems to promife io fair, or lias been fo generally 
 applied to it, as AGE (asvum, feculum) which we mall therefore 
 try, and apply to the inftances quoted by our author. 
 
 i. Forever, everlafting, and the like terms, are fometimes ap 
 plied to the age of human life, as in I Sam. xxviii. 2. * And Ac hifli 
 * faid to David, I will make thee keeper of mine head for ever ; 
 /". e. as long as I live. So our author underftands Exod. xxi. 6. as 
 above cited; but many refer this to the next fo.ife. 
 
 2. For-
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 47 
 
 Jives. Thus it is faid, [Exod. xxi. 6.] The fervant that 
 had his ear bored through with an awl to the door of 
 his mafter fhould ferve him for ever. Sometimes thereby 
 is meant during the continuance of the Jewifli ilate. 
 So of many of the ceremonial and Livitical laws it is faid, 
 that they Jhould be ftatutes/or ever. Sometimes it means 
 as long as the world mall ftand, or to the end of the ge 
 nerations of men. Thus [Ecclef. i. 4.] One generation 
 pafleth away and another cometh ; but the earth abideth 
 
 H if* 
 
 2. for ever means to the year of jubilee, as L.EVI [ut fupra"] 
 and others. The fact is, if no jubilee intervened, the fervant 
 whofe ear was bored was to ferve as long as he lived, but the ju 
 bilee releafed him. And the term age might be applied to the pe 
 riod of the jubilee, which was fifty years, with as much propriety 
 as to that of a century. Seculum has been differently explained of 
 periods of thirty, one hundred, and even a thoufand years. 
 
 3. We frequently reftrift the term for ever to the Jeivifl) age, 
 or difpenfation, and thus account for the abolition of thofe ftatutes 
 which, as above obferved, were commanded to be kept for ever. 
 The time of the Jewifh difpenfation may be with as much pro 
 priety called an age, as are the periods of other difpenfations : 
 thus we fay, the Antideluvian age, the Patriarchal age, the Mil 
 lennial age. So the heathens divided the different periods of the 
 world into the Golden age, the Silver age, the Iron age, &c. 
 
 4. The fame term may be extended to the period of the Gofpel 
 difpenfation, or the Gofpel age, the lafl which the fcripture war 
 rants us to expect, the termination of which therefore will be 
 coeval with the end of the xvorld ; and in this view, it will be the 
 fame thing whether we refer the term for ever to the end of the 
 gofpel difpenfation, or of the world, as our author docs. 
 
 5. The expreffionybr ever muft certainly be fometimes taken in 
 its utmofl extent, as reaching to eternity, i. e. the age of God and 
 fpiritual beings ; rind we may obferve, that when the term is re 
 peated (for ever and ever) it is generally fo to be underflood. 
 
 6. The termer ever is frequently taken in a figurative view, as 
 above hinted, for any long period, paft or future. [See in the 
 Heb. Ecclef. i. 10. xii. 5.] Thus we ufe the term age when 
 \\ e fay, fuch a thing has been an age in doing fuch a perfon is an 
 <ige in coming or fuch an event happened an age ago. 
 
 But the moft important thing is to eaftblifh a criterion to deter 
 mine its full import in any text required. The remark of SchimU 
 lerus above cited is certainly juit, namely, that the ful/jci! m:ft df- 
 ttrmincit; may we not venture then to fay, that the terms for ever, 
 f Verio/ling, &c. are always to be taken in the wtmojl Litltucle the fr.l* 
 jt-cl will admit of, and therefore to be extended to a proper cternitv, 
 when there is nothing decifive t > forbid it ? [I. N. J
 
 48 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 for ever? Sometimes thereby is meant to all eternity. 
 So it is faid, God is blefledybr ever? [Rom. i. 25.] And 
 [John vi. 51.] If any man eat of this bread he fhall 
 
 * live/or ever? Now which of thefe fenfes is here in 
 tended the next word determines, and my falvation from 
 generation to generation ; that is, to the end of the 
 world. Indeed the fruits of God s falvation fhall remain 
 afterwards, as appears by the 6th verfe ; Lift up your 
 eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath : 
 for the heavens mall vanifli away like fmoalc, and the 
 earth ihall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell 
 
 * therein ihall die in like manner, but my falvation fhall 
 be for ever, and my righteoufnefs fhall not be abolifh- 
 ed. But the work of the falvation of the church fhall 
 continue to be wrought till then. Till the end of the 
 world God will go on to accomplim deliverance and 
 falvation for the church, from all her enemies ; for that is 
 what the prophet is here fpeaking of. Till the end of the 
 world; till her enemies ceafe to be, or to have any power 
 to moled the church. And this expreflion, from genera 
 tion to generation, may determine us, as to the time which 
 God continues to carry on the work of falvation for his 
 church, both with refpec"l to the beginning and end. It 
 is from generation to generation, /". e. throughout all ge 
 nerations; beginning with the rirfr, generation of men 
 upon the earth, and not ending till thefe generations end, 
 with the world itfelf. And therefore we deduce from thefe 
 words this 
 
 DOCTRINE. 
 
 THE WORK OF REDEMPTION IS A WORK WHICH GOD 
 CARRIES ON FROM THE FALL OF MAN TO THE END 
 OF THE WORLD. 
 
 i 
 
 THE beginning of the poiterity of our firfr, parents was 
 after the fall ; for all their pofterity, by ordinary genera 
 tion, are partakers of the fall, and of the corruption of 
 
 nature
 
 INTRODUCTION. 49 
 
 nature that followed from it ; and thefe generations, by 
 which the human race is propagated, {hall continue to 
 the end of the world; fo thefe two are the limits of the 
 generation of men on the earth; the fall of man, and 
 the end of the world. There are the fame limits to the 
 work of redemption, as to thofe progreffive works of 
 God, by which that redemption is accompliihed ; though 
 not as to the fruits of it ; for they, as was faid before, fhail 
 be eternal. 
 
 The work of redemption and the work of falvation are 
 the fame thing. What is fometimes in fcripture called 
 God s faving his people, is in other places called his re 
 deeming them. Chrift is called both the Saviour and Re 
 deemer of his people. 
 
 BEFORE entering on the propofed Hiftory of the Work 
 of Redemption, I would, 
 
 1. Explain the terms made ufe of in the doctrine ;- 
 and, 
 
 2. Shew what are thofe things which are defigned to be 
 accomplifhed by this great work. 
 
 I.I am to ihow in what fenfe the terms of the doc 
 trine are ufed. And, (i.) I (hall point out how I would 
 be underftood when I ufe the word redemption ; and, (2.) 
 When I fay, the work is carried on from the fall of man to 
 the end of the world. 
 
 (i.) I tmift fhow how I would be underftood when I 
 ufe the word redemption. And here it may be obferved, 
 that the work of redemption is fometimes to be taken in a 
 limited fenfe, for the purchafe of falvation ; (for fo the 
 word ftriiStly fignifies, a purchafe of deliverance ;) and if 
 we take it in this fenfe, the work of redemption was not 
 io long in doing: but it was begun and rimmed with 
 Chrift s humiliation. It was begun with Chrift s incar 
 nation, carried on through his life, and finifhed with 
 his death, or the time of his remaining under the power 
 of death, which ended in his refurredtion : . and fo we 
 fay, that the day of Chrift s refurre6Hon is the day when 
 he iiniihed the work of redemption, z. c. then the purchafe 
 
 H 2 was
 
 5 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 was finifned : and the work itfelf, and all that appertained 
 to it, was virtually done, but not aftually. 
 
 But fometimes the work of redemption is taken more 
 largely, as including all that God doth tending to this end ; 
 not only the purchafe itfelf, but alfo all God s works that 
 were properly preparatory to, orapplicatory of, the purchafe, 
 and accompliihing the fuccefs of it : fo then the whole dif- 
 penfarion, as it includes the preparation, the purchafe, and 
 the application and fuccefs of Chrift s redemption, may 
 be called the work of redemption. All that Chrift does in 
 this great affair as mediator, in any of his offices, either 
 of prophet, prieft, or king ; either when he was in this 
 world in his human nature, or before, or fmce : and not 
 only what Chrift the mediator has done, but alfo what the 
 Father, or the Holy Ghoft, have done, as covenanted in 
 this defign of redeeming finful men ; or, in one word, 
 all that is wrought in execution of the eternal covenant ot 
 redemption ; this is what I call the work of redemption 
 in the doctrine ; for it is all but one work, one defign. 
 The various difpenfotions or works that belong to it, are 
 but the feveral parts cf one Ichcme. It is but one defign 
 that is formed, to which all the offices of Chrift direcSUy 
 tend; in which all the Perfoas of the Trinity confpire ; 
 and all the various difpenfations that belong to it are united. 
 The feveral wheels are one machine, to anfwer one end, 
 and produce one efFeit. 
 
 (2.) When I fay, this work is carried on from the fall 
 of man to the end of the world ; in order to the full un- 
 cierftanding of rny meaning in it, I would defire two or 
 three things to be obferved. 
 
 [i.] That it is not meant, that nothing was done in 
 order to it before the fall of man. Some things were done 
 before the world was created, yea, from all eternity. The 
 perlons of the Trinity were, as it were, confederated in a 
 defign, and a covenant of redemption ; (E) in which co 
 venant 
 
 (L) The PERSONS of the TRINITY.] Some ferious perfons 
 have been offended at thefe terms as unfcn ptural and unwarrant 
 able.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 51 
 
 venant the Father had appointed the Son, and the Son had 
 undertaken the work : and all things to be accomplished 
 in the work were ftipulated and agreed : and befides thefe, 
 there were things done at the creation of the world, in 
 order to that work, before man fell ; for the world itfelf 
 feems to have been created in order to it. The work of 
 creation was in order to God s works of providence ; fo 
 that it it be inquired, which of thefe are the greatefb, the 
 \vorks of creation, or the works of providence ? I anlvveu, 
 the works of providence ; becanfe God s works of provi 
 dence arc the end of his works of creation; as the build 
 ing 
 
 able. It is acknowledged well to keep as much as may be to the 
 phrafeology, as well as doclrines of revelation ; but it is not al 
 ways poffible ; unlefs, at leaft, we will talk Greek and Hebrew. 
 As to the word TRINITY, fince it implies no more than the union 
 of Three in One, without leaning to any particular fcheme of ex 
 plication, thofe who believe the divine and myiterious union of Fa 
 ther, Son, and Spirit, in one Godhead, need hardly fcruple it, 
 however averfe to human fyftems. 
 
 The term PERSON when applied to Deity is certainly ufed in a 
 fenfe fomevvhat different from that in which we apply it to one ano 
 ther ; but when it is confidered that the Greek words [ Yvcrcartr & 
 n^a-owov] to which it anfwers, are in the New Teftament applied to 
 the Father and Son, [Hcb. i. 3. 2 Cor. Jv. 6.] and that nofmglc 
 term, at leaft, can be found more fuitable, it can hardly be con 
 demned as unfcriptural or improper. 
 
 The Perform of the Trinity are confederated In a COVENANT, &c. 
 It would lead us far beyond the compafs of a note to enter here on 
 the do&rine of the covenants ; we fhall therefore only fubjoin a 
 few of the texts on which it is founded. 
 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. * He hath made with me an everlafting cove- 
 
 * nant, ordered in all things and fure ; for this is all my falvation 
 
 * and all my defire. 
 
 Pf. xl. 6 8. Sacrifice and offering thou didfl not defire 
 
 * then faid I, Lo, I come ; in the volume of the book it is written 
 
 * of me. Compare Heb. x. 5 9. 
 
 Pf. lixxix. throughout. I have made a covenant with my cho- 
 
 * fen then thou fpakeft in vifion to the holy one and faid, I have 
 
 * laid help on one that is mighty, &c. Compare Hof. iii. 5. 
 
 Pf. c:c. throughout. The Lord faid unto my Lord, fit thou 
 at my right hand the Lord hath fworn and will not repent, thou 
 c art a prieft for ever, &c. Comp. Matt. xxii. 24. 
 
 Dan. ix. 27. * He fhall confirm the covenant with many. 
 Heb. viii. 6. He is the mediator of a better covenant. 
 xiii. 20. * Tli blood of the evevlafling covenant/
 
 52 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ing an houfe, or the forming an engine or machine, is 
 for its future ufe. But God s main work of providence 
 is this great work of redemption, as will more fully appear 
 hereafter. 
 
 The creation of heaven was in order to the work of 
 redemption ; it was to be an habitation for the redeemed: 
 [Matt. xxv. 34.] Then {hall the King fay unto them on 
 his right hand, Come, ye blefled of my Father, inherit 
 
 * the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 
 * world. Even the angels were created to be employed 
 in this work. (F) And therefore the apoftle calls them, 
 
 * miniftering fpirits, fent forth to minifter for them who 
 ihall be heirs of falvation. [Heb. i. 14.] As to this 
 lower world, it was doubtlefs created to be a ftage upon 
 which this great and wonderful work of redemption 
 fhould be tranfacted ; and therefore, as might be fhewn, 
 in many refpcdts this world is wifely fitted, in the forma 
 tion, for fuch a ftate of man as he is in fmce the fall, 
 under a pofTibility of redemption ; fo that when it is faid, 
 that the work of redemption is carried on from the fall 
 of man to the end of the world, it is not meant, that all 
 that ever was done in order to redemption has been done 
 fmce the fall. 
 
 Nor, [2.] Is it meant that there will be no remaining 
 fruits of this work after the end of the world. That 
 glory and blefTcdnefs, which will be the fum of them all, 
 will remain to the faints for ever. The work of redemp 
 tion is not a work always doing and never accompliihed ; 
 
 the 
 
 (F) HEAVEN (and the ANGELS) created in order to the worL of 
 Redemption. That is, this was one of the ends God had then in 
 view, but the fupreme end was his own glory. See Prov. xvi. 4. 
 
 THIS WORLD created to be ajlagefor the ivork of Redemption. 
 This thought is certainly juft and beautiful. Thofe who have con- 
 fidered the world as defigncd for only perfect creatures, have had 
 many difficulties which this idea at once removes. What would 
 have become of our firft parents, had they continued in a ftate of 
 innocency ? How the world would have contained all its fucccflive 
 generations at once ? And the like inquiries are as impertinent a. 
 perplexing. God foreknew the fall fore-ordained the mediator 
 and previoufly fitted the world to his own magnificent detigns.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 53 
 
 the work has an iffue : but in the iffue the end will be ob 
 tained ; which end will never terminate. As thofe things 
 that were in order to this work before the beginning of the 
 world, viz. God s electing love, and the covenant of re 
 demption, never had a beginning; fo the fruits of this 
 work, which fhall be after the end of the world, will never 
 have an end. And therefore, 
 
 (3.) When it is faid in the doctrine, that this is a 
 work that God is carrying on from the fall of man to the 
 end of the world, what I mean, is, that thofe things 
 which belong to the work itfelf, and are parts of this 
 fcheme, are all this while accompliihing. There were 
 fome things done preparatory to its beginning, and the 
 fruits of it will remain after it is finifhed. But the work 
 itfelf was begun immediately upon the fall, and will con 
 tinue to the end of the world, and then be finifhed : the 
 various difpenfations of God in this fpace belong to the 
 fame work, and to the fame defign, and have all one iflue ; 
 and therefore are all to be reckoned but as feveral parts 
 of one work, as it were, feveral fucceflive motions of one 
 machine, to bring about, in the conclufion, one great 
 event. 
 
 And here alfo we mufl diftinguifh between the parts of 
 redemption itfelf, and the parts of that work by which 
 redemption is wrought out. There is a difference be 
 tween the parts of the benefits procured and beftowed, 
 and the parts of that work of God by which thofe bene 
 fits were procured and beftowed. As, for example, there 
 is a difference between the parts of the benefit that the 
 children of Ifrael received, in their redemption out of 
 Egypt, and the parts of that work of God by which this 
 was wrought. The redemption of the children of Ifrael 
 out of Egypt, confidered as the benefit which they en 
 joyed, confifted of two parts, -viz. their deliverance from 
 their former Egyptian bondage and mifery, and their be 
 ing brought into a more happy ftate, as the fervants of 
 God, and heirs of Canaan. But there are many more 
 things which are parts of that work of God which is 
 called his work of redeeming Tfrael out of Egypt. To 
 
 this
 
 54 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 this belong his calling of Mofes, his fending him to Pha 
 raoh, the figns and wonders he wrought in Egypt, and his 
 bringing fuch terrible judgments on the Egyptians, and 
 many other things. 
 
 Such is the work by which God effects the redemption 
 we are fpeaking of: and it is carried on from the fall of man 
 to the end of the world, in two refpects. 
 
 (i.) With refpect to the effect wrought on the fouls 
 of the redeemed, which is common to all ages. This effect 
 is the application of redemption with refpect to the fouls 
 of particular perfons, in converting, juftlfying, fanctify- 
 ing, and glorifying them. Thus iinners are actually re 
 deemed ; and receive the benefit of the work of redemption 
 in its effect upon their fouls. And in this fenfe the work 
 of redemption is carried on from the fall of man to the 
 end of the world. The work of God in converting fouls, 
 opening blind eyes, unftopping deaf ears, raifing the fpi- 
 ritually dead to life, and refcuing miferable captives out 
 of the hands of Satan, was begun foon after the fall of 
 man, has been carried on ever fmce, and will be to the 
 end. God has always, ever fmce the firft erection of the 
 church of the redeemed after the fall, had fuch a church 
 in the world. Though oftentimes it has been reduced to 
 a very narrow compafs, and to low circumftances ; yet it 
 has never wholly failed. 
 
 And as God carries on the work of converting the fouls 
 of fallen men through all ages, fo he goes on to juftify 
 them, to blot out their fins, to accept them as righteous 
 in his fight, through the righteoufnefs of Chrift, and 
 adopt and receive them from being the children of Satan, 
 to be hrt own children ; thus alfo he goes on to fanctify, 
 and complete the work of his grace, begun in them, to 
 comfort them with the confolations of his Spirit, and to 
 beftow upon them, when their bodies die, that eternal 
 glory which is the fruit of the purchafe of Chrift. What 
 is faicl, [Rom. viii. 30.] * Whom he did predeftinate, 
 them he alfo called ; and whom he called, them he alfo 
 juftified ; and whom he juftified, them he alfo glorified ;
 
 INTRODUCTION. 55 
 
 is applicable to all ages, from the fall, to the end of the 
 world. 
 
 The way that the work of redemption, with refpedt to 
 thefe effeh of it on the fouls of the redeemed, is thus car 
 ried on, is by repeating and continually effecting the fame 
 work over again, though in different perfons, from age to 
 age. But, 
 
 [2.] The work of redemption with refpedl to the 
 grand defign in general, as it refpe&s the univerfal fub- 
 je6l and end, is carried on in a different manner, not 
 merely by repeating or renewing the fame effel in the 
 different fubje6h of it, but by many fucceffive works and 
 difpenfations of God, all tending to one great end, all 
 united as the feveral parts of one fcheme, and all toge 
 ther making up one great work. Like as when an houfe 
 or temple is being built ; firft, the workmen are engaged, 
 then the materials are collected, the ground prepared, the 
 foundation laid, the fuperftruture creeled, one part after 
 another, till at length the top-ftone is laid, and all is 
 finifhed. Now the work of redemption in that exten- 
 five fenfe which has been explained, may be compared to 
 iuch a building. God began it immediately after the fall, 
 as may be fliown hereafter, and has proceeded, as it were, 
 collecting materials, and building, everfmce; and fo will 
 continue to the end of the world ; and then fhall the top- 
 ftone be brought forth, and the whole appear complete and 
 glorious. 
 
 This work is carried on in the former refpect, as to the 
 effect on the fouls of particular perfons, by its being an 
 effet that is common to all ages: the work is carried in 
 this latter refpecl:, as it concerns the church of God, and 
 the grand defign in general, not only by that which is 
 common to all ages, but by fucceffive works wrought in 
 different ages, all parts of one great fcheme. It is this 
 carrying on of the work of redemption that I fliall chiefly 
 infift upon, though not exclusively of the former ; for one 
 tieceffarily fuppofes the other. 
 
 Having thus explained what I mean by the terms of 
 the doctrine ; that you may the more clearly fee how the 
 
 I great
 
 56 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 great defign and work of redemption is carried on from the 
 fall of man to the end of the world, 
 
 (2.) I now proceed, to (how what is the defign of this 
 great work, or what things are intended to be accompliih- 
 ed by it. In order to fee how a defign is carried on, we 
 muft firft know what it is : to know how a workman 
 proceeds, and to underftand the various fteps he takes in 
 order to accomplish a piece of work, we mull: be inform 
 ed what he is about, and what it is lie intends to do; 
 otherwife we may (land by, and fee him do one thing 
 after another, and be quite puzzled and in the dark ; fee 
 nothing of his fcheme, and vmderftand nothing of what 
 he means by it. If an architect, with a great number 
 of hands, were building fome great palace, and one that 
 was a ftranger to fuch things fhould ftand by, and fee 
 fome men digging in the earth, others bringing timber, 
 others hewing ftones, and the like, he might fee that 
 there was a great deal done; but if he knew not the de 
 fign, it would all appear to him confufion. And there 
 fore, that the great works and difpenfations of God which 
 belong to this great aftair of redemption may not appear 
 like confufion to you, I fhall fet before you briefly the 
 main things defigned to be accompli flicd in this great work, 
 to accomplish which God began to work fo early after the 
 fall, and will continue working until the whole {hall be 
 completely finiihed. Now the main things defigned are 
 thefe that follow. 
 
 (i.) To put all God s enemies under his feet, and thai 
 the goodneis of God may finally triumph over all evil. 
 Soon after the world was created, evil entered into the 
 world in the fall of the angels and man. Prefently after 
 God had made rational creatures, there were enemies who 
 rofe up againft him from among them ; and in the fall 
 of man evil entered into this worldj and God s enemies 
 rofe up againft him here. Satan rofe up againft God, en 
 deavouring to fruftrate his defign in the creation of this 
 world, to deflroy his workmanfhip here, to wreft the 
 government out of his hands, to ufurp the throne, and 
 fet up himfelf as god of this world, inftead of the God 
 
 that
 
 INTRODUCTION. 57 
 
 that made it. For thefe ends he introduced fin into it, 
 and having made man God s enemy, he brought guilt, 
 death, and the moft extreme and dreadful mifery, into 
 the world. 
 
 Now one grand defign of God in the affair of redemp 
 tion was, to reduce and fubdue thofe his enemies till they 
 fhould all be put under his feet; [i Cor. xv. 25.] He 
 muft reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
 Things were originally fo planned, that he might difap- 
 point, confound, and triumph over Satan, and that he 
 might be bruifed under Chrift s feet. [Gen. iii. 15.] The 
 promife was given, that the feed of the woman fhould 
 bruife the ferpent s head. It was a part of God s original 
 defign in this work, to deftroy the work of the devil, and 
 confound him in all his purpofes : [i John iii. 8.] For 
 this purpcfe was the Son of God manifefted, that he 
 * might deftroy the works of the devil. It was a part of 
 his defign, to triumph over fin, and over the corruptions 
 of men, and to root them out of the hearts of his people, 
 by conforming them to himfelf. He defigned alfo, that 
 his grace fhould triumph over man s guilt, and the infinite 
 demerit which is in fin. (G) Again, it was a part of his 
 defign to triumph over death ; and however this is the laft 
 enemy that ihall be overcome, yet that fhall finally be 
 vanquillied and deftroyed. 
 
 Thus God will appear glorious above all evil, and tri 
 umphant over all his enemies, which was one grand thing 
 intended by the work of redemption. 
 
 (2.) God s defign was perfectly to reftore the ruins of 
 the fall, fo far as concerns the elect part of the world. 
 
 I 2 by 
 
 (G) God d&figned that his grace ftould triumph overman s GUILT.] 
 " Though the guilt of man was like the great mountains, whofe 
 heads are lifted up to the heavens ; yet his [Chrill sJ dying love, 
 and his merits in this, appeared as a mighty deluge that overflowed 
 the higheft mountains ; or, like a boundiefs ocean that fwallows 
 them up ; or, like an iminenfe fountain of light, that with the 
 fulnefs and redundance of its brightnefs, fwallows up men s greatett 
 Jins, as little motes are fwallowed up and hidden in the difk of the 
 Am." [Pref, EDWARDS * Pofthumous Serai, p. 138.]
 
 5 S HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 by his Son; (H) and therefore we read of the reftitutioh 
 of all things, [Acts iii. 21.] Whom the heaven muft 
 receive, until the times of the reftitution of all things; 
 and of the times of refrefliing from the prefence of the 
 Lord Jelus. [A6ts iii. 19.] Repent ye therefore and be 
 
 < converted, that your fins may be blotted out, when the 
 time of refrefhing fhall come from the prefence of the 
 
 < Lord. 
 
 Man s^W was ruined by the fall ; the image of God was 
 defaced ; man s nature was corrupted, and he became dead 
 in fin. The deftgn of God was, to reftore the foul of 
 man; to reftore life, and the image of God, in conver- 
 fion ; and to carry on this work in fandtification, until he 
 fhould perfect it in glory. Man s body was ruined; by 
 the fall it became fubje6t to death. The defign of God 
 was to reftore it from this ruin, and not only to deliver it 
 from death, by the refurreclion, but to deliver it from 
 mortality itfelf, in making it like unto Chrift s glorious 
 body. The world was ruined, as to man, as effectually as 
 if it had been reduced to chaos again ; all heaven and earth 
 were overthrown. But the defign of God was, to reftore 
 all, and as it were to create a new heaven and a new earth : 
 [Ifa. Ixv. 17.] Behold I create new heavens, and anew 
 
 * earth ; and the former fhall not be remembered, nor 
 
 * come into mind. [2 Pet. iii. 13.] Neverthelefs we, 
 
 * according to his promife, look for new heavens, and a 
 
 * new earth, wherein dwelleth righteoufnefs. 
 
 The work by which this was to be done, was begun 
 immediately after the fall, and fo is carried on till all is 
 fmifhed at the end, when the whole world, heaven and 
 earth, fhall be reftorcd ; and there fhall be, as it were, 
 
 new 
 
 ( H ) God s defign tuas to rejlore the ruins of the fall ax far as ccn- 
 cernsihe ELECT.] Some have carried the proportion farther, and 
 extended it to not only all mankind, but even the fallen angels; 
 and have fuppofed that the very being of moral and penal evil will 
 ceafe. But it will appear in the fequel of this work, that God s 
 plan does not extend fo far : * the reftitution, or rather regu 
 lation of all things, feems to refer to the general judgment. 
 [See PARKHURST, Lex. in ArroxaTsrxTKj and DODDRIBGE in 
 loc.J [N. N.]
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 new heavens, and a new earth, in a fpiritual and 
 ienie, at the end of the world. Thus it is repreferfted > 
 [Rev. xxi. i.] And I faw a new h eaven and a new earth ; 
 for the rirtl heaven and the iirft earth were pafied away. 
 
 (3.) Another great defign of God in the work of redemp 
 tion was to gather together in one, all things in Chrifl, 
 both in heaven and in earth, z. e. all elet creatures, (i) 
 in heaven and in earth, to an union in one body, under 
 one head ; and to unite all together in one body to Gxxl thfe 
 Father. This was begun foon after the fall, and is carried 
 on throughout all ages, and (hall be finifhed at the end of 
 the world. 
 
 (4.) God defigns by this work to perfect and completr 
 the glory of all the ele6t of Chrift. To advance them to 
 an exceeding pitch of glory, fuch as eye hath not feen, 
 1 nor ear heard, nor has ever entered into the heart of 
 man. He intends to bring them to perfect excellency 
 and beauty in his image, and in holinefs, which Is the 
 proper beauty of fpiritual beings ; and to advance them 
 to a glorious degree of honour, an ineffable height of 
 
 pleaiure 
 
 ( i ) Another defign of God was to gather together in Chrifl all ele& 
 ereatures ; i. e. ANGELS as well as men, * That in the difpenfa- 
 
 * tion of the fulnefs of times, he might gather together all thing s 
 
 * in Chrift, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even 
 
 * in him, .... who is the head of all principality and power. 
 [Eph. i. io. Col. ii. 10.] "That Chrift, God-man, fliould be 
 made the head of the angels, is greatly to their benefit, i. Be- 
 caufe they thereby become more nearly related to fo glorious a 
 
 perfon He is theirs : though not their faviour, yet he is 
 
 their head of government and head of influence. 2. They, here 
 by, are under advantages for a far more intimate converfe with 
 God. The divine nature is at an infinite diftance from the nature 
 of angels, as well as from the nature of man. It is therefore a 
 great advantage to the angels that God is come down to them in 
 a -created nature, and in that nature is become their head. $. 
 Men are brought in to join with angels ... in their work of praif- 
 ing God. The angels greatly rejoice at this. [Luke xv. 10."] 
 The vacancy by the fall of angels is filled up. 4. It tends to 
 make the angels the more to .prize their happinefs, when they fee 
 how much it coil topurchaie the fame happinefs for man." [Pref, 
 JppWARDs s PoiUuijnous Sermons, p. 320.]
 
 60 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 plcafure and joy, and thus to glorify the whole church of 
 cleft men in foul and body ; and with them to bring the 
 glory of the eleft angels to its higheft elevation under one 
 head. 
 
 (5.) In all this God defigned to accomplilh the glory 
 of the blefTed Trinity in an eminent degree. God had a 
 defign from eternity to glorify each perfon in the God 
 head. The end muft be confidered as firft in order of 
 nature, and then the means ; and therefore we muft con 
 ceive, that God having profeffed this end, had then, as it 
 were, the means to chufe ; and the principal mean that he 
 pitched upon was this great work of redemption which we 
 are fpeaking of. It was his defign in this work to glorify 
 his only begotten ion, Jefus Chrift ; (K) and by the Son 
 to glorify the Father; [John xiii. 31, 32.] Now is the 
 
 * Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If 
 
 * God be glorified in him, God alfo fhall glorify him 
 
 * jn himfelf, and fhall ftraightway glorify him. It was 
 his defign that the Son fhould thus be glorified, and 
 iliould glorify the Father by what fhould be accompli fhed 
 by the Spirit, to the glory of the Spirit; that the whole 
 Trinity conjun&ly, and each perfon didlinctly, might be 
 exceedingly glorified. The work which was the appoint 
 ed mean of this was begun immediately after the fall, 
 and is carried on till, and finifhed at, the end of the 
 world, when all this intended glory mall be fully accom 
 pli med. 
 
 HAVING thus explained the terms made ufe of in the v 
 do6hine, and mown what things are to be acoomplilhed 
 by this great work of God, I proceed now to the propo- 
 fed Hiftory ; that is, to fhow how the defigns of God by 
 
 the 
 
 (K) // was God s defign to glorify his SON.] " Look round on 
 the fhifting fcenes of glory, which have been exhibited in the thea-: 
 tre of this world; and fee the fuccefs of mighty conquerors, the 
 policy of ftates, the deftiny of empires, depend on the fecret pur- 
 pofe of God in his Son Jefus ; before whom all the atchievements 
 and imaginations of men muft bow down; and to whofe honour, 
 all the myilerious workings of his providence are now, have hi 
 therto been, and will for ever be, directed." [Bp. KURD S Serm, 
 Before Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel.]
 
 INTRODUCTION. 61 
 
 the work of redemption have been and fhall be accompliih- 
 cd, in the various fteps of this work, from the fall of man 
 to the end of the world. 
 
 In order to this, I fhall divide this whole fpace of time 
 into three periods : The 
 
 I. Reaching from the fall of Man to the incarnation of 
 Chrift ; The 
 
 II. From ChriiVs incarnation till his refurrection ; 
 The 
 
 III. From thence to the end of the world. 
 
 Some may be ready to think this a very unequal divi- 
 fion ; and it is fo indeed in fome refpe6ls. It is fo, be- 
 caufe the fecond period is fo much the greateft: for al 
 though it be much fhorter than either of the other, (being 
 but between thirty and forty years, whereas both the other 
 contain thoufands;) yet in the affair we are now upon, it 
 is more than both the others ; I would therefore proceed 
 to {hew diftin&ly how the work of redemption is carried 
 on from the fall of man to the end of the world, through 
 each of thefe periods in their order; which I fhall do under 
 three proportions ; one concerning each period : 
 
 I. FROM THE FALL OF MAN TO THE INCARNATION 
 OF CHRIST, GOD WAS DOING THOSE THINGS WHICH 
 WERE PREPARATORY TO HIS COMING, AND EAR 
 NESTS OF HIS REDEMPTION. 
 
 II. THAT THE TIME FROM CHRIST S INCARNATION, 
 
 TO HIS RESURRECTION, WAS EMPLOYED IN PRO 
 CURING AND PURCHASING REDEMPTION. 
 
 III. THAT THE SPACE OF TIME FROM THE RESUR 
 RECTION OF CHRIST TO THE END OF THE WORLD 
 IS ALL ENGAGED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE GREAT 
 EFFECT, OR SUCCESS, OF THAT PURCHASE. 
 
 In a particular confideration of thefe three propofitionG, 
 the great truth contained in the doctrine may perhaps ap 
 pear in a clear light, and we may fee how the work of 
 redemption is carried on from the fall of man to the end of 
 the world. 
 
 PERIOD
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 PERIOD L 
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE ING A RN ATIOK. 
 
 M 
 
 ,Y firft tafk is, to fhow how the work of redemption 
 is carried on J rein the fall of man to the incarnation of Chrijl 
 under thejirftpropq/ition, viz. 
 
 THAT FROM THE FALL OF MAN TO THE INCARNA 
 TION OF CHRIST, GOD WAS DOING THOSE THINGS 
 WHICH WERE PREPARATORY TO HIS COMING, AND 
 EARNESTS OF HIS REDEMPTION. 
 
 The great works of God in the world, during this 
 whole (pace of time., were all preparatory to this. There 
 were many great changes and revolutions in the world, 
 hut they were only the turning of the wheels of provi 
 dence in order to make way for the coming of Chrifl, 
 and what he was to do in the world. They were all 
 pointed hither, and all iffued here. Hither tended, ef- 
 pecially, all God s great works towards. his church. The 
 church was under various difpenfations and in various 
 circumftances, before Chrifl came ; but all thefc difpen 
 fations were to prepare the way for his coming. God 
 wrought falvation for the fouls of men through all that 
 fpace of time, though the number was very fmall to 
 what it was afterwards ; (L) and all his falvation was, as 
 
 it 
 
 ( L ) The number of fouls faved before Chrijl s coming, comparatively, 
 "very FEW.] There is no fubjeft on which our Speculations have 
 lefs certainty than that of the comparative number of the faved. 
 Among angels fome have fuppofed thofe who fell to form at leaft 
 one third of the whole; and other confign over a great majo 
 rity of mankind to the fame awful condemnation. But * God s 
 thoughts arc not our thoughts, neither his ways as our ways. 
 
 As to theantient Jews, although their difpenfation was compa 
 ratively dark, and their temper naturally rebellious, we have rea- 
 fon to believe an innumerable multitude was faved from among 
 them. If in times of general idolatry and liccntioufnefs, when a 
 
 holy
 
 INTRODUCTION. 63 
 
 it were, by way of anticipation. All the fouls that were 
 faved before Chrift: came, were only, as it were, the ear- 
 neft of the future harveft. 
 
 God wrought many leflfer falvations and deliverances 
 for his church and people before Chrift came. Thefe 
 falvations were all but fo many images and forerunners of 
 the great ialvation Chrift was to work out when he 
 fhould come. God revealed himfelf of old, from time 
 to time, from the fall of man to the coming of Chrift. 
 The church during that fpace of time enjoyed the light 
 of divine revelation, and, in a degree, the light of the 
 gofpel. But all thefe revelations were only earnefts of the 1 
 great lisrht that he ihould brins; who came to be the light 
 
 O O O O 
 
 of the world ; that whole fpace of time was, as it were, 
 the time of night, wherein the church of God was not 
 indeed wholly in darknefs, but it was like the light of the 
 moon and ftars, and not to be compared with the light 
 of the fun. It had no glory, by reafon of the glory that 
 excelleth. [2. Cor. iii. 10.] The church had indeed the 
 light of the fun, but it was only as reflected from the 
 moon and ftars. The church all that while may be con- 
 mlerecl as a minor; this the apoftle evidently teaches fin 
 Gal. iv. i, 2, 3.] Now I lay, that the heir as long as 
 he is a chiU, diflereth nothing from a fervant, though 
 * he be lord of all ; but is under tutors and governors, 
 5 until die time appointed of the Father. Even fo we, 
 when we were children, were in bondage under the ele- 
 ments of the world. 
 
 K BUT 
 
 holy prophet bewailed himfelf as the only fervant of the true God 
 left : if, in fuch a time God had referved to himfelf feven thoufand 
 faithful worfliippers, [i. Kings xix. 10.] doubtlcfs at other times, 
 when religion flourished, their number mufl be confidcrably 
 greater. 
 
 But the Heathen nations are by many totally given up, except 
 here and there a perfon faved by miracle, * God s ways, however, 
 are not as our ways, and it was as poffible for God to fave them 
 without the ufual means of grace, as to fave infants without any 
 <->:tcniai means at all. 
 
 After all, had God JufTered our whole world to pcn fh, what is 
 it to the innumerable globes that float in his p refer. ce ? Probably 
 not more than the deftru&ion of a,i ant hill, or a bee hive, to the 
 . fpecics of ar.ts or btt-s.-^TN, U.I
 
 64 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 BUT here, for the greater ciearnefs and diftindtnefs, I 
 ihall fubdivide this period from the fall of man to the com 
 ing ot Chrift, into fix letter periods. 
 
 I. From the fall to the flood ; 
 II. From the flood to the calling of Abraham ; 
 
 III. From the calling of Abraham to Mofes ; 
 
 IV. From Mofes to David ; 
 
 V. From David to the Babyloni/h captivity ; and the 
 VI. From thence to the Incarnation of Chrift. 
 
 I. From the FALI, to the FLOOD. 
 
 THIS was a period fartheft of all diftanr from Chrift s 
 incarnation ; yet then was this great work begun, this 
 glorious building which will not be finimed till the end 
 of the world ; and this is what I am now to mew vow: 
 to this purpofe I would obferve, 
 
 i. As foon as man fell, Chrift entered on his media 
 torial work. Then it was that he firft began to execute 
 the work and office of a mediator. He had undertaken 
 it before the world was made. He ftood engaged with 
 the Father from eternity to appear as man s mediator, 
 when there ihould be occafion : and now the time was 
 come. When man fell, Chrift immediately entered on 
 his work, and actually took upon him that office. Then 
 Chrift, the eternal Son of God, cloathed himfelf with 
 the mediatorial character, and therein prefented himfelf 
 before the Father. He immediately fteppcd in between 
 an holy, infinite, offended majefty, and offending man 
 kind ; and was accepted in his interpofition ; and thus 
 wrath was prevented from going forth in the full exe 
 cution of that curie which man had brought upon him 
 felf. 
 
 It is manifeft that Chrift began to exercife the office of 
 mediator between God and man as foon as man fell, be- 
 caufc mercy began to be exercifed towards man immedi 
 ately-
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 65 
 
 ately. There was mercy in the forbearance of God, (M) 
 that he did not deftroy him, as he did the angels when 
 they fell : but there is no mercy exercifed toward fallen 
 man, but through a mediator. If God had not in mer 
 cy reftrained Satan, he would have immediately feized on 
 his prey. Chrift began to do the part of an interceflbr 
 for man, as foon as he fell. There is no mercy exercifed 
 towards man, but what is obtained through Chrift s in- 
 terceffion ; fo that now Chrift entered on that work 
 which he was to continue throughout all ages of the world. 
 From that day forward Chrift took \ipon him the care of 
 the church, in the exercife of all his offices ; from thence 
 he undertook to teach mankind in the exercife of his pro 
 phetical office; to intercede for them, in his prieftly of 
 fice ; alfo he took upon him the government of the church, 
 and of the world. He from that time took upon him. 
 the defence of his elecl: from all their enemies. When 
 Satan, the grand enemy, had conquered and overthrown 
 man, the bufmefs of refilling and conquering him was 
 committed to Chrift ; and he undertook to manage that 
 fubtle powerful adverfary. He was then appointed the 
 captain of the Lord s hofts, and the captain of their fal- 
 vation, and ever after adted, and will continue to adt, as 
 fuch to the end of the world. Thenceforward this world, 
 with all its concerns, was, as it were, devolved upon the 
 Son of God: for when man had finned, God the Father 
 would have no more to do with man immediately ; but 
 
 K 2 only 
 
 (M) There iuas mercy in the FORBEARANCE of God.~\ MILTON, 
 with whom our author frequently coincides, puts this fentiment 
 into the mouth of Adam, -in his condolatory addrefs to Eve. 
 
 " Remember with what mild 
 
 And gracious temper he both heard and judg d, 
 Without wrath or reviling : we expeifted 
 Immediate diflblution, which we thought 
 Was meant by death that day ; when lo, to thee 
 Pains only in child bearing were foretold, 
 And bringing forth, foon recompens d with joy, 
 Fruit of thy womb: on me the curfe aflope 
 Glanc d on the ground" . . . [Par. Loft, Book x.] 
 This fubjecl:, and Milton s beautiful illuftration of it, we mail 
 have occafion to refume in the fequel of this feftion.
 
 66 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 only through a mediator; either in teaching, in govern 
 ing, or in beftowing any benefits upon him. 
 
 And therefore, when we read in facred hiftory what 
 God did from time to time for his church and people, and 
 liow he revealed himfelf to them, we are to underftand 
 it efpecially of die fecond perfon of die Trinity. When 
 we read of God s appearing after the fall, frequently in 
 fome vifible form, or outward fymbol of his preftnce, we 
 are ordinarily, if not univerlally, to underftand it of the 
 Son of God. (N) This may be argued from John i. 18. 
 No man hath feen God at any time; the only begotten 
 Son, which is in the bofom of the Father, he hath de- 
 clared him. He is therefore called the image of the 
 invifible God. [Col. i. 15.] intimating, that though 
 God the Father be invifible, yet Chrift is his image, or re- 
 prefentation, by which he is feen. 
 
 Yea, not only this world devolved on Chrift, that he 
 might have the care and government of it, and order it 
 agreeably to his defign of redemption, but alfo in fome 
 refpccT:, the whole univerfe. The angels from that time 
 were given unto him, to be miniftering fpirits in this grand 
 bufmefs ; and accordingly were fo from this time, as is 
 manifeft by the fcripture hiftory, wherein we have accounts 
 of their a6ting as fuch in the affairs of the church of Chrift, 
 from time to time. 
 
 And therefore we may fuppofe, that immediately on 
 the fall, it was made known in heaven (o) that God had 
 
 a defign 
 
 (N) When ive read of God s APPEARING after tJie fall, <wc art 
 to underjland it of tie Son of God.~\ The principal appearances here 
 alluded to, and the peribn thus appearing, will be confidered under 
 VI. of this period. 
 
 (o) God s dejign of mercy made known in HEAVFX immediately 
 on the fa!/. ] MILTON, with, at leaft, equal beauty and probability, 
 fuppoles this difcovery to have preceded the fall. He reprefents 
 the eternal Father as viewing Satr.n flying towards this world, 
 and foretelling his fucccfs, and his own purpofcs of grace in tiic 
 iffiie. The paflage, as it is extremely beautiful and will il hi (Irate 
 not only this, but fevei al other of our author s observations under 
 this fection, we {hall in part tranfcribe : 
 
 Hirr,
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 67 
 
 a defign of redemption wirh refpetl to man ; that Chrift 
 had now taken upon him the office and work of a mediator 
 
 between 
 
 " Him [Satan] God beholding from his profpect high, 
 Wherein paft, prefent, future, he beholds, 
 Thus to his only Son forefeeing fpake : 
 
 " Only begotten Son, feeft thou \vhat rage 
 
 Tranfports our adverfary ? . 
 
 And now 
 
 Through all reftraints broke loofe, he wings his way 
 
 Not far off heaven, in the precinfts of light, 
 
 Diredtly towards the new-created world ; 
 
 And man there plac d, with purpofeto effay, 
 
 If him by force he can deflroy, or worfe, 
 
 By fome falfe guile pervert : and mall pervert. 
 
 For man will hearken to his glozing lies, 
 
 And eafily tianfgrefs the fole command, 
 
 Sole pledge of his obedience ; fo will fall 
 
 He and his faithlefs progeny 
 
 Man falls, deceiv d 
 
 By th other firft : man therefore mail find grace, 
 The other none : in mercy and juftice both, 
 Through heav n and earth, fo (hall my glory excell ; 
 But mercy, firft and laft, fhall brighteft mine. 
 
 * Thus while God fpake, am orofial fragrance fill d 
 All heav n, and in the bleffed fpirits eleft 
 Senfe of new joy ineffable diffus d : 
 Beyond compare the Son of God was feen 
 Moft glorious ; in him all his Father (hone 
 Subftantially exprefs d ; and in his face 
 Divine compafiion vifibly appear d, 
 Love without end, and without meafure, grace ; 
 Which uttering, thus he to his Father fpake : 
 
 " O Father, gracious was that word which clos d 
 Thy fov reign fentence, that man mould find grace ; 
 For which both heaven and earth (hall high extoll 
 Thy praifes. ...- 
 
 " To whom the great Creator thus reply d ; 
 O Son, in whom my foul hath chief delight, 
 
 But all is not yet done ; man difobeying. 
 
 He, with his whole pofterity, muft die j 
 Die he or juftice mult ; unlefs for him 
 Some able, and as willing, pay 
 The rigid fatisfaclion, death for death. 
 
 -
 
 63 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 between God and man ; and that the angels were hence 
 forward to be fubfervient to him in that office : and as Chrift 
 has been, fmce that time, as God-man, exalted King of 
 heaven ; and is thenceforward a Mediator, the Light, and 
 the Sun of heaven, (agreeable to Rev. xxi. 23. And the 
 
 * city had no need of the fun, neither of the moon, to Ihinc 
 in it ; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb 
 
 * is the light thereof; ) fo the revelation now made in hea 
 ven among the angels, was, as it were, the firft dawning 
 of this light there. When Chrift afcended into glory after 
 his paffion, and was folemnly enthroned, then this fun arofe 
 in heaven ; but the light began to dawn immediately atter 
 the fall. 
 
 2. Pre- 
 
 Say, heav nly pow rs, where fhall we find fuch love ? 
 
 He afk d ; but all the heav nly choir flood mute, 
 And filence was in heav n : on man s behalf 
 Patron or interceffor none appear d. 
 
 Had not the Son of God, 
 
 In whom the fulnefs dwells of love divine, 
 His deareft mediation thus rencw d. 
 
 " Father, thy word is paft, man mall find grace ; 
 And fhall not grace find means ? 
 Behold Me then ; Me for him, life for life 
 I offer ; on me let all thine anger fall. 
 
 Admiration feiz d 
 
 All heav n, what this might mean, and whither tend, 
 
 Wond ring." [Par. Loll, b. iii.] 
 
 But the idea of Mr. GESSNKR exactly coincides with our an- 
 thor s. He introduces an angel addrefling our firft. parents in the 
 following elegant language : 
 
 " Know then, Adam ! on thy tranfgreffing the divine command, 
 God faid to the happy fpirits who worihip before him, Man hath 
 
 * difobeyed me ; he (hall die. A denfe cloud fuddenly encom- 
 pafled the eternal throne, and a deep filence reigned through the 
 whole expanfe of heaven. . . . The adoring angels were in eager 
 expedition of what was to follow this unulual pomp, when the 
 inajtftic voice of God founded . . . thefe words of benignity and 
 graee I will not withdraw my favour from the finner. To my 
 4 infinite mercy the earth mall bear witnefs. Of the woman (hall 
 
 * be born an avenger, who fhall bruife the head of the ferpent. 
 Hell fhall not rejoice in this victory ; death fhall lofe its prey ; ye 
 
 * heavens, fhew forth your gladnefs ! Thus fpake the Eternal." 
 [Death of Abel, b. ii.j [N. U.j
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 69 
 
 2. Prefently upon this the gofpel was firft revealed on 
 earth, in thefe words, [Gen. iii. 15.] And I will put 
 
 * enmity between thee [the ferpent] and the woman, and 
 
 * between thy feed and her feed : it fhall bruife thy head, 
 
 * and thou fhalt bruife his heel. We may fuppofe, that 
 God s intention of redeeming fallen man was firft fignified 
 in heaven before it was fignified on earth, becaufe the bu- 
 finefs of the angels as ininiftering fpirits required it that 
 they might be ready immediately to ferve him in that office : 
 fo that the light firft dawned in heaven ; but very foon after 
 was feen on earth. In thofe words of God there was an 
 intimation of another furety to be appointed for man, after 
 the firft had failed. This was the firft revelation of the 
 covenant of grace, the firft dawn of light of the gofpel upon 
 earth. 
 
 This world before the fall enjoyed noon-day light ; 
 the light of the knowledge of God, of his glory, and of 
 his favour : but when man fell, all this light was at 
 once extinguifhed, and the world reduced again to total 
 darknefs ; a darknefs worfe than that which was in the 
 beginning of the world. [Gen. i. 2.] Neither men nor 
 angels could find out any way whereby this might be 
 fcattered. The blacknefs of this darknefs appeared when 
 Adam and his wife knew that they were naked, and fewed 
 fig leaves ; when they heard the voice of God walking, 
 in the garden, and hid themfelves among the trees, when 
 God nrft called them to an account, and faid to Adam, 
 What is this that thou haft done ? Haft thou eaten of the 
 
 * tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou {houldeft not 
 eat ? Then we may fuppofe that their hearts were 
 filled with {hame and terror, (p) But thofe words of 
 
 God, 
 
 (p) Adam and his wife knsTv that they were NAKED, 3V.] A 
 variety of queries have been itated from the paflage here alluded 
 to, [Gen. iii. 8 ii.] and a number of folutions given ; fome of 
 thefe we (hall review, as they connect clofely with our fubjet. 
 
 We fhall begin with the immediate confequence of the fin of our 
 firft. parents * And the eyes of them both were opened, and they 
 
 * knew that they were naked. The celebrated Le Clerc, and 
 fome other ingenious commentators, have fuppofcd the nakedefs 
 
 here
 
 70 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 God, [Gen. iii. 15.] \vere the fir ft dawning of the light, 
 of the gofpel after this darknefs. Now firft appeared 
 
 lome 
 
 here alluded to was moral, viz. a lofs of innocence; and it mud 
 be confefled, in a few mftances the Scripture ufes the term in thii 
 metaphorical fenfc, [See STACKHOUSE S Hid. of the Bible, vol. i. 
 p. 74-3 hut two circumttances pofitively forbid our fo taking it in 
 this place one is, that the lail verfe of the preceding chapter af- 
 fures us that they were naked before the fall, which inuft certainly 
 intend a literal nakednefs ; the other, that in confequence of this 
 nakednefs they made themfelves coverings, which certainly were 
 for their bodies, and not their minds. But why fhould they who 
 never had worn any cloathing, be afhamed of appearing in the (late 
 in which God created them ; efpccially when we confidcr, that 
 themfelves were the only perfons in the world, and they were man 
 and wife ? The anfwer to this involves a very delicate, and as it 
 Ihould feem, from the ill fuccefs of commentators, a very diffi 
 cult fubjeft. We muft return to the previous ufTertion of our 
 Jnfpired writer, that they were in a ftate of innocence, both 
 * naked, and not afhamed ; which certainly implies, not only 
 that their nakednefs was no juft caufe of fliame, but that they 
 would never have known it, had their innocency continued. But 
 when they finned, then, as the Tempter had predicted, their 
 eyes were opened. To open the eyes is, literally, to give fight to 
 the blind ; but figuratively, to communicate to any perfon a new 
 kind or degree of knowledge. [See Num. xxii. 31. 2. Kings 
 vi. i 7. Arts :;xvi. i 8.] 
 
 And the following phrafe, which we render they knew that 
 they were naked, implies fomething more than a bare fpecuia- 
 tive knowledge, it means to ftcl,u well as to kiioic, [See PARK- 
 HURST in y*~\>~] and might be here perhaps more accurately and 
 < \M- t iTivJv rendered, they victz fcn/iblc that they were naked. 
 1 Before the fall they doubllefs knew that they had no cloathing ; 
 but P.OW their eyes were opened, and they had acquired a crimi 
 nal knowledge, and become feniible of a paflion, to which they 
 had ever before been llrangers, namely, fhame. The origin ot 
 this will be eafier to account for, if we fuppofe with fome [Uni- 
 verfal Hid. vol. i. p. 132.] that the juice of this tree was in n 
 ee inebriating ; iince we know from common obfervation, that 
 juices of fiich a quality will excite debauchery, produce llrange 
 ccmmations in the animal frame, and give a ftrong predominancy 
 to the animal appetites. Under thefe circumltances we need not 
 vonder at the fubterfugcs to which they ran, fince it is never ex 
 pected that the conduct of perfons under the power of intoxica 
 tion, or the oppreffion of guilt, mould be perfectly ccrififtent: 
 v/ith the rules of cool reflection. 
 
 There is one circumftance which has not been perhaps fi. ffJci- 
 er:t!ynttended to, namely, that they were ufed to expecl the di-
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 71 
 
 iome glimmering of light ; but it was an cbfcurc revelation 
 of the gofpel ; and was not made to Adam or Eve directly, 
 
 but 
 
 vine Prcfence, and that probably in a glorious human form ; this 
 might be one reafon of their covering their nakednefs now, as it 
 was immediately after, of their feeking to hide their perfons 
 among the trees of the garden. However, it is remarkable, that 
 the cuftom of covering the private pails mould fo generally ob 
 tain, even among barbarous nations ; an entire difufe of cloath- 
 ing in both fcxes, is, perhaps, no where pra&ifed, except where 
 promifcuous intercourse is alfo allowed, and men and women cou 
 ple like the brutes. 
 
 The material? of which thefe coverings, which we call * aprons, 
 and fome, ludicrously, breeches, but which ought to be, accord 
 ing to the general ufage of the Hebrew word, and the tranf- 
 lations of the LXX and Vulgate, girdles ; the materials of 
 thefe, and the manner of manufacture, have afforded plentiful 
 diverfion for infidels, but without the lead fhadow of reafon, 
 fince we know that luitable materials are produced in foreign 
 countries, and manufactured with a fimplicity analogous to that 
 or thefe primitive girdles. We allude to the fewed leaves, which 
 
 cover our tea as it comes in chefts from the Eaft Indies. But 
 
 to proceed, 
 
 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the 
 * garden in the cool [Heb. vAnd^ of the day. We have little 
 doubt but that the voice they firft heard was that of thunder, 
 frequently called the voice of God, [See Pf. xxix.] f.rft murmur 
 ing at a diftance, afterward approaching nearer, and growing- 
 louder ; for it is remarkable, that the fame word [walking] is ap 
 plied [Ex. xix. & 19. in the Heb.] by a beautiful figure, to the 
 found of the celeftial trumpet at the delivery of the law. Hearing 
 this, which had never founded to them fo awfully before, it was 
 extremely natural for tkem, in them prefent ftate of guilty con- 
 fuiion, to feek to hide themfelves among the trees ; a method 
 that many of their children pra&ife to this day ; for nothing is 
 more common (though dangerous) than for perfons to run among 
 the trees in a thunder (torm. This happened, as the original ex 
 preflrt it, in the wind of the day, ; . e. the evening breeze ; and 
 now might that powerful element firft put on its terrors, and 
 double the lolemnity of the divine appearance. 
 
 But the voice of the Lord, a voice from the Shechinah, [com 
 pare John xii. 28, 29.] called to him, Adam, where art thou ? 
 
 And he faid, I heard thy voice in the garden ; and I v.v.s 
 afraid, becailfe I was naked, and I hid mylelf. Here is a re 
 markable inftance- of that confufion which commonly attends, and 
 often betrays a guilty conscience : th5s ; confefTion of his fear and 
 nakednefs was a virtual acknowledgment of his crime ; as we fee 
 by the following reply of God : 
 
 L And
 
 7 i HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 but in what God faid to the ferpent. It was however very 
 coniprehenfive, as might be eafily fhown, would it not 
 
 take up too much time. (o^J 
 
 Here 
 
 And he faid, Who told thee that thou waft naked ? Haft thou 
 eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou fhouldft 
 not eat? or as the late Dr. KENNICOTT [Diflert. on the Tree 
 of Life, p. 50.] tranflates the words with more fpirit and exadl- 
 nefs, What! of the tree which I commanded thee not to eat, of 
 THAT haft thou eaten ? This brings Adam to a farther, but not 
 a free, confefiion, and is followed by a fentence on them both. A 
 fentence, however, accompanied by the prom ife of mercy, which 
 will form the fubje6l of the following note. [G. E-3 
 
 (Q_) The Jirjl PROMISE >was very comprehenji ve. To compre 
 hend more fully the nature of this promife, we muft review the 
 whole of the fentence pafled upon the ferpent, in which, as our 
 author obferves, this promife is included. 
 
 The punimment of the ferpent was exactly fuited to the nature 
 of the cafe, and the matter of faft. Satan had made a tool of the 
 ferpent ; this therefore was degraded to the duft, and to be treat 
 ed in a peculiar manner as the enemy of mankind. Many conjec 
 tures have been indulged as to the original nature of the ferpent ; 
 fome of which are ridiculous as well as groundlefs : but the text 
 itfelf implies, that in confequence of the divine curfe it underwent 
 a change, if not in its form, at leaft in its manner of life ; poflibly 
 it was originally an inhabitant of the trees, for which its ftrufture 
 feems very convenient, and might have a privilege, which feems 
 to have been denied moft other animals, [Gen. i. 30.3 of living 
 upon the fruits : but now, faith God, Thou art curfed above all 
 cattle, and above every beaft of the field ; upon thy belly malt 
 thou go, and duft (halt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I 
 will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy 
 feed and her feed ; it mail bruife thy head, and thou malt bruife 
 his heel. The whole of this has been literally fulfilled : ferpents 
 are confined to the ground eating the duft and being pecu 
 liarly the fubjefts of human averfion. [See PLINY S Nat. Hift. 
 vii. 2.] 
 
 If any mould queftion (and fuch is the temerity of man) the 
 equity of God s thus punifhing a creature in itfelf incapable of fin 
 ning, we may fuppofe, with Mr. STACKHOUSE, [Hift. of the Bible, 
 B. I. ch. iii.] that " God intended this debafement of it [the fer 
 pent] not fo much to exprefs his indignation againft it, as to make 
 it a monument of man s apoftafy, a teftimony of his difpleafure 
 againft fin, and an inftruftive emblem to deter all future ages from 
 thecommiffion of that which brought fuch vengeance along with 
 it. In the Levitical law, [Lev. xx. 15.] we find, that if a man 
 committed any abomination with a beaft, the beaft was to be flain 
 
 as
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 73 
 
 Here was an intimation of a merciful defign by the 
 feed of the woman, which was like the firft glimmer 
 ings 
 
 as well as the man ; and, by parity of reafon, the ferpent is here 
 punifhed ; if not to .... allay the triumph of the devil, by feeing 
 the inftrument of his fuccefs fo fhamefully degraded, at leaft to 
 remind the delinquents themfelves of the foulnefs of their crime. 
 But God might have a farther defign in this degradation of the 
 ferpent : he forefaw, that in future ages Satan would have a pride 
 in abufing this very creature to .... eftablifh the vileft idolatry." 
 This we mall confider prefently. 
 
 But to confine this paffage to a literal fenfe would be, as Dean 
 SHERLOCK has (hewn, [Ufe and Intent of Prophecy, Differ. III.] 
 exceedingly ridiculous ; it would contain but cold comfort to our 
 firft parents in their diftrefs, and exhibit the paffage in a light not 
 only unworthy of God, but of Mofes, or, indeed, as Biihop 
 NEWTON obferves, of " any fenfible writer." [Differ. I. on the 
 Prophefies.] We mall therefore proceed to the figurative and 
 more fublime fenfe in which it is above explained. 
 
 And obferve, i . that under the ferpent s name the curfe is here 
 levelled at the grand enemy of mankind, * That old ferpent, called 
 the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. [Rev. 
 xii. 9.3 And very early was he worfhipped under that fimilitude. 
 Dr. GILL [on Gen. iii. i.~] fays, * Taautus, or the Egyptian 
 Thoth, [or Hermes, who, by the bye, is fuppofed to have lived 
 before the flood] was the firft that attributed deity to the nature 
 of the dragon and of ferpents, and after him the Egyptians and 
 Phoenicians ; the Egyptian god Cneph was a ferpent with a hawk s 
 head ; and a ferpent with the Phoenicians was a good daemon .... 
 Herodotus makes mention of facred ferpents about Thebes ; and 
 Alianus, of facred dragons ; and Juftin Martyr fays, the ferpent 
 with the heathens was a fymbol of all that were reckoned gods by 
 them, and they were painted as fuch ; and wherever ferpents were 
 painted, according to Perfius, it was a plain indication that it was 
 a facred place. Serpents were facred to many of the heathen dei 
 ties, who were worfhipped either in the form of one, or in a 
 real one ; all which feem to take their rife from the ufe the devil 
 made of the ferpent in feducing our firft parents." And to this 
 day the ferpent is a favourite divinity among many of the Indian 
 nations. In the clofe of the laft century, a hog which had by 
 fome means killed and fwallowed one of thefe favourite reptiles, 
 in the country of the Widahs, fo provoked them, that the mar- 
 buts (orpriefts) procured a general flaughter of the fwine, and if 
 the King had not loved pork, a hog had not been left in Widah. 
 [See Hill, of Jamaica, Vol. ii. p. 379.] 
 
 2. If the ferpent be underftood of the devil, his feed or offspring 
 will very properly be underftood of that generation of vipers, 
 [Matt. iii. 7.] who our Lord himfelf declared to be of their 
 
 L 2 father
 
 74 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ings of light in the eaft when the day dawns. This 
 intimation of mercy was given before fentence was pro-. 
 
 nounced 
 
 * father the devil, [John viii. 44.] and who mewed their enmity 
 in all the periods of his life, and wounded his heel in nailing him 
 to the crofs, tuho was, doubtlefs, in a moft remarkable manner, 
 
 3. Theyl-r^of the ivoman. Here we may adopt the Apotlle 
 Paul s expofition of another pafTage, in which the fame expreflion 
 is ufed : He faith not feeds, as of many, but as of one which 
 is Chrift. [Gal. iii. 16.] And it is obfervable, that not only the 
 generality of Chriftian writers, but even the ancient Jews, both 
 the Jerufalem Targum and that of Jonathan, befides many other 
 famous rabbits, apply the paffage to the times and perfon of the 
 Meffiah. [See HELVICUS in Protevang. n. 64, and, from him, 
 POOLE, Synop. crit. in loc.] If it be neceflary to underftand the 
 
 * feed of the woman in a more extenfive fenfe, to correfpond 
 with the former member of the fentence, it may be obferved, 
 that the difciplcs of Chrifl owe the fame enmity to Satan as their 
 mafler, and would willingly, as they are able, affift us to deftroy 
 his kingdom. 
 
 4. The meaning of the conflict, here exprefied by Imping the 
 ferpent s head and the Saviour s heel. 
 
 To underftand this metaphorical language it fhould be obferved 
 that the head is the vulnerable part of ferpents, and that a blow 
 there is fatal to them ; whereas a wound in the heel is to a man of 
 comparatively fmall confequerice. " Bruiting the ferpent s head, 
 fays Dr. BURNETT [Ser. at Boyle s Left. Vol. iii. p. 516.] implies 
 the defeating his contrivances againft mankind. For (i.) as he 
 thought by feducing the pair, to have brought on their death, and 
 fo have made an end of the whole fpecies at once, God promifes 
 that the woman mould live to have feed. (2.) As he (educed the 
 woman under the fpecious pretence of friendlhip, while he in 
 tended her ruin, a war is declared againit the devil and his party, 
 which mould end in the ruin of them and their devices. And (3.) 
 as the devil thought by drawing them into fin and under the wrath 
 of God, to bring them under a certainty of death, and deprive 
 of the happinefs they were made for, God declares that the de 
 vil s policy fliould be defeated by the feed of the woman, in which 
 is implied a poiicive promife that mankiwd, though by the envy 
 of the devil become finful and therefore mortal, mould receive 
 through the feed of the woman, forgrvent-fs of fin, the refurrefiion 
 of the body, and life everla/Kflg," 
 
 " So fpake this oracle, then verified 
 When JESUS, fon of Mary, fecund Eve, 
 Saw Satan fall like lightning down from heaven, 
 Prince of the air ; then riling from his grave 
 Spoil d principalities and powers, triumph d 
 In open {how, and with aiccn lion bright, 
 
 Captivity
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 75 
 
 nounced on either Adam or Eve, from tendernefs to 
 them, to whom God defigned mercy, left they fhould be 
 overborne with a fentence of condemnation, without hav 
 ing any thing held forth whence they could gather any 
 hope. 
 
 One of thofe great things that were intended to be 
 done by the work of redemption, is more plainly inti 
 mated here than the reft, viz. God s fubduing his ene 
 mies under the feet of his Son. This was threatened 
 now, and God s defign of it now firft declared. This 
 was the work Chrift had now undertaken, which he foon 
 began, has carried on, and will accoinplifh at the end 
 of the v/orld. Satan probably triumphed greatly in the 
 fall of man, as though he had defeated God s defigns : 
 but in thefe words God gives him a plain intimation, 
 that he ihould not finally triumph, but that a complete 
 victory fhould be obtained over him by the feed of the 
 woman. 
 
 This 
 
 Captivity led captive through the air, 
 The realm itfelf of Satan long ufurp d, 
 Whom he (hall tread at lall under our feet." 
 
 [Par. Loit. Book x.] 
 
 It is not to be fuppofed however that our parents underftood the 
 firil promife to the extent that we now do with the help of the gof- 
 pel revelation. MILTON introduces them as reafoning upon it 
 in this manner : Eve, having hinted the defperate meafure of de- 
 ftroying themfelves, Adam replies, 
 
 " Let us feek 
 
 Some fafer refolution, which methinks 
 I have in view, calling to mind with heed 
 Part of our fentence, that thy feed fhall bruife 
 The ferpent s head ; piteous amends, unlefs 
 Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand foe, 
 Satan, who in the ferpent hath contriv d 
 Againll us this deceit : to crufh his head 
 Will be revenge indeed ; which will be loft 
 By death brought on ourfelveu, or childlefs days 
 Refolv d, as thou propofcft ; fo our foe 
 Shall fcape his puniihment ordain d, and we 
 Inftead fhall double ours upon our heads. 
 
 , Remember with Avhat mild 
 
 And gracious temper he both heard andjudg d 
 
 Without wrath or revilin." . . . Par. Loit. Book x. G.E.
 
 76 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This revelation of the gofpel was the firft, thing that 
 Chrift did in his prophetical office. You may remem 
 ber, that it was faid in the firft of our three proportions 
 that from the fall of man to the incarnation of Chrift, 
 God was doing thofe things which were preparatory to 
 Chrift s coming and working out redemption, and fore 
 runners and earnefts of it. And one of thofe things 
 which God did in this time to prepare the way for Chrift s 
 coming into the world, was to foretel and promife it, as 
 he did from time to time, from age to age, till Chrift came. 
 This was the rirft promife given, the firft prediction made 
 of it upon the earth. 
 
 3. Soon after this, the cuftom of facrificing was ap 
 pointed, to be a ftanding type of the facrifice of Chrift 
 till he fliould come, and offer up himfelf to God. (R) 
 Sacrificing was not a cuftom firft eftablilhed by the Levi- 
 
 tical 
 
 (R) SACRIFICES originally appointed, by God. Our author s ar 
 guments in fupport of this propofition, though concifc, are cer 
 tainly forcible ; but in an article of this importance, it may not 
 be improper to ftrengthen them with the following obfervations 
 from another author of confiderable refpedlability in the learned 
 world : 
 
 " That animal facrifices were not inftituted by man feems ex 
 tremely evident from the acknowledged univerfality of the prac 
 tice from the wonderful famenefs of the manner, in which the 
 whole world offered thefe facrifices ; and from that merit and ex 
 piation, which were conltantly fuppofed in, and to be effected by 
 them. 
 
 " Now human reafon, even among the moil flrenuous oppo 
 nents of the divine inftitutions, is allowed to be incapable of point 
 ing out the leaft natural fitnefs or congruity between Blood and 
 Atonement; between killing of God s creatures, and the receiv 
 ing a pardon for the violation of God s laws. This confequence 
 of facrifices when properly offered, was the invariable opinion of 
 the Heathens ; but not the whole of their opinion in this matter : 
 for they had alfo a traditionary belief among them, that thefe ani 
 mal facrifices were not only expiations but vicarious commutations 
 and fubftituted fatisfacYions, and they called the animals fo offered, 
 f_ their wr^v^y. or] the ranfoms of their fouls. 
 
 " But if thefe notions are fo remote from, nay fo contrary to, any 
 leflbn that nature teaches, as they confeffedly are ; how came the 
 whole world to praclife the rites founded upon them ? It is certain 
 that the wifeil heathens Pythagoras, Plato, Porphyry, and others, 
 flighted the religion of fuch facrifices ; and wondered, how an in- 
 
 ftitution
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 77 
 
 tical law ; for it had been a part of God s inftituted 
 worfliip long before, even from the beginning of God s 
 
 vifible 
 
 ftjtution fo difmal (as it appeared to them) and fo big with abfur- 
 dity, could diffufc itfelf through the world. 
 
 " An advocate for the fufficiency of reafon [Tindall] fuppofes 
 the abfurdity prevailed by degrees ; and the priefts, who (hared 
 with their gods, and referved the bed bits for themfelves, had the 
 chief hand in this gainful fuperftition. But it may well be aiked; 
 who were the priefts in the days of Cain and Abel ? Or what gain 
 could this fuperftition be to them, when the one gave away his 
 fruits, and the other his animal facrifice, without being at liberty 
 to tafte the leaft part of it? And .... it is worth remarking, that 
 what this author wittily calls the beft bits, and appropriates to the 
 priefts, appear to have been the {kin of the burnt offering among 
 the Jews, and the (kin and feet among the Heathens. 
 
 " Dr. SPENCER obferves [De Leg. Heb. Lib. iii. 2.] that fa- 
 crifices were looked upon as gifts, and that the general opinion 
 was that gifts would have the fame effect with God as with man ; 
 would appeafe wrath, conciliate favour with the Deity, and teftify 
 the gratitude and affection of the facrificer ; and that from this 
 principle proceeded expiatory, precatory, and euchatiftical offer 
 ings. This is all that is pretended from natural light to countenance 
 this practice. But how well foever the companion may be thought 
 to hold between facrifices and gifts, yet the opinion that facrifices 
 would prevail with God, muft proceed from an obfervation that 
 gifts had prevailed with men ; an obfervation this which Cain and 
 Abel had little opportunity of making. And, if the coats of fldn, 
 which God directed Adam to make, were the remains of facrifices, 
 fure Adam could not facrifice from this obfervation, when there 
 were no fubjects in the world upon which he could make thefe ob- 
 fervations." [KENNICOTT S 2d Differt. on the Offerings of Cain 
 and Abel. p. 201, &c.] 
 
 But the grand objection to the divine origin of facrifices is 
 jdrawn from the fcriptures themfelves, particularly the following, 
 [Jer. vii. 22, 23.] I fpake not to your fathers, nor commanded 
 them, at the time that I brought them out of the land of 
 I* Egypt, concerning the matters of burnt offering or facrifice ; 
 ! but only this very thing comnr nded I them, faying, Obey my 
 t [ voice, and I will be your God, and ye /hall be my people. The 
 ngenious writer above referred to accounts for this paffage 
 f pages 153 and 209] by referring to the transaction at Marah, 
 FExod. xv. 23 26] at which time God fpake nothing concern- 
 facrifices : it certainly cannot be intended to contradict the 
 le book of Leviticus, which is full of fuch appointments, 
 .nother learned author, to account for the above and other fimi- 
 ir paffages, obferves, " The Jews were diligent in performing 
 ic external fervices of religion ; in offering prayers, incenfe, fa 
 crifices,
 
 78 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 vifible church on earth. We read of the patriarchs, 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, offering facrifice, and even 
 before them Noah and Abel : and this was by divine ap 
 pointment ; for it was part of God s worfhip in his 
 church, and that which he accepted, when offered up in 
 faith ; which proves it was by his inftitution, for facri- 
 flcing is no part of natural worfhip. The light of na 
 ture doth not teach men to offer beads in facrifice to 
 God ; and feeing it was not enjoined by the law of na 
 ture, if it was acceptable to God, it rauft be by fome pofi- 
 tive command or inftitution : for God has declared his 
 abhorrence of fuch worfhip as is taught by the precept 
 of men without his appointment; [Ifa. xxix. 13.] 
 Wherefore the Lord faith, Forafmuch as this people 
 draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do 
 4 honour me, but have removed their heart far from me,. 
 and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts 
 of men, therefore behold I will proceed todo.amar- 
 vellous work, &c. And fuch worfhip as hath not a 
 warrant frora divine inftitution, cannot be offered up in 
 
 faif.i , 
 
 orifices, oblations : but thefe prayers were not offered with faith ; 
 and their oblations were made more frequently to their idols, than 
 to the God of their fathers. The Hebrew idiom excludes with a 
 general negative, in a comparative fenfe, one of two objects op- 
 pofed to one another : thus, I will have mercy and not facrifice. 
 [Hof. vi. 6.] For I fpake not to your fathers, nor commanded 
 
 * them concerning burnt offerings or Sacrifices; but this thing 
 
 * I commanded them, faying, Obey my voice." [LowTH in Ifa. 
 xliii. 22 24.] The ingeniou r s Dr. DODDRIDGE remarks, that 
 according to the genius of the Hebrew language, one thing feems 
 to be forbidden, and another commanded, when the meaning only 
 is, that the latter is greatly to be preferred to the former. The 
 text before us is a remarkable inftance of this ; as likewife Joel ii. 
 13. Matt. vi. 19, 20. John vi. 27. Luke xii. 4, 5. and Col. 
 ui. 2. And it is evident that Gen. xlv. 8. Ex. xvi. 8. John v. 
 30 vii.- 19, and many other pafTages are to be expounded in the 
 lame comparative fcnfe. [Paraph, on New Tell. xlix.J So that 
 the whole may be refolved into the apothegm of the wife man, 
 fProv. xxi. 3.] To do jullice and judgment is more accept- 
 
 * able to the L,ord than facrifice. Sacrificing appointed to be > 
 
 a Jlanding type of ChrijL This will partly appear in the two fol 
 lowing notes on the firit facriiices, and more fully when we come 
 to confider the Mofaic iiiilitutions. [J. N.]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 79 
 
 faith ; becaufc faith has no foundation where there is no 
 divine appointment. It cannot be offered up in faith of 
 God s acceptance ; for man hath no warrant to hope for 
 God s acceptance in that which is not of his appointment, 
 and to which he hath not promifed his acceptance ; and 
 therefore it follows, that the cuftom of offering facririces 
 to God was inftituted foon after the fall ; for the fcripture 
 teaches us, that Abel offered the firftlings of his flock, 
 and of the fat thereof, [Gen. iv. 4.] and that he was 
 accepted of God in this offering, [Heh. xi. 4.] And there 
 is nothing in the ftcry that looks as though the inftitution 
 was firft given when Abel offered up that facrifice to 
 God ; but it appears as though he only therein complied 
 with a curlom already eftabliihed. (s) 
 
 It 
 
 (s) AB-EL OFFERED tkejirftlings of kit Jlocls, sV.] As this 
 is the firft inftance of facrifice, and even of religious worfhip, re 
 corded in fcripture, and was attended with confequences fo iingu- 
 lar and important, we cannot pafs it over without examination ; 
 and as a learned author above cited, [Dr. KENNICOTT] has be 
 llowed uncommon pains on this fubjecl:, we flatter ourfelves our 
 readers will be gratified by being prefented with the fubflance of 
 his excellent differtation. 
 
 Dr. Kennicott introduces his hypothefis with obferving the dif 
 ferent characters and employments of the two brothers : Abel 
 was a keeper of meep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground ; the 
 one, as Lord BACON exprefles it, devoted to the a3ivc y the other 
 to the contemplative, fcenes of life. 
 
 And in procefs of time ; Heb. at the end of days ; that is, as 
 our author endeavours at large to prove, at the end of the week, 
 on the fabbath day, poflibly the firft after they had become the 
 heads of families, and entitled to offer facrifices, as was the patri 
 archal manner, each as the priefl of his own family It came to 
 pafs that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, an offering to 
 the Lord. It is of importance to be obferved, that the He 
 brew word rendered an offering, is mincha, which Dr. K. ex 
 plains from divine authority to be an offering of Jim Jlour mingled 
 lulth oil and franlinCe nfe, [Lev. ii. i, c.J This our tranflators 
 commonly call a meat, but might more properly be called a bread, 
 offering. Here our author obferves a very lingular mode of ex- 
 preffion, which he apprehends eliptical, and fupplying the necof- 
 fary words, tranflates the paffage literally thus, Cain brought of 
 the fruit of the ground a mincha to Jehovah ; and Abel brought 
 [a mlncka] he alfo [brought] of the Eiitlincfs of his flocks, and 
 
 M ( of
 
 8o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It is very probable that facririce was inftituted imme 
 diately alter God had revealed the covenant of grace ; 
 [in Gen. iii. 15.] which covenant and promife was the 
 
 foun- 
 
 * of their fat, or rather, < of the fatted of them. Then it fol 
 lows And Jehovah had refpeft to Abel, and to his nnncha ; but 
 
 * to Cain and his mincba he had no refpeft. Now if this tranfla- 
 tion be jud, or the word tnincba bt rightly explained, it neceffarily 
 follows that Abel offered a mincba, or meat offering, as well as 
 Cain, together with a facrifice, which Cain did not offer. 
 
 The matter, in fhort, feems to be this, Cain came, like a felf- 
 righteous Pharifee, with a * God, I thank thee, to the Author of 
 Nature, and the God of Providence ; Abel was HO lefs fenfible of 
 thefe obligations, and therefore brought his mauba as well as 
 Cain ; but being humbled under a conviction of his own frailty 
 and unworthinefs, he alfo brings an animal facrifice, fmites upon 
 his breait, and cries, God be merciful to me a finncr. Not only 
 fo, but Abel looked by faith through the bleeding type to the 
 great atonement it prefigured : Cain rejected this ; and being ig 
 norant of Gcd s righteoufnefs, went about to eftablim his own. 
 
 This repiefentation (which as we faid is Dr. KENNICOTT S) 
 appears to us not only ingenious and juft, but has the advantage 
 of being beautifully confident with the New Teftament. Here 
 we fee how it was that by faith in the promifed feed, * Abel of- 
 fered to God, not only a more excellent, but as the Greek 
 imports, a fulhr, a more complete facrifice than Cain ; and it was 
 on this account that God had refpec"t, firft to Abel, and fecondly, 
 to his offering. We alfo learn from this review of the fubjedt, 
 what was the error of Cain, which the apoftle Jude alludes to, 
 namely, an enmity againfl God s method of falvation. 
 
 This leads us to remark the different conduct of the two bro 
 thers fubfequent to their offering. Mofes informs us, that Cain 
 was very wrath, and his countenance fell, the ufual fign of a 
 bafe and malicious heart. And the Lord faid unto Cain, con- 
 delcendedto reafon with him, probably by means of the divine 
 Shekinah Why art thou wrath, and why is thy countenance 
 
 * fallen ? If thou do ft will, fhalt thou not be accepted: Or ra 
 ther, if thou hadfl done well, moulded thou not have been accept 
 ed in the fame manner (whatever that might be) as Abel thy bro 
 ther ? * And if thou dod not well, or had not done well * fin lieth 
 at the door, the fault is thine. 
 
 But KENNICOTT, PARKHURST, and many other critics, render 
 the lad piir:ife, a fn~^;ln^ lieth (couched) at the door. In 
 this view they point out, not only the reafon of his non-accept 
 ance, but alfo the remedy na.m ly, to take a facrifice, and ofier 
 it in faith, as his brother had before done. 
 
 [I.N.]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 8; 
 
 foundation on which the cuftom of facrificing was built. 
 That promife was the firft ftone that was laid toward this 
 glorious building, the work of redemption, which will 
 be finifhed at the end of the world. And the next ftone 
 which was laid upon that, was the inftitution of facririces, 
 to be a type of the great atonement. 
 
 The next thing that we have an account of, after God 
 had pronounced fentence on the ferpent, on the woman, 
 and on the man, was, that God made them coats of Ikins, 
 and cloathed them ; which, by the generality of divines, 
 are thought to be the fkins of beads flain in facrifice ; 
 for we have no account of any thing elfe that fhould 
 be the occafion of men flaying beafts, but only to offer 
 them in facrific.es, till after the flood. Men were not 
 till then allowed to eat the flefh of beads. The food of 
 man before the fall, was the fruit of the trees of paradife ; 
 and when he was turned out of paradife after the fall, 
 his food was the herb of the field : [Gen. iii. 18.] And 
 rhou malt eat of the herb of the field. The firft grant 
 that he had to eat fleih as his common food was after the 
 flood: [Gen. xi. 3.] Every moving thing that livetli 
 * {hall be meat for you ; even as the green herb have I 
 given you all things. So that it is likely that thefe 
 fkins that Adam and Eve were cloathed with, were the 
 Ikins of their facrifices. God s cloathing them with thefe 
 was a lively figure of their being cloathed with the righ- 
 teoufnefs of Chrift. This cloathing was not of their 
 own obtaining ; but it was God that gave it them. It h 
 faid, God made them coats of {kins, and cloathed them, 
 (Gen. xiii. 21.] as the righteoufnefs our naked fouls 
 are cloathed with, is not our righteoufnefs but the righ 
 teoufnefs which is of God. It is he alone that cloaths the 
 naked foul. (T) 
 
 Our 
 
 (T) God made them coats of SKINS, and clcathed them. " God. 
 himfelf furnifhcs them with apparel. Animals are flain, not for 
 ifood, but facrifice ; and the naked criminals are arrayed with the 
 [kins of thofe flaughtered beafts. The victims figured the expia- 
 M 2 tion
 
 82 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Our firft parents, who were naked, were cloathed at 
 the expence of life. Beafts were (lain 10 afford them 
 cloathing. So Chrift died to afford cloathing to our na 
 ked fouls. Thus our firft parents were covered with 
 {kins of facrifices, as the tabernacle in the wildernefs, 
 which iignified the church, was, when it was covered 
 with rams {kins died red, as though they were dipped in 
 blood, to fignify that Chrift s righteoufnefs was wrought 
 out through the pains of death, under which he fhed his 
 precious blood. 
 
 We obferved before, that the light which the church 
 enjoyed from the fall of man till Chrift came, was like 
 the light which we enjoy in the night ; not the light of 
 the fun diredtly, but as refledting from die moon and 
 planets ; which light did forefhow Chriit, the Sun of 
 righteoufnefs which was afterwaids to arife. This light 
 they had chiefly two ways : one was by predictions of 
 Chrift, wherein his coming was foretold and promifed ; 
 the other by types and fhadows, in which his coming 
 and redemption were prefigured. The firft tiling that was 
 done to prepare the way for Chrift in the former of thefe 
 ways, was in the promife above confidered ; and the 
 firft thing of the latter kind, viz. of types, xvas the in- 
 ftitution of facrifices. As that promife [Gen. iii. 15.] 
 was the firft dawn of gofpel light after the fall in pro 
 phecy ; fo this inftitution was the firft hint of it in 
 types. The giving of that promife was the firft thing 
 done after the fall in this work, in Chrift s prophetical 
 office ; the inftitution of facrifices was the firft thing that 
 we read of after the fall, by which Chrift exhibited him- 
 felf in his prieftly office. 
 
 The 
 
 tion of Chrift s death ; the cloathing typified the imputation of 
 his righteoufnefs, which is upon all them ivho believeJ* [Rom. iii. ! 
 22.] [HERVEY S Theron and Afpafio, vol. ii. lett. 4.] 
 
 " Nor he their outward only, with the fkins 
 Of beads, but inward nakednefs (much more 
 Opprobrious ! ) with his robe of righteoufnefs 
 Arraying, cover dfrom his Father s fight." 
 
 [MILTON S Par. Loft. Book*.]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 83 
 
 The inftitution of facrifices was a great thing done 
 towards preparing the way for Chrift s coming, and work T 
 ing out redemption. For the facrifices of the Old Tef- 
 tament were the principal of all the Old Teftament types 
 of Chrifl and his redemption ; and it tended to eftablifh 
 in the minds of God s vifihle church the neceffity 
 of a propitiatory facrifice, in order to the Deity s heing 
 fatisfied for fin ; and fo prepared the way for the recep 
 tion of the glorious gofpel that reveals the great facrifice, 
 not only in tfye vilible church, but, through the world 
 of mankind. For from this iaftitution of facrifices after 
 the fall, all nations derived the fame cuftom. No nation, 
 however barbarous, has been found without it any where. 
 This is a great evidence of the truth of revealed reli 
 gion ; for no nation, but only the Jews, could tell how 
 they came by this cuftom, or to what purpofe it was 
 to offer facrifices to their deities. The light of nature 
 did not teach them any fuch thing. That did not teach 
 them that the gods were hungry, and fed upon the fleih 
 which the*r burnt in facrifice ; and yet they all had 
 this cuftr . , of which no other account can be given, 
 but that they derived it from Noah, who had it from 
 his anceftors, on whom God had enjoined it as a type 
 of the great facrifice of Chrift. However, by this means 
 all nations of the world had their minds poilefTed with 
 this notion, that an atonement or facrifice for {in was 
 neceflary ; and a way was made tor their more readily re 
 ceiving that great do6lrine of the gofpel, which teaches us 
 the atonement and facrifice of Chrift. 
 
 4. God foon after the fall actually began to fave the 
 fouls of men through Chrift s redemption. In this, Chrift 
 who had lately taken upon him the work of Mediator be 
 tween God and man, did firft begin to exercife his kingly 
 office. In the firft prediction the light of Chrift s re 
 demption firft began to dawn in the prophecies of it ; in 
 the inftitution of facrifices it firrt be<ran to dawn in the 
 
 O 
 
 types of it ; in his beginning actually to fave men, it firft 
 began to dawn in file fruit of it. 
 
 It
 
 84 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It is probable, therefore, that Adam and Eve were the 
 firft fruits of Chrift s redemption; (u) it is probable by 
 God s manner of treating them ; by his comforting them 
 
 as 
 
 (u) Adam and Evs the FIRST FRUITS of Ckrl/Ps redemption. 
 MILTON has fo beautifully and evangelically illuftrated this fup- 
 pofition, that we cannot relift the temptation of again introducing 
 our favourite commentator. 
 
 ..." They forthwith to the place 
 Repairing where he judg d them, proftrate fell 
 Before him reverent, and both confefs d 
 Humbly their faults, and pardon begg d, with tears 
 Watering the ground, and with their iighs the air 
 Frequenting, fent from hearts contrite, and f:gn 
 Of forrovv unfeign d, and humiliation meek. 
 
 " Thus they in lowlieil plight repentant Hood 
 Praying ; for from the mercy-feat above 
 Prevenient grace defcending had remov d 
 The ftony from their hearts, and made new flefh 
 Regenerate grow inftcad, that fighs now breath d 
 Unutterable, which the Spirit of prayer 
 Infpir d, and wing d for heav n with fpeedier flight 
 
 Than loudeft oratory : 
 
 To heav n their pray rs 
 
 Flew up, nor mifs d the way, by envious winds 
 Blown vagabond or fruflrate ; in they pafs d 
 Cimenfionlefs thro heuv nly doors ; then clad 
 With Jncenfe, where the golden altar fum d, 
 By their great Interccffor, came in fight 
 Before the Father s throne : them the glad Son 
 Prtfenting, thus to intercede began : 
 
 * See, Father, what lirft fruits oa earth are fprung 
 From thy implanted grace in man, thefe fighs 
 Andpray rs, which in this golden ccnfor, mix d 
 With incenfe, I thy prieft before thee bring ; 
 Fruits of more pleafing favour from thy feed 
 Sown with contrition in his heart, than thofe 
 Which his own hand manuring all the trees 
 Of Paradife could have produc d, ere fall n 
 From innocence. Now therefore bend thine ear 
 To fupplication ; hear his fighs though mate, 
 Unfkilful with what words to pray, let me 
 Interpret for him, me his advocate 
 And propitiation ; all his works on me, 
 Good or not good, ingraft; my merit thofe 
 Shall perfedl, and for thefe my death pay." 
 
 [Par. Loft. Book x. xi.l
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 85 
 
 as he did, after their awakenings and terrors. They 
 were awakened, and afliamed with a fenfe of their guilt, 
 after their fall, when their eyes were opened, and they 
 faw that they were naked and fewed fig-leaves to cover 
 their nakednefs ; like the linner who under his firft con- 
 vi6lion endeavours to hide the nakednefs of his foul by a 
 righteoufnefs of his own. Then they were farther awa 
 kened and terrified by hearing the voice of God, as he 
 was coming to judge them. Their coverings of fig-leaves 
 would not anfvver their purpofe ; for notwithftanding 
 tliefe, they ran to hide themfelves among the trees of the 
 garden, not daring to truft to their fig-leaves to hide 
 their nakednefs from God. Then they were farther 
 awakened by God s calling them to a ftricl account. 
 But while their terrors were raifed to fuch a height, 
 and they flood, as we may fuppofe, trembling and afto- 
 nifhed before their judge, without any thing to catcli 
 hold of, whence they could gather hope ; then God con- 
 dcfcended to hold forth fome encouragement to them, to 
 keep them from the dreadful effects of defpair under their 
 awakenings, by giving a hint ot a dcfign of mercy by a 
 Saviour, even before he pronounced fentence againft 
 them. And when, after this, he proceeded to pronounce 
 lenience, whereby we may fuppofe their terrors were far 
 ther raifed, God was pleafccl to encourage them, and to 
 let them fee that he had not wholly call them oft", by tak 
 ing a fatherly care of them, making them coats of fkins 
 and cloathing them. This alfo manifefted an acceptance 
 of thofe facrifices offered to God, (cf which thefe were 
 the fkins) which were types cf what God had promifed, 
 when he faid, the feed of the woman fhall bruife the 
 < ferpent s head ; which promife, there is reafon to 
 mink, they believed and embraced. Eve feems plain 
 ly to exprefs her hopes in, and dependence on, that 
 promife, in what fhe fays at the birth of Cain, [Gen. 
 iv. i.] I have gotten a man from the Lord ; i. e. as 
 God has promifed, that my feed fhould bruife the fer 
 pent s head ; io now has God given me this pledge and 
 token of it, that I have a feed born. She plainly owns, 
 
 that
 
 S6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 that this her child was from God, and hoped that her 
 promifed feed was to be this her eldeft fon ; though (he 
 was miftaken, as Abraham was with refpecl to Ilhmael, 
 as Jacob with refpecl to Efau, and as Samuel with refpedl 
 to the rirft-born of JefTe. (w) Alfo what (he faid at 
 the birth of Seth, expreflfes her hope and dependence 
 
 (w) I have gotten a man FROM the Lord. ] The uncertain im 
 port of the Hebrew particle etb, here tranflated from, has occa- 
 lioned this text to receive a great variety of interpretations, mod 
 of which may befeen in Mr. POOLE S elaborate work. [Syn. Crit. 
 in loc.j But when we fee twenty or thirty meanings, many of 
 them inconfiftent with each other, applied to one particle, as the 
 lexicographers have done to this, [See TAYLOR S Heb. Concord.] 
 we cannot help fufpefting that they are unneceflarily and impro 
 perly multiplied. 
 
 The root whence this particle is evidently derived, fignifies to 
 approach, come unto; and if the fame idea mould be preferved in 
 all the fenfes of the particle, as we apprehend in fome degree it 
 mould, the common tranflation muft be given up. And after 
 examining a great number of pafiages in the original fcriptures, 
 particularly thofe which were moft pertinent to our purpofe, we 
 are fatisfied, thut, if it is not to be taken as merely an article of 
 the accufative cafe (which we much doubt whether the language 
 will admit) that it may be refolved into fome or other of the fol 
 lowing fenfes : 
 
 I . According to the radical idea, to, unto, belonging to, towards, 
 near, with, upon, and the like. 
 
 Or, z. It maybe rendered as an emphatic article, the, the very 
 fubftanceof a thing, (according to the Latin proverb, Proximus 
 fiim egomci mihi ;) in winch cafe it may often be tranflated even, or 
 as a pronoun, that, this, &c. 
 
 If thefe remarks are juit, the words may then be rendered ; 
 
 1. A (or The) man, C-J.-K Jehovah. So Fagius, Hclvicus, 
 "oriler, Schindler, Luther, Pellican, Cocceius, Schmit, Marinus, 
 Avenarius, Parkhurft, Gill, See. fuppofing Eve to have taken 
 her firfl-born to be the Mcfiiah, God incarnate : but as it may ad 
 mit of difpute, whether Eve at this very early period was fo clear- 
 iy acquainted with this divine myllery, efpecially as fhe appears 
 not to have fufpecledany thing of the immaculate conception, it 
 might be better to render the words, as they will certainly bear, 
 with rather more latitude, 
 
 2. The man cf, i. e. belonging to, Jehovah. The Targum of 
 Jonathan favours this reading, the angel of the Lord ; and fo 
 Chr. it was afterwards called, as well as the fervant of the Lord 
 rhc man of ]; s right hand, and the word that wa? ivith God. 
 
 " Some
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 87 
 
 on the promlfe of God; [fee vcr. 25.] * For God hath 
 4 appointed me another feed inftead of Abel, whom Gain 
 < flew. 
 
 Thus it is exceedingly probable, if not demonftra- 
 ble, that, as Chrift took on him the work of mediator 
 when man fell, fo he now actually began his work of 
 redemption, encountered his great enemy the devil, whom 
 he had undertaken to conquer, and refcued thofe two 
 firft captives out of his hands ; therein baffling him 
 foon after his triumph in the victory he had obtained 
 over our tirft parents. And though he might be fure of 
 them and all their pofterity, Chriit the Redeemer foon 
 convinced him of his miftake, and that he was able to 
 fubdue him, and deliver fallen man. He let him fee it, 
 in delivering thofe tirft captives of his ; and fo gave him 
 an inftance of his fulfilment of that threatening, The 
 feed of the woman fhall bruife the ferpent s head ; and 
 a prefage of the fulfilment of one great thing he had 
 undertaken, viz. his fubduing all his enemies under his 
 feet. 
 
 After this we have another inftance of redemption in 
 one of their children, viz. in righteous Abel, as the 
 fcripture calls him, [Mark xiii. 35.] whofe foul perhaps 
 was the firft that went to heaven through Chrift s redemp 
 tion. In him we have at leaft the tirft inftance recorded 
 
 N in 
 
 " Some interpreters, and not without reafon, fiippofe that fhc 
 
 confidered the fon given her, as the prornifed feed And 
 
 how foothing to the maternal heart muft have been the hope of 
 deliverance and relief forherfelf, and triumph over her bitter ene 
 mies, by means of the fon of her own bowels ! How fondly does 
 {he dream of repairing the ruin which her frailty had brought up 
 on her hufband and family, by this firft-born of many brethren ! 
 The name me gives him fignifies .... a poffejjlon. She flatters 
 herfelf me has now got fomething (lie can call her own : and even 
 
 the lofs of Paradife feems compenfated by a dearer inheritance 
 
 But, O blind to futurity ! with how many forrows was this poffeffion, 
 fo exultingly triumphed in, about to pierce the fond maternal 
 breaft ! How unlike are the forebodings and wifhes of parental 
 tendernefs and partiality, to the destinations of Providence, and 
 the difcoveries which time brings to light " [HUNTER S Sa 
 cred Biog. Left, iv.]
 
 88 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in fcripture of the death of a redeemed perfon. (x) If he 
 was the rirft, then, as the redemption of Chrifr. began to 
 dawn before in the fouls of men in their converfion and 
 juftirication, in him it firfl: began to dawn in glorification, 
 and at his death the angels began rirft to a6l as minifler- 
 ing fpirits to Chrilt, in conducting the fouls of the re 
 deemed to glory, (y) And in him others in heaven had 
 
 the 
 
 (x) In Aid ive have the Jirjt in/lance of deOth.~\ Many and ab- 
 fiud are the traditions and conjectures refpedting this event ; but 
 the fcripture account of it is fimply this, And Cain talked with 
 Abel his brother, or, as the Samaritan, LXX, and Vulgate 
 read it, * Ca mftrul unto Abel his brother, Let us go into tbejield 
 
 * and it eame to pafs when they were in the field that Cain rofe up 
 again ft Abel his brother, and flew him. 
 
 " Cain, it would appear .... decoyed his brother into folitudc 
 under the mafic of familiarity and friendihip, he talked with him ; 
 they were in the field. What a horrid aggravation of his guilt! 
 A deed of violence ! Murder. 1 A good man s, a brother s murder ! 
 Deliberately reiolved on, craftily conducted, rcmorfelefsly execu 
 ted Now was the death for the firft time feen ; and feen 
 
 in its ghaftlieft form. Death before the time, the death of piety 
 and goodnefs ! Death inflicted by violence, and preceded by pain ! 
 Death imbittered to the fufferer by reflecting on the hand from 
 which it came ; the hand of a brother, the hand which fliould 
 have fupported and protected him. At length the feeble eyes 
 clofe in peace ; and the pain of bleeding wounds, and the pangs 
 of fraternal cruelty, are felt no more. * The duft returns to the 
 
 * earth as it was, and the fpirit returns unto God who gave it. 
 The fpirit returns to God to fee his unclouded face, formerly feen 
 through the medium of natural objecls and religious fervices 
 Happy Abel! thus early delivered from the fins and forrowsof a 
 
 vain world ! The materials of which life is compofed, 
 
 are not fo much, days, and months, and years, as works of piety, 
 and mercy, and juftice, or their oppolites ; he dies in full matu 
 rity, who has lived to God at whatever period, and in 
 
 whatever manner he is cut off: that life is (hort, though extended 
 to a thoufand years, which is disfigured with vice, devoted to the 
 purfuit of time merely, and at the clofe of which the unhappy 
 man is found unreconciled to God." [Dr. H. Hunter s Sacred 
 Biography, Left, vi.] 
 
 (Y) At Aid s death the ANGKLS jirjl began to aff as miniflering 
 lpirlts.~\ " The angel of death called forth the foul f Abel 
 from the enfanguined duft. It advanced with a fmile of joy .... 
 1 falute thee, laid the celeftial fpirit, while benignity and joy beam 
 ed in his eyes : I falute thee, O happy foul ! now difengaged from 
 
 thy
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 89 
 
 the firft opportunity of feeing fo wonderful a thing, as a 
 human foul, that had been funk into an abyfs of fin and 
 mifery, brought to heaven and glory ; which was a 
 much greater thing, than if they had feen man return to 
 the earthly Paradife. Thus they by this faw the glorious 
 effecT: of Chrift s redemption, in the great honour and 
 happinefs that was procured for finful, miferable creatures 
 by it. 
 
 5. The next remarkable thing that God did in the 
 farther carrying on this great affair of redemption, that 
 I fhall take notice of, was the firft out-pouring of the 
 vSpirit through Chrift, which was in the days of Enos. 
 We read, [Gen. iv. 26.] Then began men to call upon 
 the name of the Lord. The meaning of thefe words 
 has been confiderably controverted among divines, (z) 
 
 We 
 
 thy encumbering duft It is to me an increafe of felicity, 
 
 that I am chofen by the Moft High to introduce thee into the 
 realms of light and blifs, where myriads of angels wait to hail 
 thee. Conceive, if thou cantt, beloved foul! Conceive what it is 
 to behold God face to face, to have communion with him for 
 ever." [Death of Abel, Book iv.] 
 
 (z) 7001 BEGAN men to CALL UPON the name of the Ijord.~] 
 " Not but that Adam and Abel and all good men had called 
 upon the name of the Lord, and prayed to him, or worfhipped 
 him before this time perfonally and in their families ; but now the 
 families of good men being larger, and more numerous, they 
 joined together in facial and public worfhip : or fince it may be 
 thought thete were public aflemblies for religious worfliip before 
 this time, it may be they had been neglected, and now were re 
 vived with more zeal and vigour ; feeing the Cainites incorporat 
 ing thcmfelves, and joining families together and building cities, 
 and carrying on their civil and religious affairs among themfelves, 
 they alfo formed themfelves into diftinft bodies ; and not only fe- 
 parated from them, but called themfelves by a different name ; 
 for fo the words may be rendered, * Then began men to call 
 themfelves, or, to be called BY the name of the Lord ; the 
 Sons of God as diitinft from the fons of men ; which diftinclion 
 may be obferved in Ch. vi. 2. and has been retained more or lefs 
 ever fince. 4 Some chufe to tranflate the words, * then began men 
 1 to call IN the name of the Lord ; that is, to call upon God in 
 the name of the Mefliah, tli Mediator between God and Man ; 
 having now fince the birth of Seth, and efpccially of Enos, clearer 
 notions of the promifed feed and of the ufe of him and his name, 
 
 N 2 in
 
 9 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 We cannot fuppafe the meaning is, that then men firft 
 performed the duty of prayer. Prayer is a duty of natu 
 ral religion, and a duty to which a fpirit of piety does 
 moft naturally lead men. Prayer is, as it were, the very 
 breath of a pious fpirit, and we cannot fuppofe therefore, 
 that holy men had lived for above two hundred years, 
 without prayer. Therefore fome divines think, that the 
 meaning is, that then men firft began to perform public 
 worfhip, or to call upon the name of the Lord in public 
 aflfemblies. Whether it be fo to be underftood or not, 
 yet certainly there was now iomething new in the viiiblt: 
 church of God with refpedl to the duty of prayer, or 
 calling upon the name of the Lord, which was the confe- 
 quence of the out-pouring of the Spirit of God. 
 
 If it was now firft that men were ftirred up to meet 
 together in afiemblies, to affift one another in feeking God 
 fo as they had never done before, it argues fomething 
 
 extra- 
 
 in their addreffes to God ; [See John xiv. 13, 14. xvi. 23, 24. J 
 The Jews [many of them] give a very different fenfe of thefe 
 words ; the Targunn of Onkelos is, " Then in his days the chil 
 dren of men ceafed from praying in the name of the Lord ;" and 
 the Targum of Jonathan is, " This was the age, in the days of 
 which they began to err, and they made themfelves idols, and fur- 
 named their idols by the name of the word of the Lord ;" with 
 which agrees the note of Jarchi, " Then they began to call the 
 names of men, and the names of herbs, by the name of the blef- 
 fed God, to make idols of them ;" and fome of them fay, parti 
 cularly Maimonides, that Enos himfelf erred and fell into idolatry, 
 and was the firft inventor of images, by the mediation of which 
 men prayed unto God : but all this feems to be without founda 
 tion and injurious to the character of this antidiluvian patriarch ; 
 nor does it appear that idolatry obtained in the poflerity of Seth, 
 or among the people of God fo early ; nor is fuch an account 
 agreeable to the hiftory which Mofcs is giving of the family of 
 Seth, in oppofition to that of Cain ; wherefore one or other of 
 the former fenfes is beft." [GiLL inloc.] 
 
 If our author s cxpofition is preferred, which nearly corref- 
 ponds with what is obferved in the former part of this note, it 
 may receive fome iliuitration from comparing it with Mai. iii. 16. 
 
 * Then they that feared the Lord fpake often one to another, the 
 1 Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was 
 
 * written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that 
 
 * thought upon hi 3 nary, [I. N-]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 9 x 
 
 extraordinary as the caufe ; and could be from nothing 
 but the uncommon influences of God s Spirit. We may 
 obferve, that a remarkable out-pouring of God s Spirit 
 always produces a great increafe of prayer. When the 
 Spirit of God begins a work on men s hearts, it immedi 
 ately fets them to calling on the name of the Lord. As 
 it was with Paul after the Spirit of God had laid hold of 
 him, then it is faid, [Acts ix. n.] Behold he prayeth! 
 fo it was in all the inftances which we have any account 
 of in fcripture ; and fo it will be at the great effuiion of 
 the Spirit in the latter days. It is foretold, that it will 
 be poured out as a fpirit of grace and fupplication, [Zech. 
 xii. 10. See alfo Zeph. iii. 9.] For then will I turn 
 to the people a pure language, that they may all call 
 upon the name of the Lord, to ferve him with one 
 
 * confent. 
 
 And when it is faid, Then began men to call upon 
 
 * the name of the Lord, no more can be intended by it, 
 than that this was the tirft remarkable feafon of this na 
 ture that ever was. It was the beginning, or the rirft, 
 of fuch a kind of work of God, fuch an out-pouring oi 
 the Spirit of God. After this manner fuch an expreilion 
 is commonly ufed in fcripture: [i Sam. xiv. 35.] And 
 Saul built an altar unto the Lord; the fame was the 
 firjl altar that he built unto the Lord. In the Hebrew 
 it is, as you may fee in the margin, that altar he began 
 to build unto the Lord. [Heb. ii. 3.] How (hall we 
 efcape if we neglect fo great falvation, which firft began 
 to be fpoken by the Lord ? 
 
 It may here be obferved, that from the fall of man to 
 this day, the work of redemption in its effect lias been 
 carried on by the fame means. Though there be a more 
 conftant influence of God s Spirit always in fome degree 
 attending his ordinances; yet the way in which the 
 greateft things have been done towards carrying on this 
 work, always has been by remarkable effufions of the 
 Spirit at fpecial feafons of mercy, as will fully appear 
 hereafter. And this, in the days of Enos, was the hrfc 
 remarkable effufion of the Spirit cf God recorded. There 
 
 had
 
 92 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 had been a faving work of God on the hearts of fome 
 before; but now God was pleafed to grant a larger por* 
 tion of his Spirit ; fo that here we fee that great building 
 which God laid the foundation of immediately after the 
 fall, carried on farther, and built higher, than ever it had 
 been before. 
 
 6. The next thing I fhall take notice of, is the emi 
 nently holy life of Enoch, who we have reafon to think 
 was a faint of greater eminency than any that had been 
 before him ; fo that in this refpecl: the work of redemp 
 tion was carried on to a flill greater height. With re- 
 fpect to its effedl in the vilible church in general, we 
 obferved above that it was carried higher in the days of 
 Enos than ever before. Probably Enoch was one of 
 the faints of that harveft ; for he lived all the days that 
 he did live on earth, in the days of Enos. And with 
 refpet to the degree to which this work was carried in 
 the foul of a particular per/on, it was raifed to a greater 
 height in Enoch than ever before. His foul, as it was 
 built on Chrift, was built up in holinefs to a greater 
 height than any of his predecellbrs. He was a wonder 
 ful inftance of ChriiVs redemption, and of the efficacy 
 of his grace. (A) Jn 
 
 (A) Enoch WALKED with God.~\ Infinite pains have been taken 
 to decorate the characters of ancient philosophers and heroes, and 
 too frequently their own vanity, the adulation of their dependents, 
 or the partiality of their heirs, has purehafed eulogiums, where 
 eternal infamy was merited. But what is the praife of men to the 
 praife of God ! How mean are the fplendid epithets of great, wife, 
 and learned puiflant, brave, and magnanimous compared with 
 the character of our holy prophet, as drawn by the infpirecfaifto- 
 rian, * He walked with God. 
 
 The phrafe is metaphorical, after the eaftern manner, and is 
 explained by an infallible expofitor to mean He plcaftd God : 
 but the metaphorical term is, perhaps, more expreffive than any 
 purely literal, even in the fublime language of the Greeks. 
 
 To walk with God implies, firft, a Hate of reconciliation with 
 him ; Can two walk together unlefs they are agreed ? Certainly 
 not, with any degree of pleafure. But Enoch (any more than 
 Abram) was notboni the friend of God ; but rather at enmity 
 with him, a child of wrath, even as others ; and it was doubt- 
 !efs the fame atoning blood, the fame divine grace, that reconciled 
 
 him
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 93 
 
 7. In Enoch s time God more exprefsly revealed the 
 coming of Chrift than he had before done. We have an 
 account of the prophecy of Enoch in the i4th and i^th 
 verles of Jude: And Enoch alfo the feventh from Adam, 
 prophefied of thefe, faying, Behold, the Lord cometh 
 with ten thoufand of his faints, to execute judgment 
 upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among 
 them, for their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly 
 
 * committed, and of all their hard fpeeches which ungod- 
 ly fniners have fpoken againft him. (B) This prophecy 
 
 does 
 
 him to God, which has in all ages brought near them that were 
 afar off. Then being reconciled, he enjoyed peace and com 
 munion with God. 
 
 His name implies dedication, and perhaps, like Samuel, he might 
 be early devoted to the Lord, and initiated betimes into his fervice. 
 But he refted not in this ; unfatisfied with any prcfent attainments, 
 he ftudied, as the term implies, to make a progrefe in religion, he 
 
 * walked with God. 
 
 Tradition, very ancient and extenfive, has celebrated his attain 
 ments in aftronomy, the mathematics, and other fciences, [See 
 Univ. Hift. Vol. i. p. 162.] and it is not improbable that the ftudy 
 of nature might be a favourite employment to one who could con 
 template the divine glory in all its objefts ; nor is it unlikely that 
 fuch exemplary piety was rewarded with confiderable difcoveries 
 in natural, as well as divine things : but this was the fmalleft part 
 of his character ; his mind, doubtlefs, foared above the ftars, and 
 fought an acquaintance with eternal objects fought the felicity of 
 angels the image of God. And he fought not in vain ; preffing 
 towards the mark, he gained the prize, he received his crown, at 
 an age when many, in that period of longevity, had not parted 
 half their mortal pilgrimage. 
 
 " Him the mod High, 
 
 Wrapt in a balmy cloud with winged fteeds, 
 
 Receiv d to walk with God, 
 
 High in falvation and the climes of blifs, 
 
 Exempt from death." [Par. Loft. Book xi.] [U. U.J 
 
 (B) The PROPHECY of Enoch] Is more correcUy rendered 
 thus ; And Enoch alfo, the feventh from Adam, prophefied 
 againft them, when he laid, Beho .d, the Lord comes with my 
 riads of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to 
 convicl all the ungodly among them of their impious works 
 which they have impioufly committed ; and of all the hard things 
 which impious finners have fpoken againft him. 
 " A precious fragment of antidiluvian hiftory is here [in the 
 Epiftle of Jude] preferved to us, as it feems by the fpecial provi 
 dence
 
 94 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 does not feem to be confined to any particular coming 
 of Chrift ; but it has refpe6t in general to his coming in 
 his kingdom, and is fulfilled, in a degree, in every re 
 markable manifeftation Chriffc has made of himfelf in the 
 world, for the falvation of his people, and the deftrudlion 
 of his enemies. It is very parallel in this refpect with 
 many other prophecies given under the Old Teftament; 
 and, in particular, with that in the 7th chapter of Da 
 niel, whence the Jews principally took their notion of the 
 kingdom of heaven, [ver. 10.] A fiery ftream iffued, 
 
 * and came forth from before him : thoufand thoufands 
 miniflered unto him, and ten thoufand times ten thou- 
 
 * fand ftood before him ^ the judgment was fet, and the 
 books were opened. And [ver. 13, 14.] I faw in the 
 iiight-vifion, and behold one like the ion of man came 
 
 * with the clouds of heaven, and came to the antient of 
 
 * days, and they brought him near before him. And 
 
 * there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
 
 * clom, that all people, nations, and languages fhould 
 ferve him : his dominion is an everlafting dominion, 
 
 * which mall not pafs away, and his kingdom that which 
 
 * ihall not be deftroyed. And though it is not unlikely 
 that Enoch might have a more immediate refpe6t, in this 
 prophecy, to the approaching deftru&ion of the old world 
 by the flood, which was a remarkable refemblance of 
 Chrift s deftruclion of all his enemies at his fecond 
 coming, yet it doubtlefs looked beyond the type to the 
 antitype. 
 
 And as this prophecy of Chrift s coming is more ex- 
 prefTed than any preceding it; fo it is an inftance of 
 the increafe of that gofpel-light which began to dawn 
 prefently after the fall, or of that building which is the 
 
 fubjea 
 
 dence of God, who taught the apoftlc Jude to diftinguifh between 
 what was genuine and fpurious in the tradition. It can by no 
 means be proved that this is a quotation from that foolifh book 
 called Enoch s Prophecy, as Bp. SHERLOCK has very rightly urged ; 
 nor would it prove the infpiration of the book from whence it was 
 taken, but only that particular paffage." [DODDRIPGE S Fam. 
 Expof. in loc.]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 95 
 
 fubjecT: of our prefent difcourfe, being farther carried on, 
 and builc up higher than it had been before. 
 
 And here, by the way$ I would obferve, that the Jn- 
 creale of gofpel light, and the progrefs of the work of 
 redemption, as it refpecls the church in general, from 
 its erection to the end ot the world, is very fimilar to 
 the progrefs of the fame work, and the fame light, in a 
 particular foul, from the time of its coriverfion, till it is 
 perfecled and crowned in glory. Sometimes the light 
 ihines brighter, and at others more obfcurely ; fometimes 
 grace prevails, and at other times it feems to languifh for 
 a great while together. But in general, grace is grow 
 ing: from its tirft erection till it is completed in glory, 
 the kingdom of Chrift is building up in the foul. So it 
 is with refpect to the great affair in general, as it relates 
 to the univerfal fubjet ot it, and as it is carried on from its 
 rirft beginning to the end of the world. 
 
 8. The next remarkable thing in carrying on this 
 work, was the tranflation of Enoch into heaven. [Gen. 
 v. 24.] And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; 
 for God took him. Mofes, in giving an account of 
 the genealogy of thofe that were of the line of Noah, 
 does not fay concerning Enoch, he lived fo long and ho 
 died, as he does of the reft ; but, he was not, for God 
 took him; / . e. he tranflated him; in body and foul 
 carried him to heaven without dying, as it is explained, 
 [in Hcb. ix 5.] By faith Enoch was tranflated, that he 
 mould not fee death. (c) By this wonderful work of 
 God, the work of redemption was carried to a greater 
 height in feveral refpedls, than it had been before. 
 
 You may remember, that when I mewed you what 
 were the great things that God intended in the work of 
 
 rede in p- 
 
 (c) Enoch -juas TRANSLATED.! For this we have divine au 
 thority, as above (hewn, and need not much regard uncertain tra 
 ditions. They will, however, in this cafe furnifh us with an in- 
 llruclive oblervation, viz. that human traditions generally eitber 
 vppoft; divine truths, or deprave them. In this inltance, many of 
 the Jews, thole mailers of tradition, will not believe but that 
 Enoch died like other men ; and others, who admit his tranfla- 
 
 O tion,
 
 $6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 redemption; among other things I mentioned (p. 57) the 
 perfect reftoration cf the ruins of the fall, with refpecl to 
 the eled, both in foul and body. Now this tranflation 
 of Enoch, was the firft inftarice of this reftoration with 
 refpecl to the body. There had been many inftances of 
 reftoring the foul of man by Chrift s redemption, but 
 none of the body, until now. At the end of the world, 
 ?.!! the bodies of the faints lhall actually be redeemed; 
 the dead in Chrift by a refurrefHon ; and them that fliall 
 remain alive by a glorious change. A number of the bodies 
 of the faints were raifed at the- refurre6lion of Chrift ; 
 and before then there was an inftance of a body glorified 
 in Elijah : but the firft inftance was this of Enoch, of 
 which we are now fpeaking. 
 
 Now the work of redemption in this inftance was car 
 ried on ftill farther, as thereby was a great increafe of 
 gofpel light, and the church had a clearer manifeftation of 
 a future ft ate, and of the glorious reward of the faints in 
 heaven. We are told, [2 Tim. i. 10.] That life and 
 ; immortality are brought to light by the gofpel. And 
 the more of this gofpel is revealed, the more clearly does 
 the light of life and immortality appear. What was faid 
 in the Old Teftament of a future ftate, is very obfcure, 
 in coinpanfon with the more full, plain, and abundant 
 revelation given of it in the New. But yet even in thofe 
 early days, the church of God, in this inftance, was fa 
 voured with an evidence of it let before their eyes, in that 
 one of their brethren was actually taken up to heaven 
 without dying; which we have reafon to think the church 
 of God knew then, as they afterwards knew Elijah s tranf 
 lation. And as this was a clearer manifeftation of a fu 
 ture ftate than the church had had before ; fo it was a 
 pledge or earneft of that future glorification of all the 
 faints, which God intended through the redemption of 
 Jefus Chrift. 
 
 9. The 
 
 tion, add to it, that he was taken by a whirlwind to the terreftrial 
 Paradifc, where God (hewed him the tree of life in the midft of it. 
 fSee Univ. Hill. Vol. i. p. 163, and Ainfworth s Ann. in loc.] 
 
 [N. U.]
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 97 
 
 9. The next thing that I fhall obferve, was the up 
 holding the church of God in that family of which 
 Chrift was to come, in the time of the great and general 
 defection hefore the flood. The church, in all probability, 
 was fmall, in comparifon with the reft of the world, 
 from the time that mankind firft began to multiply on 
 the face of the earth, or from the time of Cain s defec 
 tion, and departing from among the people of God ; 
 [Gen. iv. 1 6.] * When Cain went out from the prefence 
 of the Lord, (D) and dwelt in the land of Nod; (E) 
 which being interpreted, is the land of banijhment ; I fay, 
 from this time of Cain s departure and feparation from 
 the church of God, it is probable that the church of God 
 was fmall in comparifon with the reft of the world. The 
 
 O 2 church 
 
 (D) The PRESENCE of the Lord.~\ * Lightfoot, Heidegger, and 
 Le Clcrc [to whom many more might be added]] feem to be of 
 opinion, that what we render the prefence of the Lord, was the 
 proper name of that particular place where Adam, after his expul- 
 fion from Paradife, dwelt ; and accordingly we find that part of 
 the country which lies contiguous to the fuppofed fituation of Pa 
 radife, [/ . e. near Tripoli, in Syria] called by Strabo, the^>re- 
 fence of God. However this be, it is agreed by all interpreters, 
 that there was a divine glory, called by the Jews SCHECHINAH, 
 which appeared from the beginning, and from which Cain, being 
 now banifhed, never enjoyed the fight of it again." [PATRICK S 
 Comment, and GILL S Expof.] 
 
 (E) Cain dwelt in the land of NOD.] " It is the fame word 
 which is rendered in the twelfth and fourteenth verfe a vagabond. 
 Why our tranflators in the two former verfes give the meaning 
 of the word, and in the fixteenth verfe the letters of it merely, is 
 not eafily comprehenfible. Let it be tranflated throughout, the 
 fenfe is perfectly clear, and all ground of idle inquiry taken away. 
 In the twelfth verfe, God denounces his punimment, thou /halt 
 
 * not die, but be NOD, z vagabond in the earth. In the fourteenth 
 verfe, Cain recognizes the juftice of the fentence, and bewails it, 
 I (hall be NOD, a vagabond in the earth : and in the fixteenth, 
 Mofes gives us the hiftory of its being put in execution ; * he wenf: 
 
 * from the prefence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land/ NOD, a 
 vagabond, flying from place to place, fkulkirjg in corners, mun- 
 ning the haunts of men, purfued incefTantly by the remorfelefs 
 pangs and tormenting apprehenfions of an il! confcience. Remove 
 iill external danger, and the wicked is as the troubled fea, which 
 cannot reft, whofe waters caft up mire and dirt." [HUNTER S 
 Sac. Biog. Left. v.J
 
 98 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 church feems to have been kept up chiefly in the pofte- 
 rity of Seth< for this was the feed that God appointed 
 inftead of Abel, \vhom Cain flew. But \ve cannot rea- 
 fonably fuppofe, that Seth s pofterity \vas one fiftieth part 
 of the world: " for Adam was one hundred and thirty 
 years eld when Seth was born." But Cain, who fcems 
 to have been the leader of thofe that were not of the 
 church, was Adam s eldeft child, and probably was born 
 foon after the fall, which doubtlefs was foon after Adam s 
 creation ; fo that there was time for Cain to have many 
 fons before Seth was born : befides other children that 
 probably Adam and Eve had before this time, (agreeable 
 T"> God s bkfTing, Be fruitful, and multiply, and reple- 
 the earth ; ) and many of thefe children might alfo 
 h.,-. o children. The hiftory of Cain, before Seth s birth, 
 feems to imply that there were great numbers of men (r) 
 
 (F) Great NUMBERS of men onthe earth at this time.~\ It is ge 
 nerally conjeclured [from Gen. iv. 25.] that Abel was murdered a 
 year or two before Seth was born, which was in the year 1 30. 
 
 " Now though we mould fuppofe that Adam and Eve had no 
 other fons in the year of the world one hundred and twenty-eight) 
 but Cain and Abel, it mud be allowed that they had daughters, 
 who might early marry with thofe two forts. I require no more 
 than the defcendants of thefe two, to make a very confiderable 
 number of men upon the earth in the faid year one hundred and 
 t .weiity-eight ; for, fuppofing them to have been married in the 
 nineteenth year of the world, they might cafily have had each of 
 them eight children in the twenty-fifth year. In twenty-five years 
 more, the fiftieth of the world, their defcendant? in a direft line 
 would be fixty-four perfons. In the feventy-fifth year, at the 
 fame rate, they would amount to five hundred and twelve. In the 
 hundredth year, to four thoufand and ninety-fix ; and in the hun 
 dred and twenty-fifth year, to thirty-two thoufand feven hundred 
 and fi:.ly-eight." [DifTert. Chrci.ol. Gcug. Ciitiq. fur la Journal 
 de Paris, Tom. li. p. 6.] 
 
 " Now if to this calculation we add the high degree of proba 
 bility that Adam had many more fons befides thofe mentioned in 
 the record ; that families were generally more numerous than the 
 iuppcfition flates ; that fimple manners, rural employments, tem 
 perature of climate, and largenefs of room, arc circumllanccs ir.- 
 conceiveably more favourable to population, than modern fadls, 
 and European cuftoms, give us any idea of, we fhall r.ot think it 
 grange that Cain, under the preffure of confcioi:? guile, and har 
 
 rowed
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 99 
 
 on the earth: [Gen. iv. 14, 15.] Behold, thou haft 
 driven me out this day from the face of the earth ; and 
 from thy face ihall 1 be hid, and I (hall be a fugitive and 
 
 * a vagabond in the earth ; and it {hall come to pafs, that 
 every one that fmdeth me fhall flay me. And the Lord 
 
 * faid unto him, Therefore whofoever flayeth Cain, ven- 
 geance fhall be taken on him feven-fold. And the 
 
 * Lord fet a mark upon Cain, left any finding him fhould 
 kill him. (G) And thofe that were in being when Serb, 
 was born, muft be fuppofed to ft and in equal capacity of 
 multiplying their pofterity with him ; and therefore, as I 
 faid, Seth s pofterity were but a fmall part of the inhabit 
 ants of the world. 
 
 But after the days of Enos and Enoch, (for Enoch was 
 tranflated before Enos died ; I fay, after their days) the 
 church of God greatly diminished, in proportion as mul 
 titudes that were of the line of Setli, and had been born 
 in the church of God, fell away, and joined with the 
 wicked world, principally by means of intermarriages 
 
 with 
 
 rowed with fear, which always both multiplies and magnifies ob- 
 jefts far beyond their real number and fize, mould be alarmed 
 and intimidated at the numbers of mankind, who he fuppofed 
 were ready, and were concerned, to execute vengeance upon him." 
 [HUNTER S Sac. Bipg. Vol. i. left. 5.] 
 
 (G) The Lord fet a MARK upon Cain. ] " Almoft all the ver- 
 fions have committed a miftake in tranflating ver. 15, that God 
 had * put a mark upon Cain, left any fuddenly fhould kill him. 
 The original fays no fuch thing ; and the LXX have very well 
 rendered it thus * God fet a. Jign before Cain, to purfuade him 
 that whoever fhould find him fhould not kill him. This is al- 
 moft the fame with what is faid in Exod. x. i. that * God did fet 
 t jigns before the Egyptians ; and Ifa. Ixvi. 19. that he would fet 
 a Jlgn before the heathen ; where it is evident that God did not 
 mean any particular mark which fhould be fet on their bodies, but 
 only thofe figns and wonders which he wrought in Egypt, to oblige 
 Pharaoh to let his people go ; and the miraculous manner where 
 in he delivered them from the Babylonifh captivity. This expo- 
 fition is natural and agreeable to the methods of Divine Provi 
 dence, which is wont to convince the incredulous by figns and 
 wonders ; nor could any tiling elfc convince Cain, in the fear he 
 \vasunder, that the firll who met him fhould not kill him, after 
 
 what God had faid to him in exprobration of his crime." 
 
 [PATRICK S Comment, and SAURIN S Diffcrt.l
 
 ioo HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 with them ; [as Gen. vi. i, 2, and 4.] And it came to 
 
 * pafs, when men began to multiply on the face of the 
 
 * earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the fons 
 
 * of God faw the daughters of men, that they were fair ; 
 and they took them wives of all which they chofe. 
 
 * There were giants in the earth in thofe days ; and alfo 
 
 * after that, when the fons of God came in unto the 
 
 * daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the 
 
 * fame became mighty men, which were of old, men of 
 
 * renown. (H) By the fons of God here, are doubtlefs 
 meant the children of the church : it is a denomination 
 often given them in the fcripture. They intermarried 
 
 with 
 
 (H) There were GIANTS on the earth in tkofe ^%/.J Here are 
 two inquiries which prefent themfelves ; i. What is meant by the 
 Jons of God intermarry ing with the daughters of men ? And what 
 were thefc g tants here mentioned ? 
 
 As to the former, the expoiition of our author is generally ac- 
 quiefced in, and there is but little doubt that is the true one. 
 There is another, however, efpoufed by fome of the beft Jewifh 
 writers, as Ben Uzziel, S, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and the Tar- 
 gums, and which therefore may defervc mentioning, viz. that 
 the fons of God were princes, magHtrates, and great-men ; and 
 daughters of men, thofe of the inferior and poor people, which 
 they took by violence, as the word fometimes means, and de 
 bauched. [See Univ. Hift. Vol. i. p. 175.] 
 
 As to the other inquiry, there is no doubt, if we credit hif- 
 tory, either facrcd or prophane, but there were formerly men of 
 extraordinary itature, as, indeed, to this day we meet with fome 
 accidental inftances ; not to mention the Patagonians, a nation of 
 fuch men, if we may credit the relations in Mr. Pennant s tradl. 
 See the Analytical Review, No. I.] But however fome critics 
 have thought that the paffage before us does not refer to iuch. 
 Some tranilate the Hebrew word nephilim, apo/latet t thofe who have 
 fell from the truth ; fo Jofephus : but Syminachus and Aquila 
 underftand it more literally of ruffians, men of violence t men ct ta 
 
 attack, who f-all upon others. [S _ _ CRUDEN S Concord, in 
 
 Giant. ~\ 
 
 The abfurd notion that the fons of God were angt!s, either 
 fallen or guardian, is too abfurd to defervc refutation. It is fup- 
 poted, however, that tins notion originated from an error in fome 
 old copies of the LXX, which read, theoore/r, iuitead of the fons 
 of God ; and it was in great meafure propagated by the book of 
 
 the pretended prophecies of Enoch. .[See Univ. Hift. Vol. i, 
 
 p. 172, and leq.j
 
 FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD. 101 
 
 Vvith the wicked world, and fo their hearts were led away 
 from God ; and there was a great and continual defec 
 tion : and the church of God, which ufed to be a reftraint 
 on the wicked world, diminifhed exceedingly, and lo 
 wickednefs went on uncontrolled. Satan, that old ferpent, 
 the devil, that tempted our firft parents, and fet up him- 
 felf as God of this world, raged exceedingly ; and every 
 imagination of the thoughts of man s heart was only evil 
 continually, (i) and the earth was rilled with violence. 
 It ieems to be deluged with wickednefs now, as it was with 
 water afterwards : and mankind in general were fwallowed 
 up in this deluge. And now Satan made a moft violent 
 and potent attempt to deftroy the church of God ; and 
 had almoft done it : but God reftored it in the mid ft of 
 all this flood of wickednefs and violence. He kept it up 
 in the line of which Chrift was to proceed. He would 
 not fufFer it to be deftroyed, for a bleffing was in it. 
 There was a particular family, a root whence the branch 
 of righteoufnefs was afterwards to ilioot forth. And 
 therefore, however the branches were lopped off, and the 
 tree feemed to be deftroyed; yet God, in the midft of all, 
 kept alive this root, by his wonderful redeeming power 
 and grace. 
 
 Thus I have (hewn how God carried on the great 
 affair of redemption ; how the building went on during 
 the firft period of the Old Teftament, viz. from the fall 
 of man, till God brought the flood upon the earth. 
 And I would here remark, that though the hiftory which 
 Motes gives us of the great works of God during that 
 fpace be very fhort; (K) yet it is exceedingly comprehen- 
 
 five 
 
 (i) Man s heart only EVIL. 3 " The original ftextj is very ex 
 act in its ftrufture, as well as very emphatical in its meaning. 
 The heart, or the grand principle, the thoughts of the heart, or 
 the various actings of that principle, the imaginations of the 
 thoughts, or the produce and refill t of thofe actings ; namely, de- 
 fires and affections, connlels and purpofes : of which, not one, 
 
 not a few only, or the greateft part, but all thefe are evil." > 
 
 [HERVEY S Thcr. and Afp. vol. ii. dial, n.] 
 
 (K) The hifl.nry of &ls period -v cry SHORT.] How few chapters 
 contain the hiilory of our world before the flood, although a pe 
 riod
 
 ioz HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 live and inftru6tivc. And it may alio be profitable to 
 oblerve, the efficacy of that purchafe of redemption that had 
 luch great effects, even many ages before Chrift appeared 
 to purchalc redemption, by the fhedding of his blood. 
 
 II. From the FLOOD to the calling of ABRAHAM. 
 
 I PROCEED now to mew how the fame work was 
 carried on through the fccond part of this period, from the 
 beginning of the food till the calling of Abraham : for though 
 that univerfal delude of waters overthrew the world ; yer 
 it did not overthrow this building of God, the work ot 
 redemption. This went on yet, and continued to be built 
 up to a farther preparation for the great Saviour s coming 
 into the world, and working out redemption for his people. 
 And here obfervc, 
 
 i. The flood itfelf was a work of God that belonged to 
 this great affair, and tended to promote it. All the great 
 works of God, from the fall to the end of the world, rightly 
 viewed, will appear as parts of this grand work ; and as fo 
 many fteps that God has taken in order to its being carried 
 en : and doubtlefs fo great a work, fo remarkable a cataf- 
 trophe, as the deluge was, cannot be excepted. It was 
 wrought in order to remove out of the way, enemies that 
 were ready to overthrow it. 
 
 Satan feems to have been in a dreadful rage juft before 
 the flood ; and his rage then doubtlefs was, as it always 
 has been, chiefly againrr. the church of God. He had 
 drawn almoft all the world to be enlifted under his ban- 
 
 nod of near fevciiteen hundred years; and including no lefs events 
 than the creation of the world the fall of man and bringing us 
 to the eve of. the world s deftruftion. What are the memoirs 
 of the oldeft patriarchs, but that they were born propagated 
 their fpeciey and then died ? Sic tranjit gloria nnindi. Thus the 
 * fafhion of this world pafieth away. [i Cor. vii. 31.] [I. N.J
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 103 
 
 ner. We read that the earth was rilled with violence; 
 and doubtlefs that violence was chiefly againft the church, 
 in fulfilment of what was foretold, I will put enmity 
 4 between thy feed and her feed. And their enmity and 
 violence was fo great, and the enemies of the church fo 
 numerous, the whole world being againft it, that it was 
 come to the la ft extremity. Noah s reproofs and his 
 preaching of righteoufnefs were utterly difregarded. God s 
 fpirit had ftriven with them an hundred and twenty years, 
 but in vain; (L) the church was reduced to fuch narrow- 
 limits, as to be confined to one family. Neither was there 
 a profpe6t of any thing elfe but of their totally fwallowing 
 it up in a very little time ; and fo wholly deftroying that 
 fmall root that had the bleffing in it, from whence the 
 Redeemer was to proceed. 
 
 And therefore, God s deftroying thofe enemies of the 
 church by the flood, belongs to this affair of redemption ; 
 for it was one thing that was done in fulfilment of 
 the covenant of grace, as it was revealed to Adam : * I 
 will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be- 
 tween thy feed and her feed ; it fhall bruife thy head. 
 
 P Thus 
 
 (L) God s fpirit bad STRIVEN with them in vain. ] " The word 
 here tranflated to drive, fignifies to litigate a point or rcafon in a 
 caufe, before it is ripe for judgment 
 
 " It is now eafy to difcern in what fenfe the Spirit of God may 
 be oppofed and refilled, and ftrive to no purpofe, and in what 
 fenfe not. The things of the Spirit of God are difagreeable to a 
 natural man : it is no wonder that the external miniftry of the 
 word and ordinances are defpifed, oppofed, and refifted. The ex 
 ternal caufe may be rejected ; yea, fome inward motions and con- 
 viftions may be over-ruled, ftifled, and come to nothing ; nay, it 
 will be granted, that there may be, and is an oppofition and re- 
 fiftance to the work of the Spirit of God in converfion ; but then 
 the Spirit cannot be fo refifted in the operations of his grace as to 
 be obliged to ceafe from his work, or to be overcome or hindered 
 in it ; for he ads with a defign which cannot be fruft rated, and 
 with a power which is uncontroulable ; were it otherwife, the re 
 generation and converfion of every one mud be precarious ; and 
 where the grace of the Spirit is effectual, according to the doc 
 trine of free-wil , it would be more owing to the will of man than 
 to the Spirit of God." [GILL S Caufe of God and Truth, Part 
 I. No. 2.]
 
 104 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Thus was the feed of the ferpent, in the rriidft of their 
 moft violent rage, difappointed, and the church delivered 
 when in the utmoft peril. 
 
 We read of fcarce any great definition of nations in 
 the Scripture, but one grand reafon given for it is, their 
 enmity and Jnjuries againft God s people ; and doubtlefs 
 this was one main reafon of the deftruction of all nations 
 by the flood. The giants that were in thofe days, in all 
 likelihood, got themfelves their renown by their great ex 
 ploits againft Heaven, and the remaining fons of God that 
 had not corrupted themfelves. 
 
 We read that juft before the world fhall be deftroyed 
 by fire, * the nations that are in the four quarters of the 
 
 * earth, fhall gather together againft the church as the fand 
 of the fea, and fhall go up on the breadth of the earth, 
 
 * and compafs the camp of the faints about, and the be- 
 loved city ; and then fire fhall come down from God out 
 4 of heaven, and devour them. [Rev. xx. 8, 9.] And it 
 feems there was that which was very parallel to it, juft 
 before the world was deftroyed by water. And therefore 
 their deftruclion was a work of God that did as much 
 belong to the work of redemption, as the deftruclion of 
 the Egyptians belonged to the redemption of the children 
 of Ifrael out of Egypt ; or as the deftru&ion of Senna 
 cherib s mighty army, that had compafled about Jerufalem 
 to deftroy it, belonged to God s redemption of that city 
 from them. 
 
 By means of this flood, all the enemies of God s church, 
 againft whom that little handful had no ftrength, were 
 fwept oflF at once. (M) God took their part, and appeared 
 for them againft their enemies, drowned thofe of whom 
 they had been afraid in this flood, as he drowned the enemies 
 of Ifrael that purfued them in the Red Sea. 
 
 Indeed 
 
 ( M) The enemies of the church all f wept off at once by the FLOOD.] 
 Well, faith the apoftle, [Heb. x. 31.] It is a fearful thing to fall 
 into the hands of the living God. Dreadful judgments follow 
 abufed mercies. One hundred and twenty years had the divine 
 patience waited one hundred and twenty years had the holy pro 
 phet.
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 105 
 
 Indeed God could have taken other methods to deliver 
 his church : he could have converted all the world, inftead 
 of drowning it ; and fo he could have taken another 
 method than drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea, 
 But that is no argument, that the method that he did take, 
 was not a method to fhow his redeeming mercy to his 
 people. 
 
 By the deluge the enemies of God s people were dif- 
 pofleffed, and the whole earth given to Noah and his 
 family to enjoy in quiet ; as God made room for the 
 Ifraelites in Canaan, by cafting out their enemies from 
 before them. And God s thus taking the poflfeflion of the 
 enemies of the church, and giving it all to his church, 
 was agreeable to that promife of the covenant of grace : 
 [Pfal. xxxvii. 9, 10, n.] * For evil doers fhall be cut 
 1 off; but thofe that wait upon the Lord, they fhall inherit 
 the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked fhall 
 
 * not be : yea, thou fhalt diligently confider his place, 
 and it fhall not be. But the meek fhall inherit the 
 earth, and fhall delight themfelves in the abundance of 
 
 * peace. 
 
 2. Another thing belonging to the fame work, was 
 God s fo wonderfully preferving that family of which 
 
 P 2 the 
 
 phet warned that perverfe generation ; but in vain. Imagination 
 is too weak to conceive, as well as language to paint, the awful 
 event which follows while 
 
 " With black wings 
 
 Wide hovering, all the clouds together drove 
 
 From under heaven 
 
 And now the thicken d fky 
 
 Like a dark ceiling ftood ; down rufh d the rain 
 Impetuous, and continued, till the earth 
 No more was feen ; the floating veflel fwam 
 Uplifted, and fecure with beaked prow 
 Rode tilting o er the waves ; all dwellings elfe 
 Flood overwhelm d, and them, with all their pomp, 
 Deep under water roll d ; fea cover d fea, 
 Sea without more ; and in their palaces, 
 Where luxury late reign d, fea monfters whelp d 
 And ftabled ; of mankind, fo numerous late, 
 All left, in one fmall bottom fwam embark d." 
 
 [Par. Loft. Book xi.J [U. U.j
 
 io6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the Redeemer was to proceed, when all the reft of the 
 world was drowned. God s drowning the world, and 
 faving Noah and his family, were both reducible to this 
 great work. The faving Noah and his family belonged 
 to it two ways ; as that was the family of which the Re 
 deemer was to proceed, and as it was the church that he 
 had redeemed. It was the myftical body of Chrift that 
 was there faved. The manner of God s laving ihofe 
 peifons, when all the world befides was fo overthrown, 
 was very wonderful and remarkable. It was a wonder 
 ful and remarkable type of the redemption of Chrift, 
 of that redemption that is fealed by the baptifm of water, 
 and is fo fpoken of in the New Teirament, [as i Pet. 
 iii. 20, 21.] Which fometimcs were difobedient, when 
 
 * once the long-fufFering of God waited in the days of 
 
 * Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, 
 
 * that is, eight fouls, were faved by water. The like 
 
 * figure whereunto, even bnptifm, doth alfo now fave us, 
 (not the putting away the filth of the flem, but the 
 
 * anfwer of a good conference towards God.) by the 
 
 * refurredlioii of Jefus Chrift. (N) That water which 
 
 walhed 
 
 (N) Which fometime were difobedient, &5V.J At prcfent we (hall 
 only fubjoin the tranflation and paraphrafe of this text (including 
 part of the context) from Dr. DODDRIDGE, which perfectly coin 
 cides with the fenfe of our author, and we think with the truth. 
 But as many have fuppofed it to refer to another period, viz. to 
 Chrift s preaching in the invifible world, we fhall in the proper 
 place reconfider the text with that interpretation of it. 
 
 I.Peter iii. 18 22. "I have already obfervcd, that if it be 
 the will of God you fhould fuffer, it is better it fliould be for do 
 ing well than for doing evil ; and it is very evidently fo, Iccanfc 
 heieby we are made conformable to Chrijl our head and leader, 
 whom it cannot but be our glory and happinefs to refemble ; for 
 he alfo once fufftred for Jlns ; he, who was fo eminently and per 
 fectly the jujl, fuffered for the unjvjl, for our benefit, and in our 
 Head, that he might introduce us to God, and fix us in a ftate of 
 acceptance and favourable intercourfe with him, being indeed put 
 to death in theJJiJh, by thcfe enemies whom God permitted for a 
 while to triumph over him ; but quickened by the Spirit of God, 
 which foon re-animated his body, and railed it to an immortal life: 
 even that Spirit hy the infpiration of which granted to his faithful 
 
 fervant
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 107 
 
 warned away the filth of the world, and cleared the 
 world of wicked men, was a type of the blood of Chrift 
 which takes away our fms. That water which delivered 
 Noah and _ his fons from their enemies, is a type of the 
 blood that delivers God s church from their fpiritual 
 enemies. That water which was fo plentiful, that it 
 filled the world, and reached above the tops of the highefl 
 mountains, was a type of that blood, the efficacy of which 
 is fo abundant, that it is fufficient for the whole world ; 
 fufficient to bury the higheft mountains of fin. The ark, 
 that was the refuge and hiding-place of the church in this 
 time of ftorm and flood, was a type of Chrift, the true 
 
 hiding- 
 
 fervant Noah, going forth as it were, in that progrcfs in which he 
 employed him, he preached to thofe notorious iinners, who for 
 their difobediencc, have fince experienced the juit feverity of the 
 divine vengeance, and arc now in the condition of feparate^/r/ /j-, 
 referred as it were in prifon, to the feverer judgment at the great 
 day. I fpeak of thofe, who ivere longjince d if obedient, when mice 
 the abufed and infulted long-fuffering of a compaflionate God waited 
 upon them, in the days of the patriarch Noah, during the fuccef- 
 fion of one hundred and twenty years, while the ark was preparing : 
 in which few, that is, eight fouls, of Noah and his wife, his three 
 fons and their wives, were carried fafely through the tuater, in 
 which the refidue of mankind perifhed. The antitype to which, 
 (or that which correfponds to, and was figured by it, that it, by 
 the prefervation of Noah s family in the ark,) does now Jove us, 
 or is the inftrument of our fafety and prefervation, as the ark 
 was of theirs ; [/ mean\ bapiifm, whereby we are received into 
 the Chriftian church, and numbered amongll the heirs of falva- 
 tion ; but then it is to be remembered, that it is not merely the 
 putting away the pollution of thefoJJj by the ufe of material water, 
 for that would be very infignificant ; but the anfvuer of a good 
 confcience, the reply that it makes when interrogated in the pre- 
 fence of God, ami fpoken in fuch a language as he only is capa 
 ble of hearing and underftanding ; and when this likewife is 
 found, when we attain falvation, by that great event in which at 
 baptifm we declare aurfelves believers ; I mean the refurrtSjon of 
 our Lord Jefus Chrljl from the dead ; iv ho is now fet down at 
 the right hand of God, being gone into heaven, there to take pof- 
 feffion of the glory prepared for him, where he reigns fupreme 
 over all worlds, all the angels and authorities and powers, which 
 are there enthroned, being madefuljeS to him, and humbly bow- 
 : ng before his fuperior dignity and authority. [Fam. Expof. ] 
 
 [I. N.]
 
 io8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 hiding-place of the church from the ftorms and floods of 
 God s wrath. 
 
 3. The next thing obfervable is, the new grant of the 
 earth made to Noah and his family immediately after the 
 flood, as founded on the covenant of grace. The facri 
 fice of Chrift was reprefented by Noah s building an altar 
 to the Lord, and offering a facrifice of every clean beaft, 
 and every clean fowl. And we have an account of God s 
 accepting this facrifice, and thereupon blemng Noah, and 
 eftablilhing his covenant with him, and with his feed, 
 promifmg to deftroy the earth in like manner no more ; 
 this fignifying that, by the facrifice of Chrift, God s people 
 are in fafety from his deftroying judgments, and obtain 
 the bleffing of the Lord. And God now, on occafion 
 of this facrifice that Noah offered, gives him and his 
 pofterity a new grant of the earth ; a new power of do 
 minion over the creatures, as founded on that facrifice, 
 and fo on the covenant of grace. And thus it is to be 
 locked upon as a diftincl grant from that which was made 
 to Adam, [Gen. i. 28.] And God blefled them, and 
 God laid unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and re- 
 pleniih the earth, and fubdue it ; and have dominion 
 over the fiih of the fea, and over the fowl of the air, 
 * and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 
 Which grant was not founded on the covenant of grace ; 
 for it was given to Adam while he was under the covenant 
 of works, and therefore was rendered void when that co 
 venant ceafed. The firft grant of the earth to Adam was 
 founded on the firft covenant ; and therefore, when that 
 firft covenant was broken, the light conveyed to him by 
 it was forfeited and loft. Hence it came to pafs, that the 
 earth was taken away from mankind by the flood ; for the 
 firft grant was forfeited ; and God had never made another 
 after that, till after the flood. If the firft covenant had not 
 been broken, God never would have drowned the world, 
 and fo have taken it away from mankind : for then the firft 
 grant would have ftood good. But that being broken, God, 
 after a while, deftroyed the earth, when the wiclcedncfs of 
 rnan was great upon it. 
 
 But
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. iogf 
 
 But after the flood, on Noah s offering a facrifice that 
 reprefented the facrifice of Chrift, God, in fmelling a 
 fweet favour, or accepting that facrifice (as it was a re- 
 prefentation of the true facrifice of Chrift, which is a 
 fweet favour indeed to God) gives Noah a new grant of 
 the earth, founded thereon ; or on that covenant of grace 
 which is by the facrifice of Chrift, with a promife an 
 nexed, that now the earth mould no more be deftroyed, 
 till the confummation of all things ; as you may fee in 
 Gen. viii. 20, 21, 22. and chap. ix. i, 2, 3, 7. The 
 reafon why fuch a promife was added to this grant made 
 to Noah, and not to that made to Adam, was becaufe this 
 was founded on the covenant of grace, of which Chrift 
 was the furety, and therefore could not be broken. And 
 therefore it comes to pafs now, that though the wicked- 
 nefs of man has dreadfully raged, and the earth has been 
 filled with violence and wickednefs a thoufand times, 
 one age after another, and more dreadful and aggravated 
 wickednefs than the world was full of before the flood, 
 being againft fo much greater light and mercy, efpecially 
 in thefe days of the gofpel ; yet God s patience holds out ; 
 he does not deftroy the earth ; his mercy and forbearance 
 abides according to his promife ; and his grant eftablilhed 
 with Noah and his fons remains firm and good, being 
 founded on the covenant of grace. 
 
 4. On this God renews with Noah and his fons the 
 covenant of grace, Gen. ix. 9, 10. And I, behold, 
 I eftablifh my covenant with you, and with your feed 
 after you, and with every living creature that is with 
 4 you, &c. ; which even the brute creation have this 
 benefit of, that it fhall never be deftroyed again until the 
 confummation of all things. \Vlien we have this expret- 
 fion in fcripture, my covenant, it commonly is to be un- 
 derftood of the covenant of grace, (o) The manner of 
 
 expreffion, 
 
 (o) MY COVENANT is generally to le underjlood of the covenant 
 of grace. ] The learned are by no means agreed, either as to the 
 derivation, or radical meaning of the original term bcrith. 
 Ir, is well kno\vn that Mr. HUTCHINSON infilled on its meaning 
 
 the
 
 no HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 expreffion, I will eibblifh my covenant with you, and 
 with your feed after you, (p) fliews plainly, that it was 
 
 a cove- 
 
 the purifier, or a ptirijlcation-facrijice, and fo conftantly tranflated 
 it : and without entering into all the reveries of that ingenious 
 man on this fubjeft, we think it very probable that the word might 
 originally have fome fuch import ; and if it was not immediately 
 derived from the verb in the fenfe of purifying, it might at 
 leaft have a collateral relation to it. There is no doubt but facrifices 
 were obferved at the inftitution of human covenants, or compacts ; 
 2s an appeal to heaven for the purity and fincerity of the parties 
 who formed them. Nor can there be any doubt, but that in the 
 facrifices with which the covenant of grace was ratified with Abra 
 ham and others (of which hereafter) the offerer looked forward 
 to that great facrifice which was to purify from fin. In this view 
 God s covenant might very properly fignify the covenant of grace, 
 not only as fealed by typical purifications, but as the conditions of 
 it were fulfilled by that pure and fpotlefs atonement, which cleanfts 
 from all tin. 
 
 [But fee Dr. SHARP S, Mr. BEDFORD S, and Mr. MOODY S 
 DifTertations on this word ; alfo Mr. CATCOTT S Sermon on the 
 Elahim ; and Mr. ROMAINE S new edition of Calafio s Heb. 
 Concordance.] [G. E.j 
 
 ( p ) / tut!/ eflabli/b my covenant.] As our author has here omit 
 ted a circumftance of fome importance, and clofely connected with 
 the Hiftory of Redemption, namely, Noah s Prophecy, we fliall 
 take the liberty to fupply it from Bp. NEWTON S excellent dif- 
 fertation on this fubjeft. 
 
 " It is an excellent character that is given of Noah, [Gen. vi. 
 9.] Noah was a juft man, and perfect in his generations, and 
 
 * Noah walked with God. Butthebeft of men are not without 
 their infirmities; and Noah [Gen. ix. 20, &c. ; having planted 
 a vineyard, and drank of the wine, became inebriated, not 
 knowing, perhaps, the nature and ftrength of the liquor, or being 
 through age incapable of bearing it ; and Mofes is fo faithful an 
 historian, th^t he records the failings and imperfections of the 
 moft venerable patriarchs, as well as their merits and virtues. 
 Noah in this condition lay uncovered within his tent : and Ham, 
 
 * the father of Canaan, faw the nakedneis of his father; and in- 
 flead of concealing his weaknefs, as a good-n:it .;rcd man, or, at 
 le ift, a dutiful fon, would have done, he cruelly expofed it to his 
 two brethren without : but Sl.em and J tpheth, more compafiion- 
 ate to the infirmities of their aged father, took a garment, and 
 went backward with fuch decency and rcfpeil, that they faw not 
 th nakednefs of their father at the fime time that they covered 
 it. When Noah awoke from his wine, he was informed of what 
 his y nger fon had done into him The wo. d in the original 
 
 .lignifies hib ume fon : and fome commentators, therefore, on ac 
 count
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 1 1 1 
 
 a covenant already in being, that had been made, and that 
 Noah would by that denomination underftand what cove 
 nant it was, viz. the covenant of grace. 
 
 $. God s 
 
 count of what follows, have imagined that Canaan joined with his 
 father Ham in this mockery and infult upon Noah ; and the Jewifh 
 rabbins have a tradition, that Canaan was the firft who faw Noah 
 in this pofture, and then went and called his father Ham, and con 
 curred with him in ridiculing and expofing the old man. But this 
 is a very arbitrary method of interpretation ; no mention was 
 made before of Canaan and of what he had done, but only of 
 Ham the father of Canaan ; and of him therefore muft the phrafe 
 of little fon or youngejl fon be naturally or necefiarily underflood. 
 
 " In confequence of this different behaviour of the three fons, 
 Noah, as a patriarch, was enlightened, and as the father of a fa 
 mily, who is to reward orpunifh his children, was impowsred to 
 foretel the different fortunes of their families ; for this prophecy 
 relates not fo much to themfelves, as to their pofterity, the people 
 and nations defcended from them. He was not prompted by wine 
 or refentment ; for neither the one nor the other could infufe the 
 knowledge of futurity, or infpire him with the prefcience of events, 
 which happened hundreds, nay thoufands of years afterwards : 
 but God, willing to manifeft his fuperintendance and government 
 of the world, indued Noah with the fpirit of prophecy, and ena 
 bled him in fome meafure to difclofe the purpofes of his provi 
 dence towards the future race of mankind. At the fame time it 
 was fome comfort and reward to Shem and Japheth, for their re 
 verence and tendernefs to their father, to hear of the blefiing and 
 enlargement of their pofterity ; and it was fome mortification and 
 punilhment to Ham, for his mockery and cruelty to his father, to 
 hear of the malediction and fervitude of fome of his children, and 
 that as he was a wicked fon himfelf, fo a wicked race mould fpring 
 from him. 
 
 " This, then, was Noah s prophecy : and it was delivered, as 
 mod of the ancient prophecies were delivered, [Loiuf/j s Prelec 
 tion, xviii.] in metre, for the help of the memory. [Gen. ix. 25, 
 26, 27.] 
 
 Curled be Canaan. 
 
 A fervant of fervants fhall he be unto his brethren. 
 
 Elcfied be Jehovah, the God of Shem ; 
 
 And Canaan (hall be their fervant. 
 
 God fhall enlarge Japheth, 
 
 And fhall dwell in the tents of Shem ; 
 
 And Canaan fhall be their fervant. 
 Canaan was the fourth fon of Ham, according to the order where 
 in they are mentioned in the enfuing chapter. And for what rea- 
 fon can you believe that Canaan was fo particularly marked out 
 
 for
 
 nz HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 5. God s difappointing the defign of building the city 
 and tower of Babel belongs allb to the great work ot 
 
 redemption. 
 
 for the curfc, for his father Ham s trangrefiion ? But where 
 would be the jurHce or equity to pafs by Ham himfelf, with the 
 veft of his children, and to punilli only Canaan for what Ham had 
 committed ? Such arbitrary proceedings are contrary to all our 
 ideas of the divine perfections ; and we may fay in this cafe what 
 was faid in another, [Gen. xviii. 25.] Shall not the judge of all 
 
 * the earth do right ? The curfe was fo far from being pro 
 nounced upon Canaan for his father Ham s tranfgrefiion, that we 
 do not read that it was pronounced for his own, nor was executed 
 till feveral hundred years after his death. The truth is, the curfe 
 is to be underftood not fo properly of Canaan, as of his defcen- 
 dents to the lateft generations. It is thinking meanly of the an 
 cient prophecies of fcripture, and having very imperfect, very un 
 worthy conceptions of them, to limit their intention to particular 
 
 perfons We mud affix a larger meaning to them, and 
 
 underftand them not of fingle perfons, but of whole nations ; and 
 thereby a nobler fcenc of things, and a more extenfive profpect, 
 will be opened to us of the divine difpenfations. The curfe of 
 fervitude pronounced upon Canaan, and fo likewife the promife of 
 bleffing and enlargement made to Shem and Japheth, are by no 
 means to be confined to their own perfons, but extend to their 
 whole race .... The curfe, therefore, upon Canaan was pro 
 perly a curfe upon the Canaanites. God forefeeing the wickednels 
 of this people, (which began in their father Ham, and greatly in- 
 creafed in this branch of his family) commifTioned Noah to pro 
 nounce a curfe upon them, and to devote them to the fervitude 
 and mifery which their more common vices and iniquities would 
 deferve. And this account was plainly written by Mofes, for the 
 encouragement of the Ifraelites, to fupport and animate them in 
 their expedition againit a people, who by their fins had forfeited 
 the divine protection, and were defliued to flavery from the days 
 of Noah. 
 
 " We fee the purport and meaning of the prophecy, and now 
 let us attend to the completion of it. Curfed be Canaan ; and 
 th? Canaanites appear to have been an abominably wicked people. 
 The fin and puuiihment of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomor 
 rah, and the cities of the plain, are too well known to be particu 
 larly fpecified ; and for the other inhabitants of the land, which 
 was promifed to Abraham and his feed, God bore with them till 
 
 * their iniquity was full. [Gen. xv. 16.] They were riot only 
 addicted to idolatry, which was then the cafe of the greater part 
 of the world, but were guilty of the worn; fort of idolatry ; for 
 every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they 
 
 * done unto their gods ; for even their fons and their- daughters 
 
 * they have burnt in the fire to their Gods. [Deut. xii. 31.] And 
 
 was
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL, i j 3 
 
 redemption. For that was undertaken in opposition to 
 this great building of God which we are fpeaking of. 
 
 Men s 
 
 was it not a curfe in the nature of things, as well as in the juft 
 judgment of God, defervedly entailed upon fuch a people and 
 nation as this ? It was not * for their own righteoufnefs that the 
 
 * Lord brought the Ifraelites in to po fiefs the land ; but for the 
 
 * wickednefs of thefe nations did the Lord drive them out: [Deut. 
 ix. 4.^ and he would have driven out the Ifraelites in like man 
 ner for the very fame abominations. [See Lev. xviii. 25, &c.] 
 
 " But the curfe particularly implies fervitude and fubjeftien, 
 
 * Curfed be Canaan ; a fervant of fervants (hall he be unto his 
 
 * brethren. It is very well known that the word brethren ia 
 Hebrew comprehends more diftant relations. The defcendents 
 therefore of Canaan were to be fubjecl to the defcendents of both 
 Shem and Japheth : and the natural conftquence of vice, in com 
 munities as well as in fingle perfons, is fiavery. The fame thing 
 i s repeated again and again in the two following verfcs, and 
 
 * Canaan fhall be fervant to them, or their fervant ; fo that this 
 is as it were the burden of the prophecy. Some critics take 
 the phrafe of fervant of fervants ftrictly and literally, and fay 
 that the prediction was exactly fulfilled, when the Canaanites 
 became fervants to the Ifraelites, who had been fervants to the 
 Egyptians. But this is refining too much ; the phrafe of fervant 
 of fervants is of the fame turn and caft as holy of holies, king of 
 kings, fong of fongs, and the like exprefiipns in fcripture ; and 
 imports that they mould be the loweft and b afeft. of fervants. 
 
 " It was feveral centuries after the delivery of this prophecy, 
 when the Ifraelites, who \vere defcendents of Shem, under the 
 command of Jofluia invaded the Canaanites, fmote above thirty of 
 their kings, took poffeflion of their land, flew feveral of the in 
 habitants, made the Gibeonites and others fervants and tributaries, 
 and Solomon afterwards fubdued the reft. [2. Chron.viii. 7, 8, 9.3 
 The Greeks and Romans too, who were defcendents of Japheth, 
 not only fubdued Syria and Paleftine, but alfo purfued and con 
 quered fuch of the Canaanites as were any where remaining, as 
 for inftance, the Tyrians and Carthaginians, the former of whom 
 were ruined by Alexander and the Grecians, and the latter by 
 Scipio and the Romans. " This fate," fays Mr. Mede, " was 
 it that made Hanibal, a child of Canaan, cry out with amaze 
 ment of his foul, Agnnfco fortuimm Cart&aginis, I acknowledge 
 the fortune of Carthage." And ever fince the miferable remain 
 der of his people have been flaves to a foreign yoke, firft to the 
 Saracens, who defcended from Shem, and afterwards to the Turks, 
 who defcended from Japheth ; and they groan under their domi 
 nion at this day. 
 
 " Hitherto we have explained the prophecy according to the 
 prefcnt copies of our bible : but if we were to correcl the text, as
 
 n 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Men s going about to build fuch a city and tower was an 
 effecl: of the corruption that mankind were now again 
 
 fallen 
 
 we mould any ancient claffic author in a like cafe, the whole per 
 haps might be made eaiier and plainer. Ham the father of Canaan 
 is mentioned in the preceding part of the ftory ; and how then 
 came the perfon of a fudden to be changed into Canaan ? The 
 Arabic verfion in thefe thiee verfes hath the father of Canaan in- 
 flead of Canaan. Some copies of the Septuagint likewife have 
 Ham inftead of Canaan, as if Canaan was a corruption of the 
 text. Vatablus and others by Canaan underftand the father of 
 Canaan, which was exprerTed twice before. And if we regard 
 the metre, this line, Curfed be Canaan, is much fhorter than the 
 reft, as if fornething was deficient. May we not fuppofe there 
 fore, (without taking fuch liberties as Father Houbigant bath 
 with the Hebrew text) that the copyift by miitake wrote only 
 Canaan, inftead of Ham the father of Canaan, and that the whole 
 paffage was originally thus ? * and Ham the father cf Canaan faw 
 
 * the nakednefs of his father, and told his two brethren without. 
 
 * And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger 
 fon had done unto him. And he faid, curfed be Ham the Jailer 
 of Canaan, a fervant of fervants (hall he be unto his brethren. 
 
 < And he faid, BldTed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Ham the 
 
 * father of Canaan mall be fervant to them. God (hall enlarge 
 
 * Japheth ; and he mall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Ham 
 
 * the father of Canaan mall be fervant to them. 
 
 " By this reading all the three fons of Noah are included in 
 the prophecy, whereas otherwife Ham, who was the offender, is 
 excluded, or is only punilTicd in one of his children. Ham is 
 characterized as the father of Canaan particularly, for the greater 
 encouragement of the Ifraelites, who were going to invade the 
 land of Canaan : and when it is faid, Curfed be Ham the father 
 
 < of Canaan ; a fervant of fervants (hall he be unto his brethren ; 
 it is implied that his whole race was devoted to fervitude, but par 
 ticularly the Canaanitcs. Not that this was to take effeft immedi 
 ately, but was to be fulfilled in procefs of time, when they mould 
 forfeit their liberties by their wickednefs. Ham at firft fubdued 
 fome of the posterity of Shem, as Canaan fometiir.es conquered 
 Japheth; the Carthaginians, who were originally Canaanitcs, did 
 particularly in Spain and Italy : but in time they were to be fub 
 dued, and to become fervants to Shem and Japheth ; and the 
 change of their fortune from good to bad would render the curfe 
 fUll more vifible. Egypt was the land of Ham, as it is often cal 
 led in fcripture ; and for many years it was a great and fiourifhing 
 kingdom : but it was fubdued by the Perfians, who defcended 
 from Shem, and afterwards by the Grecians, who defcended from 
 Japheth ; and from that time to this it hath conftantlv beer, ii; iub- 
 jedtion to fome or other of the pofterity of Shem or Japheth. The 
 
 whole
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 115 
 
 fallen into. This city and tower was fet up in oppo- 
 iiiion to the city of God, as the god that they built it to 
 
 was 
 
 whole continent of Africa was peopled principally by the children 
 of Ham ; and for how many ages have the better parts of that 
 country laid under the dominion of the Romans, and then of the 
 Saracens, and now of the Turks ? In what wickednefs, ignorance, 
 barbarity, flavery, mifery, live moft, of the inhabitants ; and of 
 the poor negroes how many hundreds every year are fold and 
 bought like beaits in the market, and are conveyed from one quar 
 ter of the world to do the work of beafts in another ?" 
 
 " Nothing can be more complete than the execution of the fen- 
 tence upon Ham as well as upon Canaan : and now let us confider 
 the promifes made to Shem and Japheth. And he faid (ver. 26.) 
 
 * Bleffed be the Lord God of Shem : and Canaan (hall be his fer- 
 
 * vant : or rather, and Canaan (hall be fervant to them, or their 
 
 * fervant, that is, to his brethren ; for that, as we obferved before, 
 is the main part of the prophecy, and therefore is fo frequently 
 repeated. A learned critic in the Hebrew language, who hath 
 lately publifhed fome remarks on the printed Hebrew text, [Ken., 
 p. 561 .] faith, that " if it fliould be thought preferable to refer the 
 word lleffed directly to Shem, as the word curfcd is to Canaan ; 
 the words may be (and perhaps more pertinently) rendered, Blef- 
 fed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem ! [See Gen. xxiv. 31."] 
 
 [So Mr. Hervcy (remarks on Lord Bolingbroke, p. 58.) "I 
 would not tranflate the words, Bleffed be the Lord God of Shem ; 
 but * bleffed of the Lord God is Shem. (As before he reads, 
 not curfed be Canaan, but curfed is Canaan. ) This will put 
 a ftriking contrail between the doom of the religious fcoffer, and 
 the reward of filial piety This fenfe the original lan 
 guage will very commodioufly bear, and the event feems to re 
 quire." We would jufl add to this digreffion, that the interpre 
 tation of this ingenious writer nearly coincides with that of his 
 Lordfhip, above cited, except in his correction of the original 
 text.] 
 
 " Or if we choofe (as moil perhaps will choofe) to follow our 
 own as well as all the ancient verfions, we may obferve, that the 
 old patriarch doth not fay. Bleffed be Shem, as he faid, Curfed be 
 Canaan ; for mens evil rpringcth of themfelves, but their good 
 from God : and therefore in a ftrain of devotion breaking forth 
 into thankfgiving to God as the author of all good to Shem : nei^ 
 ther doth he fay the fame to Japheth : for God certainly may dif- 
 penfe his particular favours according to his good pleafure, and 
 falvation was to be derived to mankind through Shem and his pof- 
 terity. God prefers Sheen to his elder brother Japheth, as Jacob 
 was afterwards preferred to Efau, and David to his eldei brothers, 
 to fnow that the order of grace is not always the fame as the order 
 of nature. The Lord being called the God of Sheip particularly, 
 
 it
 
 n6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 was their pride. Being funk into a difpofkion to forfake 
 the true God, the iirft idol they fet up in his room, 
 
 was 
 
 it is plainly intimated that the Lord would be his God in a parti 
 cular manner. And accordingly the church of God was among 
 the pofterity of Shem for feveral generations ; and of them [Rom. 
 ix. 5.] As concerning the flefli Chrift came. 
 
 " But ftill Japheth was not difmifled without a promife, (ver. 
 47.) God mall enlarge Japheth, and he mail dwell in the tents of 
 * Shem ; and Canaan fliall be fervant to them, or their fervant. 
 God fliall enlarge Japheth. Some render the word, (it is fo ren 
 dered in the margin of our bibles) God (hall perfuade or allure 
 Japheth, fo that he ihall corv.e over to the true religion, and dwell 
 in the tents of Shem. But the bed critics in the language have 
 remarked, befides other reafons, that they who tranflate the word 
 by perfuade or allure, did not confidcr, that when it is fo taken, it 
 is ufed in a bad fenfe, and governs an accufative cafe, and not a 
 dative, as in this place. God mall enlarge Japheth, or unto [a 
 pheth, is the beft rendering ; and in the original there is a manifeft 
 allufion to Japheth s name, fuch as is familiar to the Hebrew wri 
 ters. As it was faid of Noah, [Gen. v. 29.] this fame mall com 
 fort us, the name of Noah being thought to fignify comfort : So 
 it is faid here God (hall enlarge Japheth, and the name of Japheth 
 figniiies enlargement. Was Japheth then more enlarged than 
 the reft ? Yes, he was, both in territory and children : the terri 
 tories of Japheth s pofterity were indeed very large ; for, befidcs 
 all Europe, great and exteniive us it is, they poffeifed the LefTer 
 Afia, Media, and part of Armenia, Iberia, Albania, and thofe 
 vaft regions towards the north, which anciently the Scythians in 
 habited, and now the Tartars inhabit ; and it is not improbable, 
 that the new world was peopled by fome of his northern defcen- 
 dents paffmg thither by the ftraits of Anian. The enlargement 
 of Japheth may alfo denote a numerous progeny as well as ample 
 territory : and if you confr.lt he genealogies of the three brothers 
 comprised in the following chapter, you will find that Japheth had 
 feven fons, whereas Ham had only four, and Shem only tire : and 
 the northern hive (as Sir William Temple denominates it) was 
 always remarkable for Its fecurhdjty, aad hath been continually 
 pouring forth fwarms, and fending out colonies into the more 
 fouthern parts, both in Europe and in Afia, both in former and 
 in later times. 
 
 " The following claufe, and he (hall dwell in the tents of 
 Shem, is capable of a double conftruction ; for thereby may be 
 meant either that God or that Japbeth (hell dwell in the tents 
 4 of Shem : in the tents cf Shem, faith he, fpeaking according to 
 the fimplicity of thofe times, when men dwelt in tents and not in 
 houfes. They who prefer the former conftvuclicn, feem to have the 
 authority of the.original text on their fide ; for there is no other 
 
 noun
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 117 
 
 \\as thcmfelves, their own glory and fame. And as this 
 city and tower had its foundation laid in the pride and va 
 nity of men ; fo it was built on a foundation exceedingly 
 contrary to the nature of the foundation of the kingdom of 
 Chl ift, and his redeemed city, which has its foundation 
 laid in humility. 
 
 Therefore God faw that it tended to fruftrate the de- 
 fign of that great building which was founded, not in the 
 haughtinefs of men but in the purpofes of God: thus the 
 thing that they did diipleafed the Lord, and he confounded 
 the defjgn, not fuffering them to bring it to perfection ; as 
 he will fruftrate all other defigns fet up in oppofition to the 
 great building of the work of redemption. 
 
 In 
 
 noun to govern the veibs in the period, but God ; there is no pro 
 noun in the Hebrew, anfwering to the he which is inferted in our 
 Englifh tranflation : and the whole fentence would run thus, God 
 will enlarge Japheth, and will dwell in the tents of Shem : and 
 the Chaldee of Onkelos alfo thus paraphrafeth it, and will make 
 * his glory to dwdl in the tabernacles of Shem. Thofe who pre 
 fer the latter conftruflion, feem to have done it, that they might 
 refer this 2"th verfe wholly to Japheth, as they refer the 26th 
 wholly to Shem ; but the other appears to me the more natural 
 and eafy conftru&ion. Taken in either fenfe, the prophecy hath 
 been moft punctually fulfilled. In the former fenfe it was fulfilled 
 literally, when the Shechinah, or divine prefence, relted in the 
 ark, and dwelt in the tabernacle and temple of the Jews ; and 
 when the Word who was with God and was God, f_John i. I. 
 4 <r*r,vfc>3-a,] pitched his tent, and dwelt among us. [ver. 14.] In 
 the latter fenfe it was fulfilled firlt, when the Greeks and Romans, 
 who fprung originally from Japheth, fubdued and poflefTed Judea, 
 and other countries of Alia, belonging to Shem ; and again fpi- 
 ritually, when they were profelyted to the true religion, and they 
 who were not Ifraelites by birth, became Israelites by faith, and 
 lived, as we and many other of Japheth s pofterity do at this day, 
 within the pale of the churA of Chrift. 
 
 " What think you now ? Is not this a moft extraordinary pro 
 phecy ? A prophecy that was delivered near four thoufand years 
 ago, and yet hath been fulfilling through the feveral periods of 
 time to this day ! It is both wonderful and inftructive. It is the 
 
 hiftory of the world as it were in epitome." [DifTert. on the 
 
 Prophecies, vol. i. Dif. I.] 
 
 [The laft remark will, we hope, fufficiently apologize for the 
 length of this quotation.] [G. E.]
 
 ii8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 In the fecond chapter of Kaiah, where the prophet Is 
 clefcribing God s letting up the kingdom of Chrift in the 
 world, he foretells that he will, in order to it, bring 
 down the haughtinefs of men, and how the day of the 
 Lord fliall be on every high tower, and upon every 
 fenced wall, &x. Chrift s kingdom is eftablifhed by 
 bringing down every high thing to make way for it, 
 [2 Cor. x. 4, 5.] For the weapons of our warfare are 
 
 * mighty through God to the pulling down of ilrong 
 
 * holds, carting down imaginations, and every high thing 
 that exaltcth itfelf againft the knowledge of God. 
 What is done in a particular foul, to make way for the 
 fetting up of Chrift s kingdom, is to deftroy Babel in that 
 foul. 
 
 They intended to have built Babel up to heaven. That 
 building which is the fubject we are now upon, is intend 
 ed to be built fo high, that its top fliall reach to heaven 
 indeed, as it will to the higheft heavens at the end of the 
 world, when it {hall be finHhed : and therefore God would 
 not fuffer the building of his enemies, that they defigned 
 to build up to heaven in oppofition to it, to profper. (oj 
 If they had gone on and profpered in building that city 
 and tower, it might have kept the world, of wicked men, 
 the enemies of the church, together, as was their defign. 
 They might have remained united in one vaft, powerful 
 city, and fo have been too powerful for the city of God, 
 and quite fwallowed it up. 
 
 This city of Babel is the fame with the city of Baby 
 lon ; for Babylon in the original is Babel: but Babylon 
 was a city that is always fpoken of in fcripture as chiefly 
 oppofite to the city of God. Babylon and Jerufalem, 
 or Zion, are often oppofed to each other, both in the 
 Old and New Teftament. This*city was a powerful and 
 
 terrible 
 
 ( Q_) God fnijlrated their dejign in building BABEL.] Their de 
 fign and the method in which God fnijlrated it are two very im 
 portant fubjedls of inquiry, and for brevity fake we fhall confider 
 them in connexion ; firil dating the principal hypotbefts of the 
 learned, and then, comparing them with the fcripture account, at 
 tempt to throw fome new light on this very complicated fubjeft.
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 119 
 
 terrible enemy to the city of God afterwards, notwith- 
 ftanding this great check put to the building of it in the 
 
 begin- 
 
 We have not only the authority of Mofes for the exiftence of 
 this tower, but (which unhappily is of more weight with fome) 
 the concurrent teftimonies of feveral heathen writers, particularly 
 Herodotus, who defcribes the remains of it in his time; and even 
 fome modern travellers, as Rauivolf and Delia F al/e, have feen im- 
 menfe heaps of ruins which they conceived to be thofe of Babel, 
 though they are not well agreed in its fituation. [See Univ. Hitt. 
 vol. i. p. 334337.] 
 
 It is however not fo evident, what induced the children of men* 
 to erect this edifice. Mofes has indeed mentioned their motive, 
 but then the learned are not well agreed as to the import of his, or 
 ratheir of iheir words; [Gen. xi. 4.] * And they faid, Go to, let 
 
 * us build a city and a tower whofe top may reach unto heaven, 
 [/. e. very high] and let us make us a NAME, left we be fcattered 
 
 * abroad upon the face of the whole earth. But how mould the 
 making them a name prevent their being fcattered? Theanfwerto 
 this is not, perhaps, fo difficult as fome have thought. The ere&ion 
 of a city and a tower, and forming themfelves into a compact body, 
 a powerful corporation, as we mould fay, was the moft natural 
 means to preferve themfelves together, as well as to perpetuate 
 their memory to pofterity. Nor is this all; their making them 
 felves a name, implies the atchievement of fomethiug deferving one ; 
 and certainly the more firm, powerful, and great they were, the 
 lefs danger remained of their being fcattered. Not to fay, that in 
 fuch a body, men might enjoy many conveniences and advantages, 
 which a ftate of folitary wandering would not admit. 
 
 Some learned men, however, not aware of this, or not feeing it 
 in the fame point of view, have, to avoid the difficulty, rendered the 
 words in a different manner. Dr. G. SHARP [Origin of Lang. 
 p. 29.] takes the word [C3ttf] for a particle of place, andtranflatee 
 it Let us prepare ivorl, &c. for ourfelves THERE; and it can 
 not be denied that the words (without regarding the vowel points) 
 may be fo translated; but then, as the phrafe to make onefelf a name 
 is perfectly fcriptural [fee 2 Sam. viii. 13. If. Ixiii. 12, 14. Jer. 
 xxxii. 20. Dan. ix. 15.] and familiar, and we hope has been ex 
 plained in a rational and intelligible fenfe, there feema to be no 
 necefiity for departing from it. 
 
 Some critics, perticularly Dr. TENNISON and Mr. HuTCHlK- 
 S"ON, from the circumftance of the tower being in after times ufed 
 for idolatrous purpofes, have conceived that fuch was its original 
 defign ; and therefore have fuppofed this word to be the name 
 of the idol to which it was creeled : but as this is mere conjecture, 
 little llrefs can be laid on it. Nor does the erection of an idol give 
 any reafon why they mould not be fcattered. This, however, is a 
 
 R very
 
 i2o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 beginning. But it might, and probably would have been 
 Vailly more powerful, and able to vex and deftroy the 
 church cf God, if it had not been thus checked. 
 
 Thus 
 
 very ancient tradition, being found in the Targums both of Jona 
 than and Jerufalcm, befides a Samaritan one; and if it could be 
 proved to be well founded, would perfectly agree with the expofi- 
 tion above given, and give the cleareft reafon of the divine inter- 
 pofition, which is the next circumflance to be confidered. 
 
 And the LORD came down to fee the city and the tower which 
 the children of men builded. And the LORD faid [or had faid ] 
 Behold, the people is one, [united in one defign] and they have 
 all one language ; and this they begin to do ; and now nothing 
 will be retrained from them, which they have imagined to do, 
 that is, without a divine interference. * Go to, let us go down 
 [Comp. Gen. i. 26.] and there confound their language, that they 
 may not underftand one another s fpeech. So the Lord fcattered 
 them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth ; and they 
 left off to build the city, and [as the Samaritan adds] the tower. 
 Therefore is the name of it called Bald, [i. e. ConfufionJ becaufe 
 the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth. 
 The common hypothcfis fuppofes that, on this occafion, God 
 caufed the builders to forget their former language, and each fa 
 mily to fpeak a new tongue, whence originated the various lan 
 guages at prefent in the wo: Id. [See GILL in loc.] 
 
 To this, however, it has been objected, that to confound a lan 
 guage, and to form new ones, are very diilinft and different ideas. 
 Nor is the"re any fimilar phrafeology to countenance this in other 
 parts of fcripture. 
 
 Mr. HUTCHINSON, who fcems to have been fond of novel and 
 fingular ideas, will have the univerfality of language, or rather 
 Up, as the Hebrew is, to denote a univerfality of religion and re 
 ligious rites, and that the variety afterward introduced was not of 
 tongues, but of religious principles and confejjlons ; but this, befide 
 that it wants fupport, has the misfortune to intimate, that God 
 was the author of the different religions extant, the falfe as well as 
 the true which be far from the Moft High! 
 
 Dr. G. SHARP, unfatislkd with either of thefe explications, 
 conceives, that neither a di vifion of tongues or religions is intended ; 
 but only that in fome vifible and extraordinary manner the Deity 
 came down to earth, and confounded their purpofes, feathering 
 them over the face of the earth; and that the different languages 
 were rather the cffecl, than the caufe, of this difperfion. [See 
 Origin of Lang. p. 24 30.] 
 
 A full invettigation of this fubjeft would lead us back to the 
 origin of the firil language, and to a variety of inquiries, which 
 
 would
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 121 
 
 Thus it was in kindnefs to his church in the world, 
 and in profecution of the great defign of redemption, that 
 
 God 
 
 would fwell this note to a volume; but we wifh to be as concife as 
 poflible, and (hall therefore only drop hints to be purfued and im 
 proved by the reflections of our readers. 
 
 And, I. It appears that God not only created man with a capa 
 city of fpeech, and acquainted him with his powers; but called 
 them into exercife by bringing the animals to him, that he might 
 name them. 
 
 2. Yet, that there is no neceffity for fuppofing that God fur- 
 nifhed our firft parent miraculoufly with all the words he had cc- 
 cafion for, at once; a thoufand circumftances would daily occur 
 for giving him opportunity and occafion, to enlarge his ftock of 
 words, as his ideas increafed. 
 
 3. We conceive, that while mankind continued to refide in one 
 climate, and to have communication together, there would be 
 little diverlity in their language, and this was probably the cafe 
 before the flood, and for fome time afterwards, till the period we 
 are now confidering. 
 
 4. Though we fliould not be able exaftly to afcertain the mo 
 tives on which this building was erefted ; yet, as we find it offen- 
 five to God, it was certainly finful; if not in the tiff itfelf, at 
 leaft in the motive, which, doubtlefs, originated in vanity and 
 ambition* 
 
 5. From the expreffion the Lord came down, it fliould feern 
 there was fome vifible appearance of the divine Majefty ; the ear- 
 lieft heathen writers who mention this event, unanimoufly afcribe 
 the deftru&ion of Babel to the winds, and as the Lord * rides 
 * upon the whirlwind, there feems no abfurdity in fuppofing that 
 the tempeft which attended his prefence, might overthrow it, and 
 thus eonfound and terrify the builders. 
 
 6. But as the language was confounded, it does not feem fuffi- 
 cient to confine the text to this: may we not therefore fuppote, 
 that God affefted the organs of their fpeech in fome fuch extraor 
 dinary manner, as to render certain founds extremely difficult (if 
 
 snot impoffible) to certain perfons, and confequently to occafion 
 
 i a material difference in pronunciation? As we fee to this day, how 
 
 feldom foreigners can attain the true found of TH how vari- 
 
 joufly, even in England, (as formerly in Judea) different countries 
 
 ipronounce the fame letter. And this, taken in connection with 
 
 he terror occafioned by the divine prefence, was, certainly, abun- 
 
 antly fufficient to create a mifunderftanding, and make thefe 
 
 uilders defift from their enterprize. [See Staciihoufi s Hift. of 
 
 ic Bible, vol. i. b. 2.] 
 
 7. That after the difperfion, this difference would naturally 
 acreafe that accident would invent many, neceffity perhaps more, 
 
 R 2 new
 
 122 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 God put a flop to the building of the city and tower of 
 Babel. 
 
 6. The difperfion of the nations, and dividing the 
 earth among its inhabitants, immediately after God had 
 caufed the building of Babel to ce.afe. This was done fo 
 as moft to fuit that great defign of redemption; and parti 
 cularly, God therein had an eye to the future propaga 
 tion of the gofpel among the nations. [Deut. xxxii. 8.] 
 When the Aloft High divided to the nations their inhe- 
 ritance, when he feparated the fons of Adam, he fet the 
 ? bounds of the people according to the number of the 
 * children of Ifrael. (R) And hath made of one blood 
 
 all 
 
 new words; and the learned and ingenious modify them to their 
 own tafte; and we fhould not defpair being able to fhew, did the 
 occafion fuit, the pofiibility of all languages being in this manner 
 derived from one original. 
 
 8. The inquiry, whether among all thefe changes any one na 
 tion preferved the primitive dialeft, is more curious than ufeful, 
 and chiefly depends on one circumftnnce, whether Shem and his 
 family had any concern in building of Babel, a circumitance that 
 is not eafily demonstrated either way. The learned authors of 
 the Univerfal Hiftory think nothing can be plainer, than that he 
 was confederated with the reft of mankind. [Vol. i. p. 327, 
 &c.] 
 
 But Dr. GILL, [in loc.] and the Jewifh expofitors in general, 
 will by no means admit this; but fuppofe the phrafe children of 
 men, muft be here taken, as a fimilar one in a preceding chapter, 
 [vi. 4]. fot the reft of the world, exclufive of God s people. If 
 this notion be right, (as we think it might be juitified) in all pro 
 bability the original language might be preferved in the family of 
 Shem, and be eflentially the fame which was afterward denomi 
 nated Hebrew. But this controverfy we mull wave. [G. E.] 
 
 (R.) He fet the bounds of the people according to the number of the 
 CHILDREN of ISRAEL.] " The fenfe is, that fuch a country was 
 jneafured cut and bounded, as would be fufficient to hold the 
 twelve tribes of Ifrael, when numerous, and their time was come 
 to inhabit it ; and which, in the meanwhile, was put into the 
 hands of Canaan and his eleven fons to poflefs, not as their pro 
 per inheritance, but as tenants at will, until the proper heirs ex- 
 jfted, and were at an age, and of fufHoient number to inherit. In 
 which may be obferved the wife difpofition of Divine Providence, 
 to put it into the hands of a people cnrfed of God, fo that to take 
 it from them at anytime could have no appearance of any injuftice 
 in it; and their enjoying it fo long as they did was a mercy to 
 
 them,
 
 FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM S CALL. 123 
 
 * all nations of men , for to dwell on all the face of the 
 
 * earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, 
 
 * and the hounds of their habitations ; that they fhould 
 feek the Lord if haply they might feel after him, and 
 find him. [A6ls xvii. 26, 27.] The land of Canaan 
 was the moft conveniently fituated of any place in the 
 world for the purpofe of fpreading the light of the gofpel 
 
 thence 
 
 them, for fo long they had a reprieve. NoV here was an early 
 inftance of the goodnefs of God to Ifrael, that he fhould make fuch 
 an early provifion of the land flowing with milk and honey for 
 them. [GiLL in loc.] 
 
 " For * Children of Ifrael, the Greek tranflation reads Angels 
 of God ; fo the LXX tranflatcd this place purpofely, left the 
 heathens fhould here take offence, that Ifrael fhould be matched 
 with the fevcnty nations, that is, with all the people of the world : 
 and the Jews fuppofed, there were feventy angels, rulers of the fe 
 venty nations ; and therefore they fay, according to the number 
 of the angels of God, whereby they mean feventy. Their opinion 
 is to be feen in Rab. Menachem [on Gen. xlvi.l where he faith, 
 
 * It is generally a rule that there is one [degree of j glory above 
 
 * another, and they that are beneath are a fecret fignification of 
 thofe that are above ; and the feventy fouls [Gen. xlvi. 27.] 
 
 * fignify the feventy angels that are round about the throne of 
 
 * [God s] glory, which are fet over the nations. But we are 
 warned to beware how we intrude ourfelves into the things which 
 we have not feen." [Col. ii. 18.] [AiNSWORTH in loc.] 
 
 God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell 
 
 * upon the face of the earth, and hath determined, or " hrrth 
 
 markedout in his eternal and unerring counfel, the times fore-allotted 
 \to each~\ in their refpe&ive order ; and appointed the feveral boun 
 daries of their different habitations : all things in the difpofition of 
 his providence centering in this one great end, that they might 
 be excited to feek after the Lord their maker, if pojfibly amidft all 
 the darknefs which their own degeneracy and prejudice have 
 brought upon their minds, they might feel after him and be fo happy 
 as to Jind him out, in the knowledge of whom their fupreme hap 
 pinefs confifts ; who indeed, though he be fo little known, is not 
 far from every one of us : for in him <we perpetually /ive, find an. 
 moved and do exift." [DooDRiDGE Fam. Exp. in loc.] 
 
 Now if we fhould allow the conje&ure of our author, that Satan 
 might induce fome individuals to emigrate to the dark corners of 
 the earth (though perhaps this were better referred folely to the 
 divine Providence) yet mufl we admit the fuperior wifdom, pov.v; 
 and goodncfs which over-ruled even this event for good ; and will 
 ;n the end cover the earth as the waters do the fea. [N. U.]
 
 124 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 thence among the nations in general. In the times im 
 mediately after Chrift, the Roman empire included moft 
 of the known world, particularly the countries round 
 about Jerufalem, which was therefore properly fituated 
 for the purpofe of diffufing the light of the gofpel among 
 them from that place. The devil feeing the advantage of 
 this fituation of the nations for promoting the great work 
 of redemption, and the difadvantage of it with refpeft to 
 the intereft of his kingdom, might perhaps lead away many 
 into the remoteft parts of the world, to get them out of the 
 way of the gofpel. Thus fome were led into America; 
 and others into cold northern regions, almoft inacceffi- 
 ble. 
 
 7. Another thing I would mention in this period, was 
 God s prelerving the true religion in the line of which 
 Chrift was to proceed, when the world in general apo- 
 ftatized to idolatry, and the church was in imminent dan 
 ger of being fwallowed up in the general corruption. Al 
 though God had lately wrought fo wonderfully for the 
 deliverance of his church, and had (hewed fo great mercy 
 towards it, as for its fake even to deftroy all the reft of the 
 world; and although he had lately renewed and eilablifhed 
 his covenant of grace with Noah ar.d his fons ; yet fo 
 prone is the corrupt heart of man to depart from God. 
 and to fink into the depths of wickednefs; and fo prone 
 to darknefs, delufion, and error, that the world foon aftet 
 the flood fell into grois idolatry ; fo that before Abraham, 
 the diftemper was become almoft univerfal. The earth 
 was become very corrupt at the time of the building of 
 Babel ; and even God s people themfclves, even that line 
 of which Chrift was to come, were corrupted in a mea- 
 fure with idolatry: [Joih. xxiv. 2.] Your fathers dwelt 
 
 * on the other fide ot the llood in old time, even Terah 
 
 * the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor ; and 
 
 * they ferved other gods. The other fide of the flood 
 means beyond the river Euphrates, where the anceftors o,f 
 Abraham lived. 
 
 We are not to underftnnd that they were wholly drawn 
 off to idolatry, to forfake the true God. For God is 
 
 faid
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 125 
 
 faid to be the God of Terah : [Gen. xxxi. 53.] The 
 God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of 
 their father, judge betwixt us. (s) But they only par 
 took in fome meafure of the general and almoft univerfal 
 corruption of the times ; as Solpmon was in a meafure in- 
 fe6led with idolatrous corruption ; and as the children of 
 Ifrael in Egypt are faid to ferve other gods, though yet 
 there was the true church of God among them ; and as 
 there were images kept for a confiderable time in the fa 
 mily of Jacob ; the corruption being brought from Padan- 
 Aram, whence he fetched his wives. 
 
 This was the fecond time that the church was almoft 
 brought to nothing by the corruption and general defec 
 tion of the world from true religion. But ftill the true 
 religion was kept up in the family from which Chrift 
 was to proceed. Which is another inftance of God s 
 remarkably preferving the church in a time of a general 
 deluge of wickednefs ; and wherein, although the god 
 of this world raged, and had almoft fwallowed up God s 
 church, yet he did not fuffer the gates of hell to prevail 
 againft it. 
 
 III. From the calling of ABRAHAM to MOSES. 
 
 I PROCEED now to {how how the work of re 
 demption was carried on through the third part of this 
 period, beginning with the calling of Abraham, and extend 
 ing to Mofes. And, 
 
 i. It 
 
 (s) The God of THEiR/tf/A?;-.] Terah was their father, and 
 lie was certainly an idolater, as appears from the text above cited. 
 So it is commonly fuppofed that the true God was not here in 
 tended ; " but the god or gods of Terah, Nahor, and Abraham, 
 \vormipped whilft idolaters, and Laban ilill continued to do, 
 though perhaps not in fo grofs a manner as fome did." GiLi, 
 in loc. See alfo Ainfw. and Poli. Syn.~|
 
 ii6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 i . It pleafed God now to fepiirate that perfon of whom 
 Chrift was to come, from the reft of the world, that his 
 church might be upheld in his family and pofterity till 
 that time. This he did in calling Abraham out of his 
 own country, and from his kindred, to go into a diftant 
 one, that God fhould ihow him, and bringing him nrfr, 
 out of Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, and then to the land 
 of Canaan. (T) 
 
 It 
 
 (T) A learned Jew, now living, hath obliged the world with 
 the following curious fragment of Jewifh traditions from the 
 book Medrafh Berejbith, which we infert as a fpecimen of the reft ; 
 and cannot but coniider the grave manner in which he introduces 
 it, as an awful proof that the children of Ifrael have yet the vail 
 * upon their hearts? for certainly Mr. LEVI himfelf, who appears 
 to be uncommonly fhrewd, would have highly ridiculed fo abfurd 
 
 a legend, had it originated from the Chriftians. The ftory is 
 
 this: 
 
 " Terach, the father of Abraham, was an idolater, and like- 
 wife a dealer and maker of idols. It chanced one time that Te- 
 raeh went on a journey, and left Abraham to take care of, and 
 difpofe of the idols during his abfence. 
 
 " When any man came to purchafe an idol, Abraham afked him 
 his age. When the man had anfwered him, Abraham replied, 
 Can it be poffible, that a perfon of your years can be fo ftupid as 
 worfhip that that was made but yefterday ! The man being quite 
 overwhelmed with fharae, hung down his head, and departed. In 
 this manner he ferved feveral. At length there came an old wo 
 man, with a meafure of fine flour in her hand, which (lie told him 
 (he had brought as an offering to all the idols. Abraham at this 
 was exceedingly wrath, and took a large ftick, and broke all the 
 idols except the largell, which he left whole, and put the ftick in 
 his hand. 
 
 " When Terach returned, and perceived all the idols broken, he 
 afked Abraham how that came to pafs ? Abraham informed him, 
 that there came an old woman and brought an offering of fine flour 
 to the idols ; upon which they immediately fell together by the 
 ears for the prize, when the large one killed them all with the 
 ftick which he then held in his hand. 
 
 " Terach feeling the full force of the fatire, was greatly exaf- 
 perated, and immediately had Abraham before Nimrod, in order 
 to have him punifhed for the contempt (hewn to his gods. 
 
 " Nimrod commanded him to worfhip the fire ; but Abraham 
 anfwered him, that it would be more proper to worfhip the water, 
 which extinguifhes the fire. Why, then, fays Nimrod, worfhip 
 the water. No, fays Abraham, it were better to worfhip the 
 
 clouds
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 127 
 
 It was before obferved, that the corruption of the world 
 with idolatry was now become general ; mankind were 
 almoft over-run with it : God therefore faw it necefTary, 
 in order to uphold true religion, that there fhould be 
 a family feparated from the reft of the world ; for even 
 Abraham s own country and kindred had moft of them 
 fallen, and, without fome extraordinary interpofition of 
 Providence, in all likelihood, in a generation or two more, 
 the true religion would have been extinct. And therefore 
 God faw it to be time to call Abraham, the perfon in 
 whofe family he intended to xiphoid religion, out of his 
 own country, and from his kindred, to a far diftant coun 
 try, that his pofterity might there remain a people feparate 
 from all the reft of the world ; fo that the true religion 
 might be upheld there, while all mankind befides were 
 fwallowed up in heathenifm. 
 
 S The 
 
 clouds which fuftain the water. Nimrod bid him worfliip them ; 
 but he told him it would be better to worfhip the wind which dlf- 
 perfes the clouds. Nimrod then bid him worfhip the wind. Abra 
 ham anfwered, it would be preferable to worfhip man, who was 
 able to endure the wind. Well, fays Nimrod, I fee it is your in 
 tention to deride me ; I muft therefore tell you briefly, that I wor 
 fhip nothing but the fire, and if thou dofl not do the fame, my 
 intention is to throw you therein ; and then I fliall fee, whether 
 the God you worfhip will come to your relief; and immediately 
 had him thrown into the fiery furnace. 
 
 In the interim, they queftioned his brother Haran concerning 
 his faith, who anfwered, If Abraham fucceeds, I will be of his, 
 but if not, of Nimrod s. Upon which, Nimrod ordered him to 
 be immediately thrown into the furnace likewife ; where he was 
 prefently confumcd, but Abraham came out of the furnace with 
 out receiving the leaft injury. 
 
 This agrees with the 28th verfe of the eleventh chapter of Ge- 
 nefis. 
 
 And Haran died in the preferice of his father Terah, in the 
 * land of his nativity, in the fire of the Chaldeans ; [we read 
 UR of the Chaldeans, as a proper name] for it was by means of 
 the accufation which Terah exhibited againft Abraham, that Ha 
 ran differed death ; fo that he may juftly be faid to have died in 
 the prefence of his father. Here is an admirable lefion for man 
 kind : and which clearly points out the difference between thofe 
 which ferve the Lord in truth and fincerity, and thofe which are 
 lukewarm, and eafily turn to that which feerns rnoit profitable in 
 this world. This tranfaftion, the author of Sbalfoeletb Hakfalala 
 fays, happened in the feventitth year of Abraham. [Heb.
 
 i2S HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 The land of Chaldees, that Abraham was called to go 
 cut of, was the country about Babel ; Babel or Baby 
 lon, was the chief city of the land of Chaldea. Learned 
 men fuppofe that it was in this land that idolatry rirft 
 began; that Babel and Chaldea were the original and 
 chief feat of the worfhip of idols, whence it fpread into 
 other nations, (u) And therefore the land of Chaldeans, 
 
 or 
 
 (u) IDOLATRY BEGAN in Chaldea.~} " The rife of idolatry 
 after the flood is generally attributed by learned men to the Ba 
 bylonians or Chaldeans ; and what confirms this opinion is, Ba 
 bylon s being called the mother of harlots, [Rev. xvii. 5.] i.e. 
 as Mr. Mede explains it, the iirft parent of idols. There is no 
 doubt, but the firil introducers of it were bred up in the wor 
 fhip of the true God, agreeably to the revelation he had made of 
 his will to mankind, in that religion which was profefled by the 
 true church from Adam to Mofes, and which led thofe who lived 
 up to it to everlaiting happinefs. But the worfhipping God in 
 * Ipirit and in truth, was too refined a principle, a religion too 
 angelical, for fiich as feem to have been more delighted with the 
 ritual and ceremonial, than with the fpiritual and more effential 
 part of it. The outward and vifible obfervances, in the then true 
 church, feem to have been but very few, and thofe orderly and 
 decent ; but, it may be, *Jiey were multiplied before idolatry was 
 brought in, as it is certain they afterwards were by the intro 
 ducers of it, to an exceflive degree ; and from being too mucli 
 delighted with the externals of religion, they were infenfibly led 
 to join vifible and material objects of worfhip with the infinity of 
 God s majefty, which ti anfcended the capacity of their natures ; 
 and fo gratified their fenfes and imaginations with a vifible objeft 
 of wormip. And then being naturally invited by the ferenity of 
 their climate, (the weather being generally fair, and the air clear, 
 without either clouds or rain) to the contemplation of the hea 
 venly bodies, which they were forced to make life of in their 
 geoponics, [agriculture] having no calender by which to know 
 the feafons, they were foon furpri/.ed with their admirable ftruc- 
 ture, beauty, and regular motion ; and obferving what influence 
 thofe celeftial bodies hnd, and what benefits were communicated 
 to mankind by them, from being ravifhed into an admiration of 
 their regularity and harmony of order, they concluded, that 
 God made ufe of them as his mintflers, and that, as fuch, 
 he was as defirous that regard fhould be paid them, as earthly 
 princes are, that their minitiers fhould be reverenced and 
 
 elleemed. Maimonidesy who fixes this to the time 
 
 of Enos, [See above, Note (z) p. 89.] tells us, [In Ha!acotb~\ 
 that * in his days the fons of men grievoufly erred, and the wife 
 men became brutifH, even Enos himfelf being in their number. 
 
 Their
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 129 
 
 or the country of Babylon, is in fcripture called the land 
 of graven images: [Jer. 1. 35, 38.] A fword is upon 
 
 the 
 
 Their error was this, that God having created the ftars and 
 fpheres, placed them on high to govern the world, and beftow- 
 1 ed this honour upon them, that they fhould be his minijhrs and 
 fubfervient inftruments, and that therefore men ought to praife, 
 
 * honour and worfhip them : this being the pleafure of the blef- 
 
 * fed God, that men mould magnify and honour thofe whom 
 
 * himfelf had magnified and honoured, as a king would have his 
 
 * minifters to be reverenced, this honour redounding to himfelf. 
 From worfhipping them as God s minifters, they were foon led to 
 confider them as mediators between him and them; For being 
 
 confcious of their own meannefs, vilenefs, and impurity, they 
 could not conceive how it was pofiible for them of themfelves 
 alone to have any accefs to the All-Holy, All-Glorious, and Su 
 preme Governor of all Things and therefore concluded, that 
 there mult be a mediator, by whofe means alone they could 
 make any addrefs unto him. \_Prideaux, vol. i. b. 3.] But 
 having no knowledge of the true Mediator ; it may be, having for 
 got what had been revealed to Adam concerning him . . . they had 
 recourfe to mediators of their own chufing, by means of whom 
 they might addrefs themfelves to the Supreme God. * They 
 thought thefe the propereft beings to become the mediators be- 
 
 * tween God and them. This, probably, might be their opi 
 nion ; though I make no doubt but that idolatry came infenfi- 
 bly and by degrees, and that they who firft introduced it, did not 
 carry the impiety to the height it afterwards arrived at ; they had 
 no fyftem of theology that was either well put together or well un- 
 derftood, but fuch an one as was neither the work of a wife nor 
 intelligent people. And therefore we find, that as they worfhip- 
 ped the heavenly hoft as God s minifters, and as mediators be 
 tween him and them, fo they did give them the name of gods ; 
 [Wifdom xiii. 2,3.] Being delighted with their beauty, they took 
 
 * them to be the gods which govern the world : foolifhly con 
 cluding the kind influence of the heavenly bodies to be the infinite 
 
 joodnefs of the divine nature. Thus Plato [Apud Eufeb. Prsep. 
 
 Ev. 1. i. c. 9. & 1. iii. c. 2.] affures us of the firft inhabitants of 
 
 Greece, that they had no other gods than the fun, moon, &c. and 
 
 Diodorus, [Lib. i. c. I.] fpeaking of the firft generation of men, 
 
 who were fuppofed to be Egyptians, fays, that contemplating 
 
 the beauty of the fuperior world, and admiring with aftonifh- 
 
 ment the frame and order of the univerfe, they judged that there 
 
 were two chief goods that were eternal, that is to fay, the fun 
 
 * and the moon, the firft of which was called 0/iris, and the other 
 />&. 
 
 ** The wormip of the heavenly bodies was, without doubt, the 
 6rft idolatry. There was neither good nor evil demons wor- 
 
 S 2 * (hipped
 
 130 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * the Chaldeans, faith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants 
 ( of Bahylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wife 
 
 men. 
 
 < fhipped by them, fays Eufebius, fpeaking of the moft ancient 
 heathens. [Praep. Ev. 1. i. c. 9.] . . . Thus we find Job, who is the 
 aiidentcfl author we have, [unlefs it may be the Ixxxviiith and 
 Ixxxixth Pfalms] vindicating himfelf from it ; [Job xxxi. 26, 27.3 
 
 * If I beheld, fays he, * the fun when it mined, or the moon 
 
 * walking in bright nefs, and my heart has been fecretly enticed, 
 or my mouth has kiffrd my hand, (which was, as St. Jerom and 
 Pliny teH us, the ancient way of paying worfliip and refpeft) . . . 
 
 * I mould have denied the God that is above. And hence it is 
 that the Egyptians when they came to corrupt their hiftory with 
 the falfe antiquity they affedted, having defied the heavenly bo 
 dies, reprefented them as having reigned in their country before 
 
 they were governed by heroes and kings There are a great 
 
 many places in fcnpture where this idolatry is mentioned ; I mall 
 take notice but of one of them, [2. Kings xxiii. 5.] where the 
 objects of this worfliip are particularly diflinguiflied, They that 
 
 * burnt incenfe to theyw, and to the moon, and to \\\e planets, [or 
 cancellations, as in the margin] and to all the hoft of heaven. 
 [A. YOUNG, on Idolatrous Corruptions, vol. i. p. 22 30.} 
 
 It is highly probable, however, that in different countries, and 
 at various periods, idolatry originated from other caufes. So in 
 after times, mankind " having a falfe notion of gratitude for fuch 
 as had founded commonwealths, led out colonies, rendered them- 
 felves famous by their aftions, or by their ufeful inventions, 
 gained a general love and efteem ; they proceeded to rank them 
 likewife in the number of their gods. The refpeft which was 
 paid them while alive, followed them to their graves ; and they 
 were no fooner interred, than an extravagant elteem of their high 
 qualities, confpiring with the people s gratitude, and a grofs 
 ignorance of the divine nature, effected their deification. The 
 Arabian writers [See Dr. PococP* notes on his fpecimen, Hirt. 
 Arab. p. 94. J are generally agreed that this was the original of 
 their idolatry. And Diodonts tells us of the Egyptians, [L. i. 
 c. i.] that bcfides the heavenly gods, they fay there are others 
 
 * that are terreftrial, who were begotten by them, and were 
 
 * originally mortal men, but by reafon of their wifdom, and bene- 
 
 * licence to all mankind, have obtained immortality : of which 
 
 * fome have been kings of Egypt. 7"W/y [De Nat. Deor.] and 
 Pliny [L. ii. c. 7.] both of them alhire us, that this was the 
 ancient manner of rewarding fuch as had deferred well. And it 
 .... fuitcd the ambition and vanity of princes, as well as the 
 
 intereft of fuhjects And when they loll their children, it 
 
 was fome comfort to them to fee them ranked in the number of 
 fheir gods .... Thus, [fays the book of Wifdom, ch. xiv. 15.] 
 J A father afflifted with untimclv mourning, when lie has made
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 131 
 
 men. A drought is upon her waters, and they mall be 
 
 * dried up ; for it is the land of graven images, and they are 
 mad upon their idols. God calls Abraham out of this 
 idolatrous country, to a great diftance from it. And when 
 he came there, he gave him no inheritance in it, no not 
 fo much as to fet his foot on ; but he remained a ftranger 
 and a fojourner, that he and his family might be kept fepa- 
 rate from all the world, (v) 
 
 This 
 
 * an image of his child foon taken away, now honoured him as 
 
 * a god, who was then a dead man, and delivered to thofe who 
 were under him, ceremonies and facrifices. f_Idol. Cor. vol. i. 
 
 P- 7375-] 
 
 " Thefe two different obje&s of idolatrous worfhip, the hoft of 
 heaven, and their dead princes and heroes, were generally con 
 founded together. This proceeded from their giving the fouls of 
 the great perfonages they had confecrated and made their fove- 
 relgn and celeftial gods, the fun, moon, and ftarsfor their habita 
 tion, in which they fuppofed them to dwell, as in fo many ftately 
 palaces or temples. The believing the heavenly bodies to have 
 intelligent and rational beings prefiding in them, diffipated, as 
 they thought, fome abfurdities attending their theology, and 
 made it more reafonable than it would othcrvvife have been. 
 Thus jfamblictts, [JSecl. I. c. 17.] in anfwer to thofe who objected 
 to the divinity of the fun, moon, &c. becaufe they were corporeal, 
 fays from the old books of the Egyptians, that they worfhipped 
 them indeed as vifible gods, but that they were compounded of 
 foul and body, and to be eileemed the feats of fuch celeftial fpirits 
 as take care of human affairs. And the philofophers, Pythagoras, 
 Plato, &c. who travelled into the eaft in fearch of knowledge, 
 were not fo abfurd as to believe that the holt of heaven were really 
 and abfolutely gods." [Idol. Cor. p. 107, 108.] 
 
 We might here add the origin of images and image worfhip, 
 but left we mould be tedious, will referve it for a future Note. 
 
 (v) Abraham remained a STRANGER and a SOJOURNER.] So 
 the apoftle, Heb. xi. 13, 14. And on this paffage our author has 
 elfewhere raifed the following propofition ; " This life ought to be 
 fo fpent by us, as to be only a journey towards heaven." Here our 
 author obferves among other things, " That we ought not to re/I in 
 the world and its enjoyments, but Jbould dejire heaven. This our 
 hearts mould be chiefly upon and engaged about. We mould 
 feek firft the kingdom of God. He that is on a journey, fecks 
 the place that he is journeying to. We ought above all things to 
 defire a heavenly happinefs : to go to heaven and there be with 
 Gcd; and dwell with Jefus Chrift. If we are furrouoded with 
 
 many
 
 j 3 2 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This was a new thing : God had never taken fuch a 
 method before. His church had not in this manner been 
 
 feparated 
 
 many outward enjoyments, and things that are very comfortable 
 to us ; if we are fettled in families, and have thofe good friends 
 and relations that are very defirable : if we have companions 
 whofe fociety is delightful to us : if we have children that are 
 pleafant and hopeful, and in whom we fee many promifmg quali 
 fications : if we live by good neighbours ; have much of the re- 
 fpeft of others ; have a good name ; are generally beloved where 
 we are known : and have comfortable and pleafant accommoda 
 tions ; yet we ought not to take our reft in thefe things. We 
 fhould not be willing to have thefe thiugs for our portion, but 
 fhould feek a higher happinefs in another world. We mould not 
 merely feek fomething elfe in addition to thefe things ; but mould 
 be fo far from reding in them, that we mould chufe and defire to 
 have thefe things for heaven ; to go to God and Chrift there. 
 We mould not be willing to live here always, if we could, in the 
 fame ftrength and vigour of body and mind as when in youth, or 
 in the midil of our .days j and always enjoy the fame pleafure, and 
 dear friends, and other earthly comforts. We mould chufe and 
 defire to leave them all in God s due time, that we might go to 
 heaven, and there have the enjoyment of God. We ought to 
 poffefsthem, enjoy and make ufe of them, with no other view or 
 aim, but readily to quit them, whenever we are called to it, and 
 to change them for heaven. And when we are called away from 
 them, we mould go cheerfully and willingly. 
 
 " He that is going a journey, is not wont to reft in what he meets 
 with that is comfortable and pleafing on the road. If he paffes 
 along through pleafant places, flowery meadows, or mady groves, 
 he does not take up his content in thefe things. He is content 
 only to take a tranfient view of thefe pleafant objects as he goes 
 along. He is not enticed by thefe fine appearances to put an end 
 to his journey, and leave off the thought of proceeding. No, 
 but his journey s end is in his mind; that is the great thing that 
 he aims at. So if he meets with comfortable and pleafant accom 
 modations on the road, at an inn ; yet he does not reft there ; he 
 entertains no thoughts of fettling there. He coniiders that thefe 
 things are not his own, and that he is but a ftranger ; that that is 
 not allotted for kis home. And when he has rcfrefhed himfelf, or 
 tarried but for a night, he is for leaving thefe accommodations, 
 and going forward, and getting onward towards his journey s end. 
 And the thoughts of coming to his journey s end are not at 
 all grievous to him. He does not defire to be travelling always 
 and never come to his journey s end : the thoughts of that would 
 be difcouraging to him. But it is pleafant to him to think that 
 i"o much of the way is gone, that he is now nearer home ; and that 
 
 he
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. i 33 
 
 feparated from the reft of the world till now ; hut were 
 wont to dwell with them, without any bar or fence to 
 keep them feparate ; the mifchievous confequence of 
 which had been found repeatedly. The effe6t before the 
 food of God s people living intermingled with the wicked 
 world, without any remarkable wall of feparation, was, 
 that the fons of God joined in marriage with others, and 
 thereby foon became infe6led, and the church was almoft 
 brought to nothing. The method that God then took was 
 to drown the wicked world, and fave the church in the 
 ark. And now the world, before Abraham was called, was 
 become corrupt again. But here God took another me 
 thod. He did not deftroy the world, and fave Abraham, 
 and his wife, and Lot in an ark ; but he calls thefe perfons 
 to go and live feparate from the reft. 
 
 This was a new and a great thing, that God did toward 
 the work of redemption. It was about the middle of the 
 fpace of time between the fall of man and the coming 
 of Chrift ; about two thoufand years before his incarna 
 tion. But by this calling of Abraham, the anceftor of 
 
 Chrift, 
 
 he (hall prefently be there ; and the toil and fatigue of his journey 
 will be over. 
 
 " So mould we thus defire heaven fo much more than the com 
 forts and enjoyments of this life, that we mould long to change 
 thefe things for heaven. We fliould wait with an earneft defire for 
 the time, when we fliall arrive at our journey s end. The apoftle 
 mentions it as an encouraging, comfortable confideration to Chrif- 
 tians, when they draw nigh their happinefs. * Now is our falva- 
 * tion nearer than when we believed. [Rom. xiii. II.] 
 
 " Our hearts ought to be loofe to thefe things, as it is with a 
 man that is on a journey. However comfortable enjoyments are, 
 yet we ought to keep our hearts fo loofe from them, as cheerfully 
 to part with them whenever God calls. * But this I fay, brethren, 
 the time is fhort, it remaineth, that both they that have wives, 
 be as though they had none ; and they that weep, as though they 
 wept not ; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; 
 and they that buy, as though they pofiefTed not ; and they that 
 ufe this world, as not abufmg it ; for the faflu on of this world 
 pafTeth away. [i. Cor. vii. 29, 30.] 
 " We ought to look upon thefe things, as only lent to us for a 
 little while, to ferve a prefent turn ; but we mould fet our hearts 
 on heaven as our inheritance for ever." [Pref. EDWARD S Pofth. 
 Sermon, p. 371.]
 
 i 3 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Chrift, a foundation was laid for the upholding the church 
 in the world, till Chrift Ihould come. For the world hav 
 ing become idolatrous, there was a neceffity that the feed of 
 the woman mould be thus feparated from the idolatrous 
 world in order thereunto. 
 
 It was alfo needful that there fhould be a particular na 
 tion feparated from the reft of the world, to receive the 
 types and prophecies that were to be given of Chrift, to 
 prepare the way for his coming : that to them might be 
 committed the oracles of God ; that by them the hiftory 
 of God s great work of creation and providence might 
 be preferved ; that fo Chrift might be born of this na 
 tion ; and from hence the light of the gofpel fhine forth 
 to the reft of the world. Thefe ends could not well be 
 obtained, if God s people, through all thefe two thoufand 
 years, had lived intermixed with the heathen world. So 
 that this calling of Abraham may be looked upon as a kind 
 of a new foundation laid for the vifible church of God, 
 in a more diftindt and regular flate, to he built on this 
 
 O 
 
 foundation from henceforward, till Chrift mould actually 
 come, and then through him to be propagated to all na 
 tions. So that Abraham being the perfon in whom this 
 foundation is laid, is represented in fcripturc as though 
 he were the father of all the church, the father of all 
 them that believe ; as it were a root whence the viiiblc 
 church rofe as a tree diftinct from all others ; of which 
 tree Chrift was the branch of righteoufnefs ; and from 
 which, after Chrift came, the natural branches were bro 
 ken off, and the Gentiles were grafted in. So that Abra 
 ham ftill remains (through Chrift) the father of the 
 church. It is the fame tree which from that fmnll be 
 ginning in Abraham s time, has in thefe days of the gof- 
 pd fpread its branches over a great part of the earth, and 
 will fill the whole in due time, and at the end of the 
 world be tranfplanted from an earthly foil into the Para- 
 dife of God. 
 
 2. There accompanied this a more particular and full 
 revelation and confirmation of the covenant of grace than 
 ever before had been. There were before this two par 
 ticular
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 135 
 
 tlcular and folemn editions or confirmations of this co 
 venant ; one whereby it was revealed to our firft parents, 
 ibon after the fall; the other whereby God folemnly re 
 newed the fame covenant with Noah and his family foon 
 after the flood ; and now a third, at the calling of Abra 
 ham, which being much nearer the time of the coming of 
 Chrift than either of the former, it was much more full 
 and particular. It was now revealed, not only that 
 Chrift fhould come, but that he fhould be Abraham s feed ; 
 and that all the families of the earth fliould be blefled in 
 him. God repeatedly promifed this to Abraham. Firft, 
 when he firft called him, [Gen. xii. 2.] And I will 
 make of thee a great nation, and I will blefs thee, and 
 
 * make thy name great : and thou fhalt be a blefling. 
 The fame promife was renewed after he came into the 
 land of Canaan, [chap. xiii. 14, &c.] Again after Abra 
 ham returned from the flaughter of the kings, [chap. xv. 
 5, 6.] And a fourth time, after his offering tip Ifaac, [ch. 
 xxii. 16, 17, 18.] 
 
 In this renewal of the covenant of grace with Abra 
 ham, feveral particulars concerning it were revealed more 
 fully than before ; not only that Chrift was to be of Abra 
 ham s feed ; but alfo, the calling of the Gentiles, and the 
 bringing all nations into the church, that all the families of 
 the earth might be blefled, was now made known. And 
 the great condition of the covenant of grace, which is 
 faith, was now more fully revealed. [Gen. xv. 5, 6.] 
 
 * And he faid unto him, So iliall thy feed be. And Abra- 
 
 * ham believed God, and it was counted unto him for 
 
 * righteoufnefs. Which is much taken notice of in the 
 New Teltament, and from thence Abraham was called 
 the father of them that believe. [Rorn. iv. 2 u.] 
 
 And as there was now a farther revelation of the co 
 venant of grace, io there was a farther confirmation of 
 it by feals and pledges, than ever had been before ; as, 
 particularly, God did now inftitute a certain facrament, 
 to be a (binding feal of this covenant in the vifible church, 
 till Chrift fhould come, viz. circumcition. Circumci- 
 fion was n feal of this covenant of grace, as appears by 
 
 1* its
 
 136 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 its rirft inftitution, in the xviith chapter of Geneiis. (w) 
 It there appears to be a feal of that covenant by which 
 
 God 
 
 (w) GOD NOW \nJKtvted circumc\fion.~\ " This was the firft 
 inftitution of circumcilion, and it was an inftitution of God, and 
 not of man. Indeed Herodotus fays, that the Colchi, Egyptians 
 c and Ethiopians only of all men circumcifed from the beginning ; 
 and the Phoenicians and Syrians, which are in Paleftine, learnt it 
 of the Egyptians, as they themfelves confefs. So Diodorus Si- 
 culus fpcaks of circumcilion as an Egyptian rite, and fays there are 
 fome who make the nation of the Colchi, and of the Jews, to 
 come from the Egyptians ; hence he obferves, that with thefe na 
 tions there is an ancient tradition to circumcife their new-born in 
 fants, which rite was derived from the Egyptians: but as the ori 
 ginal of the Jewifli nation is miftaken, fo likevvife the original of 
 this rite. And they may as well be thought to be miftaken in the 
 one as in the other. Thofe in Paleftine that were circumcifed were 
 the Jews only, as Jofephus obferves ; but they did not learn this 
 rite from the Egyptians, nor do they ever confefe it, but on the 
 contrary fuggeft, that the Egyptians learnt it from them in the 
 times of Jofeph ; for their principal lexicographer fays, the Egyp 
 tians were circumciled in the times of Jofeph, and when Jofeph 
 died they drew over the foreikin of the fleih. The Colchi indeed, 
 who were a colony of the Egyptians, might learn it from them ; 
 And fo the Ethiopians, who were their neighbours likewife, and 
 agreed with them in many things. Artapamis, an heathen writer, 
 fays indeed, that the Ethiopians, though enemies, had fuch a re 
 gard for Mofes, that they learned from him the rite of circumci- 
 lion ; and not only they, but all the priefts, that is, in Egypt ; and 
 indeed the Egyptian pritfts only, and not the people, were cir 
 cumcifed. It is not very difficult to account for it, how other na 
 tions befides the Jews fhould receive circumcifion, which was firft 
 enjoined Abraham and his feed ; the Ifhmaelites had it from Ifa- 
 mael the Son of Abraham ; from them the old Arabs ; from the 
 Arabs, the Saracens; and from the Saracens, the Turks to this 
 day : other Arabian nations, as the Midianites, and others, had it 
 from the fons of Abraham by Keturah ; and perhaps the Egyp 
 tians and Ethiopians from them, if the former had it not from the 
 Ifraelites ; and the Edomites had it from Edom or Efau, the fon 
 of Ifaac, the fon of Abraham; fo that all originally had it from 
 Abraham, and he by a divine command. It is not fo much to be 
 wondered at, that Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, men either 
 impcfed upon by the Egyptian priefts, as the former, or wrote in 
 favour of that nation, as the latter, and wholly ignorant of divine 
 revelation, fnould afiert what they have done; but that ChritHnn 
 writers, who have the advantage of divine revelation, and have 
 read the hiftory of the Bible, fuch as Marfoam, Spencer, and Lr. 
 Cltrc t fhould incline to the fame fentiment, is amazing ; and efpe- 
 
 cially
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 137 
 
 God promifed to make Abraham a father of many na 
 tions, compare the ^th with the 9th and ioth verfes. 
 And we are exprefsly taught, thr;t it was a feal of the 
 righteoufnefs of faith, [Rom iv. u.] Speaking of Abra 
 ham, the apoflle fays, He received the fign of circum- 
 * cifiori, a feal of the righteoufnefs of faith. And this 
 facrament chiefly diftinguilhed Abraham s feed from the 
 world, and kept up a feparation between them more than 
 any other particular obfervance whatever. 
 
 And befides this, there were other occafional feals, and 
 confirmations, that Abraham had of this covenant; as, 
 particularly, (i.) God gave Abraham a remarkable pledge 
 of the fulfilment of the promife he had made him, in his 
 victory over Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with 
 him. Chedorlaomer feems to have reigned over a great 
 part of the world at that day: and though he had his 
 feat at Elam, which was not much if any thing fhort of 
 a thoufand miles from the land of Canaan, yet he ex 
 tended his empire fo as to reign over many parts of that 
 land, as appears by chap. xiv. 47. It is fuppofed by 
 learned men, that he was a king of the Affyrian empire, 
 which had been begun by Nimrod at Babel.* And as it 
 was the honour of kings in thofe days to build new cites 
 to be made the feats ot empire, [Gen. x. 10 12.] fo it 
 is conjectured, that he had built him a city in Elam, and 
 made that his feat; and that the other kings, who came 
 with him, were his deputies in the feveral cities and coun 
 tries where they reigned. But yet as mighty an empire as 
 
 T2 he 
 
 cially when our bleffed Lord has exprefsly faid, that circumcifion 
 is of the fathers, [John vii. 22. J Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob; firlt 
 given to them, and praclifed by them. Even Theodotus, an hea 
 then writer, agrees with this facred teilimony of Mofes, when 
 fpeaking of the circumcifion of Shechem, in the times of Jacob, 
 he traces this rite to its original, and obi r erves, that when Abraham 
 was brought out of his own country, he was ordered from heaven 
 to circumcife every man in his houfc. It may indeed feem ftrange 
 how it fliould obtain in the iflands of the Well Indies, as in Juca- 
 tana, San&a Crux, and others, where the Spaniards found in the 
 beginning of the fixteenth century thofe ifles inhabited by idolaters, 
 *vho were circumcifed." [GiLL on Gen. xvii. 10.] 
 * See Skuciford 1 ! Connex. vol. ii. b, 6.
 
 13 8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 he had, and as great an army as he now came with, Abra T 
 ham, only with his trained fervants that were born in his 
 own houfe, conquered and fubdued them all. This vic 
 tory he received of God as a pledge of the vidtory that 
 Chrift, his feed, fhould obtain over the nations of the earth, 
 whereby he fhould poffefs the gates of his enemies. It is 
 plainly fpoken of as fuch in the xlift Ifaiah. In that 
 chapter is foretold the future glorious victory the church 
 fhall obtain over the nations of the world ; as you may 
 fee in verfes i, 10, 15, &c. But in verfes 2, and 3, 
 this victory of Abraham is fpoken of as a pledge and 
 earned of the victory of the church. Who raifed 
 up the righteous man from the eaft, called him to his 
 * foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule 
 < over kings r He gave them as the dull to the fword, and 
 e as driven ftubble to his bow. He purfued them, and 
 palTed fafely ; even by the way that he had not gone 
 with his feet. (x) 
 
 (2.) Another remarkable confirmation Abraham re 
 ceived of the covenant of grace, was when he returned 
 from the {laughter of the kings; when Melchifedec the 
 king of Salem, the prieft of the moft high God, that 
 great type of Chrift, met him, and blefled him, and 
 brought forth bread and wine. (Y) The bread and wine 
 
 ligni- 
 
 (x) The righteous man from the EAST.] Some explain this of 
 Abraham, others of Cyrus ; " I rather think (fays an eminent pre 
 late) that the former is meant, becaufe the character of the righ 
 teous man .... agrees better with Abraham than with Cyrus, 
 Befides, immediately after the defcription of the fuccefs given by 
 God to Abraham and his pofterity, (who, I prefume, arc to be 
 taken into the account) the idolaters are introduced, as greatly 
 alarmed at this event. Abraham was called out of the ealt; and 
 his poilerity were introduced into the land of Canaan, in order to 
 dcllroy the idolaters of that country; and they were eftablifhed 
 there on purpofe to ftaud as a barrier again ft idolatry then prevail 
 ing, and threatening to over-run the whole face of the earth. Cy- 
 rus, though not properly an idolater, or worfhipper of images, 
 yet had nothing in his character to caufe fuch an aJarm among the 
 idolaters," ver. 5 7. [I J P- LOWTM on ver. 2.~] 
 
 (Y) MELCHISEDF.C, prieft of the mofl high God. ] Many and 
 opposite have been the opinions, both of Jev.ifh and Chriftian 
 
 writcrsi
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 139 
 
 fignifieth the fame bleffings of the covenant of grace, tlm 
 the bread and wine does in the facranient of the Lord s 
 
 fupper. 
 
 writers, on this extraordinary character ; but we fhall only recite 
 the three principal : 
 
 1. Moil of the Jews, and many very learned Chriflians, unclerr 
 ftand it of SHEM, who it fliould feem by the facred chronology, 
 was ftill living. But to this it has been replied, that Melchifedec 
 was not of that family, His defcent is not counted from them; 
 [Heb. vii. 6.] nor could Shem be faid to be without father and 
 mother, [Heb. vii. 3.] when we have his genealogy from Adam 
 nor could Lev! be faid with any more propriety to pay tithes in 
 Abraham, than to receive them in Shem, fince he was as truly in 
 the loins of Shem, as in thofe of Abraham not to fay, that Abra 
 ham could hardly be faid to fojourn there, as in a ftrange coun- 
 * try, if his anceftor Shem were king of it. 
 
 2. Many expoutors, to avoid thefe difficulties, have fuppofed 
 that Melchifedec and Chrift were the fame perfon, and that this 
 appearance mail be accounted for in the fame manner as feveral 
 others under the Old Teftament. But the apoftle feems evi 
 dently to diftinguifh the perfons, in making the former a type of 
 the latter, [Heb. vii. throughout^] and in averting [ver. 6.J that 
 Chrift was a prieft after the order of Melchifedec. 
 
 3. We therefore think it fafeft, with our author, and many other 
 very refpeftable divines, to underlland the paflage literally, of 3. 
 great prince, perhaps a defcendant of Canaan, who reigned in 
 Salem, [not Jerufalem, as fome think, but rather a town in the 
 neighbourhood of Sodom, perhaps the fame called Shalein, in 
 Gen. xxxiii. 18. See GILL on Gen. xiv. 18.] and who was both 
 a king and prieft, as was not unufual under the patriarchal difpen- 
 fation ; and yet more diftinguifhed by his piety than his rank. 
 
 Now faith the apollle, [Heb. vii. i 5.] ccnfidet how great 
 this man was, for this Melchifedec [wasj king of Salem, 
 [and] prieft of the mofl high God . . . Without father, without 
 mother, without defcent, having neither beginning of days nor 
 end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, [who] abideth 
 a prieft for ever ; i. e. " Of whofe father, mother, or pedigree, 
 there is no mention .... (which notes him to be no prieft by de 
 fcent, as the Levitical priefts were, and accordingly their gcneaolo- 
 gies were preferved exactly) as neither of his birth nor death . . . 
 and fo ftands in the ftory as a kind of immortal prieft without anv 
 fucceffor . . . (perhaps the lull prieft of the true God in Phoenicia) 
 this Melchifedec, I fay, was in all this an emblem of Chrift .... 
 the King of Righteoufnefs, and Prince of Peace." - [HAMMOND 
 in loc. See alfo Doddridge.} 
 
 The fact feems to be, that Melchifedec is in the hiftory intro 
 duced in fo abrupt and auguft a manner, that he might be the 
 more fuitable type, and in many refpefts prefigure our Lord jefus 
 
 Chrift,
 
 140 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fupper. So that as Abraham had a leal of the covenant in 
 circumcifion that was equivalent to baptifm, fo now he 
 had a feal of it equivalent to the Lord s fupper. And Mel- 
 chifedec s coming to meet him with fuch a feal of the co 
 venant of grace, on the ocean" on of this victory, evinces 
 that it was a pledge of God s fulfilment of the fame cove 
 nant ; for that is the mercy which Melchifedec takes notice 
 of. [Gen. xiv. 19, 20.] 
 
 (3.) Another was, the vifion that he had in the deep 
 flcep that fell upon Abraham, of the fmoaking furnace and 
 burning lamp, that paffed between the parts of the facri- 
 fice, [Gen. xv.] (z) That facrifice, as all facrifices do, 
 
 fjgni- 
 
 Chrift, of whom thefe things were true, in a fenfe far more grand 
 and important. Infinite Redeemer ! How numberlefs are the rays 
 of glory that form thy mediatorial crown ! How are all the excel 
 lencies of the moil iiluftrious characters blended to fhadow thy 
 fuperior dignity. 1 U. S.J 
 
 (z) The VISION of the Jmoaking furnace. ~\ " The order and 
 form of Abram s facrifice dcfcribed in the ninth and tenth verfes 
 is a full illuftration of the meaning of the words ; And he faid 
 unto him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a {he goaf. 
 of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle 
 dove and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all thefe, and 
 divided them in the midtt, and laid each piece one againft ano 
 ther : but the birds divided he not. And the Lord made a 
 covenant, / . e. he cut alunder or divided a purifying victim. [See 
 Note (o) p. log.J Abram according to God s command took an 
 heifer, a fhe goat, and a ram, each of three years old, flew them ; 
 divided each into equal parts ; placed the feparated limbs oppofite 
 to each other, leaving a paffage between ; paffed between the parts 
 liimfelf, according to the cufto.m of the facrifice ; and when the 
 fun was down, that the appearance might be more viiible and ftrik- 
 ing, the JJoechinah, or viiible taken of God s prefence, palled alfo 
 between the divided limbs of the victims, as a fmoaking furnace, 
 and a burning lamp ; the final ratification of this new treaty be 
 tween God and Abram ; whereby God gracioufly became bound 
 to give Abram a fon of his own bowels, who mould become the 
 father of a great nation, and the progenitor, after the flefh, of the 
 great Saviour and deliverer of the human race; and Abram on his 
 part bound himfelf to a firm reliance upon all God s promifes, and 
 cheerful obedience to all his commands. Such were the awful 
 folemnities of this important tranfaclion. .... They were evi 
 dently of divine inllitution, for God honoured them with his pre 
 fence,
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 141 
 
 fignified the facrifice of Chrift. The fmoaking furnace 
 that paffed through the midft of that facrifice fignified 
 
 the 
 
 fence, approbation, and acceptance : they apparently had been 
 long in ufe before this period, for Abram, without any particular 
 inftruftion, prepares and performs the facrifice ; and they certainly 
 continued long in the church of God after this : for we find the 
 practice as far down as the times of Jeremiah, that is, about the 
 period of the diffolution of the Jewifh monarchy. The paflage 
 Itrikingly illuftrates and fupports the hiftory of Abram s cove 
 nant and facrifice [J er - xxxiv. 18 20.] And 
 
 * I will give the men that have tranfgreffed my covenant, which 
 
 * have not performed the words of the covenant which they had 
 4 made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and paffed be- 
 
 * tween the parts thereof, the princes of Judah, and the princes of 
 
 * Jerufalem, the eunuchs, and the priefts, and all the people of 
 4 the land, which paffeth between the parts of the calf ; I will even 
 4 give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of 
 4 them that feek their life ; and their dead bodies fhall be for meat 
 4 unto the fowls of the heaven, and the beafts of the earth. Now 
 the expreffions here employed, of 4 polluting God s name, tranf- 
 4 grefiing his covenant, and not performing it, [fee the preceding 
 context,] and the threatened punifhment of this violation, their 
 4 dead bodies fhall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and 
 4 to the beafts of the earth, explain to us in fome meafure, the 
 meaning of thofe folemn ceremonies with which covenants were 
 executed. And here furely it is not unlawful to employ the lights 
 which are thrown on this fubjeft, by the practice of the Gentile 
 nations, and the writings of profane authors. From them we 
 learn, that on fuch occafions the cuftom was, that the contracting 
 party or parties, having paffed between the divided limbs of the 
 facrifice, and expreffed their full affent to the ftipulated terms of 
 the agreement or covenant, in folemn words, pronounced with an 
 audible voice, imprecated upon themfelves a bitter curfe, if they 
 ever fhould break it. 4 As I ftrike down this heifer, or ram, fo 
 4 may God ftrike me with death, if I tranfgrefs nay word and oath. 
 4 As the limbs of this animal are divided afunder, fo may my body 
 4 be torn in pieces, if I prove perfidious. To give one inftance 
 of many, from the two nations alluded to. The Greeks and the 
 Trojans, according to Homer, having agreed to determine the 
 great quarrel between them, by the iffue of a fingle combat be 
 tween the two rivals, Menelaus and Paris, the terms being folemnly 
 adjufted and confented to on both fides, the ratification of the 
 covenant is thus defcribcd, [Iliad, lib. iii. 268.] 4 The Grecian 
 4 prince drew the facred knife, cut off a lock of wool from each of 
 4 the heads of the devoted lambs, which being diftiibuted among 
 4 the princes of the contending parties, he thus, with hands lifted 
 
 * and in a loud voice prayed,
 
 i 4 2 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the fufferings ofChrift; but the burning lamp that fol 
 lowed, which ilione with a clear bright light, figniries the 
 
 glory 
 
 O firft and greateft Pow r ! whom all obey, 
 
 * Who high on Ida s holy mountain f\vay, 
 
 Eternal Jove ! and you bright orb that roll 
 
 * From ealt to weft, and view from pole to pole ; 
 
 * Thou mother earth ! and all yc living floods ! 
 Infernal furies, and Tartarean gods, 
 
 * Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepare 
 For perjur d kings, and all who falfely fvvear ! 
 
 * Hear and be witnefs. If, [POPE.] 
 
 " Then, having repeated the words of it [the covenant] in tht 
 audience of all, he cleft afunder the heads of the confecrated lamb&, 
 placed their palpitating limbs oppofite to each other on the ground, 
 poured facred wine upon them, and again prayed, or rather im 
 precated : 
 
 Hear, mighty Jove ! and hear, ye gods on high ! 
 And may their blood, who firft the league confound, 
 
 * Shed like this wine, diftain the thhfty ground : 
 May all their conforts ferve promifcuous luft, 
 
 * And all their race be Scattered as the duft ! [Pc-PE.] 
 
 " Thus when it was agreed to fettle the conteft for empire bc^ 
 tween Rome and Alba by the combat of three youths, brothers, 
 on either fide ; after the interpofition of ceremonies (imilar to thole 
 which have been defcribed, the Roman pried who prefided, ad- 
 drciTed a prayer to heaven to this effect ; Hear, Father Jupiter, 
 hear, Prince of Alba, and ye whole Alban nation. Whatever 
 has been read from that waxen tablet, from firil to laft, according 
 to the plain meaning of the words, without any rcfervation what 
 ever, the Roman people engage to ftand to, and will not be the 
 firit to violate. If with a fraudulent intention, and by an adi of 
 the ftate, they {hall firit tranfgrefs, that very day, O Jupiter, itrike 
 the Roman people, as I to-day (hall Itrike this hog, and fo much 
 the more heavily, as you are more mighty and more powerful 
 than me. And having thus fpoken, with a (harp flint, hedafhed 
 out the brains of the animal. 
 
 * Thus in the three moil illuftrious nations that ever exifted, we 
 find the origin of their greatnefs, in fimilar ceremonies ; empire 
 founded in religion, and good faith fecured by the fan&ion of fo- 
 lemn facred rites. And is it not pleating to find the living and 
 true God, as in refpect of majefty and dignity, Ib in priority of 
 time, taking the lead in all that is great and venerable among men ? 
 We find Mofcs, the prince of facred writers, defcribing a religious 
 facrifice, performed by Abram one thoufand nine hundred and 
 thirteen years before Chritt, which the prince of heathen poets fo 
 exactly dcfcribes a^ the practice of his own country upwards of 
 
 one
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 143 
 
 glory that followed Chrift s fufferings, and was procured 
 by them. 
 
 (4.) Another pledge that God gave Abraham of the ful 
 filment of the covenant of grace, was his gift of that child 
 of whom Chrift was to come, in his old age. This is 
 Ipoken of as fuch in fcripture ; Heb. xi. 11, 12- and alfo 
 Rom. iv 18, &c. 
 
 (5.) Again, in his delivering Ifaac, after he was laid 
 upon the wood of the facrifice to be flain, (A) God gave 
 
 Abraham 
 
 one thoufand years later : and which the great Roman hiftorian 
 relates as in ufe among his countrymen, in the time of Tullus 
 Hoftilius, the third king of Rome, before Chrift about fix hun 
 dred and fixty-eight years." [HUNTER S Sac. Biogr. vol. i. lee. 
 xiii.] 
 
 (A) Ifaac laid upon the wood . . . . to IE SLAIN.] "Abraham 
 (fays Mr. HERVEY) was an eminent and diilinguifhed fervant of 
 the Moil High God. Favoured with peculiar manifestations of 
 the divine will, and dignified with the honourable title of his 
 Maker s friend. Yet even this man is harraiTed with a long fuc- 
 ceffion of troubles ; and, which was reckoned in thofe ages the moil 
 deplorable calamity, goes childlefs. Long he waits, worshipping 
 God with the moil patient refignation. At length, an oracle from 
 the Lord gives hiin . . . afTurance of a fon. Joyfully he receives 
 the promife, and reils in humble expectation of its accomplifhment. 
 .... At lad the handmaid becomes pregnant. But ... this 
 is the fon of the bondwoman, not of the free. 
 
 " How afflicting the cafe of this excellent perfon ! His kinsfolk 
 and acquaintance fee their olive branches flourifhing round about 
 their tables. Even his ungodly neighbours have children at their 
 defire, and leave the refidue of their fubilance for their babes. But 
 Abraham, the worfhipper of Jehovah, the favourite of heaven 
 this Abraham is deilitute of an heir, to fupport his name, to pro 
 pagate his family, or to inherit the bleffing. . . God is pleafed 
 to renew the grant, and aiTure him more explicitly, that Sarah 
 mall have a fon. But this notice comes at a very late period in 
 life; when Saiah is advanced in years, and too old, according to 
 the courfe of nature, to conceive. However, the pious patriarch 
 * ftaggers not through unbelief ; but hopes even againll hope. 
 [Rom. iv. 1 8 20.] 
 
 " At lail, the gift, fa earnefliy defired, is vouchfafed. Sarah 
 has a child a fon an Ifaac. One who mould be a fource of con- 
 folation and delight to his parents; fliould fill their mouth with 
 laughter, and their tongue with joy. With tender care, doubt- 
 lefs, this pleafant plant is reared. Many prayers are put up, for 
 his long life and great happinefs. The fond parents watch over 
 
 U him.
 
 i 4 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Abraham another confirmation of his faith in the pro- 
 mile 
 
 him, as over the apple of their own eye. Their life is bound up 
 in the life of the lad. He grows in grace, as he grows in ilature. 
 
 Nov. , methinks, we are ready to congratulate the happy 
 
 Sire ; and flatter ourfelves, that his tribulations have an end .... 
 But * let not him that girdeth on his harnefs, boaft himfelf, as he 
 that putteth it off. Our warfare on earth is never accomplifhed, 
 till we bow our head, and give up the ghoil. The fharpeft, the 
 fevered trial is ftill behind. 
 
 " Abraham ; fays God Abraham knows the voice. It is the 
 voice of condefcending goodnefs. He had often heard it with a 
 rapture of delight. Inftantly he replies, Here I am. Speak, 
 
 * Lord ; for thy fervant is all attention. Hoping, no doubt, to 
 receive fome frefh manifestation of the divine good-will to himfelf 
 and his family ; or fome new difcovery of the method, in which 
 the divine Wifdom would accomplifh the promifes I will mul- 
 tiply thy feed I will make thy feed as the dull of the earth. 
 In thy feed mall all the families of the earth be bleffed. 
 
 * Take thy fon ; adds God. And might not Abraham rca- 
 fonably expect, that, fince his fon was arrived to years of maturity, 
 he mould be directed now to fettle him in the world with honour 
 and advantage ? . . . He is commanded, not barely to take hisyon, 
 but his only fon ; his fon Ifaac, whom he loved . . . Mull not fuch 
 an introduction, fo remarkably endearing, heighten his expecta 
 tion of fome fi-gnal mercy to be conferred on the beloved youth ? 
 And would it \\^1 render the blcffing . . . more than doubly wel 
 come ? 
 
 " Was he not then ftartled ? Was he not horribly amazed ? 
 When, inftead of fome renewed exprefiion of the Divine favour, he 
 received the following orders : Take now thy fon, thy only fon, 
 
 * Ifaac, whom thou loveit, and get thee into the land of Moriah, 
 
 * and offer him there for a burnt offering, upon one of the moun- 
 
 * tains .which I will teU thee of. 1 Was ever defcription fo affecl- 
 ing, or mefiage fo alarming ! . . . . Every word in this injunction 
 foftens and eotenders the parent s heart, and at the fame time 
 fharpens the arrow, that muft pierce it through and through. 
 
 " Abraham, take thy fon, Who, but Abraham, could have 
 fprborn rernonftrating and pleading on fuch an occafion ? Ana 
 nias, being charged with a commiffion to Saul the perfecutor, takes 
 upon him to argue the cafe with his Almighty SOVEREIGN. 
 Lord, I have heard by many concerning this man, how much 
 evil he hath done to thy faints at Jerufalem ; and here he hath 
 authority from the chief priefts to bind all that call upon thy 
 name. [Afts ix. 13,14.] Thus Ananias. With htnv much 
 greater appearance of reafon might Abraham have replied ? 
 
 * Lord, have I not already left my country ; left my kindred, 
 
 * and, at thy command, left my father s houfe ? And wilt thou
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. H5 
 
 inife that God had made of Chrift, that he fhould be of 
 
 Ifaac s 
 
 * now bereave me of my child ? Muft I part, not with feme ad- 
 mired folly or darling vanity, but with the raoft worthy objeft 
 of a rational affeftion ; indeed with my only remaining confo- 
 lation ? Shall I be deprived of my child, almoft as foon as I 
 have received him ? Didft thou give him only to tantalize thy 
 fervant ? Remember, gracious God ! the name he bears. How 
 mall he anfwer its cheering import ? How fliall he be a fource 
 of fatisfa&ion to his parents, or the father of many nations, if 
 thou takeft him away in his unmarried ftate, and the very prime 
 
 * of his years ? 
 
 If fin lies at the door, let me expiate the guilt. Let thou- 
 
 * fands of rams, let every bullock in my flails bleed at thy altar. 
 
 * My wealth, moft mighty Lord, and all my goods, are nothing 
 
 * in comparifon of my Ifaac. Command me to be dripped of 
 my pofleffions ; command me to roam as a fugitive and a vaga- 
 
 * bond in the earth, and I will blefs thy holy name. Only let my 
 
 * child, my dear child, be fpared. 
 
 Or, if nothing will appeafe thy indignation but human blood, 
 let my death be the facrifice ; upon me be the vengeance. I am 
 old and grey-headed. The beft of my days are paft, and the beft 
 of my fervices done. If this tottering wall tumbles, there will 
 belittle, or no caufe for regret. But, if the pillar of my houfe, 
 
 * and the fupport of my family if be be fnatched from me, what 
 
 * good will my life do me ? * my Son ! my Son ! would God / 
 c might die for theeS \_z Sam. xviii. 33.] 
 
 If it muft be a blooming youth, in the flower of his days, be 
 
 4 plcafed, moft merciful God, to felect the victim from fome fruit- 
 
 ful family. There are thofe, who abound in Children. Chil- 
 
 * dren are multiplied unto them ; and though many were removed, 
 yet would their table be full. There are thofe, who have flocks 
 and herds ; whereas, I have only this one little lamb ; the very 
 
 * folace of my foul, and the ftay of my declining years. Ana mail 
 this be taken away, while all tlwfe are left ? [2 Sam. xii. 3.] 
 
 Yet, if he mitft die, and there is no remedy ; may he not at 
 
 * lead expire by a natural diflblution ? May not fome common dif- 
 
 * temper unloofe the cords of life, and lay him down gently in 
 the tomb ? May not his fond mother and myfclf feal his doling 
 
 * eyes, and foften his dying pangs by our tender offices " 
 
 No, Abraham. Thy fon muft be flaugfotered on the altar. . . . 
 The facrificing knife, and not any common difeafe, mall bring him 
 
 to his end It is the Lord s will, that he be cut in pieces ; 
 
 confumed to aflies ; and made a burnt offering But if 
 
 * all muft be executed ; God forbid, that I fhould behold the dif- 
 
 * mal tragedy ! . . . . O! let it be far, far from the fight of thefe 
 
 * eyes ! 
 
 U 2 " Even
 
 146 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Ifaac s pofterity ; and was a rcprefentation of the refur- 
 
 rection 
 
 " Even this mitigation cannot be granted. Thou, Abraham, 
 mud fee him (lain. Nay ; thou mud be the executioner of thy 
 Ifaac. Is not the wretched father ilunned and thunderrtruck ? . . . 
 
 " Nature recoils at the very thought ! How then can the beft 
 of fathers perform the deed ? How lhall he anfwer it to the wife 
 of his bofom, the mother of the lovely youth ? . . . Will (he not 
 have reafon to reproach Abraham, and fay in the anguifh of her 
 fpirit, A bloody hufband haft thou been to me. [Exod. iv. 25.] 
 How can he juftify it to the world P They will never be pevfuaded 
 that the God of goodnefs can delight in cruelty, or authorize fo 
 
 horrid an action Might not thoufands of fuch confide - 
 
 rations crowd into his thoughts, and rack his very foul? 
 
 " But God is unchangeable. Pofitive is his word, and mud 
 be obeyed. Obeyed immediately too. Take BOW thy fon. The 
 Lord s command requireth fpeed. . . . This the patriarch knew 
 Therefore he waits not for a fecond injunction. He confults not 
 
 with flefh and blood But, without a murmuring word, 
 
 without a moment s delay, fets forward on his journey. 
 
 " And canft thou, Abraham, canft thou periift in thy purpofe i 1 
 Is not this child the heir of the promifes, both tempo 
 ral, and fpiritual, and eternal ? Is not the great MefTiah, whofc 
 day thou haft fo paflionately defired to fee ; whofe perfon is the 
 hope of all the ends of the earth ; is not that great Mefllah to 
 fpring from his loins ? From bis loins, whom thou art about to 
 kill; The bleffing, thou knoweft, is appropriated to him. The 
 grand entail is fettled upon him upon Jfiwc by name upon Ifaac 
 a/one, if he perifh, all is loft. Canft thou, then, at one blow, 
 deftroy the life of thy fon ; facrifice all thy earthly joys ; and cut 
 off the hopes of the whole world ? Will none of thefe confide, 
 rations difcourage, difluade, deter thee ? 
 
 " Moft triumphant faith indeed ! dcfervedly art thou ftyled, 
 The Father of the Faithful. Thy faith is ftronger than all the 
 ties of affeftion ; ftronger than all the plear, of nature; ftronger 
 than all the terrors of death of a death, in its circumftances and 
 in its confequences, incomparably more dreadful than thy own. 
 
 " Now mil ft he travel during three tedious, and, one would 
 think, moft melancholy days. . . * On the third day, Abraham 
 * lift up his eyes, and faw the place afar oft ! Doleful fight ! . . 
 Does not the profpeft alarm all hi^ tender pafiions ? No, it only 
 awakens his circumfpe&ion. The fervants arc commanded to ad 
 vance no farther . . . . He himfelf, with the fire and the knife in 
 his hands ; and his fon, with the burden of wood on his moulders, 
 went both of them together. Who does not pity the dear devoted 
 youth, toiling under that load which, muft foon reek with his bloodj 
 and foon reduce him to afhes ? Mean while the intended victim, 
 wondering to fee all thefe preparations made, and no proper ani 
 mal
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 147 
 
 re6Hon of Chrift ; [fee Heb. xi. 17 19.] And bccaufe 
 this was given as a confirmation of the covenant of grace, 
 
 therefore 
 
 mal near, afks this pertinent queftion; My father, behold the 
 
 * fire and the wood ! but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering ? 
 Nothing could be more tender and moving than this fpeech ; 
 which difcovered fuch a knowledge of religion, and fuch a con 
 cern for its duties. Will not this roufe the father s anguifh, and 
 (hake his determination? How can he be the death of fo much 
 innocence, and fo much piety? 
 
 " Faith overcomes all difficulties. Unmoved and inflexible the 
 Patriarch replies, God will provide himfelf a lamb for a burnt- 
 
 * offering, my fon. He hides the awful tidings from the inquifi- 
 tive youth, left they fliould be too heavy and afflictive for him to 
 bear. . . . 
 
 * And they came to the place which God had told him of. Tis 
 a mountain. Far from the refort of men. A doleful lolitude in 
 deed! .... Abraham builds an altar there .... and . . . that 
 every thing may be tranfafted with the utmoft decorum, he lays 
 the wood in order. . . . 
 
 " Every thing is now ready for the mofl aftonifhinor and dread 
 ful aft of obedience that men or angels ever beheld. And now 
 Abraham difclofes the ftartling fecret Didft thou inquire con- 
 
 * cerning the lamb ? Thou thyfelf, my dear child, art the lamb 
 provided for the burnt-offering. Be not amazed. Let not thy 
 heart fail. The God who bellowed thee on my longing defires, 
 is pleafed to require thee again at my hand the Lord gave, and 
 
 * the Lord taketh away ; let us both adore the name of the Lord. 
 Let us confide in his promifed goodnefs, and unanimouily profcfs, 
 " Though he flay me, yet will I truft in him." 
 
 " It does not appear that the amiable youth refilled or gainfaycd. 
 He had flrength enough to oppofe, and fpecd enough to cfcape, 
 the attempts of an aged father. [According to Jofephus, Ifaac 
 was, when he fubmitted himfelf to the (laughter, about twenty-five 
 years old.] Either, or both of which, the law of fclf-prefervation 
 might feem to dictate, and the light of reafon to juftify. But 
 Ifaac knew that his father was a prophet. In this prophetical 
 character, he fees and acknowledges the warrant of heaven ; and 
 linee his Creator calls, he is content to go. . . . 
 
 " Ncverthclefs, that the work of defliny may be fure, and 
 no one particular relating to a facrifice omitted, Abraham binds 
 Ifaac his fon . . . . Having bound him furpriling refolution ! 
 bound him for the fword and for the flame, he lays him upon the 
 altar on the wood. There, now, lies Ifaac; the dear, the duti 
 ful, the religious Ifaac ! Abraham s joy ; Sarah s delight ; the 
 heir of the promifes! There he lies, all meek and refigned, ex- 
 pelting, every moment, the ftroke of death to fall .... See! the 
 
 father
 
 148 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 therefore God renewed that covenant with Abraham on this 
 occailon. Gen. xxii. 15, &c. (B) 
 
 Thus 
 
 father . . . flretchcs forth his hand; he lifts the fharpened fleel ; 
 and determined to finifh at a blow, is even now aiming when 
 rejoice, O ye worfhippers of a gracious God ! . . . . the Angel of 
 the covenant fpcaks from heaven, and withholds the Patriarch s 
 hand, in the very aft to ftrike. God, who only intended to mani- 
 feil his faith, and make it honourable, bids him do no harm to the 
 lad. Yea, God applauds his obedience, and fubflitutea another 
 facrihct- in Ifaac s Head; renews his covenant with the father, and 
 not only reprieves the life of the fon, but promifes him a nume 
 rous and. illullrious iffue Promifes to make him the progenitor of 
 the Meffiah, and thereby a blefling to all the nations of the earth. 
 [Ther. and Afp. vol. iii. lett. 2.] 
 
 (B) Ifaac <was a TYPE of Chr ift, ra ifed from the dead. ] " So 
 faith the apoflle, [Heb. xi. 19.] Abraham received his fon Ifaac 
 from the dead in a figure, [*ai > vttfoCoX*] * even in a parable, 
 type, or myllical reprefentation. [See WOLFIUS, Curse Philolog. 
 vol. iv. p. 762. Corn. Heb. ix. 5.] A farther illuftration of 
 this may be taken from the hiftory of this event in Genefis [xxii. 
 14. ~\ where Abraham calls the name of the place where he at 
 tempted to offer his fon, jfebovairjflrei). One thing mufl be pre- 
 mifed, that the Hebrew word there ufcd, if we wave the authority 
 of the points, may be taken either actively or paflively. Abraham, 
 when his fon had inquired for the burnt-offering, replied, God 
 will provide hLmfelf, or rather will fee, look out, for himfelf a 
 burnt-offering Now, in ver. 14, Abraham ufes the fame woid, 
 and God having wonderfully provided a burnt-offering, inftead of 
 Ifaac, he names the place as it (hould feem with a reference both 
 to this event, and a future one rcprefented by it, The Lord 
 1 will fee, as our translators render it in the margin ; /. e. will 
 provide for his people, in whatever Untight they may be, as he 
 had done for Abraham in this foie trial. So it is faid to this day, 
 is become a punvib, In the mount the Lord vrill fee ; the fame 
 word us before. But the words may be taken paflively; The 
 4 Lord will appear, / . c, vilibly, he willbefeen. Thus Ifaae in 
 quiring for the fact jfire, Abraham replies, God will appear for 
 it, /. e. 1o point it out in fuch a nv.mner as (hall leave us in no 
 doubt or difficulty to feck it Then he calls the name of the place 
 * The Iv.r.d will appear, or be fi\:n ; and from this a tradition 
 arofe, that in / W mount the Lord would appear, (orbefecn) 
 which had the inoft literal and ex aft accompliihmeiit in Solomon s 
 temple b.-!i:g cixjlcd, and afterwards the Son of God crucified 
 thereon." Taken cither way, the words are beautifully fignificant; 
 :uid as they run uniformly ambiguous, we conceive ourfelves war 
 ranted to include bolh fenfes, though we may not be able to prove 
 
 * that
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 149 
 
 Thus you fee how much more fully the covenant of grace 
 was revealed and confirmed in Abraham s time than it had 
 been before ; by means of which Abraham feems to have 
 had a clearer underftanding and fight of Chrifr., the great 
 Redeemer, and the future things that were to be accom- 
 plifhed by him, than any of the faints preceding him ; and 
 therefore Chrift informs us, that Abraham rejoiced to fee 
 his day, and he faw it, and was glad. [John viii. 56.] 
 So great an advance did it pleafe God now to make in this 
 building, which he had been carrying on from the begin 
 ning of the world. 
 
 3. The next thing that I would take notice of here, 
 is God s preferving the patriarchs fo long in the midir. of 
 the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, and from all other 
 enemies. The patriarchs Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, 
 were thofe of whom Chrift was to proceed ; and they 
 were now feparated from the world, that in them the 
 church might be upheld : therefore, in preferving them, 
 the great deiign of redemption was carried on. He pre- 
 
 ferved 
 
 that Abraham fo intended them ; fince often things were fpoken 
 by a prophetic fpirit, which even the fpeaker did not at the time 
 fully underftand. [See John xi. 51.] Thus e-xplained, the words 
 will afford the following remarks : 
 
 1. That the fame truths which are now taught us in plain literal 
 terms, were formerly revealed to the Old Teftament believers in 
 figures and types. Thus were they enabled to look forward to a 
 promifed Redeemer by the fame faith with which we view him 
 already come and crucified. 
 
 2. There is a clofe connection between the works of Providence 
 and Redemption. The one often (as our author has in many in- 
 ftances (hewn) prefiguring the other.. Ifaac mufl. havv been in 
 Abraham s vfew as dead, and he probably entertained no hope of 
 his being faved by a refurreclion; and this event was canied to tha 
 lail extremity, not mfrcly for the trial of Abraham s faith, but alfq 
 to be the fitter type of Chrift raifed from the dead. Let us learn 
 to view every providence in tin s connection, as fubordinate to the 
 great ends of redemption : and reil affured, that fince God has 
 provided a facrifice in the perfon of his own fon, he will with 
 
 him al!o freely give us all things. [Rom. viii. 32.] 
 
 3. What itrong confolation may a believer derive from this hif- 
 tory to confirm and animate his faith? Though the Lord mould 
 fnficr us to be tried to the utmoll:, yet iu the point of extremity 
 he v/\\\ appear and favt;." [G. E.]
 
 i 5 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ferved them, and kept the inhabitants of the land where 
 they fojourned from deftroying them ; which was a re 
 markable difpenfation of Providence : for the inhabitants 
 of the land were at that day exceedingly wicked, though 
 they grew more wicked afterwards. This appears by 
 Gen. xv. 1 6. In the fourth generation they fhall come 
 hither again ; for the iniquity of the Canaanites is not 
 yet full : as much as to fay, Though it be very great, 
 it is not yet full. And their great wickednefs alfo appears 
 bv Abraham and Ifaac s averfion to their children marrying 
 any of the daughters of the land. Abraham, when he 
 \vas old, could not be content till he had made his fervant 
 {wear that he would not take a wife for his fon of the 
 daughters of the land. And Ifaac and Rebecca were con 
 tent to fend away Jacob to fo great a diilance as Padan- 
 Aram, to take him a wife thence. And when Efau mar 
 ried fome of the daughters of the land, we are told, that 
 they were a grief of mind to Ifaac and Rebecca. [Gen. 
 xxvi. 35.] 
 
 Another argument of their great wickednefs, was the 
 inftances we have in Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and 
 Zeboim, which were fome of the cities of Canaan though 
 they were probably more eminently wicked. 
 
 And they being thus wicked, were likely to have the 
 moft bitter enmity againft thefe holy men ; agreeable to 
 what was declared at fir ft, * I will put enmity between 
 thee and the woman, and between thy feed and her feed. 
 Their holy lives were a continual condemnation of their 
 wickednefs. And befides, it could not be otherwife, but 
 that they muft be much in reproving their wickednefs, as 
 \ve find Lot was in Sodom ; who, we are told, vexed his 
 righteous foul with their unlawful deeds, and was a preacher 
 of righteoufnefs to them. 
 
 And they were the more expofed to them, being ftran- 
 gers and fojourners in the land, and having no inheritance 
 there as yet. Men are more apt to find fault with ftran- 
 gers, and to be irritated by any thing in them, as they 
 were with Lot in Sodom. He very gently reproved their 
 wickedaefs ; and they fay upon it, This fellow came in 
 
 * to
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 151 
 
 * to fojourn, and he will needs be a ruler and a judge ; 
 and threatened what they would do to him. 
 
 But God wonderfully preferved Abraham and Lot, and 
 Ilaac and Jacob, and their families, amongft them, though 
 they were few in number, and they might quickly have 
 deftroyed them ; which is taken notice of as a wonderful 
 inftance of God s preferving mercy toward his church, 
 [Pf. cv. 12, &c.] When they were but a few men in 
 4 number ; yea, very few, and ftrangers in it. When 
 
 * they went from one nation to another, from one king- 
 1 dom to another people ; he fuffered no man to do them 
 wrong ; yea, he reproved kings for their fakes, faying, 
 Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no 
 harm. 
 
 This preservation was in fome inftances very remark 
 able ; thofe inftances that we have an account of, where 
 in the people of the land were greatly irritated and pro 
 voked ; as they were by Simeon and Levi s treatment 
 of the Sechemites, [Gen. xxxiv. 30, &c.] God then 
 llrangely preferved Jacob and his family, retraining the 
 provoked people by an unufual terror on their minds, 
 [Gen. xxxv. 5.] And the terror of God was upon the 
 cities that were round about them, and they did not 
 purfue after the fons of Jacob. 
 
 And God s preferving them, not only from the Ca- 
 naanites, is here to be taken notice of, but his preferving 
 them from all others that intended mifchief to them : thus 
 his preferving Jacob and his campany, when purfued by 
 Laban, full of rage, and a difpofition to overtake him as 
 an enemy ; God met him, and rebuked him, and faid to 
 him, Take heed that thou fpeak not to Jacob either good 
 or bad. [Gen. xxxi. 24.] How wonderfully did he alfo 
 prcierve him from Efau his brother, when he came forth 
 with an army, with a full defign to cut him off! How 
 did God, in anfwer to his prayer, when he wreftled with 
 Chrift at Pcnuel, wonderfully turn Efau s heart, and make 
 him, inftead of meeting him as an enemy, with flaughter 
 and deftruction, to meet him as a friend and brother, doing 
 him no harm ! 
 
 X And
 
 152 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 And thus were this handful, this little root that had the 
 blcfiing of the Redeemer in it, preferved in the midft of 
 enemies and dangers; which was not unlike to the preferv- 
 ing the ark in the midft of the tempeftuous deluge. 
 
 4. The next thing I would mention is, the awful de- 
 ftru&ion of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbouring 
 cities. This tended to promote the great defign and work 
 that is the fubjecl of my prefent undertaking, two ways. 
 It did fo, as it tended powerfully to reftrain the inhabitants 
 of the land from injuring thofe holy ftrangers that God 
 had brought to fojourn amongft them. Lot was one 
 of thofe ftrangers ; he came into the land with Abraham ; 
 and Sodom was destroyed through their difrcgard of Lot, 
 the preacher of righteoufnefs that God had fent among 
 them. And their deftrudlion came juft upon their com 
 mitting a moft injurious and abominable infult on Lot, 
 and the ftrangers that were come into his houfe, even 
 thofe angels, whom they probably took to be fome of Lot s 
 former acquaintance, come from his own country to vifit 
 him. They in a moft outrageous manner belet Lot s 
 houfe, intending a monftrous abufe of tliofe ftrangers that 
 were come thither, and threatening to ferve Lot worfc 
 than them. 
 
 But in the midft of this God fmote them with blirkd- 
 nefs, and the next morning the city and the country 
 about it was overthrown in a molt terrible ftorm of fire 
 and brimftone ; which dreadful deftru6tion, as it was in the 
 light of the reft of the inhabitants of the land, and there 
 fore greatly tended to reftrain them from hurting thofe 
 holy ftrangers any more ; it doubtlefs ftruck a dread and 
 terror on their minds, and made them afraid to hurt them, 
 and probably was one principal means to reftrain them, 
 and preferve the patriarchs. And when that reafon is 
 given why the inhabitants of the land did not purfue after 
 Jacob, when they were fo provoked by the deftru6tion 
 of the Shechemites, viz. * that the terror of the-Lord was 
 upon them, it is very probable that this was the terror 
 referred to. They remembered the amazing deftrudtion 
 of Sodom, and the cities of the plain, that came upon 
 
 them,
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 153 
 
 them, upon their abufive treatment of Lot, and fo durft 
 not hurt Jacob and his family, though they were fo much 
 provoked to it. 
 
 Another way that this awful deftru&ion tended to pro 
 mote this great affair of redemption, was, that hereby God 
 did remarkably exhibit the terrors of his law, to make men 
 fenfible of their need of redeeming mercy. The work of 
 redemption never was carried on without this. The law, 
 from the beginning, is made ufe of as a fchoolmafter to 
 bring men to Chrift. [Gal. iii. 24.] 
 
 But under the Old Teftament there was much more 
 need of fome extraordinary, vifible, and fenfible mani- 
 feftation of God s wrath againft fin, than in the days of 
 the gofpel ; lince a future ftate> and the eternal mifery of 
 hell, is more clearly revealed, and fince the awful juftice 
 of God againft the fins of men has been fo wonder full v 
 difplayed in the fufferings of Chrift. And therefore the 
 revelation that God gave of himfelf in thofe days, ufed 
 to be accompanied with much more terror than it is in 
 thefe of the gofpel. So when God appeared at Mount 
 Sinai to give the law, it was with thunders and lightnings, 
 and a thick cloud, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding 
 loud. But fome external, awful manifeftations of God s 
 wrath againft fin were on fome accounts efpecially necef- 
 fary before the giving of the law : and therefore, before 
 the flood, the terrors of the law handed down by tradition 
 from Adam ferved. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty 
 years himfelf, to tell the church of God s awful threaten- 
 ings denounced in the covenant made with him, and how 
 dreadful the confequences of the fall were, of which he 
 was an eye-witnefs and fubjet ; and others that converfed 
 with Adam, lived till the flood. And the deftruction of 
 the world by the flood ferved to exhibit the terrors of the 
 law, and manifeft the wrath of God againft fin ; and fo 
 to make men fenfible of the abfolute neceflity of redeeming 
 mercy. And fome that faw the flood were alive in Abra 
 ham s time. 
 
 But this was now in a great meafure forgotten ; no\v 
 therefore God was pleafed again, in a moft amazing 
 
 X 2 manner,
 
 ij 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 manner, to fhow his wrath agninft fin, in the deftru&ion 
 of thefe cities : which was after fuch a manner as to be 
 the livelieft image of hell of any thing that ever had been ; 
 and therefore the apoftle Jade fays, They fuller the 
 vengeance of eternal tire. [Jude 7.] God rained (c) 
 
 ftorms 
 
 (c) Sodom dfflroyed by LIGHTNING.] " This perfe&ly agrees 
 with fcripture account, which commonly denominates lightning, 
 f the fire of God. [See Lev. ix. 24. 2 Kings i. 10 12.] And 
 lightning is always attended with a fulphurous fmell ; and from 
 this circumflaHce, its coming from God, the Greeks call brimftone 
 [@EOK, i. e.] divine. [See Le Clerc s Differ!.] But there are two 
 circumftances of more importance to be obfervcd ; God s feverity 
 to his enemies, and his mercy and kindnefs to his people: of each 
 of thefe we have two remarkable inftances. 
 
 " To begin with God s judgment againft Sodom, which, as our 
 author has obferved, affords the moft ftriking figure of hell that 
 ever was exhibited. In vain mould we ftretch our imaginations to 
 conceive the horror of a deluge of fire poured down from heaven. 
 Human nature fhrinks from it, as too terrific a fubjctl for con 
 templation. But let us turn to the caufe of llnsjtn, which 
 
 Brought death into the world and all our woe! 
 This winged the dreadful lightning, and pointed the fatal thunder 
 bolt and we may obferve, that God often fends a punifhment 
 correfpondent to the nature of our fins ; as in .the inftance before 
 us, they who burned with unnatural luft.perifhed in the flames of 
 divine difple^fure. For our God is a confuming fire. [Heb. 
 xii. 29.] 
 
 " But, if not more dreadful, there is fomething peculiarly ftrik 
 ing, in the death of Lot s wife fhe had efcaped the pollution 
 and definition of the city; fhe had obeyed the angel s voice, and 
 fled for fafety; but, alas! her heart was wedded to the world. 
 She fled, indeed, but with lingering ileps, and a heavy heart. She 
 would gladly return, it mould feem, to live in eafe and luxury in 
 Scdom, notwithftanding me could not be affefted with its charac- 
 teriftic fin, rather than enjoy a ftate of holy, but obfcure, retire 
 ment. Ala?! how many that have bidden fair (as we fay ) for the 
 kingdom of heaven, have fallen fhort, from the fame principles of 
 covetoufnefs and pride! Let us remember Lot s wife. [Luke 
 xvii. 32.] 
 
 " But this Providence has two voices; a voice of mercy as well 
 as of terror ; to impenitent finners it fpeaks in rattling thunder, 
 like that at Sinai ; to believing penitents, with afnia//, Jlill, but 
 articulate accent. 
 
 * Shall I hide from Abraham, faith God, that thing which I dor 
 [Gen. xviii. 17, &c.] Blelfed Abraham, the friend of God, tire 
 advocate of men ! The fecret of the Lord is with them that fear 
 
 him,
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 155 
 
 florms of fire and brimftone upon them. The way that 
 they were deftroyed probably was by thick flafhes of light 
 ning. The ftreams of brimftone were fo thick as to burn 
 up all thefe cities ; fo that they periihed in the flames. By 
 this might be feen the dreadful wrath of God againft the 
 ungodiinefs and unrighteoufnefs of men ; which tended to 
 ihow men the neceffity of redemption, aad fo to promote 
 that great work. 
 
 5. God again renewed and confirmed the covenant of 
 grace to Ifaac and to Jacob. He did fo to Ifaac, [Gen. 
 xxvi. 3? 4-] And I will perform the oath which I fware 
 
 * unto Abraham thy father ; and I will make thy feed to 
 
 * multiply as the ftars of heaven, and will give unto thy 
 
 * feed all thefe countries ; and in thy feed ihall all the 
 
 nations 
 
 * him, and he will mew them his covenant. [Pf. xxv. 14.] The 
 Lord comes to Abraham, and acquaints him with his defign of in- 
 fli&ing exemplary juflice ; but, fays Abraham, Will God deftroy 
 
 * the righteous with the wicked ? No, that be far from the 
 
 * Lord! The whole converfation between Abraham and God, 
 is left on record, and difplays the fined fentiments of reverence, 
 piety and humanity in the patriarch ; and on the part of Deity an 
 harmonious combination of juftice, mercy, and other attributes 
 worthy the divine nature. 
 
 " But before the judgment can be executed, Lot muft be deli 
 vered ; I can do nothing, fays the commifiioned angel, [Gen. 
 xix. 22.] till thou art gone hence. Thus, * In the midlt of 
 judgment, he remembers mercy ; and five righteous perfons 
 would have faved the deftruftion of five cities. Little do the 
 world conceive the bleffings they enjoy through God s people be 
 ing mingled with them ; but experience will (hew them. When 
 God has gathered his wheat into his garner, then (hall the chaff 
 be burnt with unquenchable fire. [Matt. iii. 12.] When all 
 his cleft people are faved ; the reprobate (hall perifh with a diffblv~ 
 ing world ; 
 
 O power fupreme ! 
 
 O everlafling King ! To thee I kneel ; 
 To thee I lift my voice. With fervent heat 
 Melt, all ye elements ! And thou, high heav n, 
 Shrink like a mrivell d fcroll. But think, O Lord ! 
 Think on the beft and nobleft of thy works ; 
 Think on thine own bright image ; think on him 
 Who dy d to fave us from thy righteous wrath, 
 And, midft the wreck of worlds, remember man ! " [GLVNN.1 
 
 [U. U.]
 
 156 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * nations of the earth be blefied. And afterwards it was 
 renewed and confirmed to Jacob ; firft, in Ifaac s blefling 
 of him, wherein he a&ed and fpoke by extraordinary and 
 divine direction. In that blefling the bleflings of the co 
 venant of grace were eftablifhed with Jacob and his feed ; 
 [as Gen. xxvii. 29.] Let people ferve thee ; and nations 
 
 * bow down to thee ; be lord over thy brethren, and let 
 
 * thy mother s fons bow down to thee : Curfed be every 
 one that curfeth thee, and blefied be he that blefieth 
 
 * thee. , And therefore Efau, in miffing of this blefling, 
 mifled of being blefied as an heir of the benefits of the co 
 venant of grace. 
 
 This covenant was again renewed and confirmed to Ja 
 cob at Bethel, by his vilion of the ladder that reached to 
 heaven ; which ladder was a fymbol of the way of falva- 
 tion by Chrift. (D) For the ftone that Jacob refted on 
 was a type of Chrift, the ftone of Ifrael, which the fpiri- 
 tual Ifrael or Jacob refts upon ; as is evident, becauie this 
 ftone was, on this occafion, anointed, and was made ufe of 
 as an altar. But we know that Chrift is the anointed of 
 God, and is the only true altar. While Jacob was refting 
 on this ftone, and faw this ladder, God appears to him as 
 his covenant God, and renews the covenant of grace with 
 him; [Gen. xxviii. 14.] And thy feed fhall be as the 
 dull of the earth ; and thotr (halt fpread abroad to the 
 weft, and to the call, and to the north, and to the fouth ; 
 1 and in thee and in thy feed (hall all the families of the 
 earth be blefled. 
 
 And 
 
 (D) JacoVs ladder TYPICAL.] This vifion, in whatever parti 
 cular point of view we confider it, was a moft beautiful difplay of 
 the communication opened between heaven and earth, through 
 the medium of a Redeemer. Its extending from earth to heaven, 
 points out a way of accefs to God for fallen man. The various 
 fteps mark the progrefs of the divine life, and the walk of a be 
 liever, every ftep of which approaches nearer heaven and glory. 
 The angel s afcending and deicending (hews the office of thofe mi- 
 nHtering fpirits, in performing embailies of kindnefs for us. And 
 the Lord {landing above, and renewing his covenant, may teach 
 us, that all its blefiings are bellowed in that means of communica 
 tion, namely, through the mediation of the Son of God. [U. S.]
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 157 
 
 And Jacob had another remarkable confirmation of 
 this covenant at Penuel, where he wreftled with God, 
 and prevailed ; (E) where Chrift appeared to him in a 
 human form ; in the form of that nature which he was af 
 terwards to receive into a perfonal union with his divine 
 nature. 
 
 And God renewed his covenant with him again, after 
 he was come out of Padan-aram, and was come up to Be 
 thel, and the ftone that he had refted on ; and where he 
 had the vifion of the ladder. [Gen. xxxv. 10. Sec.] 
 
 Thus the covenant of grace was now often renewed, 
 much oftener than it had been before. The light of the 
 gofpel now began to fhine much brighter, as the time drew 
 nearer that Chrift ihould come. 
 
 6. The next thing I would obferve, is God s remark 
 ably preferving the family of which Chrift was to proceed 
 from perifhing by famine, by the inftrumentality of Jo- 
 leph. (F) When there was a feven-years famine approach 
 ing, God was pleafed by a wonderful providence, to fend 
 Jofeph into Egypt, there to provide for, and feed Jacob 
 and his family, and to keep the holy feed alive, which 
 otherwife would have perilhed. Jofeph was feat into 
 
 Egypt 
 
 (E) Jacob WRESTLED with the angel.~\ " Jacob was now paf- 
 fmg with his whole family into the land of Canaan, to take feizure 
 of it, by virtue of the promife on the behalf of his pofterity. At 
 the very entrance o^f it, he is met by his greateft adverfary, with 
 whom he had a fevere contefl about the proinife and the inheri 
 tance itfelf. This was his brother Efau, who, coming againfl 
 him with a power which he was no ways able to withftand, he fear 
 ed that he would utterly deftroy both his perfon and pofterity. 
 .... Wherefore fo fettle Jacob s right, to preferve him with his 
 title and intereft, he who was principally concerned in the whole 
 matter, doth here appear unto him." [Dr. OWEN S Exercita- 
 tions on the Hebrews, vol. i. p. 118.] But this and the other 
 extraordinary appearances of a divine perfon under the Old Tefta- 
 ment, will be collectively confidered under a future fedtion. 
 
 (F) jfofeph s hiftory remarkable.] Few lives in the Old Tefta- 
 ment hiilory are fo interefting as that of Jofeph ; in which the 
 moft obfervable feature is its frequent, fudden, and important vi- 
 ciffitudes. And we may truly fay, his life was of as many colours 
 as his coat. In youth the darling of his parents ; but the envy 
 
 of
 
 i 5 8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Egypt for that end, as he obferves, [Gen. 1. 20.] But 
 4 as lor you, ye thought evil againft me ; but God meant 
 1 it unto good to fave much people alive. How often had 
 this holy root, that had the future branch of righteoufnefs, 
 the glorious Redeemer, in it, been in danger of being de- 
 ftroyed ! But God wonderfully preferved it. 
 
 This falvation of the houfe of Ifrael by the hand of 
 Jofeph, was upon fome accounts very much a re fern - 
 
 blance 
 
 of his brethren. Sold into Egypt for a Have ; made fteward of 
 his matter s houfe ; thrown into prifon on a falfe but criminal ac- 
 cufation ; raifed from a prifon to a throne ; honoured as the father 
 even of Pharaoh, the faviour of Egypt, and the favourite of hea 
 ven ; he faves the lives and raifes the fortunes of his father, and 
 of thofe very brethren who hated apd fold him ; and clofes his life 
 with honour, happinefs, and tranquility. 
 
 But among the many incidents of his life, no one is more re 
 markable or inrlruftive than that of his temptation to inchaftity, 
 and the manner in which he refitted it. On this our author has 
 elfewhcre the following obfervations : 
 
 " We may obferve, how great the temptation was, that he was 
 under. It is to be confidered, Jofeph was now in his youth ; a 
 feafon of life, when pcrfons are moil liable to be overcome by temp 
 tations of this nature. And he was in a ftate of unexpected prof- 
 perity in Potiphar s houfe ; which has a tendency to lift perfons 
 up, efpecially young ones, whereby commonly they more eafily 
 fall before temptations. 
 
 " And then the fuperiority of the perfon that laid the tempta 
 tion before him, rendered it much the greater. She was his mif- 
 trefs, and he a fervant under her. And the manner of her tempt 
 ing him. She did iiot only carry herfelf fo to Jofeph, as to give 
 him caufe to fufpeft that he might be admitted to fuch criminal 
 converfe with her, that yet might be accompanied with fome ap- 
 prehenfion, that poffibly he might be miftaken, and fo deter him 
 from adventuring on luch a propofal ; but (he diredUy propofed 
 it to him ; plainly manifefting her difpofition to it. ... Yea, (he 
 appeared greatly engaged in the matter. And there was not only 
 her defire manifeiled to entice him, but her authority over him to 
 enforce the temptation. She was his miitrefs, and he might well 
 imagine, that if he utterly refufed a compliance, he mould incur 
 her difpleaiurc ; and fhe, being his matter s wife, had power to 
 do much to his difadvantage, and to render his circnmftances 
 more uncomfortable in the family. And the temptation was the 
 greater, in that (he did not only tempt him once, but frequently, 
 day by day, [Gen. xxxi*. 10.3 And at kft became more violent 
 
 with
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 159 
 
 blance of the falvation of Chrift. The children of If- 
 rael were faved by Jofeph their kinfman and brother, 
 
 from 
 
 with him. She caught him by his garment, faying, Lie with 
 me : as in the verfe of the text. [Gen. xxxix. 12.] 
 
 " His behaviour was very remarkable under thefe temptations. 
 He complied in no degree, either to the grofs aft fhe propofed, 
 or any thing tending towards it, or that fhould in a leffer degree 
 be gratifying to her wicked inclination. And he perfifted refolute 
 and unfhaken under her continual folicitations. And it came to 
 
 * pafs as fhe fpake to Jofeph day by day, that he hearkened not 
 
 * unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. He, to his utmoft, 
 avoided fo much as being where me was. And the motives and 
 principles from which he afted, manifeiled by his reply to her fo- 
 licitations, are remarkable. 
 
 " He firft fets before her, how injurioufly he mould aft againft. 
 his mafter, if he mould comply with her propofal : Behold my 
 
 * mailer hath committed all that he hath in my hand : there is 
 4 none greater in this houfe than I ; neither hath he kept back 
 any thing from me, but thee, becaufe thou art his wife. But 
 he then proceeded to inform her of that, which above all things, 
 deterred him from a compliance, viz. that it would be great wick- 
 ednefs, and fin againft God. How fliall I do this, and fin 
 
 * againft God! He would not do any fuch thing, as he would not 
 injure his mafter; but that which influenced more than all on this 
 occafion, was the fear of finning againft God. 
 
 " In the text we have an account of his behaviour under 
 the laft and greateft temptation that he had fiom her. This 
 temptation was great, as we are told it was at a time when there 
 was no body in the houfe, but he and his miftrefs, [ver. 1 1.] there 
 was an opportunity to commit the fadr with the greateft iecrecy. 
 And at this time it feems that me was more violent than ever be 
 fore. She caught him by the garment fhe laid hold on him, 
 as though fhe were refolute to attain her purpofe of him. 
 
 " Under thefe circumftances he not only refufed her, but fled 
 from her, as he would have done from one that was going to aflaf- 
 finate or murder him ; he efcaped, a* for his life* He not only 
 would not be guilty of fuch a faft, but neither would he br any 
 means be in the houfe with her, where he fhould be in the way 
 of her temptation. 
 
 " This behaviour of Jofeph is doubtlefs recorded for the in- 
 ftruftion of all. Therefore from the words I fliall obferVe this 
 doctrine It io our duty, not only to avoid thefe things that are 
 
 * themfelves fin fill, but alfo, as far as may be, thofe things that 
 lead and expofe to fin. 
 
 " Thus did Jofeph : he not only refufed aftually to commit 
 uncleannefs with his miftrefs, who indeed him; but refufed .... 
 to he by her, or be with her. And in the text we are told, * he 
 
 Y < fled
 
 160 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 from pcrifliing by famine ; as he that faves the fouls of 
 the fpiritual Ifrael from fpiritual famine is their near kinf- 
 man, and one that is not aihamed to call them brethren. 
 Jofeph was a brother, that they had hated, and fold, 
 and as it were killed; for they had defigned to kill him: 
 So Chrift is one that we naturally haie, and by our 
 wicked lives, have fold for the vain things of the world, 
 and that we have flain by our fins, jofeph was firft in 
 a flate of humiliation ; he was a fervant, as Chrift ap 
 peared in the form of a iervant ; and then was call into 
 a dungeon, as Chrift defcended into the grave; and then 
 when he rofe out of the dungeon, he was in a ftate 
 of great exaltation, at the kings right hand as his depu 
 ty, to reign over all Ins kingdom, to provide food, to 
 preferve life ; as Chrift was exalted at God s right hand 
 lo be a prince and faviour to his brethren, and received 
 gifts for men, even for the rebellious, and them that hated 
 and had (old him. 
 
 7. After this there was a prophecy given forth of 
 Chrift, on fomc accounts, more particular than ever 
 any had been before, even that which was in Jacob s 
 blefiiiig his fen Judah, this was more particular in ihew- 
 ing of whofe pofterity he was to be. When God called 
 Abraham, it was revealed that he was to be of Abraham s 
 pofterity. Before we have no account of any revelation 
 concerning Chrift s pedigree confined to narrower limits 
 than the pofterity of Noah: after this it was confined to 
 
 limits 
 
 fled and got him out ; would by no means be in her company. 
 Though it was no fm in itfelf, for Jofeph to be in the houfe where 
 his miltrefs was ; but under thefe circumftances it would expofc 
 him to fin. Jofeph was fenfible he had naturally a corrupt heart, 
 that tended to betray him to fin ; and therefore he would by no 
 means be in the way of temptation ; but with hafle he fled, he 
 ran from the dangerous place. Inafmuch as he was expofed to fin 
 in that houfe where he was, he fled out of it with as much haite 
 as if the houfe had been all a light of fire ; or full of enemies, who 
 it&od ready with drawn fwords to flab him to the very heart. Whefx 
 fhe took him by the garment, he left his garment in her hands : he 
 had rather lofe his garment than flay a moment where he was in 
 fuch clanger of lofing his chaflity." [Pref. EDWARDS * Pofih. 
 Serm. p. 150, &c.~]
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 161 
 
 limits ftill more narrow ; fBr though Abraham had many 
 fons, yet it was to be revealed that Chrift was to be of 
 Ifaac s posterity. And then it was limited more dill : for 
 when Ifaac had two fons, it was revealed that Chrifi w;>: 
 to be of Ifrael s pofterity. And now, though Ifracl had 
 twelve fons, yet it is revealed that Chrift was to be of Ju- 
 dah s pofterity: Chrift is the lion of the tribe of Judah. 
 Refpeit is chiefly fyacl to his great adb;, when it is faid, 
 [Gen. xlix. 8,9-] Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren 
 fhall praife ; thine hand {hall be in the neck of thine 
 enemies ; thy father s children iliall how down before 
 thee. Judah is a lion s whelp ; from the prey, my fon, 
 thou art gone up: he (looped down, he couched os a lion, 
 and as an old lion; who iliall roufe him up r And then 
 this prediction is more particularly concerning the time of 
 Chrift s coming, [verfe 10.] The fceptre fhall not dc- 
 part from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, 
 * until Shiloh come ; and unto him ihall the gathering of 
 ( the people be. The prophecy here, of the calling of the 
 Gentiles confequent on Chrift s coming, feems to he more 
 plain than had yet been, in the expreffion, to him fliaD 
 the gathering of the people be. (G) 
 
 
 (G) JacoVs prophecy of SHILOH.] "This remarkable paflage 
 (fays Mr. TOPLADY) is a link of that grand chain of prophecy, 
 which was delivered by the patriarch Jacob, on his dying bed. 
 Such are the faithfulnefs and the condeicending grace of God, 
 that he frequently brightens the laft hours of his people, with the 
 richeft difplays of his power and prefence : nor does any thing, 
 fhort of heaven itfelf, afford a nobler fight, than that of a believer 
 Handing on the verge of eternity, filled with the faith which cafts 
 out fear, happy in the aflured poflefiion of grace, and longing for 
 the completion of that grace in glory. 
 
 " For we find him [chap, xlviii. 21.] fpeaking of his own ap 
 proaching death, with as much eafe and complacency, as if lie 
 was only fetting out on a journey of pleafure : * Ifrat l faid unto 
 * Jofeph, Behold, I die. He perceived the fymptoms of advanc 
 ing diffolution : and the profpech conduced, not to alarm his 
 fears, not to rivet him clofer to the world; but operated like the 
 ftiining of the fun, or the breathings of zephyr, on a flower, 
 It expanded his hope ; enlarged his defire for heaven ; and dif- 
 
 Y 2 fufed
 
 1 62 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Thus you fee ho\v that go\el-liht which dawned im 
 mediately after the fall of man, gradually increaied. 
 
 8. The 
 
 fufed the fragrance of his faith, on all within the fphere of his 
 converfation. 
 
 " As greatly as this eminent faint longed to be diffolved, and to 
 be with Chrift; he would not die, until he had taken a folemn leave 
 of his family, by bleffing them in the name of the Lord, and by 
 predicting the fate of their polterities. At prefent, I mall only 
 confider his laft adclrefs to Judah, his fourth fon. Judah, thou art 
 * he, whom thy brethren fhall praife: / . e. thy tribe mall be the 
 moft confpicuous and diftinguifhed, on various accounts. In that 
 portion of Canaan, which mail fall to thy defendants and to thofe 
 of Benjamin, the city of Jerufalem fLall be built, and the temple of 
 God mail Hand. But chiefly (halt thou be celebrated, as the proge 
 nitor of that fpctlefs mother, from whom the Son of God (hall derive 
 his inferior nature: and, within the near neighbourhood of thy ter 
 ritory fhall he fuffer and expire, for the falvation of his people. 
 
 " Br.t the moil valuable part of the prophecy is that which re 
 lates to the incarnation of Jefus Chrift : The fceptre fhall not 
 depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until 
 "Shiloh came; and to him fhall the gathering of the people be. 
 
 " Of all regal ornaments, the fceptre is faid to be the molt an 
 cient. And, probably, its oiigin was extremely fimple. It feems 
 to have taken its rife from the crook, wielded, in earlidl times, 
 by the harmlefs hand of a fhephcrd. The Greek word r_Sxijflr!f9i>3 
 (from whence the Latin fceptrum, and the Englifh fceptre,) pro 
 perly denotes a ftaff, or wand, of fuff cient length for a perfon to 
 lean upon : and the Hebrew [tDH5>] is in ilridtncfs a flafi made oi 
 a moot or /trait bough of a tree. Such as were the ftavos of t he- 
 primitive fhepherds and hertlfmen. 
 
 " By that fceptie, which, for a given time, was not to depart 
 from Judah, is undoubtedly meant, the adininiftration of tempo 
 ral power. Hence the Septuagint render the palTage, A fupreme 
 governor fhall not fail out of Judah; .... till the Meffiah s ad 
 vent. The words, fceptre, and lawgiver, are here explicatory of 
 each other; and mutually denote, a fericc of native governors, who 
 fhould rule the Jewifh nation according to its own law. And the 
 fenfe of the whole is, that Judah mould continue a diitinft tribe 
 by itfelf; and that its civil jurifdiclion fhould, under fome form or 
 other, and with a greater or lefs degree of authority, remain in 
 Jewifli hands, till the incarnation of God the Son 
 
 " On this illuftrious prophecy, uttered almoft eighteen hun 
 dred years before the birth of Chriit, prophane liiliory may be 
 confidered as the belt commentary. We there find, that the fcep 
 tre did (not actually depart, but) begin to depart from Judah, or 
 verge towards a departure, within little rnorr than half a century- 
 prior
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 163 
 
 8. The work of redemption was carried on in this 
 period, in God s wonderfully prcferving the children of 
 
 Ifrael 
 
 prior to our Lord s nativity, when Jerufalem was befieged and 
 taken by Pompey ; and Ariftobulus II. then king of Judea, was 
 fent prifoncr to Rome. 
 
 " As the manifeft ation of God in human nefh drew nearer, the 
 fymptoms of the departing fceptrc grew {till more vifible. The 
 fucceflive expeditions of Gabinius, of Craffus, and of Caffius, 
 againft this devoted people, contributed to prepare the way for 
 the fulfilment of Jacob s prediction ; and, in fal, proclaimed, that 
 Shiloh would foou appear. 
 
 " The fceptrc, however, was not, hitherto, departed from Ju- 
 dah : their civil power and independency, though checked, were 
 not extinguifhcd. They were ftill governed by magiftrates of their 
 own ; and were even treated, on various occafions, not as depen 
 dents, but as friends and allies of the Roman itate. 
 
 " A few years lower, when Herod (flatteringly furnamed, the 
 great,) a native of Edom, was appointed Tetrarch, and (foon 
 after King) of Judea, chiefly by his intereft with Mark Antony ; 
 the prophecy drew nearer to its accomplifhmcnt. But though the 
 throne was now, for the firft time, filled by a foreigner ; ftill, that 
 foreigner was a profeffor of Judaifm. Herod revered, or at leaft 
 affefted to revere, the Mofaic inftitutions ; and even rebuilt [or 
 rather repaired] the temple, at a valt expence. The fubordinate 
 magiftracy, alfo, confided of Jews : as did the funhcdrirn, which 
 was their higheft court of judicature. The fceptre, therefore, 
 though departing faft, was not entirely gone from Judah, ere 
 Shiloh came. Chrill was born towards the clofe of this Herod s 
 reign ; i. e. while the political and ecclefiaftical conftitution of 
 Judea were fubfifting. Herod, indeed, was in forne fenfe tribu 
 tary to the Roman empire : but the Jews themfelves were, for the 
 moll part, in full pofleflion of their civil and religious rights. 
 
 " When our bleffcd Saviour was about twelve years of age, the 
 fceptre totally departed from Judah. For, Herod (who died 
 while our Lord was yet an infant) was fucceeded by his fon Ar- 
 chelaus ; which Archelaiis, after reigning about ten years, was 
 depofcd and baniihed by the emperor Auguftus. From thence 
 forward, the tribe of Judah, which had fo long been diRinguiihed 
 by its dignity and pre-eminence, was reduced to a Roman pro 
 vince, and became an appendage to the empire. Qutrinius, pre- 
 feft of Syria, was conirniflioned to take pofTeffion of the country 
 in the emperor s name ; andCoponius, a Roman knight, was fcnt 
 to prefide over it, as lieutenant governor. 
 
 " Thus did the fceptre, at length, depart from Judah, and a 
 lawgiver from between his feet. Auguilus drove the nail to the 
 head ; and Titus clenched it, within forty years after our Lord s 
 crucifixion j when the city and tt ~pie were utterly deftroyed, and
 
 164 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Ifrael in Egypt, when the power of Egypt was engaged 
 utterly to deftroy them. They feemed to be wholly in 
 
 the 
 
 thofe of the Jews, who efcaped immediate death, were fold for 
 (laves into every part of the known world. 
 
 " It is certain, therefore, that the promifed Shiloh is come : 
 and Jefus Chrift the righteous, in whofe childhood the fceptre de 
 parted, is both the Son of the moft high God, and likewife the 
 true Meffiah, of whom Mofes in the law, and the prophets, did 
 write. 
 
 * Shiloh, may be rendered the Son ; alfo the Saviour ; like 
 wife, the peaceable, and the profperous one. The Septuagint 
 tranflates, or rather paraphrafes it, by, He for whom [all] things 
 * are laid up, or kept in ftore. In his adorable pcrfon, and moll 
 wonderful offices and transitions, Jefus exhaufta everyone of thofc 
 figniftcations. He is, the Son of God ; the only Saviour, the 
 peace-maker between God and men. He profpered and prevailed, 
 to the Itttermoftj in the whole and in every branch of his media 
 torial undertaking. And, for him, all things are referved. 
 
 " To him (hail the gathering of the people be. It is plain, 
 from this claufe of the text before us, that redemption by Chviit 
 is not a random and precarious thing. . . . He was born, and Hied 
 his blood, for a peculiar people, whom his own iar.ttiiying grace 
 was to make zealous of good works ; [Tit. ii. 14.] and that he 
 might gather together into one glorified company, all the chil- 
 
 dren of God that were fcattcred abroad. [John xi. 52.] 
 
 [Gofpcl Mag. Dec. 1776.] 
 
 The latter might be rendered, with a flight variation, until 
 Shiloh come, and the people be gathered unto him, which ftill 
 more exaflly correfponded with the event ; for great multitudes, both 
 of Jews and Gentiles, were actually gathered to Chrift, before the 
 fceptre totally departed, by the deftruction of the Jewilh ftate ; and 
 this indeed our Lord himfclf predicted. [Matt. xxiv. 14.] 
 
 But it mould not be concealed, that a learned Jew of the prefent 
 age (Mr. LEVI) has offered another tranflatiou of part of this 
 verfe, which, if admitted, would overturn the whole of this cxpo- 
 fition, and turn the tables on us completely : The fceptre fhall 
 not depart from Jtidah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet 
 f for ever, becav.fc Shiloh [/. e. Meffiah] (hall come, &JV. And in 
 fupport of this tranilation he adds, " I fhall juft mention, that ac 
 cording to the common tranflation, which all the Chriftian writers 
 feem to have adopted, the adverb, lecaufe, llands for a cypher in 
 the text, as no word is given for it ; and which, I think, is a de- 
 moaftration of the truth of my expofition, and the falfity of the 
 common tranflation ; whether defignedly or not, is" not now before 
 me." But fuppofe for a moment that his interpretation were the 
 Chriftian one, and favourable to our caufe, would he not have faid, 
 
 Wha;
 
 FROM ABRAHAM S CALL TO MOSES. 165 
 
 the hands of the Egyptians ; they were their fervants, and 
 were fubject to the power of Pharaoh, who fet himfelf to 
 weaken them hy hard bondage. And when he faw that 
 did not do, he fet himfelf to extirpate the race of them, 
 by commanding that every male child ihould be drowned. 
 But after all that Pharaoh could do, God wonderfully pre- 
 ferved them ; and not only fo, but increafed them exceed 
 ingly ; fo that inilead of being extirpated, they greatly 
 multiplied. 
 
 9. Here is to be obferved, not only the prefervation of 
 the nation, but God s wonderfully preferving and uphold 
 ing his inviiible church in that nation, when in danger of 
 being overwhelmed in the idolatry of Egypt. The chil 
 dren of Ifrael being long among the Egyptians, and being 
 
 fervants 
 
 What a grofs combination is here of ignorance, prevarication, 
 and falfhood ? At lealt he might have faid fo with more appear 
 ance, of reafon than the cenfure he has above infmuated ; for in 
 printing the Hebrew text he has artfully divided the words, or 
 rather ivurd, in difpute, not only by omitting the malkaph [a kind 
 of hyphen] but by inferting feveral lines of Englifh between. 
 But to this evalion we reply, 
 
 1. Though the adverb [~jy] fometimes fignifies for ever, yet 
 it doth not, when joined with the particle [o] as in the text. 
 Compare Gen. xxvi. 13. xli. 49, 2 Sam. xxiii. 10. 2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 15. All which are omitted in Le<vis dictionary. [See Tay- 
 lar s Concordance in "Tj; p. 65.] Some, indeed, (as R. Bechari) 
 pretend that the accent jethib feparates the words, and makes a 
 paufe upon the former ; " But this they can give no inftance of, 
 efpecially when it hath athnac immediately preceding it as in this 
 place." [OWEN S Exercit. on the Heb. vol. i. p. 149. and Poll 
 Syn. in loc. To which may be added, that the adverb does not 
 iignify for ever, abfolutely put without feme antecedent noun or 
 particle. [GiLi, in loc.] 
 
 2. We have on our fide the three Targums and the moft ancient 
 and learned rabbies. So the Cbaldee puraphrafc faith, He that 
 
 hatb dominion fliaU not be taken away UNTIL Meflrah 
 
 come. The Jeruialem Targum, Kings (hall not ceafe UNTIL 
 * M::ffiah corne. The other Targum, D. Kimchi, Aben Ezra, 
 and R. Sol. Jarchi to the fame efieft. [See the authorities referred 
 to in the authors above cited ; alfo Alnfiu. in loc.] 
 
 3. If \ve ir.ull give two words inftead of one in the Englifli 
 tranflation, (which is a childim notion) the moft exa6t will be 
 UNTIL WHEN [fo the LXX tu? txv~] Sliiloh Oiall come.
 
 166 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fervants under them, and fo not having the advantage of 
 keeping God s ordinances among themfelves, or maintain 
 ing any public worlhip or inftruclion, whereby the true 
 religion might be upheld ; and there being now no written 
 word of God, they, by degrees, in a great meafure loft the 
 true religion, and borrowed the idolatry of Egypt ; and the 
 greater part of the people fell away to the worfhip of their 
 gods. [See Ezck. xx. 6, 8. xxiii. 8.] 
 
 This now was the third time that God s church was 
 almofl {wallowed up and carried away with the wicked- 
 nefs of the world ; once before the flood ; a fecond time 
 before the calling of Abraham ; and now in Egypt. But 
 yet God did not fuffer his church to be quite overwhelmed ; 
 he ftill faved it, like the ark in the flood, and as he faved 
 Mofes in the midft of the waters, in an ark of bulrufhcs, 
 where he was in the utmoft danger of being fwallowed up. 
 The true religion was frill kept up with fome ; and God 
 had ftill a people among them, even in this miferable, cor 
 rupt, and dark time. The parents of Mofes were true fer 
 vants of God, [Heb. xi. 23.] By faith Mofes, when he 
 was born, was hid three months of his parents, hecaufe 
 they faw that he was a proper child, and they were not 
 afraid of the king s commandment. 
 
 I have now gone through the third part of the Old Tef- 
 tament period ; and have ihown how the work of redemp 
 tion was carried on from the calling of Abraham to Mofes ; 
 
 O 
 
 in which we have feen many great things done towards this 
 work, and a great advancement of this building, beyond 
 what had been before. 
 
 IV. From MOSES to DAVID. 
 
 I PROCEED to the fourth period, which reaches from 
 Mofes to David. To fliow how* the work of redemption 
 was carried on through this alfo. 
 
 The firft thing that offers itfelf to be confidercd is the 
 redemption of the church of God out of Egypt ; the moll 
 
 remark-
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 167 
 
 icmarkable of nil the Old Teftament deliverances, and 
 that which was the greateft pledge and type of the fu 
 ture redemption of Chrift; and is much more infifted 
 on in fcripture than any other. This was by Jefus Chrift, 
 who appeared to Mofes in the bufh ; fent him to redeem 
 that people ; as is evident, becaufe he is called the angel 
 of the Lord; [Exod. iii. 2, 3.] The bufh reprefented the 
 human nature of Chrift, who is called the branch. This 
 buili grew on mount Sinai or Horeb, (H) which laft name 
 fignifies a dry place, as the human nature of Chrift was 
 a * root out of dry ground. The bufh burning with fire 
 reprefented the fufferings of Chrift, in the fire of God s 
 wrath, (i) It burned, and was not confumed ; fo 
 Chrift; though he fuffered extremely, yet perifhed not ; 
 but overcame at laft, and rofe from his fufFerings. Be 
 caufe this great myftery of the incarnation and fufferings 
 of Chrift was here reprefented, therefore Mofes fays, I 
 will turn afide, and behold this great fight. A great 
 fight he might well call it, when there was reprefented, 
 God manifeft in the flefn, fuffering a dreadful death, and 
 rifing from the dead, 
 
 It was this glorious perfon that redeemed Ifrael out ot 
 Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh ; as afterward, by 
 his death and fufTerings, he redeemed his elect from Satan, 
 
 Z the 
 
 (H) Horeb or Sinai. ~\ " Horeb is a mountain in Arabia Pe- 
 trasa, at fo fmall a diftance from mount Sinai, that they feem to 
 be no more than two tops belonging to the fame mountain. Sinai 
 lies to the eaft, and Horeb to the weft ; but we find them fre 
 quently in fcripture ufed promifcuoufly." [STACKHOUSE S Hift. 
 of the Bible, vol. I. b. iii. chap. 5. note.] 
 
 (i) The burning bufh typified Chrijfs SUFFERINGS.] That 
 fomething typical was intended by this vifion, we have no doubt; 
 but rather apprehend that the then ftate of the Jewifh church was 
 the objeft intended; fo the Heb. doftors, " God dwelt" (fays 
 R. ELIEZER) " in the bramble bufh, and the bramble bum was 
 [; . e. fignified] affliction and anguifn, and all thorns and briars. 
 And why dwelt he in the midft of affliction and anguifh ? but 
 becaufe he faw Ifrael in great affliction, he alfo dwelt with then) 
 in the midft of affliction, to confirm that which is laid in Ifa. Ixiii. 
 9. In all their afHi&i0Bfl he was sfflifted." [See Alnfivt,rth in 
 toe.]
 
 168 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the fpiritual Pharaoh. Thofe, he delivered them from 
 hard fervice and cruel drudgery ; thefe, from the cruel 
 flaveiy of fin and Satan. Thofe he redeemed from die 
 iron furnace ; thefe from everlafting burnings. -Thofe he 
 redeemed with a flrong hand and out-ftretched arm, and 
 great and terrible judgments on their enemies ; thefe 
 \vith mighty grace triumphing over principalities, and 
 powers, and executing terrible judgments on their ene 
 mies. Thofe he faved when others were deftroyed, by 
 the fprinklirig of the blood of the pafchal lamb ; thefe 
 from death and hell by the fprinkling of his own blood. 
 Thofe he brought forth forely againft the will of the 
 Egyptians, when they could not bear to let them go; 
 thefe he refcues out of the hands of the devil, when his 
 proud heart cannot bear to be overcome. 
 
 In that redemption, Chrift did not only deliver the 
 people from the Egyptians, bur he redeemed them from 
 the devils, their gods ; for before, they had been in a 
 (late of fervitude to the gods of Egypt, as well as to the 
 Egyptians. And Chrift, the feed of the woman, did 
 now, in a very remarkable manner, fulfil the curfe on 
 the ferpent, in bruiling his head: [Exod. xii. 12.] For 
 4 I will pafs through the land of Egypt this night, and 
 * will fmite all the firft-born in the land of Egypt, 
 both man and beaft, and againft all the gods of Egypt 
 will I execute judgment. Hell was as much, and 
 more, engaged in that affair, than Egypt was. The 
 pride and cruelty of Satan, that old ferpent, was more 
 concerned in it than Pharaoh s. He did his worft 
 againft the people, and to his utmoft oppofed their re 
 demption. But it is faid chat when God redeemed his peo 
 ple out of Egypt, he broke the heads of the dragons in the 
 waters, and broke the head of leviathan in pieces, and 
 gave him to be meat for the people inhabiting the wilder- 
 nefs, [Pfal. Ixxiv. 12 14.] God forced their enemies 
 to let them go, that they might ferve him ; as alfo Zacha- 
 rias obferves with refpe6l to the church under the gofpel. 
 [Luke i. 74, 75.] 
 
 Thf
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 169 
 
 The people of Ifrael went out with an high hand, and 
 Chrift went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire. (K) 
 There was a glorious triumph over earth and hell in that 
 deliverance. And when Pharaoh and his hoft, and Satan 
 by them, purfued the people, Chrift overthrew them in 
 the Red Sea ; the Lord triumphed glorioufly ; the horfe 
 and his rider he cafFinto the fea, and there they flept their 
 laft fleep, and never followed the children of Ifrael any 
 more ; as all Chrift s enemies are overthrown in his blood, 
 
 Z 2 which 
 
 (K) The pillar of cloud and Jire. ~] There is no doubt but the 
 grand defign of this phenomenon was to be a guide to the camp 
 of Ifrael in their journies both by night and day; it was alfo a 
 made from the burning fun-beams in the defert they were to pafs : 
 and the vehicle of the divine prefence the Shechinah from which ora 
 cles were delivered. A fancy, but moderately lively, will recollect 
 a multitude of objects of which, if this might be typical, Chrift 
 himfelf, the holy fcriptures, but above all the myfteries of divine 
 Providence, are therein beautifully reprefented. Was it alternately 
 luminous and opaque? fo are the providences of God, at one time 
 bright and promifing ; at another dark and infcrutable. Was it 
 dark to the purfuing Egyptians while it illumined the fleeing If- 
 raelites? So often has the fame event that has brought falvatton and 
 glory to God s people, been confufion and deftruction to their ene 
 mies. Was this cloud the guide of Ifrael through all their pil 
 grimage in the defert? Thus doth God lead his people through all 
 the viciflitudes of this mortal life, and every providence, whether 
 light or dark, whether profperous or adverfe, will infallibly for 
 ward his people to the heavenly Canaan. But above all be it re 
 membered that God was in the cloud ; yes, believer, and in thy 
 every trial, as well as comfort, may God be found. He inhabits 
 and directs all the clouds that attend this way ; and though, like 
 Ifrael, ye may be baptifed in the cloud or in the fea, ye mall not 
 be overwhelmed. 
 
 * Ye fearful faints frefh courage take ; 
 The .clouds ye fo much dread, 
 
 Are big with mercy, and mall break 
 
 In bleflings on your heads." [COOPER.] 
 
 Some learned men have conjectured that this appearance was 
 not altogether new; but that the fame Shechinah had guided Abra 
 ham [and doubtlefs then, ethers,] in his travels to the promifed 
 land, and had directed him to Mount Moriah ; that this appearance 
 fatisfied Ifaac, as well as Abraham, of the divine will; and that 
 therefrom, the angel of the covenant who inhabited it, called to 
 Abraham. This is certainly no more than a conjecture, but it is a 
 conjecture that will account for many difficulties, and feems no way 
 inconfiilent with revelation. [See Biblioth. Biblica, vol. i.]
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, 
 
 which by its abundant fufficiency, and the greatnefs of the 
 fuffei ings with which it was fiied, may well be reprefented 
 by a fea. The Red Sea might reprefent Chrift s blood, as 
 is evident, becaufe the apoftle compares the children of 
 Urael s paffage through it, to baptifm, [i Cor. x. i, 2.] 
 and we know that the water of baptifm represents the 
 blood of Chrift. 
 
 Thus Chrift, the angel of God s prefence, in 1m love and 
 in his pity, redeemed his people, and carried them in the 
 days of old as on eagle s wings, fo that none of their proud 
 and malicious enemies could touch them. 
 
 This was another new thing that God did towards this 
 great work of redemption. God never had done any 
 thing like it before. [Deut. iv. 32- 34.] This was the 
 greateft advancement of the work of redemption, that had 
 been begun and carried on from the fall of man ; a great 
 ftep taken in divine providence towards a preparation 
 for Chrift s coming into the world, and working out his 
 great and eternal redemption : for this was the people of 
 whom Chrift was to come. And now we may fee how 
 that plant flourimed that God had planted in Abraham. 
 Though the family of which Chrift was to come, had 
 been in a degree feparated from the reft of the world 
 before, in the calling of Abraham, yet that feparation 
 appeared not to be fufficient. For though by that they 
 were kept as ftrangers and fojourners, and from being 
 united with other people in the fame political focieties ; 
 yet they remained mixed among them, by which means, 
 as it had proved, they were in danger of wholly Joling 
 the true religion, and of being over-run with the idolatry 
 of their neighbours. God now, therefore, by his redemp 
 tion, feparated them as a nation from all other nations, 
 to fubfift by themfelves in their own policical and ecclefiaf- 
 tical ftate, without having any concern with the heathen 
 nations, that they might fo be kept feparate till Chrift 
 ihould come ; and fo that the church of Chrift might 
 be upheld, and might keep the oracles of God, till that 
 time ; that in them might be exhibited thofe types and 
 prophecies of Chrift, and thofc hiftories, and other divine 
 
 in ft rue-
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 171 
 
 jnftructions, that were neceflary to prepare the way for 
 Chrift s coming. 
 
 2. As this people were feparated to be God s peculiar 
 people, fo all other people upon the face of the whole 
 earth were wholly rejected and given over to heathenifm. 
 This, fo far as the providence of God was concerned in it, 
 belongs to the great affair we are now upon, and was one 
 thing that God ordered in his providence to prepare the 
 way for Chrift s coming, and the great falvation ho 
 was to accompli (h : it was to prepare the way for the 
 more glorious and fignal victory and triumph of Chrift s 
 power and grace over the wicked and miferable world, 
 and that Chrift s falvation of the world of mankind might 
 become the more fenfible. This is the account the fcrip- 
 ture itfelf gives us of the matter. [Rom. xi. 30- 32.] The 
 apoftle there fpeaking to the Gentiles that had formerly 
 been heathens, fays, * As ye in times paft have not believed 
 God, yet have now obtained mercy through their un- 
 belief ; even fo have thefe alfo now not believed, that 
 - through your mercy they may alfo obtain mercy. For 
 God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might 
 4 have mercy upon all. i. e. It was the will of God, that 
 the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, flioul-d be concluded 
 in vifible and profeffed unbelief, that fa God s mercy and 
 Chrift s falvation towards them all might be vifible and 
 fenfible. For the apoftle is not fpeaking only of that un 
 belief which is natural to all God s profeffing people as 
 well as others, but of that which is apparent and vilible ; 
 fuch as the Jews fell into, when they openly rejected Chrift. 
 The apoftle obferves, how that firft the Gentile nations 
 were included in a profeffed unbelief and open opposition 
 to the true religion, before Chrift came, to prepare the 
 way for the calling of the Gentiles, which was foon aiter, 
 that God s mercy might be the more confpicuous to them ; 
 and that the Jews were rejected from the vifible church, 
 to prepare the way for the calling of the Jews, which 
 ihall be in the latter days : fo that it may be feen of all 
 nations, Jews and Gentiles, that they are evidently re 
 deemed by Chrift, from their being vifibly aliens from 
 
 the.
 
 172 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 die commonwealth of Ifrael, without hope, and without 
 God in the world. 
 
 We cannot with certainty precifely determine at what 
 time the apoftafy of the Gentile nations became univerfal. 
 It was a gradual thing, as we have already oblerved. It was 
 general in Abraham s time, but not univerfal : for then we 
 find Melchizedec, one of the kings of Canaan, was prieft 
 of the moft high God. [See note (Y) p. 138.] And after 
 this the true religion was kept up for a while among fome 
 of the reft of Abraham s pofterity, befides the family of 
 Jacob and alfo in fome of the pofterity of Nahor, of which 
 we have inftances in Job, his three friends, and Elihu. 
 The land of Uz, where Job lived, was a land poflefled by 
 the pofterity of Uz, or Huz the fon cf Nahor, Abraham s 
 brother, of -whom we read, [Gen. xxii. 21.] Bildad the 
 Shuhite was of the offspring of Shuah, Abraham s fon by 
 Keturah, [Gen. xxv. 1,2.] and Elihu the Buzite, was 
 of Buz, the fon of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. So 
 the true religion lafted among fome other people, befides 
 the Ifraelites, fome time after Abraham, but not long: and 
 it is probable that the time of their rejection, and being 
 given up to idolatry, was about the time when God fepa- 
 rated the children of Ifrael from Egypt to ferve him ; for 
 they are often put in mind on that occafion, that God bad 
 now feparated them to be his peculiar people ; or to be 
 diftinguiihed from all other people upon earth, to be his 
 people alone ; to be his portion, when others were rejec 
 ted. This fcems to imply that God now chofe them in 
 fuch a manner, that his vitible choice of them was accom 
 panied with a vifiblc rejection of all other nations in the 
 world ; that God came, and took up his refidence with 
 them, as it were, forfaking all other nations. 
 
 And as the firft calling of the Gentiles after Chrift came, 
 was accompanied with a rejection of the Jews ; fo the rirft 
 calling of the Jews to be God s people, when they were 
 called out of Egypt, was accompanied with a rejection of 
 the Gentiles. 
 
 Thus all the nations throughout the whole world, ex 
 cept the Ifraelites, and thofe that embodied themfelves with 
 
 them,
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 173 
 
 them, were left to idolatry ; and fo continued a great many 
 ages, even from this time till Chrift came, which was 
 about fifteen hundred years. They were concluded fo long 
 a time in unbelief, that they might be a thorough proof of 
 the neceffity of a faviour ; that it might evidently appear 
 by fo long a trial, that mankind were utterly inefficient 
 to deliver themselves from that grofs darknefs and mifery, 
 and fubje&ion to the devil, that they had fallen under; 
 that it might appear that all the wifdom of the-philofophers, 
 and the fages that the heathen had among them, could not 
 deliver them from their darknefs, for the greater glory to 
 Jefus Chrift, who when he came, enlightened and deli 
 vered them by his glorious gofpel. Herein the wonderful 
 wifdom of God appeared, in thus preparing the way for 
 Chrift s redemption. This the fcripture teaches us, [as 
 in i Cor. i. 21 ] For after that, in the wifdom of God, 
 
 * the world by wifdom knew not God, it pleafed God 
 
 * by the foolillinefs of preaching to fave them that be- 
 1 lieve. 
 
 3. The next thing done towards the work of redemp 
 tion is God s giving the moral law in fo awful a manner 
 at mount Sinai. This was another new thing that God 
 did, a new ftep taken in this great affair. [Deut. iv. 33.] 
 
 * Did ever a people hear the voice of God (peaking out 
 
 * of the midft of fire, as thou haft heard, and live ? And 
 it was a great thing, whether we confider it as a new ex 
 hibition of the covenant of works, or given as a rule of 
 life. 
 
 The covenant of works was here exhibited to be as a 
 fchoolmafter to lead to Chrift, not only for the ufe of that 
 nation in the ages of the Old Teftament, but for the ufe 
 of God s church throughout all ages of the world, as an 
 inftrument that the great Redeemer makes ufe of to con 
 vince men of their fm and mifery, and helplefs ftate, and 
 of God s awful and tremendous majefty and juftice as a 
 lawgiver, and to make men fenfible of the neceffity of 
 Chrift as a faviour. The work of redemption, in its fav- 
 ing effect on men s fouls, in all the progrefs of it, is not 
 carried on without the ufe of this law. 
 
 It
 
 i 7 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It was given in an awful manner, with a terrible voice ,- 
 Yo exceedingly loud, that all the people which were in the 
 camp trembled ; and Mofes himfelf, though fo intimate a 
 friend of God, yet faid, I exceedingly fear and quake ; 
 [Heb. xii. 21.] the voice being accompanied with thun 
 ders and lightnings, the mountain burning with fire and 
 the earth itfelf fhaking and trembling ; (L) to make all 
 fenfible how great that authority, power, and juftice was, 
 that ftood engaged to exadt the fulfilment of this lav/, 
 and how terrible his wrath will be againft every breaker 
 of it; that men, being fenfible of thefe things, might have 
 a thorough trial of themfelves ; prove their own hearts ; 
 know how impofiible it is for them to have falvation by 
 
 the 
 ( L ) The law accompanied with THUNDERS.] 
 
 " Thus while the labouring angel fvvell d the found, 
 
 And rent the Ikies, and mook the ground, 
 Up rofe th Almighty ; round his fapphire feat 
 Adoring thrones in order fell ; 
 The lefier powers at diftance dwell, 
 And caft their glories down fuccefiive at his feet : 
 
 Gabriel the great prepares his way, 
 * Lift up your heads, eternal doors, he cries ; 
 Th eternal doors his word obey, 
 Open and fhoot celeftial day 
 
 Upon the lower flues. 
 Heav n s mighty pillars bow d their head, 
 
 As their Creator bid, 
 
 And down Jehovah rode from the fuperior fphere, 
 A thoufand guards before, and myriads in the rear. 
 
 His chariot was a pitchy cloud, 
 
 The wheels befet with burning gems ; 
 
 The winds in harnefs with the flames 
 Flew o er th ethereal road : 
 
 Down thro his magazines he pad 
 
 Of hail, and ice, and fleecy fnow, 
 
 Swift rolFd the triumph, and as fail 
 Did hail, and ice, in melted rivers flow. 
 
 The day was mingled with the night, 
 His feet on folid darknefs trod, 
 
 His radiant eyes prociaim d the God, 
 
 And fcatter d dreadful light ; 
 He breath d, and fulphur ran, a fiery ftream : 
 He fpoke, and (tho with unknown fpeed he came) 
 Chid the How tempeft, and the lagging flame." 
 
 [WATTS Hone Lyr. p. 35. }
 
 the works of the law, and fee the abfolute neceffity they- 
 flood in of a mediator. 
 
 If we regard this law not as the covenant of works, 
 but as a rule of life; fo it is made ufe of by the Redeem 
 er, from that time to the end of the world, as a directory 
 to his people, to ihew them the way in which they muft 
 walk, if they would go to heaven: for a way of fincere 
 and univerfal obedience to this law is the narrow way that 
 leads to life. (M) 
 
 4. The next thing obfervable in this period, was 
 God s giving the typical law, in which I fuppofe to be 
 included molt of thofe precepts which were given by 
 Mofes, that did not properly belong to the moral: not: 
 only thofe laws that are commonly called ceremonial, 
 which are the laws prefcribing the ceremonies and cir~ 
 cumftances of the Jewifh worihip, and their ecclefiafiical 
 ftate ; but alfo many, if not all thofe divine laws that 
 were political, and for regulating the Jewifli common 
 wealth, commonly called judicial ; thefe were many of 
 them typical. The giving this typical law was another 
 great thing that God did in this period, tending to build 
 up this glorious ftrudture of redemption that he had been 
 carrying on from the beginning of the world. There 
 
 A a had 
 
 (M) The law not a COVENANT of WORKS.] " The decalogue 
 or ten commandments uttered by the voice of God himfelf, is an 
 abftraft of that original law under which man was created, but 
 publimed in a prohibitory form, the Ifraelites, like the reft of 
 mankind, being depraved by fin, and ftrongly inclined to the com- 
 miffion of every evil. This law could not be defigned as a cove 
 nant, by obedience to which man mould be juftified, for long be 
 fore this the gofpel had been preached to Abraham, [Gal. iii. 8.J 
 but the law entered that fin might abound, [Rom. v. 20. J that 
 the extent, evil, and the defert of fin might be known ; for it 
 reaches to the molt hidden thoughts of the heart, requires abfo- 
 lute and perpetual obedience, and denounces a curie upon all who 
 continue not therein .... Believers of old were relieved from the 
 moral law by the facrifices which pointed to Chrifl ; believers un 
 der the gofpel are relieved by a direft application of the blood of 
 * the covenant. Both renounce any dependance on the moral 
 law for j unification, and both accept it as a rule of life, in the 
 hands of a Mediator, and are enabled to yield a fincere, though 
 not a perfect obedience." [ViaiL.]
 
 176 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 had been many typical events of providence before, that 
 reprefented Chrift and his redemption ; and fome typical 
 ordinances, as particularly thofe two of Sacrifices and cir- 
 cumcifion: but now, inftead of reprefenting the great Re 
 deemer in a few inftitutions, God gives forth a law full of 
 nothing elfe but various and innumerable typical repre- 
 fentations of good things to come, by which that nation 
 were directed how, every year, month, and day, in their 
 religious actions, and in their conduct of themfelves, in 
 all that appertained to their eccleiiaftical and civil irate, to 
 fhow forth fomething of Chriil ; one obfei vanc^fliowing 
 one thing, exhibiting one doctrine, or one benefit , ano 
 ther, another : fo that the whole nation by this law was, 
 as it were, conflituted in a typical ftate. Thus the gofpel 
 was abundantly held forth to that nation ; fo that there is 
 fcarce any doctrine of it, but is particularly taught and 
 exhibited by fome obfervance of this law ; though it was in 
 fhadows, and under a vail, as Mofes put a vail on his face 
 when it {hone. (N) 
 
 To 
 
 (N) The gofpel revealed in the TYPES.] We have already con- 
 iidered feveral of the types, and fliall confider others as they occur. 
 This note is intended to prove that the ancient Jews themfelves 
 confidered them in the fame point of view. 
 
 1. It mult occur to every thinking perfon, that mere ceremonies 
 could not of themfelves ever form any very acceptable fervices to 
 that God who is a fpirit, and who loves to be worfhipped in fpirit 
 * and in truth; and that, unlefs fomething farther was defigned, 
 many parts of the Jewifh ritual muft appear very childim, others 
 very ridiculous, arid fome very cruel. There feems nothing in the 
 wearing of fringes or ringing of bells ; in waters of purification 
 or perfumes of incenfe ; much lefs in the flaughtering of hundreds 
 or thoufands of harmlefs animals ; Lfay, there fecms nothing in 
 thefc, in themfelves confidered, that appears worthy the appoint 
 ment of a wife and holy God, or the obfervation of great and good 
 wen. Thefe reflections would naturally lead them to fufpedt fome 
 thing typical muft be intended. \ 
 
 2. This idea would be confirmed by confidering the particular 
 exaftnefs required in thefe fervices ; with the penalties inflicted on 
 tranfgrcflion. Upon any other hypothecs it would be Difficult, if 
 not impoflible to account for fo many being flain for looking into 
 the ark, afpiring to the prielthood, &c. or for Mofes betlte fo 
 
 ftrfctly
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 177 
 
 To this typical law belong all the precepts that relate to 
 building the tabernacle, which was fet up in the wildernefs, 
 and all the form, circumftances, and utenfils of it. 
 
 5. About this time was given to the church the firil 
 written word of God for the regulation of the faith, wor- 
 fhip, and practice of his church in all ages, which was 
 increafed from time to time till it was finifhed, and the 
 canon of fcripture completed, by the apoftle John. It is 
 
 A a 2 not 
 
 ftri&ly charged to make all things according to the pattern exhi- 
 
 * bited in the mount. [Heb. viii. .] 
 
 3. We have already feen in fome inftances, as in Abraham s 
 offering up his fon Ifaac, and long before, in the facrifice of Abel, 
 that the Old Teftament faints really had fuch views ; and other 
 inftances will occur in the profecutien of our fubjeft. 
 
 4. Agreeable to this idea we find the prophets commonly fpoke 
 in figurative language, and accompanied it by typical and fymbo- 
 lical aftions ; as we fee in Ifaiah [xx.] Jeremiah [xiii. I 11.] 
 Ezekiel [iii. I 4.] and others. This muft encourage and con 
 firm fuch a method of interpretation. 
 
 5. We Chriftians have the moft unequivocal afiertions of this in 
 the New Teftament. The law is called a fhadow of good things 
 to come, [Heb. x. I.] And the whole Epiftle to the Hebrews, 
 and great part of that to the Galatians, is written to prove and il- 
 lultrate this very point. 
 
 6. We are particularly told that the lav/ was a fchoolmafter to 
 
 * lead unto, to point out the neceffity, excellency, and fuitable- 
 nefs of Chrift, [Gal. iii. 24.] And that the Jewifh church under 
 this difpenfation, is to be confidered as a minor under tutors and 
 governors. [Gal. iv. 2.] We have a method of teaching our chil 
 dren their letters by the ufe of certain pictures affixed to them, the 
 more ttrongly to imprefs them on their minds : [as A, an Apple, 
 B, a Book, &c. So probably the old Hebrews K an Ox, 3 a Houfc, 
 &c. See Sharp s Origin of Languages.] A method fomewhat 
 fimilar to this the Lord feems to have taken with his ancient people. 
 Now, as he would not be thought a wife inftruftor who taught his 
 little pupils the pictures without the letters, how Hi all we juftify the 
 wifdom of God in teaching the Jews thefe ceremonies, without 
 their meaning and defign ? 
 
 7. Some even of the modern Jews have dropt hints of fuch a 
 defign, particularly 1-lab. Menachem on the pafchal lamb, though 
 they acknowledge their ignorance of the myftery, " until the fpirit 
 from above (hall be poured out upon them." [ Ainfw. in Lev. i. 2.] 
 
 The typical import of the tabernacle and its furniture, and how 
 far believers might fee the fufferings of Qiirift in the ancient facri- 
 jGces, will be confidered in a fubfequent note. [I. N. j
 
 i 7 8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 not very material whether the firft written word was the 
 ten commandments written on the tables of ftone with the 
 finder of God, or the book of Job ; nor whether the book 
 of Job was written by Mofes, as fome fuppofe, or by Elihu, 
 as others, (o) If it was written by Elihu, it was written 
 before this period ; but yet could not be far from it, as ap 
 pears by confidering whofe pofterity the perfons were that 
 are fpoken of in it, [fee above, p. 172.] together with Job s 
 great age, which was paft before this was written. 
 
 The written word of God is the main inftrument 
 Chrift has made ufe of to carry on this work of redemp 
 tion in all ages fmce it was given. There was a necef- 
 fity now for the word of God being committed to writing 
 as a ftanding rule to his church. Before this, the church 
 had the word of God by tradition, either immediately 
 from eminent men that were infpired, who were then 
 living, or elfe by tradition from former generations, 
 which might be had with tolerable certainty in ages pre 
 ceding this, by reafon of the long lives of men. Noah 
 might converfe with Adam, and receive traditions from 
 him ; and Noah lived till about Abraham s time : and 
 the fons of Jacob lived a confidcrable time to deliver the 
 revelations made to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, to their 
 pofterity in Egypt, (p) But the diftance from the begin 
 ning 
 
 (o) Whether tht look of JOB >was written by MOSES.] The 
 learned feem now pretty well fatisfied that the book of Job is an 
 Hebrew poem, written in a dramatic or colloquial form, (as is So 
 lomon s fong) and generally give it to Mcfes, as the moft probable 
 author: but whether he wrote it from a fact within his obfervation 
 during his exile from Egypt, whether from traditional records, or 
 had the facts, as well as afliftance to record them, immediately 
 from God, is not fo generally agreed. [See Bp. Lowth s Praeleft. 
 de Sicra Poefi Heb. prelect, xix. Poll. Sjn. Crit. in ch. i. Theo- 
 log. Repof. vol. i. page 70.] [U. S.] 
 
 (p) The LONGEV:TV of the patriarchs. ] Our author s general 
 remaik of the few hands that might convey traditions through a 
 great number of years is certainly juft : but here is a fmall mif- 
 take in the chronology, which in all probability would never have 
 heen printed, had our author lived to have been his own editor. 
 
 H
 
 FROM MOSES^TO DAVID. 179 
 
 ning was now become fo great, and the lives of men fo 
 fhortened, (being brought down tp the prefent fbndard 
 
 about 
 
 He afTerts that Noah might converfe with Adam ; but it appears 
 from the following table, and the authorities there referred to, 
 that Adam died above an hundred years before Noah was born. 
 
 Tears of the world. 
 
 i , Adam created. 
 
 130, Gen. v. 3. at 130 years old Adam begat Seth. 
 
 235, 6. at 105 Seth begat Enos. 
 
 325, 9. at 90 Enos begat Cainan. 
 
 395, 12. at 70 Cainan begat Mahalaleel. 
 
 460, 15. at 65 Mahalaleel begat Jared. 
 
 622, 1 8. at 162 Jared begat Enoch. 
 
 687, 21. at 65 Enoch begat Methufelah. 
 
 874, 25. at 187 Methufelah begat Lamech. 
 
 930, 5. Adam died. 
 
 28. at 182 years old Lamech begat Noah. 
 
 The above calculation is according to the Hebrew text : if, in 
 deed, we admit the Samaritan readings, the facl: may be granted, 
 [fee Univ. Hilt. vol. i. page 146.] but as our author has every 
 where elfe followed the Hebrew copies, it is very unlikely he 
 meant hereto deviate from them, without giving any intimation 
 of it. 
 
 Let us now indulge a reflection or two on the facl: thus ftated. 
 Though not with Noah, yet Adam might converfe with Lamech, 
 Noah s father, Larnech, with Shem, his own grandfon, and 
 Shem, (though not Noah) with his defcendant Abram, and even 
 Ifaac. Thus four perfons might by tradition convey the fubftance 
 of divine revelation through more than two thoufand years, which 
 would, at the prefent ftandard of human life, on a moderate com 
 putation, require forty. Now as the lives of men decreafed, tra 
 dition would naturally become more corrupted and uncertain, the 
 more hands it pafled through ; therefore to prevent the confe- 
 quences of this, God was pleafed by Mofes to give a written reve 
 lation. In this we may admire the wifdom and goodnefs of God, 
 who fuits his favours to our circumftances and neceffities. 
 
 There is fomething venerable in age, and the grey hairs of four- 
 fcore or an hundred years command refpe6l and attention. Aud 
 in the few.inftances in which mankind exceed that age, with the 
 prefervation of their memory and other faculties, how inftru&Jve 
 is their converfation ! With what pleafure, then, might Lamech 
 hear from Adam the ftory of his early life, the hiftory of his firft. 
 fons, and the various revolutions of almoil a thoufand years ; and 
 with no lefs fatisfaftion, poflibly, might Abraham receive from 
 Shem .the wonderful hiftory of the flood and re-peopling of the 
 
 earth :
 
 i8o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 about Mofes s time,) that God having now feparated a na 
 tion to be a peculiar people, partly for that end to be the 
 keepers of his oracles, law it to be a needful and conve 
 nient time now to commit his word to writing, to remain 
 throughout all ages, (qj And therefore, befides the hook 
 of Job, God wrote the ten commandments on tables of 
 ftone, with his own finger ; and after this the whole law, 
 as containing the fubflance of the five books of Mofes, was 
 by his fpecial command committed to writing, which was 
 called the book of the law, and was laid up in the taber 
 nacle, to be kept there for the ufe of the church. [Deut. 
 ?cxxi. 2426.] 
 
 6. God was pieafcd now wonderfully to reprefcnt the 
 progrefs of his redeemed church through the world to 
 their eternal Inheritance, by the journey of the children 
 pf Ifrael through the vvildcrne fs, from Egypt to Canaan. 
 
 Here 
 
 earth :"-but the grand fuhjeft of their inquiry would doubtlefs be, 
 the gradual and increafmg discoveries of the divine will : the facred 
 vih ons, predictions, and types ; the inveftigation of which mufl 
 afford, to fanctified minds, peculiar delight and comfort. 
 
 One of the moft barren parts of facred writ, (if we may fo fpeak) 
 feems to be the lift of lives and deaths in fome of the firft chap 
 ter? of Genefis ; but this is owing to our own inattention and 
 fupinenefs ; as appears from the following anecdote, mentioned 
 by Mr. HERVEV : 
 
 " A certain libertine, of a mod abandoned character, happened 
 accidentally to ftroll into a church, where he heard the 5th chap 
 ter of Genefis, importing that fo long lived fuch and fuch perfons, 
 and yet the conclufion was they died Enos lived 905 years, and 
 f he died Seth, 912, and he died Methufelah, 969, and he died. 
 The frequent repetition of the words, he died, notwithftanding the 
 great length of years they had lived, (truck him fo deeply with 
 the thought of death and eternity, that (through divine grac? ) 
 he became of an infamous libertine, a mod exemplary ChrifHan." 
 [Hervey s Letters, No. 147.] [N. U.l 
 
 (oj God s word committed to writing.] Our author alludes here 
 .to the pentateuch, or five firft books of the Old Tcltament, which 
 are now univerfnlly afcribed to Mofes on the moft fatisfactory evi 
 dence. The enemies of revelation have indeed objected to fome 
 paffagcs which fpeak of the death and character of Mofes, but thefe 
 inay eaiily be luppofed the fupplement of a later prophet (perhaps 
 Ezra) without afrecUr.g the general queftion. [U. S.l
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 181 
 
 Here all the various fteps of the redemption of the church 
 by Clirift were represented, from the beginning to its 
 confummation in glory. The ftate they are redeemed 
 from, is reprefented by Egypt, and their bondage there, 
 which they left. The purchafe of their redemption, was 
 reprefented by the facririce of the pafchal lamb, which 
 was offered up the night that God flew all the firil-born 
 of Egypt. The beginning of the application of the re 
 demption of Chrift s church in their converfion, was re 
 prefented by Ifrael s going out of Egypt, and paffing 
 through the Red Sea in fo extraordinary and miraculous a 
 manner. The travel of the church through this evil 
 world, and the various changes through which the church 
 pafies, in the different flages of it, was reprefented by 
 the journey of the Ifraelites through the wildernefs. 
 The manner of their being conducted by Chrift, was re 
 prefented by the Ifraelites being led by the pillar of cloud 
 by day, and the pillar of fire by night. The manner of 
 the church s being fupported in their progrefs, and fup- 
 plied from the beginning to the end of it, with fpiritual 
 food, and continual daily communications from God, was 
 reprefented by God s fupplying the children of Ifrael with 
 bread, or manna, from heaven, and water out of the 
 rock. The dangers that the faints muft meet with in 
 their courfe through the world, were reprefented by the 
 fiery flying ferpents which the children of Ifrael met with 
 in the wildernefs. The conflicts the church has with 
 her enemies, were reprefented by their battle with the 
 Amalekites, and others they met with there. And fo 
 innumerable other things might be mentioned, wherein 
 the things they met with were lively images of things 
 which the church and faints meet with in all ages of the 
 world. Tiiat thefe were typical of things that pertain 
 to the Chriftian church, is manifeft from i Cor. x. 11. 
 
 * Now all thefe things happened unto them for enfamples, 
 
 * and they were written for our admonition, upon whom 
 
 * the ends of the world are come. Here the apotlle is 
 fpeaking of thofc very things which we have now con- 
 
 fidered,
 
 182 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fidered, and he fays expreftly, that they happened unto 
 them for types ; fo it is in the original. 
 
 7. Another thing muft not be omitted, which was a 
 great and remarkable difpenfation of Providence, viz. the 
 ihortening the days of man s life, whereby it was brought 
 down from being between nine hundred and a thoufand 
 years, to but about feventy or eighty. The life of man 
 began to be ihortened immediately alter the flood : it was 
 brought down the firft generation to fix hundred years, and 
 the next to between four and five hundred years ; and fo 
 the life of man gradually grew fhorter and Ihorter, till 
 about the time of the great mortality that was in the con 
 gregation of Ifrael, after they had murmured at the report 
 of the fpies, and their carcafes fell in the wildernefs, 
 whereby all the men of war died : and then the life of 
 man was reduced to its prefent ftandard, as Mofes obferves 
 in that pfalm that he wrote on occafion of that mortality : 
 [Pfalm. xc. 10.] The days of our years are threefcore 
 
 * years and ten ; and if by reafon of ftrength they be four- 
 
 * fcore years, yet is their ftrength labour and forrow : for 
 
 * it is foon cut off, and we fly away. 
 
 This great difpenfation of God tended to promote the 
 grand defign of the redemption of Chrirr. Man s life 
 being cut fo very ihort in this world, prepared the way 
 for poor, mortal, ihort-lived men, the more joyfully to 
 entertain the glad tidings of everlafting life in another 
 world, and more readily to embrace a Saviour, who pur- 
 chafes and offers fuch a bleffing. If men s lives were ftill 
 commonly about nine hundred years, how much lefs 
 would they have to move them to regard the proffers of a 
 future life ; how much greater temptations would they 
 have to reft in the things of this world, they being of 
 fuch long continuance, and to negledt any other life but 
 this ? This probably contributed greatly to the wicked- 
 nefs of the antediluvians. But now how much greater 
 motives have men to feek redemption, and a better life 
 than this, by the great Redeemer, fmce the life of man 
 is not one twelfth part of what it ufed to be, and men 
 
 now
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 183 
 
 now univerfally die at the age when men formerly uted to 
 be but, as it were, fetting out in the world ? 
 
 8. The fame work was carried on in preferving that 
 people, of whom Chrift was to come* from totally pe- 
 rifhing in the wildernefs, by a conftant miracle of forty 
 years continuance. I obferved before many times, how 
 God preferred thofe of whom the Redeemer was to pro 
 ceed in a very wonderful manner; but this prefervation 
 of the children of Ifrael for fo long a time in the wilder 
 nefs was, on fome accounts, more remarkable than any of 
 them. There was, as may be fairly computed, at firft two 
 millions of fouls in that congregation, which muft have 
 perimed in lefs than one month s time, had they not 
 been miraculoufly fupplied. But yet this vaft multitude 
 fubfifted for forty years together, in a dry barren wilder 
 nefs, without (owing or reaping, or tilling any land, 
 having their bread daily rained down to them out of hea 
 ven, and being furnimed with water to fatisfy them all, 
 out of a rock ; and the fame cloaths with which they came 
 out of Egypt, lading, without wearing out all that time. 
 [Deut. viii. iv.] Never was an inftance like this of a nation 
 being thus fupported and fupplied. (R) 
 
 Bb 9. God 
 
 (a) Citniar was an mjlance like th\s.~\ Wonderful providence in 
 deed ! But not lefs wonderful is the gracious provifion that the 
 Lord has made for all his people. Had they manna rained from 
 the Ikies ? We have the true bread which came down from heaven. 
 Were they alfo miraculoufly fupplied v?iihjte/b ? The Son of God 
 feeds us with his own, infinitely more precious, flefh and blood. 
 Did the rock fupply their drink ? So doth the rock of ages ours. 
 Did not their raiment wear old? Behold, the bell, the everlafting 
 robe of righteoufnefs with which the Lord cloaths his elet peo 
 ple! Finally, did not their feet fwell, fo as to impede their jour 
 ney ? The Lord has provided us wiihfant/als which the thorns of 
 the wildernefs cannot penetrate ; and prepared with the gofpel of 
 peace, we need not fear our journey being impeded. But, to de- 
 fcend to temporal concerns; doth not the Lord itill feed and cloath 
 his people, and afford them every neceffary fupply? And is not 
 the promife {till faithful and true, They that feek the Lord (hall 
 * not want any good thing? [Pf. xxxiv. 10.] Let the timorous 
 believer be then encouraged and joyfully fing on his way : 
 " Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, 
 
 " Pilgrim, through this barren land," &c. [U-UJ
 
 184 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 9. God was pleafed during this time, to give a farther 
 revelation of Chrift the Redeemer in the predictions of 
 him, than had been before. Here are three prophecies 
 given at this time that I would take notice of. The nrft 
 is that of Balaam. [Numb. xxiv. 17 19.] I {hall fee 
 
 * him, but not now; I ihall behold him, but not nigh ; 
 there fliall come a ftar out of Jacob, and a fceptre lhall 
 
 * rife out of Ifrael, and ihall finite the corners of Moab, 
 
 * and deflroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom fhall 
 
 * be a pofleffion, Seir alfo ihall be a poffeflion for his 
 enemies, and Ifrael fhall do valiantly. Out of Jacob 
 
 * fhall come he that fhall have dominion, and Ihall de- 
 ftroy him that remaineth of the city. (s) This is a 
 
 plainer 
 
 (s) The prophecy of BALAAM.] " Wonderful as the gift of 
 prophecy is, it was not always (as Bp. NEWTON obferves) con 
 fined to the chofen feed, nor yet always imparted to the beft of 
 men." Balaam is a proof of this, \vho was neither an Israelite nor 
 a good man ; however, he acknowledged the God of Ifrael, and 
 profefled to be his fervant; [Numb. xxii. 8 18.] his worfhip was 
 debafed with fuperftition and enchantments; [Numb. xxiv. i. 
 xxxii. 12.] and his heart loved * the wages of unrighteoufnefs. 
 [2 Pet. ii. 15.] And when the Lord would not fuffer him to curfe 
 his people, he contrived to pervert them to idolatry and unclean- 
 nefs. [Rev. ii. 14.] 
 
 It is obfervable, that it was a cuflcm among the heathens to de 
 vote their enemies to deftruction at the commencement of their 
 wars ; and Balaam being a prophet of great note, Balak fuppofed 
 him to have peculiar intereft with heaven. I wot that he whom 
 
 * thou bleflell is bleiTed, and he whom thou curfeft is curfed. 
 [Numb. xxii. 6.] 
 
 But the ftrangeft part of the hiftory is that of Balaam s afs 
 fpeaking with a man s voice. Stories of this kind have been current 
 among the heathen, and might probably originate from a tradition 
 of this event. But however extraordinary the fact, the fcripture 
 attributes it to a fufficient caufe : The Lord opened the mouth 
 of the afs. [Numb. xxii. 28.] There is no neceffity, however, 
 to give the animal a human underftanding, without that he might 
 utter the found of words (as parrots may be taught to do,) and 
 this is all the facred hillorian aflerts. 
 
 But we are to contemplate a greater miracle than this : the ani 
 mal fpake unconfcioufly, but Balaam was over-ruled to blefs where 
 he gladly would have curfed. And the preceding miracle was 
 probably deligned to teach how much the roouth and tongvie were 
 under God s direction, and the folly of oppofing the divine will. 
 
 But
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 185 
 
 plainer prophecy of Chrift, efpecially with regard to his 
 kingly office, than any that had been before. But we 
 
 Bb 2 have 
 
 But to advert to the prophecy itfelf ; of which we fhall only con- 
 iider the paffage quoted by our author : I {hall fee him, but not 
 
 * now ; I fhall behold him, but not nigh. This Bp. NEWTON 
 tranflates in the prefent tenfe, and refers to Moab ; but with de 
 ference to fo great an authority, we mould rather adhere to the 
 prefent tranflation, which is more literal, and refer it, with the 
 following claufes, to the Meffiah, (as stinfworth and Dr. GiU do) 
 whom at his fecond coming every eye mall fee. [Rev. i. 7. 
 Compare Job xix. 26.] 
 
 * There fhall come a ftar out of Jacob, and a fceptre fhall arife 
 out of Ifrael. The ftar and fceptre were probably hieroglyphics 
 of a prince and of a god, as we fhall fee prefently. And fhall 
 
 * fmite the corners (or princes) of Moab. This was fulfilled by 
 David, who * fmote Moab and the Moabites became 
 
 * David s fervants. [2 Sam. viii. 2.] 
 
 And deftroy all the children of Shelh : If by Sheth is here 
 intended the fon of Adam, it includes all mankind, this being the 
 only line preferved at the flood ; and thofe v/ho fo underftand it, 
 tranflate the words * he fhall uniual/, fubdue^ or rule over all the 
 
 * children of Sheth. But the conftruction of the paffage, and the 
 rules of Hebrew poetry, which abounds in parallel fentences, [fee 
 Bp. LOWTH S Prelim. Dif. to his Tranf. of Ifaiah] ftrongly incline 
 us to believe, that Sheth might be the name of fome town or prince 
 of Moab, whofe memory is now loft. This was the opinion of 
 Mr. Poole, and is defended by Bp. Newton. 
 
 And Edom fhall be a poffeflion. David put garrifons .... 
 
 * throughout all Edom, [2 Sam. viii. 14.] * Seir [the mountains 
 
 * of Edom] alfo fhall be a poffeflion for his enemies ; that is, for 
 the Ifraelites. And Ifrael fhall do valiantly, as in the inftances 
 juft hinted. Out of Jacob fhall come he that fhall have dominion, 
 
 * and fhall deftroy him that remaineth of the city ; not only defeat 
 them in the field, but purfue and deftroy them in their ftrongeft 
 holds : Joab fmote every male in Edom. [i Kings xi. 15, i6.J 
 Thus was the prophecy fulfilled in David : but moft Jewifh as well 
 as Chriftian expofitors, ancient and modern, refer thefe predi&ions, 
 in a more fublime and exalted fenfe, to the Mefliah, David s Son 
 and Lord. And Bp. WARBURTON [Divine Leg. book iv. 4.] 
 obferves, that as \\izfceptre was a popular emblem of a king, fo a 
 
 jlar was a more myfterious hieroglyphic of the divinity, [fee Amos 
 v. 25, 26.] and doubtlefs pointed to him who was both the mighty 
 
 * God and Prince of Peace; [I fa. ix. 6.] who bore the fceptre of 
 Judah, [fee page 161, note G] and is the bright and morning ftar. 
 
 [Rev. xxii. 1 6.] [See Bp. NF.V/TON on the Prophecies, vol. i. 
 
 dif. 5. from whom the above is chiefly taken.] [G. E.]
 
 \ 
 
 186 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 have another, that God gave by Mofes, which is plainer 
 frill, efpecially with regard to his prophetical office, [Deut. 
 xviii. 18, &c.] I will raife up a prophet from among 
 their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words 
 
 * in his mouth, and he (hall fpeak unto them all that I 
 
 * command him, &c. This is a plainer prophecy of Chrift 
 than any that had been before, in this refpe6r, that all the 
 former prophecies were in figurative, myftical language. 
 The firft, That the feed of the woman mould break the 
 
 * ferpent s head. The promifes made to Abraham, Ifaac, 
 and Jacob, * That in their feed all the families of the earth 
 
 * fhould be blefied. The prophecy of Jacob in bleffing 
 Judah ; and that of Balaam, which fpeaks of Chrift under 
 the figurative expreffion of zftar, were all myftical. But 
 this is a plain literal prophecy. 
 
 There are feveral things contained in this prophecy of 
 .Chrift, and his mediatorial office, [rer. 16.]- Here it 
 is revealed that he fhould be a middle perfon between 
 them and God, a being of fuch awful majefty, holinefs, 
 and juftice, that they could not come to him, and en 
 joy intercourfe with him immediately, without a medi 
 tator to ftand between them ; becaufe, if they came to 
 fuch a dreadful fin-revenging God immediately, they 
 fhould die; God would prove a confuming fire to them. 
 And here is alfo a particular revelation of Chrift with 
 refpe6l to his prophetical office : I will raife them up a 
 
 * prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, &c. 
 And farther, it is revealed what kind of a prophet he 
 /hould be, a prophet like Afofes, who was the head and 
 leader of all the people, and who, under God, had been 
 their redeemer, to bring them out of the houfe of bond 
 age, who was, as it were, their fhepherd by whom God 
 led them through the Red Sea and wildernefs, and was an 
 jnterceftbr for them \yiih God, and both a prophet and a 
 king in the congregation : for Mofes had the power of 
 a king among them. [Deut. xxxiii. 5.] He was alfo the 
 prophet by whom God built up his church, and delivered 
 his inftru6tions of wcrihip. Thus Chrift was to be a 
 prophet like unto Mofes ; fo that this is both the plaineft 
 
 and
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 187 
 
 and fulleft prophecy of Chrift that ever had been from the 
 beginning of the world to this time. (T) 
 
 The next prophecy that I fhall take notice of, refpec"Vs 
 only the calling of the Gentiles, which fhould be after 
 Chrift s coming, of which God gave a very plain prophecy 
 by Mofes in the wildernefs, [Deut. xxxii. 21.] They 
 moved God to jealoufy, by that which was not a god, by 
 cafting him off, and taking other gods, that were no gods, 
 in his room. So God declares that he will move them to 
 jealoufy in the like manner, by carting them off, and taking 
 other people, that had not been his people, in their room. 
 The apoftle Paul takes notice of this prophecy, as fore 
 telling the calling of the Gentiles, [in Rom. x. 19, 20.] 
 * But I fay, did not Ifrael know ? Firft, Mofes faith, I 
 will provoke you to jealoufy by them that are no peo- 
 pie, and by a foolifh nation I vfill anger you. But 
 Efaias is very bold, and faith, I was found of them that 
 fought me not ; I was made manifeft to them that afked 
 not after me. 
 
 Thus you fee how the light of the gofpel, which rirft 
 began to dawn immediately after the fall, gradually in- 
 creafes the nearer we come to Chrift s time. < 
 
 IO- Another thing by which God carried on his work 
 at this time, was a remarkable pouring out of his fpirit 
 on the young generation in the wildernefs. The genera 
 tion which was grown up when they came out of Egypt, 
 from twenty years old and upward, was very froward and 
 perverfe. They were tainted with the idolatry and wick- 
 
 ednefs 
 
 (T) Si prophet tike unto MOSES.] Some Jewifh writers have re 
 ferred this to Jofhua, but though we are told Jofhua was full of 
 the fpirit of wifdom, yet the fame text [Deut. xxxiv. 9.] informs 
 us, there arofe not a prophet fince in Ifrael like unto Mofes, 
 
 * whom the Lord knew face to face ; conftqucntly Jofhua was 
 not fo. And in another paffage [Numb. xii. 2.] The Lord puts 
 a ftriking difference between Mofes, and all other prophets : The 
 Jews themfelves very flrongly confirm this idea ; and in the New 
 Teftament, this prophecy is exprefsly applied to the Son of God. 
 [Ats iii. 22, 23.] For Mofes truly faid, a prophet will the 
 
 * Lord your God raife up, &c. [See Newton on the Proph. 
 vol. i. dif. 6.]
 
 188 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 dnefs of Egypt, and were not weaned from it, as the 
 prophet takes notice,. [Ezek. xx. 68.] Hence they made, 
 the go)den calf in imitation of the idolatry of Egypt, that 
 was wont to worihip a bull or an ox ; and therefore cattle 
 are called the abomination of the Egyptians, i. e. their 
 idol. [Exod. viii. 26.] This generation God was exceed 
 ing angry with, and fwore in his wrath, that they ihould 
 not enter into his reft. But the younger generations were 
 not fo ; thofe who were under twenty years old when they 
 came out of Egypt, and thofe born in the wildernefs, the 
 generation fpoken of, [Numb. xiv. 31.] But your little 
 ones, whom ye faid fhoukl be a prey, them will I bring 
 4 in ; and they ihall know the land that ye have dcfpifed. 
 This was the generation with whom the covenant was re 
 newed, (ct which we have an account in Deuteronomy,) 
 and that entered into the land of Canaan. Thefe God 
 was pleafed to make a generation to his praife, and they 
 were eminent for piety ; as appears by many things faid in 
 fcripture about them; as, particularly, [Jer. ii. 2, 3.] 
 
 * I rernember thee, the kindnefs of thy youth, the love 
 of thine efpoufals, when thcu wenteft after me in the 
 
 * vvildernefs, in a land that was not fown. Ifrael was 
 holinefs to the Lord, and the firft fruits of his increafe. 
 Here the generation that went after God in the wilder- 
 ncis is fpoken of with very high commendations, as emi 
 nent for holinefs : Ifrael was holinefs to the Lord, and 
 the tirft fruits of his increafe. And their love to God 
 is fpoken ot as diftinguiihcd like the love of a bride at 
 her efpoufal?. The <?oinp- after God in the wildernefs 
 
 i O O 
 
 here fpoken of, is not the going of the children of Ifrael 
 out of Egypt into the wilderncfs of Sinai, but their fol 
 lowing God through that dreadful wildernefs, that the 
 congregation long wandered in, after they went back from 
 KadeJh-Bamea, [Deut. viii. 15. j Who led thee through 
 
 * the great and terrible wildernels, wherein were fiery fer- 
 c pcnts r.nd fcorpicns, and drought, where there was no 
 water. Though this generation had a much greater trial, 
 th;r.i their fcihers had before they came to Kadefh-Barnea, 
 yet they never murmured againft God in any wife, as their 
 
 fathers
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 189 
 
 fathers had done : but their trials had a contrary effect 
 upon them, to awaken, convince, and humble them, and 
 fit them for great mercy. They were awakened by the 
 awful judgments of God infli6led on their fathers, where 
 by their carcafes fell in the wildernefs. And God pour 
 ed out his fpirit with thofe awakening providences to 
 wards their fathers, and their own travel in the wilder 
 nefs, and the word preached to them by Mofes ; whereby 
 they were made to fee the badnefs of their own hearts, 
 and were humbled, and at length multitudes of them 
 favingly converted; [as Deut. viii. 2, 3.] And thou 
 
 * malt remember the way which the Lord thy God led 
 
 * thee thefe forty years in the wildernefs, to humble thee 
 
 * and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, 
 whether thou wouldft keep his commandments or no/ 
 And [ver. 15.] Who led thee through that great and 
 4 terrible wildernefs, that he might humble thee, and 
 that he might prove thee, to do thee good at the latter 
 
 * end. (u) And therefore it is faid, Hof. xiii. 5. I. 
 
 did 
 
 (u) Ifrael led through the ivildernefs to do them good.~\ Here is 
 the great fecret of Divine Providence. Infinite wifdom and good- 
 nefs is the fource of all the viciffitudes and trials believers are called 
 to experience. Ifrael was led through the wildernefs, and had 
 many bitter trials there, but it was to do them good. 
 
 Obferve, I. That pride is natural to the human heart ; and no 
 degree of meannefs, wretchednefs, or dependence, can exclude it. 
 Like fome difguding animals, who extract poifon from the mod 
 harmlefs vegetables ; pride inflates itfelf from circumftances the 
 mod humiliating. Would one fuppofe that a people, after forty 
 years flavery at the brick kilns after being treated as the off- 
 fcouring of the earth, and degraded to the very lowed degree 
 
 ftiould need the thorns of the wildernefs to humble them ? 
 
 But fuch is man ! 
 
 2. The beft things are not always the pleafanted ; but the moft 
 efficacious medicines are often the mod unpalatable. Ifrael, as we 
 have obferved, met with many painful and mortifying circum- 
 dances in the defert, but it was to do them good. Humbling 
 providences are often our greated mercies. 
 
 3. Mercies are doubly fweet when intermingled with trials. 
 Conttads produce great effects in nature ; and it is by comparifon 
 with other objects we form our mod correct ideas of the excellent 
 and beautiful. So pain and ficknefs teach the value of health and 
 
 eafe ;
 
 190 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * did know thee in the wildernefs, in the land of great 
 
 * drought. God allured them, and brought them into the 
 wildernefs, and fpake comfortably to them, as it was fore 
 told that he would do afterwards. [Hof. ii. 14.] 
 
 Thofe terrible judgments that were executed in the 
 congregation after their turning back from Kadefli-Barnea, 
 in the matter of Korah, and Peor, were chiefly on the 
 old generation, whom God confumed in the wildernefs. 
 Thofe rebellions were chiefly among the elders of the con 
 gregation, that God had given up to their hearts luft ; and 
 they walked in their own counfels, and God was grieved 
 with their manners forty years in the wildernefs. 
 
 But that this younger congregation were eminent for 
 piety, appears by all their hiftory. The former generation 
 were wicked, and were followed with curfes ; but this was 
 holy, and wonderful bleflings followed them. God did 
 great things for them ; he fought for them, and gave them 
 the pofleflion of Canaan. And it is God s manner, when 
 he hath any fpecial mercy to beftow on a viiible people, 
 rirft, to fit them for, and then to beftow it on them. So 
 here, they believed in God, and by faith overcame Sihon 
 and Og, and the giants of Canaan ; and are commended 
 for cleaving to the Lord: [Jofh. xxiii. 8.] Jofhua fays 
 unto them, Cleave unto the Lord, as ye have done unto 
 
 * this day. And fo Ifrael did all the while that genera 
 tion lived. But when Jofhua and all that generation were 
 dead, there arofe another that knew not the Lord. This 
 pious generation fhowed a laudable and fervent zeal for 
 God in feveral infiances ; as on occafion of Achan s fin ; 
 but efpecially when they futpected the two tribes and a 
 half had fet up an altar in oppofition to the altar of 
 burnt-offering. There never was any generation of Ifrael 
 of which fo much good and fo little evil is mentioned 
 
 as 
 
 eafe ; and to hunger ami thirft we principally owe our relifh for 
 food. Therefore it is, that the Lord mingled the cup of his peo 
 ple with a contrariety of ingredients. Let us then receive it thank 
 fully, with this confolation, that the fwcetnefs of our comforts will 
 remain when every taftc of bitternefs is loft and forgot for ever. 
 
 [U.U.J
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 191 
 
 as this. It is farther obfervable, that in the time of this 
 generation was the fecond general circumcifion, whereby 
 the reproach of Ifrael was fully rolled away, and they be 
 came pure ; and when afterwards they were polluted by 
 Achan, they purged themfelves again. [Jofh. vii. 19 
 26.] (vv) 
 
 The men of the former generation being dead, and 
 God having fan6titied this to himfelf, he folemnly renew 
 ed his covenant with them, [Deut. xxix.] We find 
 that fuch renovations of the covenant commonly ac 
 companied any remarkable pouring-out of the Spirit* 
 which caufed a general reformation ; fo we find it was 
 in Hezekiah s and Joiiah s times. But it is queftionable 
 whether there ever was a time when religion fo flourished 
 in the Ifraelitifh church, as in that generation; and as, irt 
 the Chriltian church, religion was in its moft flourishing 
 circumftances in the day of its, efpoufals, in the apoftle < 
 time, fo it feems to have been with the Jewifli church 
 in the days of its firft eftablifhment in Mofes and 
 Jofhua s. 
 
 Thus God at this time did gloriouily advance the work 
 of redemption, both by his word and Spirit. By this 
 out-pouring of the Spirit of God, the work of redemption 
 was promoted, not only as it was in itfelf n. glorious in- 
 itance of the application of it, but as this was what God 
 made ufe of as a means of enablifhin^ the church ot 
 Ifrael at its firfl beginning, when it was fettled in thr 
 regular obfervance of God s ordinances in Canaan: even 
 as the out-pouring of the fpirit, in the beginning of the 
 Ch.rifr.ian church, was a great means God made ufe ot 
 for the well eftabliihing it in thr world in all fucceedini!; 
 ages. 
 
 Cc ii. The 
 
 (w) They iv ere polluted ly ACHAN.] Obfcrve here the dange 
 rous nature of fin, which not only brings deftruclion on indivi 
 duals, but on whole nations and communities ; and no fin has pro 
 duced more awful confequences than this of covetoufnefs, which, 
 indeed, is the parent of moft others. Whence flowed the blood 
 that has Itained families encrimfoned towns and deluged na 
 tions? From this curfed principle, which brings mifery on the 
 pofleflbr, and ruin on all around him. [U. S. ]
 
 192 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 j i . The next thing I would obfcrve, was God s bring 
 ing the people of Ifrael under the hand of Jofhua, and 
 fettling them in that land where Chrift was to be born, 
 and which was the great type of the heavenly Canaan, 
 which Chrift has purchafed. This was done by Jofhua, 
 who was of Joleph s poftcrity, and was an eminent type 
 of Chrift, and is therefore called the fhepherd, the ftone 
 of Ifrael, in Jacob s bleffing of Jofeph. [Gen. xlix. 24.] 
 (x) Being fuch a type of Chrift, he bore the name of 
 Chrift. Jojhua and Jefus are the fame name, only the one 
 is Hebrew, the other Greek ; and therefore, in the New 
 Teftament, which was originally written in Greek, Joihua 
 is called Jefus. [Acts vii. 45.] Which alfo our fathers 
 4 brought in with Jefus, i.e. Jojhua; [Heb. iv. 8.] If 
 jefus, I. e. if Jojhua had given them reft, he would not 
 have fpoken of another day. 
 
 God wonderfully poffeffcd his people of this land, con 
 quering the former inhabitants of it, and the mighty 
 giants, as Chrift conquered the devil ; firft fubduing the 
 great kings of that part of the land that was on the eaftern 
 iide of Jordan, Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king 
 of Balhan ; and then dividing the river Jordan, as before 
 he had done the Red Sea ; caufing the walls of Jericho to 
 fall down at the found of the trumpets of the priefts ; (that 
 typifying the found ot the gofpel by the preaching of gofpel 
 minifters, and the walls of the accxirfed city Jericho, the 
 walls of Satan s kingdom ;) and after thus wonderfully dc- 
 ftroying the mighty hoft of the Amorites under the five 
 kings, caufing the fun and rnoon to ftand ftill, to help the 
 people againft their enemies, at the prayer of the typical 
 
 Jefus ; 
 
 (x) Shepherd, tic flout, of Ifrael, ] i.e. From Jacob defcended 
 Jofeph ; or, from the God of Jacob it was that Jofeph, through 
 Divine Providence, was fent into Egypt, to be a fliepherd to feed 
 his father s family, and as a Hone to uphold and fupport it ; in 
 which he was a type of Chrift, the great and good fhepherd of 
 the flock, and the ftone that is laid in Zion, on which the whole 
 fpiritual Ifrael of God is built ; the foundation ftone on which 
 they ate laid and are fafe, and the corner ftone which knits them 
 together. [Pf. cxviii, 22.] [GiLL in loc.]
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 193 
 
 Jefus ; [ Jof. x. 12.] plainly fignifying this, that God would 
 make the whole courfe of nature to be fubfervient to the 
 affair of redemption ; fo that every thing fhould yield to 
 the purpofes of that work, and give place to the welfare of 
 God s redeemed people. 
 
 Thus did Chrift fhow his great love to his cleft, that 
 he wouM make the courfe of nature to give place to their 
 happinefs and profperity ; and fhowed that the fun and 
 moon, and all things vifible and invifible, v/ere theirs 
 by his purchafe. (Y) At the fame time, Chrift fought as 
 the captain of their hoft, and caft down great hailftones 
 upon their enemies, by which more were flain than by 
 the fword of the children of Ifrael. And after this he 
 
 gave 
 
 (Y) Sill things are OURS.] " Chriftians, God has created all 
 things in the world of nature with this defign, that you fhould derive 
 fome benefit from them, as far as they can come within your reach 
 or notice, your fervice or ufe. He appointed all things in the 
 counfels of his providence, to bear fome blefiing for you. He has 
 ordained all things in his kingdom of grace for your advantage ; 
 and there are unknown regions of light and glory which he has 
 provided for you. His elel were ever neareil to his heart, next to 
 the man Chrift Jefus, next to his only begotten Son ; for they 
 were all chofen in him before the foundation of the world. [Eph. 
 i. 4.] Whether creation or providence, whether nature, grace, or 
 glory, all things are for your fakes. [2 Cor. iv. 15.] 
 
 " I would caution you .... not to uriderftand it in fuch an 
 incredible fenfe, as though God made every particular creature in 
 the upper and the lower worlds, only to give the pofleflion of them 
 to the faints ; or that he manages all his providential kingdom 
 merely for the fake of his own people, without any other view. 
 No, this is ftretching the words into an extent too large and un- 
 reafonable ; for there are millions of creatures, millions of plants 
 and animals in earth and fea, that are born, and grow, and live, 
 and die again, which the faints of God never faw, nor knew, nor 
 mall know ; nor can they receive any immediate benefit from 
 them. But the meaning is this, that all things whatfoever the 
 faints can or (hall have to do within this or other worlds, were 
 intended to yield fome profit to them ; and efpecially while they 
 maintain their character as the children of God, and walk as be 
 comes their dignity and their profeflion. In all God s general 
 counfels of creation, and providence, and grace, he kept his eye 
 (as I may fay) ilill upon his faints ; he defigncd their good in ten 
 thoufand inftances, in his great and glorious works, and refolded 
 
 C e 2 that
 
 I 9 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 gave the people a mighty vi&ory over a yet greater army 
 in the northern part ot the land, that were gathered to 
 gether 
 
 o 
 
 that nothing in all his kingdoms mould interfere with their lafl and 
 beft intereft. 
 
 * Though what he has written down in the book of his decrees, 
 is read onlv at large by his Son Jefus Chrift, yet he has written out 
 a fweet abliracl: of it in the book of his promifes, that the faints on 
 earth might read and know it. [Rom. viii. 28.] And we know 
 that all things work together for good to them that love God ; 
 
 * to them, who are the called according to his purpofe. It was for 
 their fakes the promifes were written, that they might not only 
 have a prefent relifh of divine bleffings, but a fweet foretafte of 
 jjys long to come. 
 
 " The bleffings of the children of God were numbered up, and 
 written down originally for them, in the book of God s everlafting 
 counfels : and in the book of his word has he copied out of them ; 
 the bleffings of heaven from above, and of the deep from beneath ; 
 the precious things brought forth by the fun, and under the in 
 fluence of the moon ; the chief things of the ancient mountains 
 on earth, fo far as is needful for them here ; and the precious 
 
 * things of the everlafting hills of paradife hereafter. [Deut. 
 xxxiii. 13, 14.3 
 
 " Does the great Creator and Lord of all keep the wheels of 
 nature in their fettled courfes? It is for the people s good ; The 
 ftars in their courfes (hall fight for Ifrael: or does he countermand 
 nature in any of its motions, and bid the fun (land ftill in Gibeon, 
 
 * and the moon in the valley of Ajalon? It is, that the armies of 
 his people may have long day-light to fubdue their enemies. Hail- 
 flones and thunder (hall break cut of the clouds to deftroy the Ca- 
 naanites, when Ifrael is at war with them : but if Ifiael want bread 
 in the wildernefs, the clouds {hall drop down manna, and give them 
 bread from heaven." [WATTS S Sermons, vol. iii. fer. 38.] 
 
 With refpect to the miracle wrought by Jofluia, we beg leave 
 to add, there is no necefiity, from the text, to fuppofe any real 
 effect wrought on the bodies of the fun or moon, nor perhaps of 
 the eaith itfelf ; the moft natural interpretation feems to be, that 
 the light of the fun, and perhaps alfo of the moon blended with 
 it, was miraculoufiy protracted, not, it may be, on the whole he- 
 mifphere, but from Gibeon to Ajalon, and en the adjacent coun 
 try. This is confirmed by the obfervation of fome learned men, 
 that the Hebrew words [li?Dw* and PIT] are never ufed ftriftly for 
 the orbs themfelves, (the language having other words forthefe) 
 but for the light emitted from them. So that, in fadi, the light 
 rnight be continued all night, and thus two days blended together, 
 or, as the fon of Sirach expreffes it, [Ecclef. xlvi. 4.] one day 
 
 * as long as two. [See PIKE S Phil. Sac. p. 47. and GILL on 
 Jofh. x. 13.] [I-N.J
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. * 95 
 
 gether at the waters of Merpm, as the fand of the fea fhore, 
 [Joih. xi. 4-] 
 
 12. Another thing that God did towards carrying on 
 this affair, was his actually fetting up his ftated worfhip 
 among the people, as it had been before inftituted in the 
 wildernefs. This worfhip was appointed at Mount Sinai, 
 wholly in fubferviency to this great affair of redemp-r 
 tion. It was to make way for the coming of Chrift ; 
 and the innumerable ceremonial obfervances of it were 
 typical of him and his redemption. This wormip was 
 chiefly inftituted at Mount Sinai ; but it was gradually 
 put in practice. It was partly fet up in the wildernels, 
 where the tabernacle and its veflels were made ; but there 
 were many parts of this inftituted wormip that could not 
 be obferved in the wildernefs, by reafon of their unfeU 
 tied, itinerant ftate there : and then there were many pre 
 cepts that refpected the land of Canaan, and their cities 
 and places of habitation there ; which therefore could 
 not be put in practice, till they came into the land. But 
 now, when this was brought to pafs, God fet up his 
 tabernacle in the midft of his people, as he had before 
 promifed them, [Lev. xxiv. n.] I will fet my taber- 
 * nacle amongft you. The tabernacle was fet up at Shi- 
 loh, [Jofh. xviii. i. J and the priefts and Levites had 
 their offices appointed them, and the cities of refuge were 
 alfo appointed ; and now the people were in condition to 
 obferve their feafts of the firft fruits, and their feaft of 
 ingathering, and to bring all the tithes and offerings to 
 the Lord ; and moft parts of God s worihip were now 
 obferved, though there were fome things that were not 
 till afterwards. 
 
 13. The next thing I would take notice of, is God s 
 wonderfully preferving the people, from this time for T 
 ward, when all the males went up, three times in the 
 year, to the place where the ark was. The people of If- 
 rael were generally furrounded with enemies, that fought 
 all opportunities to deftroy, and difpoflefs them of theit 
 land ; and till David s time there were great numbers in 
 the land of the remains of the Canaanites, and the other 
 
 former
 
 196 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 former inhabitants, that were bitter enemies to the people 
 of Ifrael : and thefe had from year to year, three times in 
 the year, a fair opportunity of over-running their coun 
 try, and getting pofleffion of their cities, when all the 
 males were gone, and only the women and thofe who 
 were not able to go up, were left behind : yet they were 
 remarkably preferved throughout all generations at fuch 
 feafons, agreeable to die promife that God had made, 
 [Exod. xxxiv. 24.] Neither fhall any man defire thy 
 
 * land, when thou {halt go up to appear before the Lord 
 
 * thy God thrice in the year. So wonderfully did God 
 order affairs, and influence the hearts of their enemies,, 
 that though they were fo full of enmity againft Ifrael, and 
 defired to difpoffefs them of their land, and had frequently 
 fo fair an opportunity ; yet we never read, in all their 
 hiftory, of any of their enemies taking thefe opportunities 
 againft them. This was furely a wonderful difpenfation 
 of divine Providence ; to maintain and promote God s 
 great defign of redemption. 
 
 14. God s preferving his church and the true religion 
 from being wholly extinct in the frequent apofhfies of 
 the Ifraelites in the time of the Judges. How prone was 
 that people to foriake the true God, who had done fuch 
 wonderful things for them, and to fall into idolatry ! And 
 how did the land, from time to time, feem to be almoft 
 over-run with it I But yet God never fufFered his true 
 worfhip to be totally rooted out : his tabernacle ftood, the 
 ark was preierved, the book of the law was kept from 
 being deftroyed, God s priefthood was upheld, and God 
 {till had a church among the people ; and time after 
 time, when religion was come to the laft extremity, then 
 God granted a revival, and fent fome angel, of raifcd 
 up fome eminent perfon, to be an inftrument of fheir 
 reformation. 
 
 15. Gcd s preferving that nation from being deftroyed> 
 and delivering them from time to time, although they were 
 fo often fubducd and broxight under the dominion of the"ir 
 enemies. It is a wonder, not only that the true religion 
 was not wholly rooted out, and fo the church deftroyed 
 
 that
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 197 
 
 that way ; but alfo that the very nation in which that 
 church was, was not utterly deftroyed. One while they 
 were fubdued by Chuihan-rifliataim king of Mefopotamia, 
 another while under the Moabites; they were fold into 
 the hand of Jabin king of Canaan ; they were brought 
 under the dominion of the Midianites ; were forely dif- 
 trefTed by the children of Ammon ; and afterward by the 
 Philiftines. But yet God, in all thefe dangers, preferved 
 them from being wholly overthrown ; and from time to 
 time, when it was come to extremity, and they were upon 
 the very brink of ruin, God raifed up a deliverer, [Deut. 
 xxxii. 36.] For the Lord fhall judge his people, and 
 repent himfelf for his fervants ; when he feeth their 
 power is gone, and there is none fhut up or left. 
 
 Thefe remarkable difpenfations of Providence are fet 
 forth in a lively and elegant manner in the cvith Pfalm. 
 
 Thefe deliverers that God raifed up from time to time 
 were all types of Chrill, the great Redeemer of his church ; 
 and fome of them very remarkably fo ; as, particularly, 
 Barak, Jephthah, Gideon, Samfon, in many particulars ; 
 efpecially in the a6ts of Samfon, as might be fhown, were 
 it not that this would take up too much time, (z) 
 
 16. It 
 
 (z ) Inftead of running through the various particulars in which 
 thefe worthies may be fuppofed to have typified the Redeemer, it 
 may be more ufeful to fubjoin the following remarks on typical 
 characters in general : 
 
 " I. In order to conftitute a proper type it is by no means 
 neceflary, that the pcrfon who anfwers this important purpofe 
 fhould pofiefs perfeft moral qualities ; were this requifite, who 
 ever was worthy to reprefent the Son of God ? .... It will 
 follow, 
 
 " 2. That the comparifon is not to be ftated and purfued 
 through every particular incident of the life, and every feature of 
 the perlbn typifying. . . . 
 
 " 3. Scripture by direft application, or by fair unftrained ana 
 logy, ought therefore to lead, to regulate, and to correct all our 
 inquiries of this fort. . . . 
 
 " 4. ... It is of importance to inquire, whether or not the 
 refemblance we mean to purfue, has a tendency to promote fomc 
 moral, practical, pious purpofe." [HUNTER S Sac. Biog. vol. ii.
 
 198 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 16. It is obfervable, that when Chrift came to managd 
 the affairs of his church in this peri6d, he often appeared 
 in the form of that nature that he took upon him in his 
 incarnation. So he feems to have appeared to Mofes from 
 time to time, and particularly at that time when God fpake 
 to him face to face, as a man fpeaketh to his friend, and 
 he beheld the fimilitude of the Lord [Numb. xii. 8.] after 
 he had befought him to fhow him his glory ; which was 
 the moft remarkable vifion that ever he had of Chrift. 
 There was a twofold difcovery that Mofes had of Chrift : 
 one was fpiritual, when he proclaimed his name, The 
 
 * Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-fuf- 
 
 * fering, and abundant in goodnefs and truth, keeping 
 
 * mercy for thoufands, forgiving iniquity and tranfgreflion 
 
 * and fin, and that will by no means clear the guilty ; vi- 
 
 * fiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and 
 
 * upon the childrens children, unto the third and to the 
 
 * fourth generation. [Exod. xxxiv. 6, &c.] Another was 
 external ; which was that which Mofes faw, when Chrift 
 paffed by, and put him in a cleft of the rock, and covered 
 him with his hand, fo that Mofes faw his back-parts. 
 What he faw was doubtlefs the back-parts of a glorious 
 human form, in which Chrift appeared to him, and in nil 
 likelihood the form of his glorified human nature, in which 
 he fhould afterwards appear. He faw not his face ; for 
 it is not to be fuppofed that any man could lubfift under 
 a fight of the glory of Chrift s human nature as it now 
 appears. 
 
 So it was an human form in which Chrift appeared to 
 the feventy elders. [Exod. xxiv. 911.] The went 
 
 * up Mofes and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and feventy 
 
 * of the elders of Ifrael. And they faw the God of If- 
 
 * rael : and there was under his feet, as it were a paved 
 
 * work of a fapphire-ftone, and as it were the body of 
 heaven in his clearnefs. And upon the nobles of the 
 1 children of Ifrael he laid not his hand : alfo they 
 
 * faw God, and did. eat and drink. So Chrift appeared 
 afterwards to Jofh.ua in the form of the human nature, 
 [Jofh. v, 13, 14.] And it came to pafs when Joiliua 
 
 * was
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 199 
 
 was by Jericho, he lift up his eyes, and looked, and he- 
 hold, there ftood a man over againft him, with a fword 
 drawn in his hand : and Jolhua went unto him, and 
 faid unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adverfaries ? 
 * And he faid, Nay, but as captain of the hoft of the 
 Lord am I now come. And fo he appeared to Gideon, 
 [Judg. vi. ii, &c.] and fo alfo to Manoah, [chap. xiii. 
 1721.] Here Chrift appeared to Manoah in a repre- 
 fentation both of his incarnation and death ; of his in 
 carnation, in that he appeared in a human form; and of 
 his death and fufferings, reprefented by his afcending up 
 in the flame of the facrifice ; intimating thereby, that he 
 was to be the great facrifice, that muft be offered up to 
 God for a fvveet favour, in the fire of his wrath, as that kid 
 was burned and afcended up in the flame. Chrift thus 
 appeared, time after time, in the form of that nature he 
 was afterwards to affume, becaufe he now came on the fame 
 defign, and to carry on the fame work, that he was to 
 finiih in that nature. (A) Another thing I would men 
 tion, 
 
 (A) CHRIST appeared in the human form. ~\ Having repeatedly 
 intimated an intention of confidering thefe appearances in a col- 
 Ie6led view, we mail now attempt it. But to fave repetition, we 
 muft beg the reader to review our author s obfervations on the Di 
 vine appearance to Jacob, (p. 157) and to Mofes, (p. 167) as 
 well as thofe mentioned under this head, and then he will be pre 
 pared to accompany us in the following remarks : 
 
 i. The divine Perfon who appears, is frequently called by the 
 augufl names of Jehovah and JElohim, Lord and God. This is parti 
 cularly obfcrvable in the appearances to Jacob and Mofes; we mal! 
 only inftance in the former. We are told, [Gen. xxxii. 24, &c. j 
 
 * Jacob was left alone, and there wreftled a man with him until 
 the breaking of the day: whatever is the meaning of tin s ex 
 traordinary circumrtance, it is certain that Jacob was aware oi 
 his vifitor, by his fo earneitly entreating his blefimg, but more 
 efpecially by his calling the name of that place Pcnuel, (/. c. the 
 face of God) becaufe he had feen God face to face. Jacob 
 feems to advert to this circumitance in the lait ftage of his life, 
 for, blefiing the fons of Jofeph, he fays, * The angel that rt- 
 deemed me blefs the lads. But molt remarkable is a pafTagc 
 in the Prophet Hofea, [ch. xii. 4.] relating to this circumttancr ; 
 
 * He had power over the angel, and prevailed: this refers to his 
 wreilling, which was do ubtlefs a fymbolical action: lie wept, 
 
 D d * ami
 
 200 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, 
 
 tion, done in this period towards the work of redemp 
 tion, is the beginning of the fucceflion of prophets, and 
 
 ere6ting 
 
 and made fupplication unto him; when he would not let him go 
 without a bleffing ; He found him in Bethel ; there he fpake 
 with us. Even the Lord God [ Jehovah Elolnni\ of holts; the 
 
 * Lord \_Jehoiiah\ is his memorial; i.e. the name by which he 
 will be known. [See Owen on the Hebrews, vol. i. p. 1 18.] And 
 it is obfervable, that the perfon appearing in moft of thefe vifions 
 feems to be called promifciioufly both the Lord and the angel of 
 the Lord. 
 
 2. The manner in which this angel fpeaks is very obfervable, 
 and fuch as no created being ought to affume. The angel that 
 appeared to Hagar faid, I will multiply thy feed exceedingly ; 
 [Gen. xvi. 10.] To Abraham, * Thou haft not withheld thy fon 
 
 * from me; [Gen. xxii. 12.1 And to Mofes, [Exod. iii. 4.] * I 
 am the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, &c. 
 
 3. The perfon thus appearing receives divine honours Put 
 the flioes from off thy feet, faid he to Mofes and Jofhua, for 
 
 * the place whereon thou ftandeft is holy ground. The latter, 
 we are exprefsly told, did worfhlp the captain of the Lord s hoft. 
 [See Dr. sl/Ii.r, Judgment of the Jewifli Church, p. 234. and Bp. 
 Patrick on Jofh. v. 14, 15.] Though we do not conceive, (as fome 
 have done) that Gideon s prefent was a facrifice, yet the reafon of 
 the angel refufing a facrifice from Manoah is very fingular, and 
 pertinent to our point, viz. that Manoah knew him not. [Judges 
 xiii. 1 6.] 
 
 4. It is very remarkable that God has fo repeatedly revealed 
 himfelf as a jealous God, and declared that he will not give his glory 
 to another. [Exod. xx. 5. Ifa. xlii. 8.] It therefore follows, 
 
 5. That this could not be a created angel. In the angelic ap 
 pearances in the Nttv Teftament we find no fuch language ; none 
 of the names of God are applied to them, nor do they affume any 
 of his prerogatives ; and when the apoftle John offered to worfhip 
 one of thefe, though, it is probable, he did not intend fupreme 
 adoration, yet the angel refufed and foibad him. [Rev. xix. 10.]] 
 Or if we fuppofe the apoflle meant to adore him, it muft be on a 
 iuppofition, that he was the Son of God, which, if it could be 
 proved, would very much ftrengthen cur hypothefis. 
 
 Nor, 6. By the angel of the Lord muft we underftand any mere 
 external form In which the Deity reiided, and fpake as a cloud ov 
 flame, c. becaufe he is called the captain of falvation, and 
 generally appeared in a human form. 
 
 Neither, 7. Muft we underftand God the Father himfelf, for 
 our Lord exprefsly tells the Jews, that they had not at any time 
 either * heard his voice, or feen his fhapc. [John v. 37.] And 
 
 becaufe
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. . 201 
 
 credling a fchool of the prophets, in Samuel s time. There 
 was fomething of this ipirit of prophecy in Ifrael after 
 
 Mofes, 
 
 becaufe the fcriptures never reprefent the Father in any delegated 
 or inferior character. 
 
 But, 8. Thefe reprefentations perfevSUy agree with the account 
 given in fcripture of the Son of God, who is called the angel 
 of the covenant, [Mai. iii. I. in the Hebrew,] and perhaps the 
 
 * angel of God s prefence. [Ifa. Ixiii. 9.] 
 
 9. It appears, that of the patriarchs and others to whom this 
 angel appeared, fome knew him immediately to be God himfelf, 
 and in general all were convinced of it after he was departed; hence 
 many of them faid, We mall die, for we have feen God. 
 
 10. This was the univerfal opinion of the Chriilian fathers, as 
 has been (hewn at large by Bp. Bull, Dr. Waterland, and others ; a 
 fingle pafTage therefore, full to our purpofe, (hall fuffice. * It was 
 Chrift who defcended into communion with men, from Adam unto 
 the patriarchs and prophets in vifions, dreams and appearances or 
 reprefentations of himfelf, inllrurting them in his future condition 
 from the beginning: and God who converfed with men on earth, 
 was no other than the Word who was to be made fiefh." [TER- 
 TULLIAN. See Owen on the Heb. vol. i. p. 121.] 
 
 n. Even fome of the moft eminent Jewifh writers have made 
 confeffions to this purpofe. So Rab. M. N. GERUNDENSIS, of the 
 1 3th century; " This angel, if we fpeak exactly, is the angel the 
 redeemer, concerning whom it is written, My name is in him, 
 that angel who faid to Jacob, I am the God of Bethel, &c. 
 [Owen on the Heb. vol. i. p. 122.] 
 
 12. Moft of thefe remarks, as they go to prove that thefe ap 
 pearances were of the Son of God, they no lefs prove the divinity 
 of his perfon and character; which is the principal reafon of our 
 infifting fo largely ou this fubjeft. 
 
 1 3. We are not however from any of thefe proportions to infer, 
 that in all the imlance . of God s fpeaking under the Old Teftamcnt, 
 the Son only, as diftinguifhed from the Father, was intended: this 
 notion would involve altnoft as great difficulties as the oppofite one 
 of there being a created angel, as will appear from the following 
 remarkable text, [Exod. xxiii. 20, 21.] Behold, I fend an angel 
 
 * before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the 
 place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice; 
 
 * provoke him not; for he will not pardon your tranfgreflions: for 
 my name is in him. Thefe are evidently the words of the Father 
 promifing that the angel of the covenant mould go before to be the 
 guide of Ifrael; in which we cannot but obierve, that this angel has 
 the peculiar attributes and prerogatives of Deity afcribed to him. 
 
 14. To this it may be objected, [from Exod. xxxiii. 2 4.] 
 That when God promifed to fend an angel before them, the Lord 
 
 D d 2 threatened
 
 2oz HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Mofes, before Sairmel. Joflina and many of the judges had 
 a degree of it. Deborah was a prophetefs : and fome of 
 the high priefls were infnired with this fpirit ; particularly 
 Eli : and that fpace of time was not wholly without in- 
 ftances of thofe that were fet apart of God efpecially to this 
 office, and fo were called prophets. Such an one we read 
 of, [Judg. vi. 8.] * The Lord fent a prophet unto the chil- 
 
 * dren of Ifrael, which faid unto them, &c. Such an one 
 he feems to have been that we read of, [i Sam. ii. 27. \ 
 
 * And there came a man of God to E!i, &c. 
 
 But there was no fuch order of men upheld in Ifrael 
 for any conftancy, before Samuel ; the want of it is ta 
 ken notice of, [i Sam. iii. i.] And the word of the 
 Lord was precious in thofe days ; there was no open 
 1 vilion. (B) But in Samuel there was begun a fuccef- 
 
 fion 
 
 threatened that he would not go up himfelf, on which occafion the 
 people mourned : but the Jewifh doftors will furnifh us with an 
 cafy folution of this difficulty ; for ABEN EZRA obferves, [fee 
 Gill in loc.] that this was not the angel promiied before, [chap, 
 xxiii.] but an inferior one, which the Lord threatened to fend 
 with them inftead of the former ; though afterwards he relented 
 and promifcd his own prefence, which leems to be the fame as in 
 tended in Ifaiah by the angel of his prefence. So Rab. MENA- 
 c H E M faith, " This angel is not the angel of the covenant, of whom 
 he fpake in the time of favourable acceptance, My prefence mall 
 
 * go : for now the holy bleffed God had taken away his divine 
 prelence from among them, and would have led them by the hand 
 of another angel." \Ayif. in Ex. xxxii. 34.] 
 
 15. Upon the whole, whenever we read of a divine appearance 
 under the Old Teftament, in which a human or angelic form was 
 exhibited, or fome delegated and inferior character fuftained, and 
 yet combined with fome circumftances that forbid our undcrftand- 
 ing it of a nure angel, we may fafely interpret it of the Son of God, 
 who thus anticipated his future humiliation, and whofe delights 
 
 * from the beginning were with the fons of men. [G. E.] 
 
 ( B ) The word of the Lord was PRECIOUS in thofe days,~\ "That 
 is, a word from the Lord in a dream or vifion directing, informing, 
 inftru&ing, or reproving, this was very rarely had ; of late there 
 had been but very few inilances, and which accounts for it, why 
 not only the child Samuel knew not it was the voice of the Lord that 
 called to him, but Eli himfelf thought nothing of it until he had 
 called a third time, fo rare and fcarce was any initance of this kind; 
 
 and
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 203 
 
 (ion of prophets, that was maintained continually from 
 that time, at leaft with very little interruption, till the 
 fpirit of prophecy ceafed, about Malachi s time ; and 
 therefore Samuel is fpoken of in the New Teftament as 
 the beginning of the fucceffion of prophets, [A6ts iii. 24.] 
 
 * And all the prophets from Samuel, and thofe that follow 
 
 * after, as many have fpoken, have foretold of thefe days. 
 After Samuel was Nathan, and Gad, and Iddo, and He- 
 man, and Afaph, and others. And in the latter end of 
 Solomon s reign, we read of Ahijah ; and in Jeroboam 
 .and Rehoboam s time we read of prophets ; and fo con 
 tinually one prophet fucceeding another till the captivity. 
 We read of prophets as being a conilant order of men 
 upheld in the land in thofe days: and in the time of the 
 captivity there were Ezekiel and Daniel ; and after the 
 captivity there were Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. 
 
 And becaufe God intended a conftant fucceflion of 
 prophets from Samuel s time, therefore now was begun a 
 fchool of the prophets ; that is, a fchool of young men, 
 that were trained up under fome great prophet, who 
 was their mafter and teacher in the ftudy of divine things, 
 and the pra6tice of holinefs, to fit them for this office, as 
 God fliould call them to it. Thofe young men that be 
 longed to thefe fchools, were called the fons of the pro 
 phets ; and oftentimes they are called prophets. Thefe 
 at rirft were under the tuition of Samuel. [Sam. xix. 20.] 
 
 And 
 
 , . . and as every thing that is fcarcc and rare, is generally precious, 
 fo the word of God in this way alfo was ; and fo it is confidered in 
 every yiew of it, as the written word of God : when there was 
 but little of it penned, as at this time, and few or none to teach 
 and inftruft in it, Eli being old and his fons fo vile ; or when it is 
 forbidden to be read, or the copies ot it deltroycd and become 
 fearce, as it was in the times of Dioclefian : or when there are but 
 very few faithful evangelical miniftcrs of the word ; which though 
 it is always precious to them that have precious faith in it, the 
 promifes of it being exceeding great and precious, and the truths 
 of it more precious than fine gold, and the grand lubjeft of it, a 
 precious Saviour, who is fo in his perfon, offices, blood, righteouf- 
 nefs and facrifice : yet it is generally more precious when there is 
 y. fcarcity of it, when God makes a man, a gofpel miniller, more 
 precious than fine gold. [See Ifa. xiii. 12.] [GILL in loc.j
 
 io 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * And when they faw the company of prophets prophe- 
 
 * lying, and Sajnucl {landing as appointed over them. 
 The company of the prophets that we read of i Sam. x. 5. 
 were the fame. Afterwards we read of their being under 
 Elijah. Elifha was one of his fons ; but he defired to 
 have a double portion of his Ipirit, as his fuccefTor, as 
 his firft born : as the deleft fon was wont to have a double 
 portion of the eftate of his father ; and therefore the other 
 fons of the prophets, when they perceived that the fpirit 
 of Elijah reftcd on Eli/ha, fubmittcd themfelves to him, 
 and owned him for their matter, as they had done Elijah 
 before; [2 Kings ii. 15.] * And when the fons of the 
 
 * prophets which were to view at Jericho, faw him, they 
 
 * faid, the fpirit of Elijah doth reft on Elifha. And they 
 bowed themfelves to the ground before him. [See alfo 
 2 Kings iv. 38.] 
 
 In Elijah s and Elifha s time, there were feveral places 
 where there refided companies of thefe fons of the pro 
 phets ; as there was one at Bethel, another at Jericho, and 
 another at Gilgal, unlefs that at Gilgal and Jericho were 
 the fame ; and poffibly that which is called the college, 
 where the prophetefs Huldah refided, was another at Jeru- 
 falem , [fee 2 Kings xxii. 14.] It is there faid of Huldah 
 the prophetefs, that fhe dwelt in Jerufalem, in the col- 
 lege. (c) They had houfes built, where they ufed to 
 dwell together ; and therefore thofe at Jericho being mul 
 tiplied, and finding their houfe too little for them, defired 
 leave of their mafler Elifha, that they might go and hew 
 timber to build a larger. [2 King vi. 1,2.] 
 
 At fome times there were numbers of thefe fons of the 
 prophets in lirael ; for when Jezebel cut off the prophets 
 of the Lord, it is laid that Obadiah took an hundred of 
 them, and hid them by fifty in a cave, [i Kings xviii. 4.] 
 
 Thefe fchools of the prophets being fet up by Samuel, 
 and afterwards kept up by fuch prophets as Elijah and 
 
 Eliiha, 
 
 (c) Huhlab dwelt in the COLLEGE.] " In the college of the 
 prophets ; in the houfe of inftrtf&ion , as the Targum ; the fchool 
 where the young prophets were inttru&ed and trained up." 
 [GiLL in loc.J
 
 FROM MOSES TO DAVID. 20 
 
 Elifha, inuft be of divine appointment : and accordingly 
 we find, that thofe fons of the prophets were often fa 
 voured with a degree of infpiration, while they continued 
 under t-uition in the fchools of the prophets ; and God 
 commonly, when he called any prophet to the conftant 
 exercife of the prophetical office, and to fome extraordi 
 nary fervice, took them out of thefe fchools ; though not 
 univerfally. Hence the prophet Amos, fpeaking of his 
 being called to the prophetical office, fays, that he was 
 one that had not been educated in the fchools of the pro 
 phets, and was not one of the fons of the prophets. [Amos 
 vii. 1.5.] But Amos s taking notice of it as remark 
 able, that he Ihould be called to be a prophet that had 
 not been educated at the fchools of the prophets, fhows 
 that it was God s ordinary manner to take his prophets 
 out of thefe fchools ; for therein he did but blefs his own 
 inftitution. 
 
 Now this remarkable difpenfation of Providence, viz. 
 God s beginning a conftant fucceffion of prophets in Sa 
 muel s time, that was to laft for many ages ; and to that 
 end, eftabliihing a fchool of the prophets under Samuel, 
 thenceforward to be continued in Ifrael, was in order to 
 promote that great affair of redemption which we are 
 upon. For the main bufmefs of this fucceffion of pro 
 phets was to forefhow Chrift, and the glorious redemption 
 that he was to accomplish, and fo prepare the way for his 
 coming. [Ah iii. 18, 24----X. 43.] 
 
 As I obfcrved before, [fee p. 82.] the Old Teftament 
 time was like a time of night, wherein the church was 
 not wholly without light, but had not the light of the 
 fun directly, but as reflected from the flars. Now thefe 
 prophets were the flars that reflected the light of the fun ; 
 and accordingly they fpoke abundantly of Jefus Chrift, as 
 appears by what we have of their prophecies in writing. 
 And they made it very much their bufmefs, when they 
 fludied in their fchools or colleges, and elfewhere, to 
 fearch out the work of redemption ; agreeable to what 
 the apoitle Peter fays of them, [i Pet. i. 10. n.] Of 
 which falvation the prophets have inquired, and iearch- 
 
 ed
 
 206 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ed diligently, who prophefied of the grace that flioulc! 
 come unto you ; fearching what, or what manner of 
 
 * time the Spirit of Chrift that was in them did fignify, 
 when it teftified beforehand the fufferings of Chrift, and 
 the glory that fhould follow. (D) We are told that 
 the church of the Redeemer is built on the foundation 
 of the prophets and apoftles, hhnfelf being the chief cor- 
 ner-ftone. [Eph. ii. 20.] 
 
 This was the firft thing of the nature that ever was done 
 in the world ; and it was a great thing that God did to 
 wards farther advancing this great building of redemption. 
 There had been before occafional prophecies of Chrift, as 
 was ihown ; but now the time drawing nearer when the 
 Redeemer fhould come, it pleafed God to appoint a certain 
 order of men, in conftant fuceeinon, whofe main bufmefs 
 it fhould be, to foreihow Chrift and his redemption, and 
 as his forerunners to prepare the way for his coming ; and 
 God eftablifhed fchools, wherein multitudes were inftru6l- 
 ed and trained up to that end. [Rev. xix. 10.] I am thy 
 fellow fervant, and of thy brethren that have the tefti- 
 
 * mony of Jefus ; for the teftimony of Jefus is the fpirit 
 of prophecy/ V. 
 
 (D) Of ivhich falvation the PROPHETS have inquired, &c.~] This 
 paflage prefents us with the following important truths : 
 
 1. That the fpirit which infpired the antient prophets was the 
 fpirit of Chrift ; an irrefragable argument of his pre-exiftence and 
 divinity. 
 
 2. That as Chrift was the author, fo was he the grand fubjeft 
 of their predictions ; the alpha and omrga of the Bible, The tef- 
 timony of Jefus is the fpirit of prophecy , or, as fome invert the 
 words, The fpirit of prophecy is the teftimony of Jefus ; (To 
 DoddriJge and Bp. Hurd.~\ To him give all the prophets witnefs, 
 [ Afts x. 43.] both as to his fufferings and the glory that fhould 
 follow. 
 
 3. That the prophets had only a partial acquaintance with the 
 meaning of their own predictions. It was not necefiary, nor in 
 many cafes expedient, that they ftiould fully comprehend them, 
 efpecially as to the time of their accomplishment. 
 
 4. That they efteemed the fubjeft worthy their inquiry and ar 
 dent fludy : Prophets and Kings defired to fee and hear the 
 things revealed to us, [Luke x. 24.] How highly then fhould 
 we elleem how deeply venerate how ineilimably prize thefe 
 (iifcovcries ! Blefied are our eyes, if they fee and our ears, if 
 they fuitably attend to them. [J. N.]
 
 V. From DAVID to the Babylonijli CAPTIVITY. 
 
 I COME now to the fifth period of the times of the 
 Old Teftament, beginning with David, and extending to 
 the Babylonifh captivity ; and would now proceed to fhow 
 how the work of redemption was therein carried on. 
 And here, 
 
 The firft thing to be taken notice of, is God s anoint 
 ing that perfon who was to be the anceftor of Chriit, to 
 be king over his people. The difpenfations of Providence 
 which have been taken notice of through the laft period, 
 from Mofes to this time, refpe6l the nation, but now the 
 fcripture-hiftory leads us to confider God s providence 
 towards that particular perfon whence Chrifl was to pro 
 ceed, viz. David. It pleafed God at this time remarkably 
 to felecl out this perfon from all the thoufands of Ifrael, 
 and to put a moft honourable mark of diftin<lion upon 
 him, by anointing him to be king over his people. In 
 was only God that could find him out. His father s 
 houfe is ipoken of as being little in Ifrael, and he was the 
 youngefl of all the fons of his father, and was leaft ex 
 pected to be the man that God had chofen, by Samuel. (E; 
 God had before, in the former ages of the world, remark 
 ably diilinguiihed the perfons from whom Chrift was to 
 come ; as Seth, Noah, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob. Tlit 
 laft inftance of this was in Jacob s bleffing his fon Judah ; 
 unlefs we reckon Nahflion s advancement in the wilder- 
 nefs to be the head of the tribe of Judah. [Numb. i. 7. " 
 But this di, f tiniion in the perfon of David was very ho- 
 
 E e nourable* 
 
 (E) DAVID tie leajl likely to le God s chofen. } " Godfeetb rot * at 
 ( man feeth. Samuel war> lent to choofe a king among the ions of 
 Jefle. [i Sam. xvi. 6.] When he faw Elial, he faid, Surely the 
 Lord s anointed is before him ; but the Lord faid to Samuel, 
 [ver. 7.] Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his 
 * ftature, becaufe I have refufed him. Old Jefle, it may be, was 
 ready to look on his eldeil fon too, being pleafed with his tall and 
 comely figure, and to fay within himfelf , It is a pity that Ellal 
 1 was not made a king ! But David was God s beloved. 
 [WATTS S Sermons, vol. i. fer. 7.]
 
 208 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 nourable : for it was God s anointing him to he king over 
 his people. And thereby was fomething farther denoted 
 than in the anointing of Saul. God anointed Saul to be 
 king perfonally ; but God intended fomething farther by 
 fending Samuel to anoint David, viz. to eftablifli the crown 
 of Ifrael in him and in his family, as long as Ifrael con 
 tinued to be a kingdom ; and not only fo, but what was 
 infinitely more, eftabiiihing the crown of his univerfal 
 church, his ipiritual Ifrael, in his feed, to the end of the 
 world, and throughout eternity. 
 
 This was a great difpenfation of God, and a great ftep 
 taken towards a farther advancing of the work of redemp 
 tion, according as the time grew near wherein Chrift was 
 to come. David, as he was the anceftor of Chrift, fo he 
 was the greateft pcrfonal type of Chrift under the Old Tei- 
 tament. The types of Chrift were of three forts ; inftituted, 
 providential, and perfonal. (F) The ordinance of facri- 
 ficing was the greatcft of the inftituted types ; the redemp 
 tion out of Egypt was the greateft of the providential ; and 
 David the greateft of the perfonal ones. Hence Chrift is 
 often called David in the prophecies of fcripture ; [Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 23, 24.] And I will fet up one fhepherd over them, 
 and he (hall feed them, even my fervant David ; my 
 fervant David a prince among them ; and fo in many 
 other plates : and he is very often fpoken of as the feed or 
 Ion of David. 
 
 David being the anccftor and great type of Chrift, his 
 being lolemnly anointed by God to be king over his peo 
 ple, that the kingdom of his church might be continued 
 
 (F) The TYPES of Chrift of three forts. ~] So Dr. Owen diftin- 
 guifhes types into, i. Such as were dire&ly appointed for that 
 end, (which our author calls instituted) as the facrifices ; 2. Such 
 as had only a providential ordination to that end, as the llory of 
 Jacob andEfau; and, 3. Things that fell out of old, fo as to il- 
 luitratc prcfent things from a fimilitude between them, as the alle 
 gory of Hagar and Sarah. Others dittinguifh them into real and 
 perfonal ; by the former, intending the tabernacle, temples, and 
 religious inflitutions ; and under the latter, including what our 
 author calls providential and perfonal types. [Mather on the Types, 
 p. 63.] Thefe latter we have noticed as they occurred, and the 
 former will be coniidered in a proper place. [N. V.]]
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 209 
 
 in his family for ever, may in fome refpects be looked on 
 as an anointing of Chrift himfelf. Chrift was as it were 
 anointed in him ; and therefore Chrift s anointing and 
 David s anointing are fpoken of under one in fcripture, 
 [Pfal. Ixxxix. 20.] * I have found David my fervant ; 
 with my holy oil have I anointed him. And David s 
 throne and Chrift s are fpoken of as one: [Luke i. 32.] 
 
 * And the Lord mall give him the throne of his father 
 David. [Adh ii. 30.] David knowing that God 
 had fworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his 
 
 * loins, according to the flem, he would raife up Chrift to 
 fit on his throne. 
 
 Thus God s beginning of the kingdom of his church 
 in the houfe of David, was a new eftablifhing of the 
 kingdom of Chrift ; the beginning of it in a ftate of fuch 
 viability as it thenceforward continued in. It was God s 
 planting the root, whence that branch of righteoufnefs 
 was afterwards to fpring up, which was to be the everlaft- 
 ing king of his church ; and therefore this everlafting 
 king is called the branch from the ftem of Jcffe. [Ifa. xi. 
 i.] And there mall come forth a rod out of the ftem of 
 
 * Jefle, and a branch (hall grow out of his roots. (G) 
 [Jer, xxiii. 5.] Behold, the days come, faith the Lord, 
 
 * that I will raife up unto David a righteous branch, and 
 
 E e 2 a king 
 
 (G) A rod from thejlem of JESSE.] In the preceding chapter 
 " the prophet had dei cribed the Affyrian army under the image 
 of a mighty foreft . . . cut down to the ground, by the ax weilded 
 by the hand of fome powerful and illultrious agent : in oppofition 
 to this> image he represents the great peifon, who makes the fubjeft 
 of this chapter, as a flender twig, mooting out from the trunk of 
 an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which 
 tender plant, fo weak in appearance, mould neverthelefs become 
 
 fruitful and profper We have here a remarkable inftance 
 
 of that method fo common with the prophets, and particularly with 
 Ifaiah, of taking occafion from the mention of fome great temporal 
 deliverance, to launch out into the difplay of the fpiritual deliver 
 ance of God s people by the Meffiah ; for that this prophecy relates 
 to the Meffiah, we have the exprefs authority of St. Paul, Rom. 
 xv. 12." [Bp. LOWTH in Ifa. xi. i. His Lordfhip addsapaflage 
 from KIMCHI, who alfo applies this text to the Meffiah, as other 
 eminent Rabbins have done, as may be feen in Poll Syn. Crit. in 
 ioc.J
 
 2io HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 a king fhall reign and profper. [Chap, xxxiii. 15.] In 
 thofe days, and at that time, I will caufe the branch of 
 ri^hteoufnefs to grow up unto David, and he fhall exe- 
 cute judgment and righteoufnefs in the land. So Chrift. 
 in the New Teftament, is called the root and offspring ot 
 David. [Rev. xxii. 16.] 
 
 It is obfervable, that God anointed David after Saul to 
 reign in his room. He took away die crown from him, 
 who was higher in ftature than any of his people, and was 
 in their eyes fitted to bear rule, to give it to David, who 
 was low of ftature, and in companion, ofdefpicable ap 
 pearance : lo God was pleafed to fhow how Chrift, who 
 appeared without form or comelinefs, and wos delpifed and 
 rejected of men, fhould take the kingdom from the great 
 ones of the earth. And alfo it is obfervable, that David 
 was the youngeft of Jeffe s fons, as Jacob the younger bro 
 ther fupplanted Efau, and got birthright and blcfling from 
 him : and as Pharez, brother of Chrift s anceftor, fup 
 planted Zarah in his birth ; and as Ifaac, another of the 
 anceftors of Chrift, caft out his elder brother Iflimael : 
 thus was that frequent faying of Chrift fulfilled, The laft 
 mall be firft, and the firft laft. 
 
 2. The next thing I would obferve, is God s pre- 
 ferving David s life, by a feries of wonderful providences 
 till Saul s death. I have above taken notice of the won 
 derful prefervation of other anceftors of Chrift ; as Noah, 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob ; and have obferved how, in 
 that Chrift the great Redeemer was to proceed from them, 
 that in their prefervation, the work of redemption itfelt 
 may be looked upon as prefcrved from being defeated, 
 and the whole church, which is redeemed through him, 
 from being overthrown. But the prefervation of David 
 was not lefs remarkable than that of any others already i 
 taken notice of. How often was there but a ftep between 
 him and death ? The firft inftance of it we have in his 
 encountering a lion and a bear, (H) which, without mi- i 
 
 raculous 
 
 (H) His encountering a LION and a BEAR.] Or " a lion OR 
 a bear; the meaning can only be, that at different times they 
 
 would
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 211 
 
 raculous affiftance, could at once have rent this young 
 ilripling in pieces, as eafily as they could the lamb which 
 he delivered from them : fo afterwards the root and off- 
 fpring of David was preferved from the roaring lion that 
 goes about feeking whom he may devour ; who was con 
 quered, and the fouls ot men refcxied as lambs out of the 
 mouth of this lion. Another remarkable deliverance was 
 from that mighty giant Goliath, \vho was ftrong enough 
 to have given his fleih to the bealls of the field, and to 
 the fowls of the air, as he threatened : but God preferved 
 David and gave him the vidlory, fo that he cut off his 
 head with his own fword. Chri.fl flew the fpiritual Go 
 liath with his own weapon, the crofs, and fo delivered 
 his people. And how remarkably did God preferve him 
 from being flain by Saul, when he firft fought his life, by 
 giving his daughter to be a fnare to him, that the hand 
 of the Philiftines might be upon him : and afterwards, 
 when Saul fpake to Jonathan, and to all his fervants, to 
 kill him ; alfo in inclining Jonathan, inflead of murder 
 ing, to love him as his own foul, and to be a great inftru- 
 inent of his prefervation, even at the hazard of his own 
 life, though one would have thought that none would have 
 been more willing to have David killed than Jonathan, 
 feeing that he was competitor with him for the crown. 
 Again the Lord wonderfully preferved him, when Saul 
 threw a javelin to fmite him to the wall ; and when he 
 fent meflengers to his houfe, to watch for and to kill him, 
 when Michal, Saul s daughter, let him down through a 
 window ; likcwife when he afterwards fent meffengers once 
 and again, to Naioth in Ramah, to tike him, and they 
 were remarkably prevented by being feized with miracu 
 lous impreffions of the fpirit oi God ; and even when Saul, 
 being refolute in the affair, went himfelf, he alfo was 
 among the prophets. .Again after this, how wonderfully 
 was David s life preferved at Gath among the Philiftinej, 
 when he went to Achifh, the king of Gath, and was 
 
 there 
 
 would come and take a lamb, a lion at one t;:ne, and a bear at 
 another." [GILL ia I Sam. xvii. 34.]
 
 ii2 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 there in the hands of the Philiftines, who one would have 
 thought, would have difpatched him at once, he having 
 fo much provoked them by his exploits againit them. 
 How wonderfully did God deliver them at Keilah, when 
 he had entered into a fenced town, where Saul thought 
 
 he was fure of him ! When he purfued and hunted 
 
 him in the mountains ; when the army encompafled him 
 
 in the wildernefs of Maon ! How was he delivered 
 
 in the cave of Engedi, when inftead of Saul s killing 
 David, God delivered Saul into his hands in the cave, and 
 cut off his fkirt, and might as eafily have cut off his head ; 
 and afterwards allo in the wildernefs of Ziph ; and again 
 a fecond time in the land of the Philiftines, though David 
 had conquered them at Keilah, fince he was laft among 
 them ! which, one would think, would have been fuf- 
 iicient warning to them not to truft him, or let him ef- 
 cape a fecond time ; but yet now, God wonderfully turned 
 their hearts to him to befriend and prote6l, inftead of de- 
 ftroying him. 
 
 Thus was the precious feed that virtually contained the 
 Redeemer, and all the bleffmgs of his redemption, won 
 derfully preferved, when hell and earth were confpired 
 againft it to deftroy it. How often does David himfelf 
 take notice of this, with praife and admiraiion, in the book 
 of Pfalms ? 
 
 3. About this time, the written word of God was 
 t enlarged by Samuel. I have before obferved that the 
 canon of fcripture was begun, and the firft written word 
 of God was given to the church about Moles s time : 
 and many, and I know not but moft divines, think it was 
 added to by Jolhua, and that he wrote the laft chapter 
 of Deuteronomy, and moft of the book of Jolhua. (i) 
 
 Others 
 
 (i) JOSHUA wrote moft of the look of JOSHUA.] " This book 
 bears the name of Jofliua, either becaufe it is concerning him, his 
 adions and exploits in the land of Canaan, or becaufe it was writ 
 ten by him, or both ; though fome afcribe it to Ezra, and others 
 to Ifaiah : but it muft have been written before the times of Ahab, 
 as appears from i Kings xvi. 34. and even before the times of 
 David, as is clear from chap. xv. 69. compared with 2 Sam. v. 6.
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 213 
 
 Others think that Jofhua, Judges, Ruth, and part of the 
 firft hook of Samuel, were written by Samuel. However 
 that was, this we have good evidence of, that Samuel 
 made an addition to the canon of fcripture ; for he is 
 manifeftly mentioned in the New Teftament, as one of 
 the prophets whofe writings we have in the fcriptures, 
 [A6ls iii. 24.] Yea and all the prophets from Samuel, 
 and thofe that follow after, as many as have fpoken, have 
 * likewife foretold of thefe days. By that expreflion, 
 as many as have fpoken, cannot be meant, as many as 
 have fpoken by word of mouth ; for every prophet did 
 that : but the meaning muft be, as many as have fpoken 
 by writing, fo that what they have fpoken has come down 
 to us. 
 
 And the way that Samuel fpoke of thefe times of Chrift 
 and the gofpel, was by giving the hiftory of the things 
 that typified and pointed to them, particularly thofe con 
 cerning David. The Spirit of God moved him to commit 
 thofe things to writing, chiefly for that reafon, and, as was 
 faid before, this was the main bufmefs of all that fucceffion 
 of prophets, that began in Samuel. 
 
 That 
 
 for though mention is made in it of the mountains of Judah and of 
 Ifrael, from whence fome have concluded, that the writer muft 
 have lived after the times of Rehoboam, in whofe days the king 
 dom was divided ; yet we find the diftin&ion of Ifrael and Judah 
 took place before, even in the times of David and Afaph, [Pfalm 
 Ixxvi. i.J It is moft likely that this book was written by Jofhua 
 himfelf, as the Jews in their Talmud aflert ; and, indeed, who 
 more fit for it than himfelf? And if written or put together by 
 another, it is moft probable that it was taken out of his diary, an 
 nals, or memoirs : and though there are fome things recorded in 
 it which were done after his death, thefe might be inferted un 
 der a divine direction and influence by Eleazar, or Phinehas, or 
 Samuel .... juft as Jofhua is fuppofed to add fome verfes con 
 cerning Mofes at the end of the Pentateuch ; however, be it wrote 
 by whom it may, there is no doubt to be made of the divine infpi- 
 ration and authenticity of it by us Chriftians, fince fome hiftorie 
 recorded in it are taken from it, or referred to in Heb. xi. 30, 31. 
 and the promife made to Jofhua is quoted, and applied to every 
 believer, chap. xiii. 5. and the apoftle James refers to the caufe of 
 Rahab, her character and conduct in it." [Jam. ii. 25.] [Gitt s 
 Comment.] 
 

 
 2i 4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 That Samuel added to the canon of the fcriptures feemi 
 farther to appear from i Chron. xxix. 29. Now the atls 
 * of David the king, firft and laft, behold, they are writ- 
 ten in the book of Samuel the feer. 
 
 Whether the book of Jofhua was written by Samuel 
 or not, yet it is the general opinion of divines, that the 
 books of Judges, and Ruth, and part of the firft book of 
 Samuel, were penned by him. (K) The book of Ruth 
 was penned for that reafon, becauie though it feemed to 
 
 treat 
 
 (K) SAMUEL ivrote the booh of JUDGES, RUTH, and part of 
 I SAMUEL.] The book of JUDGES " This book is called Judges, 
 becaufe it treats principally of the great things done by thofe il- 
 luilrious perfons who were raifed up by God, upon fpecial occa- 
 fions, after the death ot Jofhua till the time of makiiig a King, to 
 judge, that is, to rule the people of Ifrael, and to deliver them 
 from their oppreflions. 
 
 " It is but conjectured who was the writer of it ; fome think 
 Ezra ; but it is more probable the prophet Samuel, who was the 
 laft of the judges, and by the dire&ion of God brought down their 
 hiilory unto his own days ; when they defired a king to be fet 
 over them. The Talmudifts (in Bava Bathra, cap. I.) are of 
 this opinion ; which Kimchi, Abarbinel, and other great authors 
 follow. And indeed there is reafon to think, that he who wrote 
 the conclufion of the book of Jofhua, was the writer of this book 
 alfo ; in the fecond chapter of which he inferts part of that which 
 is written there. Certain it is, it was written before David s 
 reign ; for the Jebufites were pofiefied of Jerufalem, when this 
 author lived, [ver. 21. of this firil chapter] who were driven out 
 of it by David, [2 Sam. v. 6.] and therefore this book was written 
 before." [Bp. PATRICK S Comment.] 
 
 The book of RUTH " This book is a kind of appendix to the 
 book of Judges, and a manudu&ion to the book of Samuel; and 
 there fitly placed between them. It has its title from the perfon 
 whofe ftory is here principally related, which indeed is wonderful. 
 
 " It is very probable, the fame perfon who wrote the book of 
 judges, was the author of this alib, viz. Samuel; who, by add 
 ing this to the end of that book, brought down the hiilory unto 
 his own times ; and gave us withal the genealogy of David from 
 Pharez, the fon of Judah, that it might evidently appear, Chriit 
 fpning out of that tribe, according to Jacob s prophecy, [Gen. 
 xlix. 10.] but by a Gentile woman (that all nations might hope 
 in his mercy) full of faith, and of earneil defire to enter into that 
 family; which made her defpife the pride of her own nation, and 
 chufe to live derpicably among the people ot" G^d." [Ibid.] 
 
 The
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 215 
 
 treat of private affairs, yet the perfons chiefly fpoken of 
 in it were of the family whence David and Chrifl pro 
 ceeded, and fo pointed to what the apoftle Peter obferved 
 of Samuel and the other prophets, in the iiid chapter of 
 A6ls. Thefe additions to the canon of fcripture, the 
 great and main instrument of the application of redemp 
 tion, are to be considered as a farther continuation of that 
 work, and an addition made to that crreat building. 
 
 O O 
 
 4. Another thing God did towards this work, at that 
 time, was his infpiring David to fhow forth Chrift and his 
 redemption, in divine fongs; which ihould be for the ufe 
 of the church, in public worfhip, throughout all ages. Da 
 vid was hi mfelf endued with the fpirit of prophecy. [A6ls 
 ii. 26, 30.] Let me freely fpeak to you of the patriarch 
 David, that he is both dead and buried, and his fepulchre 
 
 * is with us unto this day : therefore being a prophet, and 
 
 * knowing that God had fworn with an oath, &c. So 
 that herein he was a type of Chrift, that he was both a pro 
 phet and a king. The oil that was ufed in anointing Da 
 vid was a type of the Spirit of God ; and the type and the 
 antitype were given together; [i Sam. xvi. 13.] Then 
 
 * Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the 
 midft of his brethren ; and the Spirit of the Lord came 
 upon David from that day forward. 
 
 One way that this Spirit influenced him was, by infpir 
 ing him to fhow forth Chrift, and the glorious things ot 
 his redemption in divine fongs, fweedy expreffing the 
 breathings of a pious foul, full of admiration of the glori 
 ous things of the Redeemer, inflamed with divine love, 
 and elevated with praife ; and therefore he is called the 
 fweet pfa Imijl of Ifrael. [2 Sam. xxiii. i.] Now thefe 
 1 be the larl words of David ; David the fon of JefTe faid, 
 
 F f and 
 
 The FIRST book of SAMUEL " This book . . . has the name 
 of Samuel, becaufe it contains the hittory of his life and times ; 
 and therefore the Jews fay it was written by him ; and as it may 
 well enough be thought to be to the end of the x:dvth chapter ; 
 and the reft might be written by Nathan and Gad, [i Chron. xxix. 
 29.] as alfo the following; book that bears his name." [GILL * 
 Comment.]
 
 ti6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and the man who was raifed up on high, the anointed of 
 * the God of Jacob, and the fweet pfalmift of Ifrael. The 
 main fubjedh of thefe fweet fongs were the glorious things 
 of the gofpel ; as is evident by the interpretation given and 
 the ufe made of them in the New Teftament : for there is. 
 no one book of the Old Teftament that is fo often quoted 
 in the New, as the book of Pfalms. (L) Joy/ully did this 
 holy man fmg of thole great things of Chrift s redemption, 
 that had been the hope and expectation of God s church 
 and people from the beginning, and as joyfully did others 
 follow him in it, viz. Afaph, Heman, Ethan, and others; 
 for the book of Pfalms was not all penned by David, 
 though the greater part of it was. Hereby the canon of 
 fcripture was farther increafed, and an excellent portion of 
 divine writ added to it 
 
 This was a great advancement that God made in this 
 building ; and the light of the gofpel, which had been 
 gradually brightening ever fmce the fall, was now exceed 
 ingly increafed by it ; for whereas before there was but 
 here and there a prophecy given of Chrift in leveral ages, 
 now David, in a variety of fongs, fpeaks of his incar 
 nation, life, death, refurre&ion, aicenfion into heaven, 
 fatisfadHon, and interceffion : his prophetical, kingly, 
 and prieftly office ; his glorious benefits in this life and 
 that which is to come ; his union with the church, and 
 the blefledncfs of the church in him ; the calling of the 
 Gentiles, the future glory of the church near the end of 
 the world, and Chrift coming to the final judgment. 
 All thefe things, and many more, concerning Chrift and 
 his redemption, are abundantly fpoken of in the book of 
 Pfalms. 
 
 This was alfo a glorious advancement of the affair of 
 redemption, as God hereby gave his church a book of 
 divine fongs for their ufe in that part of their public wor- 
 (hip, viz. finding his praifes, throughout all ages to the 
 
 end 
 
 (L) The PSALMS rfun QUOTED in the NEW Tejlamcnt. ] About 
 eighty times in the whole, and the greater part of thole quota 
 tions is applied to Chrift arid the things of the gofpel. [J-N. j
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 217 
 
 end of the world. It is manifeft the book of Pfalms 
 was given of God for this end. It was ufed in the church 
 of Ifrael by God s appointment ; as appears by the title of 
 many of them, in which they are infcribed to the chief 
 
 * mufician, i. e. to the man that was appointed to be the 
 leader of divine fongs in the temple, in the public worfliip 
 of Ifrael. -So David is called the fweet pfalmift of Ifrael, 
 becaufe he penned pfalms for the ufe of the church of 
 Ifrael ; and accordingly we have an account that they 
 were fung in the church for that end ages after David was 
 dead; [2 Chron. xxix. 30.] Moreover Hezekiah the 
 
 * king, and the princes, commanded the Levites to fmg 
 
 * praifes unto the Lord, with the words of David, and of 
 
 * Afaph the feer. And we find that the fame were ap 
 pointed in the New Teltament to be made ufe of in the 
 Chriftian church, in their worfhip : [Ephef. v. 19.] 
 
 * Speaking to yourfelves in pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual 
 fongs. [Col. iii. 16.] Admoniihing one another in 
 
 * pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual ion s. And fo they have 
 been, and will, to the end of the world, be ufed in the 
 church to celebrate the praifes of God. The people of 
 God before this were wont to worihip him by fmging 
 fongs to his praife, as they did at the Red Sea ; and 
 they had Mofes s fong [Deuteronomy xxxii.] committed 
 to them for that end ; and Deborah, and Barak, and 
 Hannah fung praifes to God : but now firft did God com 
 mit to his church a book of divine fongs for their con- 
 ftant ufe. 
 
 5. The next thing T would take notice of, is God s 
 actually exalting David to the throne of Ifrael, notwith- 
 ftanding all the oppofition made to it. God was de 
 termined to do it, and he made every thing give place 
 that flood in the way of it. He removed Saul and his 
 fons out of the way ; and firft fet David over the tribe 
 of Judah ; and then, having removed Ifhbofheth, fee 
 him over all Ifrael. Thus did God fulfil his word to 
 David. He took him from the fheep-cote, and made him 
 king over his people lirael. [Pfalm Ixxviii. yo, 71-] 
 And now the throne of Ifrael was eftablilhcd in that fa- 
 F f 2
 
 *i8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, 
 
 mily in which he was to continue for ever, even for ever 
 and ever. 
 
 6. Now God firft chofe a particular city of all the 
 tribes of Ifrael to place his name in it. There is feveral 
 times mention made in the law of Mofes, of the children 
 of Urael s bringing their oblations to the place which God 
 fhould chufe; [as in Deut. xii. 57. and other places;] 
 but God had never proceeded to do it till now. The ta 
 bernacle and ark were never fixed, but removed fometimes 
 to one place and fometimes to another. The city of Je- 
 rufalem was never thoroughly conquered, or taken out of 
 the hands of the Jebufites, till David s time. It is faid 
 in Joihua, [xv. 63.] As for the Jebufites, the inhabitants 
 4 of Jerufalem, the children of Judah could not drive 
 * them out: but the Jebufites dwell with the children of 
 1 Judah at Jerufalern unto this day. But now David 
 wholly fubdued it, [2 Sam. v.] and God chofe that city to 
 place his name there, as appears by David s bringing up 
 the ark thither foon after; and therefore this is mentioned 
 afterwards, as the firft time God chofe a city to place his 
 name therein. [2 Chron. vi. 5, 6. and chap. xii. 13.] 
 Afterwards God lliowed David the very place where he 
 would have his temple built, viz. in the threfliing-floor of 
 Araunah the Jebuiite. 
 
 The city of Jerufalern is therefore called the holy city-^ 
 and it was the greateft type of the church of Chrift in all 
 the Old Teftament. It was redeemed by David, the cap 
 tain of the hods of Ifrael, out of the hands of the Jebu- 
 lites, to be God s city, the holy place of his reft for ever, 
 where he would dwell; as Chrift, the captain of his peo 
 ple s lalvation, redeems his church out of the hands of 
 devils, to be his holy and beloved city. And therefore 
 how often does the fcripture, when fpeaking of Chtift s 
 redemption of his church, call it by the names of Zion 
 and Jerufalem ? This was the city that God had ap 
 pointed to be the place of the firft gathering of converts 
 after Chrift s refurreHon, of that remarkable effufion of 
 the Spirit of God on the apoftles and primitive Chriftians, 
 and the place whence the gofpel was to found forth into 
 all the world ; the place of the firft Chriftian church, 
 
 that
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 219 
 
 ihat was to be, as it were, the mother of all other churches 
 through the world ; agreeable to that prophecy, [If. ii. 
 3,4.] Out of Zion /hall go forth the law, and the word 
 1 of the Lord from Jerufalem j and he mall judge among 
 1 the nations, and {hall rebuke many people, &c. 
 
 Thus God chofe Mount Sion, whence the gofpel was 
 to be publifhed, as the law had been from Mount Sinai. 
 
 7. The next thing to be obferved here, is God s folemnly 
 renewing the covenant of grace with David, and promif- 
 ing that the Mefliah mould be of his feed. We have an 
 account of it in the viith chapter of the fecond book of 
 Samuel. It was on occafion of the thoughts David enter 
 tained of building God an houfe, that God fent Nathan the 
 prophet to him, with the glorious promifes of the covenant 
 of grace. It is efpecially contained in thefe words, [ver. 
 1 6.] And thy houfe and thy kingdom (hall be eftablimed 
 for ever before thee ; thy throne mall be eftablimed for 
 
 * ever. Which promife has refpecl: to Chrift, the feed 
 of David, and is fulfilled in him only ; for the kingdom of 
 David has long fmce ceafed, any otherwife than as it is 
 upheld in Chrift. The temporal kingdom of the houfe of 
 David has now ceafed for a great many ages ; even more 
 than ever it flood. 
 
 That this covenant that God now eftablimed with David 
 by Nathan the prophet, was the covenant of grace, is evi 
 dent by the plain teftimony of fcripture, in Ifa. Iv. i 3. 
 There we have Chrift inviting fmners to come to the wa 
 ters, &c. And in the third verfe, he iays, * Incline your 
 
 * ear, come unto me ; hear, and your fouls mall live ; and 
 f I will make with you an everlafting covenant, even the 
 
 * fure mercies of David. Here Chriic offers to convinced 
 fmners, an intereft in the fame everlafting covenant that 
 he made with David, conveying to them the lame furc 
 mercies. But what is that covenant that fmners obtain an 
 intereft in, when they conic to Chrift, but the covenant 
 of grace ? 
 
 This was the fifth folemn ratification of the covenant 
 of grace with the church after the fail. The firft was 
 with Adam ; the fecond with Noah ; the third with tar 
 patriarchs, Abraham. Ifaac, and Jacob ; the fourth was in
 
 220 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the wildernefs by Mofes, and now the fifth is this made to 
 David. 
 
 This eftabliihrnent of the covenant of grace with Da 
 vid, he always efteemed the greateft favour of God to 
 him, the greateft honour that God had conferred upon 
 him ; he prized and rejoiced in it above all the other 
 bleffings of his reign. You may fee how joyfully and 
 thankfully he received it, when Nathan came to him with 
 the glorious mefiage, in 2 Sam. vii. 18, &c. And fo 
 David, in his laft words, declares this to be all his falva- 
 tion, and all his defire ; [2 Sam. xxiii. 5.] * He hath 
 
 * made with me an everlailing covenant, ordered in all 
 things and fure : for this is all my falvation, and all my 
 defire/ (M) 
 
 8. It was by David that God firft gave his people Ifrael 
 the poflellion of the whole promifed land. I have before 
 Ihown, how God s giving the poffeffion of the promifed 
 land belonged to the covenant of grace. This was done in 
 a great meafure by Jolhua, but not fully. Jofhua did 
 net wholly fubdue that part of the promifed land that 
 was ftridUy called the land of Canaan, and that was di 
 vided by lot to the feveral tribes ; but there were great 
 numbers of the old inhabitants Lett unfubdued, as we read 
 in the books of Jolhua and Judges ; and there were many 
 left to prove Ifrael, and to be thorns in their fides, and 
 
 * pricks in their eyes. There were the Jebufites in Jeru- 
 falem, and many of the Canaanites, and the whole nation 
 
 of 
 
 (M) David prized the. COVENANT.] The leading trait in Da 
 vid s character feems to have been picly, which we apprehend to 
 be the exa& import of that expreffion, [i Sam. xiii. 14.] * A 
 
 * man after God s own heart, ;. e. a man eminently devoted to 
 God, and full of zeal for his glory. And it is obfervable, that 
 notwithstanding his many and great fins (and far be it from us, to 
 diiTemble that many and great they were) he never appears to have 
 countenanced idolatry, the befetting fin of Ifrael. The book of 
 Pfalms, which were written at many different times, and in a great 
 variety of circumftances, evinces a mind converfant with the divine 
 attributes, and much engaged in contemplation on the bleffings of 
 the covenant of redemption, and the glories of the Mefiiah, of 
 whom he was both a type and anceftor. [N. U. j
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 221 
 
 of the Philiftines, who all dwelt in that part of the land 
 that was divided by lot, and chiefly in that which belonged 
 to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim. 
 
 And thus thefe remains of the old inhabitants of Canaan 
 continued till David s time ; but he wholly fubdued them. 
 This is agreeable to what St. Stephen obferves, [AtStsvii. 
 45-1 Which alfo our fathers brought in with Jefus (/ . e. 
 
 * Jofhua) into the pofTeffion of the Gentiles, whom God 
 
 * drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days 
 of David. They were till the days of David in driving 
 them out ; but David entirely brought them under. He 
 fubdued the Jebuiites, the whole nation of the Philiftines, 
 and all the remains of the ieven nations of Canaan ; 
 [i Chron. xviii. i.] Now after this it came to pafs, 
 
 * that David fmote the Philiftines, and fubdued them, 
 and took Gath and her towns out of the hands of the 
 Philiftines. 
 
 After this, all the remains of the former inhabitants of 
 Canaan were made bond-fervants to the Ifraelites. Before 
 this the pofterity of the Gibeonites were hewers of wood, 
 and drawers of water, for the houfe of God. But Solo 
 mon, David s fon and fucceflbr, put all the remains of the 
 other feven nations of Canaan to bond-fervice, or at leaft 
 made them pay a tribute of bond-fervice. [i Kings ix. 
 20 22.] And hence we read of the children of Solomon s 
 fervants, after the return from the Babyloniih captivity, 
 [Ezra ii. 55. and Neh. xi. 3.] They were the children 
 or pofterity of the feven nations of Canaan, that Solomon 
 had fubje&ed to bond-fervice. 
 
 Thus David fubdued the whole land of Canaan, ftril- 
 ly fo called. But then that was not one half, nor quar 
 ter, of what God had promifed to their fathers. The 
 land promifed to their fathers included all the countries 
 from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Thefe 
 were the bounds of the land promifed to Abraham, [Gen. 
 xv. 18.] * In that fame day the Lord made a covenant 
 
 * with Abram, faying, Unto thy feed have I given this 
 land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the 
 river Euphrates. So again God promifed at Mount Si 
 nai.
 
 222 HISTO&Y OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 nai, [Exod. xxiii. 31.] And I will fet thy bounds from 
 
 * the Red Sea even unto the fea of the Philiftines, and 
 
 * from the defert unto the river: for I will deliver the in- 
 4 habitants of the land into your hand ; and thou /halt 
 
 * drive them out before thee. So again, [Dent. xi. 24.] 
 
 * Every place whereon the foles of your feet fhall tread, 
 fhall be yours : from the wildernefs and Lebanon, from 
 
 * the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermoir. 
 
 * fea, fhall your confl be. Again, the fame promife is 
 made to Jofliua : [Jofli. i. 3,4.] Every place that the 
 * fole of your feet mall tread upon, have I given unto 
 
 * you, as I faid unto Mofes ; from the wildernefs and this 
 
 * Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphra- 
 
 * tes, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great fea, 
 towards the going down of the fun, fliall be your couft. 
 But what Jofliua gave the people the pofleflion of, was 
 but a fmall part of this land. And the people never 
 had had the poffeflion of it, till God gave it them by 
 David. 
 
 This large country not only included that Canaan which 
 was divided by lot to table who came in with Jofhua, but 
 the land of the Moabites and Ammonites, the land of the 
 Amalckites, and the reft of the Edomites, and the country 
 of Zobah. All thefe nations were fubdued and brought 
 under the children of Ifracl by David. And he put gar- 
 rifons into the feveral countries, and they became David s 
 fervants, as we have a particular account in the viiith chap 
 ter of the fecond book of Samuel ; and David extended 
 their border to the river Euphrates, as was promifed ; [fee 
 the 3d verfe;] and David fmote alfo Hadadezer the fon 
 1 of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his 
 
 * border at the river Euphrates. And accordingly we 
 read, that Solomon his fon [i Kings iv. 24.] had domi- 
 
 * nion over all the region on this fide the river, from 
 Tiphfah even unto Azzah, over all the kings on this 
 fide the river. This Artaxerxes, king of Perlia, takes 
 notice of long after: [Ezra iv. 20.] There have been 
 1 mighty kings alfo over Jerufalem, which have ruled over 
 
 < all
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 225 
 
 all countries beyond the river ; and toll, tribute and cuf- 
 
 * torn was paid unto them. 
 
 So that Jofhua, that type of Chrift, did but begin the 
 work of giving Tfrael the poffeffion of the promifed land ; 
 and left it to be finifhed by that much greater type and an- 
 ceftor of Chrift, even David, who fubdued far more of 
 that land than ever Jofhua had done. And in this ex 
 tent of his and Solomon s dominion was fome refem- 
 blance of the great extent of Chrift s kingdom, and there 
 fore the extent of Chrift s kingdom is thus exprefTed, 
 [Pfal. Ixxii. 8.] He fhall have dominion alfo from fea 
 to fea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 
 [See alfo i Kings viii. 56.] 
 
 9. God by David perfected the Jewifh worfliip, and 
 added to it feveral new inftitutions.. The law was given 
 by Mofes, but yet all the inftitutions of the Jewifh wor 
 fliip were not; fome were afterwards added b\ r divine di 
 rection. So this great type of Chrift did not only per 
 fect Jofhua s work, in giving Ifrael the poffeffion of the 
 promifed land, but he alfo finiihed Mofes s work, in per 
 fecting the inftituted worfhip of Ifrael. Thus there mud: 
 be a number of typical prophets, priefts, and princes, to 
 complete one figure or fhadow of Chrift the antitype, he 
 being the fubftance of all the types and fhadows. Of fo 
 much more glory was Chrift accounted worthy, than Mo 
 fes, Jofhua, David, Solomon, and all the prophets, priefts, 
 and princes, judges, and faviours of the Old Teftament. 
 
 The ordinances of David are mentioned as of equal 
 validity with thofe of Mofes, [2 Chron. xxiii. 18.] 
 AKb Jehoiada appointed the offices of the houfe of the 
 Lord by the hand of the priefts the Levites, whom Da- 
 vid had diftributed in the houfe of the Lord, to offer 
 
 * the burnt-offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the 
 < law of Mofes, with rejoicing and with fmging, as it was 
 ordained by David. The worihip of Ifrael was per 
 fected by David, by the addition that he made to the ce 
 remonial law, which we have an account of from the 
 xxiiid to the xxvith chapters of the firft book ot Chro 
 nicles, conftfting in the feveral orders and couvfes into 
 
 which
 
 226 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 which David divided the Levites, and the work and bufi- 
 nefs to which he appointed them, different from what Mofes 
 had done ; and alfo in the divifjons of the priefts the fons 
 of Aaron into four and twenty courfes, affigning to every 
 courfe their bufmefs in the houfe of the Lord, and their 
 particular flated times of attendance there ; and appointing 
 fome of the Levites to a new office, which was that of 
 fingers ; and particularly ordering and regulating them in 
 that office, as you may fee in the xxvth chapter of the ift 
 of Chronicles ; and appointing others of the Levites by 
 law to the feveral fervices of porters, treafurers, officers, 
 and judges : and thefe ordinances of David were kept up 
 henceforth in the church of Ifrael, as long as it remained. 
 Thus we find the feveral orders of priefts, and the Levites, 
 the porters, and fingers, after the captivity. So we find 
 the courfes of the priefts appointed by David ftill continu 
 ing in the Tew Teftament ; Zacharias the father of John 
 the Baptift was a prieft of the courfe of Abia ; which is the 
 fame with the courfe of Abijah appointed by David, [i 
 Chron. xxiv. 10.] 
 
 Thus David as well as Mofes was like Chrift in this 
 refpel, that by him God gave in fome degree a new ec- 
 clefiaftical eftablifhment, and new inftitution of worfhip. 
 Not only fo, but by thofe additions David aboliftied 
 fome of the old inftitutions of Mofes that had been in 
 force till that time ; particularly thofe laws that appointed 
 the bufmefs of the Levites, which we have in the iiid and 
 ivth chapters of Numbers, which very much confifted in 
 their charges of the feveral parts and utenfils of the taber 
 nacle there afligned to them, and in carrying thofe feveral 
 parts of the tabernacle. But thofe laws were now abolifhed 
 by David ; and they were no more to carry thofe things, as 
 they had been ufed to do. But David appointed them to 
 other work inftead of it; [i Chron. xxiii. 26.] And 
 * alfo unto the Levites, they fhall no more carry the taber- 
 4 nacle, nor any veflels of it for the fervice thereof: a fure 
 evidence that tl\e ceremonial law given by Mofes is not 
 perpetual, as the Jews fuppofe ; but might be wholly abo 
 lifhed by Chrift : for if David, a type of the Meffiah, might 
 
 abolifh
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 227 
 
 abolifh the law of Mofes in part, much more might the 
 Mefliah himfelf abolifh the whole. 
 
 David, by God s appointment, abolifhed all ufe of the 
 tabernacle that was built by Mofes, and of which he 
 had the pattern from God : for God now revealed it 
 to David to be his will, that a temple fhould be built, 
 that fhould be inftead of the tabernacle. A prefage 
 of what Chrift, the fon of David, would do, when 
 he fhould come, vifc. abolifh the whole Jewifh eccle- 
 flaftical constitution, which was but as a moveable ta 
 bernacle, to fet up the fpiritual gofpel-temple, which 
 was to be far more glorious, and of greater extent, and 
 was to laft for ever. David had the pattern of all things 
 pertaining to the temple fhown him, even in like manner 
 as Mofes had the pattern of the tabernacle : and Solomon 
 built the .temple according to that pattern which he had 
 from his father David, which he received from God. 
 [i Chron. xxviii. n, 12, 19.] Then David gave to So- 
 
 * lomon his fon the pattern of the porch, and of the 
 houfes thereof, and of the treafuries thereof, and of the 
 
 * upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours there - 
 
 * of, and of the place of the mercy-feat, and the pattern 
 
 * of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of all the 
 
 * houfe of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, 
 
 * of the treafuries of the houfe of God, and of the trea- 
 
 * furies of the dedicated things All this, 
 
 * (faid David,) the Lord made me underftand in writing 
 by his hand upon me, even all the works of this 
 
 * pattern. 
 
 10. The canon of fcripture feems about the clofe of 
 David s reign to have been farther enlarged by the pro 
 phets Nathan and Gad. It appears probable by the fcrip- 
 tures, that they carried on the hiirory of the two books 
 of Samuel from the place where Samuel firft left it, and 
 finifhed them. Thefe feein to be the book that in fcrip 
 ture is called the book of Samuel the feer, and Nathan the 
 prophet, and Gad the feer. [i Chron. xxix. 29.] Now 
 the a6ls of David the king, firfl and laft, behold they 
 
 G g 2 * are
 
 228 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * are written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in 
 the book of Gad the feer. * 
 
 II. The next thing I would take notice of, is God s 
 wonderfully continuing the kingdom of his vifible people 
 in the line of Chrift s legal anceftors, as long 35 they re 
 mained an independent kingdom. Thus it was without any 
 interruption worth notice. Indeed, the kingdom of all the 
 tribes was not kept in that line; but the dominion of that 
 part of Ifrael in which the true worlhip of God was upheld, 
 and which were God s vifible people, was always kept in 
 the family of David, as long as there was any fuch thing as 
 an independent king of Ifrael, according to his promife to 
 David : and not only in the family of David, but always 
 in that part of David s posterity that was the line whence 
 Chrift legally defcended ; fo that the very perfon that was 
 Chrift s legal anceftor, was always in the throne, excepting 
 Jehoahaz, who reigned three months, and Zedekiah ; as 
 you may fee in Matthew s genealogy of Chrift. 
 
 Chrift was legally defcended from the kings of Judah, 
 though not naturally. He was both legally and naturally 
 defcended from David. He was naturally defcended from 
 Nathan the fon of David ; for Mary his mother was one 
 of the pofterity of David by Nathan, as you may fee in 
 Luke s genealogy : (N) but Joleph, the reputed and legal 
 father of Chrift, was naturally delrended ot Solomon and 
 
 his 
 
 * See Note (K) p. 215. 
 
 (N) MARY defcended from Nathan. ] " I am aware that Mr. 
 Le Clerc, and many other learned men, have thought that Joieph 
 \vas begotten by Heli, and adopted by Jacob : but I much rather 
 conclude, that he was adopted by Heli, or rather taken by him 
 for his fon upon the marriage of his daughter, and that Heli was 
 the father of Mary ; becaule an ancient Jewifh rabbi exprefsly calls 
 her the daughter of Heli, and chiefly becaufe elfe we have indeed 
 no true genealogy of Chrift at all, but only two different views of 
 the line of Jofcph, his reputed father, which would by no means 
 prove that Chrilt, who was only by adoption his fon, was of the 
 feed of Abraham, and of the houfe of David. Yet the apotlle 
 fpeaks of it as evident, that Chriit was defcended from Judah, 
 [Heb. vii. 14.] in which, if this gofpel were (as antiquity allures 
 us) written by the direction of Paul, perhaps he may refer to this 
 very table before us." [DODDRIDGE S Fain. Expof. 9.]
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 229 
 
 his fucceflbrs, as we have an account in Matthew s gene 
 alogy. Jefus Chrift, though he was not the natural fon of 
 Jofeph, yet, by the law and conftitution of the Jews, he 
 was Jofeph s heir, becaufe he was the lawful fon of Jo- 
 feph s lawful wife, conceived while Hie was his legally 
 efpoufed wife. The Holy Ghoft raifed up feed to him. A 
 perfon, by the law of Mofes, might be the legal fon and 
 heir of another, whofe natural fon he was not ; as fome- 
 times a man raifed up feed to his brother : a brother, in 
 fome cafes, was to build up a brother s houfe ; fo the Holy 
 Ghoft built up Jofeph s houfe. 
 
 And Jofeph being in the direct line of the kings of Judah, 
 of the houfe of David, he was the legal heir of the crown 
 of David ; and Chrift being legally his firft-born fon, he 
 was his heir ; and fo Chrift, by the law, was the proper 
 heir of the crown of David, and is therefore faid to fit 
 upon the throne of his father David. 
 
 The crown of God s people was wonderfully kept in. 
 the line of Chrift s legal anceftors. When David was old, 
 and not able any longer to manage the affairs of the king 
 dom, Adonijah, one of his fons, fet up to be king, and 
 feemed to have obtained his purpofe : but Adonijah was not 
 that fon of David which was the anceftor of Jofeph, the 
 legal father of Chrift ; and therefore how wonderfully did 
 Providence work here ! what a ftrange and fudden revo 
 lution ! All Adonijah s kingdom and glory vaniilied away 
 as fcon as it was begun, and Solomon, the legal anceftor 
 of Chrift, was eftablifhed in the throne. 
 
 And after Solomon s death, when Jeroboam had con- 
 fpired againft the family, and Rehoboam carried himfelf 
 fo that it was a wonder all Ifrael was not provoked to for- 
 fake him, and ten tribes did actually forfake him, and fet 
 up Jeroboam in oppofition to him ; and though Rehoboam 
 was a wicked man, and deferved to have been rejected 
 altogether from being king, yet he being the legal anceftor 
 of Chrift, God kept the kingdom of the two tribes, in 
 which the true religion was upheld, in his poffeffion ; and 
 notwithstanding his fon Abijam was another wicked prince, 
 yet they being legal anceftors of Chrift, God ftill continued 
 
 the
 
 230 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the crown in the family, and gave it to Abijam s fon 
 Afa. And afterwards, though many of the kings of Judah 
 were very wicked, and horridly provoked God, as parti 
 cularly Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Manafleh, and Amon ; 
 yet God did not take away the crown from their family, 
 but gave it to their fons for the fame reafon. So fpeak- 
 ing of Abijarn, it is laid, [i Kings xv. 4.] Neverthe- 
 
 * lefs, for David s fake did the Lord his God give him 
 a lamp in Jerufalem, to fet up his fon after him, and 
 
 * to eftablifh Jerufalem : alfo, [2 Chrcn. xxi. 7.] fpeak- 
 ing of Jehoram s great wkkednefs, it is faid, Howbeit 
 
 * the Lord would not deftroy the houfe of David, becaufe 
 
 * of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he 
 had promifed to give a light unto him, and to his fons 
 
 * for ever. 
 
 The crown of the ten tribes was changed from one fa 
 mily to another continually. Firft, Jeroboam took it ; but 
 the crown remained in his family only one generation after 
 his death, it only dcfcended to his fon Nadab ; and then 
 Baafha, who was of another family, took it, and it re 
 mained in his pofterity but one generation alfo after his 
 death; and then Zimri, who was his fervant, took it; 
 and then, without defcending at all to his pofterity, Omri 
 took it, and the crown continued in his family for three 
 fucceflions ; next Jehu, that was of another family, took 
 it, and the crown continued in his family for three or 
 four fucceflions ; and then Shallum, who was of another 
 family, took it ; and the crown did not defcend at all to 
 his pofterity, but Menahem took it, and it remained in 
 his family but one generation after him ; and then Pekah, 
 of another family, took it, and after him Hoihea, who 
 was of ftill another family ; fo great a difference was 
 there between the crown of Ifrael, and the crown of Ju 
 dah ; the one was continued evermore in the fame family, 
 and with very little interruption, in one right line ; the 
 other was continually tofled about from one family to 
 another, as if it were the fport of fortune. The reafon 
 was not, becaufe the kings of Judah, many of them, were 
 better than the kings of Ifrael, but the one had the blcfiing 
 
 in
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 231 
 
 in them ; they were the anceftors of Chrift, whofe right 
 it was to fit on the throne of Jfrael : but with the kings 
 of Ifrael it was not fo ; and therefore Divine Providence 
 cxercifed a continual care, through all the changes that 
 happened in fo many generations, and fuch a long fpace of 
 time, to keep the crown of Judah in one direct line, in 
 fulfilment of the everlaftinR; covenant he had made with 
 
 _5 
 
 David, the mercies of which covenant were fure mercies : 
 but in the other cafe, there was no fuch covenant, and fo 
 no fuch care of Providence. 
 
 And here it muft not be omitted, that there was once a 
 very ftrong confpiracy of the kings of Syria and Ifrael, in 
 the time of that wicked king of Judah, Ahaz, to difpof- 
 fefs him and his family of the throne of Judah, and to fet 
 one of another family, even the fon of Tabeal on it ; 
 [Ifa. vii. 6.] Let us go up againft Judah, and vex it, 
 4 and let us make a breach therein for us, and fet a king 
 
 * in the midft of it, even the fon of Tabeal. And they 
 feemed very likely to accomplish their purpofe ; infomuch 
 that it is faid, [ver. 2-] The heart of Ahaz and his 
 
 * people was moved as the trees of the wood are moved 
 with the wind. On this occafion God fent the prophet 
 Ifaiali to encourage the people, and tell them that it mould 
 not come to pafs. And becaufe the cafe feemed fo def- 
 perate that Ahaz and the people would very hardly be 
 lieve, therefore God direts the prophet to give them this 
 fign, viz. that Chrift fhould be born of the legal feed of 
 Ahaz ; [as Ifa. vii. 14.] Therefore the Lord himfelf 
 fhall give you a fign : Behold, a virgin mall conceive, 
 1 and bear a fon, and mall call his name Immamiel. (o) 
 
 This 
 
 (o) A VIRGIN JLall conceive, 5V.] That this text referred to 
 Jefus Chrift might be fhown from a variety of arguments ; as, that 
 this child was to be born of a virgin that he was to be Imma- 
 nuel, Lord of Judea, [Ifa.*viii. 8.] that this chcumftance is 
 introduced as a wonderful event, Behold 7 that it was confiilent 
 with previous intimations in earlier prophecies, [as Gen. iii. 15.] 
 that it was fo underftood by a cotemporary prophet, [Micah v. 3.] 
 and is exprefsly applied to this event in the New Teilament, where 
 the faft is afgertained. [Matt. i. 18 22.] 
 
 But
 
 232 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This was a good fign, and a great confirmation of the truth 
 of what God promifed by Ifaiah, viz. that the kings of 
 Syria and Ifrael fhould never accomplifh their purpofe of 
 difpoffeffing the family of Ahaz of the crown of Judah, for 
 Chrift the Immanuel was to be of them. 
 
 I have mentioned this difpenfotion of Providence in this 
 place, becaufe though it was continued for fo long a time, 
 yet it began in Solomon s fuccelfion to the throne of his 
 father David. 
 
 12. The next thing I would take notice of is, the 
 building of the temple : a great type of three things, viz. 
 of the human nature of Chrift, of the church, and of 
 heaven, (p) The tabernacle feemed rather to reprefent 
 the church in its moveable, changeable (late, here in 
 this world. But that beautiful, glorious, coftly ftru6lure 
 of the temple that (ucceeded the tabernacle, and was im- 
 moveably fixed, feems efpecially to reprefent the church 
 in its glorified ftate in heaven. This temple was built 
 according to the pattern ihewn by the Holy Ghoft to 
 David, and by divine direction given to David, in the 
 
 place 
 
 But the confideration of thcfe would lead us beyond the limits 
 of a note, we fhall therefore only obferve that the principal ob- 
 jeftion to this interpretation (which is formed from the context) 
 might be obviated by a flight variation in rendering the following 
 words, Butter and honey will he eat that knoiveth to refufe the 
 * evil and to chufe the good ; but before this child not Imma- 
 nuel, but Sheer-Jafhub, whom the prophet had in his hand, [ver. 3.] 
 before this child fhall know, &c. This however we fubmit to 
 the confideration of the learned. 
 
 Our author has very happily fhewn how the birth of the Mefiiah 
 was a fign of Ifrael s deliverance in Ahaz s time ; to confirm this 
 and obviate any objection drawn therefrom it might be added, i. 
 That this fign was not given to Ahaz personally , but to the houfe of 
 David, [ver. 13.] and, 2. That we have feveral other inftanccs 
 in fcripture of dittant events being mentioned as the fign of prefent 
 deliverance, one of which occurs in this very prophet. [Ch. xxxvii. 
 30.] And, 3. That it is cuftomary for the prophets, and in 
 particular Ifaiah, to conneft with the prediction of temporal de 
 liverance the promifes of the fpiritual redemption to be effected by 
 the Mefliah. [See Note G. p. 209.] 
 
 (p) The TEMPLE a type of the human nature of CHRIST. ~\ This 
 our author has mown. [See alio John i. 14. Col. ii. 7.] But this 
 
 temple
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 233 
 
 place where was the threfh ing- floor of Oman the Jebufite, 
 in Mount Moriah, [2 Chron. iii. i.] in the fame moun 
 tain, and doubtlefs in the very fame place, where Abra 
 ham offered up his fon Ifaac ; for that is faid to be a 
 
 moun- 
 
 temple, (as formerly the tabernacle) was divided into two parts, 
 the Holy and Moil Holy place; the former pointing at what Chrift 
 ivas and did in his ftate of incarnation below, the latter at what he 
 is and does in his prefent ftate of exalted glory; as will appear by 
 an induction of particulars : 
 
 (i.) The candleftick reprefents him as "the true light which, 
 coming into the world, enlighteneth every man;" [John i. 9. 
 See DoddridgeJ and the feven lamps of it reprefent " the feven 
 fpirits, or the fulnefs of the fpirit with which he was endued." 
 [Ifa. xi. 2, 3. Rev. i. 4.] 
 
 (2.) The mewbread alfo prefigured Chrift as the true bread 
 * which came down from heaven, [John vi. 5.] and its divifion 
 might point out his having a fufficiency of bleffing for all the tribes 
 of Ifrael, to whom in a particular manner he was fent. [Matt. 
 xv. 24.] 
 
 (3.) The vail itfelf was a type of his mortal flefh, [Heb. x. 20.] 
 which was rent, to admit us to a ftate of communion with him in 
 his ftate of exalted glory. 
 
 We now csme to the fecond part of the tabernacle, prefiguring 
 the human nature alfo, or at leaft the complex perfon, of Chrift, 
 in his prefent exalted ftate. 
 
 ( i.) Herein was contained the golden cenfer, which by an eafy 
 figure may reprefent the incenfe therein offered; and that his power 
 ful and acceptable interceffion at God s right hand, wherein he pleads 
 the atonement once offered, the memorial of which is to God his 
 Father as a fweet fmelling favour. [Eph. v. 2. Rev. viii. 3.] 
 
 (2.) The ark of the covenant, which has been confidered as a 
 type of the Redeemer, from the incorruptibility of its materials, 
 and the glory of its ornaments; thofe circumftanccs (to omit others) 
 pointing to his prefent ftate of immortality and glory. 
 
 (3.) The cover of this ark was the mercy-feat or propitiatory, 
 which term is exprefsly applied to Jefus Chrift, [Rom. iii. 25. 
 I John ii. 2.] becatife Jehovah beheld the blood hereon fprinkled 
 with fatisfaftion and favoin*b the Ifradites. Thus the lamb, as 
 if it had been flain, (in the language of St. John) with the bloody 
 memorial of his facrifice, appears continually in the Divine Pre- 
 fence on our behalf. [Rev. v. 6.] 
 
 (4.) To omit Aaron s rod, the pot of manna, &c. as not the 
 proper furniture of the ark, though therein depofited: the tables of 
 the law being placed within the ark, has been confidered by divines 
 as reprefenting the moral law written in the heart of the Redeemer; 
 
 H h and
 
 234 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 mountain in the land of Moriah, [Gen. xxii. 2.] which 
 mountain was called the mountain of the Lord, as this 
 mountain of the temple was, [Gen. xxii. 14.] And 
 Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh ; 
 * as it is faid to this day, In the mount of the Lord it mall 
 be feen. 
 
 That the human nature of Chrift \vas the antitype of 
 this temple, appears, becaufe Chrift being mown the 
 temple of Jerufalem, fays, Deftroy this temple, and in 
 three days I will raife it up, fpeaking of the temple of 
 his body. [John ii. 19, 20.] This houfe, or an houfe built 
 in this place, continued to be the houfe of God, where 
 his church worlhipped till Chrift came. Here was the 
 place that God chofe, where all their facrifices were offer 
 ed up till the great facrifice came, and all others ceafed. 
 (qj Into this temple, or rather the temple afterwards 
 
 built 
 
 and the mercy-feat upon them, as indicating that our tranfgrefiions 
 of that law ate covered by the true propitiatory. 
 
 (5. ) The cherubims, whether they reprefented the complacency 
 and fatisfaclion with which the Deity beheld the blood of fprink- 
 ling, or rather the pleafure and earneftnefs with which angels con 
 template the work of redemption, as St. Peter feems to intimate, 
 [ I Pet. i. I 2, gr. J were certainly a glorious part of the furniture of 
 the molt holy place; but thefe inquiries would lead us too far: all, 
 however, within the vail reprefented what parted in heaven, when 
 our great High Prielt entered there with his own mod precious 
 blood. [Heb. ix. 24.] [I.N.] 
 
 (Q^) Sacrifices offered till the great SACRIFICE came. } We have 
 already {hewn that the facrifices and other ceremonial inftitutions 
 were typical, and muft have been fo underftood by the Old Tefta- 
 ment believers themfelves ; [p. 176, note N] but fomc who have 
 acknowledged this, have doubted whether they had any knowledge 
 that the Mefliah was to offer bimfflf a facrifice for fin. That they 
 Ijady we infer from the following arguments : 
 
 1. That it appears to have been the current doftrine of the Old 
 Teflament, that without fliedding o^^ocd was no remiffion of fin. 
 The apoitle reprefents it as a very <rofurd notion, that the blood 
 of bulls and goats could take away fin; then what other facrifice 
 could avail but human? And what man but the Mefliah himfelf I 
 See Heb. ix. throughout.] 
 
 2. The prophetic writings frequently introduce the Divine Be 
 ing as confuting the legal facrifices, and thofc who offered them; 
 not, as fome have nuftakenly fuppofed, as not of his own ap 
 pointment,
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 235 
 
 built in this place, the Lord came, even the mefTenger of 
 
 * the covenant. Here he often delivered his heavenly 
 doctrine, and wrought miracles ; here his church was ga 
 thered by the pouring out of the Spirit, after his afccnlion. 
 [Luke xxiv. 53.] Speaking of the difciples, after Chrift s 
 afcenfion, it is faid, And they were continually in the 
 
 * temple, praifing and bleffmg God. And, [ Acts ii. 46.] 
 fpeaking of the multitude that were converted by that great 
 out-pouring of the Spirit that was on the day of Pentecoft, 
 it is faid, And they continued daily with one accord in 
 the temple. Alfo, [ Acts v. 42-] fpeaking of the apoftles, 
 
 * And daily in the temple, and in every houfe, they ceafed 
 not to teach and -preach Jefus Chrift. And hence the 
 found of the doctrine went forth, and the church fpread, 
 into all the world. 
 
 13. It is here worthy to be obferved, that at this time, 
 in Solomon s reign, after the temple was finifhed, the Jew- 
 iih church was raifed to its higheft external glory. The 
 Jewilh church (or the ordinances and confHtution of it) 
 is compared to the moon, [Rev. xii. i.J And there ap- 
 
 * peared a great wonder in heaven, a woman cloathed with 
 
 H h 2 the 
 
 pointment, but becaufe the carnal Jews reded and confided in them 
 without looking forward to their great antitype. 
 
 It is particularly foretold, that in the days of the Meffiah fome 
 more efficacious facrifice fhould be offered. [Pf. li. 19.] It is in 
 other pafTages exprefsly declared that he fliould fuffer many things. 
 [See Luke xxiv. 26,27,45,46.] Even in the ftrft promife this 
 was hinted, the ferpent fhould bruife his heel. The 2zd Pfalm 
 is a clear and exprefs prophecy of thefe fufferings, which however 
 is exceeded by the 53d of Ifaiah, and Daniel ix. 24 27. where 
 it is exprefsly added, that under thefe circumftances he fhould bear 
 the fin of many our iniquities fliould meet on him (as on the 
 fcape goat;) nay, that he fhould make his foul, (or himfelf) an 
 offering for fin, [Ifa. liii. loJ yet that after this he fliould fee his 
 feed, prolong bis days, andfjb pleafure of the Lord fhould prof- 
 per in his hand. 
 
 3. So exprefs are thefe paffages, that our Lord calls fome of 
 his difciples fools, and flow of heart to believe the law and tbe 
 prophets, becaufe they did not underftand them ; and many of the 
 modern Jews can find no way to account for them, but by inven 
 tion of tivo Mefliahs ; tbe fon of Jofeph to fuffer and die, and the 
 /on of David to reign. [G. E.]
 
 236 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * the fun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head 
 
 * a crown of twelve ftars. As this church was like the 
 moon in many other refpe6ts, fo it was in this, that it 
 \vexed and wanned like it. From the firft foundation of 
 it, in the covenant made with Abraham, when this moon 
 was now beginning to appear, it had to this time been 
 gradually increaiing in its glory. This time, wherein the 
 temple was finimed and dedicated, was about the middle 
 between the calling of Abraham and the coming of 
 Chrift, and now it was full moon. After this the glory 
 of the Jewifh church gradually decreafed, till Chrift 
 came ; as I fhall have occafion more particularly to obferve 
 prefently. 
 
 Now the church of Ifrael was in its higheft external 
 glory : Now Ifrael was multiplied exceedingly, fo that 
 they feemed to have become like the fand on the fea fhore, 
 [i Kings iv. 20.] Now the kingdom of Ifrael was firmly 
 eftabliflied in the family of which Chrift was to come : 
 Now God had chofen the city where he would place his 
 name : Now God had fully given his people the poflef- 
 fion of the promifed land, in quietnefs and peace, even 
 from the river of Egypt, to the great river Euphrates ; 
 and all thofe nations that had formerly been their enemies, 
 quietly fubmitted to them ; none pretended to rebel againft 
 them: -Now the Jewifh wormip in all its ordinances 
 was fully fettled: Now, inftead of a moveable tent and 
 tabernacle, they had a glorious temple ; the moft magni 
 ficent, beautiful, and coftly ftruclure, that then was, 
 ever had been, or has been fmce. Now the people 
 enjoyed peace and plenty, and fat every man under 
 his vine and fig-tree, eating and drinking, and making 
 merry, [i Kings iv. 20.] Now they were in the 
 higheft pitch of earthly profperity, filver being as plenty 
 as ftones, and the land full of^old and precious ftones, 
 and other precious foreign ^phmodities, which were 
 brought by Solomon s mips from Qpbir, and which came 
 from other parts of the world: Now they had a king 
 reigning over them who was the wifeft of men, and pro 
 bably the greateft earthly prince that ever was: -Now 
 
 theii
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 237 
 
 their fame went abroad into all the earth, fo that many 
 came from the utmoft parts of the earth to fee their glory 
 and their happinefs. 
 
 Thus God was pleafed, in one of the anceftors of 
 Chrift, remarkably to fhadow forth the kingdom of 
 Chrift reigning in his glory. David, who was the man of 
 war, a man who had fhed much blood, and whofe life 
 was full of troubles and conflicts, was more of a repre- 
 fentation of Chrift in his ftate of humiliation, his mi 
 litant ftate, wherein he was conflicting with his enemies. 
 But Solomon, who was a man of peace, was a repre- 
 fentation more efpccially of Chrift exalted, triumphing, 
 and reigning in his kingdom of peace. And the happy 
 glorious ftate of the Jewilh church at that time did re 
 markably reprefent two things ; i. That glorious ftate of 
 the church on earth, that (hall be in the latter ages of 
 the world ; thofe days of peace, when nation fhall not 
 lift fword againft nation, nor learn war any more. 2. 
 The future glorified ftate of the church in heaven : the 
 earthly Canaan was never fo lively a type of the heavenly 
 Canaan as it was then, when the happy people of Ifrael 
 did indeed enjoy it as a land flowing with milk and 
 honey. 
 
 14. After this the glory of the Jewifh church gradually 
 declined more and more till Chrift came ; yet not fo but 
 that the work of redemption ftill went on. Whatsoever 
 failed or declined, God ftill carried on this work from 
 age to age ; this building was ftill advancing higher and 
 higher. It ftill went on during the decline of the Jevvifli 
 church, towards a further preparation for the coming of 
 Chrift, as well as during its increaie ; for fo wonderfully 
 were things ordered by the infinitely wife governor of the 
 world, that whatever happened was ordered for good to 
 this general defign, and made a means of promoting it. 
 When the people of theM^ws flourished, and were in prof- 
 perity, he made that to contribute to the promoting this 
 defign ; and when they were in adverfity, God made this 
 alfo to contribute to the carrying on of the fame. While 
 the Jewi/h church was in its ir.orealing ftate, the work 
 
 of
 
 238 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 of redemption was carried on by their increafe ; and when 
 they came to their declining ftate, (which they were in 
 from Solomon s time till Chrift,) God carried on the 
 work of redemption by that. Which decline itfelf was 
 one thing that God made ufe of as a farther preparation 
 for Chrift s coming. 
 
 As the moon, from the time of its full, is approach 
 ing nearer and nearer to her conjunction with the fun ; 
 io her light is ftill more and more decreafmg, till at length, 
 when the conjunction comes, it is wholly fwallowed up 
 in the light thereof. So it was with the Jewilh church 
 from the time of its higheft glory in Solomon s time. 
 In the latter end of Solomon s reign, the ftate of things 
 began to darken, by Solomon s corrupting himfelf with 
 idolatry, which much obfcured the glory of this mighty 
 and wife prince ; now it was, troubles began to arife in 
 his kingdom ; and after his death it was divided, and the 
 ten tribes withdrew from the true worlhip of God, and 
 fet up the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. Prefently 
 after this the number of the ten tribes was greatly dimi 
 nished in the battle of Jeroboam with Abijah, wherein 
 there fell down {lain of Ifrael five hundred thoufand cho- 
 fen men ; which lofs the kingdom of Ifrael never entirely 
 recovered. 
 
 Now alfo the kingdom of Judah was greatly corrupted. 
 In Ahab s time the kingdom of Ifrael did not only wor 
 fhip the calves of Bethel and Dan, but the worihip of 
 Baal was introduced. Before, they pretended to worfhip 
 the true God by thefe images, the calves of Jeroboam ; 
 but now Ahab introduced grofs idolatry, and the direcl 
 worfhip of falle gods in the room of the true God ; (R) 
 
 and 
 
 (R) Many learned men have conje&ured (as perhaps our au 
 thor) that the golden calves oiigina^d from the cherubic figures, 
 one animal in which was a calf or Vvng bull ; fome have even 
 fuppofed, that this part of the Egyptian idolatry fprang from the 
 fame fource ; and that at iirft they were only ufed as the medium 
 of worfhip and emblems of the Deity : [Stackhoufe, Book vi. ch. 
 I.] But as the nature of fin is progreflive, fo one degree of ido 
 latry leads to another ; and when men once conceived the Deity 
 to refemble calves, it was but one flep farther to worfhip thefc 
 calve themfelves.
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 239 
 
 and foon after the worfhip of Baal was introduced into the 
 kingdom of Judah, viz. in Jehoram s reign, by his mar 
 rying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. After this God 
 began to cut Ifrael fhort, by finally deftroying and fending 
 into captivity that part of the people that dwelt beyond 
 Jordan. [2 Kings x. 32, &c.] And then Tiglath-Pilezer 
 fubdued and captivated all thofe of the northern parts of 
 the land; [2 Kings xv. 29.] at laft all the ten tribes were 
 fubdued by Salmanefer, and finally carried captive out of 
 their own land. After this alfo the kingdom of Judah was 
 carried captive into Babylon, and a great part of the nation 
 never returned. Thofe that returned were but a fmall 
 number, compared with what had been carried captive ; 
 and for the moft part after this they were dependent on 
 the power of other ftates, being fubje6l one while to the 
 kings of Perfia, then to the monarchy of the Grecians, 
 afterwards to the Romans. And before Chrift s time, 
 the church of the Jews was become exceeding corrupt, 
 over-run with fuperftition and felf-righteoufnefs. How 
 fmall a flock was the church of Chrift in the days of his 
 incarnation ! 
 
 God, by his gradual decline of the Jewifh ftate and 
 church from Solomon s time, prepared the way for the 
 coming of Chrift feveral ways. 
 
 (i.) The decline of the glory of this legal difpenfa- 
 tion made way for the introduction of the more glorious 
 difpenfation of the gofpel. The ancient difpenfation, 
 fuch as it was in Solomon s time, had no glory, when 
 compared with the fpiritual difpenfation introduced by 
 Chrift. The church, under the Old Teftament, was a 
 child under tutors and governors, and God dealt with it 
 as a child. Thofe pompous externals are called by the 
 apoftle, iveak and beggarly elements. It was fit that thofe 
 things fhould be diminiilftd as Chrift approached ; as 
 John the Baptift, his forerunner, fpcaking of him fays, 
 He muft increafe, but I muft decreafe. [John iii. 30.] 
 It is fit that the twinkling ftars fhould gradually with 
 draw their glory, when the fun is approaching towards 
 his rifing, 
 
 U-) This
 
 2 4 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 (2.) This gradual decline alfo tended to prepare for 
 Chrift s coming, as it difplayed the glory of God s power, 
 in the great effects of his redemption. God s people being 
 fo dirrriniihed and weakened by one ftep after another, till 
 Chrift came, was very much like the diminiihing Gideon s 
 army. God told Gideon, that the people that was with 
 him, was too many for him to deliver the Midianites into 
 their hands, left Ifrael ihould vaunt themfelves againft him, 
 faying, My own hand hath faved me. And therefore 
 all that were fearful were commanded to return ; and there 
 returned twenty and two thoufand, and there remained ten 
 thoufand. But ftill they were too many ; and then, by 
 trying the people at the water, they were reduced to three 
 hundred men. So the people in Solomon s time were 
 too many, and mighty, and glorious for Chrift ; there 
 fore he diminilhed them ; firft, by fending oft" the ten 
 tribes, and then by the captivity into Babylon ; afterward 
 they were farther diminifhed by the great and general 
 corruption that there was when Chrift came ; fo that 
 Chrift found very few godly perfons among them : and 
 with a fmall handful of difciples, he conquered the world. 
 Thus high things were brought down, that Chrift might 
 be exalted. 
 
 (3.) This prepared the way for Chrift s coming, as k 
 made the falvation of thofe Jews that were faved by him 
 more confpicuous : though the greater part of the nation 
 of the Jews was rejected, and the Gentiles called in their 
 room, yet there were a great many thoufands of the Jews 
 that were faved by Chrift after his refurreclion. [A6ts 
 xxi. 20. J They being taken from fo low a ftate under 
 temporal calamity in their bondage to the Romans, and 
 from a ftate of great fuperftition and wickednefs, it made 
 their redemption the more vilibly glorious. 
 
 I have taken notice of this^difpenfation of Providence 
 in the gradual decline of the Jewifh church in this place, 
 becaufe it began in the reign of Solomon. 
 
 15. I would here take notice of the additions that were 
 made to the canon of Scripture in or foon after the reign 
 of Solomon ; fome of them by Solomon himfelf, who 
 
 wrote
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 241 
 
 wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclefiaftes, probably 
 near the clofe of his reign. But his writing the Song of 
 Songs, as it is called, is what is efpecially here to be ta 
 ken notice of, which is wholly on the fubjeft that we 
 are upon, viz. Chrifl and his redemption, rcprefenting 
 the high and glorious relation, union, and love, which is 
 between Chrift and his redeemed church, (s) And the 
 
 hiftorv 
 
 (s) The SONG O/"SONGS written by Solomon. ] As many feriotu 
 minds have doubted the divine authority of this book, and fomc 
 critics and divines have too haftily given it up, we prefume it may 
 be an acceptable fervice to our readers, in as concife a manner a? 
 poflible, to collect the evidences in its favour : 
 
 1. That Solomon compofed many fongs or poems is certain, 
 [i Kings Jv. 32.] and fince the title of this book (which is con- 
 fefTedly very ancient) afcribes it to him, it feems very eafy to bt- 
 lieve, that as the book of Proverbs was compiled from his wife 
 fayings, this book might be preferred as the mod excellent of his 
 fongs. To Solomon, therefore, it has conftantly been referred, 
 and fo far have its enemies generally been from denying it, that 
 this circumftance has been made a principal argument againft its 
 authority. This opinion is very much flrengthened from feveral 
 pafiages in the Song Jtfelf; f_Chap. iii. 11.] * Go forth, and bc- 
 hold King Solomon ; [viii. 12.] My vineyard is before thee, 
 O Solomon ! Alfo feveral of the comparifons ufed, as the tent 
 curtains of Solomon, and Pharaoh s chariot horfes, would hardn 
 have been ufed by a later author. 
 
 2. Should it be afked, at what period of his life Solomon wrote 
 it ? If we may form any judgment from the ftile and images made 
 ufe of, it was moft probably in the early part of it, before his 
 heart was drawn afide from virtue and religion ; fo moft Chrift ian 
 and many Jewifh writers ; for that it was not written during the 
 time of his apoftafy, is clear 
 
 From, 3. Its early admiffion into the Jewifh canon, and the con- 
 flant veneration it has received in the Chriftian church. Among 
 the Hebrews it was ranked in the fame clafs with Daniel and Ezc- 
 kiel, and forbid to be read by their young men till they arrived 
 at mature age, on accounUof its myfterious contents. [Preface 
 to Patrick s Paraph.] jojephus^ though he does not diltinftly 
 name the facred books, enumerates them in fnch a manner as may 
 be fairly fuppofed to include this. And in the Chriltian church, 
 Melito, Bp. of Sardis, exprefsly mentions it as early as A. D. 160, 
 [Bp. Co/ins Schoolaftic Haft. p. 15 and 32.] 
 
 4. Another argument in favour of this book may be derivru 
 from comparing it with other paflages of fcripture, p:i^t;cular!y 
 
 I i Pfalm
 
 242 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 hiftory of the fcriptures feems, in Solomon s reign, and 
 fome of the next fucceeding ones, to have been increafed 
 
 by 
 
 Pfalm xlv. and Ifa. v. i, &c. where many of the fame images are 
 applied to divine objects ; and if David was the author of the for 
 mer, as is extremely likely, it is not to be fuppofed that his fon 
 would have taken the fame figures, and burlefqued the piety of his 
 father by applying them to the object of a carnal love. 
 
 5. It has indeed been alledged, that the name of God does 
 not occur in this book that the name of David is differently 
 fpelt in the Hebrew from what it is in other books written prior 
 to the captivity that it contains no precepts of piety or religion 
 that its ilile is loofe and immodeft, and that it is neither quoted 
 nor referred to by any other of the facred writers. The two firft 
 have been (hewn to be founded on miitake. [FinJtay s Vind. of 
 the Sac. Books, p. 452, and the Hebrew of cap. viii. 6.] If the 
 book be allegorical, as we mail endeavour to mew, it muft con- 
 fequently be full of piety and religion. The ftile of the original 
 has been proved to be perfectly modeft and delicate, [Michaefis & 
 Notes on Lowth s Prcelecl. p. 160.] as well as elegant and beau 
 tiful, [fee New Tranflation, 8vo. 1764.] and if fo much cannot 
 be faid for our verfion, fome apology may at lead be made for 
 the time in which it was made. As to the laft objection, our 
 difficulty arifes from the number of parallel phrafes ufed in both 
 the Old and New Teftament, which makes it not eafy to afcertain, 
 whether the texts in queflion be or be not quotations of this book ; 
 this very objection, however, forms a powerful argument in its 
 favour. 
 
 6. A modern Jew, of confiderable learning and ingenuity, has 
 given his opinion of the book as follows : " This poem is an entire 
 
 allegory, as Aben Ezra obferves It commences, according 
 
 to his opinion, at the time of Abraham, and extends to the times 
 of the Mefliah ; and which dcfcriber, (if I may be allowed the ex- 
 
 preflion) the conjugal union of God with the Jewifli church 
 
 This is thefolemn compact fo frequently celebrated by almoft all 
 the Jewifli writers under the fame image." f_ TRIM S Dift. in Ovll .] 
 The fentiments of the other Jewifli Rabbins correfpondent here 
 with may be feen in the Preface to Patrick s Paraphiafe. [G/// s 
 Comment, and Poll Syn. Grit.] 
 
 It would be leading us too far to re^few the fentiments of Chrif- 
 tian expositors in the general they are agreed, that this Song 
 expreffes the fublime and fpiritual love, which fubfifts between the 
 Redeemer and his church, and though we have not been tho 
 roughly pleafed with any of the allegorical commentaries we have 
 feen, it is hoped, the hints given by Bp. Loiutb, Profeflbr Mi- 
 chaelis, Mr. Harmsr, and the author of the New Tranflation, on 
 the one hand ; and Bp. Patrick, Dr. Gill, and Mr. Henry, on the 
 other, may fome day produce this defideratum. [G. E.]
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 243 
 
 by the prophets Nathan, Ahijah, Shemaiah, and Iddo. It 
 is probable that part of the hiftory which we have in the 
 firft of Kings was written by them, by what is faid 2 Chron. 
 ix. 29. -xii. 15. xiii. 22. 
 
 1 6. God s upholding his church and religion through 
 this period was truly wonderful, confidering the pronenefs 
 of that people to idolatry. When the ten tribes had gene 
 rally and finally forfaken the worfhip of God, he kept up 
 the true religion in the kingdom of Judah ; and when they 
 corrupted themfelves, as they very often did exceedingly, 
 and idolatry was ready totally to extinguish it, yet God 
 kept the lamp alive, and was often pleafecl when things 
 feemed to be come to an extremity, and religion at its 
 laft gafp, to grant blefled revivals by remarkable out-pour 
 ings of his Spirit, particularly in Hezekiah and Jofiah s 
 time. 
 
 17. God kept the book of the law from being loft in 
 times of general and long continued neglect of, and enmity 
 againft it. The moft remarkable inftance of this kind was 
 the prefervation of the book of the law in the time of the 
 long apoftafy of ManafTah, and then afterwards in the 
 reign of Amos his fon. Thus while the book of the law 
 was fo much negle&ed, and fuch a carelefs and profane 
 management of the affairs of the temple prevailed, that 
 the copy of the law, which ufed to be laid up by the fide 
 of the ark in the Holy of Holies, was loft for a long time ; 
 no body knew where it was. But yet God preferved it 
 from being finally fo. In Jofiah s time, when they came 
 to repair the temple, it was found buried in rubbifli, after 
 it had been loft fo long that Jofiah himfelf feems to have 
 been much a ftranger to it till now. [2 Kings xxii. 8, 
 
 &c.] (T) 
 
 1 8. God s 
 
 (T) The book of the law lojl.~\ The enemies of revelation 
 would be glad to prove, and fome of them have attempted it, 
 that the book now found was the only remaining copy of the law, 
 and have even infmuated, that this might be in great meafure 
 fabricated by the priefts. But the facred hiftorian gives no ground 
 for fuch fufpicions ; for, fuppofing that many copies might have 
 
 I i 2 been
 
 244 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 1 8. God s preferring the tribe of which Chrift was to 
 proceed, from being ruined through the many and great 
 clangers of this period. The vifible church of Chrift from 
 Solomon s reign was chiefly in the ten tribes of Judah. 
 The tribe of Benjamin, which was annexed to them, was 
 but very fmall, and that of Judah exceeding large ; as 
 Judah took Benjamin under his covert when he went into 
 Egypt to bring corn, fo the tribe of Benjamin feemed 
 to be under the covert of Judah ever after : and though, 
 on occafion of Jercboam s letting up the calves at Bethel 
 and Dan, the Levites reforted to Judah out of all the tribes 
 of Ifrael, [2 Chron, xi. 13.] ; yet they were alfo fmall, 
 and not reckoned among the tribes ; and though many 
 of the ten tribes did alfo on that occafion, for the fake 
 of the worfhip of God in the temple, leave their inhe 
 ritances in their feveral tribes, and removed and fettled 
 in Judah, and fo were incorporated with them, as [2 
 Chron. xi. 16.] yet the tribe of Judah was fo much the 
 prevailing part, that they were all called by one name, 
 they were called Judah ; therefore God faid to Solomon, 
 [i Kings xi. 13.] I will not rend away all the kingdom ; 
 * but will give one tribe to thy fon, for David my fer- 
 4 vant s fake and for Jerufalem s lake, which I have cho- 
 fen ; [alfo ver. 32, 36.] So when the ten tribes were 
 carried captive, it is faid, there was none left but the tribe 
 of Judah only : [2 Kings xvii. 18.] Whence they were 
 called Jews. 
 
 This was the tribe cf which Chrift was to come : and 
 of this chiefly did God s vifible church confift, from So 
 lomon s 
 
 been deftroyed or loft in the preceding apoftafy, yet the Lord al 
 ways referved himfelf a people to whom his word was precious, 
 and who would never part from it, but with their lives. The faft 
 here feems to be, that the Jludy of the Bible had been miferably 
 neglected ; and that the king who was commanded to write out a 
 copy himfelf, [Dent. xvii. 18.] had been brought up in ignorance 
 of it that the copy now found was a very ancient and valuable 
 manufcript perhaps, (as the Hebrew phrafe is, in or by the band 
 of Mofes ) the very original itfelf the difcovery of which might 
 well be fuppofed to occafion great joy among them. [2 Chron. 
 xxxiv. 14.] [Sec Gill s Comment.^ [U. S.j
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 145 
 
 lomon s time : this was the people over whom the Kings 
 which were legal anceftors of Chrift, and of the houfe 
 of David, reigned. The people were wonderfully pre- 
 ferved from deft ruction during this period, when they 
 often feemed to be upon the brink of it, and juft ready to 
 be fwallowed up. So it was in Rehoboam s time, when 
 Shimak, king of Egypt, came againft Judah with fuch a 
 vaft force ; yet then God manifeftly preferved them from 
 being deftroyed. [2 Chron. xii. 2, &c.] So again in 
 Abijah s time, when Jeroboam fet the battle in array 
 jigainft him with eight hundred thoufand chofen men ; 
 a mighty army indeed ! [2 Chron. xiii. 3.] Then God 
 wrought deliverances to Judah, out of regard to the co 
 venant of grace eftablilhed with David, as is evident by 
 ver. 4, 5 ; and the victory they obtained was becaufe 
 the Lord was on their fide, [ver. 12.] Again in Afa s 
 rime, when Zerah the Ethiopian came againft him with 
 a yet larger army of a thoufand thoufand and three hun 
 dred chariots. [2 Chron. xiv. g.] On this occafion Afa 
 cried to the Lord and trufted in him ; being fenfible that 
 jt was nothing with him to help thofe that had no power: 
 [ver. ii.] And Afa cried unto the Lord his God, and 
 
 * faid, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether 
 
 * with many, or with thofe that have no power. And 
 accordingly God gave them a glorious victory over this 
 mighty hoft. 
 
 So again it was in Jehofhaphat s time, when the chil 
 dren of Moab, of Ammon, and the inhabitants of Mount 
 Seir, combined together againft Judah, with a mighty 
 army, a force vaitly fuperior to any that Jehofhaphat 
 could raife ; who, with his people, was greatly afraid: 
 yet they fet themfelves to feek God on this occafion ; 
 trufted in him, and vyere told by one of his prophets, that 
 they need not fear, nor Jlhould they have any occafion to 
 fight in this battle, but only to ftand ftill and fee the fal- 
 vation of the Lord. Accordingly they only ftood flill, 
 arid fang praifes to God, who made their enemies do the 
 work themfelves, by killing one another; while the 
 children of Judah had nothing to do, but to gather the 
 
 fpoil,
 
 246 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fpoil, which was more than they could carry away. [2 
 Chron. xx.] 
 
 So it was in Ahaz s time, of which we have fpoken al 
 ready. Again in Hezekiah s, when Sennacherib, king of 
 Aflyria, the greateft monarchy that was then in the world, 
 came up againft all the fenced cities of Judah, after he 
 had conquered moft of the neighbouring countries, and 
 fent Rabfhakeh, the captain of his hoft, againft Jerufa- 
 lem, who in a very proud and foornful manner infulted 
 Hezekiah and his people, as being fure of victory ; and 
 the people were trembling for fear, like lambs before a 
 lion. Then God fent Ifaiah the prophet to comfort them, 
 and a (Jure them that they fhould not prevail ; as a token 
 of which he gave them this fign, viz. that the earth, for 
 two years fucceflively, fhould bring forth- food of itfelf, 
 from the roots of the old ftalks, without their plowing or 
 fowing ; and then the third year they mould fow and reap, 
 and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them, and live 
 on the fruits of their labours, as they were wont to do 
 before. [See 2 Kings xix. 29.] This is mentioned as 
 a type of what is promifed in verfes 30, 31. And the 
 
 * remnant that is eicaped of the houfe of Judah, mall 
 
 * yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 
 
 * For out of Jerufalem (hall go forth a remnant, and they 
 that efcape out of Mount Zion : the zeal of the Lord 
 of hofts fhall do this. The corn s fpringing again after 
 it had been cut off with the fickle, and bringing forth 
 another crop from roots that feemed to be dead, reprefents 
 the church s reviving again, as it were out of its own 
 afhes, and flourishing like a plant after it had been cut 
 down feemingly paft recovery. When the enemies of the 
 church have done their utmoft, and feemed to have gained 
 their point, and to have overthrown the church, io that 
 the being of it is fcarcely viiible, yet there is a fecrct lite 
 in it that will caufe it to flourish again, and to take root 
 downward, and bear fruit upward. This was now fulfil 
 led ; for the king of Afiyria had already taken and car 
 ried captive the ten tribes ; and Sennacherib had alfo ta 
 ken all the fenced cities of Judah, and ranged the country 
 
 round
 
 FROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 247 
 
 round about ; Jerufalem only remained, and Rabfhakeh 
 had in his own imagination already fwallowed that up ; as 
 he had alfo in the fearful apprehenfions of the Jews them- 
 ielves. But God wrought a wonderful deliverance. He 
 fent an angel, that in one night fmote an hundred fourfcore 
 and five thoufand in the enemy s camp. 
 
 19. In the reign of Uzziah, and the following reigns, 
 God was pleafed to raife up a fet of eminent prophets, 
 who fhould commit their prophecies to writing, and leave 
 them for the ufe of his church in all ages. We before 
 obferved, that God began a fucceffion of prophets in If- 
 rael in Samuel s time ; but none of them are fuppofed to 
 have written books of prophecies till now. Several of 
 them indeed wrote hiftories of the wonderful difpenfa- 
 tions of God towards his church, as we have obferved 
 already of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, Ahijah, and Iddo. 
 The hiftory of Ifrael feems to have been farther carried 
 on by Iddo and Shemaiah : [2 Chronicles xii. 15.] 
 Now the acts of Rehoboam, firft and laft, are they not 
 written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and Tddo 
 the feer, concerning genealogies? And after that [2 
 Chron. xx. 34-] Jehu the fon of Hanani, who is men- 
 tioned in the book of the kings of Ifrael. [See i Kings 
 xvi. 17.] And then it was continued by the prophet 
 Ifaiah: [2 Chronicles xxvi. 22.] Now the reft of the 
 ats of Uzziah, firft and laft, did Ifaiah the prophet, the 
 4 fon of Amos, write. He probably did it as well in 
 the fecond book of Kings, as in the book of his pro 
 phecy. And the hiftory was carried on and finimed by 
 other prophets after him. But now did God rirft raiie 
 up a fet of great prophets, not only to write hiftories, but 
 prophecies. The rirft of thefe is thought to be Hofea 
 the fon of Beeri, and therefore his prophecy, the word of 
 the Lord by him, is called [Hofea i. 2.] The beginning 
 of the word of the Lord by Hufea ; that is, the rirft: 
 part of the written word of that kind. He prophefied 
 in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, andHezekiah, 
 kings of Judah, and in the cb.vs of Jeroboam, the fon of 
 
 Joaih,
 
 248 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Joafh, king of Ifrael. There were many other witncfTes, 
 for God raifed up about this time, to commit their pro 
 phecies to writing, viz. Ifaiah, Amos, Jonah, Micah, 
 Nahum, and probably fome others ; and fo from that 
 time forward God continued a fuccefTion of writing pro 
 phets. 
 
 This xvas a great advance in the affair of redemption, 
 as will appear, if we confider that the main bufmefs of 
 the prophets was to point out Chrift and his redemption. 
 The great end of the fpirit of prophecy being given them 
 was, that they might give teftimony to Jefus Chrift, 
 [Rev. xix. 10.] * For the teftimony of Jefus is the Spirit 
 of prophecy. And therefore we find, that the main 
 thing that moft of the prophets in their writings infift 
 upon, is, Chrift and his redemption, and the glorious 
 times of the gofpel, which mould be in the latter days ; 
 and though many other things were fpoken of by them, 
 yet they feem to be only introductory to their prophecy of 
 thefe things. Whatever they predict, here their prophecies 
 commonly terminate. 
 
 Thefe prophets wrote chiefly to prepare the way for 
 the coming of Chrift, and the glory that mould follow. 
 And in what an exalted ftrain do they all fpeak of thofe 
 things ! Other things they fpeak of as other men. But 
 when they come upon this fubje6l, what a heavenly fub- 
 limity is there in their language ! Some of them are very 
 particular and full in their predictions of thefe things, 
 and above all, the prophet Ifaiah, (who is therefore dc- 
 fervedly called the evangelical prophet) feems to teach the 
 glorious doctrine of the gofpel almoft as plainly as the 
 apoftles, who preached after Chrift was actually come. 
 The apoftle Paul therefore takes notice, that the prophet 
 Efaias is very bold, [Rom. x. 20.] z. e. as the word is ufed 
 in the New Teftament, very plain, fo [2 Cor. iii. 12.] 
 * we ufe great plainnefs of fpeech, i. e. boldnefs, as 
 in the margin. How plainly and fully does the prophet 
 Ifaiah defcribe the manner and circumftances, the nature 
 and nd, of the lufferings and facrihce of Chrift, in the
 
 ROM DAVID TO THE CAPTIVITY. 249* 
 
 Jiiid. chap, of his prophecy, (u) There is fcarce a chapter 
 in the New Teftament itfelf more full of it. And how 
 much, and in what a flrain, does the fame prophet fpeak 
 
 from 
 
 (u) Ifaial) preditted ChriJTs SUFFERINGS.] The glorious pro 
 phecy here referred to commences with the 1 3th verfe of chap. lii. 
 and includes the whole of chap. liii. It is fo important and ex 
 cellent a prophecy, that we are perfuaded our readers will admit 
 the propriety of reviewing at leaft the principal verfes in it. 
 
 We begin, for brevity fake, with chap. liii. 4. Surely he hath 
 
 * borne our griefs, and carried our forrows, not only by fympa- 
 thy in, fupport under, and a miraculous deliverance from them ; 
 [Matt. viii. 1 6, 17.3 but as ftanding in our place, he bare our fins 
 in his own body, [i Pet. ii. 24.] Yet we efteemed him [judi- 
 eially] flricken, fmitten of God and afflifted. He was treated 
 by his own people, the Jews, as an impoftor, a blalphemer, and 
 accurfed of God. 
 
 Ver. v; But he was wounded for our tranfgreflions ; he was 
 bruifed for our iniquities : the chaftifement of our peace (by 
 
 * which our peace is effected) was laid upon him ; and with his 
 ftripes (or by hisbruifes) are we healed. Wonderful Redeemer! 
 by what extraordinary methods of love and grace doft thou effect 
 the falvation of thy people ! 
 
 Ver. 6. All we, like fheep have gone aftray ; we have turned 
 
 * every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid (hath made 
 to light) upon him the iniquity of us all. As the fins of Ifrael 
 were laid on the fcape-goat, and fent into the land of oblivion ; fo 
 were our fins, in all their aggravated and complicated heinoufnefs, 
 made to meet by imputation upon him ; and he fuffered the jull 
 
 * for the unj uft, to bring us unto God ! [l Peter iii. 18.] 
 
 Ver. 7. He was oppreffed, and he was afflicted Bp. Loivfb s 
 tranflation is more elegant and pointed ; It [/ . e. the puniflimeut 
 of fmj was exafted, and he was made anfwerable, jutt as a 
 furety when a debtor becomes infolvent: but whether this verfion 
 be more exaft and defenfible, we mull not now ttop to inquire. 
 The prophet goes on, Yet he opened not his mouth; he is 
 brought as a lamb to the {laughter, and ar, a fheep b*.f.>re her 
 
 * fhearers is dumb, fo he opened not his mouth. How literally 
 was this fulfilled in the behaviour of the lamb of God ! 
 
 Ver. 8. He was taken from prifon and from judgment : but 
 the word ["!&]/] does not appear to fignify a piilon, nor was our 
 Lord ever confined in one; we therefore here again prefer ihc 
 rendering of Bp. LowtL, " By an oppreffive judgiiicut wan he- 
 taken off, and who (hall declare his generation :" i. e. as his 
 Lcrdfhip has largely and fatisfactorily proved, Who \vc;iM clc- 
 ckre his manner of life? who (hail witr..: i the purity o!" his 
 
 K k oonduft
 
 2 5 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 from time to time of the glorious benefits of Chrift, the 
 unfpeakable bleffings which fhall redound to his church 
 through his redemption ! Jefus Chrift, the perfon that 
 
 this 
 
 conduct and character ? Peter, where art than ? Alas! he has 
 denied his Mailer, and the reil of his difciples have all forfaken 
 him and fled. Nor would his enemies have admitted evidence, 
 had it appeared, For he was cut off from the land of the living ; 
 for the tranfgrefiion of my people was he ftricken. 
 
 Ver. 9. * And he made his grave, or rather, * His grave was 
 appointed with the wicked, and with the rich, not in his 
 death, but * with the rich man was his tomb; So ScbittJIer, 
 DrufniS) Drs. Hunt, Gr. Sharp, Julb, Bp. Loiuth, c. which ex- 
 aftly correfponds with the event recorded by the evangelilt. 
 [Matt, xxvii. 57 60. j Becaufe (or although) he had done no 
 
 * violence, neither was guile found in his mouth ; [ver. 10.] yet 
 
 * it pleafcd the Lord to bruife him, he hath put [him] to grief. 
 When thou malt make his foul an offering for fin, / . e. as 
 Bp. Loivth, a propitiatory facrifice, He (hall fee (his) feed, 
 
 * he (hall prolong (his) days, or, which fliall prolong their 
 
 * days, and the pleafure of the Lord fliall profper in his hand. 
 This and the following verfes plainly predicted not only the fuf- 
 ferings of Chrift, and the caufe and nature of them, as an atone 
 ment for our fins, but alfo the glory that was to follow, when 
 he fhould fee of the travail of his foul and be fatisfied, which was 
 accomplifhed when Jefus arofe from the dead, afcended up on 
 high, and beftowed that copious effufion of the Spirit, by which 
 thoufands were converted at a fermon. 
 
 But what fay the Jews to this prophecy ? Some refer it to Je 
 remiah, others to the people of Ifrael ; it is hard to fay which 
 of thefe is moit abfurd, but fome have honeftly confeffed, " The 
 Rabbins of bleffed memory with one lip, according to received 
 tradition, declare that thefe words are fpoken of Mefllah the 
 King." Arid when the Spirit mail be poured out again from on 
 high, then fhall they behold him whom they have pierced, and 
 mourn, and believe in him. 
 
 We mall only add, that by this remarkable prophecy the eu 
 nuch was converted to Chriib anity in the apoftolic age, [_ Afts viii. 
 27 40.] and near our own times, a noble, but profligate earl, 
 [Lord Rochefter] owed his converfion to the fame means. His 
 lordlhip confefled, that as he heard this chapter read, " He felt 
 an inward force upon him, which did fo enlighten his mind, and 
 convince him, that he could refill it no longer ; for the words 
 had an authority, which did (hoot like rays into his mind, .... 
 which did fo effe&ually conftrain him, that he did ever after as 
 firmly believe in his Saviour, as if he had feen him in the clouds." 
 FJSee Bp. IsOivlb s Ifaiah, and Dr. Cr. Sharp** Arg. from the Pro 
 phecies, p. 2 2 2, &c. from whom the fubllance of the above is chiefly 
 taken.] [I-N.]
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 251 
 
 this prophet fpoke fo much of, once appeared to Ifaiah in the 
 form of the human nature, the nature that he mould after 
 wards take upon him. [Ch. vi. i.] I faw alfo the Lord 
 
 * fitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train rilled 
 
 * the temple, &c. It was Chrift that liaiah now faw, as 
 we are exprefsly told in the New Teftament. [John xii. 
 3941.] 
 
 And if we confider the abundant prophecies of this and 
 the other prophets, what a great increafe was there of the 
 light of the gofpel ? How plentiful are the revelations and 
 prophecies of Chrift now, to what they were in the firft 
 period of the Old Teftament, from Adam to Noah? or in, 
 the fecond, from Noah to Abraham ? or to what they were 
 before Mofes, or in the time of Mofes, Jofhua and the 
 Judges? Great part of the Old Teftament was. written MOW 
 from the days of Uzziah to the captivity into Babylon. And 
 how excellent are thofe portions of it ! What a precious 
 treafure have thofe prophets committed to the church of 
 God, tending greatly to confirm the gofpel of Chrift ! and 
 which has been of great comfort and benefit to God s church 
 in all ages fince, and doubtlcfs will be to the end of the work!. 
 
 VI. From the BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY to the COMING 
 of CHRIST. 
 
 I COME now to the la ft period of the Old Teilament, 
 viz. that which begins with the Babylonifli captivity, and 
 extends to the coming of Chrift, being the greateft part of 
 lix hundred years, to mow how the work of redemption 
 was carried on through this time. But before I enter upon 
 particulars, I would obferve three things wherein this is 
 diftinguiihed from the preceding. 
 
 (i.) Though we have no account of a great part of 
 this period in the fcripture hiftory, yet the events of it are 
 more the fubjet of fcripture prophecy, than any of the 
 preceding. There are two ways wherein the fcriptures 
 give account of the events by which the work of redemp- 
 
 K k 2 tion
 
 J$ HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 tion is carried en, viz. hiftory, and prophecy : and in one 
 or the other of thefe ways, we have, in the fcriptures, an 
 account how the work of redemption is carried on from the 
 beginning. Although they are not a proper hiftory of the 
 whole, yet therein is contained the chain of all the great 
 events by which this affair hath been carried on from the 
 fall to the end of the world, either in hiftory or prophecy. 
 And it is to be obferved, that where the fcripture is want 
 ing in one of thefe ways, it is made up in the other. "XV hete 
 fcripture hiftory fails, there prophecy takes place ; fo that 
 the account is ftiii carried on, and the chain is not broken, 
 till we come to the very laft link of it in the confummation 
 of all things. 
 
 And accordingly it is obfervable of the period or fpace 
 of time that we are upon, that though it is fo much Icfs the 
 fubjccl of fcripture hiftory, than moft of the preceding, fb 
 that there is above four hundred years of which the fcrip 
 ture gives us no hiftory, yet the events of this period are 
 inore the fubjc6t of prophecy than all the preceding toge 
 ther. Moft of thofe remarkable prophecies of the book of 
 Daniel ; alfo moft of thofe in Ifaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, 
 againft Babylon, Tyrus, Egypt, and many other nations, 
 were fulfilled in this period. 
 
 Thus the reafon why the fcriptures give us no hiftory 
 pf fo great a part of this period, is not becaufe the events 
 of this period were not fo important, or lefs worthy to be 
 taken notice of, than the events of the foregoing ; but 
 there are feveral other reafons which may be given of it. 
 One is, that it was the will of God that the fpirit of pro 
 phecy fhoukl ccafe in. this period, (for reafons that may 
 be given hereafter) ; fo that there were no prophets to 
 write the hiftory of thefe times ; and therefore God de- 
 figning this, took care that the great events of this period 
 Should not be without mention in his word. It is ob 
 fervable, that that fet of writing prophets that God raifed 
 up in Ifrael, were raifed up at the latter end of the fore 
 going period, and at the beginning of this ; which it is 
 likely was partly for that reafon, that the time was now 
 approaching, of which, the fpirit of prophecy having 
 
 ceafc
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 253 
 
 ccafed, there was to be no fcripture hiftory, and therefore 
 no other fcripture account than what was given in pro 
 phecy. 
 
 Another reafon that may be given why there was fo 
 gtsat a part of this period left without an hiftorical ac 
 count in fcripture, is, that God in his providence took 
 care, that there fhould be authentic and full accounts of 
 the events of this period preferved in profane hiftory. It 
 is remarkable, that with refpect to the events of the five 
 preceding periods, of which the fcriptures give the hif 
 tory, profane hiftory gives us no account, or at leaft of 
 but very few of them. There are many fabulous and 
 uncertain accounts of things that happened before ; but 
 the beginning of the times of authentic profane hiftory 
 is judged to be but little more than an hundred years 
 before Nebuchadnezzar s time. The learned men among 
 the Greeks and Romans ufed to call the ages before that the 
 fabulous age ; but the times after that they called the Jnjlo- 
 rical age. And from about that time to the coming of 
 Chrift, we have undoubted accounts in profane hiftory 
 of the principal events ; accounts that wonderfully agree 
 with the many prophecies that we have in fcripture of 
 thofe times. 
 
 Thus did the great God, that difpofes all things, take 
 care to give an hiftorical account of things from the be 
 ginning of the world, through all thofe former ages which 
 profane hiftory does not reach, and ceafed not till he came 
 to thofe later ages in which profane hiftory related things 
 with fome certainty : and concerning thofe times, he gives 
 us abundant account in prophecy, that by comparing 
 profane hiftcry with thofe prophecies, we might fee their 
 agreement. 
 
 (2.) This being the laft period of the Old Teftament, 
 and the next to the coming of Chrift, feems to have been 
 remarkably diftinguiftied from all others in the great re 
 volutions that were among the nations of the earth, to 
 make way for his kingdom. The time now drawing nigh, 
 wherein Chrift, the great King and Saviour of the world, 
 was to come, great and mighty were the changes that were 
 
 brought
 
 254 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 brought to pafs in order to it. The way had been prepar 
 ing for his coming, from the fall of man, through all the 
 foregoing periods ; but now the time drawing nigh, things 
 began to ripen apace, and Divine Providence wrought 
 wonderfully now. The greateft revolutions that any hif- 
 tory whatfoever gives an account of, fell out in this pe 
 riod. Almoft all the then known world, / . e. all the 
 nations that were round about the land of Canaan, far and 
 near, that were within the reach of their knowledge, were 
 overturned again and again. All lands were in their turns 
 fubdued, captivated, and as it were, emptied, and turned 
 upfide down, and that moft of them repeatedly, in this 
 period; agreeable to that prophecy, [Ifa. xxiv. i.] Be- 
 hold, the Lord maketh the earth empty ; he maketh it 
 waite, and turneth it upfide down, and fcattereth abroad 
 the inhabitants thereof/ 
 
 This emptying, and turning upfide down, began with 
 God s vilibJe church, in their captivity by the king of 
 Babylon. And then the cup from them went round to 
 all other nations, agre.enble to what God revealed to the 
 prophet Jeremiah, [xxv. 1527.] Here fpecial refpet 
 ieems to be had to the great revolutions that there were 
 on the face of the earth in the times of the Babyloniih 
 empire. But, after that, there were three general over- 
 turnings of the world before Chrift came, in the fucceflion 
 of the three great monarchies of the world that arofe after 
 the Babylonifh empire. The king of Babylon is repre- 
 fented in fcripturc as overturning the world ; but after that 
 the Babyloniih empire was overthrown by Cyrus, who 
 founded the Perfian empire in the room of it ; which 
 svas of much greater extent than the Babyloniih empire 
 in its greateft glory. Thus the world was overturned the 
 fecond time. And then, after that, the Perfian empire 
 was overthrown by Alexander, and the Grecian fet up 
 upon the ruins of it ; which was frill of much greater 
 extent than the Peril an : and thus there was a general 
 overturning of the world a third time. And then, after 
 that, the Grecian empire was overthrown by the Romans, 
 and the Roman on it cltablifhed j which vaftly exceedec}
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 255 
 
 all the foregoing empires in power and extent of domi 
 nion. And fo the world was overturned the fourth 
 time. 
 
 Thefe leveral monarchies, and the great revolutions of 
 the world under them, are abundantly fpoken of in the 
 prophecies of Daniel. They are reprefented in Nebu 
 chadnezzar s image of gold, filver, brafs, and iron, and 
 Daniel s interpretation of it in the fecond chapter, and the 
 vifion of the four beafts, and the angel s interpretation of 
 it in chap. vii. And the fucceffion of the Perfian and 
 Grecian monarchies is more particularly reprefented in the 
 viith chap, in the viiion of the ram and the he-goat, and 
 again in chap. xi. 
 
 And befide thefe four general overturnings of the world, 
 the world was kept in a conftant tumult between whiles ; 
 and indeed was as it were in a continual convulfion through 
 this whole period till Chrift came. But before this period, 
 the face of the earth was comparatively in quietnefs : 
 though there were many great wars, yet we read of no 
 fuch mighty and univerfal convulfions as there were in 
 this period. The nations of the world, moil: of them, 
 had long remained on their lees, as it were, without be 
 ing emptied from vefTel to veflel, as is faid of Moab, [ Jer. 
 xlviii. ii.] Now thefe great overturnings were becaufc 
 the time of the great Meffiah drew nigh. [Ezek. xxi. 
 27.] I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it fnall 
 
 * be no more, until he come whofe right it is, and I will 
 
 * give it him. The prophet, by repeating the word over- 
 tvirn three times, has refpeft to three overturnings, as in 
 the Revelation, [viii. 13.] The repetition of the word 
 ivoe three times, fignines three diftin6t woes ; as appears 
 by what follows, [ix. 12.] One woe is paft ; and again 
 [xi. 14.] The fecond woe is paft, and behold the third 
 
 * woe cometh quickly. 
 
 It muft be noted, that E/ekiel prophefied in the time 
 of the Babylonifh captivity ; and therefore there were 
 three great and general overturnings of the world to come 
 after this prophecy, before Chrift came ; the iirft by the 
 Perlians, the fecond by the Grecians, the third by the
 
 256 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Romans ; and then after that, Chrift, whole right it was 
 to take the diadem and reign, ihould come. Here thefe 
 great revolutions are evidently fpoken of as preparatory to 
 the coming and kingdom of Chrift. But to underftand the 
 words right, we rnuft note the particular expreflion, I 
 * will overturn, overturn, overturn //, / . <?. the diadem 
 and crown of Ifrael, or the fupreme temporal dominion 
 over God s vifible people. This God faid fhould be no 
 more, i. e. the crown ihould be taken off, and the diadem 
 removed, as it is faid in the foregoing verfe. The fupreme 
 power over Ifrael fhould be no more in the royal line of 
 David, to which it properly belonged, but ihould be re 
 moved away, and given to others, and overturned from 
 one to another : rirft the fupreme power over Ifrael fhould 
 be in the hands of the Perlians ; and then it Ihould be over 
 turned again, and come into the hands of the Grecians ; 
 and then it Ihould be overturned again, and come into the 
 hands of the Romans, and fhould be no more in the line of 
 David, till that very perfon Ihould come, that was the fon 
 of David, whofe proper right it was, and to whom God 
 would give it. (w) 
 
 That thofe great revolutions were all to prepare the 
 way for Chrift s coming, and creeling his kingdom in the 
 world, is farther manifeft by Haggai, [ii. 6, 7.] For 
 thus faid the Lord of holts, Yet once it is a little while, 
 and I will fhake the heavens, and the earth, and the 
 
 fea, 
 
 (w) The CROWN of Ifrael overturned.] In a preceding Note, 
 (c,p. 1 6 1.) we have (hewn, that the fceptre was not to depart 
 until Shiloh came ; here we fee the crown was to be taken away, 
 and not rejlored till the Mefiiah s coming. Thefe aflertions may 
 appear at fnft fight inconfiilent ; but are to be reconciled by a 
 very obvious diltin&ion between the fceptre of the tribe, and the 
 diadem of the kingdom. It is certain, as our author has fhewn, 
 that long before Chriit s incarnation the Jews became iubjeft to 
 the heathen empires, and yet were not wholly ftript of temporal 
 power till afterward. They preferved a form of civil, as well as 
 ecclefiailical government of their own ; yet were in a Hate of vaf- 
 ialage and iubjedtion to other crowns. In a word, they had a 
 
 power, but not the fupreme power, among themfelves. This 
 
 makes the accornplifhment of thefe prophecies much more re 
 markable. [I. N.J:
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 257 
 
 * lea, and the dry land ; and I will {hake all nations, and 
 the defire of all nations (hall come, and I will fill this 
 houfe with glory, faith the Lord of hofts. [Seealfover. 
 2123.] It is evident by this, that thefe commotions, 
 whereby the thrones of kingdoms and armies were over 
 thrown, and every one came clown by the fword of his 
 brother, were to prepare the way for the coming of him 
 who is the defire of all nations. (x) 
 
 The great changes and troubles that have fometimes 
 been in the vifible church of Chrift, are [in Rev. xii. 2.] 
 compared to the church s being in travail to bring forth 
 Chrift : fo thefe great troubles and mighty revolutions 
 before Chrift was born, were, as it were, the world s 
 being in travail to bring forth the Son of God. The 
 
 L 1 apoftlr". 
 
 (x) The DESIRE of a!l nations. ] That this prophecy refpeled 
 the Mefiiah, we have the cleareit proof by comparing this texl 
 with Mai. iii. 1,2. where the defire of all nations is explained 
 of the Lord whom ye (Jews) feek, even the mefieager (or an- 
 gel) of the covenant. And the houfe to be filled with glory 
 is called the temple ; nor can the Jews in their prefent ftate of 
 apoitafy any way account (as will be hereafter fliewn) for tht. 
 glory of the latter temple being faid to exceed that of the former, 
 namely, Solomon s. But why is Chriih called the defire of all 
 nations ? Were they indeed fenliblc of their guilt and mifery, 
 and ready to embrace the Saviour ? Alas ! no. But they al? 
 groaned beneath the weight of temporal calamity they were op- 
 prefled with tyranny and fuperftition ; they had alfo i ome genera 
 expectation of a great deliverer, which they had gathered from 
 tradition, and fome partial knowledge of revelation. Thus far 
 they were prepared for his coming ; and as Chrilt came to deliver 
 them eventually from thefe evils, as well as others of which thev 
 had little conception, he might well be called the defire of all 
 nations. Farther, he might well be fo called, as uniting in. 
 his perfon every attribute and excellence worthy the eftecrn arid 
 veneration of mankind. Riches, honour, peace, and whatever 
 we call good and great, if they have any luftre, derive it fr-wt 
 him ; and in him, as the grand focus of every ray of bleflffdaefti 
 which the Deity has emitted, they all unite and complete their 
 glory : It pleafed the Father, that in him fiiould all fullnefr 
 dwell. 
 
 This prophecy has been ably defended again ft the objections, 
 and fupported by the conceffions of Jewifh writers, as well ac 
 other arguments, by the late Dr, Owen on the Hebrews, vol. i- 
 Exercit. 13. [N. U.]
 
 2 5 S HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 apoftle, in the viiith. of Romans, reprefents the whole 
 creation ns groaning and travailing in pain together until 
 now, to bring forth the liberty and manifeftation of the 
 children of God. Thereto the world being fo long a time 
 kept in a (late of war and blood died, prepared the way for 
 the coming of the Prince of peace, as it ihowed the great 
 need the world flood in of fuch a prince. 
 
 It pleated God to order it in his providence, that 
 earthly power and dominion mould be raifed to its great- 
 eft height, and appear in its utmoft glory, in thofe four 
 great monarchies that fucceeded one another, and that 
 every one ihould be greater and more glorious than the 
 preceding, before he fet up the kingdom of his Son. 
 By this it appeared how much his fpiritual kingdom 
 exceeded the moft glorious temporal ones. The ftrength 
 and glory of Satan s kingdom in thefe four mighty mo 
 narchies, appeared in its greateft height : for thofe were 
 the monarchies of the heathen world, and fo the ftrength 
 of them was the ftrength of Satan s kingdom. God fuf- 
 fered the latter to rife to fo great a height of power and 
 magnificence before his Sou came to overthrow it, to 
 prepare the way for his more glorious triumph. Goliath 
 mull have on all his armour when the ftripling David 
 comes againll him with a fling and a ftone, for the 
 greater glory of David s victory. God fuffercd one of 
 thofe great monarchies to fubdue another, and ere6l Jtfelf 
 on the ether s ruins, appearing ftill in greater ftrength, 
 and the laft to be the ftrongeft and might left of all ; that 
 fo Chrift, in overthrowing that, might, as it were, over 
 throw them aU at once ; as the ftone cut out of the moun 
 tain without lianas, is represented as destroying the whole 
 image, the gold, the filver, the brafs, the iron, and the 
 clay ; fo that all became as the chaff of the fummer 
 ihreming-floor. 
 
 Thefe mighty empires were fuffered thus to convulfc 
 the world, and cleftroy one another : and though their 
 power was fo great, yet they could net uphold themfelves, 
 but tell one after another, and came to nothing, even the 
 laft of them, which was the ftrongeft, and had f wallowed 
 
 up
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 259 
 
 up the earth. It pleafed God thus to fhow in them the 
 instability and vanity of all earthly power and greatnefs , 
 which ferved as a foil to fet forth the glory of the king 
 dom of his Son, which/never lhall be deftroyed, [Dan. 
 ii. 44.] In the days of thefe kings fhall the God of 
 heaven fet up a kingdom, which fhall never be de- 
 ftroyed : and the kingdom fhall not be left to other 
 * people, but it fliall break in pieces, and confume all 
 . thefe kingdoms, and it fhall ftand for ever. So greatly 
 does this differ from all thofe kingdoms : they vanifh away^ 
 and are left to other people ; but this fhall ftand for ever. 
 God fuffered the devil to do his utmoft, and to eftabliflv 
 his intereft, by fetting up the greateft, ftrongeft, and moft 
 glorious kingdoms in the world, before the defpifed Jefus 
 overthrew him in his empire. Chrift came into the world 
 to bring down the high things of Satan s kingdom, that 
 the hand of the Lord might be on every one that is proud 
 and lofty, and every high tower, and every lofty moun 
 tain ; [Itaiah ii. 12, &c.] And therefore thefe things 
 were fuffered to rife very high, that Chrift might appear 
 fo much the more glorious in being above them. ---Thus 
 wonderfully did the great and wife governor of the world 
 prepare the way for the erection of the glorious kingdom 
 of his beloved fon Jefus. 
 
 (3.) Another thing for which this laft period or fpace 
 of time before Chrift was particularly remarkable, was the 
 wonderful prefervation of the church through all thofe 
 overturnings. This was, on fome accounts, more re 
 markable through this period, than through any of the 
 foregoing. It was very wonderful that the church, which 
 now was fo weak, and in fo low a ftate, and moftly 
 fubjedt to the dominion of heathen monarchies, ihould 
 be preferved for five or lix hundred years together, while 
 the world was fo often overturned, and the earth was rent 
 in pieces, and made fo often empty and wafte, and the 
 inhabitants of it came down fo often every one by the 
 fword of his brother. I fay it was wonderful that the 
 .church in its weak and low ftate, being but a little 
 handful .of men, fliould be preferved in all thefe great 
 
 J-. 1 2 ton-
 
 2 6o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 convuliions ; cfpecially confidering that the land of Judea, 
 the chief place of the church s retidence, lay in the midft 
 of them, as it were in the middle between the contend 
 ing parties, and \vas very much the feat of war amongft 
 them, and was often over-run and fubdued, and fome- 
 times in the hands of one people, and fometimes another, 
 and very much the objeft of the envy and hatred of all 
 heathen nations, and often almoft ruined by them, great 
 multitudes of its inhabitants being flain, and the land in 
 a great meafure depopulated ; and thofc who had them 
 in their power, often intended the utter deft ruction of 
 the whole nation. Yet they were upheld : they were 
 prcferved in their captivity in Babylon, and they were 
 upheld again under all the dangers they pafTed through, 
 under the kings of Perfia, and the much greater dangers 
 they were liable to under the empire of the Greeks, and 
 afterwards when the world was trodden down by the 
 Romans. 
 
 Their prefervation through this period was alfo pecu 
 liarly remarkable, in that we never read of the church s 
 fnffering perfecution in any former period in any meafure 
 to fuch a degree as they did in this, under Amiochus Epi- 
 phanes, of which more afterwards. This wonderful pre 
 fervation of the church through all thefe overturning* of 
 the world, gives light and confirmation to what we read 
 in the xlvith. Pfalm, God is our refuge and ftrength, a 
 
 * very prefent help in trouble. Therefore will not we 
 
 * fear, though the earth be removed, and though the moun- 
 tains be carried into the midrt of the fea ; though the 
 waters thereof roar, and be troubled; though the moun- 
 4 tains {hake with the fwelling thereof. 
 
 THUS I have taken notice of fome general things 
 wherein this laft period of the Old Teilamcnt times was 
 diftinguiihed. I come now to confider how the work of 
 redemption was carried on in particulars. -And, 
 
 i. The rft thing that here offers is the captivity of 
 the Jews into Babylon. This was a great diipenfation 
 of providence, and fuch as never was before. The chil 
 dren
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 261 
 
 dren of Ifrael in the time of the judges, had often been 
 brought under their enemies ; and many particular perfons 
 were carried captive at other times. But never had there 
 been any fuch thing as deftroying the whole land, the 
 fancluary, and the city of Jerufalcm, and all the cities and 
 villages of the land, and carrying the whole body of the 
 people out of their own land into a country many hundred 
 miles diftant, and leaving the land of Canaan empty of 
 God s viable people. The ark had once forfaken the ta 
 bernacle of Shilo, and was carried captive into the land of 
 the Philiftines : but never had there been any fuch thing 
 as the burning the fandtuary, and utterly deftroying the 
 ark, and carrying away all the facred vefiels and utenfils, 
 and breaking up all their ftated worfhip in the land, and 
 the land s lying waite and empty for fo many years toge 
 ther. How lively are thofe things fet forth in the Lamen 
 tations of Jeremiah ! (Y) The work of redemption was 
 promoted by this remarkable difpenfation in thefe following 
 ways. 
 
 (i.) It finally cured that nation of their idolatry. The 
 prophet Ifaiah, fpeaking of the fetting up of the kingdom 
 of Chrift, [ii. 18.] fays, * The idols he {hall utterly abo- 
 
 * lifh. When the time was drawing near, that God 
 would abolifh heathen idolatry, through the greater part 
 of the known world, it plcafed him firft to aboliih hea- 
 thenifm among his own people, by their captivity in Ba 
 bylon. 
 
 This 
 
 (Y) The LAMENTATIONS of Jeremiah."] " There is nothing 
 in all the tragedians, not in Euripedes himfcif, (fo mafterly in his 
 mourning rtrokes) that is equally moving and tender with the 
 Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah O that my head were 
 
 * waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears ! O, all ye that pafg 
 by, behold and fee if there be any forrow like unto my forrow!" 
 .... It is a piece of fnperlative beauty, and .... compvifcs all 
 the eloquence of mourning. Did we ever find (fays the eloquent 
 
 * Dr. South) forrow flowing in fuch a natural p ..- ailing pathos? 
 
 * . . . . One would think that every letter was wrote with a tear: 
 
 * every word was the noife of a breaking heart ; that tlie author 
 *. was a man compared of forrows, difciplined to grief from his 
 
 * infancy ; one who never breathed bi:t in fighs, nor fpoke bu <q 
 
 * a groan." [BLACK BALL S Sac. daffies, vol. i.]
 
 262 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This nation, which was addicted to idolatry for lo 
 many ages, and not reformed by all the reproofs, warn 
 ings, correxSlions, and judgments infti&ed on them for it, 
 were now finally cured ; fo that however fome might fall 
 into this fin afterwards, as they did about the time of 
 Antiochus s perfecution, yet the nation, as a nation, ne 
 ver fhewed any hankering after this fin any more. This 
 was a remarkable and wonderful change in that people, 
 and what dire6lly promoted the work of redemption, as 
 it was a great advancement of the intereft of religion. 
 
 (2.) It was one thing that prepared the way for Chrift s 
 coming, and fctting up the glorious difpenfation of the 
 gofpel, as it took away many of thofe things, wherein con- 
 lifted the glory of the Jewilh difpenfation. Firft, it re 
 moved the temporal diadem of the houfe of David away 
 from them, / . e. the fupreme and independent government 
 of themfelves. The time now approaching, when Chrift, 
 the great and everlafting king of his church, was to reign, 
 it was time for the typical kings to withdraw. The Jews 
 henceforward were always dependent on other nations, 
 until Chrifl: came, for near fix hundred years, except about 
 ninety under the Maccabees and their pofterity, during 
 which fpace they maintained a fort of independence by 
 continuel wars. 
 
 Again, by the captivity, the glory and magnificence of 
 the temple was taken away, and the temple that was built 
 afterwards was nothing in comparifon with it. Thus it was 
 meet, when the time drew nigh that the glorious antitype 
 of the temple mould appear. 
 
 Another thing that they loft by the captivity, was the 
 two tables of the teftimony delivered to Mofes, on which 
 God with his own linger wrote the ten commandments on 
 Mount Sinai. Thefe fecm to have been preferved in the 
 ark till the captivity, and were there when Solomon placed 
 the ark in the temple, [i Kings viii. 9.] There was no- 
 thing in the ark, fave the two tables of ftone, which 
 * Moles put there at Horeb. 
 
 Another thing that the Jews now loft, was the Urim 
 and Thumrnim. [Ezra ii. 63.] And the Tirfliatha laid 
 
 * unto
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 263 
 
 unto them, that they fhould not eat of the moft holy 
 things, till there fliould ftand up a prieft with Urim and 
 4 Thummim. And we have no account that this was ever 
 reftored ; but the ancient writings of the Jews fay the 
 contrary. What this Urim and Thummim was, I fliall 
 not now inquire ; but only obferve, that it was fornething 
 by which the high prieft inquired of God, and received 
 immediate anfwers from him, or by which God gave forth 
 immediate oracles on particular occafions. This was now 
 withdrawn, the time approaching when Chrift, the antitype 
 of the Urim and Thummim, the great word and oracle of 
 God, was to come, (z) 
 
 Another thing that the ancient Jews fay was wanting 
 in the fecond temple, was the Shechinah, or cloud of 
 glory over the mercy-feat. This was promifed to be in 
 the tabernacle. [Levit. xvi. 2.] For I will appear in the 
 
 4 cloud 
 
 (z) The URIM and THUMMIM.] To enumerate all the different 
 opinions of the learned on this fubject would be tedious rather than 
 edifying. The following are the moft generally received: 
 
 1. MoftChriftian writers take the Urim and Thummim to mean 
 the precious (tones in the breaft-platc of the high prieft ; but the 
 rabbins will have it that the ineffable name ( Jehovah) was inferted 
 between the folds, not by the workmen, as the (tones were, but by 
 Mofes himfelf under Divine direction. [Exod. xxviii. xxix.] 
 
 2. The anfwer of this oracle muft either have been collected by 
 the peculiar radiancy of certain letters of the names of the tribes 
 engraved on thefe (tones; or rather be delivered by a voice from 
 the Shechinah, as at other times, Numb. vii. 8, 9. See i Sam. 
 xxiii. II, 12. xxx. 8. 2 Sam. ii. I. Judges!, i, 2. xx. 18. 
 All are agreed that this method was only lawful for the moft eminent 
 perfons, and on the moft important occafions. The Jews add, 
 that it was never ufed after the building of Solomon s temple ; 
 and give this reafon, that the tribes were foon after divided, and 
 it could only be lawfully confulted in cafes in which they were all 
 concerned. 
 
 If the anfwer was given by a voice from the moft holy, then the 
 only ufe of the breaft-plate feems to have been as a memorial of the 
 twelve tribes before God, herein typifying him who bears all the 
 names of his chofen people on his heart, and thus conftantly ap 
 pears in the prefence of God for us. 
 
 [For farther fatisfaction on this very difficult fubjedt, fee Pri- 
 dtanx s Connection, Part II. Book 3. Levi s Dictionary, and 
 Parkhurft s Lexicon in 11N.] [G. E.J
 
 264 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 cloud upon the mercy-feat. And we read of the cloud 
 of glory defcending into the tabernacle; [Exod. xl. 35.] 
 and fo likewife with refpeft to. Solomon s temple. But 
 we have no account that this cloud of glory was in the 
 fecond temple ; and flic ancient accounts of the Jews fay, 
 that there was no fuch thing there. This, indeed, was 
 needlefs in the fecond temple, coniidering that God had 
 promifed to fill it with glory another way, viz. by ChriiVs 
 coming into it; which was afterwards fulfilled, [Haggai ii. 
 7.] I will {hake all nations, and the defire of all nations 
 4 fhall come, and I will rill this houfe with glory, faith -the 
 * Lord of hofts. 
 
 Another thing that the Jews in their ancient writings 
 mention as being now withdrawn, was the fire from 
 heaven on the altar. When Moles built the tabernacle 
 and altar in the wildernefs, and the rirft Sacrifices were 
 offered on it, fire came down from heaven, and confumed 
 the burnt-offering, [Leviticus ix. 24.] and again, when 
 Solomon built the temple, and offered the firft facririces, 
 [2 Chronicles vii. i.] This fire was never to go out, but 
 with the greateft care to be kept alive. [Leviticus vi. 13.] 
 The fire fhall ever be burning upon the altar; it mall 
 4 never go out. And there is no reafon to fuppofe the tire 
 in Solomon s time ever went out till the temple was de- 
 ftroyed by the Babylonians ; but then it was extinguished, 
 and never reftored. And the jews, after their return, were 
 forced to make ufe of their common fire inftead of it, ac 
 cording to the ancient tradition of the Jews. Thus the 
 lights of the Old Teftament go out on the approach of the 
 glorious Sun of righteoufnefs. 
 
 (3.) The captivity in Babylon was the occafion of 
 another thing, which afterwards promoted the fetting up 
 of Chuffs kingdom in the world, viz. the difperlion cf 
 the Jews through the greater part of the known world, 
 for the whole nation being carried away far out of their 
 own land, and continuing in a ftate of captivity for fo 
 long a time, they got them poffellions, built houfes, and 
 fettled themtelves in the laud of their captivity, agreeable 
 
 to
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 265 
 
 to the direction that Jeremiah gave in the letter he wrote 
 to them. [Chap, xxix.] And therefore, when Cyrus gave 
 them liberty to return to the land where they had formerly 
 dwelt, many of them never returned ; they were not 
 willing to leave their feitlements and pofTefTions there to 
 go into a defolate country, many hundred miles diftant, 
 which none but the old men among them had ever feen ; 
 and therefore they were but few, but a fmall number than 
 returned. Great numbers tarried behind, though they ftill 
 retained the fame religion with thofe that returned, fo far 
 as it could be pra6Hfed in a foreign land. Thofe meffen- 
 gers [Zcchariah vii.] that came to inquire of the priefts 
 and prophets in Jerufalem, Sherezer and Regem-meiech, 
 are fuppofed to have been fent from the Jews that remained 
 ftill in Babylon. 
 
 Thofe Jews that remained ftill in that country were 
 foon, by the great changes that happened in the world, 
 difperfed thertce into all the adjacent countries. And 
 hence we find, that in Efther s time, which was after the 
 return from the captivity, the Jews were difperfed through 
 out all the vaft Perfian empire, which extended from 
 India to Ethiopia. [Either iii. 8.] And Haman laid 
 
 * unto King Ahafuerus, There is a certain people fcat- 
 
 * tered abroad, and difperfed among the people in all 
 
 * the provinces of thy kingdom, &c. And fo they con 
 tinued difperfed till Chrift came, and till the apoftles went 
 forth to preach the gofpel. But yet thefe difperfed Jews 
 retained their religion in this difperfion. Their captivity, 
 as I faid before, thoroughly cured them of their idolatry, 
 and it was their manner, for as many of them as could 
 from time to time, to go up to the land of Judea to Jeru 
 falem at their great feaft. Hence we read, [Acts ii.] that 
 at the time of the great feaft of Pentecoft, there were Jews 
 then at Jerufalem out of every nation under heaven. 
 Thefe were come up from all countries whither they had 
 been difperfed, to worfhip at that feaft. And hence we 
 find, in the hiftory of the Acts, that wherever the apoitles 
 went preaching through the world, they found Jews. 
 
 M m Andochus
 
 266 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Antiochus the Great, about two hundred years before 
 Chiift, on a certain occaiion, tranfplanted two thoufand 
 families of Jews from the country about Babylon into Alia 
 the Lefs: and fo they and their pofterity, many of them, 
 fettled in Pontus, Galatia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, and in 
 Ephefus ; and from thence fettled in Athens, and Corinth, 
 and Rome. (A) Hence the fynagogues in thole places 
 where the Apoiilc Paul preached. This difperfion of the 
 Jews through the world before Chrifl came, did many 
 ways prepare the way for his coming, and felting up his 
 kingdom in the world. 
 
 One was, that this was a means of raifmg a general ex 
 pectation cf the Mefliah through the world about the time 
 that he actually came. For the Jews, wherever they were 
 difperied, carried the holy fcriptures with them, and fo the 
 prophecies of the Meffiah ; and being couverlant with the 
 nations among whom they lived, they, by that means, be 
 came acquainted with thele prophecies, and with the ex 
 pectations of the Jews, of their glorious Meffiah ; and by 
 this means, the birth of fuch a glorious perfon in Judea 
 about that time began to be the general expectation of the 
 nations of the world, as appears by the writings of the 
 learned men of the heathen that lived about that time, 
 which are Hill extant ; particularly Virgil, the famous poet 
 that lived in Italy a little before Chiitr. was born, has a 
 poem about the expectation of a great prince that was to be 
 born, and the happy times of righteoutnefs and peace that 
 he was to introduce ; fome of it very like the language of 
 the prophet Ifaiah. (B) 
 
 Another 
 
 (A) Antiocbus tranfplanted two than/and jfcwi/h families.] " An- 
 tiochus had received fo many fervices from the Jews .... and 
 depended fo much on their fidelity, that when a fedition broke out 
 in Phrygia and Lydia, he fent two thoufand Jewifh families to 
 quell it, and keep the country in peace, and was exceedingly libe 
 ral to them. It was from thefe Jews .... that defcended many 
 of thofe who were difpcrfcd or fcattered abroad whom we mail 
 afterwards find fo numerous. James i. i. I Peter i. I." [RoL- 
 LIN S Ancient Hiitory, Book xviii. Art. i. 2.] 
 
 (B) VIRGIL refembles Ifaiab.] This alludes to Virgil s Pol/io, 
 written about forty years before the birth of Chrift. Mr. Pope s 
 
 cele-
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 267 
 
 Another way that this difperfed ftate of the Jews pre 
 pared the way for Chrift was, that it fhowed the necefllty 
 of abolifhing the Jewifh difpenfation, and of introducing 
 the new one of the covenant of grace. It fhowed the 
 neceffity of aboli filing the ceremonial law, and the old 
 Jewifli worfhip: for, by this means, the obfervance of 
 M in 2 that 
 
 celebrated Meffiah is written on the correfpondent paflages between 
 the claflic and infpired poets; and their remarkable coincidence is 
 pointed out in the notes; alfo the fuperior beauty of the latter. 
 
 The following is Mr. Dryden s tranflation of the moft celebrated 
 lines in the paftoral of Virgil alluded to, except that the words in 
 Italics are Jnferted to render it more literal. 
 
 " The virgin now returns^ Saturnian times 
 Roll round again. ....... 
 
 The bafe, degenerate iron offspring ends, 
 A golden progeny from heaven defcends. 
 
 Thou ev ty banifh d virtue (halt reftore, 
 
 And crimes (hall terrify the world no more. 
 
 The jarring nations he in peace mail bind, 
 
 And with paternal virtues rule mankind. 
 
 Unbidden earth fhall wreathing ivy bring, 
 
 And fragrant herbs (the promifes of fpring) 
 
 As her rirft off rings to her infant king. 
 
 The goats with ftrutting dugs fhall homeward fpeed, 
 
 And lowing herds fecure with lions feed. 
 
 His cradle fhall with rifing flowers be crown d ; 
 
 The ferpent s brood fhall die ; the facred ground 
 
 Shall weeds and pois nous plants refufe to bear. 
 
 1 
 
 Unlabour d harvefts fhall the fields adorn, 
 And clufler d grapes fhall blufh on ev ry thorn ; 
 The knotted oaks fhall fhow rs of honey weep." 
 
 0, Son of mighty Jove ! from hcav n appear ; 
 
 Come to thine honours lo, the time draws near ! 
 
 The barren hills proclaim the Deity ; 
 
 .// God! a God! the vocal rocks reply. 
 
 Not only Virgil, but Tacitus and Suetonius both fay, an opinion 
 univerfally prevailed all over the eaft, that about this time one out 
 of Judea fhould obtain the empire of the world. This opinion is 
 fuppofed to have originated from the Sybillinc books; but whether 
 it came from them, from Balaam s famous predictions, or from the 
 facred prophets of the Jews, is of no immediate confequence, as 
 the fad itfelf is indifputable, [ G. E.]
 
 268 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 vhat ceremonial law became -impracticable even by the 
 Jews themfelves, for the ceremonial law was adapted to 
 the ftate of a people dwelling together in the fame land, 
 where was the city that God had chofen ; where was the 
 temple, the only place where they might offer facrifices ; 
 where it was lawful for their priefts and Levites to offi 
 ciate ; where they were to bring their firft fruits, and 
 where their cities of refuge were, and the like. But the 
 Jews, by this difperfion, lived, many of them, in other 
 lands, more than a thoufand miles diftant, when Chrift 
 can:e ; which made the obfervation of their laws of fa 
 crifices, and the like, impracticable. And though their 
 forefathers might be to blame in not going up to the land 
 of Judea when they were permitted by Cyrus, yet the 
 cafe was now, as to many of them at leaft, become im 
 practicable ; which ihowed the neceffity of introducing a 
 new difpenfation, that fhould be fitted, not only to one 
 particular land, but to the general circumftances and ufe 
 of all nations. 
 
 Again, another way that this difperfion of the Jews, 
 prepared the way for the fetting \ip of the kingdom of 
 Chrift in the world, was, that it contributed to the mak 
 ing the facts concerning Jefus Chrift publicly known 
 through the world. For, as I obferved before, the Jews 
 that lived in other countries ufed frequently to go up to 
 Jerufalem at their three great feafts, which were from 
 year to year ; and fo, by this means, they could not but 
 become acquainted with the news of the wonderful things 
 that Chrift did in that land. We find that they were 
 prefent at, and took great notice of, that great miracle 
 of raifing Lazarus, which excited the curiofity of thnfc 
 foreign Jews that came up to the feaft of the paflbver to 
 fee jefus: [John xii. 20, 21.] Thefe Greeks were fo 
 reign Jews and profelytes, as is evident by their coming 
 to worihip at the feaft of the paiTover. The Jews that 
 lived abroad among the Greeks, and fpoke their language, 
 were called Greeks, or Hellenifts : fo they are called Gre 
 cians. [Aclsvi. i.] Thefe Grecians here fpoken of 
 
 were
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 269 
 
 were not Gentile Chriftians ; for this was before the cal 
 ling of the Gentiles, (c) 
 
 By the fame means, the Jews that came up from other 
 countries became acquainted with Chrift s crucifixion. 
 Thus the difciples, going to Emmaus, fay to Chrift, when 
 they did not know him, [Luke xxiv. 18.] Art thou only 
 
 * a Granger in Jerufalem, and haft not known the things 
 
 * which have come to pafs there in thefe days ? Plainly 
 intimating, that the things concerning Jefus were fo pub 
 licly known to all men, that it was wonderful to find any 
 man unacquainted with them. And fo afterwards they be 
 came acquainted with the news of his refurreclion ; and 
 when they went home again into their own countries, they 
 carried the news with them, and fo made thefe facls public 
 through the world, as they had made the prophecies of 
 them public before. 
 
 After this, thofe foreign Jews that came to Jerufalem, 
 took great notice of the pouring out of the Spirit of Pente- 
 coft, and the wonderful effects of it ; and many of them 
 were converted by it, viz. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, 
 and the dwellers in Mefapotamia, and in Egypt, and the 
 parts of Libya about Cyrene, and the ftrangers of Rome, 
 Jews and profelytes, Cretes and Arabians. And fo they 
 did not only carry back the news of the fails of Chrif- 
 tianity, but Christianity itfelf, into their own countries 
 with them ; which contributed much to the fpreading of it 
 through the world. 
 
 Again, another way that the difperfion of the Jews 
 contributed to the fetting up of the gofpel kingdom in 
 the world was, that it opened a door for the introduction 
 of the apoftles in all places where they came to preach 
 the gofpel. For almoft in all places where they came to 
 preach the gofpel, they found fynagogues of the Jews, 
 where the holy fcriptures were wont to be read, and the 
 
 true 
 
 (c) GRECIANS foreign Jews. 3 " This, for reafons which 
 may be feen at large in l)r. Benfoni, Hiftory, appears to me far 
 the moft probable opinion .... as well as that which is generally 
 allowed by all the belt commentators." [DoDDRiDGE, Fam. 
 E.\pof. in A6ts vi. i.J
 
 27<3 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 true God worshipped ; which was a great advantage to 
 the apoflles in fpreading the gofpel. For their way was, 
 into whatever city they came, fir ft to go into the fyna- 
 gogue of the Jews, (they being people of the fame na 
 tion,) and there to preach the gofpel unto them. And 
 hereby their coming, and their new doclrine, was taken 
 notice of by their Gentile neighbours, whofe curiofuy 
 excited them to hear what they had to fay ; which be 
 came a fair occafion to the apoflles to preacli the gofpel 
 to them. It appears that it was thus, by the account we 
 have iu the Acts of the Apoftles. And thele Gentiles hav 
 ing been before, many of them, prepared in fome mea- 
 fure, by the knowledge they had of the Jews religion, 
 and of their worfhip of one God, and of their prophe 
 cies, and expectation of a Meffiah ; which knowledge they 
 derived from the Jews, who had long been their neigh 
 bours ; this opened the door for the gofpel to have accefs 
 to them. And the work of the apoflles with them was 
 doubtlefs much eafier than if they never had any expec 
 tation of fuch a perfon as the apoflles preached, or heard 
 about the worfhip of one only true God. So many ways 
 xlid the Babylonifh captivity greatly prepare the way for 
 Chrifl s coming. 
 
 1. The next particular that I would take notice of is, 
 the addition made to the canon of fcripture in the time of 
 the captivity, in thofe two remarkable portions of fcrip 
 ture, the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel. Chrift ap 
 peared to each of thefe prophets in the form of that na 
 ture which he was afterwards to take upon him. The 
 prophet Ezekiel gives an account of his thus appearing to 
 him repeatedly, [chap. i. 26] And above the firmament 
 that was over their heads, was the likenefs of a throne, 
 as the appearance of a fapphire flonc, and upon the 
 
 * likenefs of the throne was the likencis as the appear- 
 
 * ance of a man above upon it; [alfo chap. via. i, 2.] 
 So Chrift appeared to the prophet Daniel : [chap. viii. 
 15, 16.] There flood before me as the appearance of a 
 man. And I heard a man s voice between the banks cf 
 Ulai, which called, and faid, Gabriel, make this man 
 
 tq
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 271 
 
 k to underftand the vifion. There are feveral things that 
 make it evident, that this "was Chrift, which I cannot 
 now mention particularly.* So Chrift appeared again as 
 a man to this prophet, [chap. x. 5, 6.] Then I lift up 
 < mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man clothed 
 in linen, whole loins were girded with rine gold of 
 :Uphaz: his body alfo was like the beryl, and his face 
 as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of 
 
 * fire ; and his arms and his feet like in colour to po- 
 4 lilhed brafs, and the voice of his words like the voice 
 of a multitude. Comparing this vilion with that of 
 the apoftle John, [Rev. i. 13.] makes it manifeft that it 
 was Chrift. And the prophet Daniel, in the hiftorical part 
 of his book, gives an account of a very remarkable appear 
 ance of Chrift in Nebuchadnezzar s furnace, with Sha- 
 drach, Melhach, and Abednego, [chap. iii. 25.] Lo I 
 
 * fee four men loofe, and the form of the fourth is like 
 
 * the Son of God. 
 
 Chrift did not only here appear in the form of the human 
 nature, but he appeared in a furnace, faving thole perfons 
 who believed on him from that furnace ; by which is re- 
 prefented to us, how Chrift, by coining himfelf into the 
 furnace of God s wrath, faves thofe that believe in him 
 therefrom, and the wrath of Gocl never reaches or touches 
 them, fo much as to fmge the hair of their head. 
 
 Thefe two prophets, in many refpec~h, were more par 
 ticular concerning the coming of Chrift, and his glorious 
 gofpel kingdom, than any of the prophets had been be 
 fore. They both of them mention thofe three great re 
 volutions of the world that fhould be before he came. 
 Ezekiel is particular in feveral places concerning the com 
 ing of Chrift. The prophet Daniel is more fo in fore 
 telling the time of the coming of Chrift than any pro 
 phet had been before, in the ixth chapter of his pro 
 phecy ; who foretold, that it mould be feventy weeks, z. e , 
 feventy weeks of years, or feventy times feven, that is, four 
 hundred and ninety years, from the decree to rebuild and 
 
 reftore 
 
 * See Note (A) p. 199.
 
 272 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 reftore the ftate of the Jews, till the Mcffiah fliould be 
 crucified ; which muft be reckoned from the commiflicm 
 jnven to Ezra by Artaxerxes, [Ezravii.] whereby the very 
 time of Chrift s crucifixion was pointed out, which never 
 had been before, (n) 
 
 The prophet Ezekiel is very particular in the myftical 
 defcription of the gofpel church, in his account of his vi- 
 fion of the temple and city, in the Litter part of his pro 
 phecy. The prophet Daniel points out the order of par 
 ticular events that ihould come to pafs relating to the 
 Chriftian church after Chrift was c^me, as the rife of an- 
 tichrift, and the continuance of his reign, and his fall, 
 
 and 
 
 ( D ) Daniel s SEVENTY WEEKS reck cnedfrom the commifjion given 
 to EZRA by ARTAXERXES.] So Dean Prideaux, Dr. J. Owen, 
 and others, in this manner : 
 
 The decree given in the year 457 before the Chriftian sera, from 
 thence to the year Anno Dom. 33, when Chrill was crucified, 
 was 490 years. Now the text fays, * feventy weeks (/ . e. of 
 years) are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, 
 to finifh the tranfgrefiion, and to make an end of fins, and to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlafting 
 righteoufnefs, and to feal up, (/. e. complete and confirm) the 
 vifion and prophecy : all which vvere accomplished in the 
 death of Chrift and to anoint the moft holy. We have ob- 
 ferved in a preceding note, that the moft Holy (Holy of Holies in 
 the Heb. ) was typical of Chrift in his ftate of exaltation ; the 
 term here ufed may perhaps be in allufion to this event, in con- 
 neftion with his death ; by anointing the moft Holy, may be in 
 tended his execution of his prieftly office, in offering himfelfupon 
 the crofs, and afterwards entering into the immediate prefence of 
 God, as the high prieft into the moft holy place on the great day 
 of atonement. 
 
 * Know therefore and undet ftand, that from the going forth of 
 4 the commandment to reflore and build Jerufalem, unto Meffiah, 
 
 * the Prince, (hall be feven weeks and threefcore and two weeks, 
 1. e. fixty-nine weeks, or 483 years (for fo the words fhould 
 be pointed and diftributed) and thefe bring us to the time 
 
 of Jefus Chrift, and very near his baptifm. * And the ftreet 
 
 (hall be built again, and the wall ; / . e. the Jewifh ftate, ci 
 vil and eccleiiaftic, eftabliflied, as well as Jerufalem itfelf re 
 built, in troublefome times. This fills the firft week, or forty- 
 nine years. And (then) after (/. e. in the week after) three 
 fcore and two weeks, from the firft feven, (hall Meffiah be cut 
 
 * off, by death, but not for hi mfelf. And the people of that 
 
 * prince
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 275 
 
 and the glory that ihould follow. Thus does gofpel light 
 iiill increafe, the nearer we come to the time of ChriiVs 
 birth. 
 
 3. The next particular I would mention is, the deilruc- 
 tion of Babylon, and the overthrow of the Chaldean em 
 pire by Cyrus. The deftrution of Babylon was in that 
 night in which Belfhazzar the king, and the city in general, 
 was drowned in a drunken feftival which they kept to their 
 gods, when Daniel was called to read the hand writing on 
 the wall, [Dan. v. 30.] and it was brought abdut in fuch 
 a manner, as wonderfully to fhow the hand of God, and 
 remarkably to fulfil his word by his prophets, which I can 
 not now {land particularly to relate. (E) Now that great 
 
 city, 
 
 ;.-; J 
 
 prince fhall come, namely, Titus, * and (hall deftroy tlie city and 
 
 * the fandluary, and the end thereof fhall be with a flood ; and 
 
 * unto the end of the war, defolations are determined. This refers 
 to the deftrudlion of Jerufalem, of which in its proper place. 
 
 * And he (Mefliah) (hall confirm the covenant with many for 
 
 * (or in) one week, and in the midft (or in the courfe) of the 
 
 * week, namely, the feventieth and laft, he fhall caufe the fa- 
 crifice to ceaie, by the greater facrifice and richer oblation of 
 himfelf. [See Prideaux s Connect. Part I. Book 5. Dr. Given on 
 the Hebrews, vol. i. Exer. 14, 15. and Mr. R. Winter s Sermons 
 en Daniel s feventy weeks.] 
 
 (E) The deJlruSion of Babylon FORETOLD.] Mr. ROLLIN has 
 tollefted and arranged the feveral prophecies which referred to this 
 period, and fhewn how exactly they were accompliflied. We (hall 
 abridge his obiervations, and refer to the texts with which they are 
 fupported. 
 
 i. God predicted the Jewifh captivity at Babylon, and the time 
 of its continuance to be feventy years. Jer. xxv. 1 1. 
 
 2 The caufes of God s wrath againft Babylon were, her pride 
 cruelty to the Jews and facrilegious impiety. Ifa. xlvii. 6 1 1 . 
 
 3. The decree pronounced. The calamities that were to fall 
 upon her, utter and irreparable deftruclion. Pf. cxxxvii. 8, 9. 
 Ifa. xiii. xiv. Jer. ii. 
 
 4. Cyrus called to deftroy Babylon, and to deliver the Jews. 
 Ifa. xlv. i 4. 
 
 5. God gives fignal to the commanders and to the troops to 
 inarch againft Babylon. Ifa. xiii. 2 5. xxi. 2. 
 
 6. Particular circumftances relative to the fiege and taking of 
 Babylon. The army to confift of Medes and Perfians. Ifa. xxi. 
 2. Jer. li. i r. The city to be attacked fuddenly. Ifa. xlvii. 1 1. 
 fer. I. 24. Euphrates to be dried up. Jer. 1. 38, 39. li. 36. 
 
 N n Babylon
 
 274 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 city, \vhich had long been an enemy to the city of God, 
 viz. Jerufalem, was deftroyed, after it had flood from the 
 firft building of Babel, which was about feventeen hun 
 dred years. If the check that was put to the building this 
 city at its beginning, whereby they were prevented from 
 carrying it to that extent and magnificence that they in 
 tended ; I fay, if this promoted the work of redemption, 
 as I have before fhown it did, much more did this deftruc- 
 tion of it. 
 
 It was a remarkable Jnftance of God s vengeance on the 
 enemies of his redeemed church ; for he brought this de- 
 ftruclion on Babylon for the injuries they did to his chil 
 dren, as is often fet forth in the prophets. It alfo promoted 
 the work of redemption, as thereby God s people, that 
 were held captive by them, were fet at liberty to return to 
 their own land to rebuild Jerufalem ; and therefore Cyrus, 
 who did it, is called God s fhepherd. [Ifa. xliv. latter end ; 
 and xlv. i.] And thefe are over and above rhofe ways 
 wherein the fetting up and overthrowing the four monar 
 chies of th world did promote the work of redemption, 
 which have been before obferved. 
 
 4. What next followed this was, the return of the 
 Jews into their own land, and rebuilding Jerufalem and 
 the temple. Cyrus, as foon as he had deftroyed the 
 Baby Ion im empire, and erected the Perfian on its ruins, 
 made a decree in favour of the Jews, that they might 
 return to their own land, and rebuild their city and 
 
 temple, 
 
 Babylon to be taken in the midit of rioting and debauchery. Jer. 
 li. 39, 57. The king feized with inftant terror. Ifa. xxi. 3, 4. 
 Comp. Dan. v. 6. That he mould return to his debauchery. Ifa. 
 xx i. 5. Comp. Dan. v. 10. That the Babylonifh troops, which 
 ihould be chiefly foreigners, fhould be fcattered and flee home. 
 Ifa. xii. 4. That the king fhould not be buried with his ancef- 
 tors. Ifa. xiv. 19, 20. The flaughter of his children. Ifa. xiv. 
 
 21, 22. 
 
 Every one of thefe circumftances was literally and minutely ful 
 filled ; one of the moil remarkable of which was, that Cyrus con 
 trived to render the Euphrates fordable, and introduced his troops 
 by the channel of it, in a night of debauchery and riot, when 
 through the providence of God the guards had negleftcd to fhut 
 the gates. [See ROLUN S Ancient Hill. Bookiv. art. 2.]
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 275 
 
 temple. This return of the Jews out of the Babyloniflv 
 captivity is, next to the redemption out of Egypt, the 
 rnoft remarkable of all the Old Teftament redemptions, 
 and moft infiPted on in fcripture, as a type of the great 
 redemption of Jefus Chrift. (F) It was under the hand 
 of one of the legal anceftors of Chrift, viz. Zerubbabcl, 
 the fon of Shealtiel, whofe Babylonifh name was Shefh- 
 bazzar. He was the governor of the Jews, and their 
 leader in their firft return out of captivity ; and, together 
 with Jofhua the fon of Jofedek the high prieft, had the 
 chief hand in rebuilding the temple. This redemption 
 was brought about by the hand of Zerubbabel and Jofhua 
 the prieft, as the redemption out of Egypt was brought 
 ubout by the hand of Mofes and Aaron. 
 
 The return out of the captivity was a remarkable dif- 
 penfation of Providence. It was remarkable, that the 
 heart of an heathen prince, as Cyrus was, fhould be fo 
 inclined to favour fuch a defign as he did, not only in 
 giving the people liberty to return, and rebuild the city 
 and temple, but in giving charge that they fliould be 
 helped with iilver and gold, and with goods, and with 
 beads. [Ezra i. 4.] And afterwards God wonderfully 
 inclined the heart of Darius to further the building of the 
 houfe of God with his own tribute-money, and by com 
 manding their bitter enemies, the Samaritans, who had 
 been driving to hinder them, to furnifh them with all 
 that they needed in order to it, and to fupply them day by 
 day ; making a decree, that whofoever failed of it, timber 
 Ihould be pulled down out of his houfe, and he hanged 
 thereon, and his houfe made a dunghill. [Ezra vith.] 
 And after this God inclined the heart of Artaxerxes, 
 another king of Perlia, to promote the work of prelerving 
 the ftate of the Jews, by his ample commiflion to Ezra, 
 
 N n 2 [Ezra 
 
 (F) The return from Babylon TYPICAL.] " The return of the 
 Jews from their captivity in Babylon was only a fhadow of that 
 deliverance, which the Meffiah was to bring into the world : and 
 the mighty acts which God wrought in the lirft. period, were only 
 faint images of what he would operate in the fecond." [SAURIN S 
 Sermons, vol. i. fer. 4. Robinfon sTranflat.]
 
 ^6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 [Ezra viith.] helping them abundantly with filver and 
 gold of his own bounty, and offering more, as fhould 
 be needful, out of the King s treafure-houfe, and com 
 manding his treafurers beyond the river Euphrates to 
 give more, as lliouid be needed, unto an hundred talents 
 of lilver, and an hundred menfures of wheat, and an 
 hundred baths of wine, and an hundred baths of oil, and 
 fait, without prefciibing how much ; and giving leave to 
 eilablifh magiftrates in the land ; and freeing the priefts of 
 toll, tribute, and cuftom, and other things, which rendered 
 the decree and commiffion by Artaxerxes the moft full and 
 ample in the Jews favour of any that, at any time, had 
 been given for the reftoring of Jerufalem : and therefore 
 in Daniel s prophecy, this is called the decree for the re- 
 Itoring and building Jerufalem ; and hence the feventy 
 weeks are dated. 
 
 And after this, another favourable commiffion was granted 
 by the king of Perfia to Nehemiah. [Nehem. ii.] It was 
 remarkable, that the hearts of heathen princes fhould be fo 
 inclined. It was the effect of his power, who hath the 
 hearts of Kings in his hands, and turneth them whither- 
 focver he will ; and it was a remarkable inftance of his 
 favour to his people. 
 
 Another remarkable circumfrance of this reftitution of 
 the itate of the Jews to their own land was, "that it was 
 accomplished againft fo much oppofition of their bitter 
 indefatigable enemies the Samaritans, who, for a long time 
 together, with all the malice and craft they could exerciie, 
 oppofed the Jews in this affair, and fought their deftruc- 
 tion ; one while by Bifhlam, Mithridath, Tabeel, Rahum, 
 and Shimihai, [Ezra iv.] and then by Tatnai, Shethar- 
 boznai, and their companions, [chap. v.J and afterwards 
 by Sanballat and Tobiah, as we read in the book of Ne 
 hemiah. 
 
 We have fhewed before how the fettlement of the 
 people in the land in Jofhua s time promoted the work 
 of redemption. On die fame account does their reib"- 
 tution belong to the fame work. The re-fettlement of 
 the Jews in the land of Canaan belongs to this work, as 
 
 it
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 277 
 
 it was a neceffary means of preferring the Jevvifh church 
 and difpenfation in being, till Chrift mould come. If 
 it had not been for this reftoration of the Jewifli church, 
 temple, and worship, the people had remained without 
 any temple, and land of their own, that fhould be as it 
 were their head-quarters, a place ot worfhip, habitation, 
 and refort ; the whole conftitution, which God had done 
 fo much to eftablifh, would have been in danger of utterly 
 failing, long before that fix hundred years had been out, 
 which was from about the time of the captivity till Chrift. 
 And fo all that preparation which God had been making 
 for the coming of Chrift, from the time of Abraham, 
 would have been in vain. Now that very temple was 
 built that God would fill with glory by Chrift s coming 
 into it, as the prophets Haggai and Zechariah told the 
 Jews, to encourage them in building it. 
 
 5. The next particular I would obferve, is the addition 
 made to the canon of the fcriptures foon after the captivity 
 by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who were fent to 
 encourage the people in their work of rebuilding the city 
 and temple ; and the main argument they make ufe of to 
 that end, is the approach of the time of the coming of 
 Chrift. Haggai foretold, that Chrift fhould be of Zerub- 
 babel s legal pofterity, [chap. ii. 23.] This feems to be 
 one of the laft and moft particular revelations of the de- 
 fcent of Chrift, till the angel Gabriel was fent to reveal it 
 to his mother Mary. (G) 
 
 6. The next thing I would take notice of, was the 
 pouring out of the Spirit of God that accompanied the 
 miniftry of Ezra the prieft after the captivity. Prefently 
 after Ezra came up from Babylon, with the ample com- 
 miffion which Artaxerxes gave him, whence Daniel s fe- 
 veuty weeks began, he fet himfelf to reform the vices 
 and corruptions he found among the Jews ; and his great 
 
 fucccfs 
 
 (G) tlA.GGA.\prophefied of Chrift.] " Non dubium eft Chrif- 
 tum hie defignari, quia hoc nunquam impletum fuit in perfona 
 Zorobabei." / . e. There is no doubt but Chrift is here intended, 
 becaufe the promife never was fulfilled in Zorobabei perfonaljy* 
 [CALVINUS. Po!i Syn. Crit. in loc.]
 
 2 7 3 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fuccefs in it we have an account of in the xth chapter of 
 Ezra ; fo that there appeared a very general and great 
 mourning of the congregation of Ifrael for their fins, 
 which was accompanied with a folemn covenant that the 
 people entered into with God, and followed with a great 
 and general reformation. And the people about the fame 
 time, with great zeal, earneftnefs, and reverence, gather 
 ed themielves together to hear the word of God read by 
 Ezra, and gave diligent attention, w-hile Ezra and the 
 other priefts preached to them, by reading and expound 
 ing the law, and were greatly affected in the hearing of 
 i,t. (H) They wept when they heard the words of the 
 
 law, 
 
 (H) EZRA expounded the laiu.~\ " We have a fhoit, but beau 
 tiful defcription of the manner of Ezra s firft preaching. Upwards 
 of fifty thoufand people aficmbled in a ilreet, or large fquare, 
 near the Water-gate. It was early in the morning of a fabbath 
 day. A pulpit of wood, in the fafhion of a fmall tower, was placed 
 there on purpofe for the preacher, and this turret was fupported 
 by a fcaffold, or temporary gallery, where, in a wing on the right 
 hand of the pulpit, fat fix of the principal preachers, and in ano 
 ther on the left feven. Thirteen other principal, teachers, and 
 many Levites were prefent alfo, on fcaffolcls erefted for the pur 
 pofe, alternately to officiate. When Ezra afccnded the pulpit, he 
 produced and opened the book of the law, and the whole congre 
 gation inltantly rofe up from their feats, and ilood. Then he of 
 fered up prayer and praife to God, the people bowing their heads, 
 and u orfhipping the Lord with their faces to the ground ; and at 
 the clofe of the prayer, with uplifted hands, they folemnly pro 
 nounced Amen, Amen. Then, all (landing, Ezra, afiifted at 
 times by the Levites, read the law di(t indily, gave the fenfe, and 
 caufed them to underltand the reading. The fermons delivered 
 fo affecled the hearers, that they wept exceflively, and about noon 
 the forrow became fo exuberant and immeafuiable, that it was 
 thought neceifary by the governor, the preacher, and the Levites 
 to reilrain it. They, therefore, reminded the congregation that 
 a juft grief might run into excefs that there was an incongruity 
 between a felUval and a lamentation and that on this fcilival, 
 there were fingular caufes of extraordinary joy, they were deli 
 vered ftom captivity, the law was reltored, and they, the very 
 pooreft of them, had been made by the preachers to underftand 
 it. Go your way, faid they, eat the fat drink the fweet fend 
 portions unto them, for whom nothing is prepared. Be not clif- 
 couraged religions joy is a people s ftrength. The wife and 
 benevolent fentirner.ts of thcfe noble fouls \verc imbibed by the 
 
 whole
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 279 
 
 law, and fet themfclves to obferve the law, and kept the 
 feaft of tabernacles, as the fcripture obferves, after fuch 
 a manner as it had not been kept fince the days of Jofhua 
 the fon of Nun. [Nehem. viii.] And after this, having 
 feparated themfelves from all ftrangers, they folemnly ob- 
 ferved a faft, by hearing the word of God, conferring their 
 fins, and renewing their covenant with God ; and mani- 
 fefted their fincerity in that tranfadtion, by actually re 
 forming many abufes in religion and morals. [See Nehem. 
 ixth and following chapters.] 
 
 It is obfervable, that it has been God s manner, in 
 every new eftabli {lament of the ftate of his vifible church, 
 to give a remarkable out-pouring of his Spirit. So it 
 was on the firft eftablifhment of the church of the Jews 
 at their coming into Canaan under Jofhua, as has been 
 obferved ; and fo it was now in this fecond fettlement 
 of the church in the fame land in the time of Ezra ; 
 and fo it was on the firft eftablifhment of the Chriftian 
 church after Chrift s refurreftion ; God wifely and gra- 
 cioufiy laying the foundation of thofe eftablifhments in 
 a work of his Holy Spirit, for the lafting benefit of the 
 ftate of his church, thenceforward continued in thofe 
 eftablifhments. And this pouring out of the Spirit of 
 God was a final cure to that nation of that particular 
 fin, which juft before they efpecially run into, viz. in 
 termarrying with the Gentiles ; for however inclined to 
 it they were before, they ever after fhewed an averfion 
 to it. 
 
 7. Ezra added to the canon of fcriptures. He wrote 
 the book of Ezra ; and he is fuppofed to have written 
 the two books cf Chronicles, at leaft to have compiled 
 
 them. 
 
 whole congregation, and fifty thoufand troubled hearts were calm 
 ed in an intlant. Home they returned to eat, to drink, to fend 
 portions, and to make mirth, becaufe they had undedlood the 
 words that were declared unto them. Plato was alive at this time, 
 teaching dull philofophy to cold acadernicks : but what was he, 
 and what was Xenophon, or Demofthenes, or any of the pagan 
 orators, in companion with thefe men ?" [ROBINSON S Effay on 
 Preaching, prefixed to his trauflation of Claude s Effay, vol.. i. 
 page xxii xxiv.l
 
 28o HISTORY OF REDEMPTIOM. 
 
 them, if he was not the author of the materials. That 
 thefc books were written, or compiled or completed, aftel 
 the captivity, the things therein contained manifeft ; for 
 the genealogies are brought down below the captivity ; 
 [i Chron. iii. 17, &c.] We have there an account of the 
 poflerity of Jehoiachin for feveral fucceflive generations. 
 And there is mention in thefe books of this captivity into 
 Babylon, as of a thing part, and of things that were done 
 on the return of the Jews after the captivity ; as you may 
 fee in the ixth chapter. The chapter is rnoftly filled up 
 with an account of things that came to pafs after the cap 
 tivity into Babylon, as you may fee by comparing it with 
 what is laid in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And 
 that Ezra was the perfou that compiled thefe books, is 
 probable by this, becaufe they conclude with words that 
 we know are the words of Ezra s hiftory. The two laft 
 verfes of 2 Chron. are the two firft verfes of the book of 
 Ezra. 
 
 8. Ezra is fuppofed to have collected all the books of 
 which the holy fcriptures did then confift, and difpofed 
 them in their proper order. Ezra is often fpoken of as a 
 noted and eminent fcribe of the law of God, and the ca 
 non of fcripture in his time was manifcfily under his fpe- 
 cial care ; and the Jews, from the tirll accounts we have 
 from them, have always held, that the canon of fcripture, 
 fo much of it as was then extant, was collected, and or 
 derly difpofed and fettled by Ezra ; and that from him 
 they have delivered it down in the order in which he dif 
 pofed it, till Chrift s time ; when the Chriftian church 
 received it from them, and have delivered it down to our 
 times. And the truth of this is allowed as undoubted by 
 divines in general, (i) 
 
 9. The 
 
 (i) The CANON of fcripture compiled by Ezra.~\ " It is gene 
 rally received, that after the return of the Jews from their capti 
 vity in Babylon, all the books of fcn pture having been revifed by 
 Ezra (then their prieft and leader) who digefted them .... were 
 by him and the prophets of God that lived with him, conligned 
 and delivered over to all pofterity." [Bp. COSIN S Scholailic. 
 Kift. of the Canon of Scripture.]
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 281 
 
 g. The work of redemption was carried on and pro 
 moted in this period, by greatly multiplying the copies of 
 the law, and appointing the conftant public reading of 
 them in all the cities of Ifrael in their fynagogues. It 
 is evident, that before the captivity there were but few 
 of them. There was, indeed, the original, laid up be- 
 fide the ark ; and the kings were required to write out a 
 copy of it for their own ufe, and it was commanded to 
 be read to the whole congregation of Ifrael once every 
 feventh year. And we have no account of any other 
 ftated public reading of the law before the captivity but 
 this. It is manifeft, by feveral things that might be men 
 tioned, that copies of the law were then exceedingly 
 rare; but after the captivity, the conftant reading of it 
 was fetup in every fynagogue throughout thel and. Firft, 
 they began with reading the law, and then they proceed 
 ed to eftablilh the conftant reading of the other books 
 of the Old Teftament. Leffons were read out of the 
 Old Teftament, both from the law and the other parts 
 of the fcripture then extant, in all the fynagogues which 
 were fet up in every city and place where the Jews in. 
 any confiderable number dwelt. Thus we find it was in 
 Chrift and the apoftles time. [Acts xv. 21.] Mofes of 
 old time hath in every city them that preach him, be- 
 * ing read in the fynagogues every fabbath day. This 
 cuftom is univerfally fuppofed, both by Jews and Chrif- 
 tians, to be begun by Ezra. There were, doubtlefs, pub 
 lic afTcmblies before the captivity. They ufed to afiemble 
 at the temple at their great feafls, and were directed, 
 when they were at a lofs about any thing in the law, to 
 go to the prieft of inftrudtion ; and they ufed alfo to refort 
 to the prophets houfes ; and we read of fynagogues in 
 the land before, [Pfalrn Ixxiv. 8.] but it is not fuppofed 
 that they then had copies of the law for conftant public 
 reading and expounding through the land as afterwards. 
 This was one great means of their being preferved from 
 idolatry, (x) 
 
 10. The 
 
 (K) The origin of SYNAGOGUES.] " We read of fynagogues, 
 indeed, in the Pfalms ; but Dean Prideaux was of opinion that 
 
 O o the
 
 22 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ID. The next thing I would mention, is God s remark 
 ably preferring the church and nation of the jews, wheu 
 they were in imminent danger of being xiniverfally de- 
 ftroyed by Haman. We have the ftory in the book of 
 Efthcr, with which you are acquainted. This feries of 
 providences was very wonderful in preventing this deftruc- 
 ticn. Efther was doubtlefs born for this end to be the 
 inftrument of this remarkable prefervation. (L) 
 
 II. After this the canon of fcripture was farther en 
 larged in the books of Nehemiah and Either ; the one 
 by Nehemiah himielf ; and whether the other was written 
 by Nehemiah, or Mordecai, or Malachi, is not of im 
 portance for us to know, fo long as it is one of thole 
 books that were always admitted and received as a part 
 of their canon by the Jews, and was among thofe that 
 the Jews called their fcriptures in Chrift s time, and fuch 
 as was approved by him. For Chrift does often, in his 
 fpeeches to the Jews, manifeftly approve and confirm 
 thole books, which amongft them went by the name of 
 ihefcriptures, as might eaiily be fliown, if there were time 
 for it. (M) 
 
 12. After 
 
 the word [Htflft} which lignifies any afTemblies, there intends ra 
 ther \\ieprofeuchtf, open courts where the people met to pray, each 
 for himfelf, than proper fynagogues. 
 
 " The fervice of the fynagogues confided of prayers, reading, 
 and expounding or preaching, and it is thought that their whole 
 fervice was conducted in a manner limilar to that of our parifh 
 churches. And this inflitution feems to be preferred among 
 them, with little variation, to the prefent day." [See Prideaux s 
 Conneft. part i. book 6.] 
 
 (L) The fe ! ws delivered from HAMAN J cruelty.^ " There is 
 hardly any hiitory of the Old Tedament, (except the life of Jo- 
 feph) that more difplays the myileries of divine Providence, than 
 the book of Efther; particularly, we may obferve the extremity 
 to which God fuffered his people to be driven ; and the wonder 
 ful manner in which he delivered them by bringing all the cruel 
 ties of wicked Haman on his own head. The Jews efteemed this 
 book in value next to the Pentateuch, and in memory of the fal- 
 vation herein recorded, keep the feaftof Purim to this day." [Sec 
 Steir&bcufe s Hift. of the Bible, book vii. chap. 2.] 
 
 (M) CHRIST confirmed the Old Tejlament.~\ l Search the fcrip- 
 * tures, i. e. of the Old Teftament, for no part of the New 
 
 was
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 283 
 
 12. After this the canon of the Old Teflament was 
 compleated and fealed by Malachi. The manner of con 
 cluding this prophecy feems to imply, that they were 
 to expe6l no more prophecies, nor any more written re 
 velations from God, till Chrift mould come. For in the 
 Jaft chapter he prophefies of ChrilVs coming ; [ver. 2, 3.] 
 
 * But unto you that fear my name, mall the Sun of 
 
 * righteoufnefs arife with healing in his wings ; and ye 
 
 * ihall go forth and grow up as calves of the flail. And 
 < he mall tread down the wicked ; for they mail be as 
 afhes under the foles of your feet, in the day that I 
 mall do this, faith the Lord of hofls. Then we read 
 in ver. 4. Remember ye the law of Mofes my fervant 
 
 * which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Ifrael, 
 
 * with the ftatutes and judgments, / . e. Remember and 
 improve what ye have ; keep clofe to that written rule 
 you have, as expecting no more additions to it, till the 
 Old Teflament is over, and the Sun of righteoufnefs mail 
 at length arife. 
 
 13. Soon after this, the fpirit of prophecy ceafed 
 among that people till the time of the New Teflament. 
 Thus the Old Teflament lights, the ftars of the long 
 night, began a pace to hide their heads, the time of the 
 Sun of righteoufnefs now drawing nigh. We before 
 obferved, how the Kings of the houfe of David ceafed 
 before the true king and head of the church came ; and 
 how the cloud of glory withdrew, before Chrift, the 
 brightnefs of the Father s glory, appeared ; and fo as to 
 teveral other things. And now at laft the fpirit of pro 
 phecy ceafed. The time of the great Prophet of God 
 was now fo nigh, it was time for their typical prophets 
 to be filent. 
 
 WE have now gone through with the time that we 
 have any hiflorical account of in the writings of the Old 
 
 O o 2 Tefta- 
 
 was written till feme time after our Lord s death, * for in them 
 ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they that tellify of 
 ( me. [John v. 39. fee alfo ver. 46, and Luka xvi. 29.]
 
 284 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Teflainent, and the laft thing that was mentioned, by 
 which the work of redemption was promoted, was the 
 ceafing of the fpirit of prophecy. 
 
 I now proceed to fhow how the work cf redemption 
 was carried on through the remaining times that were 
 before Chrift : in which we have not that thread of fcrip- 
 ture hiftory to guide us which we have had hitherto ; 
 but we have thefe three things to direct us, viz. the pro 
 phecies of the Old Teftament, human hiftories of thofe 
 times, and fome occafional mention made of things which 
 then happened, in the books of the New Teftament. 
 Therefore, 
 
 14. The next particular that I fhall mention under this 
 period, is the deftruction of the Perfian empire, and fetting 
 up of the Grecian empire by Alexander. This came to 
 pafs about llxty or feventy years after the times wherein 
 the prophet Malachi is fuppofed to have prophefied, and 
 about three hundred and thirty years before Chrift. This 
 was the third overturning of the world that came to pafs 
 in this period, and was greater and more remarkable than 
 either of the foregoing. It was very remarkable on ac 
 count of the fuddennefs of that conqueft of the world 
 which Alexander made, and the greatnefs of the empire 
 which he fet up, which much exceeded all the foregoing 
 in its extent. 
 
 This event is much fpokcn of in the prophecies of 
 Daniel. This empire is represented by the third king 
 dom of brafs in Daniel s interpretation of Nebuchad 
 nezzar s dream, [Dan. ii.] and in Daniel s vifion of the 
 four beafts is intended by the third bcaft that was like 
 a leopard, that had on his back four wings of a fowl, 
 to reprefent the fwiftnefs of its conqueft, [chap, vii.] and 
 is more particularly reprefented by the he-goat, [chap, 
 viii.] that came from the well on the face of the whole 
 * earth, and touched not the ground, to reprefent how 
 fwiftly Alexander over-ran the world. The angel himfelf 
 docs exprefsly interpret this he-goat to iignify the king of 
 Grecia, [ver. 21.] The rough goat is the king of Grecia ; 
 
 and
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 285 
 
 and the great horn that is between his eyes is the firfl 
 
 * king, i.e. Alexander himfelf. (N) 
 
 After 
 
 (N) The -v t/lon of the GOAT and of the LEOPARD.] " A goat is 
 very properly made the type of the Grecian or Macedonian empire, 
 becaufe . . . Caranus, their firfl king, going with a great multitude 
 of Greeks to feek new habitations in Macedonia, was commanded 
 by the oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire: and after 
 wards feeing a herd of goats flying from a violent ftorm, he fol 
 lowed them to Edefla, and there fixed his feat of empire, made the 
 goats his enfigns or ftandards, and called the cityEgeas or the goat s 
 town, and the people Egeadae or the goat s people. And to this 
 may be added that the city Egeas or Ega was the ufual burying- 
 place of the Macedonian kings* It is alfo very remarkable, that 
 Alexander s fon by Roxana was named Alexander-/Egus, or the fon 
 of the goat; and foine of Alexander s fucceffors are reprefented in 
 their coins with goat s horns. This he-goat came from the weft.; 
 and who is ignorant that Europe lieth weft ward of Afia? He carae 
 on the face of the whole earth, carrying every thing before him in 
 all the three parts of the world then known; and he touched not 
 
 * the ground, his marches were to fwift and his conqueils fo rapid, 
 that he might be faid in a manner to fly over the ground without 
 touching it. For the fame reafon the fame empire in the former vi- 
 fion was likened to a leopard, which is a fwift, nimble animal, and to 
 denote the greater quicknefs and impetuofity, to a leopard with four 
 wings. And the goat had a notable horn between his eyes: this 
 horn, faith the angel, is the firft king, or kingdom of the Greeks in 
 Alia, which was erefted by Alexander the Great, and continued for 
 fome years in his brother Philip Aridaeus, and his two young fons. 
 
 " In the two next verfes (6, 7.) we have an account of the 
 Grecians overthrowing the Perfian empire. And he cavne to 
 
 * the ram that had two horns, which I had feen Handing before the 
 
 * river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. One can 
 hardly read thefe words without having fome image of Darius s 
 army {landing and guarding the river Granicus, and of Alexander 
 on the other fide with his forces plunging in, Avimming acrofs the 
 ftream, and rufhing on the enemy with all the fire and fury that 
 can be imagined. . . . And I faw him come clofeunto the ram: 
 he had feveral clofe engagements with the king of Perfia. And 
 
 * he was moved with choler againfl him, for the cruelties which 
 the Perfians had exercifed towards the Grecians: and for Darius s 
 attempting to corrupt fometimes his foldiers to betray him, and 
 fometimes his friends to deftroy him ; fo that he would not liften 
 to the moil advantageous offers of peace. And he ftnote the 
 
 * ram, and brake his t\vo horns : he fubdued Perfia and Media, 
 with the other provinces and kingdoms of the Perfian empire: . . . 
 and in Media, Darius was feized and made a prifoner by fome of his 
 
 own
 
 286 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 After Alexander had conquered the world, he foon 
 died, and his dominion did not defcend to his pofterity, 
 but four of his principal captains divided his empire 
 between them, as it there follows. Now that being 
 broken, whereas four flood up for it, * four kingdoms 
 
 * fh.all ftand up out of the nation, but not in his power; 
 fo you may fee in the xith chapter of Daniel. The 
 angel, after foretelling of the Perfian empire, then pro 
 ceeds to foretell of Alexander, [ver. 3.] And a mighty 
 . king fhall (land up, that {hall rule with great domi- 
 
 * nion, and do according to his will. And then he 
 foretells, [ver. 4th.] of the dividing of his kingdom, 
 between his four captains; And when he fhall (land 
 
 * up, his kingdom (hall be broken, and ihall be divided 
 
 * toward the four winds of heaven ; and not to his pof- 
 
 * terity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for 
 his kingdom {hall be plucked up, even for others befides 
 
 * thofe. Two of thefe four captains, whofe kingdoms 
 were next to Judea, the one had Egypt and the neigh 
 bouring countries on the fouth of Judea, and the other 
 had Syria and the neighbouring countries north of Ju 
 dea ; and thefe two are thofe that are called the kings 
 of the north and of the fouth in the xith chapter of Da 
 niel, (o) 
 
 Now, 
 
 own traitor fubje&s, who not long after bafely murdered him. * And 
 there was no power in the ram to ftand before him, but he call 
 
 * him down to the ground, and (lamped upon him ; he conquered 
 wherever he came, routed all the forces, took all the cities and caf- 
 tlcs, and entirely fubvcrtcd and ruined the Perfian empire. And 
 
 * there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand; not 
 even his numerous armies could defend the king of Perfia, though 
 his forces in the battle of IfTus amounted to 600,000 men, and in 
 that of Arbela to ten or eleven hundred thoufand, whereas the 
 whole number of Alexander s was not more than 47,000 in either 
 engagement. So true is the obfervation of the Pfalmift, (xxxiii. 
 1 6. ) There is no king faved by the multitude of an hofl: and 
 efpecially when God hath decreed the fall of empires, then even 
 the greateft muft fall. The fortune of Alexander, of which fo 
 much hath been faid, .... was nothing but the providence of 
 God." [Bp. NEWTON on the prophecies, vol. ii. diflert 15.] 
 
 (o) Alexanders empire DIVIDED.] " The empire of the goat 
 was in its full ftrength when Alexander died of a fever at Babylon.
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 287 
 
 Now, this fetting up of the Grecian empire did greatlv 
 prepare the way for Chrift s coining, and creeling his 
 kingdom in the world. Befides thefe ways common to 
 the other overturnings of the "world in this period, that 
 have been already mentioned, there is one peculiar to 
 this revolution which I would take notice o, which did 
 remarkably promote the work of redemption ; and that 
 was, that it made the Greek language common in the world. 
 To have one common language underftood and ufed 
 through the greater part of the world, was a thing that 
 did greatly prepare the way for the fetting up of Chrift s 
 kingdom. This gave advantage for fpreading the gofpel 
 from one nation to another, and fo through all nations, 
 with vaftly greater eafe, than if every nation had a diftiniSt 
 language, and did not underftand any other. For 
 though fome of the firft preachers of the gofpel had the 
 gift of languages, fo that they could preach in any lan 
 guage ; yet all had not this particular gift ; and they that 
 had, could not exercife it when they would, but only at 
 
 fpecial 
 
 He was fucceeded in the throne by his natural brother Philip Ari- 
 doeus, and by his own two fons, Alexander JEgus and Hercules : 
 but in the fpace of about fifteen years they were all murdered, and 
 then the firft horn or kingdom was entirely broken. The royal 
 family being thus extinft, the governors of provinces, who had 
 ufurped the power, afTumed the title of kings ; and by the defeat 
 and death of Antigonus in the battle of Ipfus, they were reduced 
 to four, CafTander, Lyfimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, who parted 
 Alexander s dominions between them, and divided and fettled them 
 into four kingdoms. Thefe four kingdoms are the four notable horns 
 which came up in the room of the firft great horn ; and are the fame 
 us the four heads of the leopard in the former vifion. Four king- 
 1 doms mail ftand up out of the nation, but not in his power; they 
 were to be kingdoms of Greeks, not of Alexander s own family, 
 but only of his nation ; and neither were they to be equal to him in 
 power and dominion, as an empire united is certainly more power 
 ful than the fame empire divided, and the whole is greater than 
 any of the parts. They were likewife to extend * toward the 
 * four winds of heaven : and in the partition of the empire, Caf- 
 fander held Macedon, and Greece, and the weftern parts ; Lyfi 
 machus had Thrace, Bithynia, and the northern regions; Ptolemy 
 poffeffed Egypt, and the fouthern countries; and Seleucus obtained 
 Syria, and the eaftern provinces." [Bp. NEWTON on the Prophe 
 cies, vol. ii. differ!. 15.]
 
 288 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fpecia! feafons, when the Spirit of God was pleated to in- 
 fpire them in this way. And the church in different 
 parts of the world, as the churches of Jerufalem, An- 
 tioch, Galatia, Corinth, and others, which were in conn- 
 tries diftant one from another, could not have had that 
 communication one with another, which we have an 
 account of in the book of A6ts, if they had had no com 
 mon language. So it was before the Grecian empire 
 was fet up. But after this, many in all thefe countries 
 well understood the fame language, viz. the Greek ; 
 which wonderfully opened the door for mutual communi 
 cation between thofe churches, fo far feparated one from 
 another. And again, the making the Greek language 
 common through fo great a part of the world, did won 
 derfully make way for the fetting up of the kingdom 
 of Chrift, becaufe it was the language in which the New 
 TeStament was to be originally written. The apoftles 
 propagated the gofpel through many fcores of nations ; 
 and it they could not have underftood the Bible any 
 otherwife than as it was tranilated into fo many lan 
 guages, it would have rendered the Spreading of the gofpel 
 vaftly more difficult. But by the Greek language being 
 made common to all, they all underftood the New TeSta- 
 ment of Jefus Chrift in the language in which the apoftles 
 and evangelifts originally wrote it : fo that as foon as ever 
 it was written by its original penmen, it immediately lay 
 open to the world in a language that was commonly un 
 derftood. 
 
 15. The next thing I fhall take notice of, is the 
 tranflation of the Scriptures of the Old Teftament into 
 the Greek language, which is commonly called the Sep- 
 tuagint, or the tranflation of the Seventy. This is fup- 
 pofed to have been made about fifty or fixty years after 
 Alexander s conquering the world. This is the firSt 
 tranflation that ever was made of the Scriptures that we 
 have any credible account of. The canon of the Old 
 Teftament had been completed by the prophet Malachi 
 but about an hundred and twenty years before in its 
 original ; and hitherto the fcriptures had remained locked 
 
 up
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST, 289 
 
 up from all other nations but the Jews, in the Hebrew 
 tongue, which was underftood by no other nation. But 
 now it was tranflated into the Greek language, which, as 
 we obferved before, was a language commonly underftood 
 by the nations of the world. 
 
 This tranflation of the Old Tefhment is ftill extant, 
 and is commonly in the hands of learned men in tbefe 
 days, and is made great ufe of by them. The Jews have 
 many fables about the occafion and manner of this tranf 
 lation ; but the truth of the cafe is fuppofed to be this, that 
 multitudes of the Jews living in other parts of the world 
 befides Judea, and being born and bred among the Greeks, 
 the Greek became their common language, and they did 
 not understand the original Hebrew ; and therefore they 
 procured the fcriptures to be tranflated for their ufe into 
 the Greek language : and fo henceforward the Jews, in 
 all countries, except Judea, were wont in their fyna- 
 gogues to make ufe of this tranflation inftead of the He 
 brew. (P) 
 
 This tranflation of the fcriptures into a language com 
 monly underftood through the world, prepared the way 
 for Chrift s coming, and fetting up his kingdom in the 
 world, and afterwards did greatly promote it. For as the 
 apoftles went preaching through the world, they made 
 
 P p great 
 
 (p) T^SEPTUAGINT translation. ~\ It is " almoft unanimoufly 
 admitted, that about 300 years before the advent of Jefus Chrift, 
 a Greek tranflation of the Old Teftamcnt was made at Alexan 
 dria, for the ufe of the . . . Jews . . . fettled there .... the far 
 greater part of whom had loft their native language That at firft 
 the five books of Mofes only were tranflated, becaufe they were 
 the only books which were then read in the fynagogues That 
 after the tyrannies of Antiochus Epiphanes, the reading of the 
 prophecies being then introduced, the prophecies were allo tranf 
 lated That this veriion was fpread through all thofe parts of the 
 world where the Greek language was ufed, or where Jews dwelt 
 And that the apoilles, preaching the gofpelin the known parts 
 of the world, made ufe of [this] verfion and that this verfion 
 was one of the preparations which Providence had employed for 
 the call of the Gentiles." SAURIN S Sermons, tranflated by Ro- 
 binfon, vol. iii. p. 147, 8. For a fuller account of this veriion fee 
 Conneft. part 2. book 1.3
 
 290 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 great ufe of the fcriptures of the Old Teftament, and efpe- 
 cially of the prophecies concerning Chrift contained in 
 them. And by means of this tranflation, and by the Jews 
 being fcattered every where, they had the fcriptures at 
 hand in a language that was underftood by the Gentiles : 
 and they principally made ufe of this tranflation in their 
 preaching and writings wherever they went ; as is evident 
 by this, that in all the quotations that are made out of 
 the Old Teftament in their writings, they are almoft every 
 where in the very words of the Septuagint ; they being 
 both -written in the fame language. This makes it evident, 
 that the apoftles, in their preaching and writings, com 
 monly made ufe of this tranflation. So this very tranf 
 lation xvas that which was principally ufed in Chriftian 
 churches through moft nations of the world for feveral 
 hundred years afrer Chrift. 
 
 1 6. The next thing is the wonderful prcfervation of the 
 church when it was imminently threatened and perfecuted 
 under the Grecian empire. 
 
 The firft time they were threatened was by Alexander 
 himfclf. When he was befieging the city of Tyre, fend 
 ing to the Jews for afliftance and fupplies for his army, 
 and they refilling, out of a confcientious regard to their 
 oath to the king cf Perfia, he being a man of very furi 
 ous fpirit, agreeable to the fcripture reprefentation of the 
 rough he-goat, marched againft them, with a defign to cut 
 them off . But the prie-fts going out to meet him in prieftly 
 garments, when, he met them, God wonderfully turned his 
 heart to fpare and favour them, much as he did the heart 
 of Efau when he met Jacob. ( qj 
 
 After 
 
 ALEXANDER fpared the Jeivs.~] " The high prieft in this 
 imminent danger had recourfc to God by facrifices and fupplica- 
 tions ; and as he was direfted in a vifion in the night, he went 
 forth the next day in his pontifical robes, with all the priefts in 
 their habits, and the people in white apparel, to meet the con 
 queror, and to make their fubmiflions to him. As foon as the 
 king faw the high prieft coming to him in this folemn proccfiion, 
 he advanced eagerly to meet him, and bowing down himfelf be 
 fore him, received him with religious awe and veneration. All 
 
 prefent
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 291 
 
 After this, one of the kings of Egypt, a fucceffbr of one 
 of Alexander s four captains, entertained a defign of de- 
 ftroying the nations of the Jews ; but was remarkably and 
 wonderfully prevented by a ftrong interposition of Heaven 
 for their prefervation. 
 
 But the moft wonderful prefervation of them all in 
 this period, was under the cruel perfecution of Antio- 
 chus Epiphanes, king of Syria, and fucceflbr of another 
 of Alexander s four captains. The Jews were at that 
 time fubjedl to the power of Antiochus ; and he being 
 enraged againft them, long ftrove to his uttnoft utterly to 
 deitroy them, and root them out ; at leaft all of them 
 that would not forfake their religion, and worfliip his 
 idols : and he did indeed in a great meafure wafte the 
 country, and depopulate the city of Jerufalem ; and pro 
 faned the temple, by fetting up his idols in fome parts 
 of it ; and perfecuted the people with infatiable cruelty ; 
 fo that we Vave no account of any perfecution like this 
 before. Many of the particular circumftances of this per 
 fecution would be very affe6ling, if I had time to infill: 
 on them. This cruel perfecution began about an hundred 
 and feventy years before Chrift. It is much fpoken of 
 
 P p 2 in 
 
 prefent were aftoniflaed at this behaviour of the king, fo contrary 
 to their expectation ; and Parmenio in particular demanded the 
 reafon of it, why he, whom all others adored, {liould pay fuch 
 adoration to the Jewim high prieft. Alexander replied, That he 
 paid not this adoration to him, but to that God whofe pried he 
 was ; for while he was at Dio in Macedonia, and was meditating 
 upon his expedition againft the king of Perfia, there appeared 
 unto him in a dream this very man, and in this very habit, invit 
 ing him to come over into Afia, and promifing him fuccefs in the 
 conqueft of it : and now he was afTured that he had fet out upon 
 this expedition under the conduct of God, to whom therefore he 
 paid this adoration in the perfon of his high prieft. Hereupon he 
 entered Jerufalem in peace, and went up and offered facrifices to 
 God in the temple, where the high prieft produced and laid be 
 fore him the prophecies of Daniel, wherein it was written, that 
 a king of Grecia mould overthrow the Periian empire, which he 
 interpreted of himfelf. After this he granted peculiar privileges 
 to the Jews, and proceeded in his expedition with full confidence 
 and aflurance of fuccefs. [Bp. NEWTON (from Jofephus] on the 
 Prophecies, vol. ii. difc. 15.]
 
 292 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in the prophecy of Daniel, [Dan. viii. 925; xi. 31 
 38.] and referred to in the New Teflament, [Heb. xi. 
 3638.] (R) 
 
 Antiochus intended not only to extirpate the Jewifh 
 religion, but as far as in him lay, the very nation ; and 
 particularly laboured to the utmoft to deftroy all copies 
 of the law. And confidering how weak they were, in 
 comparifon with a king of fuch vaft dominion, the pro 
 vidence of God appears very wonderful in defeating his 
 delign. Many times the Jews feemed to be on the very 
 brink of ruin, and juft ready to be wholly fwallowed 
 vp : their enemies often thought themfelves Cure of ob 
 taining their purpofe. Thev once came againft the 
 people with a mighty army, and with a defign of kil 
 ling all, except the women and children, and of felling 
 thefe for flaves ; and they were fo confident of obtain 
 ing their purpofe, and others of purchasing, that above 
 a thoufand merchants came with the army, "Tvith money 
 in their hands, to buy the flaves that Ihould be fold. But 
 God wonderfully ftirred up and afufted one Judas, and 
 others his fucceflbrs, that were c?.ilcd the Maccabees, 
 who, with a fmall handful in comparifon, vanquished their 
 enemies time after time, and delivered their nation ; which 
 was foretold by Daniel, [xi. 32.] Speaking of Anti- 
 pchus s perfecution, he fays, And fuch as do wickedly 
 * againfl the covenant, ihall he corrupt by flatteries : but 
 ; the people that do know their God, ihall be ftiong, and 
 do exploits. (s) 
 
 God 
 
 (R) PERSECUTION under S!ntiochus>~\ The particulars of this 
 perftxution are recite d at length in the vth, vith, and viith chap 
 ters of the 2d book of Maccabe.:?, and the molt material parts of 
 it are confirmed by Polylius and Jojephus ; and copied into Rollin s 
 Ancient Hiftory, bock xviii. art. 2. and die Univerfal Hijt. vol. 
 x. book ii. chap. 1 1. 
 
 (s) Bravsry of JUDAS MACCABEUS.] " We have here a fen- 
 fibk image of the feeble oppofition which the human arm is able 
 to make againft that of the Almighty, on whom alone the fate of 
 battle depends. It is evident that Judas himfelf was fully fenfible 
 of his own weaknefs : * How can we, fays he to the Almighty 
 before the battle, ftand before them, unlcTs thou thyfelf aifilt 
 < us I And it is as evident, that he was HO Ms finnlv pcrfuadcd 
 
 of
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 293 
 
 God afterwards brought this Antiochus to a fearful, 
 miferable end, by a loathfome difeafe, under dreadful tor 
 ments of body, and horrors of mind; which was foretold 
 [Dan xi. 45.] in thefe words; Yet he {hall come to this 
 end and none (hall help him. (T) After his death, there 
 were attempts flill to deflroy the church of God ; but God 
 baffled them all. 
 
 17. The next thing to be taken notice of is the de 
 finition of the Grecian empire, and fetting up of the 
 Roman. This was the fourth overturning of the world 
 in this period. And though it was brought to pafs more 
 gradually than the fetting up of the Grecian empire, yet 
 it far exceeded that, and was much the greateft and 
 largeft temporal monarchy that ever was in the world ; 
 fo that the Roman empire was commonly called all the 
 world ; [Luke ii. i.] And there went out a decree from 
 
 * before Csefar Auguflus, that all the world mould be 
 4 taxed ; / . e, ail the Roman empire. This empire is 
 
 fpoken 
 
 of the fuccefs of his arms: * The viftory (he had faid before) 
 does not depend on the number of foldiers, but it is from heaven 
 
 * that all our ftrength comes. But although Judas had fo entire 
 a confidence in God, he employs all thofe expedients, which the 
 moll experienced and braved general could ufe, in order to obtain 
 the victory. How excellent a pattern have we here for generals! 
 To pray with humility, becaufe ail things depend on God; and to 
 aft with vigour, as if all things depended on man!" [See I Mace, 
 iii. and iv.] [ROLLIN S Ancient Hiftory, book xviii. art. 2.] 
 
 (T) Antiochus DIED r#:ferally.~\ " News was brought him of the 
 defeat of Nicanor and Timotheus in Judea, .... frem expreiTes 
 came of Lyfias s defeat, and alfo that the Jews had retaken the 
 temple, thrown down the altars and idols he had fet up, and re- 
 eitablimed their ancient worfhip; this news increafed his fury: im 
 mediately he commanded his coachman to drive with the utmoil 
 fpeed, in order that he might have an opportunity fully to fatiatc 
 his vengeance ; threatening to make Jeiuialem the burying-placc 
 of the whole Jewifh nation, and not to leave one fingle inhabitant 
 in it. He had fcarce uttered that blafphemous expreflion, but he 
 was ftruck by the hand of God. He was feized with incredible 
 pains in his bowels, and the mod excefiive pangs of the colic. 
 Thus the murderer and blafphemer, (fays the author of the 
 
 * Maccabees, zd book, chap. ix. 12.) having fuffered moft grie- 
 f voufly, as he treated other men, fo he died a miferable death in a 
 : ftrange country in the mountain." [RoL LIN S Ancient Hiltory^ 
 book xviii. art. 2.]
 
 294 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fpoken of as much the ftrongeft and greateft of any of the 
 four; [Dan. ii. 40.] And the fourth kingdom {hall be 
 * ftrong as iron: forafmuch as iron breaketh in pieces, and 
 fubdueth all things ; and as iron that breaketh all thefe, 
 {hall it break in pieces, and bruife. [So alfo Dan. vii. 
 7, 19, 23.] The time that the Romans firft conquered and 
 brought under the land of Judea, was between fixty and 
 feventy years before Chrift was born : and foon after this, 
 the Roman empire was eftablilhed in its greateft extent ; 
 and the world continued fubject to it till Chrift came, and 
 many hundred years afterwards. 
 
 The nations being thus united under one monarchy 
 \vhen Chrift came, and when the apoftles went forth to 
 preach the gofpel, did greatly prepare the way for the 
 ipreading the gofpel, and the fetting up of Chrift s king 
 dom in the world : for the world being thus fubjet to 
 one government, it opened a communication from nation 
 to nation, and fo opportunity was given for the more 
 fwiftly propagating the gofpel through it. Thus we find 
 it is in the Britilh nation, the communication from one 
 part of its dominions to another, is much ealier and 
 quicker than to foreign nations. There are innumerable 
 difficulties in travelling through nations under different 
 independent governments, which are not in travelling 
 through different parts of the fame realm, or different do 
 minions of the fame prince. So the world being under 
 one government, that of the Romans, in Chrift s and the 
 apoftles times, facilitated the apoftles travelling, and th,c 
 gofpel s fpreading through the world. 
 
 1 8. About the fame time learning and philofophy 
 were rifen to their greateft height in the heathen world. 
 Almoft all the famous philoibphers that we have an ac 
 count of among the heathen, went after the captivity into 
 Babylon. Almoft all the wife men of Greece and Rome 
 flourished in this time. Many of them were, indeed, men 
 of great temporal wifdom : and that which they in gene 
 ral chiefly profeffcd to make their bufmefs, was to inquire 
 xvherein man s chief happinefs lay, and the way in which 
 men might -obtain it. They feemed earneftly to buiy 
 
 them-
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 295 
 
 themfelves in this inquiry, and wrote multitudes of books 
 about it, many of which are ftill extant. There have 
 been reckoned up feveral hundreds of their different 
 opinions concerning it. Thus they wearied themfelves 
 in vain, wandering in the dark, not having the glorious 
 gofpel to guide them. God was pleafed to fuffer men to 
 do the utmoft they could with human wifdom, and to try 
 the extent of their own understandings to find out the 
 way to happinefs, before the true light came to enlighten 
 the world: before he fent the great Prophet to lead men 
 in the right way to happinefs. God fuffered thefe great 
 .philofophers to try what they could do for fix hundred 
 years together ; and then it proved, by the events of fo 
 long a time, that all they could do was in vain ; the world 
 not becoming wifer, better, or happier under their inftruc- 
 tions, but growing more and more foolifh, wicked, and 
 miferable. (u) He fufFered their wifdom and philofophy 
 
 to 
 
 (u) The Jlate of Pagan PHILOSOPHY.] The corrupt flate of 
 the heathen morals, during the mod flourifliing times of their 
 philofophy, is defcribed by a learned prelate of the prefent age in 
 the following pointed language " The fports of the gladiators, 
 unnatural luft, the licentioufnefs of divorce, the expofmg of in 
 fants and flaves, the procuring abortions, the public eltablifh- 
 ment of ftews ; all fubfiited at Rome, and not one of them [was] 
 condemned, or hinted at, in Tully s Offices. The moil indecent 
 revelling, drunkennefs, and lewdnefs, [were] praftifed at the fealls 
 of Bacchus, Ceres, and Cybele ; and their greatelt philofophers 
 nevar remonftrated againft it. 
 
 " The heathen philofophers, though they have advanced fine 
 fayings and fublime precepts, in fome points of morality, have 
 grofsly failed in others : fuch as the toleration or encouragement 
 of revenge, flavery, unnatural luft, fornication, fuicide, &c. For 
 example: Plato exprefsly allowed of exceffive drinking at the ferti- 
 vals of Bacchus. Maximus Tynus forbadto pray. Socrates directs 
 his hearers to confider the Greeks as brethren ; but barbarians 
 [/ . e. all who were of any other country] as natural enemies. 
 Anjlntle maintained, that nature intended barbarians [/. e. all who 
 were not Grecians] to be flaves. The Stoics held, that all crimes 
 were equal. Plato, Cicero, EpiSetus, all allow and advife men to 
 continue the idolatry of their anceilors. Arijlotle, and Cicero, 
 both fpeak of the forgivenefs of injuries, as meannefs and pufilla- 
 nimity. Thefe were trifles, to what follows 
 
 " slrljlotle
 
 z 9 6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 to come to the greateft height before Chrift: came, that it 
 might be fcen how far reafon and philofophy could go in 
 their higheft afcent, that the neceflity of a divine teacher 
 might appear before Chrift came. And God was pleafed to 
 
 make 
 
 ** Arijlutk and Pinto both direft, tliat means fliould be ufed 
 to prevent weak children being brought up. Goto commends a 
 young man for frequenting the flews. Cicero exprefsly fpeaks of 
 fornication as a thing never found fault with. Plato recommends 
 a community of women ; and advifes, that foldiers fhould not be 
 reilrained from fenftial indulgence, even the moft unnatural fpe- 
 cies of it. Xenophcn relates, without any marks of reprobation, 
 that unnatural lull was encouraged by the laws of feveral Grecian 
 ilates.- Solon, their great lawgiver, forbad it only to (laves. Dio 
 genes inculcated, and openly praftifed the moll brutal luft. Zeno 
 and Cato both killed themfelves." [Bp. of CARLISLE S Reflect, 
 on the Life and Character of Chrift, Appendix.] 
 
 Another elegant writer of the prefent day thus paints the fitua* 
 tion of the heathen world at Chrift s coming : 
 
 " They all worfhipped a multiplicity of gods and daemons, 
 whofe favour they com ted by impious, obfcene, and ridiculous 
 ceremonies ; and whofe anger they endeavoured to appeafe, by 
 the moft abominable cruelties. In the politeil ages of the politeit 
 nations in the world, at a time when Greece and Rome had carried 
 the arts of oratory, poetry, hiftory, architecture, and fculpture, 
 to the higheft perfection, and made no inconiiderable advances in 
 thofe of mathematics, natural, and even moral philofophy, in re 
 ligious knowledge they bad made none at all : a ftrong prefump- 
 tion, that the nobleft efforts of the mind of man, unaffifted by re 
 velation, were unequal to the tafk. Some few, indeed, of their 
 philofophcrs, were wife enough to reject thefe general abfurdities, 
 and dared to attempt a loftier flight. Plato introduced many fub- 
 lime ideas of nature, and its firft caufe, and of the immortality of 
 the foul; which, being above his own and all human difcovery, 
 he probably acquired from the books of Mofes, or the converfa- 
 tion of fome Jewifti rabbics, whom he might have met with in 
 Egypt ; where he refided, and ftudied, for feveral years. From 
 lilm Arijlotle, and from both Cicero^ and fome few others, drew 
 moft amazing (lores of philofophical fcicnce ; and carried their re- 
 fearcbes into divine truths, as far as human genius alone could pe 
 netrate. But thefe, with all this knowledge, were very deficient 
 in true theology. 
 
 " At this time, Chrillianity broke forth from the tail, like a ri- 
 fing fun, and difpelled this univerfal darkncfs, which obfcured 
 every part of the globe ; and which, even at this day, prevails in 
 all thefe remoter regions, to which its falutary influence has not as 
 yet extended." [SOAME JUNYNS, Efq. Internal Evidence of the 
 Chriilian Religion.]
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO CHRIST. 297 
 
 make foolifh the wifdom of this world, to mew men the 
 folly of their befl wifdom, by the do&rines of his glori 
 ous gofpel which were above the reach of all their philo- 
 fophy. [See i Cor. i. 1921.] 
 
 And after God had ihewn the vanity of human learn 
 ing, he was pleafed to make it fubfervient to the purpofes 
 of Chrift s kingdom, as an handmaid to divine revela 
 tion : and fo the prevalence of learning in the world be 
 fore Chrift came, made way for his coming both thefe 
 ways, viz. as thereby the vanity of human wifdom was 
 fhown, and the neceffity of the gofpel appeared ; and alfo 
 as hereby an handmaid was prepared to the gofpel : for fo 
 it was made ufe of by the apoftle Paul, who was famed 
 for his much learning, [Ats xxvi. 24.] and was (killed 
 not only in that of the Jews, but alfo of the philofophers ; 
 and improved it to the purpofes of the gofpel ; as you 
 may fee he did in difputing with the philofophers at 
 Athens. [Acts xvii. 22, &c.] He by his learning knew 
 well how to improve what he had read in their writings ; 
 and even cites their own poets, (w) And now Dionyfiusj 
 who was a philofopher, was converted by him, and, as 
 ecclefiaflical hiftory gives us an account, made a great 
 -inftrument of promoting the gofpel. (x) And there 
 were many others in that and the following ages, who 
 were eminently ufeful by their human learning in promot 
 ing the interefh of Chrift s kingdom. 
 
 19. Juil 
 
 (w) Paul quotes the Greek POETS.] " Thofe words, For in 
 him we live, &c. have been fuppofed by fome an allufion to an 
 old Greek poet ; but be this as it may, the following words, For 
 * we are alfo his offspring ; or as Doddridge more properly renders 
 them, pieferving their poetic air, 
 
 * For we his offspring are 
 
 Thefe words are unqueilionably thofe of Aratus, a poet of Cici- 
 lia, Paul s own country, who wrote three hundred years before his 
 time." So i Cor. xv. 33, is fuppofed to be a quotation from Me- 
 nander y another Greek Poet. [See Fam. Expof. in loc.] 
 
 (x) DIONYSIUS the Areopagite.~\ " This Dionyfus was bred at 
 Athens in all the learned arts, and was one of the fenators and 
 judges of tUe great court of Areopagus ; at twenty-five years old 
 he is faid to have travelled to Egypt, to perfect himfelf in the 
 ftudy of aftrology, for which that nation was famous: here be- 
 
 holding
 
 298 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ; 
 19. Jufl before Chrift was born, the Roman empire 
 
 was not only raifed to its greateil height, but alfo fettled 
 in peace. About four and twenty years before this, Au 
 guftus Csefar, the firft Roman Emperor, afcended the 
 throne : till then the Roman empire had of a long time 
 been a commonwealth under the Government of the fe- 
 
 O 
 
 natc : but now it became an abfolute monarchy. This 
 Auguftus Caefar, as he was the firft, fo he was the greateft of . 
 all the Roman Emperors. Thus the power of the heathen 
 world, which was Satan s vilible kingdom, was raifed to 
 its greateft height, after it had been rifing gradually and 
 ftrengthening itfelf more and more from the days of So 
 lomon to this day, which was about a (lioufahq years. 
 Now the heathen world was in its greateft glory for ftrength, 
 wealth, and learning. 
 
 God did two things to prepare the way for Chrift s 
 coming, wherein he took a contrary method from that 
 which human wifdom would have taken. He brought 
 Tiis own vilible people very low, and made them weak : 
 but the heathen, who were his enemies, he exalted to the 
 greateft height, for the more glorious triumph of the crofs 
 of Chrift. With a fmall number in their greateft weak- 
 nefs, he conquered his enemies in their greateft glorv. 
 Thus Chrift triumphed over principalities and powers in 
 his crofs. 
 
 Auguftus Csefar had been for many years eftablifhinj 
 the ftate of the Roman Empire, fubduing his enemies 
 in one part and another, till the very year that Chrift 
 was born; when all his enemies being fubdued, his do 
 minion over the world teemed to be fettled in its great- 
 eft glory. All was eftabliihed in peace: in token where 
 of the Romans ihut the temple of Janus, which was an 
 eftabiiflied fymbol among them of there being univerfal 
 
 peace 
 
 holding the miraculous eclipie that was at the time of our Lord s 
 crucifixion, he concluded that fume great affair was happening to 
 the world. Returning to Athens, he became one of the judges of 
 the Areopagus, difputed with St. Paul, and was by him converted 
 from his errors and idolatry, and being thoroughly inftrudted, made 
 the firft bifhop of Athens." [Dr. CAVE.]
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 299 
 
 peace throughout the Roman empire. (Y) And this uni- 
 verfal peace, which was begun the year that Chrift was 
 bom, Jafted twelve years, till the year that Chrift difputed 
 with the doctors in the temple. 
 
 Thus the world, after it had been, as it were, in a con 
 tinual convulfion for fo many hundred years together, 
 like the four winds ftriving together on the tumultuous 
 raging ocean, whence arofe thofe four great monarchies; 
 being now eftablilhed in the greateft height of the fourth 
 
 and laft monarchy, and fettled in cmietnefs all things 
 
 are ready for the birth of Chrift. This remarkable \ini- 
 verfal peace, after fo many ages of tumult and war, 
 was a fit prelude for the ufhering of the glorious Prince of 
 Peace into the world. 
 
 Thus I have gone through our iirft grand period, 
 that from the fall to the time of the incarnation of Chrift : 
 and have fhown the truth of the firft proportion, viz. 
 That * from the fall of man to the incarnation of Chrift, 
 God was doing thofe things that were preparatory to Chrift s 
 coming, and forerunners of it. 
 
 ,.k _.-. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 
 
 BEFORE I proceed to the next proportion, I would 
 make fome few remarks, by way of improvement, upon 
 what has been faid under this. 
 
 i. We may ftrongly argue, that Jefus of Nazareth is in 
 deed the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world; and 
 that the Chriftian is the true religion, feeing Chrift is the 
 very perfon fo evidently pointed at, in all the great dif- 
 
 Q_q 2 penfations 
 
 (v) The TEMPLE of JANUS.] This was a fquare building, 
 (fome fay of entire brafs) which contained a ftatue of Janus five 
 feet high ; with brazen gates always kept open in time of war, but 
 fliut in time of peace ; which however feldom happened. Hifto- 
 rians mention eight times of its being fliut up, three of which 
 were in the reign of Auguftus, and one of them in the time of oiu 
 Ixird s birth. [See Kennet z Antiq. part 2. booki.l
 
 joo HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 pcnfations of Divine Providence from the fall of man, 
 and was fo undoubtedly in many inftances foretold from 
 age to age, and fhadowed forth in a vaft variety of types 
 and figures. If we ferioufly confider the courfe of things 
 from the beginning, and obferve the motions of all the 
 great wheels of Providence from one age to another, we 
 lhall difcern that they all tend hither. They are all as 
 fo many lines, whofe courfe, if accurately followed, will 
 be found to centre here. This perfon came into the 
 world with a commiffion and authority from God to do 
 his work, and to declare his mind. It cannot be any vain 
 imagination, but a plain and evident truth, that that per 
 fon who was born at Bethlehem, and dwelt at Nazareth 
 and at Capernaum, and was crucified without the gates of 
 Jerufalem, muft be the great MefTiah, or anointed of God. 
 And blefled are all they that believe in and confefs him, 
 and miserable are all that deny him. This ihows the 
 unreafonablencfs of the Deifts, who deny revealed reli 
 gion ; and of the Jews, who deny that this Jefus is the 
 Mcffiah foretold and promifed to their fathers. 
 
 Here fome perfons may be ready to object, that it 
 may be, fome fubtle, cunning men contrived to forge this 
 hiftory, and thefe prophecies, fo that they fhould all 
 point to Jefus Chrift on purpofe to prove him to be the 
 MelTiah. To fuch it may be replied, how could their 
 craft and fubtilty help them to forefee and point at an 
 event that was to come to pafs many ages afterwards ; for 
 no fact: can be more evident, than that the Jews had thofe 
 writings long before Chrift was born ; as they have them 
 ftill in great veneration, wherever they are throughout 
 the work! ; and they would never have received foch a 
 contrivance from Chriftians, to point to and confirm Jefus 
 to be the Mefliah, who they always denied to be fo ; and 
 much lefs would they have been made to believe that they 
 always had thefe books in their hands, if they had been 
 an impofition. 
 
 2. What has been faid, affords a ftrong argument for the 
 divine authority of the books of the Old Teftament, from 
 that admirable harmony there is in them, whereby they 
 
 all
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 301 
 
 all point to the fame abject. For we may fee from what 
 has been faid, ho\v all the parts of the Old Teftament* 
 though written by fb many different penmfen, and in ages 
 diftant one from another, do all beautifully harmonize : 
 all agree in one teftimony, and all center in the fame 
 event ; an event which it was impoflible any one of therrt 
 fhould foreknow, but by a divine revelation, even the fu 
 ture coming of Chrift. This is evident from what has 
 been faid above. 
 
 Now, if the Old Teftamcnt was not infpired by Gbd 
 what account can be given of fuch an agreement ? For if 
 thefe books were only hximan writings, written without 
 Any divine direction, then none of thefe penmen knew 
 that there would come fuch a perfon as Jefus Chrift into 
 the world ; his coming was only a mere figment of their 
 own brain : and if fo, how happened it, that this imagi 
 nation of theirs, which they foretold without any manner 
 of ground for their prediction, was fo exactly fulfilled ? 
 and efpecially how did they come all to agree in it, 
 all pointing exactly to the fame thing, though they lived 
 fo many hundred years diftant one from another ? This 
 admirable agreement in a future event, is therefore a 
 clear and certain evidence of the divine authority of thofe 
 writings. 
 
 3. Hence we may learn what a weak and ignorant ob 
 jection it is which fome make againft fome parts of the- 
 Old Teftament, that they confift fo much of the hiftories 
 of their kings and rulers, of their wars with the neigh 
 bouring nations, and of the changes that happened from 
 time to time in their ftate and government. Other na 
 tions fay they nfed to keep hiftories of their public affairs 
 as well as the Jews, why then fliould we think that thefe 
 hiftories are the word of God, mere than thofe of other 
 people ? But what has been faid, ihows the folly and va 
 nity of fuch an objection. For hereby it appears, that 
 the cafe of thefe hiftories is very different from that of all 
 others. This alone gives us an account of the original 
 of all things; and deduces them down in a regular feries 
 from that original, giving a view of the whole fcheme 
 
 Pf
 
 302 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 of Divine Providence, from the beginning to the confum- 
 mation of all things : with an account of the wife and 
 holy defigns of the governor of the world in all. By 
 theie hiftories it appears how God has been carrying on the 
 glorious work of redemption from age to age. And though 
 hi/lories, yet are they full of divine inflruction, and {how 
 forth Chrift, and his glorious gofpel, no lefs than other 
 parts of the holy fcriptures which are not fo. 
 
 The objection, that it is a common thing for nations 
 and kingdoms to write hiftories and keep records of their 
 wars, and the revolutions that come to pafs in their terri 
 tories, is fo far from being a weighty objection againfl the 
 hiflorical part of fcripture, as though it were not the word 
 of God, that it is a ftrong argument in favour of it. For 
 if reafon and the light of nature teaches all civilized nations 
 to keep fuch records, and to publifh them for the informa 
 tion of others ; how much more may we exper. that God 
 would give the world a record of the difpenfations of his 
 divine government, which doubtlefs is infinitely more 
 worthy of an hiftory for our information? If wife kings 
 have taken care that there mould be good hiftories written 
 of the nations over which they have reigned, fhall we 
 think it incredible that Jefus Chrift ihould take care that 
 his church, which is his kingdom, his peculiar people, 
 fhould have in their hands a hiftory of their nation, and of 
 his government over them ? 
 
 If it had not been for the hiftory of the Old Teftament, 
 how ignorant fhould we have been of God s dealings 
 towards mankind, and efpecially his church, from the be 
 ginning ? We ihould have been wholly in the dark about 
 the creation of the world, the fall of man, the hrft rife and 
 continued progrefs of the difpenfaiion of grace towards 
 fallen mankind ; how the light of the gofpel rirft began to 
 dawn in the world ; how it increafed ; and how things were 
 preparing for the coming of Chrift. 
 
 If we are Chriftians, we belong to that divine build*- 
 ing of God that has been the fubject of our dilcourle : 
 but if it had not been for the hiftory of the Old Tefta 
 ment, we fhould never have known what was the rirft: 
 
 cccaliou 

 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 303 
 
 occafion of God s going about this building, and how the 
 foundation of it was laid, or how it has gone on with from 
 the beginning. The times of the hiftory of the Old Tef- 
 tamerit are moftly fuch as no other hiftory reaches up to ; 
 and therefore if God had not preferred an account of thefe 
 things in his word, we fhould have been wholly without 
 them. 
 
 Thofe that object againft the authority of the Old . 
 Teftament hiftory of the nation of the Jews, may as 
 well make it an objection againft Mofes s account of the 
 creation that it is hiftorical ; for, in the former, we have 
 an hiftory of a work no lefs important, viz. the work 
 of "redemption. Nay, this is a far greater and more 
 glorious work, as we obferved before ; and if it were in 
 quired which of the two works, the work of creation, 
 or the work of providence, is greateft ? it muft be an- 
 fwered, the work of providence ; but the work cf re 
 demption is the greateft of the works of providence. And 
 let thofe who make this objection confider what part of 
 the Old Teftament hiftory can be fpared, without mak 
 ing a great breach in that thread or feries of events by 
 which this glorious work has been carried on. This lead* 
 me to obferve, 
 
 4. That from what has been faid we may fee much 
 of the wifdom of God in the compolltion of the fcrip- 
 tures of the Old Teftament. Let us briefly take a view 
 of the feveral parts of it, and of the need there was of 
 them. 
 
 Firft it was necefTary that we fhould have fome ac 
 count of the creation of the world, of our rirft parents 
 and their primitive ftate ; of the fall, of the old world 
 and the degeneracy of it, and of the univerfal deluge ; 
 alfo of the origin of nations after this deftruction of 
 mankind. 
 
 It feems proper that there fhould be fome account of 
 the fucceffion of the church of God from the beginning ; 
 and feeing God fuffered all the world to degenerate, and 
 only took one nation to be his people, to preferve the 
 true worfhip and religion till the Saviour fhould come, 
 
 that
 
 304 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 that in them the world might gradually be prepared for 
 that great light, and thole wonderful things that he was 
 to be the author of ; and that they might be a typical na 
 tion, in whom God might fhadow forth the future glo 
 rious things of the gofpel- it was therefore neceffary that 
 we fhould have fome account of this, how it was firft 
 done by the calling of Abraham, by their being bond- 
 flaves in Egypt, and by their being brought thence to 
 Canaan- It was neceffary that we fhould have fome ac 
 count of the revelation which God made of himfelf to that 
 people, in giving their law, in the appointment of their 
 typical worfhip, and of the formation of their civil and 
 ecclefiaftical ftate. 
 
 It feems neceffary that we fhould have fome account of 
 their being actually brought to Canaan, their promifed 
 Jand- That we fhould have an hiftory of the fucceffions 
 jof the church of Ifrael, and of thofe providences of God 
 towards them, which were moft coniiderable and fulleft 
 of gofpel myftery ; that we fhould have fome account of 
 ihe higheft external glory of that nation under David and 
 Solomon, and more particularly of the former, whofe 
 hiftory is fo full of the gofpel, and in whom began the 
 race of their kings ; and that we fhould have fome account 
 of the building of the temple, which was moreover fo full 
 of myftery. 
 
 It was alfo a matter of confequence, that we fhould 
 Jiave foipe account of Ifrael s dividing from Judah, and 
 of the ten tribes captivity and utter rejection ; of the 
 iucceflion of the kings of Judah and of the church, till 
 their captivity into Babylon ; of their return from, their 
 paptivity, and re-fettlernent in their own ^land ; and of 
 the origin of the laft ftate that the church was in before 
 Chrift came. 
 
 A little confideration will convince every one, that 
 all thefe things were neceffary, and that none of them 
 could well be fpared ; and in the general, that it was 
 neceffary that we ihould have an hiftory of God s church 
 till fuch times as are within die reach of human hifto- 
 ries ; and it was of importance that we fliould have an 
 
 infpired
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I, 305 
 
 inipired hiftory of thofe times of the Jewifli church, 
 wherein there was kept up a more extraordinary inter- 
 courfe between God and them, and while he ufed to 
 dwell among them, as it were vifibly, revealing himfelf 
 by the Shechinah, by Urim and Thummim, and by pro 
 phecy, and fo more immediately to order their affairs : 
 that we mould have fome account of the great difpenfa- 
 tions of God in prophecy, which were to be after the 
 fini/hing of infpired hiftory. So it was exceeding needful 
 that there fhould be a number of prophets raifed, who 
 Should foretell the coming of the Son of God, and the 
 nature and glory of his kingdom, to be as fo many harbin 
 gers to make way for him, and that their prophecies fhould 
 
 remain in the church. 
 .. 
 It was alfo defirable that the church fhould have a 
 
 hook of divine fongs given by infpiration from God, 
 wherein there mould be a lively reprefentaiion of the 
 true fpirit of devotion, of faith, hope, and divine love, 
 joy, refignation, humility, obedience, repentance, &c. 
 Again, tliat we ftiould have fuch books of moral inftruc- 
 tions as thofe of Proverbs and Ecclefiaftcs, relating to 
 the affairs and ftate of mankind, and the concerns of 
 human life, containing rules of true wifdom and pru 
 dence for our conduct in all circuroftances : likewrfe that 
 we fhould have fuch a reprefentation of the great love 
 between Chrift and his fpoufe, the church, particularly 
 adapted to the difpofition and .holy affieitions of a true 
 believer, as we have in Solomon s Song: alfo that we 
 fhould have a book to teach us how to conduct ourfelves 
 under affliction, feeing the church of God is here in a 
 militant ftate, and his people through much tribulation 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven ; therefore God has 
 given us a book moft proper in thefe circumftances, even 
 that of Job, written upon occafion of the afflictions of 
 a particular faint, and which was, probably, given to the 
 church in Egypt under her afflictions there ; and is made 
 \ifc of by the apoftle to comfort Chrfftians under perfe- 
 cxitions. [James v. n.] Ye have heard of the patience 
 of Job, and have lecn the end of the Lord ; that the 
 
 Rr < Lord
 
 3o6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 4 Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. God was 
 alfo plenfed, in this book of Job, to give fome view of the 
 ancient divinity before the giving of the law. 
 
 Thus, from this brief review, I think it appears, that 
 every part of the fcriptures of the Old Teftament is very 
 ufeful and neceflary, and no part of it can be fpared, 
 without lofs to the church ; and therefore the wifdom of 
 God is confpicuous in ordering that the fcriptures of the 
 Old Teftament ihould confift of thofe very books of which 
 they do confift. 
 
 Before I difmifs this particular, I would add, that it is 
 yery obfervable, that the hiftory of the Old Teftament 
 is large and particular where the great affair of redemp 
 tion required it; as where there was moft done towards 
 this work, and moft to typify Chrift, and to prepare the 
 way for him. Thus it is very large and particular in the 
 hiftory of Abraham and the other patriarchs; but very 
 fhort in the account of the time which the children of 
 Ifracl fpent in Egypt. So it is large in the account of 
 the redemption out of Egypt, and the rirft fettling of 
 the affairs of the Jewifli church and nation in Mofes and 
 Joihua s time ; but much fhorter in the account of the 
 times of the judges. So again, it is large and particu 
 lar in the account of David and Solomon s times, and 
 very fhort in the hiftory of the enfuing reigns. Thus 
 the accounts are long or fhort, juft as there is more or lefs 
 of the affair of redemption to be feen in them. 
 
 5. From what has been faid, we may fee that Chrift 
 and his redemption are the great fubje6t of the whole 
 Bible. Concerning the New Teftament the matter is 
 plain; and by what has been faid on this fubject hi 
 therto, it appears to be fo alfo with relpet to the Old 
 Teftament. Chrift and his redemption is the great fub 
 ject of the prophecies, as well as the fongs of the Old 
 Teftament ; and die moral rules and precepts are all 
 given in fubordination to him ; and Chrift and his re 
 demption are alfo the great fubjecl: of the hiftory of the 
 Old Teftament, fiv,m the beginning all along ; and even 
 the liiftoVy of the creation is brought in as an introduc 
 tion
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 307 
 
 tion to the hiftory of redemption which immediately fol 
 lows it. The whole hook, both the Old Teftament and 
 New, is filled with the gofpel ; only with this difference, 
 that the Old Teftament contains the goipel under a vail, 
 but the New contains it unvailed, fo that we may fay the 
 glory of the Lord with open face. 
 
 6. By what has been faid, we may fee the ufefulnefs 
 and excellency of the Old Teftament. Some are ready 
 to look on it as being out of date, and as if we, in thefe 
 days of the gofpel, had but little to do with it ; which 
 is a very great miftake, arifing from want of obferving. 
 its nature and defign, which, if it were cbferved, .would 
 appear full of the gofpel of Chrift, and would in an ex 
 cellent manner illuftrate and confirm the glorious doc 
 trines and promifes of the New Teftament, Thofe parts 
 of the Old Teftament which are commonly looked upon 
 as containing the leaft divine inftrudtion, are, as it were, 
 mines and treafures of gofpel knowledge ; and the reafon 
 why they are thought to contain fo little, is, becaufe 
 perfons do but fuperficially read them. The treafures 
 which are hidden underneath are not obferved. They 
 only look on the top of the ground, and fo fuddenly pafs 
 a judgment that there is nothing there ; but they never 
 dig into the mine ; if they did, they would find it richly 
 ftored with illver and gold, and would be abundantly re 
 quited for their pains. 
 
 What has been faid, may fhow us what a precious 
 treafure God has committed into our hands, in that he 
 has given us the Bible. How little do moft perfons con- 
 fider how much they enjoy, in that they have the poflef- 
 fion of that" holy book, and may converfe with it as 
 they pleafe? What an excellent book is this, and how 
 far exceeding all human writings, wherein God reveals to 
 us, and gives us a view of the grand defign and gloriou 1 : 
 fcheme of Providence from the beginning of the world, 
 either in hiftory or prophecy ! that reveals the great 
 Redeemer and his glorious redemption, and the various 
 fteps by which God accomplilhes it from, the fir ft foun 
 dation to the top ftone ! Shall we prize an hiftory which 
 
 R r ?
 
 368 HISTORY Of REDEMPTION. 
 
 gives w a clear account of fome great earthly prince, or 
 mighty warrior, 33 of Alexander the Great, or Julius Csefar, 
 or the Drke of Marlbcrourh ? and fhall we not prize the 
 hiftorv th;r God gives us of the glorious kingdom of his 
 Son Jefps Cnrid, the Prince and Saviour; and of the wars 
 and other great ..T-nfaJ/i^r.s of that King of kings and Lord 
 of armies, the Lord mighty in battle ? the hiftory of the 
 things which Le has wrought for the redemption of his 
 chofen people ? 
 
 7. What has been faid, may make us fenfible how much, 
 moft perfons are to blame for their inattentive way of read 
 ing the fcriptures. How much do the fcriptures contain, 
 if it were but cbferved r The Bible is the moft compre- 
 henlive book in the world. But what will all this fignify 
 to us, if we read it without obferving what is the drift of 
 the Holy Ghoft in it ? The pfalmift [Pfal. cxix. 18.] begs 
 of God, That he would enlighten his eyes, that he might 
 behold wondrous things out of his law. The fcriptures 
 are full of wondrous things. Thofe hiftories which are 
 commonly read as if they were only hiftories of the private 
 concerns of fuch and fuch. particular perfons, fuch as the 
 hiftories of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and Jofeph ; alfo 
 the hiftory of Ruth ; and the hiftories of particular law 
 givers and princes, as the hiftory of Jofhua and the Judges, 
 and David and the Ifraelitifh princes, are accounts of much 
 greater things, things of far more importance and exten- 
 five concernment, than thcfe that read them are commonly 
 aware of. 
 
 The hiftories of fcrlpture are commonly rend as if they 
 were ftories written only to entem-in men s fancies and 
 to arnufe their Icifure hours, when the infinitely great 
 things containeH or pointed at in them are paiTed over, 
 and never taken notice of. Whatever treafures the fcrip 
 tures contain, we fhall be never the better for them, if 
 \ve do not cbferve them. He that has a Bible, and doc<; 
 not ooferve what is contained in it, is like a man WJK> 
 has a box full of filver and gold, and does not know 
 it, does not obfetve that it is anv thing more than a vef-
 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD I. 309 
 
 lei filled with common flones. As long as it is thus with 
 him, he will be never the better for hi$ treafure ; for 
 he that knows not that he has a treafure, will never make 
 ufe of what he has, and fo might as well be without 
 it. He who has a plenty of the choiceft food ftored up 
 in his houfe, and does not know it, will never tafte what 
 he has, and will be as likely to ftarve as if his houfe were 
 empty. 
 
 8. What has been faid, may fhow us how great a per- 
 fon Jefus Chrift is, and how great an errand he came into 
 the world upon, feeing there was fo much done to prepare 
 the way for his coming. God had been doing nothing 
 elfe but preparing the way for his coming, through all 
 ages, from the beginning. If we had notice of a certain 
 ftranger s being about to come into a country, and {hould 
 obferve that a great preparation was made for his coming, 
 that many months were taken up in it, and great things 
 done ; and that many great alterations were made in the 
 flate of the whole country, and that many hands were 
 employed, and perfons of great note were engaged in 
 making preparation for the coming of this perfon, and 
 the whole country was overturned, and all the affairs 
 and concerns of the country were ordered fo as to be 
 fubfervient to the defign of entertaining that perfon when 
 he fhould come ; it would be natural for us to think 
 with onrfelves, why, furely, this is fome extraordinary 
 perfon indeed, and it is fome very great bufmefs that he is 
 coming upon ! 
 
 How great a perfon then muft he be, for whofe coming 
 into the world the great God of heaven and earth, and 
 governor of all things, fpent four theufand years in pre 
 paring the way, bringing mighty events to pafs, accom- 
 pliihing wonders without number, often overturning the 
 world in order to it, and caufmg all the revolutions and 
 changes in the habitable world from generation to gene 
 ration to be fubfervient to this great defign ? Surely this 
 muft be fome very great and extraordinary perfon, and 
 a great work indeed it muft needs be that he is coming 
 
 o . w 
 
 about ! " 
 
 We
 
 3 io HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 We read, [Matth. xxi. 8 10.] that when Chrift was 
 coming into Jerufalem, and the multitudes ran before 
 him, and cut down branches of palm-trees, and ftrewed 
 them in the way, and others fpread their garments in the 
 way, and cried, Hofanna to the fon of David, that the 
 whole city was moved, faying, Who is this ? They won 
 dered who that extraordinary perfon fhould be, that there 
 ihould be fuch an ado made on occafion of his coming 
 into the city, and to prepare the way before him. But 
 if we confider what has been faid on this fubjedt, what 
 great things were done in all ages to prepare the way for 
 Chrift s advent, and how the world was often overturned 
 to make way for it, much more may we cry out, Who is 
 this? What great perfon is this? And fay, [as in Pfalm 
 xxiv. 8 10.] Who is the King of glory, that God 
 ihould (how fuch refpedt, and put fuch vaft honour upon 
 him ? Surely this perfon is honourable indeed in God s 
 eyes, and greatly beloved of him ; and furely it is a great 
 errand upon which he is fent into the world ! 
 
 . c 
 i 
 . 
 
 : / 
 
 FERIOI: 
 
 . 
 
 .
 
 [ 3" I 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 PERIOD II. 
 
 
 
 - 
 FROM CHRIST S INCARNATION TO HIS RESURRECTION. 
 
 H 
 
 .AVING fhown how the work of redemption was 
 carried on through the firft period, from the fall of man 
 to the incarnation of Chrift, I come now to the fecond, 
 viz. the time of Chrift s humiliation, or the fpace from 
 his incarnation to his refurrection. And this is the moft 
 remarkable period that ever was or ever will be. Though 
 it was but between thirty and forty years, yet more was 
 done in it than had been from the beginning of the world 
 to that time. We have obferved, that all events from the 
 fall to the incarnation were only preparatory for what 
 was now done. And it may alfo be obferved, that what 
 was done before the commencement of time, in the eter 
 nal counfels of God, and between the perfons of the Trini 
 ty, chiefly refpecled this period. We therefore now pro 
 ceed to confider the fecond proportion, viz. 
 
 THAT THE TIME FROM CHRIST S INCARNATION TO 
 HIS RESURRECTION WAS EMPLOYED IN PROCURING 
 AND PURCHASING REDEMPTION. - 
 
 Though there were many things done preparatory to 
 our redemption from the fall of man to this time, and 
 millions of facrifices had been offered up ; yet none of 
 - them could purchafe our redemption. But as focn as 
 Chrift was incarnate, the purchafe immediately began ; 
 and the whole time of Chrift s humiliation, from his be 
 coming incarnate, till the morning that he arofe from the 
 dead, was taken up in this purchafe, and then it was com 
 pletely finiihed. As nothing was done before Chrift s in 
 carnation, fo nothing was done after his refurrec~lion, to 
 purchafe redemption for men. Nor will there ever be 
 
 any
 
 3 i2 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 any thing more done to all eternity : but that very momeni 
 that the human nature of Chrift ceafed to remain under 
 the power of death, the tstmoft farthing of the price of 
 the falvation was paid for every one of the eledt. 
 
 BUT for the more orderly and regular confideration of 
 the great things done by our Redeemer to purchafe re 
 demption for us, 
 
 i. I would fpeak of Chrift becoming incarnate to capa 
 citate himfelf for his purchafe ; and, 
 
 . Of the purchafe itfelf. 
 
 I. Of CHRIST S INCARNATION* 
 
 FIRST, I would oonfider Chrift s taking -upon him 
 our nature to put himfelf in a capacity to purchafe re 
 demption for us. This was abfohrtely neceffary, for 
 though Chrift, as God, was infinitely fufficicnt for the 
 work, yet to his being in an immediate capacity for it, 
 it was needful that he mould not only be God but man. 
 If Chrift had remained only in the divine nature, he could 
 not have purchafed our falvation ; not from any imperfec 
 tion of the divine nature, trat t>y reafon of its abfolute 
 and infinite perfection : for Chrift, merely as God, was 
 not capable either of obedience or fuffering. And it was 
 necefTary not only that Chrift ihould take upon him a 
 created-nature, but that he Ihould take upon him our na 
 ture. It would not have fufficed for him to have become 
 an angel, and to have obeyed and fuffcred in the angelic 
 nature. But it was necefTary that he ihould become a man., 
 and that upon three accounts. 
 
 (i.) It was needful to anfwer the law, that that nature 
 mould obey, to which the law was given. Man s law 
 could not be anfwered, but by being obeyed by man. 
 God s juitice infilled upon it, that the law which he had 
 given to man fhouhl be honoured and fubinirtcd to, and 
 fulfilled by the human nature, otherwife the law could 
 not be anfwered for men. The words, Thou Jkali, or 
 
 Thou
 
 OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 
 
 Thou fhalf list do thus or thus, were fpoken to mankind, 
 and therefore the human nature muft fulfil them. 
 
 (2.) It was needful to anfwer the law that the nature 
 that finned fhould die. Thefe words, Thou {halt furely 
 * die, refpe6l the human nature : the fame nature to which 
 the command was given, was the nature to which the 
 threatening was directed. 
 
 (3.) God faw meet, that the fame world which was the 
 ftage of man s fall and ruin, fhould alfo be the ftage of 
 his redemption. We read often of his coming into the 
 world to fave finners, and of God s fending him into the 
 world for this purpofe. It was needful that he fhould come 
 into this finful, miferable world to reftore and fave it, and 
 that he fliould tabernacle with us: [John i. 14.] The 
 Word was made flefh, and dwelt among us. 
 
 CONCERNING the INCARNATION of Chrift, I would- 
 oblerve the following things : 
 
 " The incarnation itfelf ; in which efpecially two things 
 are to be confidered, viz. 
 
 (i.) His conception, which was in the womb of Mary, 
 whereby he became truly the fon of man, as he was often 
 called. He was one of the pofterity of Adam, a child, of 
 Abraham, and a fon of David according to God s . promife. 
 But his conception was not in the way of ordinary gcnc- 
 Tation, but by the power of the Holy Ghoft. Chrift was 
 formed in the womb of the Virgin, of the fubftance of 
 her body, by the power of the Spirit of God. So that he 
 was the immediate fon of the woman, but not the imme 
 diate fon of any male whatfoever ; and fo was the feed of 
 the woman, and the fbn of a virgin. (?) 
 
 S s (2.) His 
 
 (z) Chrift born of a VIRGIN.] Some learned men have cited 
 a tradition from the Talmud, that ieems very remarkably to al 
 lude to this, viz, That when Mefiiah mould come, no man 
 fhould know whence he was, and that his birth fhould be like 
 the dew of the Lord, as drops upon the grafs, expe&ing not 
 the labour of man. [STACKHOUSE S Hift. of the Bible, book 
 viii. chap. I. and compare John vii. 27. * When Chrift covneth no 
 * man knoweth whence he is ; alfo Note o, page 231, above.]
 
 3 14 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 (2.) His birth. -Though the conception of Chrift was 
 fupernatural, yet after he was conceived, his human nature 
 was gradually perfected in the womb as others are, and his 
 birth was in the natural way of nature. But his concep 
 tion being fupernatural, by the power of the Holy Ghoft, 
 he was both conceived and born without fin. 
 
 2. The fecond thing I would obferve concerning the 
 incarnation of Chrift, is the fulnefs of the time in which 
 it was accomplifhed. It was after things had been prepar 
 ing for it from the fall, and when all things were ready. 
 It came to pafs at a time, which in infinite wifdom was 
 the moft fit and proper: [Gal. iv. 4.] When the fulnefs 
 of time was come, God fent forth his Son, made of a 
 woman, made under the law. 
 
 It was now the moft proper time on every account. 
 ^Any time before the flood would not have been fo fit a 
 time. For then the mifchief and ruin that the fall 
 brought on mankind, was not fo fully feen. The curfe 
 did not fo fully come on the earth before the flood, as 
 it did afterwards : for though the ground was curfed in a 
 great meafure before, yet it pleated God that the curfe 
 ihould once, before the reftoration of Chrift, be executed 
 in an univerfal deftruction, as it were, of the very form 
 of the earth ; that the dire effects of the fall might once in 
 fuch a way be feen before the recovery by Chrift. Though 
 mankind were mortal before the flood, yet their lives were 
 continued the greater part of a thoufand years ; a kind of 
 immortality in companion with what the life of man is 
 now. It pleafed God, that the curfe, Duft thou art and 
 to duft thou (halt return, fhould have its full accomplilli- 
 ment, before the Redeemer came to purchafe a never-end 
 ing life for man. 
 
 It would not have been fo fit a time for Chrift to come," 
 after the flood, before Mofes s time ; for till then man 
 kind were not fo univerfally apoftatized from the true 
 God ; they were not fallen univerfally into heatheniih 
 darkncfs ; and fo the need of Chrift, the light of the 
 world was not fo evident: and the woful confequence 
 of the fall with refpecl to man s mortality, was not fo 
 
 fully
 
 OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 315 
 
 fully manifeft till then ; for man s life was not fo fhorten- 
 ed as to be reduced to the prefent itandard till about Mo- 
 fes s time. 
 
 It was moft fit that the time of the Mefliah s coming 
 fhould not be till many ages after Mofes s time ; till all 
 nations but the children of Ifrael, had lain long in 
 heathenim darkncfs ; that the remedileffnefs of their 
 difeafe might bv long experience be feen, and fo the 
 abfolutc neceffity of the heavenly Phyiician, before he 
 came. 
 
 Another reafon why Chrift did not come foon after 
 the flood probably was, that the earth might be full of 
 people, that Chrift might have the more extenfive king 
 dom, and that the effects of his light, and power, and 
 grace, might be glorified, and that his victory over Sa-, 
 tan might be attended with the greater multitude of con- 
 quefts. It was alfo needful that the coming of Chrift 
 fhould be many ages after Mofes, that the church might 
 be prepared, by the Mefliah s being many ways prefigured 
 and foretold, and by his being long expected. It was not 
 proper that Chrift mould come before the Babylonifh 
 captivity, becaufe Satan s kingdom was not then come to 
 the height. The heathen world before that confifted of 
 leffer kingdoms. But God faw meet that the Mefliah 
 ihould come in the time of one of the four great mo 
 narchies of the world. Nor was it proper that he fhould 
 come in the time of the Babylonifh monarchy ; for it 
 was God s will, that feveral general monarchies fhould 
 follow one another, and that the coming of the Mcf- 
 fiah fhould be in the time of the. laft, which appeared 
 above them all. The Pcrfian monarchy, by overcom 
 ing the Babylonian, appeared above it ; and fo the 
 Grecian, by overcoming the Perfian, appeared above that ; 
 and tor the fame reafon, the Roman above the Grecian. 
 Now it was the \\i!lof God, that his Son fhould make 
 his appearance in the world in the time of this greateft 
 and ilrongeft monarchy, which was Satan s vifible king 
 dom in the world ; that by overcoming this, he might 
 vifibly overcome Satan s kingdom in its greateft ftrength 
 
 S s 2 and
 
 Si6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and glory, and fo obtain the more complete triumph <3Vr 
 Satan himfelf. 
 
 It was not proper that Chrift fhould come before the 
 Babylonilh captivity. For, before that, we have no hif- 
 tories of the Hate of the heathen world, to give us fo full 
 proof of the need of a Saviour. And befides, before that 
 learning did not much flouriih, and fo the^e had not 
 been opportunity to ihow the infufficiency of human 
 learning and wifdom to reform and fave mankind. Again, 
 before that, the Jews were not difperfed over the world, 
 as they were afterwards ; and fo things were not prepared 
 in this rcfpeft for the coming of Chriil. The necellity of 
 abolifhing the Jewifh dilpcnlation, was not then fo ap 
 parent as it was afterwards made, by the difperiion of the 
 Jews ; neither was the way prepared for the propagation 
 of the gofpel, as it was afterwards, by the fame difper 
 iion. Many other things might be mentioned, by which 
 it would appear, that no other time before that very time 
 in which Chrift did come, would have been proper lor 
 his appearing in tlxc world to purchafe the redemption of 
 men. (A) 
 
 3. The next thing that I would obferve, is the great- 
 ncfs of this event. ChriiVs incarnation was more won 
 derful than any thing that had ever come to pafs ; and 
 there has been but one greater event that has ever come 
 to pafs iincc, and that was his death. The creation of 
 the world was a very great thing, but not fo great as the 
 incarnation of Chrift. It was a great thing for God to 
 make the creature, but not fo much as for the Creator 
 himfelf to become one. We have fpoken of many great 
 vhings that were accomplished from one age to another, 
 
 in 
 
 (A) Other reafons for Cbri/t s appearance at THIS TIME.] One 
 of thefe we fhall add from a late ingenious author " Had Chriti. 
 appeared while the Jews were a free, independent nation, with 
 the power of life and death in veiled in them, they vvonlu, dotihi- 
 lefs, have taken him off at the firft difcovery of his public cha 
 racter, and by that means have prevented the propagation of his 
 jodrine, without fome miraculous interpolation." r Dr. WARD S 
 pifertations, No. XV.]
 
 OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 317 
 
 in the ages between the fall of man and the incarnation 
 of Chrift : but this was a much greater event than any of 
 them. Then was the greateft perfon born that ever was or 
 ever will be. 
 
 4. Next obferve the remarkable circumflances of it; 
 fuch as his being born of a virgin, pious and holy indeed, 
 but poor, as appeared by her offering at her purification : 
 [Luke ii. 24.] And to offer a facrifice according to that 
 
 * which is faid in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle 
 doves, or two young pigeons. Which refers to Lev. 
 v. 7. And if fhe be not able to bring a lamb, then fhe 
 4 fhall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons. And 
 this poor virgin was efpoufed to an hufband who was a 
 poor man. Though they were both of the royal family of 
 David, the mod honourable family, and Jofeph was the 
 rightful heir to the crown ; yet the family was reduced to 
 a very low flate ; which is reprefented by the tabernacle 
 of David being fallen or broken down. [Amos ix. n.] 
 In that day will I raife up the tabernacle of David that 
 is fallen, and clofe up the breaches thereof, and I will 
 raife up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of 
 < old. 
 
 He was born in the town of Bethlehem as was fore 
 told : (B) and there was a very remarkable providence of 
 
 God 
 
 (B) Chrlft to be lorn in BETHLEHEM.] This was predicted by 
 die Prophet Micah, [chap. v. 2.] and his words are quoted with 
 fome variation by the Evangelift Matthew, [chap. ii. 3 6.] " In 
 St. Matthew it is faid, Thou, Bethlehem IN the land of Judah, 
 art not the leaft : whereas in the Hebrew it is, though thou 
 
 * art the leaft : the fenfe in both is clear and confident, for this 
 city, though far from being the moft confiderable in extent of all 
 thofe belonging to the princes of Judah, is neverthelefs, on account 
 of the governor or ruler that was to come out of it, not the leaft 
 among the thoufands of Judah. The learned Pococke on thL: 
 paffage has fhewn, that the original word may fignify either 
 great or little. If it is read as in the tranflation from the Syriac, 
 in the Englifli Polyglot, with an interrogation, it will have the 
 force of a negative, and then may well be rendered, as in the 
 Arabic and Perfic veriions, and in the gofpel by St. Matthew; 
 jut if without any inteirogation, it will be as it is in the other 
 yerfionSo 
 
 Whq
 
 *i6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 God to bring about the fulfilment of this prophecy, the 
 taking of all the world by Auguftus Casfar, [Luke ii. i.] 
 lie WT.3 born in a very lo\v condition, even in a liable, and 
 laid in a manrer. (c) 
 
 c. I would chtcrvc the concomitants of this great 
 
 *J o 
 
 event, An: 1 :, 
 
 (i.) Firfl the return of the Spirit; which indeed 
 began a little be lore the incarnation of Chrift ; but yet 
 
 was 
 
 " Who this ruler, or prince, or king is, tliat fhould come from 
 Bethlehem, is determined by the defcriptjon that immediately 
 follow: , * whofe goipgs forth have been from of old, from ever- 
 btiiii;.,-. 
 
 " It is he who fo often went forth in the name of the Lord, 
 who convcrfed with Abraham and Mofes, who was before the 
 foundation of the earth was laid, and who at lad was made mani- 
 fe i in thcfkfh, and came forth from Bethlehem, the King of the 
 Jev.s." [Dr. SHARP S Argument from the Prophecies in Defence 
 of Chriilianity, p. 153 155.] 
 
 (c) This Prophecy woNDERFULLY/v/^7/W.] The Emperor 
 of Rome iffucs a royal edift, that all his large dominion (hall be 
 taxed. Ke meant to fill his coffers with money ; but a greater 
 Sovereign than he intended the fulfilling of his promifes. While 
 every man repairs to his city to be taxed, in obedience to the im 
 perial mandate, Jofeph his father, as was fuppofed, repairs among 
 the i ell to Bethlehem, the city of his family, being of the houfe 
 and lineage of David. And now he is ai rived with Mary, his 
 efpoufed \s ife ; who being near the time of her delivery, had been 
 directed by Providence, or fpecial inftinft, to accompany her huf- 
 band on this occafion. No eoftly palace receives our weary tra- 
 velleis. A common inn is the place of his nativity : perhaps a 
 filent intimation, that he himfelf fliould be a common faviour. 
 Nor even in the inn could a commodious apartment be fpared to 
 the Lord of heaven and earth. Ye men of Bethlehem, what a 
 gueft did ye exclude ! The coarfe accommodation of a manger 
 was all his mother could obtain for her tender infant. Lo ! there 
 he lies wrapt in hvaddling cloaths, whom the heaven of heavens 
 Cannot cont".in . . . fcr this is he believe it, ye children of men 
 v/hofe name is Iinmanuel, which by interpretation is, God with 
 us ! This is he, who from all everlading was the brightnefs of the 
 Father s glory, the cxprefs image of his perfon, who rejoiced al 
 ways before lii:~n, and was daily his delight ! .... O ye beautiful 
 fcer.e:, of the creation, thou glorious fun, thou filver moon, and 
 ?,I! ye glittering itars, in you the invifible things of God are clear 
 ly feen ; but now you are eclipfed by the more excellent glory, 
 God manifcfled in the flefli!" [M livvEN s Eflays, vol. ii. 
 7-ic.]
 
 OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 319 
 
 was given on occafion of that, as it was to reveal either his 
 birth, or that of his forerunner John the Bapcift. I have 
 hefore obferved how the fpirit of prophecy ceafecl not long 
 after the book of Malachi was written. From about the 
 fame time vifions and immediate revelations ceafed alio : 
 But now, on this occafion, they are granted anew, and 
 the Spirit in thefe operations returns again. The fir ft 
 inftance of its reftoration that we have an account of is 
 in the vilion of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptift. 
 [Luke i.] The next is in the vifion which the virgin 
 Mary had. The third in the vifion of Jofcph. [Matt, i.] 
 In the next place, the Spirit was given to Elizabeth. 
 [Luke i. 41.] Next, to Mary, as appears by her fong. 
 [Luke i. 46, &c.] Then to Zacharias again, [ver. 64.] 
 alfo to Simeon, [Luke ii. 25.] to Anna, [vcr. 36.] Af 
 terwards to the wife men in the caft. Then to Jofeph 
 again, directing him to flee into Egypt, and after that di 
 recting his return. 
 
 (2.) I would next obferve the great notice that was 
 taken of the incarnation both in heaven, and on c?.:"~ .\. 
 How it was noticed by the glorious inhabitants of the 
 heavenly world, appears by their joyful fongs on this oc 
 cafion, heard by the fhepherds in the night. This \vaj 
 the greateft event of Providence that ever the angels had 
 beheld. We read of their finging praifes when they law 
 the formation of the lower world : [Job xxxviii. 7.] 
 < When the morning-ftars fang together, arid all the fo ns 
 * of God fhouted for joy. So now they fang praifes on 
 this much greater occafionof the birth of the Son of God, 
 who: is the creator of the world. 
 
 The glorious angels had all along expected this event :. 
 they had taken great notice of the prophecies and promi- 
 fes of thefe things all along : for we are told, that the 
 angels defire to look into the affairs of redemption, [i 
 Pet. i. 12.] They had all along been the miniilers or" 
 Chrift in this affair of redemption, in all the feveral ftqr> 
 of it down from the very fall of man. So we read, that- 
 they were employed in God s dealings with his ancien,t 
 people from time to time. And cloubtleis they had ionV
 
 po HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 joyfully expefled the coming of Chrift ; but now they 
 fee it accompiilhed, and therefore greatly rejoice on this 
 occafion. 
 
 Notice was taken of it by fome among the Jews : 
 as particularly by Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary before 
 the birth of Chrift ; not to fay by John the Baptift be 
 fore he was born, when he leaped in his mother s womb 
 as it were for joy, at the voice of the falutation of Mary. 
 But Elizabeth and Mary do mofl joyfully praife God to 
 gether, when they meet, with Chrift and his forerunner 
 in their wombs, and the Holy Spirit in their fouls. And 
 afterwards what joyful notice is taken of this event by 
 the fhepherds and by thofe holy perfons Zacharias, Sime 
 on, and Anna ! How do they praife God on this occa 
 fion ! Thus the church in heaven, and on earth, unite in 
 their joy and praife. 
 
 Great part of the univerfe takes joyful notice of the 
 incarnation of Chrift : heaven takes notice of it, and the 
 inhabitants fmg for joy. This lower world, the world of 
 mankind, does always take notice of it, even Gentiles as 
 well as Jews ; for it pleafed God to put honour on his 
 Son, by wonderfully ftirring up fome of the wifeft of the 
 Gentiles to come a long journey to fee and wcr/hip the 
 Son of God at his birth, being led by a miraculous liar, 
 fignifying the birth of that glorious perfon, who is the 
 bright and morning fear, going before, and leading them 
 to the very place where the young child was. Some think 
 they were inftruclcd by the prophecy ot Balaam, who 
 dwelt in the eaftern parts, and foretold Chrift s coming as 
 a ftar that fhould rife out of Jacob : or they might be 
 excited by that general expectation there was of the Mef- 
 fiah s coming about that time, before fpoken of, from 
 the notice they had of it by the prophecies the Jews had 
 with them in their difperiioas in r.11 parts of the world.* 
 
 (3.) The next concomitant of the birth of Chrift was 
 his circumcifion. But this may more properly be fpoken 
 of under another head. 
 
 (4.) Ano- 
 
 * See Note B, pag-e 266.
 
 OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 221 
 
 J 
 
 (4.) Another concomitant circumftance was his coming 
 into the fecond temple, being firfl brought thither when an 
 infant, on occafion of the purification of the blefTed Vir 
 gin. We read, [Hagg. ii. 7.] The defire of all nations 
 lhall come, and I will fill this houfe for temple) with 
 
 * glory. And in [Mai. iii. i.] The Lord, whom ye 
 
 * leek, mall fuddenly come to his temple, even the meflen- 
 
 * gcr of the covenant. And now was the firft inftance of 
 the fulfilment of thefe prophecies. 
 
 (5.) The laft thing I fhall here mention is the fccptre s 
 departing from judah, in the death of Herod the Great. 
 The fceptre had never totally departed from Judah till 
 now. Judah s fceptre was greatly diminished in the 
 revolt of the ten tribes in Jeroboam s time ; and the fcep 
 tre departed from Ifrael or Ephraim, at the time of the 
 captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmanefer. But yet thi 
 fceptre remained in the tribe of Judah, under the kin^s 
 of the houfe of David. And when the tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 the fceptre of Judah ceafed for a little while, till the re 
 turn from the captivity under Cyrus, and then, though 
 they were not an independent government, as they had 
 been before, but owed fealty to the kings of Perfia ; 
 yet their governor was of themfelves, who had the power 
 of life and death, and they were governed by their own 
 laws ; and fo Judah had a lawgiver fipm between his feet 
 during the Perfian and Grecian monarchies. Towards 
 the latter parts of the Grecian monarchy, the people were 
 governed by kings of their own, of the race of the Mac 
 cabees, for the greater part of an hundred years. After 
 that they were fubdued by the Romans. But the Ro 
 mans fuffered them to be governed by their own laws, 
 and to have a king of their own, Herod the Great, who 
 reigned about forty years, and governed with kingly au 
 thority, only paying homage to the Romans. But pre- 
 Jently after Chriil wSis born he died, [as we have an ac 
 count, Matt. ii. 19.] and Archelaus fucceeded him ; but 
 was foon put down by the Roman empire ; and then the 
 fccptre lully departed from Judah. There were no more 
 T t tern-
 
 322 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 temporal kings of Judah after that, neither had that peo 
 ple their governors henceforth from among themfelves 
 but were ruled by a Roman governor fent among them ; 
 and they ceafed to have any more the power of life and 
 death. Hence the Jews fay to Pilate, It is not lawful 
 < for us to put any man to death. [John xviii. 31.] 
 Thus the fceptre departed from Judah when Shiloh 
 came.* 
 
 II. The PURCHASE of REDEMPTION. 
 
 HAVING thus confidered Chrift s coming into the 
 world, and his taking on him our nature, to put himfeli 
 in. a capacity for the purchafe of redemption, I come now 
 to Ipeak of the purchafe itfelf. And in fpeaking of this, 
 I would, i . Show what is intended by the purchafe of 
 redemption. 2. Make fome general obfervations con 
 cerning thofe things by which this purchafe was made. 
 3. Conllder what Chrift did; and, 4. What he fuffered, 
 to make that purchafe. 
 
 i. Chrift purchafed our redemption both by \i\sfatisfac- 
 non, and his merit. The price that Chrift lays down, pays 
 our debt, and fo it fatisfies : by its intrinfic value, and by 
 the agreement between the Father and the Son, it procures 
 our title for happinefs, and fo it merits. The fatisfaflion 
 
 of Chrift is to free us from mifery, and the merit of Chrift 
 
 
 
 is to purchafe happinefs for us. (D) 
 
 The word purchafe, as it is ufed with refpe6t to the 
 aurchafe of Chrift, is taken either ftrictly, or more largely. 
 It is ufed ftri6tly, to fignify only the merit of Chrift ; and 
 more largely, to include both his fatisfa&ion and merit. 
 
 Indeed 
 
 * See Note G, p. 161. 
 
 (D) Clr yYs fatisfatiion and merit to be di/lingui/hed. ] In like 
 Tiianner fome divines didinguifh between Chriil s adlive and pnf- 
 live obedience, referring our pardon to the latter, and to the for 
 mer onr title to glory. The uibjeft is ably and at large difcufled 
 by Mr. Hervey, Tlieron and Afpafio, vol. i. Dial. 2. and vol. ii. 
 "OIul. 10. ; alfo Afpalio vind. Let. i.
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 323 
 
 Indeed many of the words ufed in this affair have various 
 acceptations. Thus divines fometimes ufe the term merit 
 for the whole price that Chrift offered. So the \vovAfailf- 
 faffion is alfo fometimes ufed, to include not only propitia 
 tion, but alfo for his meritorious obedience. For, in fome 
 fenfe, not only fuffering the penalty, but obedience, is 
 needful to fatisfy the law. The reafon of the various ufe 
 of thefe terms feems to be, that they do not differ fo much 
 really is relatively. They both confift in paying & -price ot 
 infinite value ; but that price, as it refpe61s a debt to be 
 paid, is called fittiifafijbn ; and as it refpedts a benefit to be 
 obtained, is called merit. (E) He who lays down a price 
 to pay a debt, does in fome fenfe make a purchafe ; he pur- 
 diafes liberty from the obligation. And he who lays down 
 a price to purchafe a good, does as it were make fattsfa ftion : 
 he fatisfjes the conditional demands of him to whom he 
 pays it. This may faffice concerning what is meant by 
 the purchafe of Chrifr. 
 
 2. I proceed to fome general obfervations concerning 
 thofe things by which this purchafe was made And, 
 
 (i.) I obferve, that whatever in ChritVs work had 
 the nature of [attsfattion, was by virtue of his fnffering 
 or humiliation. But whatever had the nature of merit * 
 
 T t 2 it 
 
 (E) The PRICE of our redemption. } " Now, what is a price ? 
 A price is a valuable compenfation of one thing for another. A 
 Have is redeemed from captivity, a debtor from prifon, when 
 fome gracious redeemer procures their liberty, by giving fome 
 equivalent to the perfon by whom they are detained. We are 
 debtors ; we cannot pay unto God what we are owing. We are 
 captives, and we cannot hallen to be loofed. Jefus Chrift: is the 
 merciful Redeemer, who pays the fum we were owing, and fays 
 to the prifoner, Go forth. Will we not believe an apoftle, 
 when he tells us, Ye are not your own ; ye are bought with a 
 price; [i Cor. vi. 20. J Would you know what this price is ? 
 Another apoftle will tell, Ye are not redeemed with corruptible 
 things, as filver and gold, but with the precious blood of 
 Chri ll. [i Pet. i. 1 8.] [M EwEu s Eflays, vol. i. p. 35.] 
 " The ranfom was paid down. The fund of heav n 
 
 pour d forth the price, 
 
 All price beyond. Though curious to compute, 
 Archangels fail d to call the mighty fum." 
 
 [YOUNG S Night Thoughts, IV.]
 
 324 HISTORY 0? REDEMPTION. 
 
 if was hv virtue of the excellency of his obedience. 
 The fatfsftfftitn of Chrift confiils in his anf .vcring the de 
 mands cf the law on man, which were confequent on the 
 breach of it. Thefe were anfwered by fuffering its pe 
 nalty- The merit of Chrift confifts in what he did to ful 
 fil what the law demanded before man finned, which was 
 obedience. 
 
 The fatisfaction or propitiation of Chrift confifh either 
 in his fufFering pain, or being fubje& to abfement. For 
 he not only made fatisfaclion by proper fuffering, but by 
 whatever had the nature of humili .tion and abafement ; 
 as his continuance under the power of death, while he 
 lay in the grave, though neither his body nor his foul 
 ftrictly endured fuffering after he was dead. So all the 
 obedience of Chrift in his ftate of humiliation, in one 
 refpedl or another, had the nature of merit in it, and was 
 part of the price with which he purchafed happinefs fo; - 
 the elect. 
 
 (2.) Both Chrift s fatisfa&ion for fin, and alfo his me 
 riting happinefs by his righteoijfnefs, were carried on 
 through the whole time of his humiliation. Chrift s fatil- 
 
 o 
 
 fr.tion for fin was not only by his laft fufr erings, though it 
 was principally by them ; but all his fufferings, and all the 
 humiliation that he was fubje6l to from the tirft moment of 
 his incarnation to his refurredlion, were propitiatory or ia- 
 t:. faciory. So alfo the purchnfe of happinefs by his righ- 
 teoufnefs was alfo carried on througli the "johole time of his 
 humiliation ; not only in the courfe of his life, but in lay 
 ing down his life at the end. 
 
 (3.) It was by the fame things that Chrift both fatif- 
 f:ed God s judice, and alfo purchafed eternal happinefs. 
 He did not make fatisfa6lien by fome things that lie did, 
 \\.A then work out ?. rtghteoufuefs by others, but in the 
 fame ach by which he wrought cut righteoulnefs, he 
 ;S.fo made latisfadtion, only taken in a different iclacion. 
 Thofe fame a6ls of obedience wherein the righteoufneL 
 of Clirilt coniifted, and which purchafed heaven for us, 
 confulered witlj refpecl to the felf-denial, pain, and hu 
 miliation which \vas in them, had the nature of fr.tisfac- 
 
 ;
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 325 
 
 tion and procured- our pardon. Thus his going about 
 doing good, preaching the g fpel, and teaching his difci- 
 pies, was a part of his righteoufnefs, as it was done in 
 obedience to the Father : and a part of his fatisfaion, 
 as lie did it wich great labour, trouble, and wearinefs, 
 and under great temptations, expoling himfelf hereby to 
 reproach and contempt. So his laying down his life had 
 the nature of fatisfattion, coniidered as his bearing our 
 punilhment in our Head ; but confidered as an a6l of obe 
 dience to God, who had given him this command, that 
 he ihould lay down his life for finners, it was a part of 
 his righteoufnejs, (F) as truly as of his fatisfa&ion. Thefe 
 things may fuffice to be obferved in general concerning the 
 purchaie of redemption. 
 
 3. I now proceed to fpeak more particularly of thofe 
 things which Chrift did, and was the fubjecl of, during 
 his humiliation, whereby this purchafe was made. ----- 
 And the nature of the purchafe of Chrift, as it has been 
 -explained, leads us to coniider* thefe things under a two 
 fold view, viz, (i.) With refpecl to his rlghtcGufncfs, 
 which appeared in them ;- and, (2.) With refpe6l to 
 the juffer mgs and humiliation, which lie was fubjecl to in 
 our Head. 
 
 (i.) I will confider the things -that pafled during the 
 time of Chrift s humiliation, with refpecl to the obedi 
 ence that he exercifed in them. And this is fubjefl to a 
 threefold diftribution. With refpedl to tire laivs which 
 he obeyed. With relpec~l to the various yAw s of life in 
 
 (F) ChrijTs DEATH an aft of obedience.~] " This part of our 
 Lord s meritorious humiliation [viz. his death~\ is [fometimes] by 
 very ufual figure, put for the whole. The death of Clmit in 
 cludes not only his fufferings, but his obedience. The (hedihng of 
 his precious blood was at once the grand inftance of his fuffettng, 
 and the finifhing*at of his obedience. In this view it is conh- 
 dered, and thus it is interpreted by his own ambafiador ; who, 
 ipeaking of his divine Mailer, fays, He was obedient unto death, 
 * even the death of the crofs, [Phil. ii. 8.] In like manner, 
 when the fcriptare afcribes our juftiiication to the death of Chriit, 
 \vc are not to think that it would fet afide, but imply his obedi 
 ence. [HEP.VEY, Thcron and Afp. vol. ii. Dial. 10.]
 
 326 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 which he performed it, and with refpect to the feverdl 
 virtues he exercifed. 
 
 The firft diftribution of the ach of Chrift s righteouf- 
 nefs is with refpeft to the laws which he obeyed. But 
 all the precepts which Chrift obeyed may be reduced to 
 one law which the apoftle calls * the law of works. [Rom. 
 iii. 27.] And this indeed includes all the laws which 
 God ever g;ave to mankind ; for it is a general rule of the 
 law of works, and indeed of the law of nature, that God 
 is to be obeyed, and that he muft be fubmitted to in what 
 ever politive precept he is pleafed to give. But, more 
 particularly, the commands which Chrift obeyed, were or 
 three kinds; they were either fuch as he was fubjeft to 
 mert:lv as man, as a Jew, or purely as Mediator. As man he 
 obeyed t;,e moral law, which was the fame with that which 
 was given at Mount Sinai, which is obligatory on all 
 mankind in all ages of the world. As a Jew, he was 
 lubjet to the ceremonial law, and was conformed to it in 
 being circumcifed the eighth day ; and he ftriclly obeyed it 
 in going up to Jerufalem to the temple three times a year; 
 at lean: after he was come to the age of twelve years, which 
 feems to have been the age when the males began to go up 
 to the temple : Chrift alfo conftantly attended the fervice 
 of the temple, and of the fynagogues. To this head may 
 be reduced, his fubmiflion to John s baptifm ; for it was a 
 fpecial command to the Jews, to go forth to John the Bap- 
 tift, and be baptized of him, and therefore when Chrift 
 came to be baptized of John, and John objected, that he 
 had more need to be baptized of him, he gives this rea- 
 fon in reply, that it was needful that he fliould do it, that 
 he inight > fulfil all righteoufnefs. [Matt iii. 13- 15.] 
 Again, Chrift was fubjetl to the mediatorial law, which 
 contained thofe commands of God to which he was fub^- 
 ject, not merely as man, nor yet as a Jew, but which re 
 lated purely to his mediatorial office. Such were the com 
 mands which the Father gave him, to teach fuch doctrines, 
 ro preach the gofpei, to work fuch miracles, to call fuch 
 difciplcs, to appoint fuch ordinances, and finally to lay 
 down hi-; liic; for he did all thefe things in obedience to 
 
 com-:
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 327 
 
 commands he had received of the Father, as he often tells 
 us. [John x. 18-- xiv. 31.] 
 
 And 1 it is to be obferved, that Chrift s righteoufnefs, by 
 which he merited heaven for himfelf, and all who believe 
 in him, confiits principally in his obedience to this media 
 torial law ; for in fulfilling this law confided his chief 
 work and bufmefs in the world. What Chrift had to do 
 in the world as Mediator, was infinitely more difficult than 
 what he had to do merely as a man, or as a Jew. To 
 his obedience to this mediatorial law belongs his going 
 through his laft fufferings, beginning with his agony in 
 die garden, and ending with his refurredtion. As the 
 obedience of the firft Adam, wherein his righteoufnefs 
 would have conlifted, if he had itood, would have princi 
 pally confifted, not in his obedience to the moral law, 
 to which he was fubject merely as man, but in his obe 
 dience to that fpecial law that he was fubjeil to as moral 
 head and furety of mankind, even the command of ab- 
 itaining from the tree of knowledge of good and evil ; fo 
 the obedience of the fecond Adam, wherein his righte 
 oufnefs confifts, lies principally, not in his obedience to 
 the law that he was fubject to merely as man, but that 
 fpecial law to which he was fubject in his office as Mediator 
 and furety for man. 
 
 BEFORE I proceed to the next diftribution of Chrift s 
 righteoufnefs, I would obferve three things concerning his 
 obedience to thefe laws. 
 
 [i.] He performed that obedience to them, which 
 was iu every refpect perfect ; it was univerfal as to the 
 lawn that he was iubjedt to, and every individual precept 
 contained in them. It was perfect with refpect to the 
 principle from which he obeyed : this was wholly right : 
 there was no corruption in his heart. It was perfect with 
 refpect to the ends he acted for; for he never had any 
 by-ends, but aimed perfectly at fuch as the law of God 
 required. And it was perfect with refpect to the conftan- 
 cy of his obedience: he held out to the end, through all 
 the changes he pafled through, and all the trials that he 
 underwent. -The meritorioufnefs of Chrift s obedience 
 
 depends
 
 328 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 depends on the perfection of iu If it had failed in any 
 inftance, it could not have been meritorious: for that is 
 not accepted as an obedience to a law, that does not fully 
 anfwer it. 
 
 [2.] The next thing I would obferve of Chrift s obe 
 dience is, that it was performed through the greateft trials 
 and temptations that ever any obedience was : which was 
 another thing tlfat rendered it more meritorious and 
 thank -.worthy. To obey another when his commands 
 are eafy, is not fo worthy, as it is to obey when it cannot be 
 done without great difficulty. t^j 
 
 [3.] He performed this odedience with infinite refpefi 
 to God, and the honour of his law. The obedience he 
 performed was with infinitely greater love to God, and 
 regai d to his authority, than the angels poffefs. The 
 angels perform their obedience with that love which i> 
 perfect, with fmlefs perfection : but Chrift performed 
 his obedience with much greater love than the angeis do 
 theirs, even infinite love; for though the human nature 
 of Chrift was not capable of love abfohitely infinite, yet 
 Chrift s obedience, which was performed in that human 
 nature, is not to be looked upon as merely the obedience 
 of the human nature, but the obedience of his perfon, 
 as God- man; and there was infinite love of the perfon 
 Qf Chrift manifeft in that obedience. And this, together 
 with the infinite dignity of the perfon that obeyed, ren 
 dered his obedience infinitely meritorious. 
 
 THE fecond diltribution of the acls of Chrift s obedi 
 ence, is with refpedt to the different parts of his life, 
 wherein they were perf r:necl. And in this refpedt they 
 may be divided into thofe which were performed in pri 
 vate life, and thofe which were performed in his public 
 miniftry. 
 
 Thole acls he performed during his private life: he wa 
 perfectly obedient in his childhood, (c) He infinitely 
 
 differed 
 
 (c) The CHILDHOOD of jftfus.] " We cannot reafonably 
 doubt, but the ycung Redeemer gave early proofs of his divine 
 
 origi-
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 329 
 
 differed from other children, who, as foon as they begin 
 to act, begin to fin and rebel. He was fubject to his 
 earthly parents, though he was Lord of all. [Luke ii. 51.] 
 He was found about his Father s bufmefs at twelve years 
 of age in the temple. [Luke ii. 42.] He then began that 
 work that he had to do in fulfilment of the mediatorial 
 law, which the Father had given him. He continued his 
 private life for about thirty years, dwelling at Nazareth 
 in the houfe of his reputed father Jofeph, where he ferved 
 God in a private capacity, and in following a mechanical 
 trade, the bufmefs of a carpenter. 
 
 Thofe acts which he performed during his public minljlry, 
 which began when he was about thirty years of age, and 
 continued for the three lafl years and an half of his life. 
 Moft of the hiftory of the evangelifts is taken up in giving 
 an account of what pafled during thefe three years and an 
 half. Chrift s rirft appearing in his public miniftry, is 
 what is often called his coming in fcripture. Thus John 
 fpeaks of Chrift s coming as what is yet to be, though he 
 had been born long before. Concerning the public mini- 
 fir y of Chrift, obferve the following things. 
 
 [l.] The forerunner of Chrift s coming in his public 
 miniftry was John the Baptift : he came preaching 
 repentance for the remifllon of fins, to make way for 
 Chrift s coming, agreeable to the prophecies of him. [If. 
 xl. 35. and Matt. iv. 5, 6.] It is fuppofed that John 
 the Baptift began his miniftry about three years and an 
 half before Chrift ; fo that John s miniftry and Clirift s 
 put together, made feven years, which was the lail of Da 
 niel s weeks; [Dan ix. 27.] He will confirm the co 
 ll u venant 
 
 original. It was, no doubt, a very pleafing employment to the 
 highly-favoured parents, to rear up this tender plant by a thon- 
 fand endearing offices ; to mark the firll buddings of his genius 
 more than mortal ; and to obferve the blofTbms of every heavenly 
 grace that adorned his holy foul. But as it hath feemed good to 
 the wifdom of the Holy Ghoft, to be very fparing in the hiitory 
 of his private life, after he called his Son out of Egypt, \ve mult 
 be contented to remain in ignorance of what is not revealed." 
 
 [M EwEN s Effays, vol. ii. p. 15, 14-]
 
 330 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 venant with many for one week. Chrift carhe in the 
 midft of the week, viz. in the beginning of the laft half 
 of jt, or the la ft three years and an half, as Daniel fore 
 told, as in the verfe juft now quoted : And in the midft 
 1 of the week he fmll caufe the facrifke and the oblation 
 -* to ceafe. * 
 
 John Baptift s miniftry confifted principally in preach 
 ing the law, to awaken men and convince them of fin ; to 
 prepare men for the coming of Chrift, to comfort them ; 
 as the law is to prepare the heart for the entertainment of 
 the gofpel. A very remarkable out-pouring of the Spirit 
 of God attended John s miniftry ; and the effect of it was, 
 that Jerufalem, and all Judea, and all the region round 
 about: Jordan, were awakened, convinced, and fubmitted 
 to his baptifm, confefTing their fins. John is fpoken of 
 .is the greateft of all the prophets who came before Chrift : 
 Matt. xi. n .] Among thofe that are born of women, 
 * there hath not rifen a greater than John the Baptift ; 
 / . r. he had the moil honourable office. (H) He was as 
 the morning ftar, which is the harbinger of the approach 
 ing day, and forerunner of the rifmg fun. The other 
 prophets were ftars .that were to give light in the night ; 
 but we have heard how thofe ftars went out on the approach 
 of the gofpel day. But now the coming of Clirift being 
 very nigh, the morning ftar comes before him, the brighteft 
 c i" all the ftars, as John the Baptift was the greateft of all 
 the prophets. 
 
 And when Chrift carne in his public miniftry, the light 
 of the morning ftar decreafed too ; as ye fee, when the fun 
 
 rifes, 
 
 * Compare Note D, p. 272. 
 
 (H) John s office HONOURABLE.] " It was great preferment 
 to John above all the prophets, that he was Chrift s harbinger. 
 .... His bufinefs was to prepare Chrift s way, to difpofe people 
 to receive the Saviour, by discovering to them their lin and mi 
 
 fery, and their need of a Saviour Note, Much of the 
 
 beauty of God s diipenfations lies in their mutual connection and 
 coherence, and the reference they have one to another. That 
 which advanced John above the Old Teftament prophets was, 
 that he went immediately before Chrift. Note, The nearer any 
 are to Chrift, the more truly honourable they are." [HENRY 
 in loc.]
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 331 
 
 nfes, it diminiflies the light of the morning ftar. So John 
 the Baptift fays of himfelf, [John iii. 30.] He muft in- 
 creafe, but I muft decreafe. And foon after Chrift be 
 gan his public miniftry, John the Baptift was put to death ; 
 as the morning ftar is vifible a little while after the fun ii 
 rifen, yet foon goes out. 
 
 [2.] The next thing to be taken notice of is Chrift s 
 entrance on his public miniftry, which was by baptifm, 
 followed with the temptation in the wilderncfs. His bap 
 tifm was, as it were, his folemn inauguration, by which 
 he entered on his .miniftry, and was attended with his 
 being anointed with the Holy Ghoft, in a folemn and 
 vifible manner, the Holy Ghoft defcending upon him in a 
 vifible ihape like a dove, attended with a voice from hea 
 ven, faying, * This is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
 > pleafed. [Matt. iii. 16, 17.] 
 
 After this he was led by the devil into the wildernefs. 
 Satan made a violent onfet upon him at his firft entrance 
 on his work ; and now he had a remarkable trial of his 
 obedience ; but he got the victory. He who had fuch fuc- 
 cefs with the firft Adam, had none with the fecond. 
 
 [3.] The work in which Chrift was employed during 
 his miniftry. And here are three things chiefly to be taken 
 notice of, viz. his preaching, his working of miracles, and 
 his calling and appointing difciples and minifters of his 
 kingdom. 
 
 His preaching the gofpel. Great part of the work of 
 his public miniftry conlifted in this ; and much of that 
 obedience by which he purchafed falvation for us, was in 
 his fpeaking thofe things which the Father commanded 
 him. He more clearly and abundantly revealed the mind 
 and will of God, than ever it had beeu before. He came 
 from the bofom of the Father, and perfectly knew his 
 mind, and was in the beft capacity to reveal it. As the 
 fun, as foon as it is rifen, begins to fhine ; lo Chrift, as 
 foon as he came into his public miniftry, began to en 
 lighten the world with his doctrine. As the law was 
 given at Mount Sinai, fo Chrift delivered his evangelical 
 doctrine, full of bleffings, and not curies, to a multitude 
 U u 2 on
 
 332 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 on a mountain. [Matt. v. vi. and vii.] When he preached 
 he did not teach as the fcribes, but he taught as one hav 
 ing authority ; fo that his hearers were aftonifhcd at hifc 
 doctrine, (i) He did not reveal the mind and will of 
 God in the ftyle of the prophets, Thus faith the Lord ; 
 
 but, 
 
 (i) Chrift taught NOT as the SCRIBES.] " Our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift had been long expected to appear in the Jewifh church, as 
 
 a praphet like unto Mofes The people therefore formed the 
 
 highetl expectations of his (Economy, and he framed it fo as to 
 exceed all defcription. He taught . . . not as the fcribcs. 
 
 * Inftead of deriving his doftrine from popular notions, human 
 paffions, the interefts of princes., or the traditions of priefts, be 
 took it immediately from the holy fcriptures, to which be con- 
 Handy appealed. The truths of natural religion he explained 
 and eftablifhed ; the doftrinesof revelation be expounded, eluci- 
 datedj and enforced, and thus brought life and immortality to 
 light by the gofpel. The motives which he employed to give his 
 do&rine energy, were not taken from fmful fecular things ; but 
 it was urged home in its truth and importance. The tact is true, 
 and THEREFORE you ought to believe it, whether the world ad 
 mit it or not. That duty is important, . . . and THEREFORE you 
 ought to perform it, whether the world perform it or not. The 
 tempers in which be executed his miniftry were the nobleft that can 
 be conceived. He was humble, compafiionate, firm, difmtereft- 
 ed, and generous. Add to thefe the fimplicity and majefty of 
 bis ftyle, the beauty of his images, the alternate foftnefs and fe- 
 verity of his addrefs, the choice of his fubje&s, the gracefulnefs 
 of bis deportment, the indefatigablenefs of his zeal, . . . where 
 fhall I put tbe period ? His perfections are inexhauftible, and our 
 admiration is everlafting. The charafter of Chrift is the beft book 
 a preacher can ftudy. 
 
 " The fuccefs that accompanied tbe miniftry of our Emanuel, 
 was truly aftonifhing. My toul overflows with joy, my eyes with 
 tears of pleafure, while I tranfcribe it. When this Sun of righ- 
 teoufnefs avofe with healing under bis wings, the difinterefted 
 populace, who lay all neglefted and forlorn, benighted with 
 ignorance, and benumbed with vice, faw the light, and hailed the 
 brightnefs of its riling. Up. they fprang, and after him in mul 
 titudes, men, women, and children went. Was be to pafs a road, 
 they climbed the trees to fee him, yea the blind fat by tbe way 
 fide to hear him go by. Was he in a houfe, they unroofed the 
 building to come at him. As if they could never get near enough 
 to hear tbe foft accents of his voice, they preifed, they crowded, 
 they trod upon one another to furround him. When be retired 
 into the wilclernefs, they thought bim another Mofes, and would 
 ha,ve made him a king. It was the iineft thing they could think 
 
 of,
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 333 
 
 but, Verily, verily, I fay unto you. He delivered his 
 doctrines, not only as the doclrines of the Father, but as 
 his own. He gave forth his commands, not as the pro 
 phets were wont to do, merely as God s commands, but 
 as his own, This is my commandment, Ye are my 
 friends if ye do whatfoever I command you. [John xv. 
 
 12, I4-] 
 
 Another thing that Chrift was employed in during the 
 courfe of his miniftry, was working miracles. Concerning 
 which we may obferve feveral things. 
 
 Their multitude. Beiides particular inftances, we of 
 ten have an account of multitudes coming at once with 
 ciifeafes, and his healing them. They were works of 
 mercy. He went about doing good, healing the fick, re-. 
 ftoring fight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and the 
 proper- ufe of their limbs to the lame and halt ; feeding 
 ihe hungry, cleanfmg the leprous, and raifmg the dead. 
 They were almoft all of them fuch as had been fpoken 
 of as the peculiar works of God, in the Old Teftament. 
 Such were (tilling the waves of the fea. [Pfal. cvii. 29.] 
 Walking on the fea in a florm : [Job ix. 8.] Cafting out 
 devils: [Pfal. Ixxiv. 14.] Feeding a multitude in a 
 wildernefs : [Deut. viii. 16.] Difcerning men s thoughts: 
 [Amos iv. 13.] Railing the dead: [Pfal. Ixviii. 20.] 
 Opening the eyes of the blind : [Pfal. cxlvi. 8.] Heal 
 ing the fick : [Pfal. ciii. 3.] And lifting up thofe who 
 are bowed together : [Pfal. cxlvi. 8.] They were in ge 
 neral fuch works as were images of the great work which 
 he came to work on men s hearts ; representing that in 
 ward, fpiritual cleaning, healing, renovation, and refur- 
 reclion, which all his redeemed are the fubjects of. 
 He wrought them in fuch a manner to iliow that he did 
 
 them 
 
 of. He, greater than the greateft monarch, defpifed worldly gran 
 deur ; but to fulfil prophecy, fitting upon a borrowed afs s colt, 
 rode into Jerufalem the Son of the Highsft, and allowed the tranf- 
 ported multitude to ttrew the way with garments and branches, 
 and to aroufe the infenfible metropolis with acclamations, the very 
 children fhouting, Hofannah! Hofennah in the Higheil ! Hoian- 
 nah to the fon of David ! Blefied be he that cometh in the name 
 * of the Lord !" [ROBINSON S Dili, prefixed to Claude, p. xxvii.]
 
 334 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 them by his own power, and not by the power of another, 
 as the other prophets did. They were wont to work 
 all their miracles in the name of the Lord ; but Chrifl 
 wrought in his own name. Mofes was forbidden to enter 
 into Canaan, becaufe he feemed by his fpeech to aflame 
 the honour of working only one miracle to himfelf. [See 
 Numbers xx. 813.] Nor did Chrift work miracles as 
 the apoftles did, who wrought them all in the name of 
 Chrift ; but he. wrought them in his own name, and by 
 his own authority and will: Thus, faith he, I will, be 
 thou clean. [Matt. viii. 3.] And in the fame ftrain he 
 put the queftion, Believe ye that I am able to do this? 
 [Matt. ix. 28.] 
 
 Another thing that Chrift did in the courfe of his mi- 
 niftry, was to call his difciplcs. He called many difciples, 
 whom he employed as minifters ; he lent feventy at one 
 time into his work : but there were twelve that he fet 
 apart as apoftles, who were the grand minifters of his 
 kingdom, and, as it were, the twelve foundations of his 
 church. [See Rev. xxi. 14.] Thefe were the main in- 
 frruments of fetting up his kingdom in the world, and 
 therefore fhall fit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Ifrael. [Matt. xix. 28.] 
 
 [4.] I would obferve how he finiftied his miniftry. And 
 this was- In giving his dying counfel to his difciples, 
 which we have recorded in the xivth, xvth, and xvith chap 
 ters of John s gofpel. In inftituting a folemn memorial 
 of his death, namely, the facrament of the Lord s fupper, 
 wherein we have a representation of his body broken, and 
 of his blood ftied. (K) In offering up hhnfelf, without 
 
 blemifh, 
 
 (K) How Chrift foiled his mini/try.] " The feaft of the 
 pafibver drew nigh, at which he knew that he was to fuffer. The 
 night was arrived, wherein he was to be delivered into the hands 
 of his enemies. He had fpent the evening in conference with his 
 difciples ; like a dying father in the midit of his family, mingling 
 confolations v.ith his lait inftrudtions. When he had ended his 
 flifcourfe to them, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and .... 
 began that folemn prayer of interceffion for the church, which 
 clofed his minitlry. Immediately after he went forth with his 
 
 difciplcs
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 335 
 
 blemifh, a facrifice to God, which he did in his laft fuf- 
 ferings, as God s anointed pried: : and it was the greateft 
 act of his public miniftry, and indeed of his obedience. 
 The priefts of old ufed to do many other things as God s 
 niinifters : but were then in the higheft execution of their 
 office, when they were offering facririces on the altar. So 
 the greateft thing that Chrift did in the execution of his 
 prieftly office, and indeed the greateft thing that ever was 
 done, was the offering up himfelf a facrifke to God. 
 Herein he was the antitype of all that had been done by 
 all the priefts, in all their facrifices and offerings, from 
 the beginning of the world. 
 
 (3.) The third diftribution of the acts by which Chrift 
 purchafed redemption, regards the virtues that he exer- 
 cifed and manifefted in them, which were every poffible 
 virtue and grace. Indeed there are fome particular vir 
 tues that fmful man may have, that were not in Chrift ; 
 not from any want or defedl of virtue, but becaufe his 
 virtue was perfect and without defect. Such are repen 
 tance, brokennefs of heart for fin, and mortification of 
 luft. Thofe virtues were not in Chrift, becaufe he had 
 jio fin of his own to repent of, nor any luft to deny. 
 But all virtues which do not pre-fuppofe fin, were in 
 him, and that in a higher degree than ever they were 
 
 in 
 
 difciples into the garden of Gethfemane, and furrendered himfelf 
 to thofe who came to apprehend him. 
 
 " Such was the fituation of our Lord He faw his mif- 
 
 fion on the point of being accomplimed. He had the profpeft 
 full before him of all that he was about to fuffer. Father ! the 
 * hour is come. What hour? An hour the moft critical, the 
 moil pregnant with great events, fmce hours had begun to be 
 numbered, fince time had begun to run. It was the hour in 
 which the Son of God was to terminate the labours of his im 
 portant life, by a death ftill more important and illuilrious ; the: 
 hour of atoning, by his fufferings, for the guilt of mankind ; the 
 hour of accomplifhing prophecies, types, and fymbols, which 
 had been carried on through a feries of ages; the hour of con 
 cluding the old, and of introducing to the world the new dif- 
 penfation of religion ; the hour of his triumphing over the world, 
 and death, and hell ; the hour of his erecting that fpiritual king 
 dom which is to laft for ever. Such is the hour, fuch are the 
 events, which you are to commemorate in the facrament of our 
 Lord s fupper." [Dr. BLAIR S Sermons, vol. i. Sen 5.]
 
 336 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in any other man, or any mere creature ; every virtue in 
 him was perfect, virtue itfelf was greater in him than in 
 any other ; and it was under greater advantages to Ihine in 
 him than in any other. Strict virtue fhines mod when 
 moil tried ; but never any virtue had fuch trials as Chrift s 
 had. The virtues that Chrift exercifed may be divided 
 into three forts, thofe which more immediately refpedl 
 God, /limjf/f, and other men, 
 
 Thofe virtues which more immediately refpe<5l God, 
 appeared in the work which Chrift did for our redemp 
 tion. There appeared in him an holy fear and reverence 
 towards God the Father. Chrift had a greater trial of hi> 
 virtue in this refpedfc than any other had, from the fro- 
 nourablenefs of his pcrfon. This was the temptation of 
 the angels that fell, to caft off their worfhip of God, and 
 reverence of his majcfty, that they were beings of fuch 
 exalted dignity and worthinefs themfelves. [See i Tim. 
 iii. 6.] But Chrift was infinitely more worthy and ho 
 nourable than they ; for he was the eternal Son of God, 
 and his peifon was equal to the perfon of God the Father : 
 and yet, as he had taken on him the office of mediator, 
 and the nature of man, he was full of reverence towards 
 God. He adored him in the moft reverential manner time 
 after time. So he manifefted a wonderful love towards 
 God. The angels give great teftimony of their love to 
 wards God, in their conftancy and agility in doing the 
 will of God ; and many faints have given great teftimo- 
 nies of their love to God, by having endured great labours 
 and fufferings : but none ever gave fuch teftimonies of 
 love to God as Chrift has ; none ever performed fuch a 
 labour of love as he did, or furFered fo much from love to 
 God. So alfo he manifefted the moft wonderful fubmif- 
 iion to the will of God. Never was any one s fubmiilion 
 fo tried as he was. 
 
 In this work he moft wonderfully manifefted thofe 
 virtues which more immediately refpe6led himfelf ; as 
 particularly humility, patience, contempt of the world. 
 Chrift, though he was the moft excellent and honourable 
 ">f all men, yet was the moft humble ; yea, he was the 
 
 moft
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 337 
 
 molt humble of all creatures. IS!o angel or man ever 
 equalled him in humility, though he was the higheft 
 of all creatures in dignity and honour. Chrift would 
 have been under the greateft temptation to pride, if it 
 had been poffible for any thing to have tempted him. 
 The temptation of the angels that fell was the dignity of 
 their nature, and the honourablenefs of their circum 
 ftances ; but Chrift was infinitely more honourable than 
 they. The human nature of Chrift was fo honoured as 
 to be in the fame perfon with the eternal Son of God, 
 who was equal with God ; and yet that human nature 
 was not at all lifted up with pride. Nor was the man 
 Chrift Jefus at all lifted up with pride, with all thofe 
 wonderful works which he wrought, of healing the fick, 
 curing the blind, lame, and maimed, and raffing the 
 dead. And though he knew that God had appointed 
 him to be the king over heaven and earth, angels and 
 men, as he fays, [Matt. ix. 27.] * All things are deliver- 
 
 * ed unto me of my Father; though he knew he was 
 fuch an infinitely honourable perfon, and thought it not 
 
 * robbery to be equal with God ; and though he knew he 
 was the heir of God the Father s kingdom ; yet fuch was 
 
 -his humility that he did not difdain to be abafed and 
 "depreffed down into lower and viler circumftances and 
 fufferings than ever any other elect creature was ; fo that 
 he became leaft and loweft of all. The proper trial and 
 evidence of humility is ftooping or complying with thofs 
 acts or circumftances, when called to it, which are very 
 low, and contain great abafement. But none ever ftoop- 
 cd fo low as Chrift, if we confider either the infinite 
 height that he ftooped from, or great depth to which he 
 {looped. Such was his humility, that though he knew 
 himfelf to be infinitely worthy of being honoured ten 
 thoufand times more than the higheft prince on earth, or 
 angel in heaven ; yet he did not think it too much when 
 called to it, to be bound as a curfed malefactor, to become 
 the laughing-ftock of the vileft of men, to be crowned 
 with thorns, to have a mock robe put on him, and to be 
 crucified like a (lave or malefactor, as one of the meaneft 
 
 X x and
 
 33 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and worft of vagabonds and mifcreants, and an accurfed 
 enemy of God and men, who was not fit to live on the 
 earth ; and this not for himtelf, but for fome of the 
 meaneft and vileft of creatures, fome of thofe accurfed 
 wretches that crucified him. Was not this a wonderful 
 manifeftation of humility, when he cheerfully and mofl 
 freely fubmitted to this abafement ?---And how did his 
 patience mine forth under all the terrible fufferings which 
 he endured, when he was dumb, and opened not his 
 mouth, but went as a lamb to the flaughter, and was 
 patient under all the fufferings he endured from firft to 
 laft. And what contempt of the glory of the world 
 was there, when he rather chofe this meannefs, and fuf- 
 fering, than to wear a temporal crown, and be inverted 
 with the external glories of an earthly prince, as the mul 
 titude often folicited him ? Chrift, in the work which 
 he wrought out, in a wonderful manner exercifed thofe 
 virtues which more immediately refpecl: other men. And 
 thefe may be fummoned up under two heads, viz.meeknefs, 
 and love. Chiift s meckncfs was his humble calmnefs of 
 Ipirit under the provocations he met with. None ever met 
 with fo great provocations as he did. The greatnefs of pro 
 vocation lies in two things, the degree of oppofition by which 
 the provocation is given ; and, in the degree of the un- 
 rcafonablenefs of that oppofition, or in its being not only 
 without reafon, againft the greateft degree of obligation to 
 the contrary. Now, if we confider both thefe things, 
 no man ever met with a thoufandth part of the provoca 
 tion that Chriit met with from men; and yet how meek 
 was he under all! how compofed and quiet his fpirit! 
 how far from being in a ruffle and tumult ! When he 
 was reviled, he reviled not again; and as a meep before 
 her fhearers is dumb, fo he opened not his mouth. No 
 appearance was there of a revengeful fpirit: on the con 
 trary, what a fpirit of forgivenefs did he exhibit ! fo that 
 he fervently and effectually prayed for the forgivenefs of his 
 enemies when they were in the higheft act of provocation 
 that ever they perpetrated, viz. nailing him to the crofs: 
 [Luke xxiii. 34.] Father, forgive them, for they know 
 
 not
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 339 
 
 4 not what they do. And never did there appear fuch 
 an inftance of love to men, as he ihowed when on earth, 
 cfpecially in going through his laft fufferings, and offer 
 ing up his life and foul for them. There had been very 
 remarkable manifestations of love in fome of the faints, 
 as in the Apoftles Paul, John, and others; but the love 
 that Chrift mowed them on earth, as much exceeded the 
 1 )ve of all other men, as the ocean exceeds a fmall ftream- 
 
 (L) 
 
 And 
 
 (L) The excellency of Ckrift s CHARACTER.} " He fets an 
 example of the moft perfect piety to God, and of the mod ex- 
 tenfive benevolence and the moft tender comprflion to men. He 
 does not merely exhibit a life of ftricl juftice, but of overflowing 
 benignity. His temperance has not the dark (hades of aufterity; 
 his meeknefs does not degenerate into apathy. His humility is 
 fignal, amidft a fplendour of qualities more than human. His 
 fortitude is eminent and exemplary, in enduring the moft formi 
 dable external evils and the fharpeft actual fufferings : his pa 
 tience is invincible ; his refignation entire and abfolute. Truth 
 and fincerity mine throughout his whole conduct. Though of 
 heavenly decent, he mews obedience and affection to his earthly 
 parents. He approves, loves, and attaches himfelf to amiable 
 qualities in the human race. He refpects authority, religious and 
 civil; and he evidences regard for his country by promoting its 
 moft eflential good in a painful miniilry dedicated to its fervice, 
 by deploring its calamities, and by laying down his life for its be 
 nefit. Every one of his eminent virtues is regulated by confuni- 
 mate prudence; and he both wins the love of his friends, and ex 
 torts the approbation and wonder of his enemies. 
 
 " Never was a character at th,e fame time fo commanding and 
 natural, fo refplendent and pleaiing, fo amiable and venerable. 
 There is a peculiar contrail in it between an awful greatnefs, dig 
 nity and majefty, and the moft conciliating lovelinefs, tender- 
 nefs, and foftnefs. He now converfes with prophets, lawgivers, 
 and angels ; and the next inftant he meekly endures the dulnefs 
 of his difciples and the blafphemies and rage of the multitude. 
 He now calls himfelf greater than Solomon, one who can com 
 mand legions of angels, the giver of life to whomfoever he pleaf- 
 eth, the Son of God, who fliall fit on his glorious throne to 
 judge the world. At other times we find him embracing young 
 children, not lifting up his voice in the ftreets, not breaking 
 the bruifcd reed, nor quenching the fmoaking flax; calling his 
 difciples, not fervants, but friends and brethren, and comforting 
 them with an exuberant and parental affection. Let us paufe an 
 inftant, and fill our minds with the idea of one who knew all 
 
 Xx z things
 
 340 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 And it is to be obferved, that all the virtues which ap 
 peared in Chrift (hone brightest in the clofe of his life, 
 under the trials he then met with. Eminent virtue al 
 ways fhows brighter! in the fire. Pure gold fliows its 
 purity chiefly in the furnace. It was chiefly under thofe 
 trials which Chrift underwent in the clofe of his life, that 
 his love to God, and his regard to the honour of his law ; 
 his fpirit of obedience, humility, and contempt of the 
 world; his patience, mceknefs, forgivenefs towards men, 
 appeared. Indeed every thing that Chrift did to work 
 out redemption for us appears chiefly in the clofe of his 
 life. Here chiefly p.ppears the merit of his fadsfaUon, and 
 the brightnefs of his example. 
 
 Thus we have taken a brief view of the things where 
 by the purchafe of redemption was made with refpe6t to 
 his rlghteoufnefs that appeared in them. I proceed now, 
 
 4. To take a view of them with refpec"l to the fathf ac 
 tion that he thereby made for fin, or tl^JlffferJnFS and humi 
 liation that he was the fubjedl of in them, on our account. 
 And here, 
 
 (i.) He was fubjecT: \o uncommon humiliation and 
 fuffering in his infancy. He was born to that end that 
 he might die ; and therefore he did, as it were, begin to die 
 as foon as he was bcrn. His mother fuffered in an un 
 common manner in bearing him. When her travail 
 came upon her, it is faiJ, there was no room in the inn. 
 [Luke ii. 7.] She was forced -to betake hcrfelf to a ftable; 
 
 and 
 
 things heavenly and earthly, fearched and laid open the inmoft 
 receifes of the heart, rectified every prejudice, and removed every 
 miilake of a moral and religious kind ; by a word exercifed a fove- 
 reignty over all nature, penetrated the hidden events of futurity, 
 gave promifes of admiffion into a happy immortality, had the 
 keys of life and death, claimed an union with the Father ; and 
 yet was pious, mild, gentle, humble, affable, focial, benevolent, 
 friendly, affectionate. Such a character is fairer than the morn 
 ing ftar. Each feparate virtue is made ilronger by oppoiition and 
 contraft ; and the union of fo many virtues forms a brightnefs, 
 which fitly reprefents the glory of that God, who inhabiteth 
 * light inacceffible." [Bp. NEWCOME S Obfervat. on our Lord s 
 Conduft, &c.]
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 341 
 
 *nd therefore Chrift was born in the place of the bringing 
 forth of beads. Thus he fuffered in his birth, as though 
 he had been meaner and viler than a man, and not pofleffed 
 of the dignity of the human nature, but had been of the 
 rank of the brute creatures. And we may conclude, that 
 his mother s circumftances in other refpe&s were propor- 
 tionably ftrait and difficult, and that ihe was deftitute of 
 the conveniences necefTary for fo young an infant which 
 others were wont to have ; for want of which the new-born 
 babe without doubt fuffered much. 
 
 And befides, he was perfecuted in his infancy : they 
 began to feek his life as foon as he was born. Herod 
 was fo defirous to kill him, that in order to it, he killed 
 all the children in Bethlehem, and in all the coafts there 
 of, from two years old and under. [Matt. ii. 16.] And 
 Chrift fuffered banifhment in his infancy, was driven out 
 of his native country into Egypt, and without doubt fuf 
 fered much by being carried fo long a journey, when he 
 was fo young, into a ftrange country. 
 
 (2.) Chrift was fubjec~l to great humiliation in his pri 
 vate life at Nazareth : he there led a fervile obfcure life, 
 in a mean laborious occupation ; for he is called not only 
 the carpenter s fan, but the carpenter: [Mark vi. 3.] Is 
 not this the carpenter, the brother of James and Jofes, 
 and Juda, and Simeon? (M) He, by hard labour, earned 
 his bread before he ate it, and to fuffered that curfe which 
 God pronounced on Adam, [Gen. iii. 13.] In the 
 1 fweat of thy face fhalt thou eat bread. Let us confi- 
 der how great a degree of humiliation the glorious Son of 
 
 t 
 
 (M) " It is no uncommon thing, in the difpenfations of thd 
 only wife God, to keep thofe peribns long hidden under the vail 
 of obfcurity, whom he intends fhall make the molt illuftrious ap 
 pearances on earth ; and that thofe whom infinite Wifdom hath 
 appointed for the emancipation or redemption of others, as pre 
 paratory to that, fliail themfelves experience the hardfhips of bon 
 dage, toil, and labour ; fo that, like the rifing fun, they may 
 more vifibly fhed their light upon, and fenfibly communicate 
 their ufefulnefs to, a benighted world. Thus Mofes, Jofeph, 
 Gideon, and ... he who was laughed to fcorn, and contemptu- 
 oufly lliled, The carpenter, the fon of Mary."
 
 342 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 God, the creator of heaven and earth, was fubjeft to in 
 this, that for about thirty years he mould live a private 
 ohfcure life, and all this while be overlooked, and not 
 more regarded than other labouring men. ChriiVs hu 
 miliation in this refpe6l was greater in his private life, 
 than in the time of his public miniftry. There were 
 many manifeftations of his glory in the word he preach 
 ed, and the great miracles he wrought : but the firft thirty 
 years of his life he fpent among mean, ordinary men, as 
 it were in filence, without thofe manifeftations of his 
 glory, or any thing to diftinguifh him except the fpotlefs 
 purity and eminent holinefs of his life ; and that was in a 
 great meafure hid in obfcurity ; fo that he was little taken 
 notice of till after his baptifm. 
 
 (3.) Chrift was the fubjefk of great humiliation and fuf- 
 fering during his public life, from his baptifm till the night 
 wherein he was betrayed. (N) As particularly, 
 
 He fufFered great poverty, fo that he had not where to 
 * lay his head, [Matt. viii. 20.] and commonly ufed to 
 lodge abroad in the open air, for want of a fhelter to be 
 take himfelf to ; [compare the following places together, 
 Matt. viii. 20.: John xviii. i, 2.; Luke xxi. 37. xxii. 
 39.] So that what was fpoken of Chrift in Canticles, [v. 
 2.] My head is filled with dew, and my locks with the 
 drops of the night, was literally fulfilled. And through 
 this poverty he was doubtlefs often pinched with hunger, 
 and thirft, and cold. [See Matt. iv. 2. xxi. 18.] His 
 mother and natural relations were poor, and not able to 
 
 help 
 
 (N) JESUS SUFFERED.] " The Gentiles acknowledged it, 
 the Jews triumphed at it. ... If hunger and thirit, if revilings 
 and contempt, if forrows and agonies, if iln pes and bufFettings, 
 if condemnation and crucifixion, be fuffering, Jefus fujftrcd. If 
 the infirmities of our nature, if the weight of our fins, if the ma 
 lice of man, if the machinations of Satan, if the hand of God, 
 could make him fuffer, our Saviour fujfered. If the annals of 
 times, if the writings of his apoillcs, if the death of his martyrs, 
 if the confefiion of Gentiles, if the feoffs of the Jews be tcllimo- 
 nies, Jefus fujfered. Nor was there ever any which thought he did 
 not really and truly fitffer, but fuch as withal irrationally pretend 
 ed that he was not really and truly man." [Bp. Pr. ARSON, on the 
 Creed, Art. 4.]
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 343 
 
 help him ; and he was maintained by the charity of fome 
 of his difciples while he lived. So we read [Luke via. 
 2, 3.] of certain women that followed him, and minif- 
 
 * tered to him of their fubftance. He was fo poor, that 
 he was not able to pay the tribute that was demanded of 
 him, without miracle. [Matt. xvii. 27.] And when he 
 ate his laft paffover, it was not at his own charge, but at 
 the charge of another. [Luke xxii. 7, &c.] Alfo from 
 his poverty he had no grave of his own to be buried in. 
 It was the manner of the Jews, unlefs they were very 
 poor, to prepare themfelves a fepulchre while they lived ; 
 but Chrift had no land of his own, though he was pof- 
 feflbr of heaven and earth ; and therefore was buried by 
 Jofeph of Arimathea s charity, and in his tomb, which he 
 had prepared for himfelf. 
 
 He fufFered great hatred and reproach, He was def- 
 
 * pifed and rejected of men. He was by moft efteemed 
 it poor infigniricant perfon ; one of little account, flighted 
 for his low parentage, and his mean city, Nazareth. He 
 was reproached as a glutton and drunkard, a friend of, pub 
 licans and finners ; was called a deceiver of the people ; 
 ibmetimes a madman, a Samaritan, and one pofleffed with 
 a devil. [John vii. 20. viii. 48. x. 20.] He was called 
 a blafphemer, and accounted by many a wizzard, or one 
 that wrought miracles by the black art, and by communi 
 cation with Beelzebub. They excommunicated him, and 
 agreed to excommunicate any man that fliould own him. 
 [John ix. 22.] They wiihed him dead, and were continu 
 ally feeking to murder him ; fometimes by force, and 
 fometimes by craft. They often took up ftones to ftone 
 him, and once led him to the brow of a hill, intending to 
 throw him down the precipice, to dam him to pieces 
 againft the rocks. [Luke iv. 29.] He was thus hated and 
 reproached by his own vifible people: [John i. ii.J * He 
 
 * came to his own, and his own received him not. And 
 he was principally defpifed and hated by thofe who were 
 in chief repute, and were the greateft men. But into 
 whatever part of the land he went, he met with hatred 
 and contempt. He met with thefc in Capernaum, and 
 
 when
 
 344 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 when he went to Jericho: at Jerufalem, which was the 
 holy city, when he went to the temple to worfhip ; alfo 
 in Nazareth, his own city, and among his own relations, 
 and neighbours. 
 
 He fuffered the bufferings of Satan in an uncommon 
 manner. We read [Matt. iv. I n.] of one time in 
 particular, when he had a long conflict with, the devil, 
 when he was in the wildernefs forty days, with nothing 
 but wild beafts and devils ; and was fo cxpofed to the 
 devil s power, that he was bodily carried about by him 
 from place to place, while he was otherwife in a very fuf- 
 fering ftate. (o) 
 
 (4.) I come now to the evening of the night wherein he 
 was betrayed. And from this time was his greateft humilia 
 tion and fullering, by which principally he made fatisfac- 
 tion to the juftice of God for the fins of men. Firft, his life 
 was fold by one of his own difciples for thir.ty pieces of 
 filver, which was the price of the life of a fervant. [Exod. 
 xxii. 32.] Then he was in fuch a dreadful agony in the 
 
 garden, 
 
 (o) Cbrift TEMPTED of the Devil."] This extraordinary event 
 has been much the fubjeft of infidel ridicule ; and fome inge 
 nious writeis, to avoid the difficulties of a literal interpretation, 
 have reduced the whole to vifion and allegory ; and thus involved 
 it, as we apprehend, in far more and greater. We humbly con 
 ceive, that the beft way to avoid difficulties on this, and many 
 other parts of facied writ, is to adhere as clofe as poffible to the 
 language of infpiration, fince thr additions of puzzled commen 
 tators often add abfurdity to remove donbts. That when our 
 Lord retired to the interior part of the wildernefs, the enemy of 
 mankind mould aflume a difguife, (whether human or angelic, is 
 not important) and prefent the molt plauiible temptation to our 
 Redeemer under thefe trying circumftances, is perfectly confiftent 
 with the malevolence of his character ; but how far he was per 
 mitted to exert his power in forming them, is not neceflary to be 
 inquired. The grand objection is, why was Satan fuffcred thus 
 to infult the Son of God ? Wherefore did the Redeemer fufrer his 
 ilate of retirement to be thus difturbed, with the malicious fug- 
 geilions of the fiend ? The great apoftle furnifhes an anfwer, 
 equally pertinent and confolatory He was iempttd in all points 
 like as we are that he might be touched with the feeling of our 
 infirmities and himfelf having fuffered being tempted, he is able 
 * to fiiccour them that are tempted. [See Heb. ii. 18 iv. 15.] 
 
 [I. N.]
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 345 
 
 garden, that there came fuch a horror upon his foul, 
 that he began to be forrowful and very heavy, and faid, 
 [Mark xiv. 33, 34.] his foul was exceeding forrowful, 
 even unto death, and was fore amazed. (p) So violent 
 was the agony of his foul, as to force the blood through 
 the pores of his Ikin ; fo that he was overwhelmed, with 
 amazing forrow, his body was covered with blood. The 
 difciples, who ufed to be his friends and family, now 
 appear cold, and unconcerned for him at the time his 
 Father s face is hid from him. Judas, whom he had 
 treated as one of his family, or familiar friends, comes and 
 betrays him in the moft deceitful, treacherous manner. 
 The officers and foldiers apprehend and bind him. His 
 difciples forfake him and flee, inftead of comforting him 
 in his diftrefs. He is led as a malefactor before the priefts 
 and fcribes, his mortal enemies, that they might fet as 
 his judges ; and they fet up all night, to enjoy the plea- 
 fure of infulting him, now they had got him into their 
 hands. But becaufe they aimed at nothing fhort of his 
 life, they fet themfelves to find fotne colour to put him to 
 death, and feek for witnefies againft him. (qj When none 
 
 Y y appeared, 
 
 (p) Chrljl EXCEEDING forrowful^ " To heighten our idea 
 of this diftrefs, the evangeliils make ufc of the moft forcible words, 
 He was feized with the moft alarming afionifoment. He was 
 overwhelmed with infupportable dejsS ton, He was befleged on all 
 fides, as it were with an army of invading farrows. He ivrejlled, 
 amidft ftrong cries and tears, not only with the malice of men 
 and rage of devils, but with the infinitely more dreadful indig 
 nation of God : He wreilled even unto an agony of fpirit. All 
 thefe circumftances of horror and anguifh conftitute what a cele- 
 .brated poet veryjuftly itiles, 
 
 * A weight of woe, more than ten worlds can bear." 
 
 [HERVEY, Theron and Afp. vol. i. Dial. 4.3 
 
 (qj The Jaws fought a PRETENCE^cr the death of Chr ijl.~\ 
 It is faid in the Mlfbna, that before any one was punifhed for a 
 capital crime, proclamation was made by the public crier, " That 
 if any perfon could teftify the innocence of the prifoner, they 
 might come forward and declare it." On which the Gemara of 
 Babylon adds, that * at the death of Jefus this proclamation was 
 made for 40 days, but no defence could be found." But we 
 know this latter aifertion to be falfe, and perhaps the injustice of 
 
 this
 
 $ 4 6 HISTOR.Y OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 appeared, they employed fome to bear falfe witnefs ; and 
 when their witnefs did not agree together, then they ex 
 amined him, to catch fomething out of his own mouth. 
 They hoped lie would fay, that he was the Son of God, 
 and then they thought they fhould have enough. And 
 when he was filent thev adjured him in the name of God, 
 to fay whether he was or not. When he confefled this, 
 they fuppofed they had enough ; then it was a time of 
 rejoicing with them, which they {how, by infuldng him, 
 fpitting in his face, blindfolding and buffctting him, and 
 then bidding him prophefy who it was that ftruck him ; 
 thus ridiculing him for pretending to be a prophet. And 
 the very fervants have a hand in the cruel Iport : [Mark 
 xiv. 65.] And the fervants did ftrike him with the palms 
 of their hands. 
 
 During the fufferings of that night, Peter, one of the 
 chief of his own difciples, appears afhamed to own him, 
 and denies and renounces him with oaths and curfes. And 
 after the chief priefts and elders had finifhed the night in 
 fo fhamefully abufmg him, when the morning was come, 
 which was the morning of the moft wonderful day that 
 ever was, they led him away to Pilate, to be condemned 
 to death by him, becaufe they had not the power of life 
 and death in their own hands. He is brought before Pi 
 late s judgment feat, and there the priefts and elders accufe 
 him as a traitor. And when Pilate, upon examining into 
 the matter, declared he found no fault in him, the Jews 
 were but the more fierce and violent to have him con 
 demned. Upon which Pilate, after clearing him, very 
 unjuftly brings him to a fecond trial ; and then not finding 
 any thing againft him, acqeits him again. Pilate treats 
 him as a poor worthlefs fellow ; but is afhamed on fo little 
 pretence to condemn him as a traitor. 
 
 And 
 
 this ufual privilege being denied him, is alluded to by our Lord 
 himfelf. [John xviii. 20. 21.] I fpake openly to the world .... 
 * Why aikelt thou me ? afk them which heard me, what I faid 
 unto them; behold, they know what I faid. ] LowTH sIfaiah, 
 p. 241. Compare Note u, p. 249.3
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 347 
 
 And then he was fent to Herod to be tried by him, and 
 was brought before his judgment feat; his enemies fol 
 lowing, and virulently accufing him as a traitor, or one 
 that would fet up for a king ; but he confiders him as Pi- 
 jate did, as a poor creature, not worthy to be taken notice 
 of, and does but make a mere jeft of the Jews, accufing 
 him as a dangerous perfon to Casfar, as one that was in 
 danger of fetting up to be a king againft him ; and there 
 fore, in derifion, dreffes him in a mock robe, makes fport 
 of him, and fends him back througli the ftreets of Jem- 
 falem, to Pilate, with it on. 
 
 Then the Jews prefer Barabbas before him, and are in- 
 ftant and violent with loud voices to Pilate, to crucify 
 him. So Pilate after he had cleared him twice, and Herod 
 once, very unrighteoufly brings him on trial the third time. 
 Chrift was ftripped and fcourged : thus he gave his c back 
 to the fmiters. [Ifa. 1. 6.] After that, though Pilate 
 ftill declared that he found no fault in him ; yet fo unjuft 
 was he, that for fear of the Jews he delivered him to be 
 crucified. But before they execute the fentence, his fpite- 
 ful and cruel enemies again infult and torture him. They 
 ftripped him, and put on him a fcarlet robe, place a reed 
 in his hand, and a crown of thorns on his head. Both 
 Jews and Roman foldiers were united in the tranfadtion ; 
 they bow their knees before him, and in derifion cry, Hail 
 King of the Jews. They fpit upon him alfo, and took 
 the reed out of his hand, and fmote him on the head. 
 After this they led him away to crucify him, and made 
 him carry his own crofs, till he funk under it, his ftrength 
 being fpent; and then they laid it on one Simon a Cyrc- 
 nian. [Mat. xxvii. 32.] 
 
 At length, being come to Mount Calvary, they exe 
 cute the fentence which Pilate had fo unrighteoufly pro 
 nounced. They nailed him to the crofs by his hands and 
 feet, then raife it erec"t, and fix one end in the ground, 
 he being {till fufpended on it by the nails which pierced 
 his hands and feet. And now Chrift s fufferings are come 
 to the extremity ; now the cup which he fo earneftly 
 Y y 2 grayed,
 
 348 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 prayed that it might pafs from him, (R) is come, and he 
 mufl, he does drink it. [Ifa. xxvi. 39.] In thofe days cru 
 cifixion was the moft tormenting death by which any were 
 executed. There was no death wherein the perfon ex 
 pired fo much of mere torment : and hence the Roman 
 word,* which fignifies torment, is taken from this kind 
 of death. And befides what our Lord endured in this 
 excruciating death in his body, he endured vaftly more in 
 his foul. Now was that travail of his loul, of which we 
 read in the prophet ; now it pleafed God to bruife him, 
 and to put him to grief ; now < he poured out his foul unto 
 
 * death. [Ifa, liii. 10.] And if the mere forethought of 
 this cup made him fweat blood, how much more dreadful 
 and excruciating muft the drinking of it have been ! Many 
 martyrs have endured much in their bodies, while their 
 fouls have been joyful, and have fung for joy, whereby 
 they have been fupported under the fufFerings of their out- 
 ward man, and have triumphed over them. But this was 
 not the cafe with Chrill ; he had no fuch fupport : but 
 his fufFerings were chiefly thofe of the mind, though the 
 ethers were extremely great. 
 
 Now under all thefe fufFerings the Jews frill mock him ; 
 and wagging their heads fay, [Matt, xxvii. 40.] * Thou 
 
 * that deftroyeft the temple and buildeft it in three days, 
 fave thyfelf : if thou be the Son of God, come down 
 
 * from the crofs. Even the chief priefts, fcribes, and 
 ciders, joined in the cry, faying, * He faved others, him- 
 
 f felf 
 
 (R) Let this cup pafs FROM me.] " This was the voice not 
 only of refignation, but of acquiefcence and complacency. Such 
 A deprecatory requeft, put up with fo much earneftnefs, yet with 
 lo much fubmiflion, betrayed not any weaknefs of mind ; it only 
 ftnewed the reality of our Lord s manhood ; that his fenfations 
 were exadtly like ours ; that he affected no ftoical apathy, but 
 willingly endured, not proudly difpifed, tribulation and anguifh. 
 It demonftrated likewife, beyond the power of defcription, the 
 extreme feverity and almoft infupportable weight of our Re 
 deemer s afflictions." [HERVEY, Theron and Afpaiio, vol. i. 
 Pial. 4r ] 
 
 * Cruciatus,
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 349 
 
 * felfhe cannot fave. (s) And probably the devil at the 
 iame time tormented him to the utmoft of his power ; and 
 hence it is faid, [Luke xxii. 33.] This is your hour, and 
 the power of darknefs. 
 
 Under thefe fufferings, Ghrift having cried out once 
 and again with a loud voice, at laft he faid, It is finifhed, 
 [John xix. 20.] and bowed the head, and gave up the 
 ghofr. (r) And thus was fmiihed the greateft work 
 
 that 
 
 (s) HIMSELF he. cannot fave. ]. SoCELSus, that bitter enemy 
 of Chriftianity, tauntingly cries, " Why, in the name of wonder, 
 does he not on this occafion, at leaft, act the God ? Why does 
 he not deliver himfelf from this mocking ignominy, or execute 
 fome fignal vengeance on the author of fuch impious and abu- 
 iive infults, both of himfelf and his Father ?" Why, Celfus ? 
 Becaufe on his death depends the falvation of mankind, and 
 thereby is purchafed that pardon which the gofpel proclaims to 
 finners, fuch as Celfus.. 
 
 " There hangs all human bope, that nail fupports 
 The falling univcrfe" YOUNG. 
 
 ** You indeed, (.continues the heathen) take upon you to de 
 ride the images of our deities ; but if Bacchus himfelf, or Her 
 cules had been prefent, you would not have dared to offer fuch 
 an affront; or, if you had been fo prefumptuous, would have 
 feverely fmarted for your infolence." Yes, Celfus ; fuch is the 
 revengeful fpirit of your gods ; but "Jcfus exhibits an inftance of 
 patience, meeknefs, and compaffion equally oppofite to your tem 
 per and that of your fanguinary idols. [Vide Orig. contra. Celf. 
 81.404.] [P.] 
 
 (T) He gave up the ghojl.~\ The late ingenious Mr. FERGU 
 SON has mown, from accurate agronomical obfervations, that the 
 day on which our Lord was crucified, was " the I4th of the 
 month Nifan, anfwering (in that year) "to the 3d of April, .... 
 in the 331! year of his age," fince that was the only year in which 
 the paffovcr fell on a Friday, " between the 2oth and 4Oth year 
 of the vulgar asra of Chrifl s birth." 
 
 The fame philofopher has obferved, that the darknefs which 
 covered the land at this time, could not be a natural one, becaufe 
 the fun can never be eclipfed in a natural way but at trie time of 
 new moon, and our Saviour was crucified at the time of the pad- 
 over, when the moon was _///; we have another proof of this 
 from the continuance of that darknefs for three hours ; for the 
 fun can never be eclipfed totally in a natural way for more than 
 rive minutes of time to any one place of the earth. Ho-.v" dread 
 fully folemn was this fcene ! 
 
 " The fun beheld it No, the (hocking fccnr 
 
 Drove
 
 350 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 that ever was done ; now the angels beheld the moft won 
 derful fight that ever was feen : now was accomplimed the 
 main thing that had been pointed at by the various infti- 
 tutions of the ceremonial law, and by all the tvpical dif- 
 penfations and by all the facrifices from the beginning of 
 the world, (u) 
 
 Chrift being thus brought under the power of death, 
 continued under it till the morning of the next day but 
 one : (w) and then was finimed that great work, the pur- 
 chafe 
 
 Drove back his chariot ; midnight veil d his face : 
 
 .... Not fuch as nature makes ; 
 
 A midnight, nature mudder d to behold ; 
 
 A midnight new, a dread cclipfe (without 
 
 Oppofing fpheres) from her Creator s frown ! 
 
 Sun, didit thou fly thy Maker s pain ? orftart 
 
 At that enormous load of human guilt, 
 
 Which bow d his blefTed head ; o erwhelm d his crofs ; 
 
 Made groan the creature ; burft earth s marble womb 
 
 With pangs, ftrange pangs ! delivered of her dead ? 
 
 Hell howl d ; and heav n that hour let fall a tear ; 
 
 Heav n wept that man might fmile ! heav n bled that man 
 
 Might never die I" 
 
 [ YOUNG S Night Thoughts, IV.] 
 
 (u) The TYPBS now all accompl:fbed.~] " In this hour, the 
 long feries of prophecies, vifions, types, and figures was accom 
 plimed ; this was the center in which they all met ; this the point 
 towards which they had tended and verged throughout the courfe 
 of fo many generations. You behold the law and the prophets 
 ftanding, if we may fpeak fo, at the foot of the crofs, and doing 
 homage. You behold Mofes and Aaron bearing the ark of the 
 covenant ; David and Elijah prefenting the oracle of teilimony. 
 You behold all the prieua and facrifices, all the rites and ordi 
 nances, all the types and fymbols, aflembled together to receive 
 their confummation. Without the death of Chrift, the wormip 
 and ceremonies of the law would have remained a pompous, but 
 unmeaning inilitution. In the hour when he was crucified, * the 
 book with the feven feals was opened. Every rite affumed its 
 fignificancy, every prediction met its event, every fymbol difplay- 
 ed its correspondence." [BLAIR S Sermons, vol. i. Ser. 5.] 
 
 ( w ) Chrtft CONTINUED under the power of death. ~] During this 
 period, fome have fuppofed our Lord defcended below the grave, 
 and preached to the^;ri/j-, either in limbus patrum, purgatory , 
 or even hell itfelf. The two former of thefe opinions have been 
 maintained by Popim writers, and fufficiently anfwered by Pro- 
 teftants : but the latter notion fuppofes that Chrift after his death 
 
 went
 
 THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTION. 351 
 
 chafe of our redemption ; for which fuch great preparation 
 had been made from the beginning of the world. Then 
 
 was 
 
 went down among the damned, preached falvation there, and ac 
 tually converted and delivered many of the unhappy fpirits therein 
 confined. The text here alluded to [i Pet. iii. 19, 20.] has been 
 already cited, with Dr. Doddridge s ingenious paraphrafe, Note N, 
 page 1 06, where we promifed to confider this extraordinary opi 
 nion, againft which the following objections appear to us impor 
 tant and decifive. 
 
 1. The fpirit * by which he went and preached, was not 
 (Thrift s human foul, but a divine nature, or rather the Holy Spi 
 rit, by which he was quickened, and raifed from the dead. 
 
 2. Chrift when on the crofs promifed the penitent thief his pre- 
 fence that day in Paradife, and accordingly when he died com 
 mitted his foul into his heavenly Father s hand ; in heaven, there 
 fore, and not in hell, we are to feek the feparate fpirit of our 
 Redeemer in this period. [Lukexxiii. 43, 46.] 
 
 3. Had our Lord defcended to preach falvation to the damned, 
 there is no fuppofeable reafon why the unbelievers in Noah s time 
 only mould be mentioned, rather than thofe of Sodom, and the 
 unhappy multitude who died in fin. 
 
 4. Granting the fact, that our Saviour defcended into hell, (of 
 which in a fubfequent note) we have no intimation of his preach 
 ing being attended with any more fuccefs than that oT his fervant 
 Noah. Some, indeed, were raifed from the dead at this time, and 
 no doubt thefe would have been taken for fome of the unhappy 
 fpirits releafed, and permitted to return to earth, had not the 
 fcripture exprefsly told us that they were the bodies of faints. 
 [Matt, xxvii. 52.] 
 
 5. So far from any intimation of fuch deliverance, St. Jude, 
 fubfequent to this, mentions the finners of Sodom fuffering the 
 vengeance of eternal fire : and both the apoftles Jude and Peter 
 mention the Sodomites, the Ifraelites that perifhed for their rebel 
 lion in the wildernefs, the fallen angels, and impenitent finners in 
 general, as involved in one common ruin, and referved to the day 
 
 * of judgment to be puni/bed; and the latter includes the inhabi 
 tants of the old world among the reft. [See Jude 5 8. 2 Pet. 
 ii. 49.] 
 
 6. Our Lord is exprefs, that, * he that believeth fhall never 
 
 * come into condemnation fhall never perifli ; and he that be- 
 
 * licveth not, fliall not fee life. not come where he is. [John iii. 
 36. v. 24. viii. 21.] This we (hall have occafion to notice 
 farther near the clofe of this work. 
 
 Is it faid that the propofed fentiment exceedingly glorifies the 
 Redeemer, and greatly adds to the triumph of his refurrec~r.ion ? 
 Far be it from us to left en the Redeemer s honour : but let us not 
 drefs up the pageants of our imagination to grace his victory. 
 
 The
 
 35* HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 was finished nil that was required in order to fulfill th* 
 threatenings of the law, and all that was neceffary in order 
 to fatisfy divine juflice ; then the utmoft that vindi&ive 
 jufiice demanded, even the whole debt, was paid. Then 
 was finilhed the whole of the purchafe of eternal life. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD II. 
 
 IX furveyino; the hiftory of redemption, we have now 
 ihown how this work was carried on through the two firft 
 periods into which we divided it, from the fall to the incar 
 nation of Chrift, and from thence to the end of the lime 
 of Chrift s humiliation ; and have particularly explained 
 how in the fir ft of thcfe periods God prepared the way for 
 Chrift s appearing and purchafmg redemption ; and how, 
 in the fecond period, that purchafe was made and finlfticd. 
 1 would now add fome improvement of what has been faid 
 on both thcfe fubjecls in conjunction. 
 
 i. I begin with an ufe of reproof; a reproof of three 
 things ; of unbelief, felf-righteoufnefs, and a carelefe ne- 
 glcdt of the falvation of Chrift. 
 
 ( I .) If the things above particularly recited be true, how 
 greatly do they reprove thofe who do not believe in, and 
 heartily receive the Lord Jefus Chrift ! Perfons may re 
 ceive him in profeflion, and may wifli chat they had fome 
 of thofe benefits that Chrift has purchafcd, and yet their 
 hearts not receive him ; they may be iincere in nothing that 
 they do towards him ; they may have no high efteem of 
 him, nor any real refpect to him. Though their hearts 
 have been opened wide to others, yet Chrift has always 
 been fhutout, and they have been deaf to all his imitations. 
 They never found an inclination of heart to receive him, 
 nor would they ever truft in him. 
 
 Let 
 
 The apoltle defcribing the magnificence of this event, fays, [Col. 
 ii. ij.J that he fpoiled principalities and powers made a {hew 
 * of the:n openly: but adds nothing of the fouls delivered from 
 hell, though he would hardly have omitted fuch a faft. [G. E.J
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD II. 353 
 
 Let me now call upon you, to confider how great your 
 f-n, in thus rejecting Jefus Chrift, appears to be from 
 thofe things that have been faid. You flight the glorious 
 perfon, for \vhofe coming God made fuch great prepara 
 tions in fuch a feries of wonderful providences from the 
 beginning of the world, and who, after all things were 
 made ready, God fent into the world, bringing to pafs a 
 thing before unknown, viz. the union of the divine na 
 ture with the human in one perfon. You have been 
 guilty of flighting that great Saviour, who, after fuch 
 preparation actually accomplished the purchafe of re 
 demption ; and who, after he had fpent three or four 
 and thirty years in poverty, labour, and contempt, in 
 purchafmg redemption, at laft finiihed the purchafe by 
 clofing his life under fuch extreme fuffe rings as you have 
 heard ; (Y) and fo by his death, and continuing for a 
 time under the power of death, completed the whole. 
 This is the Saviour you rejet and defpife. You make light 
 of all the glory of his perfon, and all the love of a Fa 
 ther, in fending him into the world, and the Son s com- 
 pamon in the whole of this affair. That precious (tone 
 that God hath laid in Zion for a foundation in fuch a 
 manner, and by fuch wonderful works as yoil have heard, 
 Is a ftone fet at nought by you. 
 
 Sinners fometimes are ready to wonder why unbelief 
 fliould be looked upon as fuch a great fin : but if you 
 confider what you have heard, how can you wonder? If 
 it be fo, that this is fo great a Saviour, and his work f > 
 
 Z z great, 
 
 1v : 
 
 (Y) Cbrlft DIED under extreme fufferings.~] Some have ventured 
 to compare the death of Socrates with that of JESUS : but " What 
 an infinite difproportion is there between them ! The death of 
 Socrates, peaceably philofophifmg with his friends, appears the 
 mod agreeable that could be wiftied for; that of JESUS, iufulted 
 and accufed by a whole nation, is the mod horrible that could be 
 feared. Socrates, in receiving the cup of poifon, blefled, indeed, 
 the weeping executioner that adminiftered it; but JESUS, in the 
 midft of excruciating tortures, prayed for his mercilefs tormen 
 tors. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates were thofe of zfage, 
 the life and death of JESUS were thofe of a GOD. [RossEAu s 
 Letter to ihe Abp.of Paris.]
 
 354 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 great, and that fuch great things have been done in order 
 to it, truly there is no caufe of wonder that the reje&iou 
 of this Chrift is fpoken of in fcripture as a fin, fo pro 
 voking to God, and attended with greater aggravations 
 than the worft fins of the heathen, who never heard of 
 thofe things, nor have had this Saviour offered to them. 
 
 (2.) What has been faid, affords matter of reproof to 
 thofe who, inftead of believing in Chrift, truft in them- 
 felves for falvation. It is a common thing with men to 
 truft in their prayers, their good converfations, the pains 
 they take in religion, the reformations of their lives, and 
 in their felf-denial, to make fome atonement for their fins, 
 and to recommend themfelves to God. 
 
 Confider three things : 
 
 [i.] How great a thing that is which you take upon 
 you: though you are poor, worthlefs, polluted worms of 
 the duft; yet fo arrogant are you, that you take upon 
 you that work which the only begotten Son of God be 
 came man to capacitate himfelf for ; and in order to 
 which God made fo great preparation. Confider how 
 vain is the thought which you entertain of yourfelf ; how 
 mult fuch arrogance appear in the fight of Chtfft, whom 
 it coft fo much to make a purchafe of falvation, when 
 it was not to be obtained even by him, fo great and glo 
 rious a perfon, at a cheaper rate than his wading through 
 a fea of blood, and paffing through the midft of the fur 
 nace of God s wrath. 
 
 [2.] If there be ground for you to truft, as you do, 
 in your own righteoufnefs, then all that Chrift did to 
 purchafe falvation when on earth, and all that God did 
 from the fall of man to that time to prepare the way for 
 it, is in vain. Your felf-righteoufnefs charges God with 
 the greateft folly, in that he has done all this to bring 
 about an accomplifhment of what you alone, a little worm, 
 with your poor polluted fervices, are fufficient to accom- 
 plifh. For if you can appeafe God s anger, and can 
 commend yourfelf to him by thefe means, then you have 
 no need of Chrift ; but he is dead in vain : [Gal. ii. 21 ] 
 * If righteoufnefs come by the law, then Chrift is dead in 
 
 * vain.
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PFRIOD II. 355 
 
 * vain. Alas ! how blind are natural men! How vain 
 are the thoughts they have of themfelves ! How ignorant 
 of their own littlenefs and pollution ! How do they exalt 
 themfelves up to heaven ! What great things do they 
 affume to themfelves ! 
 
 [3.] You that truft to your own righteoufnefs, arro 
 gate to yourfelves the honour of the greateft thing that 
 ever God himfelf did ; not only as if you were fufHcient 
 to perform divine works, and to accomplifh fome of the 
 great works of God ; but fuch is your pride and vanity, 
 that you are not content without taking upon you to do 
 the greatejl work that ever God himfelf wrought, even 
 the work of redemption. To work out redemption is 
 a greater thing than to create a world. Confider what a 
 figure you would make, if you ihould attempt to deck 
 yourfelf with majefty, pretend to fpeak the word of power, 
 and call an univerfe out of nothing ; yet in pretending to 
 work out redemption, you attempt a greater thing. You 
 take upon you to do the moil difficult part of this work, 
 viz. to purchafe redemption. Chrift could accomplifh 
 other parts of this work without coft, or difficulty : but 
 this part coft him his life, as well as innumerable pains 
 and labours, very great ignominy and contempt. If all 
 the angels in heaven had been fufficient for this work, 
 would God have fent his own Son, the Creator of angels, 
 into the world, to have done and fuffered fuch things ? 
 What felf-righteous perfons take to themfelves, is the 
 fame work that Chrift was engaged in when he was in his 
 agony and bloody fweat, and when he died on the crofs. 
 Their felf-righteoufnefs does, in effe6t, charge Chrift s 
 ofsring up himfelf in thefe fufferings, as the greateft in- 
 ftance of folly that ever men or angels faw, inftead of 
 being the moft glorious difplay of the divine wifdom and 
 grace. Yea, felf-righteoufnefs makes all that Chrift did 
 and fuffered through the whole courfe of his life, with 
 all that God did in the difpenfations of his providence 
 from the beginning, nothing, but a fcene of the moft 
 wild, extreme, and tranfcendent folly. Is it any wonder, 
 then, that a felf-righteous fpirit is fo reprefented in fcrip- 
 
 Z z 2 ture,
 
 356 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 rure, and jpoken of, as that which is moft fatal to -tiro 
 fouls of men ? Or that Chrift was fo provoked with the 
 Pharifees and others, who trufted in themfelves that they 
 were righteous, and were proud of their goodnefs, and 
 thought that their own performances were a valuable price 
 of God s favour and love ? 
 
 Let perfons hence be warned againft a felf-righteous 
 fpirit. You that are feeking falvation, and taking pains 
 in religion, take heed that you do not truft in what you 
 do ; that you do not harbour any thoughts, that God 
 ought to accept of what you do, fo as to be inclined by it 
 in {bme meafure to forgive you, and have mercy on you., 
 cr that he does not at juftly, if he vefufe to regard you.r 
 prayers and pains. Such complaining of God, and quar 
 relling with him, for not taking more notice of your 
 righteoufnefs, plainly fhows that you are guilty of all 
 that arrogance that has been fpoken of, thinking ycurfelf 
 fufficient to offer the price of your own falvation. 
 
 (3.) What has been faid on this fubjecl a fiords matter 
 of reproof to thofe who carelefsly neglect the falvation of 
 Chrift: fuch as live a fenfual life, neglecting the bulinefs 
 of religion, and the falvation of their own fouls, having 
 their nvinds taken up about the gains, the vanities, and plea- 
 fures of the world. Ler me here apply myfelf to you in 
 fome expoftulatory interrogations. 
 
 [i.] Shall fo many prophets, kings, and righteous 
 men, have their minds taken up with the profpecT:, that 
 the purchafe of Salvation was to be wrought out in ages 
 long after their death ; and will you neglect it when ac 
 tually accomplished ? You have heard* what great account 
 the church in all ages made of the future redemption of 
 Chrift ; how joyfully they expected and fpoke of it. How 
 much did Ifajah, Daniel, and other prophets, fpeak con 
 cerning this redemption ! How did David employ his 
 voice and harp in celebrating it, and the glorious difplay 
 of divine grace therein exhibited ! How did Abraham 
 and the other patriarchs rejoice in the profpecl of Chrift s 
 day, and the redemption which he was to purchafe ! 
 And even the faints before the flood were elated in the 
 
 expec -
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD II. 357 
 
 .expectation of this glorious event, though it was then fo 
 long future, fo faintly ami obfcurely revealed to them. 
 Now thefe tilings are declared to you as actually fulfilled. 
 The church has feeu accomplifhed all thofe great things 
 which they fo joyfully prophefied of. And yet, when 
 thefe things are fet before you as already accompli med, 
 how light do you- make of them ! How unconcerned arc 
 you about them, following other things, not fo much 
 as feeling any intereft in them ! Indeed your {in is ex 
 tremely aggravated in the fight of God. God has put you 
 under a more glorious difpenfation ; has given you a more 
 clear revelation of Chriil and his falvation ; and yet you 
 neglecl all thefe advantages, and go on in a carelefs courfe 
 of life, as though nothing had been done, no fuch difco- 
 very had been made you. 
 
 [2-] Have the angels been fo engaged about this fal 
 vation ever lince the fall of man, though they are not 
 immediately concerned in it, and will you who need it, 
 and have it offered to you, be fo carelefs about it ? You 
 have heard how the angels at firft were fubjecled to Chriil 
 as mediator, and how they ha,ve all along been miniftering 
 fpirits to him in this affair. And when Chrift came, how 
 engaged were their minds ! They came to Zacharias, to 
 inform him of the coming of Chrift s forerunner ; to the 
 Virgin Alary, to inform her of the approaching birth of 
 Chrift; to Jofepb, to warn him of the danger which 
 threatened the new-born Saviour, and to point out the 
 means of fafety : and at the birth of Chrift, the whole 
 multitude of the heavenly hofts fang praifes upon the oc- 
 cafion, faying, Glory to God in the higheft, and on 
 earth, peace and good will towards men. Afterwards, 
 from time to time, they miniftered to Chrift when on 
 earth ; they did fo at the time of his temptation, at the 
 time of his agony in the garden, at his rcfurrection, and 
 at his afcenfion. All thefe things fhow, that they werr 
 greatly engaged in this affair ; and the fcripture informs 
 us, that they pry into thefe things: [ i Pet. i. 12.] Which 
 things the angels defue to look into. And how are they 
 represented in the Revelation, as being employed inhea- 
 
 ve.n
 
 358 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ven in finging praifes to him that fitteth on the throne, 
 nnd to the Lamb! Now, {hall thcfe take fo much no 
 tice of his redemption, and of the purchafer, who need 
 it not for themfelves, and have no immediate intereft in 
 it ; and will you, who are in fuch extreme ncceflity, neglect 
 and take no notice of it ? 
 
 [3.] Did Chrift labour fo hard and fuffer fo much, to 
 procure this falvation, and is it not worth the while for 
 you to be at fome labour in feeking it ? Did our falvation 
 lie with fuch weight on the mind of Chrift, as to induce 
 him to become man, and to fuffer even death itfelf, in 
 order to procure it for us, and is it not worth the while for 
 you, who need this falvation, and muft perifh eternally 
 without it, to take earned pains to obtain an intereft in it 
 after it is procured, and all things are ready? 
 
 [4.] Shall the great God be fo concerned about this 
 falvation, as fo often to overturn the world to make way 
 for it : and when all was done, is it not worth your feek 
 ing after ? What great, what wonderful things has the Lord 
 of heaven and earth done from one age to another, caft- 
 ing down and fetting up kings, railing up a great number 
 of prophets, feperating a diftinft nation from the reft of 
 the world, overturning one kingdom and another, and 
 often the ftate of the world ; and fo has continued bringing 
 .about one change and revolution after another, for forty 
 centuries in fucceflion, to make way for the procuring of 
 this falvation ! And when he has done all, is it not 
 worthy of your being concerned about it, but that it 
 (hould be throw.n by, and made nothing of, in compari- 
 fon of worldly gain, youthful diverfions, and other fuch 
 trifling things r O ! that you who live negligent of this 
 falvation, would confider what you do ! What you have 
 heard from this fubjet, may fhow you what reafon there 
 is in that exclamation of the Apoftle, [Heb. ii. 3.] How 
 
 * fhall we efcape if we neglect fo great falvation ? and in 
 that, [Acts xiii. 41.] Behold, yedefpifers, and wonder 
 and peri ill : for I work a work in your days, a work 
 
 * which you iliall in no wife believe, though a man de- 
 clare it unto you. God looks on fuch as you as great 
 
 enemies
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD II. 359 
 
 enemies of the crofs of Chrift, and adverfaries and def- 
 pifers of all the glory of this great work. And if God 
 has mads fuch account of the glory of falvation as to de- 
 ftroy many nations, and fo often overturn all nations, to 
 prepare the way for the glory of his Son in this affair ; 
 how little account will he make of the lives and fouls of 
 ten thoufand fuch oppofers and defpifers as you that con 
 tinue impenitent, in competition with his glory ! Why 
 furely you (hall be dafhed in pieces as a potter s veffel, 
 and trodden down as the mire of the flreets. God may, 
 through wonderful patience, bear with heardened carelefs 
 fmners for a while ; but he will not always bear with fuch 
 defpifers of his dear Son, and his great falvation, the glory 
 of which he has had fo much at heart, but will utterly con- 
 fume them without remedy or mercy. 
 
 2. I conclude, fecondly, with a ufe of encouragement 
 to burdened fouls, to put their truft in Chrift for falva 
 tion. To all fuch as arb not carelefs and negligent, but 
 fenfible in fome meafure of their neceflity of an intereft iu 
 Chrift, and afraid of the wrath to come ; to fuch, what has 
 been faid on this fubject holds forth great matter of encou 
 ragement, to venture their fouls on the Lord Jefus Chrift ; 
 and as motives proper to excite you fo to do, let me lead yoxi 
 to confider two things in particular. 
 
 (i.) The completenefs of the purchafe which has been 
 made ; as you have heard, this work of purchafmg fal 
 vation was wholly finimed during the time of Chrift s 
 humiliation. When Chrift rofe from the dead, and was 
 exalted from that abafement to which he fubmitted for 
 our falvation, the purchafe of eternal life was completely 
 made, fo that there was no need of any thing more to 
 be done in order to it. But now the fervants were fent 
 forth with this meflage, [Matt. xxii. iv.] Behold I have 
 
 * prepared my dinner : my oxen and my fattlings are kil- 
 
 * led, and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. 
 Therefore all things being ready, are your fins marry and 
 great ? Here is enough done by Chrift to procure their 
 pardon; there is no need of any righteoufaeis of yours 
 to obrnin your juftification : no, you may come freely, 
 
 without
 
 360 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 without money and without price: fince therefore there 
 is fuch a free and gracious invitation given you, come ,- 
 come naked as you are ; come as a poor condemned cri 
 minal ; come and caft yourfelf down at Chrift V feet, as 
 one juftly condemned, and utterly helplefs in yourfelf. 
 Here is a complete falvation wrought out by Chrift, and 
 through him offered to you ; come, therefore, accept of 
 it, and he faved. 
 
 (2.) For Chrift to reje6l one that thus comes to him, 
 would be to fruftrate all thofe great things which you 
 have heard that God brought to pafs from the fall of 
 man to the incarnation of Chrift. It would alfo fruftrate 
 all that Chrift did and fuffered while on earth ; yea, 
 it would fruftrate the incarnation of Chrift itfelf, for"all 
 thefe things were for that end, that thofe might be faved 
 who ihould come to Chrift. Therefore you may be fure 
 Chrift will not be backward in faving thofe who come to 
 him, and truft in him; for he has no deiire to fruftrate 
 himfelf in his o\Vn work ; neither will God the Father 
 refufe you; for he has no defire to fruftrate himfelf in 
 all that he did for fo many hundred years, to prepare 
 the way for the falvation of fmners by Chrift. Come, 
 therefore, hearken to the fweet and earneft call of Chrift. 
 [Matt. xi. 2830.] Come unto me, all ye that labour, 
 
 * and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft ; take my 
 yoke upon you, and learn of me; and ye fhall find 
 
 * reft unto your fouls : for my yoke is eafy, and my hur- 
 
 * den is light. 
 
 
 -a 
 PERIOD.
 
 
 PERIOD TIT. 
 
 I 
 
 ,N difcourfing on this fubjet, we have already mown 
 how the work of redemption was carried on through the 
 two firft of the three periods into which we divided the 
 whole fpace of time from the fall to the end of the world ; 
 and we are now come to the third and laft period, be 
 ginning with Chrift s refurrection, and reaching to the 
 end of the world ; and are now to ihovv how this work was 
 alfo carried on through this period, from the following 
 proportion - 
 
 THAT THE SPACE OF TIME FROM THE RESURREC 
 TION OF CHRIST TO THE END OF THE WORLD is ALL 
 
 ENGAGED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE GREAT EFFECT, 
 OR SUCCESS, OF CHRIST S PURCHASE. 
 
 Not but that there were great effects and glorious fuccefs 
 of Chrift s purchafe of redemption before, even from the 
 beginning. But all that fuccefs was only preparatory, and 
 by way of anticipation ; as fome few fruits are gathered 
 before the harveft. There was no more fuccefs before 
 Chrift came than God faw needful to prepare the way for 
 his coming. The proper time of the fuccefs or effect of 
 Chrift s purchafe of redemption is after the purchafe has 
 been made ; as the proper time for the world to enjoy 
 the light of the fun is the day time, after the fun is rifen* 
 though we may have fome fmall matter of it reflected from 
 the moon and planets before. And even the fuccefs of 
 Chrift s redemption, while he himfelf was on earth, was 
 very fmall, in comparifon of what it was after the con- 
 clufion of his humiliation. 
 
 But Chrift having nniflied that greateft and moft diffi 
 cult of all works, the work of the purchafe of redemption, 
 now is the time for him to obtain the joy that was let before 
 him. Having made his foul an offering for fin, now is 
 the time for him to fee his feed, and to have a portion 
 
 3 A * divided
 
 3 62 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 divided to him with the great, and to divide the 
 
 * with the ftrong. [Ifa. liii.] 
 
 One deftgn of Chrift s humiliation was, to lay a foun 
 dation for the overthrow of Satan s kingdom -, and now is 
 come the time to effe<5l it ; as Chrift a little before his cru 
 cifixion faid, [Johrl xii. 31.] Now is the judgment of 
 this world ; now {hall the prince of this world be caft 
 put. Another tlefign was, to gather together in one all 
 things in Chrift. [John xii. 32.] And 1, if I be lifted 
 
 * up, will draw all men unto nie ; which is agreeable to 
 Jacob s prophecy of Chrift, that when Shiloh ihould 
 come, to him ihould the gathering of the people be. 
 [Gen. xlix. 10.] A third defign is the falvation of the 
 cle6l. Now when his fuiFerings are finiihed, and his hu 
 miliation is perfected, the time is come tor that alfo. [Hcb. 
 v. 8, 9.] Though he were a Son, yet learned he obe- 
 dience by the things which he fuffered ; arid being made 
 * perfect, he became the author of eternal falvation unto 
 
 * all them that obey him. ---Another uefign was, to ac- 
 compliih by thefe things great glory to the perfons of the 
 Trinity. Now alfo is come the time for that ; [John 
 xvii. i.] * Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that 
 thy Son alfo may glorify thee. LafUy, another defign 
 was the glory of the faints. [John xvii. 2.] As thou 
 haft given him power over all flefh, that he fhould give 
 
 * eternal life to as many as thou haft given him. 
 And all the difpenfations of God s providence hencefor 
 ward, even to the final confummation of all things, are to 
 give Chrift his reward, and to fulfil the joy that was fct 
 before him. 
 
 . 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BEFORE I enter on the confideration of the parti 
 cular things accomplished in this period, I would briefly 
 obfcrve, how the times of this period are represented in 
 fcripture, 
 
 i. The
 
 INTRODUCTION TO PERIOD III. 363 
 
 1. The times of this period, ,for the moil part, are 
 thofe which in the Old Teftament are called the latter 
 days. We often, in the prophets of the Old Teftament, 
 read of fuch and fuch things that fhould come to pafs 
 in the latter days, and fometimes in the loft days. Now 
 fhefe expreffions of the prophets are moft commonly to 
 be understood of the times of this period. They are called 
 the latter days, and the laft days ; becaufe this is the laft 
 period of the feries of God s providences on earth, the 
 laft period of that great work of Providence, the work 
 of redemption, which is, as it were, the fum of God s 
 works of providence, the time wherein the church is 
 under the laft difpenfation that ever will be given on 
 earth. (A) 
 
 2. The whole time of this period is fometimes in fcrip- 
 ture called * the<rWof the world. [i Cor. x. n.] Now 
 all thefe things happened unto them for enfamples ; and 
 they are written for our admonition, upon whom the 
 
 * ends of the world are come. And the apoftle, [Heb, 
 3x. 26.] in this expreffion of the end of the world, means 
 the whole of the gofpel day, from the birth of Chrift 
 to the rinifhing of the day of judgment : But now once 
 in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away 
 
 * fin by the facrifice of himfelf. This fpace of time 
 may well be called the end of the world ; for this 
 whole time is taken up in bringing things to that great 
 iffue that God had been preparing the way for, in all 
 the great difpenfations of providence, from the iirft fall 
 of man to this time. Before, things were in a kind of 
 preparatory ftate, but now they are in a finishing ftate : 
 it is the winding up of things which is all this while 
 accomplishing. Heaven and earth began to Jhake in order 
 
 3 A 2 to 
 
 (A) The LATTER DAYS.] Rabbi D. Klmchi [in Ifa. II.] Alen 
 .Ezra [in Hofea iii.J and Manajfc, [lib. iii. DC Refur.] all under- 
 Hand by this phrafe, * the days of the Meffiah ; and Dr. 0<wen 
 iuppofes them fo called, not fo much in reference to the gofpel, 
 as the laft difpenfation, or the end of the world, as fome have 
 fuppofed, but " the lait days of the Judaical church and Hate." 
 
 [Ov/Ex in Heb. i. 2. ]
 
 364 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 to a diflbluticn, according to the prophecy of Haggai, he- 
 fore Chrift came, that fo only thofe things that cannot 
 
 * he (haken may remain ; [Heb. xii. 2,] /. e. that thofe 
 things that are to come to an end, may come to an end, 
 and that only thofe things may remain, which are to re 
 main eternally. 
 
 So, in the firft place, the carnal ordinances of the Jewifh 
 worihip came to an end, to make way for the eftablifh- 
 nient of that fpiritual worfhip, the worihip of the heart, 
 which is to endure to eternity. [John iv. 21, 23.] Jefur 
 
 * faith unto the woman, Believe me, the hour cometh, 
 
 * when ye fhall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Je- 
 
 * rufalem, worihip the Father. But the hour cometh, 
 
 * and now is, when the true worfhippers fhall worihip the 
 Father in fpirit and truth ; for the Father feeketh fuch 
 to worihip him. This is one inftance of the temporary 
 world s coming to an end, and the eternal world s barin- 
 
 o o 
 
 ning. Another inftance that the outward temple, and the 
 city of Jerufalem, came to an end, to give place to the 
 fctting up of the fpiritual temple and the city, which are 
 to endure for ever, which is alfo another inftance of re 
 moving thofe things which are ready to vanifh away, that 
 thofe things which cannot he fhaken may remain. Again, 
 the old heathen empire conies to an end, to make way for 
 the everlafting empire of Chrift. Upon the fall of anti- 
 cnrift, an end will be put to Satan s vifible kingdom on 
 earth, to eftabliih Chrift s eternal kingdom ; [Dan. vii. 
 27.] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatnefs 
 
 * of the kingdom under the whole heaven, fhall be given 
 
 * to the faints of the Molt High, whofe kingdom is an 
 everlafting kingdom, and all dominions fhall ferve and 
 
 * obey him : which is another inftance of the ending of 
 the temporary world, and the beginning of the eternal one. 
 And then, lallly, the very frame of this corruptible world 
 fhall coi^e to an end, to make way for the church to dwell 
 in another dwelling place, which hall laft to eternity ; 
 which is the concluding inftance. 
 
 Bccaufe the world is thus corning to an end by various 
 fteps and degrees, the apoftle perhaps ufcs this expiciiion, 
 
 that
 
 INTRODUCTION TO PERIOD III. 365 
 
 that not the end, but the ends of the world are come on us ; 
 as though the world has feveral endings one after another. 
 -The gofpel difpenfation is the laft ftate of things in the 
 world ; and this ilate is a finifhing ftate : it is all fpent 
 in finishing things off which hefore had been preparing, 
 or abolishing things which before had flood. It is all 
 fpent as it were in fumming things up, and bringing them 
 to their ifTues, and their proper fulfilment. Now all the 
 old types are fulfilled, and the predictions of all the pro 
 phets from the beginning of the world {hall be accom- 
 pliihed in this period. 
 
 3. That ftate of things which is attained in the events 
 of this period is called a new heaven and a new earth \ 
 [Ifa. Ixv. 17, 18.] For behold, I create a new heaven and 
 4 a new earth : and the former fhall not be remembered, 
 
 * nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice for 
 
 * ever in that which I create ; for behold, I create Jerufa- 
 
 * 1cm a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And [ch. Ixvi. 
 22.] For as the new heavens and new earth which I 
 
 * make, fhall remain before me ; fo lhall your feed and 
 
 * your name remain. [See alfo ch. li. 16.] As the for 
 mer ftate of things, or the old world, by one ftep after 
 another, is through this period coming to an end ; fo the 
 new ftate of things, or the new world, which is a fpiri- 
 tual world, is beginning and fetting up. In confequence 
 of each of thefe finifhings of the old ftate of things, there 
 is the beginning of a new and eternal one. So that 
 which accompanied the deftru6tion of the literal Jeru- 
 falem, was an eftablifhing of the fpiritual. So with re- 
 fpecl: to the deftrubion of the old heathen empire, and 
 all the other endings of the pld flate of things, till at 
 length the very outward frame of the old world itfelf fhall 
 come to an end ; and the church fhall dwell in a world 
 ; new to it, or to a great part of it, even heaven, which 
 will be a new habitation : and then fhall the utmoft be 
 accomplifhed that is meant of the new heavens and new 
 earth. [See Rev. xxi. i.] 
 
 The end of God s creating the world was to prepare a 
 kingdom for his Son, (for he is appointed heir of the 
 
 world)
 
 5 66 HISTORYOF REDEMPTION. 
 
 world,) and that he might have the poffeflion of it, and a 
 kingdom in it, which fhould remain to all eternity. So 
 far as the kingdom of Chrift is fet up in the world, fo far 
 is the world brought to its end, and the eternal (late of 
 things fet up. So far are all the great changes and revolu- 
 tions of the world brought to their ultimate iiTue. So far 
 are the waters of the long channel of divine Providence, 
 which has fo many branches, and fo many windings and 
 turnings, emptied out into their proper ocean, which they 
 have been feeking from the beginning and head of their 
 courfe, and fo are come to their reft. So far as Chrift s 
 kingdom is eftabliflied in the world, fo far are things wound 
 up and fettled in their everlafting ftatc, and a period put 
 to the courfe of things in this changeable world ; fo far arc 
 the fiift heavens and the firft earth come to an end, and 
 the new heavens and the new earth eftablifhed in their 
 room. This leads me to obferve, 
 
 4. That the ftate of things which is attained by the 
 events of this period, is what is fo often called the kingdom 
 of heaven, or the kingdom of God. We very often read in 
 the New Teftnment of the kingdom of heaven. John the 
 Baptift preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, 
 and fo did Chrift, and his difciples after him ; referring 
 to fomething that the Jews in thofe days expected, by that 
 name. They feem to have taken their expectation ami 
 the name chiefly from that prophecy of Daniel in Nebu 
 chadnezzar s dream. [Dan. ii. 44.] And in the days of 
 * thefe kings (hall the God of heaven fet up a kingdom. 
 [See alfo chap. vii. 13, 14.] Now this kingdom of heaven 
 is that evangelical ftate ot things in his church, and in the 
 world, wherein conlifts the fuccefs of Chrift s redemption 
 in this period. There had been often great kingdoms fet 
 up before. But Chrift came to fet up the laft kingdom, 
 which is not an earthly kingdom, but an heavenly, and 
 fo is properly called the kingdom of heaven, [John xviii. 
 36.] My kingdom is not of the world. [Luke xxii. 29.] 
 1 My Father hath appointed me a kingdom. Under this 
 head I would obferve feveral things .particularly, for the 
 
 clearer
 
 INTRODUCTION TO PERIOD III. 367 
 
 clearer underftanding of what the fcriptures fay concern 
 ing this period. 
 
 (i.) The fetting up of the kingdom of Chrift ii>. chief 
 ly accompliflied by four fucceffive great events, each of 
 which is in fcripture called Chrift s coming in his kingdom. 
 The firft is Chrift s appearing in thofe wonderful difpen- 
 fetions of providence in the apoflles days, in erecting his 
 kingdom, and deftroying his enemies, which ended in the 
 deftrution of Jeruialem. This is called Chrift s coining 
 in his kingdom. [Matt. xvi. 28.] Verily I fay unto you, 
 
 * there be fome ftanding here, which Shall not ta fte of 
 
 * death till they fee the Son of man coming in his king- 
 
 * dom. The fecond was accomplished in Conftantine s 
 time, in the deftrution of the heathen Roman empire. 
 This alfo is reprefented as Chrift s coming, and is com 
 pared to the laft judgment. [Rev. vi. 1317-] The third 
 is to be accomplished at the deftrution of antichrift ; 
 which is reprefented as Chrift s coming in his kingdom 
 in the prophecy of Daniel, and in other places, as I may 
 poffibly Show hereafter. The fourth and laft is his com 
 ing to judgment in the end of time, which is the event 
 principally fignified in fcripture by Chrift s coming in his 
 kingdom. 
 
 (2.) I would obferve, that each of the three former 
 of thefe is a lively image of the laft, viz. Chrift s coming 
 to the final judgment ; as the principal difpenfations of 
 providence before Chrift s firft coming were types of that 
 event. As Chrift s laft coming to judgment is accom 
 panied with a refurredtion of the dead, fo is each of the 
 three foregoing with a Spiritual refurredtion. The corn 
 ing of Chrift to the deftru&ion of Jerufalem was pre 
 ceded by a glorious fpiritual refurre&ion of fouls in the 
 calling of the Gentiles, and bringing multitudes to him 
 by the preaching of the gofpel. Chrift s coming in Con 
 ftantine s time was accompanied with a fpiritual refurrec- 
 tion of the greater part of the known world, in a refto- 
 ration of it to a vifible church ftate, from a ftate of hea- 
 thenifm. So Chrift s coming at the deftru6lion of anti 
 chrift will be attended with a fpiritual refurreclion of the 
 
 church
 
 3.68 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 church after it had been long as it were dead, in the 
 
 of antichrift. This is called the firft refurreclion in the 
 
 Revelation, [chap. xx. 5.] 
 
 Again, as Chrift. in the laft judgment will manifeft hi-m- 
 felf in the glory of his Father, fo in each of the three 
 foregoing events Chrift glorioufly man i lefts himfelf in 
 judgments upon his enemies, and in grace and favour to- 
 his church. As the laft coming of Chrift will be attended 
 
 o 
 
 with a literal gathering together of the elecl: from the four 
 winds ot heaven, fo were each of the preceding attended 
 with a fpiritual in-gathering. As this gathering together 
 of the cleft will be effe&ed by the angels with a great 
 found of a trumpet, [Matt. xxiv. 31.] fo are each of the 
 preceding by the trumpet of the gofpel, founded by the 
 minifters of Chrift : as there iliall precede the laft appear 
 ance of Chrift, a time of great degeneracy and wickednefs, 
 fo this has been, or will be, the cafe with each of the 
 other appearances. Before each of them is a time of great 
 oppofition to the church : before the firft, by the Jews ; 
 before the fecond, by the heathen ; before the third, by 
 antichrift ; and before the laft, by Gog and Magog, as 
 defcribed in the Revelation. 
 
 By each of thefe comings of Chrift, God works a 
 glorious deliverance for his church ; each of them is. ac 
 companied with a glorious advancement of the ftate of 
 it. The firft, which ended in the. deftruclion of Jeru- 
 falem, was. attended with bringing the church into the 
 glorious ftate of the gofpel ; the fecond, in Conftantine s 
 time, with an advancement of the church into a ftate of 
 liberty from perfecution, and the countenance of civil 
 authority, and triumph over their heathen perfecutors. 
 The third, which fhall be at the downfall of antichrift, 
 will he accompanied with an advancement of the church 
 into that ftate of the glorious prevalence of truth, liberty, 
 peace, and joy, that we fo often read of in the propheti 
 cal parts of fcripture ; the laft will be attended with the 
 advancement of the church to confummate glory in hea 
 ven. -Each of thefe is accompanied with a terrible de- 
 ftru&Jon of the wicked, and the enemies of the church : 
 
 the
 
 INTRODUCTION TO PERIOD III. 369 
 
 . tlic firft, with the terrible deftruc"lion of the perfecuting 
 . Jews; the fecoud, with dreadful judgments on the hea 
 then; the third, with the awful deftru6lion of antichrift, 
 the nioft cruel and bitter enemy that ever the church had ; 
 
 * - . 
 
 .the fourth, with divine wrath and vengeance on all the 
 ungodly.- Farther, there is in each of thefe appearances 
 of Chrift an ending of the old heavens and the old earth, 
 and a beginning of new heavens and a new earth ; or 
 an end of a temporal ftate of things, and a beginning of 
 an eternal one. 
 
 - 
 
 (3.) I would obfervc, that each of thofe four great 
 difpenfations which are rcprefented as Chrift s coming in 
 his kingdom, are but fo many fteps and degrees of the 
 . .accompliihment of one event. They are not the fering 
 up of fo many diftJn6t kingdoms of Chrift ; they are all 
 of them only feveral degrees of the accompliihment of 
 one event. [Dan. vii, 13, 14.] And I faw in the night 
 vifions, and behold, one like the Son of man, came 
 
 * with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
 days, and they brought him near before him. And 
 there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
 dom, that all people, nations, and languages, ihould 
 ferve him: his dominion is an cverlafting dominion, 
 
 * and his kingdom that which fhall not be deftroyed. 
 Thh is what the Jews expected, and called * the coming 
 of the kingdom of heaven; and what John the Bap- 
 tift and Chrift had refpecl to, when they faid, The king- 
 dom of heaven is at hand. 
 
 (4. ) 1 would ohferve, that as there are feveral fteps ot 
 the accompliihment of the kingdom of Chrift, fo in each 
 one of them the event is accompli died in a farther de 
 gree than in the foregoing. That in the time of Con- 
 ftantine was a greater and farther accompli fhment of the 
 kingdom of Chrift, than that which ended in the deftruc- 
 tioa of Jerufalem ; that which lhall be at the fall of an 
 tichrift, will be a ftill farther accompliihment of the fame 
 thing, and fo on with regard to each ; fo that the king 
 dom of Chrift is gradually prevailing and growing by 
 3 B thefe
 
 37 
 
 thefe feveral great fteps of its fulfilment, from the time of 
 
 Chrift s refurre&ion to the end of the world. 
 
 And becaufe thefe four great events are but images one 
 of another, and the three former but types of the laft, 
 and lince they are all only feveral fteps of the accomplifh- 
 ment of the fame thing ; hence we find them all from 
 time to time prophefied of under one, as they are in the 
 prophecies of Daniel, and Hkewife in the xxivth. chapter 
 of Matthew, where fome things feem more applicable to 
 one of them, and others to another. 
 
 (5.) And laftly, It may be obferved, that the provi 
 dences of God between thefc four great events are to 
 make way for the kingdom and glory of Chrift in the 
 great event following. Thofe difpenfations of providence 
 which were towards the church of God and the world, 
 before the deftru&ion of the heathen empire in the time 
 of Conftantine, feem all to have been to make way for 
 the glory of Chrift, and the happinefs of the church in 
 that event. And fo the gracious providences of God 
 fmce that, till the deftruclion of antichrift, and the 
 beginning of the glorious times of the church which 
 follow, feem all to be to prepare the way for the greater , 
 glory of Chrift and his church in that event ; and the 
 providences of God which fhall be after that to the end 
 of the world, feem to be for the greater manifeftation 
 of Chrift s glory at the end of the world, and in the con- 
 fummation of all things. 
 
 I thought it needful to obferve thofe things in general 
 concerning this laft period of the feries of God s provi 
 dence, before I take notice of the particular provi 
 dences by which the work of redemption is carried on 
 through this period ; and before I proceed, I will alfo 
 briefly anfwer to an inquiry, viz. Why the fetting up of 
 Chrift s kingdom after his humiliation fhould be fo gra- t 
 dual, by fo many fteps, and fo long in accomplifhing, 
 lince God could eafily have finimed it at once? Though 
 it would be prefumption in us to pretend to declare all 
 the ends of God in this, yet doubtlefs much of the wif- 
 
 dom
 
 INTRODUCTION TO PERIOD IIL 
 
 dom of God may be feea in it by us ; and particularly in 
 thefc two things : 
 
 [i.] In this refpefc God s wifdbm is more vifible: if 
 it had been done at once, or in a very fhort time, there 
 would not have been fuch opportunities to percehre and 
 obferve it, as when the work is gradually accomplifhed, 
 and one effect of his wilSom is hrM forth to obfervation 
 after another. It is wifely determined of God, to ac- 
 complrfh this great design by a wonderful and long feries 
 of events, that the glory of his wii3om naaj be difplayed 
 in the whole feries: ; and that the glory of his perfe&ions 
 may be feen, appearing, as it were, by parts, and in par 
 ticular fuccefiive mamfeftarions ; for if all that glory which 
 appears in al! thefe events had been raanifefted at once, it 
 would have been too much for us, and more than we at 
 once could take notice of; it would have dazzled our eyes 
 and overpowered our fight. 
 
 [2-j Satan is more glorioufiy triumphed over. God 
 could eafily, by an a6t of almighty power, at once have 
 crafhed Satan. But by giving him time to nfe his ut- 
 moft fubtilty to hinder the fuccefs of what Chrift had 
 done and fuffered, he is not defeated merely by furprife, 
 but has large opportunity to nfe his utmoft power and 
 fubtilty again and again, to ftrengthen his own intereft all 
 that he can by the work of many ages. Thus God de- 
 ftroys and confounds him, and fets up Chrift s kingdom 
 time after time, in fpite of all his fubtle machinations and 
 great works, and by every ftep advances it ftill higher 
 and higher, till at length it is fully fet up, and Satan per- 
 fetly and eternally vanquiflied. 
 
 I now proceed to take notice of the particular events, 
 whereby, from the end of Chrift s humiliation to the end 
 of the world, the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe has been or 
 ihall be accomplifhed. 
 
 B 2 I. THOSE
 
 372 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 I. THOSE THINGS WHEREBY CHRIST WAS CAPACI 
 TATED FOR THIS WORK. 
 
 I WOULD take notice, fnft, of thofe things bv 
 which Chrift was put into a capacity for accomplishing 
 the end of his purchafe. And they are two things, viz. 
 his refurreftion and his afcen/ion. As we obferved betore, 
 the incarnation of Chrift was neceffary in order to Chrift s 
 being in a capacity for the purchafe of redemption, fo the 
 refurre6tion and afcenfion of Chrift were requifite in order 
 to his accompli fhing the fuccefs of his purchafe. 
 
 I. Kis refurrcflion. It was neceffary in order to Chrift ^ 
 obtaining the end and effet of his purchafe of redemp 
 tion, that he fhould rife from the dead. For God the 
 Father had committed the whole affair of redemption, not 
 only the purchafmg of it, but the beftowment of the blel- 
 iings purchafed, to his Son, that he fhould not only pur - 
 chafq it as prieft, but actually accomplifh it as king of 
 Zion ; and in his complex perfon as God-man. For the 
 Father would have nothing to do with fallen man in a 
 way of mercy but by a mediator. But in order that Chrift 
 might carry on the work of redemption, and accompliih 
 thus the fuccefs of his own purchafe, it was necef 
 fary that he fhould be alive, and fo that he fhould rife 
 from the dead. Therefore Chrift, after he had rinifhed 
 this purchafe by death, (B) and by continuing for a time 
 
 (B) Chrift jinijhed his purchafe by ins death. ] . Our author pro 
 perly omits the defcent of Chrift to hell, and his fuppofed work 
 there. But it may be faid, Do not both the Old and New Tefta- 
 merit, [Pfalm xvi. 10. Afts ii. 31.] (as welt as the apoRle s 
 creed) intimate that Chrift defcended into hell, in thofe well- 
 known words, * Thou wilt not leave my foul in hell? We an- 
 fwer, that this is explained (as is the manner of the Heb. poetry) 
 in the following words, Neither wilt thou fuffer thine Holy one 
 to fee corruption ; fo the fame words arc ufed, [Pfalm Ixxxix. 
 4&.] What man is he that liveth, and mail not fee death ? Shall 
 he deliver his foul from the hand of the grave? In the Heb. 
 [^JJ*5tf] the word commonly rendered Hell, but which, indeed, 
 properly fignifies * the invifible ftate, (as our word hdl originally 
 
 . . did)
 
 CHRIST CAPACITATED FOR HIS WORK. 373 
 
 under the power of death, riles from the dead, to fulfill 
 the end of his purchafe, and himfelf to bring about that 
 for .-which he died: for this matter God the Father had 
 committed unto him, that he might, as Lord of all, ma 
 nage all to his own purpofes : [Rom. xiv. 9.] For to 
 
 * this end Chrift both died, and rofe, and revived, that he 
 
 * might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 
 
 Indeed, both Chrift s refurredtion and his afcenfion, 
 were part of the luccefs of what he did and fuffered in his 
 humiliation. For though Chrift did not properly pur- 
 chafe redemption for himfclf, yet he purchafed eternal 
 life and glory for himfelf, (as man and Mediator) and 
 thefe were given him as a reward of what he did and 
 fuffered. [Phil. ii. 8, 9.] He humbled himfelf, and be- 
 came obedient unto death, even the death of the crofs : 
 *- wherefore hath God highly exalted him. And it may 
 be looked upon as part of the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe, 
 if it be conlidered, that he did not rife as a private perfon, 
 but as the head of his ele& church ; fo that they did, as it 
 were, all rife with him. Chrift was juftified in his refur- 
 reHon, z. e. God acquitted and difcharged him hereby, 
 as having done and fuffcred enough for the fins of all the 
 clc6l. [Pvorn. iv. 25.] Who was delivered for our of 
 fences, and raifed again for our juftitication. An;! 
 God put him in poflcffion of eternal life, as the head ot 
 the church, as a lure earnelt that they fhould follow. For 
 when Chrift rofe from the dead, it was the beginning ot 
 eternal life in him. His life before his death was a mor 
 tal life, a temporal life ; but his life after his refurretiou 
 was an eternal life. [Rom. vi. 9.] Knowing that.Chriil 
 v being raifed from the dead, dieth no more ; <leath hath 
 1 no more dominion over him. [Rev. i. 18.] I am he that 
 f liveth and was dead ; and behold I am alive for ever 
 more, 
 
 did) and the other word [Ll DJ] fignifies not always the immortal 
 foul, but the animal frame in general, either living or dead. As 
 to the creed, Bp. Pcarfon has (hewn, that this article was firft in 
 fer! ed to exprefs the burial of Chrift, although afterwards, when 
 that claufe was added, this was explained of his foul. [See Bp. 
 Ptarfon on the Creed, and Fatilke on the Rhemifh Teftament, 
 chap, vii.] [G. E.]
 
 374 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 1 more, Amen.* But he was put in pofleffion of this eter 
 nal life, as the head of the body ; and took poffefllon of 
 it, not only to enjoy it himfelf, but beftow the fame on 
 all who believe in him ; fo that the whole church, as it 
 were, rifes in him. 
 
 The refurre&ion of Chrift is the moft joyful event that 
 ever came to pafs ; becaufe hereby Chrift retted from 
 che great and difficult work of purchafmg redemption, 
 nnd received God s teftimony, that it was finifhed. (c) 
 The death of Chrift was full of pain and forrow; by 
 his refurre&ion that ibrrow is turned into joy. The head 
 of the church, in that great event, enters on the pofTef- 
 fion of eternal life ; and the whole church is, as it were, 
 
 * begotten again to a lively hope. [i Pet. i. 3.] Weep 
 ing had continued for a night, but now joy cometh in 
 the morning, the moft joyful morning that ever was. 
 This is the day of the reigning of the head of the 
 church, and all the church reigns with him. This is 
 fpoken of as a day which was worthy to be commemo 
 rated with the greareft joy of all days. [Pfal. cxviii. 24.] 
 * This is the day which die Lord hath made, we will re- 
 
 joice 
 
 (c) ChriJTs Refurredlon JOYFUL.] " Was ever joy more ra 
 tional? Was ever triumph more glorious? The triumphant en 
 tries of conquerors, the fongs that rend the air in praife of their 
 victories, the pyramids on which their exploits are tranfmitted to 
 poflerity, when they have fubducd an enemy, routed an army, 
 humbled the pride, and repreffed the rage of a foe ; ought not 
 all thefe to yield to the joys that are occafioned by the event 
 which we celebrate to-day? Ought oot all thefe to yield to the 
 vi&ories of our incomparable Lord, and to his people s expreflion 
 of praife ? One part of the gratitude which is due to beneficial 
 events, is to know their value, and to be affected with the bene 
 fits they procure. Let us celebrate the praife of the author of 
 our redemption, my brethren ; let us call heaven and earth to 
 witnefs our gratitude. Let an increafe of zeal accompany this 
 part of our engagements. Let a double portion of fire from 
 heaven kindle our facrifices, and, with a heart penetrated with 
 the livelieft gratitude and with the moft ardent love, let each 
 Chriftian exclaim, * Blefled be the God and Father of my Lord 
 
 * Jefus Chrift, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath be- 
 gotten me again to a lively hope by the refurrettlon of Jefu& 
 
 * Chrifl. from the dead." [S-iVRiu s Sermons, vol. ii. Ser. 8.]
 
 f 
 
 CHRIST CAPACITATED TOR HIS WORK. 375 
 
 joicc and be glad in it. And, therefore, this is ap 
 pointed for the day of the church s fpiritual rejoicing to 
 the end of the world, to be weekly fan6tified, as their day 
 of holy reft and joy, that the church therein may reft and 
 rejoice with her head. And as the iiid. chap, of Genefts is 
 the moft forrowful chapter in the Bible, fo thole chapters 
 in the evangelifts that give an account of the refurre6tion 
 of Chrift, may be looked upon as the moft joyful ; for 
 they give an account of the finifhing of the purchafe or 
 redemption, and the beginning of the glory of the head 
 of the church, as a feal and earneft of the eternal glory of 
 all the members. 
 
 It is farther to be obferved, that the day of the gofpel 
 moft properly begins with the refurre&ion of Chrift.- 
 Till Chrift arofe from the dead, the Old Teftament difpen- 
 fation remained: but now it ceafes, all being fulfilled that 
 was fhadowed forth in the typical ordinances of that dif- 
 penfation: fo that here moft properly is the end of the 
 Old Teftament night, and Chrift rifmg from the grave 
 with joy and glory, as the joyful bridegroom of the church, 
 as a glorious conqueror to fubdue their enemies under 
 their feet, was like the fun rifmg as it were from under 
 the earth, after a long night of darknefs, and coming forth 
 as a bridegroom, prepared as a ftrong man to run his race, 
 appearing in joyful light to enlighten the world. [Pfal. 
 xix.] Now that glorious difpenfation begins, which the 
 prophets fo long foretold, now the gofpel fun is rifen in 
 glory, * and with healing in his wings, that thofe who tear 
 * God s name may go forth, and grow up as calves of 
 the ftall. [Mai. iv. 2.] 
 
 2. Chrift s afcenjion into heaven. In this I would 
 include his fitting at the right hand of God. For Chrift s 
 afceniion, and fitting at the right hand of God, can fcarce- 
 ly be looked upon as two diftincl: things: for his afceniion 
 was nothing elfe but afcending to God s right hand ; it was 
 his coining to fit down at his Father s right hand in glory. 
 This was another thing whereby Chrift was put into a 
 capacity for the accompliming the effect of his purchase : 
 as one that comes to deliver a people as their king,
 
 376 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in order to it, and that he might be under the beft capa 
 citv for it, is rirft enthroned. We are told, that Chrifr 
 was exalted for this end, that he might accomplim. the 
 fuccefs of his redemption. [A6h v. 31.] Him hath God 
 exalted with his right hand, for to give repentance unto 
 4 Ifrael, and the remiflion of fins. 
 
 Chrift s afcenfion into heaven was, as it were, his folemn 
 coronation, whereby the Father did fet him upon thf 
 throne, and invefl him with the glory of his kingdom 
 which he had purchnfed for himfelf, that he might there 
 by obtain the fuccefs of his redemption in conquering all 
 his enemies: [Pfal. ex. i.] Sit thou at my right hand, 
 * until I make thine enemies thy footftool. Chrift enter 
 ed into heaven, in order to obtain the fuccefs of his pur- 
 chafe, as the high prieft of old, after he had offered facri- 
 rlce, entered into the holy of holies with the blood of the 
 facrifice, in order to obtain the fuccefs of the facrifiee 
 which he had offered. [See Heb. ix 12.] He" entered into 
 heaven, there to make interceffion for his people, to 
 plead the facrifice which he had made in order to the fuc 
 cefs of it. [Heb. vii. 25.] And as he afcended into 
 heaven, God the Father did in a vifible manner fet him 
 on the throne as king of the univerfe. He then put the 
 angels all under him, and fubjected heaven and earth un 
 der him, that he might govern them for the good of the 
 people for whom he had died. [Eph. i. 20 22.] And 
 ,as Chrift rofe from the dead, fo he afcended into heaven 
 as the head of the body and forerunner of all the church ; 
 and fo they, as it were, afcend with him, as well as rile 
 with him ; fo that we are both raifed up together, and 
 made to fit together in heavenly places in Chrift. [Eph. 
 ii. 6 ] 
 
 The day of Chrift s afcenfion into heaven was doubtlefs 
 a joyful glorious day in heaven ; and as heaven received 
 Chrift, God-man, as its king, fo doubtlefs it received a 
 great accefiion ot glory and happinefs, far beyond what it 
 had before: fo that the times in both parts of the church, 
 both that part which is in heaven, and alfo that which 
 is on earth, are become more glorious fince Chrift s humi- 
 
 liatior
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 377 
 
 lution than before.- So much for thofe things whereby 
 Chrirt was put into the belt capacity for obtaining the fuc- 
 cefs of redemption. 
 
 *i / . 
 
 II. DISPENSATIONS OF PROVIDENCE BY WHICH 
 
 THIS SUCCESS WAS ESTABLISHED, 
 
 I WOULD confider thofe difpenfations of Providence, 
 by which the means of this fuccefs were eftablifhed after 
 Chrift s refurre&ion. And thefe were, 
 
 i. The abolishing of the Jewifh difpenfation. This in 
 deed was gradually done, but it began from the time of 
 Chrift s refurreclion, in which the abolition of it is found 
 ed. This was the firft thing done towards bringing the 
 former ftate of the world to an end. This is to be looked 
 upon as the great means of the fuccefs of Chrift s redemp 
 tion. For the Jewijh difpenfation was not fitted for more 
 than that one nation ; nor would it have been in any wife 
 practicable by them in all parts of the world to go to Je- 
 rufalem three times a year, as was prefcribed in that con- 
 ftitution. When therefore God had a defign of enlarging 
 his church, as he did after Chrift s refurrecvh on, it was 
 neceflary that this difpenfation fhould be aboliihed. If it 
 had been continued, it would have been a great hindrance 
 to the enlargement of the church. And befides, their ce 
 remonial law, by reafon of its burdenfomenefs, and the 
 great peculiarity of fome of its rites, was as it were a wall 
 of partition, and was the ground of enmity , between the 
 Jews and Gentiles, and would have kept the Gentiles from 
 complying with the true religion. This wall therefore 
 was broken down to make way for the more extenfive fuc 
 cefs of the gofpel. [Eph. ii. 14, 15.] 
 
 2. The next thing in order of time feems to be the ap 
 pointment of the Chriftian fabbath. For though this was 
 gradually eftablimed in the Chriftian church, yet thofe 
 things by which the revelation of God s mind and will was 
 made, began on the day of Chrift s refurreclion, by his 
 appearing then to his difciples, [John xx. 19.] and was 
 afterwards confirmed by his appearing from time to time 
 
 3 C on
 
 378 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 on that day rather than any other, [John xx. 26.] and by 
 his fending down the Holy Spirit fo remarkably on that 
 day, [A&s ii. i.] and afterwards in directing that public 
 afiemblies and the public worfhip of Chriftians mould be 
 on that day, which may be concluded from A6b xx. 7. 
 i Cor. xvi. 1,2. and Rev. i. 10. And fo the day of the 
 week on which Chrift rofe from the dead, that joyful day, 
 is appointed to be the day of the church s holy rejoicing to 
 the end of the world, and the day of their Hated pxiblic 
 \vorfhip. (D) And this is a very great and principal means 
 of the fuccefs which the gofpel has had in the world. 
 
 3. The next thing was Chrift s appointment of the gof 
 pel miniftry, and commiffioning and fending forth his 
 apoftles to teach and baptize all nations. [Matt, xxviii. 
 19, 2O- ] Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz- 
 ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghoft ; teaching them to obfervc all things 
 whatfoever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with 
 * you alway, even unto the end of the world. There 
 were three things done by this one inftrution and com- 
 miffion of Chrift to his apoftles, viz. 
 
 (i.) The appointment of the office of the gofpel mi 
 niftry. For this cornmiflion which Chrift gives to his 
 apoftles, in the moft eflential parts of it, belongs to all 
 minifters ; and the apoftles, by virtue of it, were minif- 
 ters or elders of the univerfal church. 
 
 (2.) Here is fomething peculiar in this commiffion of 
 the apoftles, viz. to go forth from one nation to another, 
 
 preaching 
 
 (D) Chrift changed the SABBATH.] " If the day on which he 
 rofe from the dead, be the day which is called the Lord s ; if on 
 the firft day of the week the primitive Chriftians, even in the 
 apoftolic times, did aflemble for religious purpofes ; did hear the 
 word; did celebtate the fupper ; did lay by them in ftore, as 
 God had profpered them ; {hall we not conclude, that it is the 
 will of God that now the feventh day fhall give place unto the 
 firft ? Hereby is intimated to you, Chriftians, that ye are not firft 
 to work, and then to reft, as under the ancient covenant of works, 
 but that, in the order of the new covenant, your privilege precedes 
 your duty, and your labour follows after your reft." [M EwEN o 
 E flays, vol. i. p. 295.]
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 379 
 
 preaching the gofpel in all the world. The apoftles had 
 fomething above what belonged to their ordinary chara&er 
 as mrnifters ; they had an extraordinary power in teaching 
 and ruling, which extended to all the churches in the end 
 of the world. And fo the apoftles were, in fubordination 
 to Chrift, made foundations of the Chriftian church. [See 
 Eph. ii. 20. and Rev. xxi. 14.] 
 
 (3.) Here is an appointment of Chriftian baptifm. This 
 ordinance indeed had a beginning before : John the Baptift 
 and Chrift both baptized. But now efpecially by this in- 
 ftitution it is eftablifhed as an ordinance to be upheld in the 
 Chriftian church to the end of the world. The ordinance 
 of the Lord s fupper was eftabliihed juft before Chrift s 
 crucifixion. 
 
 4. The next thing to be obferved, is the enduing the 
 npoftles, and others, with the extraordinary and miracu 
 lous gifts of the Holy Ghoft ; fuch as the gift of tongues, 
 the gift of healing, of prophecy, &c. The Spirit of God 
 was poured out in great abundance in this refpect : fo that 
 not only minifters, but a great number of Chriftians through 
 the world, were endued with them, both old and young ; 
 not only officers, and more honourable perfons, but the 
 meaner fort of people, fervants and handmaids, agreeable 
 to Joel s prophecy, [ch. ii. 28, 29-] of which the apoftle 
 Peter takes notice, that it is accomplifhed in this difpen- 
 fation. [Ars ii. n.] 
 
 How wonderful a difpenfation was this ! Under the Old 
 Teftament, but few had fuch honours put upon them by 
 God. Mofes wimed that all the Lord s people were pro 
 phets, [Numb. xi. 2729.] whereas Jomua thought it 
 much that Eldad and Medad propheiied : but now we find 
 the wiih of Mofes fulfilled. And this continued in a very 
 confiderable degree to the end of the apoftolic age, or the 
 firft hundred years after the birth of Chrift, which is there 
 fore called the age of miracles. 
 
 This was a great means of the fuccefs of the gofpel in 
 that age, and ot eftablifliing the Chriftian church in all 
 parts of the world ; and not only in that age, but in all 
 
 3 C 2 ages
 
 380 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ages to the end of the world: (E) for Chriilianity being 
 by this means eftablifhed through fo great a part of the 
 known world by miracles, it was after that more eafily 
 continued by tradition ; and then, by means of thefe extra 
 ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghoir., the apoftles, and others, 
 were enabled to write the New Teftament, to be an in 
 fallible rule of faith and manners to the church to the end 
 of the world. Furthermore, thefe miracles (land recorded 
 in thofe writings as a fhnding proof and evidence of the 
 truth of the Chriftian religion to all ages. 
 
 5. The next thing I would obferve is the revealing thofe 
 glorious dofirincs of the gofpel more fully and plainly, 
 which had under the Old Teftament been obfcurely re 
 vealed. The doctrine of Chrift s fatisfa6lion and righte- 
 oufnefs, his afcenfion and glory, and the way of falvation, 
 under the Old Teftament, were in a great meafure hid 
 tinder the vail of types and lhadows, and more obfcure 
 revelations, as Mofes put a vail on his face to hide the 
 fhining of it : but now the vail of the temple is rent from 
 the top to the bottom ; and Chrift, the antitype of Mofes, 
 ihines : the fnining of his face is without a vail ; [2 Cor. 
 iii. 12, 13, and 18.] Now thcfc glorious myftcries arc 
 plainly revealed, which were in a great meafure kept fee ret 
 
 from 
 
 (E) Chri/lianity eflaUiJbe d by MIRACLES.] " Imagine thefe ve 
 nerable men addrcfung their adverfaries on the day of the Chriftian 
 pentecoft in this language, Ye refufe to believe us on our depo- 
 fitions ; five hundred of us ye think are enthufiafls ; . . . . or pcr- 
 
 * haps ye think us impoftors, or take us for madmen But 
 
 * bring out your fick ; prefent your demoniacs ; fetch hither your 
 
 * dead Let all nations fend us fome of their inhabitants ; 
 
 we will reftore hearing to the deaf, and fight to the blind ; we 
 will make the lame walk ; we will caft out devils, and raife the 
 
 * dead. We, we publicans, we illiterate men, we tent-makers, 
 \ve fifhermen, we will difcourfe with all the people of the world 
 
 * in their own languages. We will explain prophecies, 
 
 * develop the moft fublime myfteries, teach you notions of God, 
 
 * precepts for the conduft of life, plans of morality and religion, 
 
 * more extenfive, more fublime, and more advantageous, than 
 tnofe of your priefts and philofophers, yea, than thole oi Mofes 
 himfelf. We will do more ftill ; we will communicate thofe gift 1 ; 
 4 to you." [SAURIN S Sermons, vol. ii. Sei. 8.]
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 381 
 
 from the foundation of the world. [Eph. iii. 35. Rom. 
 xvi.25-] According to the revelations of the myftery 
 
 * which was kept fecret fmce the world began, but is now 
 
 * made man i fell:. [Col. i. 26.] Even the myftery which 
 hath been hid from ages, and generations, but now is 
 made manifeft to his faints. 
 
 Thus the Sun of righteoufnefs, after it is rifen from 
 under the earth, begins to fhine forth clearly, and not 
 only by a dim reflection as it did before. Chrift before 
 his death revealed many things more clearly than ever 
 they had been difcovcred in the Old Teftament ; but the 
 great myfteries of Chrift s redemption, reconciliation by 
 his death, and juftification by his righteoufnefs, were not 
 fo plainly revealed before Chrift s refurrecl:ion. Chrift 
 gave this reafon for it, that he would not put new wine 
 into old bottles : and it was gradually done after his re- 
 furrec"lion. In ail likelihood, Chrift much more clearly 
 inftrured them perfonally after his refurre&ion, and be 
 fore his afcenfion ; as we read that he continued with them 
 forty days, fpeaking of the things pertaining to the king 
 dom, [Acts i. 3.] and that he opened their underftand- 
 
 * ing, that they might underiland the fcriptures. [Luke 
 xxiv. 45.] But the clear revelation of thefe things was 
 principally after the pouring out of the Spirit on the day 
 of Pentecoft, agreeable to Chrift s promife. [John xvi. 
 12, 13.] I have yet many things to fay unto you, but ye 
 
 * cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when the Spirit of 
 truth is come, he fhall guide you into all truth. This 
 clear revelation of the myfteries of the gofpel, as they are 
 delivered, we have chiefly through the hands of the apof- 
 tle Paul, by whofe writings a child may come to know 
 more of the doctrines of the gofpel, in many refpe&s, than 
 the greateft prophets kne*vv under the darknefs of the Old 
 Teftament. Thus you fee how the light of the gofpel, 
 which began to dawn immediately after the fall, and gra 
 dually grew and increafed through all the ages of the Old 
 Teftament, is now come to the light of perfedl day, and 
 the brightnefs of the fun fnining forth in his unvailed 
 glory. 
 
 6. The
 
 382 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 6. The next thing that I would obferve, is the appoint 
 ment of the office of deacons in the Chriftian church, which 
 we have an account of in the vith chap, of the Acts, to 
 take care for the outward fupply of the members of Chrift s 
 church ; and the exercife of that great chriftian virtue, 
 charity. (F) 
 
 7. The calling, qualifying, and fending the apoflle Paul. 
 This was begun in his converfion as he was going to Da- 
 mafcus, and was one of the greateft means of the fuccefs 
 of Chrift s redemption that followed ; for this fuccefs was 
 more by the labours, preaching, and writings of this apof- 
 tle, than all the others put together. For, as he fays, [ i 
 Cor. xv. 10.] he laboured more abundantly than they 
 * all ; fo alfo his fuccefs was more abundant. As he was 
 the apoflle of the Gentiles, fo it was principally by his 
 miniftry that the Gentiles were called, and the gofpel 
 fpread throughout the world ; and the nations of Europe 
 have the gofpel among them chiefly through his means ; 
 and he was more employed by the Holy Ghoft in revealing 
 
 its 
 
 (F) DEACONS appointed^ " It is generally allowed by inqui 
 rers into thefe fubjefts, that in the primitive church there were 
 deaconeffes, i. e. pious women, whofe particular bufinefs it was 
 to afiift in the entertainment and care of the itinerant. preachers ; 
 vifit the fick and imprifoned, inllruft female catechumens, and 
 afiift at their baptifm ; then more particularly necefiary from the 
 peculiar cuftoms of thofe countries, the perfecuted ftate of the 
 church, and the fpeedier fpreading of the gofpel. Such a one 
 it is reafonable to think Phelie was, [[mentioned Rom. xvi. i.J 
 who is exprefsly called a dcaconefs, or ftated fervant, as Dr. 
 Doddridge renders it. They were ufually <wldo c wj, and to pre 
 vent fcandal, generally in years, [i Tim. v. 9. See alfo Span- 
 hem. Hift. Chriil Secul. i. p. 554.] The apoftolic conftitutions 
 (as they are called) mention the ordination of a deaconefs, and 
 the form of prayer ufed on that occafion ; [lib. viii. ch. 19, 20.] 
 Pliny alfo, in his celebrated epiftle [xcvii.] to Trajan, is thought 
 to refer to them, when fpeaking of two female Chriftianu, whom 
 he put to the torture, he fays, qua muuffra dicebantur, i. e. who 
 were called deaconeflcs. But as the primitive Chrjftians feem to 
 be led to this practice from the peculiarity of their circumftances, 
 and the fcripture is entirely filent as to any appointment to this 
 fuppofed office, or any rules about it, it is, I think, very juftly 
 laidafide, at leaft as an office." [D. TURNER S Social Religion, 
 p. 85, 8(5.]
 
 IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 383 
 
 its glorious doctrines in his writings, for the ufe of the 
 church in all ages, than all the other apoftles. 
 
 8. The next thing I would obferve, is the inftitution of 
 ecclefiaftical councils, for deciding controversies, and order 
 ing the affairs of the church of Chrift, of which we have 
 an account in the xvth chap, of the Acts, (c) 
 
 9. The laft thing I ihall mention under this head, is 
 the committing the New Teltament to writing. This 
 was all written after the refurre6lion of Chrift ; and all 
 written, either by the apoftles, or by the evangelifts Mark 
 and Luke, who were companions of the apoftles. The 
 gofpel of Mark is fuppofed to be written by that Mark 
 whofe mother was Mary, in whofe houfe they were pray 
 ing for Peter, when he, (brought out of prifon by the 
 angel,) came and knocked at the door; [Ah xii. 12.] 
 And when he had confidered the thing, he came to the 
 
 houfe 
 
 (G) The origin of COUNCILS.] Who can help admiring the 
 primitive inftitution of councils, and at the fame time deploring 
 the abufe of them in after ages ? While they were afiemblies of 
 excellent and apoftolical men, who met to confult and advife with 
 one another on the common interefts of Chriftianity, we venerate 
 and efteem them ; but when they degenerated to be tools of ftate, 
 and were compofed of men heated by a fpirit of party, and warped 
 by fecular interefts, who mowed their piety only in afpiring to 
 feats of temporal power, and their zeal in excommunicating and 
 perfecuting each other ; then they became objefts only of pity 
 and contempt. Yet (fuch is the courfe of human affairs) as they 
 funk in value, they rofc in authority, and when they grew carnal 
 and vicious, were judged infallible and divine ! It would be tedi 
 ous to enumerate the multitude of councils which aflembled as 
 foou as the hand of persecution permitted ; and to point out their 
 contradictions and abfurdities would feem a fatire on the Chriftian 
 faith. " But the four firft general councils are received by all 
 Proteftants, &c. Received, how ? Not by any in their wits, as 
 the rule of faith, or part of it. They have in them fome things 
 true, fome things probable only, and no queltion, fome things 
 falfe ; and whether they be true or falfe,(in points of faith, I mean) 
 fcripture muft determine. Well, this is the Chriftian s, the Pro- 
 teftant s rule of faith ! . . . . It was departing from this rule, and 
 fetting up an exorbitant power in the church, and the paftors of 
 it, .... that led on the great apoftafy, and helped up antichrift 
 to his throne." [BE NNKT S Mem. of the Reform, p. 8.]
 
 584 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 4 houfe of the mother of John, whofe firnamc was Mark, 
 1 where many were gathered together praying. He was 
 the companion of the apoftles Barnabas and Saul. [A6ts 
 xv. 37.] And Barnabas determined to take with them 
 
 * John, whofe firname was Mark. He was Barnabas s 
 fifter s fon, and feems fometime to have been a com 
 panion of the apoftle Paul. [Col. iv. 10.] Ariftarchus, 
 my fellow prifoner, faluteth you, and Marcus, lifter s fon 
 
 * to Barnabas ; touching whom ye received commandment: 
 
 * if he come unto you receive him. The apoftles feem 
 to have made great account of him, as appears by thofe 
 places, and alfo by A6ts xii. 25. And Barnabas and Saul 
 returned from Jerufalem, and took with them John, 
 
 * whofe iirname was Mark-? and [A6h xii. 5.] * When 
 
 * they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in 
 the fynagogues of the Jews ; and they had alfo John to 
 
 * their minifter ; again [Tim. iv. n.] Only Luke is 
 
 * with me : take Mark and bring him with thee ; for he is 
 t profitable to me for the miniftry. 
 
 Luke, who wrote the gofpel of Luke and the book of 
 A6ts, was a companion of the apoftle Paul. He is fpo- 
 ken of as being with him in the la-ft-mentioned place, and 
 fpeaks of himfelf as accompanying him in his travels in 
 the hiftory of the Acts ; and therefore he fpeaks in the rirft 
 perfon plural, We went to fuch and fuch a place. He 
 was greatly beloved by the apoftle Paul : he is that be 
 loved phyfician fpoken of, Col. iv. 14. The apoftle ranks 
 Mark and Luke among his fellow labourers. [Philemon, 
 24.] Marcus, Ariftarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow 
 labourers. 
 
 The reft of the books were all written by die apoftles 
 theinfelves. The books of the New Teftament are either 
 hiftorical, doctrinal, or prophetical. The hiftorical books 
 are the writings of the four evangelifts, giving us the hif 
 tory of Chrift, and his purchafe of redemption, with his 
 refurredtion and afcenfion : and the Acts of the Apoftles, 
 giving an account of the great things by which the Chrif- 
 tian church was iirft eftablifhed and propagated. The 
 al books are the epiftles. Thele, moft of them, 
 
 we
 
 JN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 385 
 
 \vc have from the great apoftle Paul. And we have one 
 prophetical book, which takes place after the end of the 
 hiftory of the whole Bible, and gives an account of the 
 great events by which the work of redemption was to be 
 carried on to the end of the world 
 
 All thefe books are fuppofed to have been written before 
 the deftrudtion of Jerufalem, excepting thofe of John, who 
 lived the longeft of all the apoftles, and wrote, as is fup 
 pofed after the deftruction of Jerufalem. And to this be 
 loved difciple it was that Chrift revealed thofe wonderful 
 things which were to come to pafs in his church to the end 
 of time ; and .he put the finifhing hand to the canon of the 
 fcriptures, and fcaled the whole of it. So that now that 
 great and (landing written rule,. which was begun about 
 Mofes s time, was completed and fettled, and a curfe de 
 nounced againft him that adds any thing to it, or dimmilhes 
 ny thing from it. All the ftated means of grace were 
 finifhed in the apoftolical age, and are to remain unaltered 
 to the day of judgment. (H) Thus far we have confulered 
 thofe things by which the means of grace were given and 
 
 eftablimed in the Chriftian church. 
 
 
 
 III. THE 
 
 (H) The NEW TESTAMENT iuntten.~\ It may not be unac 
 ceptable to our readers to prefent them with the following fcheme, 
 from the beft authorities, of the order in which the New Tefta- 
 ment was written, with the authors and dates of each book. 
 
 THE GOSPELS according to Dr. OWEN. 
 St. Matthew s, at Jerufalem, about A. D. 38. 
 
 St. Luke s, . at Corinth, . 53. 
 
 St. Mark s, at Rome, 63. 
 
 St. John s, at Ephefus, 69. 
 
 THE ACTS. 
 
 By St. Luke, at Rome or Alexandria, 63. 
 
 
 
 
 St. PAUL S EPIST 
 I. Theflalonians, 
 II. Theflalonians, 
 Galatians, 
 I. Corinthians, 
 I. Timothy, 
 Titus 
 
 LES according to 
 at Corinth, 
 Ditto, 
 at Corinth, 
 at Ephefus, 
 at Macedonia, 
 Ditto, 
 Ditto, 
 at Corinth. 
 3 D 
 
 Dr. LARDNER. 
 
 52- 
 
 C 2. 
 52. 
 5 6. 
 5 6. 
 rf. 
 
 
 3 U< 
 
 p fj 
 
 
 D / 
 
 - c8 
 
 
 , 0. 
 
 Ephe-
 
 3 S6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 . 
 III. THE SUCCESS OF CHRIST S REDEMPTION DUR 
 
 ING THE SUFFERING STATE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 W E now come to confider the fuccefs of Chriil s re 
 demption during the church s differing perfecuted ftnte, 
 from the refurre&ion of Chrift to the fait of antichrist. 
 This ( pace of time, for the moft part, is a ftate of tin- 
 church s furTerings, and is fo reprefented in fcripture. In 
 deed God is pleafed, out of love and pity to his elect, to 
 2;rant many intcrmifiions during this time, whereby the 
 days of tribulation are as it were fliortened. But from 
 Chrift s refurre&ion till the fall of antichrift, is the ap 
 pointed day of Zion s troubles. For the firft three hun 
 dred years after Clirift, the church was for the moft part 
 in a ftate of great affliction, the object of reproach and 
 perfecution ; firft by the Jews, and then by the heathen. 
 After this, from the beginning of Conftantine s time, the 
 church had reft and profperity for a little while ; which is 
 reprefented [Rev. vii. i.] by the angel s holding the four 
 winds for a little while. But prefently after, the church 
 again fuffcred perfecution from the Arians ; then antichrift 
 rofe, and the church was driven away into the wildernefs, 
 and v/ns kept down in obfcurity, and contempt, and fuffer- 
 ing, for a long time, before the reformation by Luther 
 
 and 
 
 Ephefians, 
 II. Timothy, 
 Philippians, 
 Coloffians, 
 Philemon, 
 Hebrews, 
 
 GENERAL 
 St. James, 
 I. Peter, 
 II. Peter, 
 
 Tnrlr 
 
 at Rome, abont A. D. 
 Ditto, - 
 Ditto, 
 Ditto, 
 Ditto, 
 at Rome or in Italy, 
 
 EPISTLES according to LARDNE* 
 at Judea, 
 at Rome, 
 
 Ditto .... 
 
 61. 
 61. 
 
 62. 
 62. 
 62. 
 63- 
 
 61 
 64. 
 64. 
 
 f\A I 
 
 
 . 
 I. II. and III. John, at Ephefus, between 80 & 90^ 
 
 REVELATION. % 
 
 By St. John, at Patmos or Ephefus, 95 or 96. 
 
 [See Dr. Oowz s Obfcrv. on the Gofpel s ; and Lardner s Credi 
 bility, vol. i. & fup.]
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 387 
 
 and others. And fince the reformation, the church s per- 
 iecutions have been, in fbme refpe6ls, beyond all that ever 
 were before. And though fome parts of God s church 
 have had reft, yet to this day, for the moft part, the true 
 church is very much kept under by its enemies, and fo we 
 may cxpecl: it will continue till the fall of antichrift ; and 
 then will come the appointed day of the church s profpe- 
 rity on earth, the fet time in which God will favour Zion, 
 the time when the faints fhall not be kept under by wicked 
 men, as hitherto ; but wherein they fhall be uppermoft, 
 and mall reign on earth, as it is faid, [Dan. vii. 27.] And 
 the kingdom ihall be given to the people of the faints of 
 the moft High. 
 
 This fuffering fta te is in fcripture [Rev. xii. i, 2.J 
 reprefented as a time of the church s travail, to bring 
 forth that glory and profperity of the church which ihall 
 be after the fall of antichrift. This is a long time though 
 it be fpoken of as being but for a little fcafon, in com- 
 parifon of the eternal profperity of the church. Hence 
 the church, under the long continuance of this affliction, 
 cries out, [Rev. vi. 10.] How long, O Lord, holy and 
 
 * true, doft thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
 that dwell on the earth ? And we are told, that white 
 robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was 
 faid unto them, that they mould reft yet for a little fea- 
 
 * fon, until their fellow fervants alfo, and their brethren, 
 
 * that mould be killed as they were, fiiould be fulfilled. 
 So, Daniel [xii. 6.] How long fliall it be to the end of 
 
 * thefe wonders ? 
 
 It is to be obferved, that during this time the main in- 
 ftrument of the church s fufferings has been the Roman 
 government : Rome is therefore, in the New Tcftament, 
 [Rev. xvii. 5.] called Babylon ; becaufe, as of old the. trou 
 bles of Jerufalem were chiefly from that adverfe city ; fo 
 the troubles of the Chriftian church, the fpiritual Jeru- 
 falein, are principally from Rome. Before the time of 
 Conilantine, the troubles of the Chriftian church were 
 from heathen Rome ; fince that time, from antichriftian 
 Rome. And as of old, the captivity of the Jews ceafe4 
 
 3 D 2 on
 
 388 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 on the deftrudb on of Babylon, fo the time of the trouble 
 of the Chriftian church will ceafe with the deftrudtion ot 
 the church of Rome, that fpiritual Babylon. 
 
 In conhdering the fuccefs of Chrift s redemption dur 
 ing this time of the church s tribulation, I would {how, 
 i. How it was carried on till the deftruction of Jerufa- 
 lem, 2. From thence to the deftru6lion of the heathen 
 empire in the time of Conftantine, - and, 3. From that 
 time to the deftru&ion of antichrift, with which the day.; 
 of the church s tribulation and travail end. 
 
 I. I would fhow how the fuccefs of Chrift s redemption 
 was carried on from his refurreilion to the deftru6tion of 
 Jerufalem. In fpeaking of this, I fhall, (i-) take notice 
 of the fuccefs itfelf; (2.) the oppofition made againft its 
 enemies; and, (3.) the terrible judgments of God on thofe 
 enemies. 
 
 (i.) I would obferve the fuccefs itfelf. Soon after 
 Chrift had rinifhed the purchafc of redemption, and had 
 entered into the holy of holies above with his own blood, 
 there began a glorious fuccefs of what he had done and 
 fnfTered. Having undermined the foundation of Satan s 
 kingdom, it began to fall apace. Swiftly did it haften to 
 ruin ; and Satan might now well be faid to fall like light 
 ning from heaven. Satan before had exalted his throne- 
 very high, even to the ftars of heaven, reigning with 
 great glory in his heathen Roman empire : but never be 
 fore had he fuch a downfal as he had foon after Chrift s 
 afcenlion. We may iuppofe him to have been very lately 
 triumphing in having brought about the death of Chrift, 
 as the greateft vilory that ever he had ; and poflibly ima 
 gined he had gained God s delign by him. But he was 
 quickly made fenfible, that he had only been ruining his 
 own kingdom, when he faw it falling fo fall foon after. 
 For Chrift, having afcended, and received the Holy Spirit, 
 poured it forth abundantly for die converfion of thoufands 
 and millions of fouls. 
 
 Never had Chrift s kingdom been fo advanced in the 
 
 o 
 
 world. There probably were more fouls converted in 
 
 the
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 389 
 
 the age of the apoftles than had been before from the be 
 ginning of the world. Thus God fofoon began glorioufly 
 ro accomplifh his promife to his Son, viz. that he fhould 
 1 fee his feed, and that the pleafure of the Lord fhould 
 profper in his hand, if he would make his foul an ofFer- 
 ing for fin. [Ifa. liii. 10.] And, 
 
 [i.] Here is to be obferved the fuccefs which the 
 gofpel had among the Jews ; for God firft began with 
 them. He being about to reject the main body of that 
 people, firft calls in his cleft from among them. It was 
 fo in former great and dreadful judgments of God on 
 that nation ; the bulk of them were deftroyed, and only 
 a remnant faved, or reformed. In the rejection of the 
 ten tribes, the bulk of them were caft off, when they left 
 the true worfhip of God in Jeroboam s time, and after 
 wards more fully in Ahab s ; but yet God had referved a 
 remnant. Many left their poffeffions in thefe tribes, and 
 went and fettled in thole of Judah and Benjamin. And 
 afterwards there were feven thoufand in Ahab s time, 
 who had not ^>owed the knee to Baal. In the captivity 
 into Babylon, only a remnant of them ever returned to 
 their own land. So now far the greater part of the people 
 were rejedled entirely, but fome few were faved. And 
 therefore the Holy Ghoft compares this refervation of a 
 number that were converted by the preaching of the apof- 
 tles, to thofe former remnants : [Rom. xi. 27.] Efaias 
 * alfo crierh concerning Ifrael, though the number of the 
 , children be as the fand of the fea, a remnant fliall be 
 faved. [See Ifa x. 22.] 
 
 The glorious fuccefs of the gofpel among the Jews 
 after Chrift s afcenfion, began by the pouring out of the 
 Spirit on the day of Pentecoft. So wonderful was this 
 pouring out of the Spirit, and fo remarkable and fwift 
 the effect of it, that we read of three thoufand who were 
 converted to the Chriftian faith in one day, [ A6b ii. 41.] 
 and probably the greater part of them were favingly 
 converted. We read [ver. 47.] of God s adding to the 
 church daily ,fuch as fhould be faved. And foon after, 
 we are told, that the number of them was about five 
 
 thoufand.
 
 390 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 thoufand. Not only was there a multitude converted, 
 but the church was then eminent in piety, as appears by 
 A6ls ii. 46, 47. ; iv. 32. 
 
 Thus the Chriftian church was nrfl formed of the na 
 tion of Ifrael, and therefore, when the Gentiles were 
 called, they were but, as it were, added to Ifrael, to the 
 feed of Abraham. They were added to the Chriftian 
 church of Ifrael, as the profelytes of old were to the Mo- 
 faic church ; and fo were grafted on the flock of Abra 
 ham, and not a diftin6t tree ; for they are all ftill the feed 
 of Abraham and Ifrael ; as Ruth the Moabitefs, and Uriah 
 the Hittite, and other profelytes of old, were the fame 
 people, and ranked as the feed of Ifrael. 
 
 The Chriftian church at firft begun at Jerufalem, and 
 from thence was propagated to all nations ; fo that this 
 church of Jerufalem was as it were the mother of all 
 other churches in the world ; agreeable to the prophe 
 cy, [Ifa. ii. 3, 4.] Out of Zion mall go forth the law, 
 
 * and the word of the Lord from Jerufalem : and he 
 
 * fhall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people. 
 So that the whole church is ftill fpiritually God s Jerufa 
 lem. 
 
 After this, we read of many thoufand of Jews that 
 believed in Jerufalem, [A6h xxi. 20.] in other cities of 
 Judea, and different parts of the world. For wherever the 
 apoftles went, if they found any Jews, their manner was, 
 firft to go into tbe fynagogues and preach the gofpel to 
 them, and many in one place and another believed ; as in 
 Damafcus, Antioch, &c. 
 
 In this out-pouring of the Spirit begun the firft grea" 
 difpenfation which is called Chrift s coming in his king 
 dom. Chrift s coming thus in a fpiritual manner for the 
 glorious erection of his kingdom in the world, is repre- 
 iented as his coming down from heaven, whither he had 
 afcendcd. [John xiv. 18.] I will not leave you com- 
 iortlcfs ; I will come unto you, fpeaking of his coratfng 
 by the Comforter, tiie Spirit of truth. And, [ver. 28.] 
 Ye have heard how I fay unto you, I go away, and 
 4 come again unto you. And thus the apoftles began to 
 
 fee
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 391 
 
 fee the kingdom of heaven come with power, as he had 
 promifed. {Mark ix. i.] 
 
 [2.] After the fuccefs of the gofpel had been fo glo- 
 rioufly begun among the Jews, the fpirit of God was next 
 wonderfully poured out on the Samaritans, who were not 
 Jews by nation, but the pofterity of fhofe whom the king 
 of Affyria removed from different parts of his dominions, 
 and fettled in the land that was inhabited by the ten tribes, 
 whom he carried captive. But yet they had received the 
 five books of Mofes and pra6lifed moft of the rites of the 
 law, and fo were a fort of mongrel Jews. We do not 
 find them reckoned as Gentiles in the New Teftament : 
 for the calling of the Gentiles is fpoken of as a new 
 thing after this, beginning with the converfion of Corne 
 lius. But yet it was an inftance of making that a peo 
 ple which were no people : for they had corrupted the 
 religion which Mofes commanded, and did not go up to 
 Jerufalem to worlhip, but had another temple of their own 
 in Mount Gerizzim ; which is the mountain of which 
 the woman of Samaria fpeaks, when flie fays, [John iv. 
 20.] Our fathers worfhipped in this mountain. Chritl 
 there does not approve of their feparation from the Jews, 
 but tells the woman of Samaria, that they wor/hippcd they 
 knew not what, and that falvation is of the Jews. But 
 now falvation is brought from the Jews to them by the 
 preaching of Philip, (excepting that before Chrift had 
 fome luccefs among them), with whofe preaching there 
 was a glorious eflufion of the Spirit of God in the city of 
 Samaria ; where we are told, that the people believed 
 Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of 
 * Chrift, and were baptized, both men and women ; and 
 that there was great joy in that city. [A6lsviii. 812.] 
 
 Thus Chrift had a glorious harveft in Samaria ; which 
 is what he feems to have rcipet to, in what he faid to 
 his difciples at Jacob s well three or four years before, on 
 occafion of the people of Samaria s appearing at a xliftance 
 ; in the fields coming to the place where he was, at the 
 infligation of the woman of Samaria. On that occafion 
 he bids his difciples lift up their eyes to the fields, for thai 
 
 thev
 
 39 2 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. -..- 
 
 they were white to the harveft. [John iv. 35, 36,] The 
 difpofition which the people of Samaria mowed towards 
 Chrift and his gofpel, evidenced that they were ripe for tin 
 harveft. And now harveft is come by Philip s preaching. 
 There ufed to be a moft bitter enmity between the Jews 
 and Samaritans ; but now, by their converfion, the 
 Chriftian Jews and Samaritans are all happily united ; for 
 in Chrift Jefus is neither Jew nor Samaritan, but Chrill 
 is all in all. This was a glorious inftance of the wolf s 
 dwelling with the lamb, and the leopard s lying down with 
 the kid. [Ifa. xi. 6.] 
 
 [3.] The next thing to be obferved, is the calling ot 
 the Gentiles. This was a great and glorious difpenfation 
 much fpoken of in the Old Teftam enf, and by the apoftle* 
 time after time, as a moft glorious event of Chrift s re 
 demption. This was begun in the converfion of Corne 
 lius and his family, greatly to the admiration of Pete; . 
 and of thole who were with him or were informed of it 
 [A6ls x. &xi.] And the next inftance of it that we have 
 any account or, was in the converfion of great numbers c.i 
 Gentiles in Cyprus, and Syrene, and Antioch, by the dii - 
 ciples that were fcattered abroad through the perfecutioi: 
 which arofe about Stephen. [A6ls xi. 1921.] And prc- 
 fently upon this the difciples began to be called Chnftiam 
 iirft at Antioch. [ver. 26.] 
 
 After this, vail multitudes of Gentiles were converted 
 in many different parts of the world, chiefly by the mi- 
 niftry of the apoftle Paul, the Spirit wonderfully accom 
 panying his pleaching in one place and another. Mul 
 titudes flocked into the church of Chrift in a great nunv- 
 der of cities where the apoftle came. So the number of 
 the members of the Chriftian church that were Gentiles.. 
 foon far exceeded the number of its Jewifli members . 
 infomuch that in lefs than ten years time after Paul was 
 lent forth from Antioch to preach to the Gentiles, it was 
 laid of him and his companions, that they had turned the 
 world upfide down. [Acts xvii. 16.] Thefe that have 
 txirned the world upilde down are come hither alfo. 
 But die moil remarkable out-pouring of the Spirit in a 
 
 particular
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 393 
 
 particular city that we have an account of in the New 
 Teftamcnt, feems to be that in the great city of Ephefus. 
 [A&s xix.] There was alfo a very extraordinary in 
 gathering of fouls at Corinth, one of the greateft cities of 
 Greece. And after this many were converted in Rome, 
 then the chief city of the known world ; and the gof- 
 pel was propagated into all parts of the Roman empire. 
 Thus the gofpei fun, which had lately rifen on the Jews, 
 now rofe upon, and began to enlighten, the heathen world 
 after they had continued in grofs darknefs for fo many 
 ages. 
 
 This was a great thing, and fuch as never had been 
 before. All nations but the Jews, and a few who had at 
 one time and another joined with them, had been rejec 
 ted from about Mofes s time. The Gentile world had 
 been covered over with the thick darknefs of idolatry : 
 but now, at the joyful found of the gofpei, they began in 
 all parts to forfakc their old idols, to abhor and caft them 
 to the moles and to the bats, and to learn to woriliip the 
 true God, and truft in his Son Jefus Chrift : and God 
 owned them for his people ; thofe who had fo long been 
 afar off, were made nigh by the blood of Chrirt. Men 
 were changed from being heatheniih and brutifh, to be 
 the children of God ; were called out of Satan s kingdom 
 of darknefs, and brought into God s marvellous light ; 
 and in almoft all countries throughout the known world 
 were aflemblies of the people of God ; joyful praifes were 
 fung to the true God, and Jefus Chrift the Redeemer. 
 Now that great building which God began foon after the 
 fall of man, rifes glorioufly, not as it had done in former 
 ages, but in quite a new manner ; now Daniel s prophe 
 cies concerning the laft kingdom, which fhould fucceed 
 the four heathenim. monarchies, begin to be fulfilled ; 
 now the ftone cut out of the mountains without hands, 
 began to fmite the image on its feet, to break it in pieces, 
 to grow great, and to make great advances towards rilling 
 the earth ; and now God gathers together the ele6l from 
 the four winds of heaven, by the preaching of the apoftles 
 and other miniftcrs, the angels of the Chriflian church 
 
 T** C 
 
 3 E lent
 
 594 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fent forth with the great found of the gofpel trumpet, 
 before the definition of Jerufalem, agreeable to what 
 Chrift had foretold. [Matt. xxiv. 31.] This was the 
 fucccfs of Chrift s purchafe during the firft period of the 
 Chriftian church, which terminated in the deftru&ion of 
 Jerufalem. 
 
 (2.) I would proceed now to take notice of the oppo- 
 fition which was made to this fuccefs by the enemies of 
 it. Satan, who lately was fo ready to triumph and exult, 
 as though he had gained the victory in putting Chrift to 
 death, now finding himfelf falling into the pit which he 
 had digged, and feeing Chrift s kingdom make fuch amaz 
 ing progrefs, as never had been before, we may conclude 
 he was rilled with the greateft confuiion and aftonifhment, 
 And hell feemed to be effectually alarmed by it to make the 
 inoft violent oppofition. And, firft, the devil ftirred up 
 the Jews, who had before crucified Chrift, to perfecute the 
 church : for it is obferveable, that the perfecution which 
 the church fuffercd during this period, was moftly from 
 the Jews. Thus we read in the A6ts, when, at Jerufa 
 lem, the Holy Ghoft was poured out at Pentecoft, IIOAV 
 the Jews mocked, and faid, Thefe men are full of new 
 wine ; and the Scribes and Pharifees, with the captain 
 of- the temple, were alarmed, and beftirred themfelves to 
 oppofe and perfecute the apoftles ; they firft apprehended 
 and threatened them, and afterwards imprifoned and beat 
 them ; breathing out threatenings and flaughter againft 
 the difciples of the Lord, they ftoned Stephen in a tumul 
 tuous rage ; and were not content to perfecute thofe that 
 they could find in Judea, but fent abroad to Damafcus 
 and other places, to perfecute all that they could find every 
 where. Herod, who was chief among them, ftretched 
 forth his hand to vex the church, killed James with the 
 fword, and proceeded to take Peter alfo, and caft him into 
 prifon. [Adh xii. 13.] 
 
 So in other countries, almoft wherever the apoftles 
 came, the Jews oppofed the gofpel in a moft malignant 
 manner, contradicting and blafpheming. How many 
 tilings did the blefled apoftle Paul fuffer at their hands 
 
 in
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 395 
 
 in one place or another ! How violent and blood-thirfty 
 did they /hew themfelves towards him, when he came to 
 bring mercy to his nation ! In this perfccution and cruelty 
 was fulfilled that of Chrift, [Matt, xxiii. 34.] Behold, 
 
 * I fend you prophets, and wife men, and fcribes ; and 
 
 * fome of them ye (hall kill and crucify, and fome of them 
 (hall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and perfecute them 
 
 * from city to city. 
 
 (3.) I proceed to take notice of the judgments which 
 were executed on thofe enemies of Chrift, the perfecuting 
 Jews. 
 
 [i.] The bulk of the people were given up to judicial 
 blindnefs of mind and hardnefs of heart. Chrift de 
 nounced fuch a woe upon them in the days of his flefh ; 
 [Matt. xiii. 14, 15.] and the apoftle Paul repeated it^ 
 [Acts xxviii. 25 27.] and under this curfe, this judicial 
 blindnefs and hardnefs, they remain to this very day, hav 
 ing been fubject to it for about 1700 years, being the moft 
 awful inftance of fuch a judgment, and monuments of 
 God s terrible vengeance, of any people that ever were. 
 That they mould continue from generation to generation 
 fo obftinately to reject Chrift, fo that it is a very rare 
 thing that any one of them is converted to the Chriftian 
 faith, though their own fcriptures of the Old Teftament, 
 which they acknowledge, are fo full of plain teftimonies 
 againft them, is a remarkable evidence of their being 
 dreadfully left of God. 
 
 [2.] They were rejected and caft off from being any 
 longer God s vifible people. They were broken off from 
 tht ftock of Abraham, and fmce that have no more been 
 reputed his feed, than the Immaelites or Edomites, who 
 are as much his natural feed as they are. The greater part 
 of the two tribes were now caft off, as the ten tribes had 
 been before, and another people were taken in their room, 
 sagreeable to the predictions of their own prophets : as of 
 Vlojes, [Dcut. xxxii. 21.] They have moved me to jea- 
 loufy with that which is not God ; they have provoked 
 me to anger with their vanities ; and I will move them 
 to jeaioufy with thofe which are not a people, I will 
 3 E 2 provoke
 
 396 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * provoke them to anger with a foolifh nation; and of 
 Ifaiah, [Ixv. i.] I am fought of them that alked not 
 
 * for me ; I am found of them that fought me not. 
 They were vilibly rejected and caft off, by God s directing 
 his apoftles to turn away from them, and let them alone ; 
 [A6V.S xiii. 46, 47.] Then Paul and Barnabas waxed 
 
 * bold, and faid, It was neceffary that the word of God 
 
 * fhould rirft have been fpoken to you : but feeing ye put 
 
 * it from you, and judge yourfelves unworthy of everlaft- 
 
 * ing life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles ; for fo hath the 
 
 * Lord commanded us. [See alfo A&s xviii. 6. and 
 xxviii. 28.] 
 
 Thus far we have had the fcripture hiftory to guide us ; 
 henceforward we {hall have the guidance only of two 
 things, fcripture prophecy, and human hiftory. 
 
 (3.) The third and laft judgment of God on thofe ene 
 mies of the fuccefs of the gofpel which I fhall mention 
 is the terrible deftru6tion of their city and country by 
 the Romans. They had great warning, and many means 
 were ufed with them before this definition. Firft, John 
 the Baptift warned them, and told them, that the axe 
 was laid at the root of the tree ; and that every tree which 
 ihould not bring forth good fruit, fhould be hewn down 
 and calt into the fire. [Matt. iii. 10.] Then Chrift 
 warned them very particularly, and told them of their 
 approaching deftruftion, and at the thoughts of it wept 
 over them. After Chrift s afcenfion the apoftles abun 
 dantly warned them. But they obftinately went on in 
 their oppofition to Chrift and his church, and in their 
 bitter perfccuting practices. Their malignant perfecution 
 of the apoftle Paul, of which we have an account to 
 wards the end of the Acts of the apoftles, is fuppofed to 
 have been not more than feven or eight years before their 
 deftruct.ion. 
 
 After this God was pleafed to give them another re 
 markable warning by the apoftle Paul, in his epiftle to 
 the Hebrews, which was written, as is fuppofed, about 
 four years before their deftru6tion : wherein the plaineft 
 and cleareft arguments are fet before them from their own 
 
 law,
 
 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 397 
 
 law, and from their prophets, for whom they profefled fuch 
 a regard, to prove that Chrift Jefus muft be the Son of 
 God, and that all their law pointed to him and typified 
 him, and that their Jewilh difpenfation mufl needs have 
 now ceafed. For though the epiftlc was more immediately 
 directed to the Chriflian Hebrews, yet the matter of the 
 epiftle plainly fhows that the apoftle intended it for the 
 ufe and oonvilion of the unbelieving Jews. And in this 
 epiftle he mentions particularly the approaching deftruc- 
 tion and fiery indignation which fhould devour the adver- 
 faries. [Chap. x. 25 27.] 
 
 But the generality of them refufmg to receive conviction, 
 God foon deftroyed them with fuch terrible circumflances, 
 as the dcftru6tion of no country or city, fmce the founda 
 tion of the world can parallel ; agreeable to what Chrift 
 foretold. [Matt. xxiv. 21.] For then fhall be tribulation, 
 
 * fuch as was not from the beginning of the world to this 
 
 * time, no, nor ever fhall be, The deftru6tion of Jerufa- 
 lem by the Babylonians was very terrible, as it is in a moft 
 affe&ing manner defcribed by the prophet Jeremiah, in 
 his Lamentations ; but this was nothing to the dreadful 
 inifery and wrath which they fuffered in this deftrucftion : 
 God, according as Chrift foretold, bringing on them all 
 the righteous blood that had been died from the foundation 
 of the world. Thus the enemies of Chrift are made his 
 footftool after his afcenfion, agreeable to God s promife, 
 [Pfal. ex. i.] and Chrift rules them with a rod of iron. 
 They had been kicking againft Chrift, but they did but 
 kick againft the pricks. The briars and thorns fet them- 
 felves againft him in battle ; but he went through them ; 
 he burnt them up together. [Jfa. xxvii. 4.] 
 
 The deftru&ion of Jerufalem was in all refpec~rs agree 
 able to what Chrift had foretold, [Matt, xxiv.] by the ac 
 count which Jofephus gives of it, who was then prefent, 
 and was one of the Jews who had a fhare in the calamity, 
 and wrote the hiftory of their deftruclion. (i) Many cir- 
 
 cumftances 
 
 ( i ) Jerufalem deftroyed, as Chrift had FORETOLD. 3 A compa 
 nion of our Lord s predictions, with the narrative of the Jewifli 
 hiftorian, jfofephus, forms the moft linking correspondence of 
 
 prophecy
 
 398 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 cumftances of this deftru&ion refembled the deftru&ion 
 of the wicked at the day of judgment, by his account, 
 being accompanied with many fearful fights in the heavens, 
 
 and 
 
 prophecy and hiftory that was perhaps ever exhibited, as is fhewn 
 at large by Bp. Newton [on the Prophecies, vol. ii. dif. 18.3 from 
 whom we mall feleft the few following circumftances : 
 
 1. Many falfe Chrifls were to precede this event. Such were 
 Simon Magus. [Acts viii. 9, 10.] Theudas, Judas of Galilee. 
 [A6ls v. 36, 37.] The Egyptian impoftor. [Ads xxi. 38.] And 
 many others mentioned by Jofephus. 
 
 2. Wars, famines, pefHlence, and earthquakes ! Jofephus, [de 
 Bello Jud. lib. ii.] is full of the wart and rumours of wars in the 
 reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, during which numbers 
 were deftroyed. Famines, particularly one in the days of Clau 
 dius, mentioned by St. Luke, [Acts xi. 28.] Jofephus, and Sue 
 tonius. Earthquakes in divers places, as in Crete, Smyrna, 
 Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colofie, Campania, 
 and Rome, mentioned by Philoftratus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and 
 Jofephus. 
 
 3. Fearful fights and great figns, Jofephus mentions a ftar 
 in fhape like a fword, hanging over Jerufalem for a long time to 
 gether armies fighting in the clouds, a miraculous light in the 
 night for half an hour ; a cow which brought forth a lamb ; the 
 mafiy brazen gate of the temple opening of itfelf ; a voice in the 
 temple, * Arife, let us go hence ; and what he reckons worfe than 
 all, the extraordinary condudl of one Jefus, (an apparent lunatic) 
 who for more than feven years went about the city proclaiming 
 woe to Jerufalem woe to the city, and to the people, and to 
 1 the temple, and could by no means be reftrained. 
 
 4. When ye fee the abomination of defolation, (/ . t. Jerufa- 
 lem compafled with armies, Luke xxi. 20.) flee into the moun- 
 tains. So when Ceftius Gallus came with his army, after his 
 retreat, and efpecially when Vefpafian brought his forces againft 
 Jerufalem, -numbers of Jews fled into the mountainous country, 
 and the Chriftians in particular to Pella, on the other fide Jordan ; 
 fo that it does not appear that one Chriftian pe rimed in the deilruc- 
 tion of Jerufalem. 
 
 5. * Not one ftoneto be left upon another. This was fulfilled 
 by the foldiers of Titus burning the temple, and then digging, and 
 afterwards Terentius Rufus ploughing up its foundation. 
 
 6. Then (hall be great tribulation, fuch as had not been from 
 the beginning of the world ; they mall be flain, and led captive 
 into all nations. So Jofephus, " If the misfortunes of all from 
 the beginning of the world were compared with thofe of the Jews, 
 they would appear much inferior upon the comparifon." [Proem. 
 f 4.] To evince the truth of this remark, we [hall fubjoin a lift 
 
 of
 
 OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 399 
 
 and with a feparation of the righteous from the wicked. 
 Their city and temple were burnt, and rafed to the ground, 
 and the ground on which the city flood, was ploughed ; and 
 fo one ftone was not left upon another. [Matt. xxiv. 2.] 
 
 The people had ceafed for the moft part to be an inde 
 pendent government after the Babylonifh captivity : but 
 the fceptre entirely departed from Judea, on the death of 
 Archelaus ; and then Judea was made a Roman province : 
 
 after 
 
 of the unhappy Jews that perimed in this dcftru&ion, in Judea 
 and the neighbouring countries, as collected by Lipfius and others, 
 from various parts of Jofephus s hiftory. 
 
 At Jerufalem, by Florus s orders, 3>6oo 
 
 By the inhabitants ofCaefarea, 20,000 
 
 At Scythopolis in Syria, - 13,000 
 
 At Afcalon, 2,500 
 
 At Ptolemais, 2,000 
 
 At Alexandria, 50,000 
 
 At Damafcus, 10,000 
 
 At the taking of Joppa by Ceftius Gallus, 8,400 
 
 In the mountain of Afamon, 2,000 
 
 In a fight at Afcalon, 10,000 
 
 In an ambufh, 8,000 
 
 Atjapha, 15,000 
 
 Upon mount Gerizzim, 11,600 
 
 At Joppa, when taken by Vefpafian, 4,200 
 
 Slain at Tarichae, 7j7OO 
 
 Slain, or killed themfelves, at Gamala, 9,000 
 
 Killed in their flight from Gifchala, 6,000 
 
 At the fiege of Jotapa, 40,000 
 
 Of the Gadarenes (befides numbers drowned) 15,000 
 
 In the villages of Idumea, 10,000 
 
 At Gerafa, . 1,000 
 
 At Machaerus, 1*700 
 
 Slew themfelves at Mafada, _____ gfi Q 
 
 In the defert of Jardes, 3,ooo 
 
 In Cyrene, by the Governor Catulus, 3,000 
 
 At Jerufalem, during the fiege, 1, 100,000 
 
 Total, 1,357,660 
 
 Add tothefe 97,000 prifoners doomed to flavery, befides 1 1,000 
 ftarved to death through negleft or otherwife, and an innumerable 
 multitude which perimed in woods, caves, deferts, &c. of whom 
 o computation could be made. [G. E.]
 
 400 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 after this they were rejected from being the people of God j 
 but now their very city and land are utterly deftroyed, and 
 themfelves carried away ; and fo have continued in their 
 difperilons through the world for now 1700 years. 
 
 Thus there was a final end to the Old Teftament world: 
 all was fmifhed with a kind of day of judgment, in which 
 the people of God were faved, and his enemies terribly 
 deftroyed. Thus does he who was fo lately mocked, def- 
 pifed, and fpit upon by thefe Jews, and whofe followers 
 they fo malignantly perfecuted, appear glorioufly exalted 
 over his enemies. 
 
 HAVING thus fhown how the fuccefs of Chrift s pur- 
 chafe was carried on till the deftru6tion of Jerufalem, I 
 come now, 
 
 2. To fhow how it was carried on from that time till 
 the deftrudtion of the heathen empire in the time of Con- 
 ftantine the Great, which is the fecond great event com 
 pared to Chrift s coming to judgment. 
 
 Jerufalem was deftroyed about the year of our Lord 68, 
 (K) and fo before that generation pafled away which was 
 contemporary with Chrift ; and it was about thirty-five 
 years after Chrift s death. The deftrution of the heathen 
 empire under Conftantine, was about 260 years after this. 
 In ihowing how the fuccefs of the gofpel was carried on 
 through this time, I would, (i.) Take notice of the op- 
 polition made againft it by the Roman empire. (2.) How 
 the work of the gofpel went on notwithftanding that op- 
 pofition. (3.) The peculiar circumftances of tribulation 
 and diftrefs the church was in juft before their deliverance 
 by Conftantine. The great revolution of Conftantine s 
 time. 
 
 (i.) I 
 
 (K) Jerufalem dejlroytd ABOUT A. D. 68.] We would take 
 this opportunity to obferve, that, probably, our author s dates, 
 were often taken from memory, with an intent to revife them be 
 fore publication, had his life been fpared. They differ, however, 
 but very little from the beft authorities, and this difference we 
 lhall carefully obferve. The ilellru&ion of Jerufalem is commonly 
 placed in A. D. 70. [G. E.j
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE; 401 
 
 (i.) I would briefly mow what oppofition was made 
 againft the gofpel, and the kingdom of Chrift, by the Ro 
 man empire. The oppofition that was made to the gofpel 
 by the heathen Roman empire, was chiefly after the de- 
 ftru6Hon of Jerufalem though the oppolition began be 
 fore; but the oppofition that was before the deftruHon 
 of Jerufalem, was principally by the Jews. But when 
 Jerufalem was deftroyed, the Jews were put out of a capa 
 city of troubling the church. Now therefore the devil 
 turns his head elfewhere, andufes other inftruments. The 
 oppofition which was made in the Roman empire againft 
 the kingdom of Chrift, was of two kinds. 
 
 [l.] They employed all their learning, philofophy, and 
 wit, in oppofing it. Chrift, as we have obferved, came 
 into the world when learning and philofophy were at their 
 height. -This was employed to the utmoft againft the 
 kingdom of Chrift. The gofpel, which held forth a cruci- 
 hed Saviour, was not at all agreeable to the notions of the 
 philofophers. The Chriftian fcheme of trufting in fuch 
 a crucified Redeemer appeared foolifh and ridiculous to 
 rhem. Greece was a country the moft famous for learn 
 ing of any hi the Roman empire : but the apoftle obferves; 
 that the do6lrine of Chrift crucified appeared foolifhnefc 
 to the Greeks, [i Cor. i. 23.] and therefore the wife men 
 and philofophers oppofed the gofpel with all their wir a 
 We have a fpecimen of their oppofition in their treatment 
 of the apoftle Paul at Athens, which had been for many 
 ages the chief feat of philofophy. We read, [Acts xvii 
 18.] that the philofophers of the Epicureans and Stoicks 
 encountered him, faying, What will this babbler fay $ 
 He feemeth to be a fetter forth of ftrange gods. So 
 they were wont to deride and ridicule Chriftianity. And 
 after the deftrudtion of Jerufalem, feveral philofopheiiJ 
 publifhed books againft it ; the chief of whom were Cet/its 
 and Porphyry, (L) who wrote againft the Chriftian re 
 ligion 
 
 . 
 
 i (L) CELSUS and PORPHYRY.] Celfns, not the phyfician, but 
 
 the Epicurean philofopher, flourifhed about A. D. 150 ; and 
 
 3 F Por- 
 
 .
 
 402 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ligion with a great deal of virulence and contempt, much 
 after the manner of the Deifts of the prefent age. Some 
 of their writings yet remain. As great enemies and def- 
 pifers as they were of the Chriftian religion, yet they 
 never denied the fah recorded of Chrift and his apoftle s 
 in the New Teftarnent, particularly the miracles which 
 they wrought, but allowed them. They lived too near 
 the times wherein thefe miracles were wrought to deny 
 them; for they were ib publicly done, and fo lately, that 
 neither Jews nor heathens in thofe days conld deny them ; 
 but they afcribed them to die power of magic. 
 
 [2.] The Roman emperors employed all their ftrerigth 
 and policy, time after time, to perfecutc, and if poflible 
 to root out Chriftianity. This they did in ten general 
 fucceffive perfecutions. We have before obferved, that 
 Chrift came into the world when the heathen dominion 
 and authority was at its greateft height, during the Ro 
 man empire, the moft powerful human monarchy that 
 ever was on earth. All the ftrength of this monarchy 
 was employed for a long time to oppofe and perfecute 
 the Chriftian church, and if poflible to deftroy it, in 
 ten fucceffive attempts, which are called the ten heathen per- 
 ffcutions, which are before Conftantine. 
 
 The firft of thefe, which was the perfecutiori tinder 
 Nero, was a little before the deftru6tion of Jerufalem, in 
 which the apoftle Peter was crucified, and the apoftle 
 Paul beheaded, foon after he wrote the Second Epiftle to 
 Timothy. When he wrote that epiftle he was a prifoner 
 at Rome under Nero, and expected foon to die, [2 Tim. 
 iv. 6. y.J I am now ready to be offered, and the time 
 * of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good right, 
 
 I have 
 
 Porphyry, a Platonic philofopher, in the third Century. They 
 were both violent oppofers of Chriftianity; but their works are 
 penlhed, except the fragments of them preferved in the Chriftian 
 Fathers. The latter was one of the moft refpe&able adverfaries 
 Chriftianity ever had; and, from his intimate acquaintance with 
 the fcriptures, fume have fuppofed he was once a Chriftian. 
 
 [G. E.J
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 403 
 
 * I have finiihed my courfe, I have kept the faith. 
 
 And there were many thoufands of other Chriflians 
 flain in that perfecution. (M) The other nine perfecu- 
 tions were all after the dellrudtion of Jerufalem. Some 
 of thefc were very terrible indeed, and far exceeded the 
 firfr. perfecution under Nero. One emperor after another 
 fet himfelf with the utmoft rage to root out the Chriftian 
 church from the earth, that there fhould not be fo much 
 as the name of Chriftian left in the world. And thou 
 fands and millions were put to cruel deaths in thefe perfe- 
 cutions: for they fpared neither fcx nor age, but killed 
 them as faft as they could. 
 
 Under the fecond general perfecution, that which was 
 next after the deftru6tion of Jerufalem, the apoftlc John 
 was banifhed to the ifle of Patmos, where he had thofe 
 vifions of which he has given an account in the Revelation. 
 Under that perfecution it has been fuppofed that above 
 40.000 fuffered martyrdom ; which yet was nothing to 
 what were put to death under fome fucceeding perfecu- 
 
 3 F 2 tions 
 
 (M) The FIRST perfection under NERO.] Of this TACITUS, 
 an heathen hiftorian, and therefore the more unexceptionable au 
 thority, gives the following account : " Nero, to fupprefs the 
 prevailing rumour, that he was the author of the conflagration 
 [of Rome] transferred the guilt upon fuppofed criminals, fub- 
 
 jefling to moft exquifite tortures thofe people known to 
 
 the vulgar by the name of Chriftians Firft, therefore, 
 
 were apprehended thofe who openly owned themfelves to be of 
 that feci, then by them was difcovered an immenfe multitude, 
 and all were convicted. Their death and torture were aggravated 
 with cruel derifion and fport ; for they were either covered with 
 the fkins of wild beafts, and torn in pieces by devouring dogs, or 
 faftened to crofles, or wrapped up in combuflible garments, that 
 when the day-light failed, they might, like torches, ferve to diipel 
 the darknefs of the night. For this tragical fpeftacle Nero lent 
 his own gardens, and exhibited at the fame time the public diver- 
 -;ons of the circus, fometimes driving a chariot in perfon, and 
 
 fometimes {landing as a fpcftator Hence, towards the fuf- 
 
 iercrs, Jiowever guilty and deferving the moft exemplary punifh- 
 ment, [fo fpeaks the heathen] companion arofe, feeing they were 
 
 doomed to perifli to gratify the cruelty of one man." 
 
 [Ann. lib, xv. cap. 44.]
 
 404 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 tions. (N) Many thoufands fufFered cruel deaths in the 
 third perfecutiori under the Einpcror Adrian, (o) The 
 fourth perfecution began about the year of Chrift, 162, 
 
 as 
 
 (N) The SECOND general PERSECUTION.] This was raifed by 
 Domitian, and though {hort (not lading above a year) was fe- 
 vere for the time, the tyrant not fparing his own relations, fomc 
 of whom he flew, and banifhed others. This wretch was as 
 blafphemous as he was cruel ; and when he had transformed him- 
 fclf completely inte the image of the devil, affumed the honours 
 of Deity, and would be called nothing lefs than Lord and God. 
 Moft hiftorians, ancient and modern, agree with our author as to 
 St. John s banifhment to Patmos in this reign ; but the ftory of 
 his being put into boiling oil is juflly rejected. [See Eufeb. Hift. 
 Ecclef. lib. iii. cap. 18.] 
 
 (o) The THIRD perfecutlon."] Before the reign of Trajan, 
 though he is not commonly reckoned among the perfecutors, as 
 making no new edifts againft the Chriftians, yet was highly pre 
 judiced againft them, and even himfelf condemned fome ; a re 
 markable inftance of which occurs in the martyrdom of Ignatius, 
 (fuppofed to have been a difciple of St. John) of which we have 
 the following intercfting account, preferved in the epiftle faid to 
 have been written by eyc-witnefTes, and publifhed by Abp. UJher, 
 Dr. Grale, and other learned men. 
 
 The holy man being brought before the emperor was interro 
 gated in the following manner : 
 
 Trajan. What a wicked wretch art thou, thus to tranfgrefs our 
 commands, and to teach others to do the fame, to their deftruclion ? 
 
 Jgnat. No one ought thus to call Thcophorus, [i. e. the bearer 
 nf God, for fo Ignatius was called] forafmuch as all wicked fpi- 
 rits are far from the fervants of God. But if, becaufe I am a 
 trouble to thofe evil fpirits, you call me wicked, with reference 
 to them I confefs the charge ; for porTeffing Chtift, the heavenly 
 King, I diflblve all the fnares of the devil. 
 
 Trajan. And who is Thcopboruit 
 
 Jgnat. He who has Chrift in his bofom. 
 
 Trajan. And do we not then appear to have the gods within 
 us, who fight for us againft our enemies ? 
 
 Ignai. You err, in that you call the evil fpirits of the heathen, 
 gods; for there is but on God, who made heaven and earth, and 
 the fea, and all that are in them, and one Jefus Chrift, hij only- 
 begotten Son, whofe kingdom may I enjoy! 
 
 Trajan. His kingdom, you mean, v. ho was crucified under Pon 
 tius Pilate. 
 
 Jgnat. His, who crucified my fin, .... and has put all the de 
 ceit and malice of the devil under their feet, who carry him in 
 their heart. 
 
 Trajan. Doil thou carry him that was crucified within thee ? 
 
 Jgnat.
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 405 
 
 as fome reckon, and was felt even in England, the land 
 rf our forefathers, where Chriftianity had been planted 
 \ery early, and, as is fuppofed, in the days of the apof- 
 des. (P) And in the later perfecutions, the Roman em 
 perors being vexed at the fruftration of their predecef- 
 fors, who were not able to extirpate Chriftianity, or hin 
 der its progrefs, were enraged to be the more violent in 
 their attempts. 
 
 Thus a great part of the firft 300 years after Chrift 
 was fpent in violent and cruel perfecutions of the church 
 by the Roman powers. Satan was very unwilling to quit 
 
 his 
 
 Ignat. I do ; for it is written, * I will dwell in them, and walk 
 in them. 
 
 Then Trajan pronounced this fentence Forafmuch as Igna 
 tius hath conferled that he carries about within himfelf Him that 
 was crucified, we command, that he be carried bound to the 
 great Rdme by foldiers, there to be thrown to the beafts for the 
 diverfion of the people. This fentence was foon after executed ; 
 and we may judge of the temper in which he fuffered, from the 
 following paffage in one of his epiilles written on his journey: 
 " Now I begin to be a difciple ; nor (hall any thing move me, 
 whether vifible or invifible, that I may attain to Chrift Jefus. Let 
 fire and the crofs let the rage of wild beafts- let breaking of 
 bones and tearing of members let the {battering in pieces of the 
 whole body yea, all the wicked torments of the devil corne upon 
 me only may I enjoy Jefus Chrift!" [Epift. ad Rom. 5.] 
 
 (p) The FOURTH per/edition*"] Under this perfecution or a 
 little before, as fome think, fuffered another difciple of St. John, 
 Po/ycarp, who was called doclor of Afia and father of the ClmT- 
 tians. When urged by the proconful to reproach and deny 
 Chrift to procure his liberty, he only replied, " Eighty and fix 
 years have I now ferved Chrift, and he has never done me the 
 jeaft wrong; how then can I blafpheme my King and Saviour:" 
 When the proconful continued, " I have wild beafts ready, to 
 thofe I will give thee;" " Call for them," replied Polycarp, 
 " for we Chriftians are fixed in our minds, not to change from 
 good to evil." The magiftrate added, " If thou defpifeft the 
 heafts, thou {halt be devoured by fire." The martyr rejoined, 
 " Thou threatcneft me with fire which burns but for a time, and 
 is extinguifhed ; but knoweft not the fire of the future judge 
 ment, that eternal punimment which is referved for the ungodly. 
 But why tarrieft thou ? bring forth what thou wilt." 
 
 Accordingly this venerable man being, as is fuppofed, above 
 an hundred years old, was burnt at a ftake, praifing and blefiing 
 God for the honour of martyrdom. [Martyrdom of Polycarp, 
 publifhed by Ufher, Cottelerus, and others.]
 
 4o6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 his hold of fo great a part of the world, as the Roman 
 empire was, of which he had had the quiet pofleffion for 
 fo many ages : and therefore when he faw it going fo fall 
 out of his hands, he beftirred himfelf to his utmoft : ail 
 hell was, as it were, raifcd to oppofe it with its utmoft 
 power. 
 
 Satan thus exerting himfelf by the power of the heathen 
 Roman empire, is called the great red dragon in fcripture, 
 having feven heads and ten horns, righting againft the wo 
 man cloathed with the fun. [Rev. xii. 3.] And the terrible 
 conflict there was between the church of Chrift, and the 
 powers of the heathen empire before Conftantine s time, 
 is there reprefented [ver. 7.] by the war between Michael 
 and his angels, and the dragon and his angels : * And 
 there was war in heaven ; Michael and his angels fought, 
 and the dragon fought and his angels. 
 
 (2) I would take notice what fucccfs the gofpel had 
 in the world before the time of Conftantine, notwith- 
 ftanding all this oppofition. Though the learning and 
 power of the Roman empire were fo great, and both were 
 employed to the utmoft againft Chriftianity to root.it 
 out, for fo long a time, and in fo many repeated at 
 tempts ; yet all was in vain : ftill, in fpite of all they 
 could do, the kingdom of Chrift wonderfully prevail 
 ed, and Satan s kingdom mouldered and confumed away 
 before it; agreeable to the words of our text : * The 
 moth fhall eat them up like a garment, and the worn* 
 * fhall eat them like wool. And it was very obfervable, 
 that for the moft part, the more they perfecuted the church, 
 the more it encreafed : infomuch that it became a common 
 faying, The blood of the martyrs is the feed of the. 
 4 church. Herein the church of Chrift proved to be like. 
 2 palm tree; of which it is remarked, that the greater 
 weight is laid upon it, or hung to its branches, the more 
 it gro\vs and fiouriihes : on which account probably the 
 
 urch is compared to a palm tree. [Cant. vii. y.] This 
 thy ftature is like to a palm tree. Jujlin Martyr, an 
 eminent father in the Chriftian church, who lived in the 
 age next after the apoftles, in fome writings of his, which 
 
 arc
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 407 
 
 are yet extant, fays, that in his days there was no part of 
 mankind, whether Greeks or barbarians, or by what name 
 foever they were called, even the moft rude and unpolifh- 
 ed nations, where prayers and thankfgivings were not 
 made to the great Creator of the world, through the name 
 of the crucified Jefus.* Tertullian, another eminent fa 
 ther in the ChrifKan church, who lived in the beginning 
 of the following age, in fome of his writings which are 
 yet extant, f fets forth, that in his day the Chriftian reli 
 gion had extended itfelf to the utmoft bounds of the then 
 known world, in which he reckons Britain, the country 
 of our forefathers; and thence demonftrates, that the 
 kingdom of Chrift was then more extenfive than any 
 of the four great monarchies ; and moreover fays, that 
 though the Chriftians were as fVrangers of no long ftand- 
 ing, yet they had filled all places of the Roman dominions, 
 their cities, iflands, caftles, corporations, councils, armies, 
 tribes, the palace, fenate, and courts of judicature ; only 
 they had left to the heathen their temples ; and that if 
 they fhould all agree to retire out of the Roman empire, 
 the world would be amazed at the folitude and defolation 
 that would enfue upon it, there would be fo few left ; and 
 that the Chriftians were enough to be able eafily to de 
 fend themfelves, if they were difpofed to rife up in arms 
 againft the heathen magiftrates. Alfo Pliny,], a heathen 
 who lived in thofe days, fays, multitudes of each fex, 
 every age and quality, were become Chriftians. This fu- 
 perftition, fays he, having infedted and over run not the 
 city only, but towns and countries, the temples and fa- 
 cririces are generally defolate and forfaken. ( oj 
 
 And 
 
 * Dial, cum Tyrph. 
 
 f Adverfus Judaeos, cap. 7. 
 
 $ Lib. x. Ep. 97. 
 
 (q^) The EXTENT of the gofpel.~\ Even " before the deftruc- 
 tion of Jerufalem, the gofpel was not only preached in the Lefler 
 Afia, and Greece and- Italy, the great theatres of aclion then in 
 the world ; but was Hkewife propagated as far north waid as Sey- 
 thia, as far fouthward as Ethiopia, as far eaftward as Parthia and 
 India, as far weftward as Spain and Britain. Our anceftors of 
 this ifland fcem to have lain as remote from the fcene of our Sa 
 viour s
 
 4 o8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION: 
 
 And it was remarked by both heathen and Chriftian 
 writers in thofe days, that the famous heathen oracles in 
 their temples, where princes and others for many pail ages 
 had been wont to inquire and receive anfwers \virh an 
 audible voice from their gods, which were indeed aniwers 
 from the devil ; I lay, thofe oracles were now iilenced 
 and ftruck dumb, and gave no more aniwers: and parti 
 cularly the oracle at Delphos, which was the moft famous 
 heathen oracle in the whole world, which both Greeks 
 and Romans ufed to confult, began to ceafe to give any 
 aniwers, even from the birth of Chrift: and the falie deity 
 who was wormipped, and ufed to give anfwers from his 
 oracle in that temple, being once inquired of, why he 
 did not now give anfwers as he was wont to do? made 
 this reply, as feveral heathen hiftorians who lived about 
 thofe times relate, " There is an Hebrew boy, who is 
 king of the gods, who has commanded me to leave this 
 houfe, and be gone to hell, and therefore you are to ex- 
 peel: no more anfwers." And many of the heathen writers 
 who lived about that time, fpake much of the oracles 
 being filenced, as a thing at which they wondered, not 
 knowing what the caufe ihould be. (R) Plutarch, a 
 
 heathen 
 
 viour s actions as almofl any nation, and were a rough, inhofpi- 
 table people, as unlikely to receive fo civilized an inftitution as 
 any people whatever. But yet there is fome probability, that the 
 golpel was preached here by St. Simon the apoltle ; there is much 
 greater probability that it was preached here by St. Paul ; and 
 there is abfblute certainty that ChriPcianity was planted in this 
 country in the days of the apoilles, before the deftruftion of Je- 
 rufalem i" [Bp. NEWTON on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 237.! 
 
 (R) The htalhen ORACLES.] Learned men are much divided 
 as to the fou roe of thefe oracles. The famous Fan Dak wrote 
 a treatife to prove that they were only the invention of priefts, 
 but our Abp. Polier, [Greek Antiq. vol. i. book ii. ch. 7.] and 
 many others, conceive that there was a diabolical agency employed 
 in the bufmefs. There are indeed feveral circumftances leading to 
 the former hypothefis; fuch as the gloomy folemnity with which 
 many of them were delivered, in <?ave&i anil fubterraneous ca 
 verns; the numerous and difagreeable ceremonies enjoined, as 
 fomctimes deeping in the fkins of beafts, bathing, and expeniive 
 farrifices; the ambiguous and unfatisfactory anfwers frequently 
 
 returned ;
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 409 
 
 heathen writer of thofe times, wrote a particular treatife 
 about it, which is ftill extant.* And Porphyry, one of 
 -the heathen writers before mentioned, has thefe words : 
 " It is no wonder if the city for thefe fo many years has 
 been over ran with ficknefs ; Efculapius, and the reft of 
 the gods, having withdrawn their converfe with men : for 
 fmce Jefus began to be worshipped, no man hath received 
 any public help or benefit by the gods." 
 
 Thus did the kingdom of Chrift prevail againft the 
 kingdom of Satan. 
 
 (3.) I now proceed to take notice of the peculiar cir- 
 cumftances of tribulation and diftrefs juft before Con- 
 ftantine the Great came to the throne. This diftrefs they 
 fuffered under the tenth perfecution, which as it was the 
 laft, fo it was by far the heavieft and moft fevere. The 
 church before this, after the ceafmg of the ninth perfecu 
 tion, had enjoyed a time of quietnefs for about forty 
 years together ; but, abufmg their liberty, began to grow 
 cold and lifelefs in religion, and contentions prevailed 
 among them ; by which they offended God to fufFer this 
 dreadful trial to come upon them. And Satan having 
 loft ground fo much, notvvithftanding all his attempts, 
 now feemed to beftir himfelf with more than ordinary 
 rage. Thofe who were then in authority fet themfelves 
 with the utmoft violence to root out Chriftianity, by burn 
 ing all Bibles, and deftroying all Chriftians ; and there 
 fore they did not ftand to try or convi6l them in a for 
 mal procefs, but fell upon them wherever they could ; 
 
 3 G fometimes 
 
 returned : thefe look very much like the contrivances of artful 
 priefts to difguife their villany ; the medium of priefts, fpeaking 
 images, vocal groves, &c. feem much to confirm it. On the other 
 hand, if we may credit the relation of ancient writers, either 
 among the heathens or Chriftians, this hypothefis will hardiy ac 
 count for many of the inflances they mention. And fmce it can 
 not be proved either impoffible or unfcriptural, is it not probable 
 that God might fometimes permit an intercourfe with intetnal 
 fpirits, with a defign in the end to turn this and every other cir- 
 cumftance to his own glory, as our author has above obferved ? 
 We are however fatisfied, from the reafons above hinted, t.h::t ths 
 whole was often but a gainful cheat. TG. E. j 
 
 * Plut. de defed. Orac.
 
 4 io HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fometimes fetting fire to houfes where multitudes of them 
 were aflembled, and burning them therein, and at other 
 times flaughtering multitudes together : fo that fometimes 
 their persecutors were quite fpent. with the labour of kill 
 ing and tormenting them ; and in fome populous places 
 to many were (lain together, that the blood ran like tor 
 rents. It is related, that feventeen thoufand martyrs were 
 flain in one month s time ; and that during the continuance 
 of this perfecution, in the province of Egypt alone, no 
 lefs than 144,000 Chriftians died by the violence of their 
 persecutors, betides, 700,000 that died through the fatigues 
 of banifhment, or the public works to which they were 
 condemned.* 
 
 This perfecution lafled for ten years together ; and as it 
 exceeded all foregoing perlecutions in the number of mar 
 tyrs, fo it exceeded them in the variety and multitude of 
 inventions of torture and cruelty. Some authors who lived 
 at that time, fay, they were innumerable, and exceeded all 
 account and expreffion.f 
 
 This perfecution in particular was very fevere in Eng 
 land ; (s) and this is that perfecution which was foretold 
 [Rev. vi. 9, 10.] And when he had opened the fifth feal, 
 I faw under the alcar the fouls of them that were flain 
 for the word of God, and for the teftirnony which they 
 * held. And they cried with a loud voice, faying, How 
 
 long, 
 
 * BuJJieres in flofculis Hiftor. 
 
 -j- Vid. Eufeb. Eccl. Hift. lib. viii. cum fupp. & Laftant. dc 
 Mort. Perf. 
 
 (s) The TENTH perfecution fevere in ENGLAND.] " In the 
 perfecution under Dioclefian, the Britijh Chriftians fufFered fo 
 much, that the very name of Chriftianity was loft in this ifland, 
 
 except among the Cornifh and Welfh Our proto-martyr 
 
 St. Alban, Amphibolus, Julian, and Aaron were martyred at St, 
 st/ban s, then called Verulam. The priefts who wrote of St. Al- 
 ban s martyrdom, could not be content with the courage, patience 
 and piety of the martyr, but have corrupted his hiftory with lies : 
 even venerable Bede cannot help telling us, that he dried up a 
 river as he v/cnt to the place of execution, .... that his head 
 fpoke after it was cut off, &c." [Critical Hiftory of England, 
 vol. i. p. 64.]
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 4 u 
 
 long, O Lord, holy and true, doft thou not judge and 
 avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? * 
 
 At the end of the ten years during which this perfecu- 
 tion continued, the heathen perfecutors thought they had 
 fini/hed their work, and boafted that they had utterly de- 
 ftroyed the name and fuperftition of the Chriftians, and 
 propagated the worfhip of the gods, (xj 
 
 Thus it was the darkeft time with the Chriflian church 
 juft before the break of day. They were brought to the 
 greateft extremity juft before God appeared for their glo 
 rious deliverance ; as the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt 
 was the moft fevere and cruel juft before their deliverance 
 by the hand of Mofes. Their enemies thought they had 
 fwallowed them up juft before their deftruclion, as it was 
 with Pharaoh and his holt when they had hemmed in the 
 children of Ifrael at the Red Sea. 
 
 (4..) I come now, in the fourth place, to the great re 
 volution which was in the world in the days of Con- 
 ftantine, which was in many refpe6h like Chrift s ap 
 pearing in the clouds of heaven to fave his people, and 
 judge the world. The people of Rome being weary of 
 the government of thofe tyrants to whom they had lately 
 been fubject, fent to Conftantine, who was then in the 
 city of York in England, to come and take the throne. 
 And he being encouraged, as is faid, by a viiion of a pil 
 lar of light in the heavens, in the form of a crofs, in the 
 light of his whole army, with this infcription, By this 
 conquer; and the night following, by Chrift s appearing 
 to him in a dream with the fame crofs in his hand, who 
 directed him to make a crofs like that to be his royal 
 ftandard, that his army might fight under that banner, 
 3 G 2 and 
 
 * See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, vol. iii. p. 65. 
 
 (T) The heathens boafted having DESTROYED Chriftianity.~] A 
 column is laid to be ftill remaining at Cluny in Spain with this in 
 fcription " To Dioehjtan, Jovius, and Maximinus, Ceefars, for 
 having enlarged the bounds of the empire, and for having exter 
 minated the name of CHRISTIANS, thofe diilurbers of the public 
 repofe." \_Gruteri corpus Inicript. torn. i. p. 280.] And yet, 
 (infolent blafphemers !) the name of Chr ift is ilill adored by mil 
 lions ; but for Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, &c. where are they ? 
 
 [I. N.J
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and affured him that he fhould overcome, (u) Accord 
 ingly he did, and overcame his enemies, took poffeflion 
 of the imperial throne, embraced the Chriftian religion, 
 and was the firft Chriftian emperor that ever reigned : he 
 came to the throne about 320 years after Chrift. There 
 arc feveral things which I would take notice of which 
 attended or immediately followed Conftantine s coming to 
 the throne. 
 
 [i.] The Chriftian church was thereby wholly deli 
 vered from perfecution. Now the day of her deliverance 
 came after fuch a dark night of affliction ; weeping had 
 continued for a night, but now deliverance and joy came 
 in the morning. Now God appeared to judge his people 
 and repented himfelf for his fervants, when he law their 
 power was gone, and that there was none (hut up or lett. 
 Chriftians had no perfections now to fear. Their per- 
 fecutors now were all put down, and their rulers were fome 
 of them Chriftians like themfelves. 
 
 [2.] God now appeared to execute terrible judgments 
 on their enemies. Remarkable are the accounts which 
 hiftory gives us of the fearful ends to which the heathen 
 emperors, princes, generals, captains, and other great men 
 came, who had exerted themfelves in perfecuting the Chrif 
 tians ; dying miferably, one after another, under exquifite 
 torments of the body, and horrors of confcience ; with a 
 moft vifiblchand of God upon them.* So that what now 
 came to pafs might very fitly be compared to their hiding 
 themfelves in the dens and rocks of the mountains. [Rev. 
 vi. 15, 17.] 
 
 [3.] Heathenifm now was in a great meafure abolimed 
 throughout the Roman empire. Images were now de- 
 ftroyed, and heathen temples pulled down. Images of 
 gold and filver were melted down, and coined into money. 
 
 Some 
 
 (u) Conjlantine s VISION.] Whatever fabulous eircumftances 
 may have been added to this ftory, or abfurd inferences drawn 
 from it, it fhould fcem there was fome truth in it, fince Eufcbltu 
 [de Vita Conftant. lib. i. cap. 27 31.] afiures us, that he had it 
 from the emperor s own mouth. [See Umverfal Hiflory, vol. xv. 
 
 * LaSant. de Mort. Perf.
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 413 
 
 Some of the chief of their idols, which were curioufly 
 wrought, were brought to Conftantinople, and there drawn 
 with ropes up and down the ftreets for the people to behold 
 and laugh at. The heathen priefts were difperfed and 
 ban ifhed. 
 
 [4.] The Chriftian church was brought into a ftate of 
 great peace and profperity. Now all heathen magistrates 
 were put down, and only Chriflians were advanced to 
 places of authority all over the empire. They had now 
 Chriftian prefidents, Chriftian governors, Chriftian judges 
 and officers, inftead of their old heathenifh ones. Con- 
 ftantine fet himfelf to honour the Chriftian bifhops or mi- 
 nifters, and to build and adorn churches ; and now large 
 and beautiful Chriitian churches were creeled in all parts 
 of the world, inftead of the old heathen temples. 
 
 This was the greatcft revolution in the face of things 
 that ever came to pafs fince the flood. Satan, the prince 
 of darkneis, that king and god of the heathen world, was 
 caft out. The roaring lion was conquered by the lamb of 
 God, in the ftrongeft dominion that ever he had, even the 
 Roman empire. This was a remarkable accomplifhment 
 of that prophecy, [Jer. x. 11.] The gods that have not 
 
 * made the heavens and the earth, even they fhall perifli 
 
 * from the earth, and from under thefe heavens. The 
 chief part of the world was now brought utterly to caft 
 off their old gods and their old religion, to which they 
 had been accuftomed much longer than any of their hif- 
 tories gives an account of; fo long that they could not 
 trace the beginning of it. It was formerly fpoken of as 
 a thing unknown for a nation to change their gods, [Jer. 
 ii. 10, ii.] but now the greater parts of the nations of 
 the known world were brought to call oft" all their former 
 gods. Thoufands of them were caft away for the wor- 
 
 O J 
 
 fliip of the true God, and Chrift the only Saviour : and 
 there was a moft remarkable fulfilment of that promife, 
 [Ifa. ii. 17, 18.] And the loftinefs of man fhall be bowed 
 down, and the haughtinefs of men fhall be made low : 
 and the Lord alone fhall be exalted in that day. And 
 
 * the idols he fliall utterly abolilh. And fince that, it 
 
 has
 
 4 i4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 has come to pafs, that thofe gods that were once fo famous 
 in the world, as Jupiter, and Saturn, and Minerva, and 
 Juno, &c. are only heard of as things which were of old : 
 they have no temples, no altars, no worfhippcrs, and have 
 not had for many hundred years. 
 
 Now is come the end of the old heathen world in the 
 principal part of it, the Roman empire. And this great 
 revolution and change of the ftate of the world, with 
 that terrible deftruction of the great men who had been 
 perfecutors, is compared, [Rev. vi.] to the end of the 
 world, and Chrift coming to judgment; and is what is 
 moft immediately figniried under the fixth feal, which 
 followed upon the fouls under the altar crying, How 
 long, O Lord, holy and true, doft thou not avenge our 
 
 * blood on them that dwell on the earth ? This vifion of 
 the fixth feal, by the general confent of divines and expo- 
 fitors, has refpecl: to this downfal of the heathen Roman 
 empire ; though it may have a more remote refpecl to the 
 day of judgment, but that cannot be what is immediately 
 intended ; becaufe we have an account of many events 
 which were to come to pafs afterwards, yet before the end 
 of the world. 
 
 This revolution is alfo reprefented by the devil s being 
 caft out of heaven to the earth. In his great ftrength and 
 glory, in that mighty Roman empire, he had as it were 
 exalted his throne up to heaven. But now he fell like 
 lightning from heaven, and was confined to the earth. 
 His kingdom was confined to the meaner and more bar 
 barous nationSj or to the lower parts of the world of 
 mankind. [Rev. xii. 9, &c.] And the great dragon 
 
 * was caft out, that old ferpent, called the devil and Satan, 
 which deceiveth the whole world ; he was caft out into 
 the earth, and his angels were caft out with him, &c. 
 Satan tempted Chrift, and promifed to give him the glory 
 of the kingdoms of the world ; but now he is obliged to 
 give it to him even againft his will. This was a glorious 
 fulfilment of that promife which God made to his Son. 
 [Ifa. liii. 12.] Therefore will I divide him a portion 
 
 * with the great, and he {hall divide the fpoil with the 
 
 ftrong ;
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 4 i 
 
 ftrong ; becaufe he hath poured out his foul unto death ; 
 and he was numbered with the tranfgreflbrs, and he 
 * bare the fin of many, and made interceffion for the 
 4 tranfgrefibrs. This was a great fulfilment of the pro 
 phecies of the Old Teftament concerning the glorious 
 time of the gofpel, and particularly of the prophecies of 
 Daniel. Now the kingdom of heaven is come in a glo 
 rious degree. It pleafed the Lord God of heaven to fet 
 up a kingdom on the ruins of that of Satan. And furh 
 fuccefs is there of the purchafe of Chrift s redemption, 
 and fuch honour does the Father put upon Chrifl for the 
 difgrace he fuffered when on earth. And now fee to what 
 a height that glorious building is raifed, which had been 
 ere&iug ever lince the fall. 
 
 INFERENCE. 
 
 FROM what has been faid of the fuccefs of the gofpel 
 from Chrift s afcenfion to the time of Conftantine, we 
 may deduce a ftrong argument of the truth of the Chrif- 
 tian religion, and that the gofpel of Jefus Chrifl: is really 
 from God. This wonderful fuccefs which has been fpo- 
 ken of, and the circumftances of it which have been men 
 tioned, are a ftrong argument of it feveral ways. 
 
 (i.) We may obferve that it is the gofpel, and that 
 only, which has actually been the means of bringing the 
 world to the knowledge of the true God. That thofe 
 are no gods whom the heathen worfhipped, and that there 
 is but one only God, is what, now fince the gofpel has 
 fo taught us, we can fee to be truth by our own reafon . 
 it is plainly agreeable to the light of nature ; it can be 
 eafily fliown by reafon to be demonftrably true. The 
 very Deifts themfelves acknowledge that it can be demon- 
 ftrated, that there is one God, and but one, who has 
 made and governs the world. But now it is evident that 
 it is the gofpel, and that only, which has actually been 
 the means of bringing men to the knowledge of this truth , 
 
 it
 
 4 i6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, 
 
 it was not the inftrudtions of philofophers. They tried ii> 
 vain: The world by wifdom knew not God. [i Cor, 
 i. 21.] Till the gofpel and the holy fcriptures caine 
 abroad in the 1 world, ail the world lay in ignorance of the 
 true God, and in the greateft darknefs with refpedl to 
 the things of religion, embracing the abfurdeft opinions 
 and practices, by all civilized nations now acknowledged 
 to be childiih fooleries. And fo they lay one age after 
 another, and nothing proved effectual to enlighten them. 
 The light of nature, and their own rcalbn, and all the 
 wifdorn of learned men, availed nothing ; but the fcrip 
 tures brought the world to an acknowledgement of the one 
 only true God, and to worlhip and ferve him. 
 
 And hence it was, that all who now own the one 
 true God, Chriftians, Jews, Mahometans, and even Dc- 
 ifts, originally came by the knowledge of him. It is 
 owing to this that they are not in general at this day left 
 in hcathcniih darknefs. They have it either immediately 
 from the fcriptures, or by tradition from their fathers, 
 who had it at tirft therefrom. Doubtlefs thofe who now 
 defpifc the fcriptures, and boaft of the ftrength of their 
 own reafon, as being fufficient to lead them to the know 
 ledge of the one true God, if the gofpel had never come 
 abroad in the world to enlighten their forefathers, would 
 have been as brutifh idolaters as the world in general 
 was before the gofpel came abroad. The Mahometans, 
 who own but one true God, at firft borrowed the notion 
 from the Bible ; for the firft Mahometans had been edu 
 cated in the Chriftian religion, and apoftatized from it. 
 And this ihews, that the fcriptures were defigned of 
 God to be the means to bring the world to the know 
 ledge of himfelf, rather than human reafon, or any 
 thing elfe. For it is unreafonable to fuppofe, that the 
 gofpel, and that only, which God never defigned to this 
 end, ihould actually effect it, and that after human rea 
 fon, which he defigned as the proper mean, had been 
 tried for a great many ages in vain. If the fcriptures be 
 not the word of God, then they are the greateft delulion 
 that ever was. Now, is it reafonable to fuppofe, that 
 
 God
 
 TO THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE. 417 
 
 God in his providence would make ufe of falfehood and 
 delufion, and that only, to bring the world to the know 
 ledge of himfelf ? 
 
 (2.) The fuccefs of the gofpel againfl fuch powerful 
 oppofition plainly fliows the hand of God. The Roman 
 government, which fo violently fct itfelf to hinder the 
 fuccefs of the gofpel, and to fubdue the church of Chrift, 
 was the moil powerful human government that ever ex- 
 ifted ; and they feemed to have the church in their hands. 
 The Chriftians were moftly their fubjecls, and never took 
 up arms to ftand in their own defence; they armed them- 
 felves with nothing but patience, and fuch like fpiritual 
 weapons : and yet this mighty power could not conquer 
 them ; but on the contrary, Chriftianity conquered that. 
 The Romans had fubdued many mighty and potent king 
 doms ; they fubdued the Grecian monarchy, when they 
 were not their fnbjets, and made the utmoil refinance , 
 and yet they could not conquer the church which was in 
 their hands j but on the contrary, were finally triumphed 
 over by it. 
 
 (3.) No ether fufficient caufe can ;poffibly be afligned 
 of this propagation of the gofpel, but God s own power. 
 Here was a great and wonderful effect, the mofl remarka 
 ble change that ever was in the face of the world of man 
 kind fmce the flood ; and this effect was not without 
 fome caufc. Now, what other caufe can be devifed but 
 only the divine power ? It was not the outward ftrength 
 of the inftruments which were employed in it. At rft 
 the gofpel was preached only by a few ii (her men, who 
 xvere without power and worldly intereft to fupport them. 
 It was not their craft and policy that produced this won 
 derful effect : for they were but poor illiterate men. It 
 was not the agreeablenefs of the (lory they had to tell to 
 the notions and principles of mankind. This was no 
 pleafant fable : A crucified God and Saviour was to the 
 Jews a (rumbling block, and to the Greeks foolifhnefs. 
 It was not the agreeablenefs of their doctrines to men s 
 difpofitions ; for nothing is more contrary to the corrup 
 tions of men than the pure doctrines of the gofpel. This 
 
 3 H
 
 4 i8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 cfFeifl therefore can have proceeded from no other ccmfe 
 than the power and agency of God: and if the power of 
 God was what was exercifed to caufe the gofpel to prevail, 
 then the gofpel is his word : for furely God does not ufe 
 his almighty power to promote animpofture and delufion. 
 
 (4.) This fuccefs is agreeable to what Chrift anil his 
 apoftlcs foretold. [Matt. xvi. 18 ] Upon this rock 
 
 * will I build my .church ; and the gates of hell (hall not 
 prevail againft it, [John xii. 24.] Verily, verily I 
 fay unto you, Except a corn of Avheat fall into the 
 ground, and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bring- 
 ,- eth forth much fruit. [ver. 31, 32.] Now is thejudg- 
 V ment of this world: now (hall the prince of this world 
 be caft out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
 will draw all men unto me. [John xvi. 8.] When 
 
 * he (the comforter) is come, he will reprove the world 
 of fin, of righteoufnefs, and of judgment, bccaufe the 
 prince of this world is judged. 
 
 So the apoftle Paul [i Cor. i. 2128.] declares, that 
 after the world by wifdom knew not God, * It pleafed 
 God by the fojlifhnefs of preaching, to fave them that 
 believe ; and that God chofe the foolifh things of the 
 world to confound the wife : and weak things of the 
 
 O 
 
 world to confound the things which are mighty ; and bafe 
 things, yea and things that are not, to bring to nought 
 things that are. If any man foretells a thing, very like 
 ly in itfelf to come to pafs, from caufes which can be 
 forefeeri, it is no argument of a revelation from God: 
 but when a thing is foretold which is very unlikely ever 
 to come to pafs, which is entirely contrary to the common 
 courfe of things, yet it comes to pafs juft as foretold, this 
 is a ftrong argument that the prediction was from God. 
 
 Thus the confederation of the manner of the propaga 
 tion and fuccefs of the gofpel during the time which has 
 been fpoken of, affords great evidence that the fcriptures 
 are the word of God. 
 
 3. I am now to fliow how the fuccefs of ChriiVs re 
 demption is carried on from the time of the overthrow of 
 
 the
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 419 
 
 the heathen Roman empire by Conftantine the Great, till 
 the fall of antichriir,, and the deftru&ion of Satan s vifi- 
 ble kingdom on earth, which is the third great difpenfa- 
 tion that is in fcripture compared to Chrilt s coming to 
 judgment. This is a period wherein is contained ma 
 ny wonderful providences towards the Chriftian church. 
 The greater part of the book of the Revelation is taken 
 up in predicting the events of this period. 
 
 The fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe of redemption in this 
 period appears chiefly at the clofe of it, when Antichrift 
 comes to fall, when there will be a far more glorious 
 fuccefs of the gofpel than ever yet has been : and the fsries 
 of events preceding, feems to be only to prepare the way 
 for it. And in order to a more clear view of this period, 
 I fhall fubdivide it into thefe four parts : from the de- 
 ftruction of the heathen empire to the rife of antichrift- ; 
 from the rife of antichrift to the reformation in Luther s 
 time ; from thence to the prefent time ; from the prefent 
 time, till the fall of antichrift. But under this head \ 
 fhall confuler only the former, reaching from the deftruc- 
 tion of the heathen empire to the rife of anticbrift. And 
 here, (i.) I would take notice of the oppoiition Satan 
 made in this fpace of time to the church: and, (2.) The 
 fuccefs that the gofpel had in it. 
 
 (i.) The oppofition. Satan being caft out of his old 
 heathen empire, the great red dragon after fo fore a con 
 flict with Michael and his angels for the greater part of 
 three hundred years, being at laft entirely routed and 
 vanquished, fo that no place was found any more in 
 heaven for him, but he was caft down, as it were, from 
 heaven to earth ; yet does not give over his oppofition to 
 the woman, the church of Chrift, concerning which all 
 this conflict had been. But he is ftill in a great rage, 
 renews his attempts, and has recourfc to freih devices 
 againft the church. The ferpent, after he is caft out of 
 heaven to the earth, cafts out of his mouth water as a 
 flood, to caufe the woman to be carried away of the flood. 
 [Rev. xii. 15.] The oppofition that he made to the 
 church of Chrift before the rife of antichrift, was prin- 
 
 ^ H 2 cipally
 
 4 2o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 cipally of t\vo forts. It was either by corrupting the 
 church of Chrift with herefies, or by new endeavours to 
 reftore Paganifm. 
 
 [i.] I would obferve, that after the deftru6tion of the 
 heathen Roman empire, Satan infefted the church with 
 herefies. Though there had been fo glorious a work of 
 God in delivering the church from her heathen perfe- 
 cutors, and overthrowing the heathen empire ; yet the 
 days of the church s travail were not ended ; and the fef 
 time of her profperity which the church enjoyed in Con- 
 flantine s time, was but very fhort : it was a relpitc, which 
 gave the church a time of peace and filence, as it were, 
 for half an hour, wherein the four angels held the four 
 winds from blowing, till the fervants of God fhould be 
 fcalcd in their foreheads. [Rev. viii. i.] But the church 
 foon began to be greatly infefted with herefies ; the two 
 principal, and thofe that did mod infeft the church, were 
 the Arian and Pelagian herefies. 
 
 The Arians began foon after Ccnftantine came to the 
 throne. They denied the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
 the divinity of Chrift and the Holy Ghoft, and maintain 
 ed, that they were but mere creatures, (x) This herefy 
 increafed more and more in the church, and prevailed 
 like a flood, which threatened to overthrow all, and 
 entirely to carry away the church, infomuch that before 
 
 that 
 
 (x) The ARIANS.]] Thefe were fo called from Strius, a priefl 
 of the church of Alexandria, and a native of Lybia : afterwards 
 they were fplit into a great number of fects, partly from the de 
 gree of refinement in which the notions of Arius were received ; 
 fome approaching very near the language of the orthodox, as they 
 were called, and others degrading the Son of God far more than 
 Arius had done: and partly from other ftrange and erroneous opi- 
 r.ions added to his ; commonly however, they bore the name of 
 fome favourite leader, as the Photinians, Nejiorians, Eufychians, 
 Timotheans, &c. The grand champion of the orthodox was 
 Athanafius, who would have better defended their caufe, had he 
 adhered to the (Implicity of fcripture and not fettered Chriftianity 
 u ith his own additions and refinements. To him we are indebted 
 for the Athar.afion Creed, though few liberal minds think highly of 
 the obligation, and fewer can endure the curfes he has introduced 
 into the religious vrormip of the greater part of Chriftendom. 
 
 [G. E.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 421 
 
 that age was out, that is, before the end of the fourth 
 century, the greater part of the Chriftian church were 
 become Arians. There were fome emperors, the fuc- 
 ccvTors of Conftantine, who were Arians ;* fo that the 
 Arians being the prevailing party, and having the civil au 
 thority on their fide, raifed a great perfecution againft the 
 true church of Chrift ; fo that this herefy might well be 
 compared to a flood out of the mouth of the ferpent, which 
 threatened to carry away the woman. 
 
 The Pelagian herefy arofe in the beginning of the next 
 century. It began by one Pelagius, who was born in 
 Britain : his Britiih name was Morgan. He denied ori 
 ginal iin, and the influence of the Spirit of God in con- 
 verfion, and held the power of free will, and many other 
 things of like tendency : and this herefy for a while great 
 ly infefted the church. Pelagius s principal antagonift, 
 who wrote in defence of the orthodox faith, was St. Au- 
 guitin. (Y) 
 
 [2.] The other kind of opposition which Satan made 
 againft the church, was in his endeavours to reftore Pa- 
 ganiftn. And his firft attempt to reftore it in the Roman 
 empire, was by Julian the apoftate. Julian was nephew 
 to Conftantine the Great. When Conftantine died he 
 left his empire to his three fons : and when they were 
 dead, Julian reigned in their (lead. He had been a pro 
 fefled Chriftian ; but he fell from Chriftianity, and turn 
 ed Pagan ; and therefore is called the apoftate. When 
 he came to the throne, he ufed his utmoft endeavours to 
 
 * Conftantius Valeus, & c. See Dupin s Ecclef. Hift. Cent. iv. 
 
 (Y) PELAGIAN ISM.] Pelagius was very much aflilted by Celcf- 
 ilus, a much more fubtil and ingenius man. In Britain this fyf- 
 tem was fupported not by the authors of it, but by Agrkola, a dif- 
 ciple of Pelagius ; this produced, as ufual, an excommunication; 
 for the eccleiiaftical furgeons of thofe days feem to have imder- 
 ftooxi no part of their bufinefs fo well as amputation. Our au 
 thor has obfervcd, that the principal antagonize of Pelagius was St. 
 Augujlln. This eminent father was brought up a Manichean, 
 but converted by the preaching of St. Amlirofe, and the reading of 
 St. Paul s Epillles. His works which are in Latin, make ten folio 
 volumes, the laft of which contains his numerous Writings againil 
 the Pelagians. [Q. E>]
 
 422 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 overthrow the Chriftian church, and fet up Paganifm 
 again in the empire. He put down the Chriflian Magif- 
 trates, and placed heathens in their room; he rebuilt the 
 heathen temples, and became a moft notorious perfecutor 
 of the Chriftians, and, as is thought, againft his own 
 light : he ufed to call Chrift, by way of reproach, the 
 Galilean. He was killed with a lance in his wars with 
 the Perfians. When he faw that he was mortally wound 
 ed, he took a handful of his blood, and threw it up to 
 wards heaven, crying out, " O Galilean, thou haft con 
 quered." (z) And he is commonly thought by divines to 
 have committed the unpardonable fin. (A) 
 
 Another way that Satan attempted to reftore Paganifm 
 in the Roman empire, was by the invaftons and conqueft 
 of heathen nations. For in this period the Goths and 
 Vandals, and other heathen barbarous nations that dwelt 
 in the north of the Roman empire, invaded it, and ob 
 tained great conquefts, and even over-ran the empire ; in 
 the fifth century they took the city of Rome, and finally 
 fubdued and took pofTeruon of the Weftern empire, as it 
 was called, and divided it into ten kingdoms, which were 
 the ten horns of the beaft ; for we are told, that the ten 
 horns are ten kings, who ihould rife in the latter part of 
 
 the 
 
 (z) JULIAN the Apoft ite.~\ Among the inftances of Julian s op- 
 pofition to Chriflianity, hiftorians mention his attempt to rebuild 
 Jerufalem and rellore Judaifm, which was miraculoufly defeated, 
 fubterraneous fire repeatedly confuming both the work and work 
 men. This is acknowledged by his biographer Ammianm Mar- 
 ceHinus, [Lib. xxiii. cap. 4.] who however fays nothing, though 
 prefent at the time^of his blafphemous exclamation when mortally 
 wounded, as above related ; but greatly applauds the compofure, 
 fortitude, and refignation with which he died. This therefore refts 
 on Chriflian authority ; as that of Theodffret t [Lib. iii. cap. 20.] 
 and Sazomen, [Lib. vi. cap. 2.J whether therefore it was delignedly 
 omitted by the heathen, or invented by Chriftian hiftorians, has 
 been doubted. [See Univ. Hid. vol. xvi. p. 267.] [G. E.] 
 
 (A) The UNPARDONABLE Sin.] That is, they//z againfl the Holy 
 Ghqfl ; [Matt. xii. 21, 22.) This is fuppofcd to be a complication 
 of knowledge and inveterate malice ; had Peter denied his matter 
 with the malicious heart of Saul the perfecutor or Saul perfecut- 
 ed Jefus with the light that Peter pofTelTed either would have 
 committed this fin. [N. U.^
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 423 
 
 the Roman empire: (B) thefe are alfo reprefented by 
 the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar s image. The inva- 
 fion and conqueft of the heathen nations are fuppofed to 
 be foretold in the viiith chapter of Revelation, in what 
 came to pafs under the founding of the four firft trumpets, 
 (c) Now thefe nations were chiefly heathens ; and by 
 their means heathenifm was again for a while in part re- 
 ftored after it had been overthrown. 
 
 (2.) I proceed to fhow what fuccefs there was of the 
 gofpel in this fpace, notwithftancling thisoppofition. 
 
 [i.j I obferve, that the oppofition of Satan was baf 
 fled. Though the dragon caft out of his mouth fuch a 
 flood after the woman to carry her away, yet he could 
 not obtain his defign ; but the earth helped the woman, 
 and opened her mouth and fwallowed \ip the flood which 
 
 the 
 
 (B) TEN horns of the bfqft."] Sir If. Newton reckons them thus : 
 I. The Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa ; 2. The Suevians 
 in Spain ; 3. The Vifigoths ; 4. The Allans in Gallia ; 5. The Bur- 
 gundians; 6. The Franks; 7. The Britons; 8. The Hunns; 9. The 
 Lombards; 10. The kindom of Ravenna. Mr. Mede and other wri 
 ters differ a little in the names of thefe kingdoms, according to the 
 date at which they reckon them; but all, even Machiavel, [See Bp. 
 Chandler s Vindication, book i, ch. ii. 3.] who little thought of 
 fulfiling prophecy, adheres to the fame number ; " for though 
 they might be afterwards fometimes more and at others fewer, yet 
 (fays Sir If. Newton) they are ft ill called the fen kings." [Obferv. 
 on Dan. ch. vi. p. 47, 73.] [G. E."] 
 
 (c) The FOUR Jfirft TRUMPETS.] The firji trumpet produces a 
 ftorm of fire, of hail mingled with ti re, and very fitly reprefents the 
 Goths under Alaric^ who are compared to a ftorm of hail by C/au- 
 dinn. And Philoftorgitts reprcfents this period as remarkable for 
 lightning and hail. At theficonJ trumpet a burning mountain 
 is caft into the fea, which was Attlla and his Hunns, a few years af 
 ter the former. He called himfelf the * fcourge of God and the 
 terror of men. At the founding of the third trumpet the ftar 
 toormiuood falls from heaven, fuppofed to predict Genferic y a per- 
 fecuting Arian, king of the Vandals. ftyt\\e fourth trumpet, the 
 political luminaries of the empire were terribly eclipfed, which, 
 was effected by Odoacer king of the Heruti, who put an end to the 
 very name of the weftern empire, and was proclaimed king of Ita 
 ly ; but was foon removed by Theodoric king of the Oftrogoth.^, 
 who refumed his place. The bloodshed and other calamities, 
 which attended thefe revolutions, are beyond conception. [See Bp. 
 Newton on the Prophecies, vol. iii.dif. 24.] [G. E.]j
 
 424 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the dragon caft out of his mouth. [Rev. xii. 16,] Thcfc 
 herejics which fo much prevailed, yet after a while dwin 
 dle away and truth was again rcfiored. (D) As for Julianas 
 attempt, it was dif.ippointed hy his death. 
 
 [2.] The 
 
 (D) H.f.RUsif-sprevai/eJ. j We cannot difinifs the fubjeft of the 
 ancient heretics without two or three remarks, which naturally 
 arife from the perufal of their hiftory. 
 
 1. We obferve, that every new opinion that was itarted, which 
 could not be found in the eftabMied creeds, was deemed a he- 
 refy, though fometimes perfectly harmk-is, and even true. Such 
 were the opinions that unbaptifed children might be faved that 
 the Virgin Mary had children after our Lord and the do&rine of 
 the Millenium. This method foon increafed the number of he- 
 refies almoft beyond belief. 
 
 2. That moll of the herefies of thofe days which deferved that 
 opprobrious name, arofe from mixing the principles of the philo- 
 fophers with the pure truths of revelation. This idea would fill 
 a volume ; we mail therefore only illuitrate it by two or three 
 inftances. 
 
 The Gno/lics, or knowing ones, as the term implies, whether 
 they fprang from Simon Magus or not, formed their fyftem of a 
 mixture of Chriftianity and the oriental philofophy, perfonifying 
 I know not what attributes, and forming a generation of JEons, 
 
 one of whom they fuppofed to be Jefus and another Chrift. 
 
 Valentinus, a great admirer of the Platonic philofophy, is faid to 
 have much refined this fyftem, and founded the Valentinians. 
 Origen, and many of the orthodox, in feveral particulars alfo 
 Platonized ; and herein was laid the foundation of fcholaftic theo 
 logy, fo much cultivated in th.e fucceeding ages. Manes was a 
 Perfian, and upon the fame principle endeavoured to unite the 
 Magian fyltem (which he had formerly profeiTed) with that of 
 Chriitianity, and in this fcheme allotted to Jefus Chrifl the place 
 of Mithras, the Perfian Deity. Somewhat like that Roman em 
 peror, v>-ho propofed to place Jefus Chrift among the heathen 
 idols i:i the pantheon. Manes adopted the Perfian notion of two 
 frrft principles, and founded the fel of Manicheans, who, among 
 other impieties, took the God of the Jews for the evil principle, 
 the devil. But the plan of Ammonms Saccas is faid to have been 
 more liberal and extenfivc, he propofed to harmonize all the dif- 
 cordant fyftems of religion and philofophy in the world, which 
 he attempted by allegorizing the Pagan fyftem, and refined upon 
 others, thus melting them down, as it were, into one mafs of he 
 terogeneous abfurdrty. It ihould be added, that others, who 
 had been originally jews, were no lefs zealous in uniting the laws 
 of Mofes \vith the doctrines of Chrift, of which we have inftances 
 even in the New Teftarnent. 
 
 . We
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 425 
 
 [2.] The gofpel, duringthis fpace of time, was farther 
 propagated amongft many barbarous heathen nations in 
 (he confines ot the heathen Roman empire. In the time 
 of Conilantine there was a confiderable propagation of 
 the gofpel in the Eaft Indies, chiefly by the miniftry 
 of one Frumentius. Great numbers of the Iberians, an 
 heathen people, were converted to Chriftianity by a Chnf- 
 tian Woman of eminent piety, whom they had taken cap 
 tive. And among feveral other barbarous nations who 
 were not within the Roman empire, great numbers were 
 brought to receive the gofpel by the teaching and example 
 of captives whom they had taken in war. After this, 
 about the year of Chvift 372, the gofpel was propagated 
 in Arabia ; as it was alfo among ibine of the northern 
 nations ; particularly a prince of the country of the Goths 
 about this time became Chriftian, and a great number of 
 his people with him. Towards the latter end of this cen 
 tury, the gofpel was preached among the Perfians; alfo 
 among the Scythians, a barbarous people, whom the apof- 
 rlc mentions [Col. iii. n.] Barbarian, Scythian, bond 
 or free. About the year 430, there was a remarkable 
 converfion of the Burgundians to the Chriftian faith. In 
 this age Ireland, which till now had been heathen, re 
 ceived Chriftianity. About the fame time it was farther 
 propagated in Scotland and other places. In the next 
 century, one Zathus, king of the Colchians, renounced 
 3 I heatheniftn, 
 
 3. We may obferve, that whatever party prevailed conflantly 
 fuppofed themfelves to poflefs a right of vilifying and perfecuting 
 all others. Calumny, excommunication, imprifonment, and ba- 
 mihment, were the potent arguments with which they attacked 
 their adverfaries. And when fome ecclefiaftical revolution turned 
 the fcales and raiftd the fufferers to power, they were fure to re 
 taliate upon their oppreflors. It is faid the great Conftantir.e faw 
 and bewailed this antichriftian fpirit, conjuring the oppofite par 
 ties to peace and unity, but all in vain. Thefe dotneftic perfe- 
 Cutions very much increafed the number of herefies and fchifm ; 
 for oppofition is the parent of divifion, and the more men are fet 
 tered in matters of religious opinion, the more pcrverfe and ob- 
 ilinatc will they be. It has been well obferved, that the great 
 fecret of fubduing fectaries is to tolerate them : a fecret which 
 unhappily was not difcovered in thofe times. [I. N.J
 
 4 z6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 heathenifm, and embraced the Chriftian religion, as did 
 feveral other barbarous nations which I cannot particu 
 larize. (E) 
 
 Thus I have briefly confidered the principal events of 
 Providence which concerns the fuccefs of the c;ofpel from 
 Conftantinc to the rife of antichrift. 
 
 1 4 * * 
 
 (E) The go/pel farther PROPAGATED.] On this narrative we 
 obferve, that the principal fafts are unqueftionable, being related 
 by Sozomen, Socrates, and other hiftorians of that period, and in- 
 ferted into molt later eccleHallical hiftories ; it is not neceffary, 
 therefore, to cite diftinft authorities for each, we (hall only remark, 
 
 1. The means by which the gofpel was thus propagated, whicfi 
 were various; (l.) Preaching, frumentius, a native of Egypt, 
 mentioned above, preached the gofpel alfo in Abyffinia, and hav 
 ing converted fome of the princes, and many of the inhabitants, 
 was made bifhop of Axuma by Athanafius. Origen, at the in 
 vitation of an Arabian prince, is faid to have converted a numer 
 ous tribe of Arabs. Patrick, a Scotfman, whofe original name is 
 thought to have been Suceoth, is faid to have converted the Irifli ; 
 and though Anatolus and Palladius preached there before him, 
 yet is he honoured as their tutelar faint, as having had moft fuc 
 cefs. [Rapin s Hift. of England, vol. i. book 2.] (2.) Several 
 nations were converted by means of Chriftian captives. Thus many 
 of the Goths firft liftened to Chriflianity in the third century 
 by means of Eutyches, and were excited to fend for Chriftian 
 preachers, though fome give a later date and the following means. 
 (3.) The prnfperlty of the Chriftian empire, and the manner in 
 which Providence appeared for Conftantine, induced others to 
 embrace Chrillianity ; this is related particularly of the Burgun- 
 dians and fome of the Goths, as juft obferved. And others 
 changed their religion to flatter the Roman emperor, as one Phri- 
 tergenes, a king of the Goths, to pleafe Valens. [Univer. Hift. 
 vol. xvi. 131.; xviii. 325. ; xix. 279, 434 8. ; xx. 106, 390, &c.] 
 
 2. This however does not appear to be the jlrjl conversion of 
 many of them. Moft of the then known world received the gof 
 pel in the days of the apoftles. f_See above, Note Q_, page 407.] 
 And when Pantxnas preached among the Indians, he found a 
 copy of St. Matthew s gofpel, which, they faid, had been left 
 among them by one of the aportlcs. Some alfo dcferted the truth 
 foon after they had received it : the Bargundians, for inftance, 
 who within fifty years turned perfecuting Arians. 
 
 3. As to the gofpel thus preached, it is to be feared it was 
 feldom very pur:. Phritergenes and his people received their 
 Chriftianity by means of Anan preachers. And the orthodox, as 
 they called themfelves, were, by the third a .ui iourth centurit:. 
 
 con-
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 427 
 
 4. I come now to the fecond part of the time from 
 Conftantine to the deftrution of antiehrift, viz. that which 
 reaches from the rife ot antichrift to the reformation by 
 Luther and others. And this is the darkeft and moft dif- 
 mal day that ever the Chriftian church favv, and probably 
 the darkeft that ever it will fee. The time of the church s 
 affli&ion, as was obferved before, is from Chrift s refur- 
 reclion till the deftruclion of antichrift, excepting what 
 the day is, as it were, fhortened by fome intermiflions and 
 times of refpite, which God gives for the eledl s fake. [See 
 Matt. xxiv. 22.] But during this time, from the rife of 
 antichrift till the reformation, was a fpace wherein the 
 Chriftian church was in its depreflion, and darknefs. The 
 church in this fpace was for many hundred years in a (rate 
 of great obfcurity, like the woman in the wildernefs ; 
 [Rev. xii. 6.] indeed (he was almoft hid from fight and 
 obfervation. In fpeaking of the events of this fpare of 
 time, I would, (i.) Take notice of the machinations of 
 the devil againft the kingdom of Chrift in this time; (2.) 
 How the church of Chrift was upheld during it. 
 
 (i.) 1 would take notice of the machinations of the devil 
 againft the kingdom of Chrift during this time. Satan 
 
 had 
 
 confiuerably corrupted both in do&rine and manners. Many alfo 
 received the gofpel but in part, mixing fome particulars of it with 
 their native fuperftitions, whence fprang thofe numerous fefts of 
 Semi-Chriftians, as we may call them, ftill found in many parts 
 of the eaft. 
 
 4. We may add, that early in the following century (the fifth) 
 France became nominally Chriftian, on the following occafion : 
 Colvis I. a pagan prince, fell in love with Clotilda, a Chriftian 
 princefs, and ia order to obtain her, promifed to receive her reli 
 gion ; this, however, he had like to have forgotten, hail he not 
 a few years after been in danger of lofing an important battle ; 
 then he renewed his vow of turning Chriftian, if he might gain 
 the victory, which accordingly happening, he was baptized, witii 
 his fifter, and 3000 of his fubjeds. [Roliiifon s Mem. of Reform. 
 in France, prefixed to Saurin s Sermons, vol. i.] A few years 
 after Pope Gregory, in wonderful charity, fent Auftin, and a 
 tribe of other monks, to convert our Saxon anceftors, (the na 
 tives having fled to Wales) and had fuch fuccefs as to found the 
 
 3X2 fee
 
 428 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 had clone great things againft the Chriftian church before, 
 but had been baffied again and again. Michael and 1m 
 angels had obtained a glorious victory. How terrible 
 was his oppofition during the continuance of the heathen 
 empire ; and how glorious was Chrift s vi&ory and tri 
 umph over him in the time of Conftantine ! It pleafed 
 God now to prepare the way for a yet greater victory 
 ever him, to fuller him to renew his ftrength, and to do 
 the ulmoft that his power and fubtilty could do ; and 
 therefore he fuffers him to have a long time to form his 
 ichemes, and to cftablifh his intcreft ; and permits him to 
 carry his dcligns a great length, almoft to the fwallowing 
 up of his church ; and to exerciie a proud, and almoft 
 unoontrouled dominion, a long time before Chrift finally 
 conquers, and utterly ruins his vifible kingdom on earth, 
 as he will do in the time of the deftrudvtion of antichrift ; 
 and fhow himfelf fuperior to all his power and fubtilty. 
 The two grand works of the devil which he wrought in 
 this fpace again!!: the kingdom of Chrift, are his Anti- 
 ohiiftian and Mahometan kingdoms, which have been, 
 and (till are, of great extent and ftrength, both together 
 fwallowing up the ancient Roman empire; that of Ami - 
 chrift the Weftcrn, and Mahomet s the Eaftcrn empire. 
 It is in the Jeftru&ion of thefe that the victory of Chrift, 
 at {he introduction of the glorious times of the church, 
 will chiefly confift. And here let us briefly obfcrve how 
 Satan has creeled and maintains thefe two great kingdoms 
 in oppofition to that of Chrift. 
 
 [i.] With refpet to the kingdom of anliclirijl. This 
 fcems to be the mafter piece of all the devil s contrivances 3 
 and therefore antichrift is called emphatically the or thai 
 < man of fin, [2 ThefT. ii. 3.] as though he were fo 
 
 eminently. 
 
 fee of Canterbury, of which he \vas the firft archbiihop. But it 
 is to be feared, that the grand aim of the Roman pontiff was tu 
 enlarge his power, and the zeal of Auftin and his fellow labourers 
 to propagate the trumpery of popery, rather than the doftrines 
 of the gofpel. [Rzfin, vol. i. book 3.] There is no doubt but 
 Providence over-ruled all thefe events for good, and among the 
 fuperflition of the times, there were always fome who would not 
 bow the knee to Ban!. [G. E.}
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 429 
 
 eminently. He is alfo called wttchrift, which fignifies the 
 adverfary of Chrift. Not that he is the only opponent of 
 Chrift ; for the apoftle John obferves, that in his days 
 there were many antichrifts. [i John ii. 18, 22.] But 
 yet this is called the antichrift, as though there were none 
 other, becaufe he was fo eminently, and above all others. 
 So this contrivance of the devil is called the myflcry of 
 iniquity. [2 Theff. ii. 7.] And we find no enemy of Chrifi: 
 half fo much fpoken of in the prophecies of Revelation as 
 this ; or his deftrudtion fpoken of as fo happy for the 
 church. (F) 
 
 This is a contrivance of the devil to turn the miniftry 
 of the Chriftian church into his fervice, and change thefe 
 angels of the churches into fallen angels. And in the 
 tyranny, fuperftition, idolatry, and perfecution, which he 
 fets up, he contrives to make an image of ancient pagan- 
 ifm, and more than to reftore what was loft Jn the em 
 pire by the overthrow of heathenifm in the time of Con- 
 ftantine : fo that by thcfe means the head of the beaft, 
 which was wounded unto death in Conftantine, has his 
 deadly wound healed in antichrift ; [Rev. xiii. 3.] and 
 the dragon, that formerly reigned in the heathen Roman 
 empire, being caft out thence, after the beaft with fevcn 
 heads and ten horns rifes up out of the lea, gives him his 
 power, and feat, and great authority: and all the world 
 wonders after the beaft. (c) 
 
 1 am 
 
 (F) ANTICHRIST.] That antichrift intends the Pape or rather 
 the papal power, is now generally agreed by proteilant writers, and 
 is largely (hewn by Bp. Newton from the text above referred to 
 and fome others [as Dan. vii. 20, 21. I Tim. iv. i, &c. i John 
 iv. 3. 2 John vii. 8.] His Lovdfhip has likewife effectually 
 flemolifhed every other hypothefis on this fubjca. [On the Proph, 
 yol. ii. Dif. 22.] 
 
 (G) The IMAGE of the BEAST.] 
 
 The PAGAN DRAGON. | His POPISH IMAGE. 
 
 Its HEAD. 
 
 The Roman Emperor, called 
 alfo Pontifex maxlmus, (or high 
 piieil) attended with his princes 
 
 The Pope, alfo Pontifex max 
 imus, with his college of cardi 
 nals cloathed in purple. 
 
 in loyal purple. 
 
 Its,
 
 430 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 1 
 
 I am far from pretending to determine the time when 
 the reign of antichrift began, which is a point that has 
 been fo much controverted among divines and expositors- 
 It is certain that the 1260 days, or years, which is fo of 
 ten in fcripture mentioned as the time of the continuance 
 of antichrift s reign, did not commence before the year of 
 Chrift 47*9 ; becaufe if they did, they would have ended, 
 
 and 
 Its MEMBERS. 
 
 The Roman provinces. The cathoYicJIaies. 
 
 Its GODS. 
 
 Befides Jupiter the fupreme, 
 DivaVefta, (Juno or Luna) and 
 a multitude of deities of differ 
 ent ranks, mediators and inter- 
 ceffors ; prefiding over different 
 countries, profeffions, difeafes, 
 days, &c. 
 
 Befide the blefled Trinity, 
 Sanfta Maria, (the Virgin Ma 
 ry) mother of God and queen 
 of heaven, with innumerable 
 faints worfhipped as mediators 
 and interceffors ; prefiding over 
 various countries, profeffions, 
 difeafes, days, $cc. 
 
 PLACES of Worfhip. 
 
 Temples built eafl and weft 
 dedicated to their feveral gods ; 
 and one in particular to them 
 all, and therefore called the Pan 
 theon. 
 
 The fame temples, confecra- 
 ted anew, with others built up 
 on the fame plan, and dedicated 
 to their different faints ; and the 
 fame Pantheon dedicated to all 
 faints. 
 
 MANNER of Worfhip. 
 
 Through the medium of rich 
 images, with great fplendour and 
 innumerable ceremonies, mag 
 nificent garments, many mufical 
 Jnitruments, torches at noon 
 day, &.c. 
 
 By the fame, or fimilar ima 
 ges with equal fplendour, many 
 of the fame ceremonies, the like 
 garments, many mufical inftru- 
 ments, torches at noon day, &c. 
 
 See De Laune s plea [book 3.] where the parallel is purfued 
 through feveral other heads and properly illuftrated with particu 
 lar inftances : alfo the late Dr. Mitldleton s Letter from Rome, 
 who has carried the fubjeft flill farther, and obferves, when we 
 fee " the prefent people of Rome worfhipping at this day in the 
 fame temples at fbefame altars fometimes the fame images and 
 always with the fame ceremonies, as the old Romans ; they muft 
 have more chanty as well as fkill in diftinguifhing, than I pretend 
 to, who can abfclve them from the fame crime of fuperflition and 
 idolatry with their pagan anceftors." [U. S.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 431 
 
 and antichrift would have fallen before now. (H) But the 
 rife of antichrift was gradual. The Chriftian church 
 corrupted itfelf in many things prefently after Conftan- 
 tine s time, growing more and more fupcrflitious in its 
 worfhip, by degrees bringing in many ceremonies into 
 the worfhip of God, till at length they brought in the 
 worfhip of faints, and fet up images in their churches, 
 and the clergy in general, and efpecially the bifhop of 
 Rome, afTumed more and more authority to himfelf. (i) 
 In the primitive times he was only a minifter of a congre 
 gation ; then a ftanding moderator of a prclbytery a 
 
 diocefan 
 
 (H) The BEGINNING oftbzreignofslntichrift.~] The bePc inter 
 preters (as Mr. Fleming, Sir I. Newton, Mr. Lowman, Dr. Dod- 
 dridge, Bp. Newton, and Mr. Reader) are pretty well agreed that 
 this reign is to be dated from about A. D. 756, when the Pope 
 began to be a temporal power, (that is, in prophetic language, a 
 beaft} by afluming temporal dominion ; 1260 years from this pe 
 riod will bring us to about A. D. 2000, and about the 6oooth 
 year of the world, which agrees with a tradition at leaft as ancient 
 as the epiflle afcribedto the apoftle Barnabas [$ 15.] which fays, 
 that " in fix thoufand years fhall all things be accomplifhed." 
 See Dodclr. in loc. and Bp. Newton on the Prop. vol. i. DifT. 14.] 
 
 (i) Popi/h fitperflition GRADUALLY Introduced. ] The following 
 chronological lift of Popifh peculiarities is taken from the late Mr. 
 Toplady. 
 
 CENTURY. 
 
 II. Marriage and eating flefh forbid ; Lent enjoined ; the keep 
 ing of Eafter, and excommunication began to be abufed. 
 
 III. Keeping of Chriflmas and Whitfunday enjoined ; comme 
 moration of martyrs ; facred veftments ; oblations for the dead ; 
 facraments corrupted ; new orders of clergymen inflituted ; and a 
 monaftic life applauded. 
 
 IV. Relics venerated ; pilgrimages recommended ; Friday made 
 a faft day ; and the clergy forbad to marry. 
 
 V. Pictures, images, and altars erected in churches ; tapers 
 burnt at noon day ; penances and prayers for the dead praclifed ; 
 monafteiies creeled for nuns. 
 
 VI. Sacrifice of the mafs ; the clergy exempted from the civil 
 jurifdi&ion ; indulgencies eftablifhed ; herefy made death. 
 
 VII. Pope made univerfal bifhop ; pantheon dedicated to all 
 the faints ; prayers to faints, and the Latin language enjoined. 
 
 VIII. Pope made a temporal prince, and began to depofe kings; 
 image woiihip enjoined. 
 
 IX. Saints
 
 432 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 diocefan biihop a metropolitan, which is equivalent tq.nrf 
 archbiHiop- a patriarch ; then he claimed the power, of 
 univerfal bifhop over the whole Chriftian church, where 
 in he was oppofed for a while, but confirmed in it hy the 
 civil power of the emperor in the year 606. After that 
 he claimed the power of a temporal prince ; and fo was 
 wont to carry two fwords, to figniiy both his temporal 
 and fpiritual power, and affumed more and more authority, 
 till at length he, as Chrift s vicegerant on earth, claimed 
 the very fame power that Chriil would have, if he was 
 prefent on earth, and reigned on his throne, or the fame 
 power that belongs to God ; he even ufed to be called God 
 on earth, and fubmitted to by all the princes of Chriflen- 
 dom. (K) He claimed power to crown princes, and to de 
 grade them at his pleafure ; and brought kings and empe 
 rors to kifs his feet. Emperors were wont to receive their 
 crowns at his hands, and princes dreaded the difpleafurc 
 of the Pope, as they would have done a thunderbolt from 
 heaven ; for if the Pope was pleafed to excommunicate a 
 prince, all his fubjecls were at once treed from their alle 
 giance, yea, and obliged to renounce it on pain of excom 
 munication ; and not only fo, but any man might kill 
 him wherever he found him. Further, the Pope was be 
 lieved to have power to damn men at pleafure ; for who- 
 foever died under his excommunication, was looked upon 
 as certainly loft. Several emperors were actually depofed, 
 and died miferably by his means ; and if the people of any 
 
 flate 
 
 IX. Saints canonized ; and tranfubftantiation maintained ; col 
 lege of cardinals inftituted. 
 
 X. Agnus Dei s invented and bells baptized. 
 
 XI. Purgatory and beads invented. 
 
 XII. The fcholaiHc writers arofe. 
 
 XIII. Cup refufed to the laity ; auricular confelfion enjoined: 
 jubilee appointed ; friars inftituted. 
 
 XIV. Indulgences fold. 
 
 XV. Seven facraments eftablifhed. 
 
 [Gof. Mag. Dec. T~7_", and Sup.] 
 
 (K) The Pops a GOD.] So he was (tiled, " Our Lord God the 
 Pope a God on earth the power of the Pope (fay they) exceed^ 
 all created power, and extends to things ccrlellial, terreffcial and in 
 ternal." [Newton on the Proph. vol. ii. p. ^66. ]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 433 
 
 Rate or kingdom did not pleafe him, he could lay that 
 ftate or kingdom under an interdict, whereby all facred 
 adminiftrations among them could have no validity. 
 There could be no valid facraments, prayers, preaching, 
 or pardons, till that interdict was taken off; fo that 
 people remained, in their apprehenflon, in a damnable 
 ftate, and therefore dreaded it as they would a florm of 
 rire and brimftone from heaven. And in order to execute 
 his wrath on a prince or people with whom the Pope was 
 difpleafed, other princes muft alfo be put to a great deal of 
 trouble and expence. (L) 
 
 As the Pope with his clergy robbed the people of their 
 ecclefiaftical and civil liberties and privileges, fo he alfo 
 robbed them of their eftates, and drained all Chriftendom 
 of their money, ingrofling their riches into his own cof 
 fers, by revenues of the clergy, pardons, indulgencies, bap- 
 tifms and extreme unitions, deliverance out of purgatory, 
 and an hundred other things. (M) See how well this 
 
 agrees 
 
 (L) Princes DEPOSED or deprived by POPES.] 
 
 1. Pope Zachary I. depofed Childerick, King of France. 
 
 2. Gregory VII. Henry IV. Emperor. 
 
 3. Urban II. Philip, King of France. 
 
 4. Adrian IV. William, King of Sicily. 
 
 5. Innocent III. Philip, Emperor. 
 
 6. Gregory, Frederick II. 
 
 7. Innocent IV. John, King of England. 
 
 8. Urban IV. Mamphred, King of Sicily. 
 
 9. Nicholas III. Charles, King of Sicily. 
 
 10. Martin IV. Peter, King of Arragon. 
 
 11. Boniface VIII. deprived Philip the Fair. 
 
 12. Clement V. depofed Henry V. Emperor. 
 
 13. John XXII. deprived Lodovick, Emperor. 
 
 14. Gregory IX. depofed Wenceflaus, Emperor. 
 
 15. Paul III. deprived Henry VIII. King of England. 
 
 [JBerwet s Memorial, p. 30.] 
 
 For the fentiments of the popifli decrees and doctors on this iub- 
 ject, fee * Spirit of Popery, cli. viii. and Sir R. Steele, Rom. Ecclef. 
 Hift. No. III. and IV. where may be feen a famous oration of Pope 
 Sixtus V. 1589, applauding the murder of Henry III. of France, 
 by a Jacobine friar, as both admirable and meritorious. 
 
 ( M ) The POPE DRAINED C&riftendom.] This he did by the fol- 
 lowing ingenious methods : 
 
 3 K Some
 
 434 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ngrees with the prophecies above referred to, viz. [Thef. ii. 
 3, 4. Dan. vii. 20, 21. Rev. xiii. 6, y. and xvii. 3, 4.] 
 
 During 
 
 Some Account of the Fees of th? Pope s Chancery for Alfoluiiom, Li 
 cences^ Indulgences, &c. 
 
 ABSOLUTIONS. Groflbs.f 
 
 For lying with a woman in the church - 6 
 
 For wilful perjury - _-,,.- 6 
 
 A pried for fimony - - 7 
 
 .V layman for murdering a layman - 5 
 
 For killing father, mother, wife, filler, or other relative - 7 
 For a prieft that keeps a concubine - 7 
 
 For defiling a virgin - ... 6 
 
 For lying with mother, or fifter, Sec. - - 5 
 
 For robbery, or burning a neighbour s houfe - - - 8 
 For forging letters apoltolical - - - 17 or 1 8 
 
 For a king going to the holy fepulchre without licence IOO 
 
 LICENCES. 
 
 To change a vow of going to Rome - -12 
 
 That a king, on Chriflmas-day morning, may have a naked 
 
 fword borne before him, as the Pope has rf tlvi_jo 
 
 To have a portable altar ... .,. 10 
 
 To eat flefh in Lent, &c. 12 or 16 
 
 That one who preaches before a king, may give indulgence 
 
 to all his hearers ... -12 
 
 For a town that hath ufcd green wax in its feal, to ufe red 50 
 Fora layman to chufe his confcfibr . - JO 
 
 INDULGE NCIES. 
 
 For an hofpital or chapel for fcven years - - 50 
 
 That a layman may remove the relics of faints to his own 
 
 chapel ... . - 16 
 
 For a remifllon of the third part of one s fins - - 100 
 
 f A Groffo is fomewhat more than our gvoat. 
 
 The above account is correctly taken from Taxa <$". Cancelling 
 dpaftolica eclul. L. Blanch. Fran. 1651. where p. 79, (fpeaking 
 of matrimonial difpenfations) are thefe remarkable words 
 
 " N. B. Thefe benefits cannot be given to the poor; becaufe 
 they have not, therefore they cannot be comforted. 
 
 Of this famous book there were no lefs than fifteen editions at 
 different places abroad between A. D. 1514 and 1700. 
 
 *V* indulgsncies were often granted to whole fraternities, and 
 fometimes for a icoo years or more. 
 
 " Tis almoit incredible whnt fums of money are drawn into the 
 Pope s coffer, by thcie and other little devices that depend upon 
 them; as mafias, requiems, tivntals, obits; as alfo by Peter-pence, 
 
 tenths,
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 435 
 
 During this time alio fuperftitioii and ignorance more 
 and more prevailed. The holy fcriptures by degrees \vere 
 taken out of the hands of the laity, the better to promote 
 the unfcriptui ai and \vicke d defigns of the Pope and his 
 
 3 K 2 clergy ; 
 
 tenths, firil fruits, appeals, inveftitures; by the fale of Agnus 
 Dei s, confecrated beads, and fuch like ware fent from Rome every 
 year; by difpenfations, mortuaries, pilgrimages to the npoftolic 
 fee, efpecially at the jubilee. Seme have computed that the 
 tenths and firft fruits in this ration amounted to above . 20,000 
 per annum, which was no finall fum in thofe times, nay, one 
 archbiihop s pall (Walter Grey s of York) coft . 10,000 ilerling, 
 fays Matthew Paris. In our Henry the Third s time it was rec 
 koned that the Pope s revenue out of this nation exceeded the 
 king s; and fome that have endeavoured to make the eftimate 
 tell us, that there went 60,000 marks yearly out of this land to 
 Rome; in collecting which fums, the frauds and cruelties of then- 
 agents were fuch, that a great bigot of the Pope s, and a hot 
 ftickler in Beckct s caufc, Johan* Sort/fa, affures us, " That tho 
 legates of the apoftolical feat did tyrannize over the provinces, as 
 if the devil was gone out from the prefence of the Lord to fcourge 
 the church." 
 
 " Nor had our neighbours much better treatment ; the fame 
 trade was carried on in other countries, witnefs the complr.int of 
 the Germans in their hundred grievances ; and that of the coun 
 cil of Spain, mentioned by Sandys in his Europre Speculum, vi/. 
 that Pope Pius V. had got 14 millions out of that kingdom in a 
 fhort fpace. And CiraceUa affirms, that Pope Sixtus V. in five 
 years time collected five millions of crowns ; four millions of which 
 Gregory XIV. his fucceffor, wafted in pomp and riot in lefs than 
 ten months. 
 
 " Nov. need we wonder at this, confidering how many hands 
 were employed ? The grand fifherman at Rome had a multitude 
 .in every country to angle partly for him, and partly for them- 
 felves. Alftead reckons above a hundred years ago, that there 
 were then at leaft 225,044 monafteries in Christendom; and if you 
 allow forty perfons to a hcufe, the number will be more than nine 
 million. Now all thefe, and the reft of the ecclefiaftics, which, 
 like locufts had ovei -fprcad the face of the earth, lived upon tin- 
 plunder of the people ; and befides, they had a thoufand little 
 tricks and devifes in getting money ; they could fell a dead man s 
 bones at a vaft fum ; Auftin s particularly (that were translated 
 from Hippo to Sardina) were purchafed at an hundred talents of 
 filver, and a talent of gold : and having almoft an infinite variety 
 of ware, which they put off at no fmall rate, taking advantage of 
 the fuperftition and credulity of their filly chapmen." [BENNET S 
 Mem. of the Reform, p. 27 29. See alfo Fuller s Church Hift. 
 book v.J
 
 436 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 clergy ; and inftead of promoting knowledge among the peo 
 ple, they induftrioufly promoted ignorance. (N) It was a 
 received maxim among them, that ignorance is the mother 
 of devotion : and fo great was the darknefs of thofe times, 
 that learning was almoft extin6l in the world. Mod ot 
 the priefts themfelves were barbaroufly ignorant as to any 
 other knowledge than their infernal craft in opprefling 
 and tyrannizing over the fouls of the people. The fuper- 
 ftition and wickednefs of the church of Rome kept grow 
 ing worfe and worfe till the very time of the Reforma 
 tion ; and the whole Chriftian world were led away into 
 this grand defection ; except the Greek church and fome 
 others which were funk into equal darknefs and fuper- 
 ilition ; with a few that were the people of God, who 
 are reprefented by the woman in the wildernefs, and God s 
 two witnefies, of which more hereafter. 
 
 This is the chief of thofe two great kingdoms which the 
 devil in this period creeled in oppofition to the kingdom 
 of Chrilt. I come now, 
 
 [2.] To fpeak of the other, which is in many refpefts 
 like unto it, viz. his Mahometan kingdom, which is alfo 
 of mighty power and vail extant, fet up by Satan againft 
 the kingdom of Chrifl: this was fet up in the eaftern em 
 pire, as that of antichrist in the weftern. 
 
 Mahomet was born in the year of Chrift 571, in Arabia. 
 When he was about forty years of age, he began to give 
 out that he was the great prophet of God, and to teach 
 
 his 
 
 (x) PAPISTS inimical to SCRIPTURE.! The proofs of this arc 
 endlefs ; we can only refer to a tra6l called " Popery an Enemy to 
 fcnpture," by theRev. J. Serces, ( 1736) who has Ihewn that papiits 
 prohibit the laity to read the fcriptures that the principles of po 
 pery annul its authority that their divines fpeak of them with 
 great contempt that theymadedecrees inoppofition tothem that 
 they falfify them in their tranilations. Memorable is the ftory of 
 FuJgenhus, the friend of Father Paul, who preaching on Pilate s 
 quelh on, What is truth ? told the audience, that after many re- 
 fearches he had found it out, and holding out a New Teftament 
 faid, it was there in his hand, but added, putting it again into his 
 pocket " The book is prohibited." [Letter to Bp. of Carlifle 
 Quoted Mon. Rev. Jan. 1778.]
 
 THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 437 
 
 his new religion, of which he was to be confidered as the 
 head next under God. He publifhed his Koran, which he 
 pretended to have received from the angel Gabriel - t (o) 
 and being a crafty man, poflefled of confiderable wealth, 
 and living among a people who were very ignorant, and 
 greatly divided in their opinions of religious matters, 
 
 by 
 
 (o) The KORAN.] This celebrated book (called in Arabic, AI- 
 koran) is the bible of the Turks, and very different characters arc 
 given of it by Mahometans and Chrillians : the following hints are 
 defigned to give an impartial, though concife, view of it, and ba 
 lance the oppofite accounts. 
 
 r. It muft be confefled to contain many fublime ideas ; and for 
 the elegance and correftnefs of its ftyle, is confidered as the flandard 
 of the Arabian language. It alfo contains a number of fine moral 
 obfervations and excellent precepts, particularly on the articles of 
 juilice and alms-deeds. 
 
 2. On the other hand it is equally true, the Koran contains a 
 great number of abfurdities and falfehoods ; tales too abfurd for 
 Superannuation to relate, or infancy to believe : nay, a variety of 
 injunctions the moft tyrannical and fanguinary that ever were deli 
 vered; witnefs his laws concerning women, infidels, revenge, &c. 
 
 3. In reply to our firtl remark, Chriftian writers have obferved 
 that the fublimeft of his ideas and the beft of his precepts were pro 
 bably borrowed from his converfation with Jews and Chriftians ; 
 not to mention the current ftory of his being afiiiled by a Jew and 
 a Monk, which Mr. Gibbon will not admit. 
 
 4. In anfwer to our fecond observation, many of the Mahometan 
 doctors pretend that the reveries we defpife are mere allegories, and 
 capable of a myftical explication, neither carnal nor ridiculous. 
 The precepts which we condemn, they alfo juitify as perfectly 
 confident with the ideas of eaftern nations, though they appear 
 ftrange and arbitrary to the weftern world. 
 
 5. Praftifmg the grand Chriftian precept of doing as we would 
 be done by, and making all reafonable allowances ; ftill nothing 
 can reafon away the impoftureof feigned revelations ; nothing juf- 
 tifies the tyranny of many of his laws ; nothing palliate the cru 
 elty and bloodmed that frequently marked his conquefts. 
 
 6. Lailly, in one view, however, we may contemplate Mahomc- 
 tanifm with pleafure and inftruction, as it affords a powerful argu 
 ment in defence of Chriftianity, and contains, even in the Koran, 
 its own refutation, Mahomet allows the mifiion both of Mofes and 
 of Chrift, and thus confirms both the Old Tellansent and the New : 
 and yet (wonderful inconnftency!) with neither of thefe can hi.s 
 doctrines in any manner be reconciled. He admits that both th<t 
 Jewifh legiflator and the Mefiiah of the gofpels were commiflioned 
 from above, and yet if either be admitted, Mahomet mufl certainly 
 be rejected as an enthufiaft or an impoftor. [G. E.j
 
 438 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 by fubtilty, and fair promifes of a fenfual paradife, he 
 gained a number to be his followers, fet up for their 
 prince, propagated his religion by the fword, and made 
 it meritorious of paradife to right for him. By which 
 means his party grew, and went on fighting till they con 
 quered and brought over the neighbouring countries: and 
 fo his party gradually increafed till they over-ran a great 
 part of the world, (p) Firft, the Saracens, who were 
 
 foine 
 
 (p) The Character of MAHOMET.] Many will, we hope, be 
 gratified by the following extract from Mahomet s character, drawn 
 by the malcerly hand of Mr. GIBBON ; in which, however, it is 
 but jtiftice to hint to the juvenile part of our readers, that this 
 elegant hiftorian appears too much inclined to admire any fyilem 
 inimical to ChriiHanity. 
 
 " According to the tradition of his companions, Mahomet was 
 
 diftinguifhed by the beauty of his perfon They applauded 
 
 his commanding prefence, his majcfb c afpeft, his piercing eye, 
 his gracious fmile, his flowing beard, his countenance that paint 
 ed every fenfation of the foul, and his geftures that enforced each 
 exprefiion of the tongue. In the familiar offices of life he fcru- 
 puloufly adhered to the grave and ceremonious politenefs of his 
 country ; his refpectful attention to the rich and powerful was 
 dignified by his condefcenfion and affability to the pooreft citizens 
 of Mecca ; the franknefs of his manner concealed the artifice of 
 his views ; and the habits of courtefy were imputed to perfonal 
 triendfliip or univerfal benevolence. His memory was capacious 
 and retentive, his wit eafy and focial, his imagination fublime, his 
 judgment clear, rapid, and dccifivc. He pofleffcd the courage 
 both of thought andaftion ; and, although his defigns might gra 
 dually expand with his luccefs, the firft idea which he entertained 
 of his divine miifion bears the ftamp of an original and fuperior 
 genius. The fon of Abdallah was educated in the bofom of the 
 nobleft race, in the ufe of the pureil dialect of Arabia; and the flu 
 ency of his fpeech was corrected and enhanced by the practice of 
 difcreet and feafonable filence. Wituthefe powers of eloquence,Ma- 
 hcmet was an iiiiteiate barbarian : his youth had never been in- 
 ftru&ed in the arts of reading and writing ; the common igno 
 rance exempted him from fhamc and reproach; but he was re 
 duced to a narrow circle of exiltence, and deprived of thofe faith 
 ful mirrors, which reflect to our mind, the minds of fages and 
 heroes. Yet the book of nature and of man was open to his view. 
 .... From his earlieit youth, Mahomet was addifted to religious 
 contemplation : each year, during the month of Ramadan, he 
 withdrew from the world, and from the arms of Cadijah ; in the 
 cave of Hera, three miles from Mecca, he confulted the fpirit of 
 
 fraud
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 439 
 
 fome of his followers, and were a people of the country 
 of Arabia, where Mahomet lived, about the year 700, 
 began dreadfully to wafle the Roman empire. They con 
 quered a great many countries belonging to the empire, 
 and continued their vi6tories for a long time. Thefc are 
 fuppofed to be meant by the locufts that we read of in the 
 ixthchap. of Revelation. ( oj After 
 
 fraud or enthufiafm, whofe abode is not in the heavens, but in the 
 mind of the prophet. The faith which, under the name of JJlam, 
 he preached to his family and nation, is compounded of an eter 
 nal truth and a neceflary fiction, That there is only one God, and thai 
 Mahomet is the apojlle of God. 
 
 Charity may believe that the original motives of Mahomet were 
 thofe of pure and genuine benevolence; but a human miffionary 
 is incapable of cherifhing the obftinate unbelievers who reject his 
 claims, defpife his arguments, and perfecute his life ; he might 
 forgive his perfonal adverfaries, he may lawfully hate the enemies 
 of God ; the ftern paffions of pride and revenge were kindled in 
 the bofom of Mahomet, and he fighed, like the prophet of Ni 
 neveh, for the deftruction of the rebels whom he had condem 
 ned. The injuftice of Mecca and the choice of Medina tranf- 
 formed the citizen into a prince ; the humble preacher into the 
 leader of armies ; but his fword was confecrated by the example 
 of the faints ; and the fame God who afflicts a finful world with 
 peftilence and earthquakes, might infpire, for their converfion or 
 chaftifement, the valour of his fervants. In the exercife of poli 
 tical government, he was compelled to abate the ftern rigour of 
 fanaticifm, to comply in fome meafure with the prejudices and 
 paffions of his followers, and to c mploy even the vices of man 
 kind as the inftruments of their falvation. The ufe of fraud and 
 perfidy, of cruelty and injuiHce, were often fubfervient to the 
 propagation of the faith ; and Mahomet commanded or appro 
 ved the affafilnation of the Jews and idolaters who had efcaped 
 from the field of battle. By the repetition of fuch afts, the cha 
 racter of Mahomet muft have been gradually ftained ; and the 
 influence of filch pernicious habits would be poorly compenfated 
 by the practice of the perfonal and focial virtues which are necef- 
 fary to maintain the reputation of a prophet among his fectaries 
 and friends. Of his laft years, ambition was the ruling pafiion ; and 
 a politician will fufpect, that he fecretly fmiled (the victorious 
 impoftor!) at the enthufiafm of his youth and the credulity of 
 his profelytes." [GIBBON S Decline of the Roman Emp. vol. v. 
 ch. 50. N. B. Compare Prideaux s Life of Mahomet, ch. i. with 
 Sale s preliminary Difcourfe, or Mrfleim s Eccl. Hill. vol. i. p. 
 
 3 3- 
 
 ( <xj SARACENS compared to LOCUSTS.] This they may be, 
 I. From their f warms, as the Saracens were almcit innumerable ; 
 
 2. Arabia,
 
 440 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 After tliis the Turks, who were originally another 
 people, different from the Saracens, but were followers 
 of Mahomet, conquered all the eaftern empire. Their 
 empire commenced ahout the year of Chrift: 1296, and 
 about 1300 they began to invade Europe, took Conftan- 
 tinople, and fo became mafter of all the eaftcrn empire in 
 the year 1453, which is near three hundred years ago. And 
 thus all thofe cities, where the famous churches of Jerufa- 
 lem, Antioch, Ephefus, Corinth, &c. were, now became 
 fubjecl: to the Turks. And they took poffemon of Con- 
 Ilantinople, which was named after Conftantine the Great, 
 and made by him the city of the Roman empire. Thefe 
 Turks are fuppofed to be prophelied of by the horfemen in 
 the ixth chap, of Revelation, [ver. 15, &c.] (R) And the 
 remains of the Chriftians in thofe parts of the world, who 
 are moftly of the Greek church, are in miferable flavery 
 under thefe Turks, and treated with a great deal of barba 
 rity and cruelty, and are become generally very ignorant 
 and funerftitious. 
 
 Thus I have fliown what great works of Satan were 
 wrought during this fpace of time in oppofition to the 
 kingdom of Chrift. 
 
 (2.) I come now to fliow how the church of Chrift was 
 upheld through this dark time.- And here, 
 
 [i.] It is to be obferved, that towards the former part 
 of this fpace, fome of the nations of Chriftendom held 
 out a long time before they complied with the corrup 
 tions and ufurpations of the church of Rome. Though 
 
 ail 
 
 2. Arabia, their country, frequently abounds with locufts ; 3. 
 Locufts are bred in pits, they in the infernal one ; 4. In the year 
 A. D. 620, when Mahomet was training his diiciples, an Arabian 
 hiftorian mentions half the fun being eclipfed from October to 
 June ; 5. They fpared the trees, corn fields, and cattle ; 6. They 
 hurt only thofe Chriftians which were corrupted by idolatry and 
 fupcrltition. [See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, who has ad 
 duced fcveral other ftriking particulars, and fhown Mahomet to be 
 the {tar, ver. I. vol. iii. DifT. 24 ] 
 
 (R) TURKS defcriled as horfemen.] For this they were rc- 
 markable confided of four fultanics or kingdoms their ftan- 
 ;l:.rdj red, yellow, and blue, and about this time invented great 
 guns ;rn(l gunpowder, [Newton on the Proph. vol. iii. DifT. 24. J
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 441 
 
 all the world wondered after the beaft, yet all nations did 
 not fall in at once. Many of the principal corruptions of 
 the church of Rome were brought in with a great deal of 
 ftruggle and oppofition ; and particularly, when the Pope 
 ;;ave out, that he was univerfal bifliop, many churches 
 greatly oppofed him in it; and it was a long time before 
 they would yield to his exorbitant claims.* And fo, when 
 the worihip of images was firft brought into the churches, 
 there were many who greatly oppofed it.f And the fame 
 with, refpecl to other corruptions of the church of Ronie. 
 Thofe people that dwelt near to the city of Rome complied 
 fooner, but fome that were more remote, were a long time 
 before they could be induced to put their necks under the 
 yoke : and particularly ecclefiaftical hiftory gives an L:C- 
 count, that it was fo with great part of the churches in 
 England, and Scotland, and France, who retained the 
 ancient purity of doctrine and worlhip much longer than 
 many others, who were nearer the chief feat of anti- 
 chrift.t 
 
 fa..-] In every age of this dark time, there appeared 
 particular perfons in all parts of Chriftendom, who bore 
 a teftimony againil the corruptions and tyranny of the 
 church of Rome. There is no one age of antichrift, . 
 in the darkeft times, but ecclefiaftical historians mention 
 many who man ife fled an abhorrence of the Pope, and his 
 idolatrous worfnip, and pleaded for the ancient purity ox 
 doflrine and worfhip. God was pleafed to maintain an 
 uninterrupted fucceffion of witnefTes, through the whole 
 time, in Germany, France, Britain, and other countries. 
 Many of them were private perfons, many minifters, and 
 fome magiftrates, and perfons of diftintSrion. (&) And 
 
 there 
 : asjiisjf\jfi<* ,=-- 
 
 * Bingham y s Antiq. book ix. chap. I. IT. and Bdrroiv on the 
 Supremacy. 
 
 f Dupin s Eccl. Hift. Cent. viii. chap. i. 
 
 J See the following Note. 
 
 (s) God had WITNESSES in every age."] This is largely proved 
 by a learned prelate, to whom thefe notes have often been-ir.debtcd, 
 the late Bp. of Bri/lol [on the Prophecies, Dif. xxiv. Part i.] and 
 the late ingenious Mr. Toplady, [Hiftoric Proof bf the Caiv. of 
 
 ^ L the
 
 442 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 there were numbers in every age who were perfecuted and 
 put to death for this teftimony. 
 
 [3.] Befules particular perfons difperfed here and there, 
 there was a certain people, called the Waldenfes, who 
 
 lived 
 
 the Ch. of Eng. vol. i. p. 149 212.] from whom the following 
 names are feleftcd under the different centuries : 
 
 Cent. VII. In this age the doftrine of the Roman church began 
 to be efientially and generally corrupt ; yet, however, the Pope 
 had not commenced a temporal prince, and the illuftrious names 
 that hiflory preferves, are too many to be particularized. 
 
 Cent. VIII. Several councils in this century were held in op- 
 pofuion to the growing errors of popery, particularly tranfubftan- 
 tiation, and the worfhip of faints and images. The beginning of 
 this century the famous Alcuin, an Englifhman, wrote in the name 
 of the Britifh bifhops, and others, to Charles the Great, protefting 
 againft thefe errors. At this time alfo flouriihed the venerable 
 Bede, who with his dying breath finimed his Tranflation of St. 
 John s Gofpel. 
 
 Cent. IX. Not to mention the exertions of feveral princes, both 
 in the eaft and wed, againft the increafing tyranny of the Popes, 
 and the vices and here lies of his clergy : among the ditines who 
 boldly oppofcd popery, were Agolard, Abp. of Lyons, who wrote 
 againft pictures and images, and maintained the doclrine of one 
 mediator. Maurus, Abp. of Mentz, and the celebrated Bertram, 
 (or Ratramnus, as fome call him) and even Scutus, wrote againft 
 tranfubitantiation. Angilbertus, Abp. of Milan, refilled the Pope s 
 fupremacy ; Claude, bifhop of Turin, afferted the principal articles 
 of the protsftant faith ; and Gottefchafas, a pious monk, not only 
 preached, but fuffered in their defence. 
 
 Cent. X. Which even Baronivs calls an iron and even a leaden 
 age, produced fome councils and writers in oppolition to various 
 branches of popery ; among the latter, Alfric, Abp. of Canter 
 bury, was one of the moft eminent ; and Gerbert, Abp. of Rheim% 
 went fo far as to call the Pope antichri/l, although afterwards (fo 
 frail is human nature !) himfelf afcendcd the papal chair. 
 
 Cent. XL Some pretended heretics at Orleans in France de 
 nied many of the popifh errors; and, asDupin fays, found fault 
 with moft of the ceremonies of the church. Berengarius wrote 
 profefiedly againft tranfubftantiation and the church of Rome. 
 
 Cent. XII. Many now began to efteem the Pope, antichrift. 
 Peter and Henry de Bruis, and Arnold, of Brefcia, fuIFered mar 
 tyrdom for the like opinions. The Waldenfes now arofe to gene 
 ral notice, and from thence may be dated the dawn of the refor 
 mation. 
 
 Cent. XIII. To leave the Waldenfes for a following note, and 
 thofs lefier liars which now began to be pretty numerous in moft 
 
 parts
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 443 
 
 lived feparate from all the reft of the world, who kept 
 themfelves pure, and conftantly bore a teftimony againft 
 the church of Rome through all this dark time. The 
 place where they dwelt was the Vaudois, or the five val 
 leys of Piedmont, a very mountainous country, between 
 Italy and France. The place where they lived was com- 
 pafled about with thofe exceeding high mountains called 
 the Alps, which were almoft impaffable. The paflage 
 over theie mountainous defert countries was fo difficult, 
 that the valleys where this people dwelt were almoft inac- 
 ceflible. There this people lived for many ages, as it were, 
 alone, in a ftate of feparation from all the world, having 
 very little to do with any other people ; and there they 
 ferved God in the ancient purity of his worfhip, and never 
 fubmitted to the church of Rome. This place, in this 
 defert mountainous country, probably was the place efpe- 
 cially alluded to in the xiith chapter of Revelation, [verfe 
 6.] as the place prepared of God for the woman, that they 
 fhould feed her there during the reign of antichrift. 
 
 Some of the popifli writers themfelves own, that this 
 people never fubmitted to the church of Rome. One of 
 the popifh writers, fpeaking of the Waldenfes, fays, The 
 herefy of the Waldenfes is the oldeft hcrefy in the world.* 
 It is fuppofed that this people nrft betook themfelves to 
 this clelertfccret place among the mountains, to hide them 
 felves from the feverity of the heathen perfecutions which 
 were before Conftantine the Great: and thus the woman 
 fled into the wildernefs from the face of the ferpcnt. [Rev. 
 |xii. 6.] And fo, [verfe 14.] And to the woman were 
 given two wings of a great eagle, that ihe might fly into 
 the wildernefs, into her place ; where (he is nuuriihed 
 3 L 2 for 
 
 rts of Europe, our own country in this age produced two very 
 
 illrious characters, Grofthead, bifhop of Lincoln, and Bradwar- 
 
 ie t Abp. of Canterbury. 
 
 Cent. XIV. Produced /F/V/7/^"andthe Lollards ; and from that 
 me God has raifed up a numerous and illuftrious company of 
 
 itneffes in every fucceeding age, which, though they have been 
 trfecuted and opprefled in every poflible fhape, have never been 
 kneed or fubdued. [I. N.] 
 
 *^Reitirius cont. Hasret. cap. 4.
 
 444 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 for a time, and times, and halt a time, from the face of 
 the ferpent. And the people being there fettled, their 
 porter ity continued there from age to age afterwards : and 
 being, as it were, by natural walls, as well as by God s 
 grace, feparated from the reft of the world, never partook 
 of the overflowing corruption. 
 
 Thefe, cfpecially, were thofe virgins who were not 
 defiled with women ; nor when other women proftituted 
 themfelvcs and were defiled ; but they kept thcmfelves pure 
 for Chrift alone ; they followed the Lamb, their fpiritual 
 hufband, whetherfoever lie went ; they follower] him into 
 this hideous wildernefs. [Rev. xiv. 4, 5.] Their doctrine 
 and their worihip, by the accounts which remain of them, 
 appear to be the fame with the proteftant dodtrine and 
 worihip ; and by the confefllon of popifli writers, they 
 vvcrc a people remarkable for the ftrictnefs of their lives, 
 for charity, and other chriftian virtues. (T) They lived 
 in external poverty in this hideous country ; but they chofe 
 this rather than to comply with the great corruptions of the 
 reft of the world. 
 
 They living in fo fecret a place, it \vas a long time be 
 fore they feem to have been much taken notice of by the 
 Romanifts ; but at laft falling under obfervation, they went 
 
 out 
 
 (T) The DOCTRINE of ike ANCIENT WALDENSF.S.} "Accord 
 ing to Pilicbdorjjius the Waldcnfes themfelves carried up the date of 
 iheir commencement, as a body, to about the year 637. For my 
 own part, (fays Mr. TOPLADY) I agree with fome of our oldeft 
 and beft protcitant divines .... that the uninterrupted fucceflion 
 of the apoftolic do&rine continued with them from the primitive 
 times, quite down to the reformation ; foon after which period, 
 they feem to have been melted down in the common mafs of pro- 
 tdrants." [Hiftoric Proof, vol. i. p. 149, c.J 
 
 From an ancient confefiion of their faith, and other authentic 
 r.eRJmonies, it appears that they acknowledged the apoflles creed, 
 believed the docViner, of the trinity, original fin, falvation by 
 Chrift alone, the fufficiency of the fcriptures, of which they re 
 ceived the fame books that \ve do ; and that they rejected the 
 Pope s fuprcmacy, purgatory, five facraments, prayers for the 
 dead, rr.afiVs, vows of celibacy, monkery, pilgrimages, the \vor- ^ 
 {hipping of faints, and other popifli tenets. 
 
 [Sec Hift. Ecclef. Magdeburg, vol. iii. Cent. XII. cap. 8. and 
 Pcrrin s Hiftory, vol. i. cap. 8.J
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 445 
 
 out in mighty armies againft them, and fell upon them with 
 infatiable cruelty, barbaroufly maffacring and putting to 
 death, men, women, and children, with all imaginable 
 tortures ; and fo continued perfecuting them with but little 
 interniiffipn for feveral hundred years ; by which means 
 many of them were driven out of their old habitations in 
 the vallies of Piedmont, and fled into all parts of Europe, 
 carrying with them their dodlrine, to which many were 
 converted, (u) But their perfecutors could not by all 
 their cruelties extirpate the church of God ; fo fulfilling his 
 word, that the gates of hell fhould not prevail againft it. 
 
 [4.] Towards the latter part of this dark time, feve 
 ral eminent divines openly appeared to defend the truth, 
 and bear teftimony againft the corruptions of the church 
 of Rome, and had many followers. The rirft and prin 
 cipal of thefe was a certain Englidi divine, whofe name 
 was "John JVickliff\ who appeared about 140 years before 
 the Reformation, and ftrenuoufly oppofmg the popiih re 
 ligion, taught the fame doctrine that the Reformers af 
 terwards did, and had many followers in England. He 
 was hotly perfecuted in his lifetime, yet died in peace ; 
 
 and 
 
 (u) Waldmfes greatly PERSECUTED.] " Againft the Waldenfes^ 
 (faith a candid popifii hiftorian) when exquifite punifliments availed 
 little, and the evil was exafperated by the remedy which had been 
 unfeafonably applied, and their number increafed daily, at length 
 complete armies were raifed, and a war of no Icfs weight than what 
 our people had before waged againft the Saracens, was decreed 
 againft them : the event of which was, that they were rather flain, 
 put to flight, fpoiled every where of their goods and dignities, 
 than that convinced of their error they repented. So that .... 
 they fled into Provence and the neighbouring Alps of the French 
 territory ..... Part withdrew into Calabria, and continued there 
 a long while .... part paffed into Germany, and fixed their abode 
 among the Bohemians, and in Poland and Livonia ; others turn 
 ing to the weft, obtained refuge in Britain." 
 
 [THUANUS in Prsf. ad Hen. IV. j 
 
 It is related, that in thefe wars when the papifts took the city 
 of Beziers, they put to the fvvord above 60,000 perfons, among 
 whom were many of their own profeffion ; the Pope s legate cry 
 ing, " Kill them all, for the Lord knoweth them that arc his." 
 
 [Pel. KW. Alb. c. 17, 1 8, & feq.]
 
 446 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and after he was buried, his bones were dug up by his per- 
 fecutors and burnt. His followers remained in confider- 
 able numbers in England till the Reformation, and were 
 cruelly pcrfecuted, and multitudes put to death for their 
 religion. 
 
 Wickl iff had many difciples and followers, not only in 
 England, but in other parts of Europe, whither his books 
 were carried ; and particularly in Bohemia, among whom 
 were two eminent divines, "John Hi/fs, and Jcrom a divine 
 of Prague, the chief city of Bohemia. Thefe fbrenuoufiy 
 oppofed the church of Rome, and had many who adhered 
 to them. They were both burnt by the papifts, for their 
 doctrine ; (w) and their followers in Bohemia were cru 
 elly perfecutcd, but never extirpated till the Reformation. 
 Thus having gone through this dark time of the church, 
 which is the fecond part of the fpace from Conitantine the 
 Great to the dcftru&ion of antichrift, I come now, 
 
 5. To the third part, viz. that which begins with the 
 Reformation, and reaches to the prefent time. And here 
 I would, (i.) Speak of the Reformation itfelf ; (2.) The 
 oppofition that the devil has made to the Reformed church ; 
 (3-) What fuccefs the gofpel has lately had in one place 
 and another; (4) The prefent flate of things in the church 
 of Chrift. 
 
 (i.) Here the firft thing lobe taken notice of is the 
 Reformation. This was begun about 220 years ago : tirit 
 in Saxony in Germany, by the preaching of Martin Luther, 
 who, being ftirred in his fpirit to fee the horrid practices 
 
 of 
 
 (w) Huss burned. } A very remarkable expreflion is attributed 
 to this martyr in the article of death. Addreffing himfclf to the 
 popim clergy then prefent, he faid, Ye (hall anfwer for this an 
 hundred years hence both to God and me. And fome tell us that 
 he added, " You roatt the Goofe now, but a S-wan mall arife whom 
 you fhall not be able to burn as you do the poor weak Goofe." 
 Now Hitfs in the Bohemia language fignifies a Goofe, as Luther 
 does a Sit-an ; and j uft an hundred years after Luther rifes up, and 
 gives them a deeper wound than ever they had yet received, as it 
 were, requiring the blood of Hufs and Jerom of them ; and we 
 know that the Swan could never be taken, but dies in her neft." 
 
 [BENNET S Mem. p. 38.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 447 
 
 of the popifh clergy, and having fct himfelf diligently to 
 inquire after truth, by the ftudy of the holy fcriptures, and 
 the writings of the ancient fathers of the church, openly 
 and boldly decried the corruptions and ufurpations of the 
 Romifh church in his preaching and writings, and had 
 foon a grea ; number that fell in with his doctrines ; among 
 whom was the Elector of Saxony, his fovereign prince. 
 This greatly alarmed the church of Rome ; which did as 
 it were rally all its forces to oppofe him and his do6\rine, 
 and fierce wars and perfecutions were raifed againfl it : but 
 yet it went on by the labours of Luther, and Melandthon 
 in Germany, Zuinglius in Switzerland, and other eminent 
 divines, who were contemporary with Luther, and fell in 
 with him ; and particularly Calvin, who appeared fome- 
 what after the beginning of the Reformation, but was one 
 of the moft eminent Reformers. 
 
 Many of the princes of Germany foon fell in with the 
 reformed religion, as did feveral other ftates and kingdoms 
 in Europe, as England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Nor 
 way, great part of France, Poland, Lithuania, Switzer 
 land, and the Low Countries. So that it is thought, that 
 heretofore about half Chriftendom were of the Proteftant 
 religion ; though, fince that time the Papifts perhaps have 
 gained ground ; fo that the Proteftants now have not fo 
 great a proportion. 
 
 Thus God began glorioufly to revive his church and 
 advance the kingdom of his Son, after fuch a difmal night 
 as had been from the rife of antichrift to that time. There 
 had been many endeavours ufed before by the witnefles 
 of the truth for a reformation before. But now, when 
 God s appointed time was come, his work was begun, 
 and went on with a fwift and wonderful progrefs ; and 
 antichrift, who had been rifing higher and higher from 
 his very firft beginning till that time, was fwiftly and 
 fuddenly brought down, and fell half way towards utter 
 ruin, and never has been able to rife again to his former 
 height. A late expofitor, Mr. Lowman (who explains the 
 five firft vials in the xvith chapter of the Revelation, with 
 greater probability perhaps than any who went before 
 
 him,)
 
 448 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 him,) underftands the fifth vial, which was poured out oil 
 the feat of the beaft, of what came to pafs in the refor 
 mation ; as he had done the four preceding vials of certain 
 great judgments God brought on the popiih. dominions 
 before the reformation. It is faid, [ver. 10.] that the 
 
 * fifth angel poured out his vial on the feat of the beaft ; 
 in the original, it is the throne of the beaft ;* and his 
 
 * kingdom was full of darknefs, and they gnawed their 
 tongues for pain, and blafphemed the God of heaven 
 
 * becaufe of their pains and their fores, and repented not 
 4 of their deeds. He poured out his vial upon the throne 
 of the beaft, /. e. en the authority and dominion of the 
 Pope : thus the word throne is often ufed in fcripture ; fo 
 (i Kings, 5. 37.) As the Lord hath been with my lord 
 the king, even fo be he with Solomon, and make his 
 throne greater than the throne of my Lord King David : 
 i. e. make his dominion and authority greater, and his 
 kingdom more glorious. 
 
 But now, in the reformation, the vials of God s wrath 
 were poured out on the throne of the beaft. His throne 
 was terribly fhaken and diminifhed. The Pope s autho 
 rity and dominion were greatly diminifhed, both as to the 
 extent and degree. He loft, as was faid before, about 
 hnlf his dominions. And fince the Reformation, the 
 Pope has loft great part of that authority, even in the 
 popiih dominions, which he had before. He is not re 
 garded, and his power is dreaded in no meafure as it was 
 wont to be. The powers of Europe have learned not to 
 put their necks under the Pope s feet, as formerly they 
 were wont to do. So that he is as a lion that has loft 
 his teeth, in companion of what he was once. And 
 when the Pope and his clergy, enraged to fee their autho 
 rity fo diminifhed at the Reformation, laid their heads 
 together, and joined their forces to deftroy the Reforma 
 tion ; their policy, which was wont to ferve them fo well, 
 failed, and they found their kingdom full of darknefs, io 
 that they could do nothing, any more than the Egyptians, 
 
 who 
 
 *
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 449 
 
 who rofe not from their feats for three days. The Re 
 formed church was defended as Lot and the angels \\erc 
 in Sodom, by fruiting their enemies with blindnefs, that 
 they could not find the door. God then fulfilled that word 
 [Job. v. n, &c.] To fet up on high thofe that be low ; 
 that thofe which mourn may be exalted to fafety. He 
 
 * difappointeth the devices of the crafty, fo that their 
 
 * hands cannot perform their enierprife. He taketh the 
 wife in their own crafuaefs : and the council of the fro- 
 
 * ward is carried headlong. They meet with darkncfs in 
 
 * the day time, and grope in the noon day as in the ni at. 
 
 * But he faveth the poor from the fvvord, from their mouth, 
 and from the hand of the mighty. Thefe proud 
 enemies of God s people being fo difappoimed, and rinding 
 themfelves fo unable to uphold their own dominion and 
 authority, this made them as it were to gnaw their tongues 
 ior pain and rage. 
 
 (2.) I proceed, therefore, to {how what cppofition has 
 been made to the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe in the Re 
 formation by Satan and his adherents ; obferving, as we 
 go along, how far they have been bafiied, and how far they 
 have been fuccefsful. 
 
 [i.] The firft oppofition that I H-all take notice of, is 
 that which was made by the clergy of ihe church of Rome 
 uniting together in a general council. This was the fa 
 mous council of Trent, which the Pope called alittle while 
 after the Reformation. In that council, there met together 
 fix cardinals, thirty-two archbiihops, two hundred and 
 twenty-eight bifhops, befides innumerable others of the 
 Romifh clergy. This council, in all their fittings, in 
 cluding the times of intcrmiilion between, was held for 
 eighteen years together. Their main buimefs all this 
 while was to concert meafures for eflabliming the church 
 of Rome againft the Reformers, and for deftroying the 
 Reformation.* But i: proved that they were not able to 
 perform their enterprife. The Reformed church, notwith- 
 flanding that council, ftill remains. So that the council 
 
 3 M of 
 
 * See Father Paul s Hift. of this Council.
 
 4 5o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 of the froward is carried headlong, their kingdom is full 
 
 O O 
 
 of dnrknefs, and they weary themfelves in vain. 
 
 Thus the church of Rome, inftead of repenting of 
 their deeds when fuch clear light was held forth to them 
 hy Luther and other Reformers, does, by general agree 
 ment in council, perlift in their vile corruptions and 
 wickeclnefs, and obltinate oppolition to the kingdom cf 
 Chrift. The doctrines and practices of the church of 
 Rome, which were chiefly condemned by the Reformed, 
 were confirmed by the decrees of this council : and the 
 corruptions, in many refpecls, were carried higher than 
 ever before; and they uttered blafphernous reproaches and 
 curies againft the reformed religion, and all the Re 
 formed church was excommunicated and anathematized 
 by them ; and fo according to the prophecy, they blaf- 
 phemed God. Thus God heardened their hearts, intend 
 ing to deftroy them. 
 
 [2.] The Papifts have often endeavoured to over 
 throw the Reformation by fecret plots and conf piracies. So 
 there were many plots againft the life of Luther. The 
 Papitls were engaged in contriving to difpatch him, and 
 to put him out of the way; and he, as he was a verv 
 bold man, often very much exprfcd himfelf in the caufc 
 of Chrift ; but yet they were wonderfully prevented from 
 hurting him, and he at laft dLd in his bed in peace. 
 And fo there have been from time to time innumerable 
 .fchemes iecrecly laid for the overthrow of the Proteftant 
 religk n ; among which, that which feems to be moft con- 
 ilderable, and which fecmed to be the moft likely to 
 have taken cifect, was that in the time of King James II. 
 of England, which is within the me.nory of many of us. 
 There was at that time a ftrong conspiracy between the 
 King of England and Louis XIV. of France, who were 
 both Papifts, to extirpate the Northern herefy, as they 
 called the Protefbr.t religion, not only out of England, 
 but out of all Europe ; and had laid their fchemes fo, that 
 they feemed to be aimoft fure of tiieir purpole-.* They 
 
 looked 
 
 * See Raping Hift. of Eng. v. xv, p. 162, c.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 451 
 
 looked upon it, that if the Reformed religion were fup- 
 prefled in the Britifh realms, and in the Netherlands, 
 which were the ftrongeft part, and the chief defence of the 
 Proteftant intereft, they ihould have eafy work with the 
 reft. And juft as their matters feemed to he come to a 
 head, and their enterprife ripe for execution, God, in his 
 providence, fuddenly dallied all thefe fchemes in pieces 
 by the Revolution, at the coming in of King William and 
 Queen Mary : by which all thefe defigns were at an end ; 
 and the Proteftant intereft was more ftrongly eftabliihed, 
 bv the crown of England s bein^ eftablilhed in the Protef- 
 
 j O O 
 
 tant Houfe of Hanover, and a Papift, by the conftitution 
 of the nation, for ever rendered incapable of wearing the 
 crown of England. Thus they groped in darknefs at noon 
 day as in the night, and their hands could not perform their 
 enterprife; their kingdom was full of darknets, and they 
 gnawed their tongues for pain. 
 
 After this, there was a deep defign laid to bring the fame 
 thing to pafs in the latter end of Qneen Anne s reign, by 
 the bringing in of the Popifh pretender ; which was no 
 lefs fuddenly and totally baffled by divine Providence ; as 
 the plots againft the Reformation, by bringing in the pre 
 tender, have been from time to time.* 
 
 [3.] The Reformation has often been oppcfed by open 
 wars and invafions. So in the beginning of the Refor 
 mation, the emperor of Germany, to fupprefs the Re 
 formation declared war with the duke of Saxony, and 
 the principal men who favoured and received Luther s 
 dodtrine. But they could not obtain their end ; they 
 could not fupprefs the Reformation. For the fame end, 
 the King of Spain maintained a long war with Hoi- 
 land and the Low Countries in the century before laft. 
 But thofe cruel wars iflued greatly to the difodvantage of 
 the Romiih church, as they occafioned the fetting up of 
 one cf the mo ft powerful Proteftant ftates in Europe, 
 which, next to Great Britain, are the chief barrier of the 
 Proteftant religion. f And the dclign of the Spanith in- 
 
 3 M 2 vafion 
 
 * BENNET S Memorial 370, &c. f Viz. Holland.
 
 452 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 va"cn of England in Queen Elizabeth s time, was to fup- 
 preis and root out the Reformed religion ; and therefore 
 thev biv.ught in their fleet a l manner of in liniments of 
 cruelty wherewith to torture the Proteflants who would 
 not renounce their religion. JBut their deiign was to- 
 tu ly baScd, aad their mighty fleet in a great meafure 
 mined, (x) 
 
 [4.] Satan hns opp^fc-1 the Reformation with cruel 
 ptrjfcutiwt. The perfections wkh which the Proteftants 
 iii one kingdom and another have been tormented by the 
 church of Rome, have been in mnny refpecls beyond any 
 that were before. So that antichrift has proved the greateft 
 and ir.oft cruel enemy the church of Chrift ever had, 
 r.creeablc to the description given of the church of Rome, 
 [Rev. xvii. 6.] And I faw the woman drunken with the 
 
 * blood of the faints, and with the blood of the martyrs 
 
 * of Tefas. And [chap, xviii. 24.] And in her was 
 
 * found the blood of prophets, and of faints, and of all them 
 that were fiuin upon the earth. 
 
 The 
 
 (x) 77* Spanijb ARMADA.] " There was fo much of Provi 
 dence four en< mics themfelves being judges) in it [the defeat of 
 tV s *cet J that the Spanilh admiral, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, 
 htafphemoufly fwore that he feared Jefus Chrift was turned Lu- 
 li sr-iri ; nay, the k ng of Spain hirr.felf hearing of this ilrange de- 
 iY. .t oi" his fleet, iaw fo evidently the tinker of God in this difap- 
 pr.intmcnt, that he is reported to have laid, He did not fend his 
 >t agninft God, but againft men." [Benoet s Mem. 122.] 
 
 DM P<.Jro, one of the Spaniih captains taken by Sir F. Drake, 
 
 being examined before the Lords of the privy council what was 
 
 trivir ccf cni of invading us, replied, " To fubdue the nation and 
 
 r:>ot it out." And what meant you, faid the Lords, to do with the 
 
 Cc-.t - /iics : " To fend them, good men, faid he, diielly to heaven, 
 
 . yc;u heretics to hell." For what end were your whips of 
 
 -.nd \vjre ? " To whip you heretics to death." What would 
 
 ^ \- done with the young children ? " They above feven 
 
 years old ihould have gone the way their fathers went 5 the reft 
 
 I have lived in perpetual bondage, branded in the foiehead 
 
 vith the letter L for Lutherans." [Account of the Span. Inva- 
 
 fuin, v iblifhed 1739.] 
 
 N. B. The infhuments of torture above alluded to, as thumb- 
 fcrews, whips, &c. are ft ill mewn among other curiofitics in the 
 Tower of London.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 453 
 
 The heathen perfecutions had been veiy dreadful; but 
 now pevfecutnn by the church of Rome was improved, 
 and ftudied, and cultivated as an art or fcience. Such 
 methods of tormenting were found out that were beyond 
 the invention of former ages. And, that perfecution 
 might be managed more effeiiually, there were certain 
 focietics efcabliibed in various parts of the Popifti domi 
 nions, whofe bufmefs it fhould be to ftudy, improve:, and 
 practife pcrfecution in its higheft perfection, (Y) which 
 
 are 
 
 (Y) Courts of INQUISITION.] Thefe infernal tribunals were 
 firft erected in the twelfth century by the infamous Father Domi 
 nic, under the patronage ofiPope Innocent III. in order more com 
 pletely to extirpate the Waldenfes, and other pretended heretics. 
 It is difficult to conceive, that if God had delivered the world en 
 tirely into the devil s hands (as Satan once pretended) that his in 
 genuity and malice could have invented any thing more deteftable 
 and (hocking. In fad, theie is fcarcely a method that could delay 
 or pervert jtiilJce, but they have adopted it in their forms ; nor 
 does there feem a poflible method of torture but they have in 
 vented raid repeatedly exercifed. The reader whofe rieryes can 
 bear fuch reiterated fcenes of cruelty, may read Baker^KKiift.. of 
 the Inquifition the Hiftory of the Inquif. at Goa, written by a 
 Papift and fimilar works : but to (hew how far it is poflible for 
 human nature to go, let him read the following extract from a 
 fermon preached at E-vora, on occaiion of one of the moft horrid 
 fcenes the fun ever beheld, an auto de fe, when they burn or rather 
 roaft heretics (as they call them) alive, from a piinciple of reli 
 gion. " Beloved Portugnefe," faid the inhuman wretch, " let us 
 return thanks to heaven, for his gieat goodnefs in giving us this 
 holy tribunal, [the Inquifition. 1 Had it not been for this tribu 
 nal, our kingdom would have become a tree without flowers or 
 fruits, fit only to be committed to the flames. What progrefs has 
 heVefy made for want of ?.n inquifition in England, France, Ger 
 many, and the Netherlands ! It is evident, had it not been forfo 
 great a blefTing our country would have been like to thofe above 
 mentioned." [Scnnans de Padro Frey, Antonio Contlnho, impreflb 
 cm Lefboa, anno 1638.] If it be poflible to add any thing more 
 (hocking to this impious harangue, it is, that one of our own 
 judges, Sir jr. Hovel, recorder of London, wifhed for the like in- 
 ilitution here in England : " Till now," faid be, on the trial of 
 Penn and Mend, two Quakers, " I never underftood the prudence 
 and policy of the Spaniards in fuffering the inquifil ion among them. 
 And certainly it will never be well \vith us till iomething like the 
 Spahi/b mquifultm be in England" \_Gen. Diet. vol. viii. Art. 
 Pcnn, W.]
 
 454 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 are called the courts of inqiiijition. A perufal of the hif- 
 tories of the Romifh perfecution, and their courts of in- 
 quifition, will give that idea which a few words cannot 
 exprefs. 
 
 When the Reformation began, the beaft with feven 
 heads and ten horns began to rage in a dreadful manner. 
 After the Reformation, the church of Rome renewed its 
 perfecution of the poor Waldenles, and great multitudes 
 of them were cruelty tortured and put to death. Soon 
 after the Reformation, there were alfo terrible perfecu 
 tions in various parts of Germany: and efpecially in Bo 
 hemia, which lafled for thirty years together; in which 
 fo much blood was fhed for the feke of religion, that a 
 certain writer compares it to the plenty of waters of the 
 great rivers of Germany. The countries of Poland, Li 
 thuania, and Hungary, were in like manner deluged with 
 Proteftant blood. (7.) 
 
 By means of thefe and other cruel perfecutions, the 
 Proteftant religion was in a great meafure fuppreffed in 
 Bohemia, and the Palatinate and Hungary, which before 
 were Proteftant countries. Thus was fulfilled what was 
 foretold of the little horn, [Dan. vii. 20, 21.] and of 
 the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other 
 which came up, and before whom three fell, even of 
 that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that fpake very 
 great things, whofe look was more ftout than his fellows, 
 I beheld, and the fame horn made war with the faints, 
 and prevailed again it them. And what was foretold of 
 the beaft having feven heads and ten horns, [Rev. xiii. 7.] 
 And it was given unto him. to make war with the faints, 
 
 and 
 
 (z) POPERY MORE CRUEL than Pagmi/fm.] " If Rome pagan 
 liath (lain her thoufands of innocent ClmlHans, Rome Chrijlian 
 hath flain her ten thoufandi. For, not to . nention other out 
 rageous (laughters and barbarities, the croifades againft the Wal- 
 denfes and Albigenfes, the murders committed by the Duke of 
 Alva in the Netherlands, the maflacies in France and Ireland, will 
 probably amount to above ten times the number of ail the Chrif- 
 tians flain in all the ten perfecutions of the Roman emperors put 
 together." [Bp. NEWTON on the Proph. vol. iii. p. 282.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 455 
 
 and to overcome them: and power was given him over 
 4 all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 
 
 Alfo Holland and the other Low Countries were for 
 many years a fcene of nothing but the mod afFe&ing and 
 amazing cruelties, being deluged with the blood ot Pro- 
 teftants, under the mercilefs hands of the Spaniards, to 
 whom they were then in fubjedtion. But in this perfe- 
 cution, the devil in a great meafure failed of his purpofe ; 
 as it iffued in a great part of the Netherlands carting off 
 the Spanilh yoke, and fettin ; up a wealthy and powerful 
 Proteftant ftate, to the great defence of the Proteftant 
 caufe ever fince. 
 
 France alfo is another country, which, fince the Re 
 formation, in fome refpc6ts, perhaps more than any other, 
 has been a fcene of dreadful cruelties fuffered by the Pro- 
 teftants there. After many cruellies had been exercifed 
 towards the Proteftants in that kingdom, there was begun 
 a persecution of them in the year 1571, in the reign of 
 Charles IX. king of. France. It began with a cruel maf- 
 facre, wherein 70 OOO Protedants were flain in a few days 
 time, as the king boafted : and in all this pcrfccution, he 
 flew, as is fuppofed, 300,000 martyrs. And it is reckoned, 
 that about this time, within thirty years there were mar 
 tyred in this kingdom for the Proteftant religion, 39 princes, 
 148 counts, 234 barons, 147,518 gentlemen, and 760,000 
 of the common people. (A) 
 
 But all thefe perfections were, for exquifite cruelty, 
 far exceeded by thofe which followed in the reign of 
 Louis XIV. which indeed are fuppofed to exceed all 
 
 others 
 
 (A) The PARISIAN maflacre. ] This mafiacre was aggravated 
 with feveral circumftances of wantonnefs and treachery ; but we 
 hope that the above numbers are exaggerated. Thuanus, their 
 own hiftorian, reckons 30,000 lives deitroyed in this Daughter ; 
 but proteitant authors feem to have reafon for fuppofing them 
 not lefs than ioo,oco in the whole. But the moft horrid circum- 
 tlance in the hiitory is, that when the news of this event reached 
 Rome, Pope Gregory XIII. inftituted the moft folemn rejoicings, 
 giving thanks to almighty God for this glorious victory ! ! ! An 
 inilance that has no parallel, even in hell. [I. N. ~]
 
 456 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 others that ever have been ; and being l n g continueJ, 
 by reafon of the long reign of that king, almoft wholly 
 extirpated the Proteftant religion out of that kingdom, 
 where had been before a multitude of famous Proteftant 
 churches all over the country. (B) Thus it was given 
 to the beaft to make war with the faints, and to over 
 come them. 
 
 There 
 
 (B) The PERSECUTION under Louts XIP.~\ This followed the 
 revocation of the edidl of Nantes, A. D. 1685. The following 
 extract is taken from a French work of reputation : 
 
 " The toopers, foldiers, and dragoons went into the Proteflants 
 houfes, where they marred and defaced their houfhold-itufF, broke 
 their looking-glaffes, and other utenfils and ornaments j let their 
 wine run about their cellars, and threw about their corn, and 
 fpoiled it. And as to thofe things which they could not deftroy in 
 this manner, fuch as furniture of beds, linen, wearing-apparel, 
 plate, &c. they carried them to the market-place, and fold them 
 to the Jefuits, and other Roman catholics. By thefe means the 
 Proteltants in Montaubon alone were, in four or five days, llripped 
 of above a million of money. But this was not the word. 
 
 " They turned the dining-rooms of gentlemen into llables for 
 their horfes. And treated the owners of the houfes where they 
 quartered with the highefl indignity and cruelty, lafbing them 
 about from one to another, day and night, without intermiffion, 
 not fuffering them to eat or drink ; and when they began to link 
 under the fatigue and pains they had undergone, they laid them 
 on a bed, and when they thought them fomewhat recovered, made 
 them rile, and repeated the fame tortures. When they faw the 
 blood and fweat rnn down their faces and other parts of their bo 
 dies, they fluiccd them with water, and putting over their heads 
 kettle-drums, turned upfide down, they made a continual din upon 
 them till thefe unhappy creatures loft their fer.ies. When one party 
 of thefe tormenters were weary, they were relieved by another, 
 who praclifed the fame cruelties with freih vigour. 
 
 " At NegreplilTe, a town near Montaubon, they hung up Ifaae 
 Favin, a Proteftant citizen of that place, by his arm-pits, and 
 tormented him a whole night by pinching and tearing off his flefti 
 with pincers. They made a great fire round a boy of about twelve 
 years old, who, with hands and eyes lifted up to heaven, cried out, 
 " My God, help me I" And xvhen they found the youth refolved 
 to diti rather than to renounce his religion, they fnatched him from 
 the fiic u:lt as he wa.on the point of being burnt. 
 
 " In fever al places the foldiers applied red hot iions to the 
 hands and feet of men, and the breafts of women. At Nantes they 
 hung up feveral women and maids by their feet, and others by 
 their arm-pits, and thus expofed them to public view flark naked. 
 
 They
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 457 
 
 There was alfo a terrible perfecution in England, in 
 Queen Mary s time, wherein great numbers in all parts 
 of the kingdom were burnt alive.* And after this, though 
 the Proteftant religion has been for the moft part eftab- 
 lifhcd by law in England, yet there have been very fevere 
 perfecutions by the high-churchmen, who fymbolize in 
 many things with the papifts. Such a perfecution was 
 that which occafioned our forefathers to flee from their 
 native country, and to come and fettle in this land, which 
 
 3 N was 
 
 They bound mothers that gave fuck to pofts, and let their fucking 
 infants lie languishing in their fight for feveral days and nights, 
 crying, mourning, and gafping for life. Some they bound before 
 a great fire, and being half roafted, let them go ; a punimment 
 worfe than death. Amidft a thoufand hideous cries, and a thou- 
 fand blafphemies, they hung up men and women by the hair ; and 
 fome by their feet, on hooks in chimnies, and fmoaked them with 
 whifps of wet hay till they were fuffocated. They tied fome un 
 der the arms with ropes and plunged them again and again into 
 wells ; they bound others like criminals, put them to the torture, 
 and with a funnel filled them with wine, till the fumes of it took 
 away their reafon, when they made them fay they confented to be 
 catholics. They ftripped them naked, and after a thoufand indig 
 nities, ftuck them with pins and needles from head to foot. They 
 cut and flamed them with knives ; and fometimes with red hot pin 
 cers took hold of them by the nofe, and other parts of the body, 
 and dragged them about the rooms till they made them promife 
 to be catholics, or till the cries of thefe miferable wretches, calling 
 upon God for help, forced them to let them go. They beat them 
 with flaves, and thus bruifed, and with broken bones, dragged 
 them to church, where their forced prefence was taken for an 
 abjuration. In fome places they tied fathers and hufbands to their 
 bed-pofts, and before their eyes raviflied their wives and .daugh 
 ters with impunity. They blew up men and women with bellows 
 till they burft them. If any to efcape thefe barbarities endea 
 voured to fave themfelves by flight, they purfued them into the 
 fields and woods, where they mot at them like wild beafts, and 
 prohibited them from departing the kingdom (a cruelty never 
 praclifed by Nero or Diocletian ) upon pain of confiscation of ef- 
 fecls, the gallics, the lafnr, and perpetual imprifonment; infomuch 
 that the pnfons of the fea-port towns were crammed with men, 
 women, and children, who endeavoured to fave themfelves by 
 flight from this dreadful perfecution. With thefe fcenes of defo- 
 lation and horror, the popifli clergy feafted their eyes, and made 
 only A matter of laughter and fport of them. [SECKEND Hift. 
 Luth. II. p. 11 6.] 
 
 * See /ox s Martyrs, vol. Hi*
 
 458 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 was then an hideous howling wildernefs. And thefe per- 
 fecutions were continued with little intermiffion till King 
 "William came to the throne, (c) 
 
 Scotland 
 
 (c) Perfecutions of the HIGH-CHURCHMEN.] Luther ufed a 
 vulgar faying, * that every man is born with a Pope in his belly ; 
 meaning that a fpirit of tyranny is natural to the prefent depraved 
 ftate of man. Nor will the mere profeffion of any religion, how 
 ever excellent and benign, remedy this propeniity, unlefs men 
 enter into the fpirit of it. We need not wonder therefore at ani- 
 mofities and even perfecutions among nominal profeflbrs, who 
 often aflume Chriftianity only as a cloak for tbeir vicious tempers 
 and conduct. The perfecutions and opprefiions in the times of 
 the Stuarts feetn to have arifen folely from a luft of power and 
 impatience of contradiction. Even that miltaken zeal for God 
 and religion which fometimes kindled the flames of perfecution, 
 feems to have had but little (hare in caufing thefe, fince the bit- 
 tereft enemies of the Puritans did not charge them with efTential 
 errors of either faith or manners. Abfohitc monarchy and arbi 
 trary power were the grand objects of Laud and his furious aflb- 
 ciates. And it is to be feared, that they would not have thought 
 the deftruction of half their mailer s fubjefts too dear a purchafe 
 for the power of completely tyrannizing over the reft. It would be 
 foreign to the defign of thefe notes to enter into the particulars 
 of thefe enormities ; thofe who can bear fuch relations, may find 
 abundance of them in Baxter s Hiftory of his Life and Times ; 
 AWs Hiiiory of the Puritans, and Palmer s edition of the Non- 
 eonformifts Memorial, or Memoirs of the Nonconformifl Minif- 
 ters ; 2000 of whom were expelled, on the fame fatal day (St. 
 Bartholomew s) on which the Parifian mafTacre began. But, un 
 happily 1 , perfecution has not been confined to fuch men : every 
 fcft, nnd fome of the heft, men in each have engaged in the diabo- 
 Jical bufmefs. We have already obferved inflances of this in the 
 primitive church, [page 424, Note D] and the fame may be ob- 
 iervcd early in the reformation ; with what bitternefs did die 
 Lutherans, Zuinglians, and Calvim fls, and other parties of the rc- 
 fmmcTa. abufe, imprifon, and banifh each other, is too well attefted 
 by ecclefiaftical hiftorians of the i6th century. Not to mention 
 i.he blood cf feclaries unjuftly fhed both at home and abroad. 
 Not only did the episcopalians in England perfecntethe diflenterr,; 
 but in Scotland, and during the commonwealth in England, thefe 
 perfecuted the epifcopalians. And what is perhaps more extra- 
 o/dinciry, even in New England, where the firft colonifts fled from 
 the iron hand of oppreflion at home, they perfecuted the quakers 
 and others who diflented from their eftablifhment. How then 
 (hall we account for thefe enormities, but upon the principle we 
 firft mentioned, that it proceeds from the general depravity of 
 
 human
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 459 
 
 Scotland has alfo been the fcene, for many years together, 
 of cruelties and blood by the hand of high-churchmen, 
 fuch as came very little fhort of the popifh perfecution in 
 Queen Mary s days, andSn many things much exceeded it, 
 which continued till they were delivered by King William. 
 
 Ireland alfo has been as it were overwhelmed with 
 proteftant blood. In the days of King Charles I. of Eng 
 land, above 100,000 Proteftants were cruelly murdered 
 in that kingdom in a few days ; the papifts, by a fecret 
 agreement, rifing all over the kingdom at an appointed 
 time, intending to kill every Proteftant in the kingdom 
 at once. (D) 
 
 Belides thcfe, there have been very cruel perfecutions 
 in Italy, and Spain, and other places, which I mall not 
 fland to relate. () 
 
 Thus 
 
 human nature, which, though in a degree rectified and fubdued 
 in good men, is not eradicated, but often difcovers itfelf in the 
 tempers and actions of the beft. [G. E.] 
 
 (D) The MaJJhcre in IRELAND.] It appears that the Irifh pro- 
 teftants had been marked out for deftruction in Queen Mary s 
 reign, but Providence delivered them in the following remarkable 
 manner : Dr. Cole being fent with a commiffion for that purpofe, 
 boafted of it by the way, and a Proteftant at Chcfter, where he 
 ftopt, found means to fteal it. When the Doctor came to Ireland, 
 and was about to produce his commiffion to the proper perfons, 
 on opening the box which had contained it, to his great morti 
 fication he only found a pack of cards, with the knave of clubs 
 uppermoft \ He returned to obtain a new commiffion, but the 
 queen died before it could be procured. [N. U.J 
 
 (E) OTHER cruelties. ] Befide the proteftant blood filed in 
 thefe perfecutions, popery has to anfwer for the lives of millions 
 of Jews, Mahometans, and Barbarians. When the Moors con 
 quered Spain in the eighth century, they allowed the Chriftians 
 the free exercife of their religion. But in the I5th century, when 
 the tables were turned, and Ferdinand fubdued the Morifcoes 
 (the defendants of the above Moors) many hundred thoufands of 
 them were forced to be baptized, or burnt, maiTacred, or banifhed, 
 and their children fold for flaves ; befides an innumerable multi* 
 tnde of Jews who fhared the fame cruelties ; chiefly by means of 
 the infernal iaquifition. \_G nicies Mifc. Tracts, vol. i. p. i, and 
 fequel.] A worfe (laughter, if poffible, was made among the na 
 tives of Spanifh America, where 15 millions are faid to have been 
 facrificcd to the genius of popery in the courfe of about 40 years. 
 
 3 N 2 \^Bar.
 
 460 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Thus did the devil, and his great minifter antichrift, rage 
 with violence and cruelty againft the church of Chrift ! 
 And thus did the whore of Babylon make herfelf drunk 
 with the blood of the faints and martyrs of Jefus ! and 
 thus, by thefc perfecutions, the Proteftant church has been 
 much diminimed ! Yet with all have they not been able 
 to prevail ; but ftill the church is upheld, and Chrift ful 
 fills his promife that < the gates of hell fhall not prevail 
 * againft it. 
 
 [5.] The lafl kind of oppofition that Satan has made to 
 the Reformation is by corrupt opinions. Satan has oppofed 
 the light of the gofpel which fhone forth in the Reforma 
 tion with many corrupt opinions, which he has propagated 
 in the world. 
 
 And here, in the firft place, the firft oppofition of this 
 kind was by the fe6l of the Anabapttfts, which began about 
 four or five years after the Reformation itfelf began. This 
 fed~t, as it firft appeared in Germany, were vaftly more 
 extravagant than the prefent anabaptifts are in England. (F) 
 They held a great many corrupt opinions: one was, that 
 there ought to be no civil authority, and fo that it was 
 lawful to rebel againft civil authority. And on this prin 
 ciple, they refufed to fubmit to magiftrates, or any human 
 Jaws; and gathered together in vaft armies to defend them- 
 felves, and having put all Germany into an uproar, fo kept 
 it for fome time. 
 
 The next oppofition of this kind to the Reformation was 
 that which was made by entlmfiajis, (G) Thofe are rightly 
 
 called 
 
 \^Bar. de las Cafas s Narrative.] Well therefore might the infpired 
 apoftle fay, that at Myftic Babylon s deftru&ion, * In her was 
 found the blood of prophets and of faints, and of all that were 
 * flain upon the earth. [Rev. xviii. 24.3 [I. N.] 
 
 (F) The ANABAPTISTS in England. ] It is but juftice to obferve 
 that the prefent anabaptifts, anti-pxdobaptifts or baptifts (as they 
 are now called) differ in nothing from other difienters, but in the 
 article of baptifm, which they adminifter by immerfion and to 
 adults only. But the anabaptifts of the fixteenth century were 
 what our author reprefents them. [U. S.] 
 
 (G) ENTHUSIASTS oppofed the Reformation.^ Of thefe fome re 
 jected all outward religion, and acknowledged none but internal ; 
 
 2. fome
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 461 
 
 called enthufiafts who falfely pretend to be infpired by the 
 Holy Ghoft as the prophets were. Thefe appeared in 
 Germany about ten years after Luther began the Refor 
 mation ; and many of them were exceeding wild and 
 extravagant. The followers of thefe are the Quakers in 
 England, and other parts of the Britifh dominions. 
 
 The next were the Socinians, who had their beginning 
 chiefly in Poland, by the teaching of Laelius and Fauftus 
 Socinus. They held, that Chrift was a mere man, and 
 denied his fatisfadtion, and many of the fundamental doc 
 trines of the Chriftian religion. Their herefy has fmce 
 been greatly propagated among Protefhnts in Poland, Ger 
 many, Holland, England, and other places. 
 
 After thefe arofe the Arminians. They firft appeared 
 in Holland about 130 years ago. They are fo called from 
 a Dutchman, whofe name was Jacob Van Harmin, in 
 Latin, Jacobus Arminius. This Arminius was firft a mi- 
 nifter at Amftcrdam, and then a profefibr of divinity in 
 the univerfity of Leyden. He had many followers in 
 Holland. There was upon this a fynod of all the Re 
 formed -churches called together, who met at Dort in 
 Holland. The fynod of Dort condemned them ; but yet 
 they fpread and prevailed. (H) They began to prevail 
 
 in 
 
 2. fome pretended to extraordinary vifions and revelations ; arid", 
 
 3. others expected the corporeal prefence of Chrift to fubdue all 
 other governments. The fefts were too numerous to be too parti 
 cularized ; and too contemptible to deferve it : but moft of them 
 have dwindled into oblivion. [G. E.] 
 
 (H) The Synod of DORT.] This famous aflembly met 1618. 
 Befides a number of Dutch divines, and feveral from other pro- 
 teftant countries, England fent 4, viz. Bps. Carlton, Hall, and 
 Davenant, and Dr. Ward; and Scotland i, Dr. Balconquel. 
 And for the Arminians, the three principal were Epifcopius, 
 Corvinus, and Dwinglon. After much altercation, (as is gene 
 ral the cafe) without any approach to agreement, the aflembly 
 confirmed the famous 5 points, viz. Eleftion, limited Redemp 
 tion, Original Sin, invincibility of Grace, and final Perfeverance. 
 And the Arminian remonftrants being the weaker party were 
 <lcpofed from their miniftry. 
 
 We take the liberty of adding, that our author s excellent trea- 
 tifes on Free-will, Original Sin, Sec. have perhaps done more than 
 wenty Synods could have done to refute thefe errors. [G. E.]
 
 462 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in England in the reign of Charles I. efpecially in the 
 church of England. The church of England divines 
 before that time were almoft univerfally Calvinifts ; but 
 fince then Arminianifm has gradually more and more 
 prevailed, both in the eftablifhment and among the Dif- 
 fenters, and has fpread greatly in New England, as well 
 as Old. 
 
 Since this, Arlanlfm has been revived. I have already 
 obferved Arianifm, a little after Conftantine s time almoft 
 fwallowed up the Chriftian world, like a flood out of the 
 mouth of the dragon, which threatened to fwallow up the 
 woman. And of late years, this herefy alfo has been re 
 vived in England, and greatly prevails there, both in the 
 church and among Diffenters. 
 
 Another thing which has of late exceedingly prevailed 
 among Proteftants, and efpecially in England, is Deifm. 
 The Deifts wholly caft off the Chriilian religion, and are 
 profeffed infidels. They are not like the heretics, Arians, 
 Socinians, and others, who own the fcriptures to be the 
 word of God, and the Chriilian religion to be true, but 
 only deny certain do&rin.es of it, for they deny the whole 
 Chriftian religion. Indeed they own the being of God ; 
 but deny that Chrift was the Son of God ; and fay he was 
 an importer, as they do of all the prophets and apoftles. 
 They deny the Bible, all revealed religion, and believe 
 that God has given mankind no other light to walk by but 
 their own reafon.- Thus much concerning the oppoiition 
 that Satan has made againil the Reformation. 
 
 (3.) I proceed now to mow what fuccsfs the gofpel has 
 had in thefe later times of the Reformed church. This 
 fuccefs may be reduced to three heads ; [i.] Reformation 
 in doctrine and worfhip in countries called Chriilian ; 
 [2.] Propagation of the go fpel among the heathens ; [3.] 
 Revival of religion*in the power and practice of it. 
 
 [i.] As to the nril, viz. Reformation in doctrine, the 
 moft .confiderable fuccefs of the gofpel of this kind lately, 
 has been in the empire of Mufcovy, which is a country 
 of vaft extent. The Mufcovites, as many of them as 
 call themfelves Chriftians, profeffed to be of the Greek 
 
 church ;
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 463 
 
 church ; but were barbaroufly ignorant, and very fuper- 
 ftitious, till of late years. Their late Emperor Peter the 
 Great, who reigned till within thefe twenty years, fet 
 himfelfto reform the people of his dominions, and took 
 great pains to bring them out of their darknefs, and to 
 have them inftru6ted in religion. To that end, he fet 
 up fchools of learning, ordered the Bible to be printed in 
 their own language, and made a law that every family 
 fhould keep the holy fcriptures in their houfes, and that 
 no perfon fhould be allowed to marry till they were able 
 to read them. He alfo reformed his churches of many 
 of their fuperftitions, whereby the religion profefled and 
 pradtifcd in Mufcovy became much nearer to that of the 
 Proteftants than formerly it ufed to be. This emperor 
 gave great encouragement to the exercife of the Proteftant 
 religion in his dominions. And fmce that Mufcovy is 
 become a land of light, in comparifon of what it was be 
 fore (i). 
 
 [2.] As to the fecond kind of fuccefs which the gofpel 
 has lately had, viz. its propagation among the heathen, I 
 would take notice of three inftances. 
 
 The propagation of the gofpel among the heathen here 
 in America. This continent on which we live, which is 
 a very great part of the world, and together with its 
 neighbouring feas adjoining, takes up one lule of the globe, 
 was wholly unknown to all Chriftian nations till thefe 
 latter times, though it was very full of people . and there 
 fore here the devil had the inhabitants, as it were, fe- 
 cure to himfelf, out of the reach of the light of the gof 
 pel, and fo out of the way of moleftation in his dominion 
 over them. And here the many nations of Indians wor- 
 
 ihipped 
 
 (i) PROTESTANTS in RUSSIA.] We are forry to be informed 
 by a gentleman who very lately viiitcd Rufiia,* that the Proteftant 
 intereil there is exceedingly low. Even at Peterfburgh, the ca 
 pital of the empire, the congregation of Britifh Proteliants is very 
 fmall and poor, the merchants, to their fhame be it fpoken, think 
 ing it beneath them to profefs religion ; the communicants at this 
 place, (ftrange to tell ! ) were only three be/ide the minifter. The 
 Greeks are alfo very fuperftitious, though perhaps lefs fo than 
 formerly. [N. U.]
 
 464 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION? 
 
 fhipped him as God from age to age, while the gofpei 
 was confined to the oppofite fide of the globe. It is a 
 fuppolition which, if I remember right, I have fome 
 where met with, that the occalion of the firff. peopling 
 of America was this, that the devil being alarmed and fur- 
 prifed by the wonderful fuccefs of the gcfpel during the 
 firft three hundred years after Chrift, and by the down 
 fall of the heathen empire in the time of Conftantine ; 
 and fearing that his kingdom would he utterly overthrown 
 through the world, led away a people from the other con 
 tinent into America, that they might be quite out of the 
 reach of the gofpei, that here he might quietly pofiefs 
 them, and reign over them as their god. And it is faid, 
 that fome of the . Indians, when the Europeans firft came 
 into America, had a tradition among them, that their god 
 rirft led them into this continent, and went before them 
 in an ark. (K) 
 
 Whether this was fo or not, it is certain that the de 
 vil did quietly enjoy his dominion over the poor Indians 
 for many ages. But in later times God has fcnt the gof 
 pei into thefe parts of the world, and now the Chriftian 
 church is let up among us in New England, and in other 
 parts of America, where before had been nothing but the 
 
 grofleft 
 
 (K) The PEOPLING of AMERICA.] The above notion, to which 
 our author fecms pretty much inclined, we cannot perfuade our- 
 felves to admit for the following reafons : 
 
 1. Becauf Mt appears to us extremely probnble, from a iimila- 
 rity of manners and even language, not to mention other circum- 
 ftances, that a part of America was peopled long before this by 
 fome Phenicians ; and not totally unknown to the ancient Greeks. 
 [See Univ. Hift. vol. xx. p. 158, 159-] This will agree perfectly 
 with the tradition mentioned by our author, fince it appears that 
 other nations had an imitation of the facred ark of the Hebrews. 
 [Tacitus De Mcr. Germ. cap. 40.] And fuch have been aftually 
 difcovered in South America and fome of the South tSea iflands. 
 Picart s religious Ceremonies, &c. vol. iii. p. 146. and HatvltJ- 
 OW///S Voy. vol. ii. p. -52, 257.] 
 
 2. We think it more confident and to the divine glory to refer 
 this ev_-nt to the providence of God than to the agency of the de 
 vil. It was Unqueftionably the work of heaven to fcatter the in 
 habitants of the earth after the confufion of Babel, in order to the 
 
 peopling
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 465 
 
 gioffefl heathen! fh darknefs. Great part of America is 
 now full of Bibles, and has at leaft the form of the wor- 
 {hip of the true God and Jefus Chrift, where the name of 
 Chrift before had not been heard of for many ages, if at 
 all. And though there has been but a fmall propagation 
 of the gofpel among the heathen here, in comparifon of 
 what is to be wiihed for ; yet there has been fomething 
 worthy to be taken notice of. There was fomething re 
 markable in the firft times of New England ; and even 
 of late in this and feveral other parts of America, many 
 Indians have uhown an inclination to be inftru6ted in the 
 Chriftian religion. (L) 
 
 And 
 
 peopling of our hemifphere, and it is inconceivable why the peo 
 pling of the other fhould be referred to fo oppofite a caufe. It is 
 granted however that America might owe a great part of its inha 
 bitants to thefe countries of Afia, as Tartary, Siberia, and Kam- 
 fchatka, which approach it neareft, and as fome fuppofe, may pof- 
 fibly have once joined the oppofite continent. And perhaps fome 
 might emigrate from China, and even Wales. [See Univ. Hift. 
 vol. xx. p. 163, 174, 190.] Whether, however, the firft inhabi 
 tants of America fled thither from the hand of tyranny emigrated 
 from a principle of commerce or were driven there by unruly ele 
 ments, there feems no reafon for afcribing an event of fuch impor 
 tance to diabolical agency or contrivance. [G. E.]] 
 
 (L) Gofpel propagated among the INDIANS In AMERICA. ~\ One 
 of the moil eminent and fuccefsful miflionaries among thefe was 
 Mr. David Brainerd, whofe life Pref. Edivards publifhed. In 
 reading the account of Mr. B. and other miflionaries, two ideas 
 ftrike us with peculiar force. 
 
 I. The difficulty of their work : the variety of the Indian lan 
 guages, and the length of time it takes to acquire a tolerable ac 
 quaintance with any of them, is very difcouraging. It is alfo fre 
 quently difficult to procure an audience, and then every thing in 
 Chriftianity appears fo perfectly ftrange to them, and the evidences 
 of it lay fo much out of their way, that few give any credit to it. 
 Their grand queftion, what has become of their forefathers ? is not 
 cafily anfwered to their fatisfaftion. * They were good men, fay 
 
 * they, and \ve will follow them ; we doubt not but they were happy 
 
 * without this new religion, why then fhould we embrace it ? But 
 their mod important objection is drawn from the vicious lives of 
 nominal Chiiftians. " Chriftian religion! Devil religion ! (fay they) 
 Chriftian much drunk; Chriftian much do wrong, much beat, much 
 ubiifc others." " Truly it is a fad fight, fays one, to behold a 
 
 3 O drunken
 
 466 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 And however fmall the propagation of the gofpel a- 
 mortg the heathen in America has hitherto heen, yet I 
 think we may well look upon the difcovery of fo great 
 i part of the world, and bringing the gofpel into it, as 
 
 one 
 
 drunken Chriftian, and a fobcr Indian an Indian juft in his deal 
 ings, and a Chriftian not fo ; a laborious Indian, and an idle Chrif- 
 tian, &c. O what a fad thing it is for Chriftians to come fhort of 
 heathens even in moralities !" [Voyage to Eaft India, added to the 
 Travels of Pictro della Valle, printed in Eng. 1665.] 
 
 2. We are led to admire the beauty and fimplicity with which 
 thefe barbarians when converted exprefs themfelves, and to adore 
 the power of divine grace in their converfion. 
 
 " After public worfhip was done, numbers came to my 
 houfe, fays Mr. Brainerd, and while we were ringing, the woman 
 mentioned Feb. 9. I may venture to fay, if I may be allowed to fay 
 fo of any perfon I ever faw, was filled with joy unfpeakable and 
 full of glory, and could not but burft forth in prayer and praife 
 to God, crying, fometimes in Englifh and fometimes in Indian 
 
 * O blefled Lord! do come, do come ! O do take me away! do 
 let me die and go to Jefus Chrift. O dear Jefus do come ! I 
 
 * can t (lay, I can t flay ! O how can I live in this world! do take 
 1 my foul away from this iinful place! with much more to the 
 fame purpofe. In this ecftacy fhe continued fome time, and when 
 fhe had a little recovered herfelf, I afked her, if Chrift was not HOW 
 fweet to her foul ? Whereupon, turning to me with tears in her 
 eyes, and with all the tokens of deep humility, fhe faid, I have 
 many times heard you fpeak of the goodnefs and fweetnefs of. 
 
 * Chrift, but I knew nothing what you meant ; I never believed 
 you ; but now I know he is better than all the world. I afked, 
 and do you fee enough in Chrift for the greateft of finners? She 
 replied, O enough, enough for all the finners in the world if 
 they would but come. And turning, at my defire, to fome poor 
 Chriftlefs fouls who ilood by much affected, (lie faid, O there s 
 enough in Chrift for you all, if you would but come. O ftrive, 
 1 ftrive to give up your hearts to him. Then hearing fomewhat 
 r.f the glory of heaven mentioned, fhe again fell into an ecftacy of 
 joy, and cried out as before, O dear Lord, do let me go ! O 
 4 what fhall I do ? I want to go to Chrift, &c. In this fweet frame 
 Hie continued more than two hours. 
 
 When I have fometimes aflced her why (he appeared fo forrow- 
 Was fhe afraid of hell ? She would anfwer, No, I ben t fo 
 much diftrcffed about that, but my heart is fo wicked I can t love 
 4 Chrift, and thereupon burft out into tears. She feemed to view 
 divine truths as living realities, and could fay, * I know thcfe things 
 
 * are fo ; I feel them to be true. Now her foul was refigned to 
 ,t4ie divine will. Being aflced, what if God mould take your huf- 
 
 band
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 467 
 
 one thing by which divine Providence is preparing the way 
 for the future glorious times of the church ; when Satan s 
 kingdom {hall be overthrown, not only throughout the 
 Roman empire, but throughout the whole habitable globe, 
 on every fide, and on all its continents. When thofe 
 times come, then doubtlefs the gofpel, which is already 
 brought over into America, (hall have glorious fuccefs, 
 and all the inhabitants of this new difcovered world (hall 
 become fubjels of the kingdom of Chrift, as well as the 
 
 302 other 
 
 band from you (who was then very fick) how could you bear that ? 
 She replied, He belongs to God, and not me, he may do with 
 him juft what he plcafes. Now me could freely truft her all with 
 God for time and eternity. Being afked, how fhe could be will 
 ing to die, and leave her little infant, what did fhe think would 
 become of it ? She anfwered, God will take care of it; it belongs 
 to him ; he will take care of it. 
 
 [Brainerd s Journal, Mar. 1746.] 
 
 Mr. Brainerd s labours in America were crowned with much 
 fuccefs, and to (how that God ftill carries on his work, and at 
 the fame time give a fpecimen of the beautiful fimplicity of the In 
 dian ftile, we fubjoin the following letter from certain Indians to 
 the Rev. Mr. J. Caldwell, fecretary to the board of commiffioners 
 at New-Jerfey. 
 
 Oncida, Dec. 10, 1770. 
 Father, 
 
 We have not much to fay, but are very thankful that our belt 
 has arrived after fo long a time, and its language founds agreeably 
 in our ears, which at the fame time reaches the heart with peculiar 
 joy as we are poor. We return thanks to our fathers beyond the 
 Great Waters, for the confederation they made us of . 10 iterling. 
 We thank them from our very hearts, and alfo blefs God who put 
 it into their hearts to (hew us this kindnefs. The holy word of 
 Jefus has got place among us, and advances ; many have lately 
 forfaken their former fins to appearance, and turned to God; 
 there are fome among us who are very ftubborn and ftrong ; but 
 Jefus is Almighty , and his word is very ftrong too; therefore we 
 hope he will conquer and fucceed more and more. 
 
 We fay no more, only afk our fathers to pray for us. Although 
 they are at a great diftance, perhaps by and by, through the 
 trength and mercy of Jefus, WL- mall meet in his kingdom above. 
 Farewell. 
 
 Tagewaren, chief of the bear tribe. 
 t - weft tribe. 
 
 Ojecketa, turkle tribe. 
 
 [G. E.J
 
 4 58 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 other parts of the earth : and in all probability Providence 
 has fo ordered it, that the mariner s compafs, which is 
 an invention of latter times,* (whereby men are enabled 
 to fail over the wideft ocean, when before they durft not 
 venture far from land) fhould prove a preparation for 
 what God intends to bring to pafs in the glorious times of 
 the church, viz. the fending forth the gofpel wherever any 
 of the children of men dwell, how far off foever, and 
 however feparated by wide oceans from thofe parts of the 
 world which are already Christianized. 
 
 There has of late years been alfo a very considerable 
 propagation of the gofpel in the dominions of Mufcovy. 
 I have already oblerved the reformation which there has 
 lately been among thofe who are called Chriftians there ; 
 but I now fpeak of the heathen. Great part of the vaft 
 dominions of the Emperor of Mufcovy are grofsly heathen. 
 The greater part of Great Tartary, a heathen country, has 
 in later times been brought into the Mufcovite government ; 
 and of late great numbers of thofe heathen have embraced 
 the Chriftian religion. 
 
 There has lately been likewife a very confidcrable pro 
 pagation of the ChrHHan religion among the heathen in 
 the Eaft Indies, particularly at Malabar, many have been 
 brought over to the Chriftian and Proteftant religion; 
 chiefly by the labours of miflionaries fent thither by the 
 king of Denmark ; who have fet up fchools among them, 
 and a printing prefs to print Bibles and other books for 
 their inftrnc~Uon, in their own language, with great iuc- 
 cefs. (M) 
 
 [3-1 The 
 
 * About A. D. 1302. Gen. Dift. 
 
 (M) Succefs of the gofpel in the EAST INDIES.] The principal 
 inftruments in this work appear to have been Meflrs. Ziegenbalgn 
 and Plutfcho, both German proteftants and Danifh miflionaries, 
 to whom others were afterwards added. The fuccefs of their mi- 
 niilry appears to be not merely civilization, nor a profeffion of the 
 external ceremonies of religion, as is to be feared is generally the 
 cafe with the boafted converfions of the Jefuits and other Popift 
 miflionaries ; but many poor Indians were favingly brought to 
 Jefus Chrift, in fpite of difficulties which an European can hardly 
 conceive.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 469 
 
 [3.] The laft kind of fuccefs which there has lately 
 been of the gofpel, which I fhall take notice of, is the 
 revivals of the power and pradtice of religion which have 
 lately been. And here I fliall take notice of but two in- 
 ftances. 
 
 Firft, there has been not long fmce a remarkable re 
 vival of the power and practice of religion in Saxony in 
 German, through the endeavours of Auguftus Hermannus 
 Frank, profeflbr of divinity at Hall in Saxony, who being 
 a perfon of eminent charity, the great work that God 
 wrought by him, began by his fetting on foot a charita 
 ble defign. It began only with his placing an alms box at 
 his ftudy door, into which fome poor mites were thrown, 
 whereby books were bought for the inftrution of the 
 poor. And God was pleafed fo wonderfully to fmile on 
 his defign, and fo to pour out a fpirit of charity on people 
 there on that occafion, that with their charity he was 
 enabled in a little time to ere6t public fchools for the 
 inftrution of poor children, and an orphan houfe for the 
 fupply and inftru6Hon of the poor ; fo that at laft near 
 five hundred children were maintained and inftrudted in 
 learning and piety by the charity of others ; and the num 
 ber increafed more and more for many years, and till the 
 laft account I have feen. This was accompanied with 
 wonderful reformation and revival of religion, and a fpirit 
 of piety in the city and univerfity of Hall; and thus it 
 
 continued. 
 
 One of the miffionaries letters, dated December 1 1, 1713, men 
 tions, that they had then baptifed and joined in Chriftian commu 
 nion 246 perfons (of both fexes). And another letter mentions 
 the whole number of children in their charity fchool to be 78, of 
 which 56 were lodged in the houfe. In tranilating the firft princi 
 ples of Chriftianity into the language of the natives, the Malabrian 
 fchool-mafter who aflifted was particularly ftartlcd at the boldncfs 
 of an expreflion, intimating our becoming the children and friends 
 of God, and propofed laying inftead of it, that God might allow 
 US to kifs his feet. 
 
 [See Propagation of the Gofpel in the Eaft by the Danifh 
 Miffionanes, c. printed at London 1718.] 
 
 [I. N.J
 
 470 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 continued. Which alfo had great influence in many other 
 places in Germany. (N) 
 
 Another thing which it would be ungrateful in us not 
 to take notice of, is that remarkable out-pouring of the 
 Spirit of God which has been of late in this part of New 
 England, of which we, in this town, have had fuch a fhare. 
 But it is needlefs for me particularly to defcribe what 
 you have fo lately been eye witnefles to, and I hope mul 
 titudes 
 
 (N) Orphan Houfe, &c. at Glauca.~] In the year 1706, the ftate 
 of this wonderful undertaking was as follows : 
 
 1. An hofpital (the building of which coft 20,000 rix dollars) for 
 the maintenance of poor orphans of both fexes ; with an apothe 
 cary s mop, printing office, bookfeller s fhop, and other offices, 
 with proper perfons to fuperintcnd them. 
 
 2. Ten fchools for boys and girls in different clafles. 
 
 3. A provifion for widows, poor fludents, ftrangers, and other 
 neceffitous perfons. 
 
 4. A college of divinity. 
 
 5. A collegiate fchool for the education of young gentlemen at 
 the expence of their parents. 
 
 This work was begun and carried on by a fucceffion of provi 
 dences, the moft fingular that modern times have feen ; all the fup- 
 plies for a long time being communicated in a manner little fhort 
 of miraculous. One may give an idea of the reft: 
 , " Another time, fays Profeffor Frank, I flood in need of a great 
 fum of money, infomuch that an hundred crowns would not have 
 ferved my turn, and yet I faw not the lealr. appearance how I might 
 be fupplied with an hundred groats. The fteward came and fet 
 forth the want we were in. I bid him to come again after dinner, 
 and I refolved to put up my prayers to the Lord for his afiiftance. 
 When he came again after dinner, I was fli!l in the fame want, and 
 fo appointed him again to come in the evening. In the mean time 
 a friend of mine came to fee me, and with him I joined in prayers, 
 and found myfelf much moved to praife and magnify the Lord for 
 all his admirable dealings towards mankind, even from the begin 
 ning of the world, and the moft remarkable inftances came readily 
 to my remembrance whilft I was praying. I was fo elevated in 
 praifing and magnifying God, that I infilled only on that exercife 
 of my prefent devotion, and found no inclination to put up many 
 anxious petitions to be delivered o,ut of the prefent necefiity. At 
 length my friend taking his leave, I accompanied him to the door, 
 where I found the fteward waiting on one fide for the money he 
 wanted, and on the other, a perfon who brought an hundred and 
 fifty crowns for the fupport of the hofpital." 
 {Piefas Hallenfis, or an Abftraft of Divine Prov. &c. p. 15 I 7.]
 
 1X3 THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 471 
 
 titudes of youfentible of the benefit of. (o) Thus I have 
 mentioned the more remarkable infhnces of the fucccfs 
 which the gofpel has lately had in the world. 
 
 (4-) * 
 
 (o) Remarkable CONVERSIONS in NEW ENGLAND.] We have 
 already mentioned in the lift of our author s works, (p. 33.) a 
 narrative of this extraordinary event, from which we (hall give a 
 fhort extract, for the gratification of fuch of our readers as have 
 never feen that traft. 
 
 " In the latter end of the year 1733, the young people of Nor 
 thampton in New England (hewed a peculiar readinefs of receiving 
 inftruftion ; foon after this, a number of perfons appeared to be 
 converted at a fmall village about three miles from the town : in 
 the following year fome remarkable deaths awakened the attention 
 of many to religious concerns. About the clofe of this year feveral 
 perfons were fuddenly, and it appears, truly converted, particu 
 larly a young woman who had been remarkably gay; the news of 
 which flew like lightning, and produced a general and almofl in- 
 ftantaneous alarm. There was fcarcely, fays Mr. Edwards, a 
 fingle perfon in the town, either old or young, that was left un 
 concerned about the great things of the eternal world From 
 
 day to day, for many months together, might be feen evident in- 
 ftances of finners brought out of darknefs into marvellous light. 
 This foon made a glorious alteration in the town ; fo that in the 
 fpring and fummer following, 1735, the town feemed to be full of 
 the prefence of God. It was a time of joy in families on account 
 of falvation s being brought unto them ; parents rejoicing over 
 their children as new-born, and hufbands over their wives, and 
 wives over their hufoands. The goings of God were then feen in 
 his fandluary, God s day was a delight, and his tabernacles were 
 amiable. Our public aflemblies were then beautiful ; the con 
 gregation was alive in God s fervice, every one earneftly intent on 
 the public worfhip, every hearer eager to drink in the words of 
 the miniller as they came from his mouth ; the affembly in general 
 were, from time to time, in tears while the word was preached ; 
 fome weeping with forrow and diftrefs, others with joy and love, 
 others with pity and concern for the fouls of their neighbours. In t 
 all companies, on whatever occafion perfons met together, Chrift 
 was to be heard of, and feen in the midll of them ; even at wed 
 dings, which formerly were merely occafions of mirth and jollity, 
 there was now no difcourfe of any thing but the things of religion^ 
 and no appearance of any, but fpiritual mirth. 
 
 "Thofe amongft. us that had been formerly converted, were great 
 ly enlivened and renewed with frefh and extraordinary incomes of 
 the Spirit of God .... Many that before had laboured under diffi 
 culties about their own ftate, had now their doubts removed by 
 more fatisfying experience, and more clear difcoveries of God s 
 love. And there were mauy initances of perfons that came from 
 
 abroad.
 
 47* HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 (4.) 1 proceed now to the lad thing propofed relating 
 to the fuccefs of Chrift s redemption during this fpace, 
 viz. what the ftate of tilings is now in the world with re 
 gard 
 
 abroad, on vifits, or on buiinefs, that had not been long here be 
 fore, to all appearance they were favingly wrought upon, and 
 partook of that fhower of divine blefling that God rained down 
 here, and went home rejoicing ; till at length the fame work be 
 gan evidently to appear and prevail in feveral other towns in the 
 county." 
 
 Mr. Edwards particularly inftances South Hadley, Sufiield, 
 Deerfield, Hatfield, Weft. Springfield, Long Meadow, Enlield, 
 Weftfield, Hadley Old Town, Northncld, Windfor, Coventry, 
 Lebanon, Durham, Stratford, Ripton, Guildford, Mansfield, 
 Hebron, Bolton, Prefton, and even in fome parts of the Jerfeys: 
 fome of the minifters who were peculiarly blefled in the above 
 places were, befides our author, Meflrs. Bull, Marfh, Meachum, 
 Wheelock, Chancey, Gould, Noyes, Williams, Lord, Owen* 
 W. and G. Tenmmt, Crofa, Freelinghaufa, &c. 
 
 " I am far from pretending (continues our author) to be able 
 to determine how many have lately been the fubje&s of fuch 
 mercy ; but if I may be allowed to declare any thing that appears 
 to me probable in a tiling of this nature, I hope- that more than 
 300 fouls were favingly brought home to Chriit in this town, in 
 the fpace of half a year, (how many more I don t guefs) and about 
 the fame number of males as females .... And I hope that by far 
 the greater part of perfons in this town, above 16 years of age, are 
 fuch as have the faving knowledge of Jcfus Chriit ; and fo by what 
 I have heard, I fuppofe it is in fome other places, particularly at 
 Sunderland and South Hadley. ... I fuppofe there were upwards 
 of fifty perfons in this town above 40 years of age ; and more 
 than twenty of them above 50, and about 10 of them above 60, 
 and two of them above 70 years of age. ... I fuppofe, near thirty 
 were to appearance fo wrought upon between 10 and 14 years of 
 age, and two between 9 and 10, and one of about 4 years of age. 
 
 " The work of God s fpirit feemed to be at its greateft height in 
 this town, in the former part of the fpring; at which time God s 
 work in the convention of fouls was carried on amongtl us in fo 
 wonderful a manner, that fo far as I, by looking back, can judge 
 from the particular acquaintance I have had with fouls in this work, 
 it appears to me probable, to have been at the rate, at leaft, of 
 four perfons in a day, or near thirty in a week, take one with ano 
 ther, for five or fix weeks together : when God in fo remarkable a 
 manner took the work into his own hands, there was as much done 
 in a day or two, as at ordinary times, with all endeavours that men 
 ran ufe, and with fach a bleffing as we commonly have, is done in 
 a year. [Narrative, p. 14 79.] 
 
 While
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 473 
 
 gard to the church of Chrift, and the fuccefs of Chrift s 
 purchafe. And this I would do, bv iliowing how things 
 now are, compared with the firft times of the Reformation. 
 And, i. Wherein the ftate of things is changed for the 
 worfe ; and, 2. How it is altered for the better. 
 
 [i.] I would fhow wherein the ftate of things is al 
 tered from what it was in the beginning of the Refor 
 mation, for the worfe, and it is fo efpecially in thefe three 
 refpec"rs. 
 
 Firft, The Reformed church is much diminifhed. The 
 Reformation formerly, as was obferved before, was fup- 
 pofed to take place through one half of Chriftendom, ex 
 cepting the Greek church ; but now the Proteftant church 
 is much diminifhed. Heretofore there have been many 
 famous Proteftant churches in different parts of France 
 who ufed to meet together in fynods, and maintain a regu 
 lar difcipline ; and great part of that kingdom were Pro- 
 teftants ; the Proteflant church of France was a great part 
 of the glory of the Reformation. But now it is far other- 
 wife : this church is all broken to pieces and fcattered. 
 The Proteftant Religion is almoft wholly rooted out of 
 that kingdom by the cruel persecutions which have been 
 there, and there are now but very few Proteftant afTcm- 
 blies in all that kingdom. The Proteftant intereft is alfo 
 greatly diminifhed in Germany. There were feveral fove- 
 
 3 P reign 
 
 While we are coniidering the wonderful works of God in Ame 
 rica, we cannot perfuade ourfelves to omit the remarkable fuccefs 
 which attended the miniilry of the excellent Mr. Whitefield in 
 different parts of America, in the years 1738, 1740, arid 1770, 
 where incredible numbers attended his miniftry, and much good 
 was done ; it may be needlefs to mention, that in Georgia he 
 founded an orphan houfe on a plan limilar to that of ^Profeffor 
 Franck, above mentioned. 
 
 Prolix as this note may appear, we cannot deny ourfelves the 
 pleafure of adding, that in the year 1764, the gofpel was remark 
 ably fuccecdedin Long Ifland. At Eaft Hampton only, where a 
 Mr. Bull was miniiler, nearly 200 appeared to be truly converted, 
 with circumitances nearly fimilar to the great work mentioned by 
 Mr. Edwards. At Huntingdon, Smith Town, Bridge Hampton, 
 and Southold alfo, the like work was carried on, to the glory of 
 divine grace, and falvation of multitudes. 1. N.]
 
 474 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 reign princes formerly who were Proteftants, whofe fuc- 
 ceflbrs are now Papifts ; as, particularly the Elector Pala 
 tine, and tlie Elector of Saxony. The kingdom of Bo 
 hemia was formerly a Proteftant kingdom, but is now in 
 the hands of the Papifts : Hungary was alfo formerly a 
 Proteftant country ; but the Proteftants there have been 
 greatly reduced, in a great meafure fubdued, by the perfe- 
 cutions there. And the Proteftant intereft has no way re 
 markably gained ground of late of the church of Rome. 
 
 Another thing wherein the ftate of things is altered for 
 the worfe from what was in the former times of the Re 
 formation, is the prevailing of licentloufncfs in principles 
 and opinions. There is not now that fpirit of ortho 
 doxy which there was then : there is very little appearance 
 of zeal for the myfterious and fpiritual doctrines of Chrii- 
 tianity ; and they never were fo ridiculed, and had in con 
 tempt, as they are in the prefent age ; and efpecially in 
 England, the principal kingdom of the Reformation. In 
 this kingdom, thofe principles, on which the power of 
 godlinefs depends, are in a great meaiure exploded, and 
 Arianifm, Socinianifm, Arminianilm and Deifm, prevail, 
 and carry almoft all before them, (p) And particularly 
 hiftory gives no account of any age wherein there was fo 
 
 great 
 
 (p) DEISM prevails^ This note will prefent the reader with 
 the dying words of two of the moft celebrated infidels the age has 
 produced. Rouffeau, in the article of death, faid to his wife, 
 Ah ! my dear, how happy a thing is it to die, when one has no 
 reafon for remorfeor felf-reproach. Eternal Being ! the foul that 
 I am now going to give thee back, is as pure, at this moment, as 
 it was when it proceeded from thee : render it partaker of thy 
 felicity ! After a few more fentences he dropt gently on the floor, 
 llghed and expired. 
 
 [See Pa//ifol s Eulogium. Mon. Rev. Feb. 1779.] 
 
 The other inftance is the celebrated VOLTAIRE, who when he 
 drew near his end, in order to die in piece, and have Chriftian 
 burial, pretended to turn catholic ; the curate of St. Sulpice hav 
 ing, with fome difficulty, gained admittance to his chamber, afks 
 him in a Hammering voice, Sir, do you acknowledge the divi 
 nity of JefusChrifc ? Voltaire exclaimed, extending his arms 
 In the name of God, Sir, do not mention that man s name to 
 me ! Thefe were his la(l words. 
 
 [See Voltaire s Life, Mon. Rev. Feb. 1788.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 475 
 
 great an apoftafy of thofe who had been brought up under 
 the light of the gofpel, to infidelity ; never was there fuch 
 a rejection of all revealed religion : never was any age 
 wherein was fo much fcoffing at and ridiculing the gofpel 
 ofChrift, by thofe who have been brought up under gof 
 pel light, as at this day. 
 
 Another thing wherein things are altered for the worfe, 
 is, that there is much lefs of the prevalency of the power 
 of godlinefs, than there was at the beginning of the Re 
 formation. A glorious out-pouring of the Spirit of God 
 accompanied the firft reformation, not only to convert 
 multitudes in fo fhort a time from popery to the true re 
 ligion, but to turn many to God and true godlinefs. Re 
 ligion glorioufly flourished in one country and another, as 
 moft remarkably appeared in thofe times of terrible per- 
 fecution, which have already been fpoken of. But now 
 there is an exceeding great decay of vital piety ; yea, it 
 feems to be defpifed, called enthufiafm, whimfy, and fan- 
 aticifm. Thofe who are truly religious, are commonly 
 looked upon to be crack-brained, and befide their right 
 mind ; and vice and profanenefs dreadfully prevail, like a 
 flood which threatens to bear down all before it. 
 
 But I proceed to fhow, [2.] in what refpecl: things 
 are altered for the better ; firft, the power and influence 
 of the Pope is much diminifhed. Although, fmce the 
 former times of the Reformation, he has gained ground 
 in extent of dominion ; yet he has loft in degree of in 
 fluence. The vial which in the beginning of the Refor 
 mation was poured out on the throne of the beaft, to the 
 great diminifhing of his power and authority in the world 
 has continued running ever fmce. The Pope, foon after 
 the Reformation, became lefs regarded by the princes of 
 Europe than he had been before. Many of the popifh 
 princes thcmfelves feem to regard him very little more 
 than they think will ferve their own defigns ; of which 
 there have been feveral remarkable proofs and inftances of 
 late, (oj There 
 
 ( oj The PRESENT^?/* of popery. ] On this ftibjeclve take the 
 liberty to add I . That the temporal power of the Pope feems 
 
 3 P 2 nearly
 
 476 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 There is far lefs perfecution now than there was in the 
 fir ft times of the Reformation. You have heard already 
 how dreadfully perfecution raged in the former times of 
 the Reformation ; and there is fomething of it ftill. Some 
 parts of the proteftant church are at this day under per 
 fecution, 
 
 nearly at an end : the Emperor of Germany, King of France, and 
 other catholic princes, while they pay a ceremonial refpedl to the 
 perfon of his Holinefs, take erery opportunity to weaken his au 
 thority. " The infallibility of the Pope, fays Voltaire, is a chi 
 mera not believed even at Rome, and yet maintained; and the Pope 
 a facred perfon whofe feet are to be kifled, and his hands bound." 
 
 2. Yet the fpiritual authority of the Pope is ftill regarded, at 
 leaft by the vulgar. A popifh traft, publifhed within thefe few 
 years, ftates the principles of popery thus, " All and every catho 
 lic, throughout the whole world, does believe as the council of 
 Trent has decreed, whether they know the words of the decree or 
 not ; becaufe all catholics have an implicit faith in the church, that 
 is, they all believe as the church believes, whether they examine 
 into the matter Jtfelf or not, and that purely on her unerring au 
 thority ; an explicit faith being not required ; for if an explicit 
 faith was required, -there is few would be catholics, becaufe there 
 is not perhaps one priefl in twenty that can give a plain and pofi- 
 tive account of all the articles of faith which the church has ordain 
 ed." [Old Fafhioned Farmer s Reafons for turning Catholic. &c.] 
 
 In France indeed, and fome other countries, the principles of 
 popery are fo;ne\vhat refined ; many of its fuperftitions dropped, 
 and monafteries grow into general difrepute : but in Portugal the 
 fame religious farces are acted in Pafiion Week as formerly, and 
 the blood of St. Januarius is ftill pretended to be liquified annually 
 with the fame ridiculous circumftances as aforetime. 
 
 3. We mall conclude this note with the character of the prefent 
 Pope, from a celebrated Modern Traveller " Pius VI. (formerly 
 Cardinal Beofchi) performs all the religious functions of his office 
 in the moft folemn manner. I lately happened to be at St. Peter s 
 church when there was fcarcely any body there; . . . the Pope en 
 tered with a very few attendants; when he came to the ftatue of 
 St. Peter .... he bowed, he kneeled, he kifTed the foot, and then 
 rubbed his brow and his whole head with every mark of humility, 
 fervour, and adoration, upon the facred ftump. ... It is no more, 
 one half of the foot having been long fince worn by the lips of the 
 
 pious This uncommon appearance of zeal in the Pope, is not 
 
 in-.;,;ited to hypocrify, or to policy ; but is fuppofed to proceed 
 entirely from a conviction of the efficacy of thefe holy frictions ; 
 an opinion which has given people a much higher idea of the 
 ftrength of his faith than his underftanding." 
 
 [Dr. MOORE S View of Soc. and Mann, in Italy. Let. 64.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 477 
 
 fecution, and fome probably will be fo until the church s 
 fufFering and travail is at an end, which will not be till 
 the fall of ahtichrift. But it is now in no meafure as it 
 was heretofore. There does not feem to be the fame fpirit 
 of perfecution prevailing ; it is become more out of fafhion 
 even among the popifli princes. The wickednefs of the 
 enemies of Chrift, and the oppofition againft his caufe, 
 feem to run in another channel. The humour now is, to 
 deipife and laugh at all religion ; and there feems to be a 
 fpirit of indifFerency about it. However, fo far the (late 
 of things is better than it has been, that there is fo much 
 lefs of perfecution. 
 
 There is a great increafe of learning : in the dark times 
 of popery before the Reformation, learning was fo far de 
 cayed, that the world feem to be over-run with barbarous 
 ignorance. Their very priefts were many of them grofsly 
 ignorant. Learning began to revive with the Reforma 
 tion, which was owing very much to the art of printing, 
 which was invented a little before the Reformation ; and 
 fince that, learning has increafed more and more, and at 
 this day is undoubtedly raifed to a greater height than 
 ever it was before : and though little good ufe is made of 
 it by the greater part of learned men, yet the increafe of 
 learning in itfelf is a thing to be rejoiced in, becaufe it is, 
 if duly ufed, an excellent handmaid to divinity, and is a 
 talent which, if God gives men an heart, affords them an 
 opportunity to do great things for the advancement of 
 the kingdom of Chrift, and the good of fouls. That 
 learning and knowledge fnould greatly increafe before the 
 glorious times, feems to be foretold. [Dan. xii. 4.] But 
 thou, O Daniel, (hut up the words, raid feal the book, 
 even to the time of the end : many fliall run to and fro, 
 and knowledge (hall be increafed. And however little 
 now learning is applied to the advancement of rsligion ; 
 yet we may hope that the days are approaching wherein 
 God will make great ufe of it for the advancement of the 
 kingdom of Chrift. 
 
 God in his providence now feems to be acting over 
 again the fame part which he did a little before Chrift 
 
 came.
 
 478 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 came. In the age wherein Chrift came into the world, 
 learning greatly prevailed and was at a greater height than 
 ever it had been before ; and yet wickednefs never pre 
 vailed more than then. God was pleafed to fuffer human 
 learning to come to fuch a height before he fent the gof- 
 pel into the world, that they might fee the infufficiency 
 of their own wifdom for obtaining the knowledge of God : 
 when the goipel had prevailed firft without the help of 
 man s wifdom, then God was pleafed to make ufe of 
 learning as an handmaid. So now learning is at a height 
 beyond what it was in the age when Chrift appeared ; 
 and yet men trufting to their learning, they grope in the 
 day time as in the night. Learned men are exceedingly 
 divided in their opinions concerning matters of religion, 
 and run into all manner of pernicious errors. They (corn 
 to fubmit their reafon to divine revelation, to believe 
 any thing that is above their comprehenfion ; and fo being 
 wife in their own eyes, they become fools, and even 
 vain in their imaginations, and turn the truth of God 
 into a lie, and their foolim. hearts are darkened. [See 
 Rom. i. 21, &c.] 
 
 But yet, when God has fufficiently fhown men the in- 
 fufficiency of human wifdom and learning for the purpofes 
 of religion, and when the appointed time comes for that 
 glorious out-pouring of the Spirit of God, when he will 
 himfelf by his own immediate influence enlighten mens 
 minds ; then may we hope that God will make ufe of the 
 great increafe of learning, as a means of a glorious ad 
 vancement of the kingdom of his Son. Then {hall hu 
 man learning be fubfervient to the understanding of the 
 icriptures, and to a clear explanation and a glorious de 
 fence of the doctrines of Chriftianity. And there is no 
 doubt to be made of it, that God in his providence has 
 of late given the world the art of printing, and fuch a 
 great increafe of learning, to prepare for what he defigns 
 to accomplim for his church in the approaching days of 
 its profperity. 
 
 HAVING
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 479 
 
 HAVING now fliown how the work of redemption has 
 been carried on from the fall of man to the prefent time, 
 before I proceed any further, I would make fome AP 
 PLICATION. 
 
 From what has been faid, we may fee great evidence of 
 the truth of the Chriftian religion, and that the fcriptures 
 are the word of God. There are three arguments of this, 
 which I (hall take notice of, which may be drawn from 
 what has been faid. 
 
 (i.) It may be argued from that violent and inveterate 
 oppofition there has always appeared of the wickednets 
 of the world againft this religion. The religion that the 
 church of God has profeffed from the firft, has always 
 been the fame as to its eflentials. The church of God 
 from the beginning, one fociety. The Chriftian church 
 which has been fince Chrift s afcenfion, is manifeftly the 
 fame fociety with the church before Chrift came : they are 
 built on the fame foundation. The revelation on which 
 both have depended, is effentially the fame ; only the fub- 
 jecls of it are now more clearly revealed in the New Tef- 
 tament than they were in the Old. The church before 
 the flood was built on the foundation of thofe revelations 
 of Chrift which were given to Adam, Abel, and Enoch, 
 and others of that period. The church after the flood was 
 built on the revelations made to Noah, Abraham, Melchi- 
 fedek, Ifaac, Jacob, Jofeph, Job, and other holy men. 
 After this the church depended on the fcriptures them- 
 felves as they gradually increafed ; fo that the church of 
 God has always been built on the foundation of divine re 
 velations which were eflentially the fame, and are fum- 
 marily comprehended in the holy fcriptures. 
 
 So that the oppofition which has been made to the 
 church of God in all ages, has always been againft the 
 fame religion, and the fame revelation. Now therefore 
 the violent and perpetual oppofition that has ever been 
 made by the corruption and wickednefs of mankind againft 
 the church, is a ftrong argument of the truth of this reli 
 gion, and the revelation upon which the church has always 
 
 been
 
 4 8o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 been built. Contraries are well argued one from another 
 We may well and fafely argue, that a thing is good, ac 
 cording to the degree in which evil oppofes it. Now it is 
 evident, that the wicked world has had a perpetual hatred 
 to the church and her religion, and has made moft violent 
 oppofition againft it. 
 
 That the church of God has always met with great 
 oppofition in the world, none can deny. This is plain 
 by profane hiftory fo high as that reaches ; and before 
 that, divine hiftory gives us the fame account. The 
 church of God, and its religion and worfhip, began to be 
 oppofcd in Cain s and Abel s time, and was fo when the 
 earth was rilled wich violence in Noah s days. And af 
 ter this the church was oppofed in Egypt ; and llVael 
 always hated by the nations round about, agreeable to that 
 text [Jer. xii. 9.] Mine heritage is unto me a fpeck- 
 * led bird, the birds round about are againft her. After 
 the Babylonifh captivity, the church was perfecuted by 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, and others. And how was Chrift 
 perfecuted when on earth ! and the apoftles and other 
 Chriftians by the Jews, before the deftruftion of Jerufa- 
 lem ! and dreadful was the oppofition of the heathen world 
 againft the Chriftian church before Conftantine ! And 
 lince that, yet more violent, and fpiteful, and cruel has 
 been the oppoiition of antichrift. There is no fuch in- 
 ftance of oppoiition to any other religion. Other profef- 
 lions have enjoyed their religions in peace and quietnefs, 
 however they have differed from their neighbours. One 
 nation has worfhipped one fet of gods, and others another, 
 without molefting or difturbing one another about it. 
 All the fpite and oppofition has been againft the religion 
 of the chorch of Chrift as though they could never fatisfy 
 their cruelty. (R) They put their inventions upon the 
 
 rack 
 
 (R) No religion perfecuted !He the CHRISTIAN.] Should this faft 
 be controverted, we beg leave to obferve, 
 
 I. That though the profefTors of other religions have pleaded 
 the fuflcring of pcrfecution ; yet it has feldom been with the fame 
 truth. The jefuits were fome years iince expelled Japan and cal 
 led
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. / r bi 
 
 iack to find out torments that fhould be cruel enough ; arid 
 yet their thirfc hr.r, never been fatislied with blood. 
 
 So that it is out of doubt, that this religion, and the 
 fcriptures, have always been malignantly copofed in the 
 world. The only queftion is, whether it be the wicked- 
 nefs and corruption of the world, or not, that has done 
 this ? But of this there can be no more doubt than of the 
 other, if we coniider how caufelefs this cruelty has always 
 been, who were the oppofers, and the manner in which 
 they acled. The oppofition has chiefly been from hea- 
 thenifm and popery; which are both of them very evil, and 
 the fruits of the blindnefs, corruption, and wickednefs 
 ot men, as the very Deifts themfelves confefs. The 
 light of nature fhows, that the religion of Heathens, con- 
 filling in the worfhip of idols, and facrificing their chil 
 dren to them, and in obfcene and abominable rites and 
 ceremonies, 13 wickednefs. And the fuperfritious idola 
 tries and ufurpations, of the church of Rome, are now 
 lefs contrary to the light of reafon. By which it appears, 
 that the oppofition againft the church of God has been 
 made by wikced men. And with regard to the oppolition 
 of die Jews in Chrirl s and the apoftles times, it was 
 when the people were generally become exceedingly wick 
 ed, as ycfcp/ius and other Jewifh writers who lived tbout 
 that time acknowledge. And that it has been mere v, ick- 
 ednefs that has made this oppofition is manifeft from the 
 
 3 Q^ manner 
 
 led itperfecntion for the gofpel ; but it is well known that, not their 
 religion, but their treafonable practices, procured their ruin. 
 
 2. That though the papifts have gone fo much beyond then- 
 pagan predeceffors as to perfccute all religions but their own, Pa 
 gan, Jewifh and MaSiometan, as well as Proteftant ; yet thcfe have 
 never yet been fo general, nor fo long continued. Hiftory, as our 
 author rightly obferves, cau produce no other iriilance of perfecu- 
 tion being continued with fo little intermiffion for fo many cen 
 turies. 
 
 3. That though religion has in moft cafes been the pretence 
 for popifh ft verities, it has often not been the true caufe. The 
 Morifcoes and Jews were expelled Spain, and diabolical cruelties 
 exercifetl in South America, .rather that their perfecutors might 
 have a pretence for fdi .ing their poffefiiorrt, than from any zeal 
 :fr religion. [G. E.j
 
 4 82 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 manner of the oppoiition, the extreme violence, injuitice, 
 and cruelty, with which the church of God has been treat 
 ed. It fceins to ihow the hand of malignant infernal 
 fpirits in it. 
 
 Now what reafon can be affigned, why the corruption 
 and wickednefs of the world mould fo implacably fet it- 
 felf againft the religion of Jefus Chrift, and againft the 
 fcriptures, but only that they are contrary to wickednefs. 
 and confequently good and holy ? Why ihould the enemies 
 of Chrift, for fo many thoufand years together, manifeft 
 fuch a mortal hatred of this religion, but only that it is 
 the caule of God ? If the fcriptures be not the word of 
 God, and the religion of the church of Chrift be not the 
 true religion, then it muft follow, that it is nothing but 
 a pack of lies and delufions, invented by the enemies of 
 God thcmfelves. And if this were fo, it is not likely 
 that the enemies of God, and the wickednefs of the world, 
 would have maintained fuch a perpetual and implacable 
 enmity againft it. 
 
 (2.) It is a great argument that the Chriftian church 
 and its religion is from God ; that it has been upheld hi 
 therto through all the oppofition and dangers it has met 
 with. That the church of God and the true religion, 
 which has been fo continually and violently oppofed, with 
 fo many endeavours to overthrow it, and which has fo 
 often been brought to the brink of ruin, and almoft fwal- 
 lowed up, through the greateft part of fix thoufand years, 
 has yet been upheld, does moft remarkably fhow the hand 
 of God in favour of it. This, if properly confidered, will 
 appear one of the greateft wonders and miracles that ever 
 came to pafs. There is nothing like it upon the face of 
 the earth. As to the old world, which was before the 
 flood, that was overthrown by a deluge of waters; but 
 yet the church of God was preferved. Satan s vifible 
 kingdom on earth was then -entirely overthrown ; but 
 the vifible kingdom of Chrift never has been. All the an 
 cient monarchies of which we read in former ages, they 
 are long fmce come to an end ; they have all grown old, 
 and have vanifhed away ; The moth has eaten them 
 
 * up
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 483 
 
 up like a garment, and the worm has eaten them like 
 wool; but yet God s church remains. 
 
 Never were there fuch potent endeavours to deflroy 
 any thing elfe, as there has been to deftroy the church. 
 Other kingdoms and focieties of men, which have ap 
 peared to be ten times as ftrong as the church of God, 
 have been deftroyed with an hundredth part of the oppofi- 
 tion which the church of God has met with ; which 
 mows, that it is God who has been the protector of the 
 church. For it is moft plain, that it has not upheld it- 
 felf by its own ftrength ; for the moft part, it has been 
 a very weak fociety. The children of Ifrael were but a 
 fmall handful of people in comparifon of thofe who often 
 fought their overthrow. And in Chrift s time, and in 
 the beginning of the Chriftian church after his refurrec- 
 tion, they were but a remnant; whereas the whole mul 
 titude of the Jewifh nation were againft them. And fo 
 in the beginning of the Gentile church : they were but a 
 fmall number in comparifon with their heathen perfecu- 
 tors. Alfo in the dark time of antichrift, before the re 
 formation, they were but a handful ; and yet their ene 
 mies could not overthrow them. And it has commonly 
 happened that the enemies of the church have not only 
 had the greateft number, but alfo the civil authority on 
 their iide. So in Egypt, Ifrael were only flaves to the 
 Egyptians, and yet they could not deflroy them. Like- 
 wife in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, under the hea-, 
 then Roman government, and for the moft part fmce the 
 rife of antichrift, the civil power was all on the fide of 
 the perfecutors, and die church feemed to be in their 
 hands. And not only has the ftrength of the enemies of 
 the church been greateft, but ordinarily the church has 
 not ufed what ftrength they have had in their own defence, 
 but have committed themfelves wholly to God. So ii 
 was in the Jewith perfecutions before the deftrudHon of 
 Jcrufalem by the Romans ; and in the heathen perfecu 
 tions before Conftantine, the Chriftians did not attempt 
 to make any forcible refiftance to their heathen perfecu 
 tors. So it has for the moft part been under the Popilh 
 
 3 Q_2 perfceutors.
 
 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 perfecutors. So it has for the moft part been under the 
 Popilh perfecutions ; and yet they have never been able 
 to overthrow the church of God : but it (lands to this 
 very clay. 
 
 This is flill the more wonderful, if we confider how 
 often the church has been brought to the brink of ruin, 
 and the cafe feemed to be defperate. In the time of the 
 old world, wickednefs fo prevailed, that but one religious 
 family was left. At the Red Sea, when Pharaoh and his 
 hod thought they were quite fure of their prey ; and 
 from time to time in the church of Ifrael, God deli 
 vered them, as lias been fhown. Thus under the tenth 
 and laft heathen perfecution, their perfecutors boafted 
 that they had ueftroyed the Chriftians, and overthrown the 
 church ; yet in the midft of their triumph, the Chi ifrian 
 church riles out of the dull and prevails, and the. heathen 
 empire totally falls before it. So when the Chriftian 
 church feemed ready to be fwallowed up by Arianifrn, 
 when antichrift rofe and prevailed, and all the world 
 wondered after the beafr, and the church for many hun 
 dred years was reduced to a very frnall number, and the 
 power of the world was engaged to deftroy them ; yet 
 they could never fully accomplifli their defign, and at 
 laft God wonderfully revived his church in the time of 
 the Reformation, and made it to ftand as it were on its 
 feet in the fight of its enemies, and raifed it out of their 
 reach. And fo fmce, when the Popifh powers have plot 
 ted the overthrow of the Reformed church, and have 
 feemed juft about to bring rheir matters to a concluljon. 
 and to rinifh their defign, then God has wonderfully ap 
 peared for the deliverance of his church, as it was in the 
 revolution by King William. And fo it has been from 
 time to time : prcfently after the darkeft times^ God has 
 made his church mod glorioufly to ftouriih. 
 
 If the prefervation of the church of God, from the 
 beginning of the world hitherto, attended with fuch cir- 
 cumftances, is not fufficient to fhow a divine hand in fa 
 vour of it, what can be devifed that would be fo ? But if 
 this be from the divine hand, then God owns the church 
 * - ; and
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 485 
 
 and her religion, and thofe fcriptnres on which fhe is built: 
 and fo it will follow, that this is the true religion, and that 
 the fcriptures are God s word. 
 
 (3.) We may draw a further argument for the divine 
 authority of the fcriptures from the fulfilment of thofe 
 things which are foretold in the fcriptures. I have already 
 obferved, as I went along, how the prophecies in fcripturc 
 were fulfilled : I fhall now therefore fmgle out but two in- 
 ftances of the fulfilment of fcripture prophecy. 
 
 [ i.] One is in preferving his church from being ruined. 
 I have juft now fhown what an evidence this is of the 
 divine authority of the fcriptures, in itfelf considered ; I 
 now fpeak of it as a fulfilment of fcripturc prophecy. This 
 is abundantly foretold and pro mi fed in the fcriptures, as 
 particularly in the text : there it is foretold, that other 
 things fhall fail, other kingdoms and monarchies, which 
 fet themfelves in oppofition, ihould come to nothing: 
 The moth ihall eat them up like a garment, and the 
 worm fliall eat them like wool : and fo it has in fa6t 
 come to pafs. But it is alfo foretold, that God s cove 
 nant mercy to his church fhall continue for ever : and fo 
 it has hitherto proved, though now it be fo many ages 
 fmce, and though the church has paflTed through fo many 
 dangers. The fame is promifed in Ifaiah, [liv. 17.] No 
 weapon that is formed againfc thee fhall profper ; and 
 every tongue that ihall rife againft thee in judgment 
 * thou fhalt condemn. And again, [chap. xlix. 14 
 j6.] But Sion faid, the Lord hath forfaken me, and my 
 Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her 
 fucking child, that fhe iliould not have companion on the 
 fon of her womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not 
 forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms 
 of my hands, thy walls are continually before me. [See 
 alfo chap. lix. 21. and xliii. i, 2. arid Zech. xii. 2, 3.] 
 So Chrift promifes the fame, [Matt. xvi. 18.] On this 
 rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell 
 4 fhall not prevail againft it. Now if the fcriptures be 
 not the word of God, and the church built on them be 
 not of God, how could the perfons who foretold this, 
 
 know
 
 4 36 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 know it ? For if the church were not of God, it was a very 
 unlikely thing ever to come to pafs. For they foretold 
 that other kingdoms fhould come to nothing ; alfo the 
 great oppofition the church fhould meet with, and the 
 many dangers with which fhe fhould be almoft fwallowed 
 up, (as it were eafy to fhow,) and yet foretold that the 
 church fhould remain. Now how could they forefee fo 
 unlikely a thing but by divine infpiration ? 
 
 [2.] The other remarkable inftance which I fhall men 
 tion of the fulfilment of fcripture prophecy, is in what is 
 foretold concerning antlchrift, a certain great oppofer of 
 Chrift and his kingdom. And (i.) It is foretold that 
 this antichrift fhould arife not among the heathen ; but 
 that he lliould arife by the apoftafy and falling away of 
 the Chriftian church. [2 Thef. ii. 3.] For that day 
 fhall not come, except there come a falling away firft, 
 
 * and that man of fin be revealed, the fon of perdition. - 
 (2.) That he fhould fet himfelf up in the temple or vifibJe 
 church of Gcd, pretending to be vefted with the power of 
 God himfelf, as head of the church, [ver. 4.] (3.) It is 
 intimated, that the rife of antichrift fhould be gradual, 
 [ver 7.] * For the myftcry of iniquity doth already work : 
 only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out 
 of the way, (4.) It is prophefied that he fhould be a 
 great prince or monarch of the Roman empire: fo he is 
 reprefcnted as an horn of the fourth beaft in Daniel, or 
 fourth kingdom or monarchy upon earth, as the angel 
 himfelf explains it, of the little horn. [Daniel vii. 24.]- 
 (5.) It was predicted that his feat fhould be in the city of 
 Rome itfelf ; fo it is faid exprefsly, that the fpJritual whore, 
 or falfe church, fhould have her feat on fcven mountains 
 or hills: [Rev. xvii. 6.] The feven heads are feven 
 mountains on which the woman fitteth: and [ver. 
 1 8.] The woman which thou fa weft, is that great city 
 
 * which reigneth over the kings of the earth ; which it 
 is certain was at that time the city of Rome. (6.) It 
 was prophefied, that this antichrift fhould reign over peo 
 ples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, [Rev. 
 xvii. 15.] and that all the world fhould wonder after the 
 
 beaft.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 487 
 
 beaft:. [Rev. xiii. 3.] (7.) That he mould be remarkable 
 for his pride, pretending to great things, and arTuming very 
 much to himfelf; [2 Thef. ii. 4.] That he mould 
 
 * exalt himfelf above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
 
 * ihipped. [Rev. xiii. 5.] And there was given unto 
 him a mouth fpeaking great things, and blafphemies. 
 [Dan vii. 20.] The little horn is faid to have a mouth 
 fpeaking very great things, and his look to be more ftout 
 than his fellows. (8.) That he fhould be a cruel perfe- 
 cutor, [Dan. vii. 21.] The fame horn made war with 
 the faints, and prevailed againft them: [Rev. xiii. 7.] 
 
 * And it was given to him to make war with the faints, 
 and to overcome them. [Rev. xvii, 6.] And I faw 
 the woman drunken with the blood of the faints, and 
 with the blood of the martyrs of Jefus. (9.) That 
 he mould excel in craft and policy, [Dan. vii. 8.] In 
 this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man. [ver. 20.] 
 Even of that horn that had eyes. This alfo came to 
 pafs in the church of Rome. (10.) It was foretold, 
 that the kings of Chriftendom fhould be fubjecSt to anti- 
 chrift : [Rev. xvii. 12, 13.] And the ten horns which 
 
 * thou favveft, are ten kings, which have received no king- 
 
 * dom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with 
 the beaft. Thefe have one mind, and mall give their 
 power and ftrength unto the beaft. - (n.) That he 
 fhould perform pretended miracles and lying wonders: 
 [2 Thef. ii. 9.] Whofe coming is after the working of 
 Satan, with all power, and figns, and lying wonders. 
 [Rev. xiii. 13, 14.] And he doth great wonders, fo 
 
 * that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the 
 earth, in the fight of men, and deceiveth them that 
 dwell on the earth, by the means of thofe miracles which 
 
 * he had power to do in the fight of the beaft. (s) Fire s 
 
 coming 
 
 (s) PopiJI] MIRACLES.] Thefe may be divided into two clafics, 
 neither of which deferve the name of miracles, the former being 
 mere fi&ions, and the latter, tricks of priefts. 
 
 i. Of the former little need be faid, as to mention is to expofe 
 and refute them. That St. Denys, or St. Juftinian, walked with 
 
 their
 
 4 88 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, 
 coming: down from heaven feems to have reference to the 
 
 o 
 
 pop i fli excommunications, which were dreaded like tire 
 from heaven. (12.) It was foretold, tiiat he ihou Id for 
 bid 
 
 their heads under their arms that the Virgin Mary held Bec- 
 ket s fhirt while he mended it or that a band of angels moved 
 her cottage from Judea to Loretto by night Thele may pro 
 voke our rifibility, but will hardly now command belief even 
 from Papifts. 
 
 But, 2. We admit many of the fab they pretend, "though we 
 deny there was any miracle in them, except indeed the credulity 
 of the multitude. To pafs by the triek of fpeaking and moving 
 images, which are now no fccret ; we fliall prefent our readers 
 with t\vo inftances of the miraculous powers of the Roman church, 
 one for its ingenuity, the other for its recentnefs. 
 
 " St. Anthony is commonly thought to have a great command 
 over fire, and a power of deftroying by flames of that element 
 thofe who incur his difpleafure A certain monk of St. An 
 thony . . . one day afiembled his congregation under a tree where 
 a magpie had built her neft, into which he had found means to 
 convey a fmall box filled with gunpowder, and out of the box 
 hung a long thin match that was to burn flowly, and was hidden 
 among the leaves of the trees. As foon as the monk or his aflii- 
 tant had touched the match with a lighted coal, he began his fer- 
 mon. In the mean while the magpie returned to her neft; and 
 finding in it a ftrange body which fhe could not remove, me fell 
 into a pafiion, and began to fcratch with her feet, and chatter 
 moll unmercifully. The friar aftecled to hear her without emo 
 tion, and continued his fermon with great compofure ; only he 
 would now and then lift up his eyes towards the top of the tree, 
 as if he wanted to fee what was the matter. At laft, when he- 
 judged the match was near reaching the gunpowder, he pretended 
 to be quite cut of patience ; he. curfed the magpie, and wifhcd 
 St. Anthony s fire might confume her, and went on again with his 
 fermon ; but* he had fcarcely pronounced two cr three periods, 
 when the match on a ftldden produced its effect, and blew up the 
 magpie with its neft ; which miracle wonderfully raifed the cha 
 racter of the friar, and proved afterwards very beneficial to hiir* 
 and to his convent." 
 
 ("DE LOME S Hift. of the Flagellants.] 
 
 Query, Was not this fulfilling the prophecy of making fire come 
 down from heaven in the fight of men i 
 
 The following miracle, viz. the liquefaction of the blood of St. 
 Januarius, is annually wrought, and is related by a refpeftabh- 
 eye-witnefs. " The grand prOOeffiotl on this occafion was com- 
 pofed of a numerous body of clergy and au immeufe number of 
 people of all ranks, headed by the Archbifaop of Naples liimfclf,
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 489 
 
 bid to marry and to abftain from meats; [i Tim. iv. 
 3.] * Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abftain 
 
 3 R from 
 
 \vho carried the phial containing the blood of the faint. A mag 
 nificent robe of velvet richly embroideied was thrown over the 
 fhoulders of the buft ; a mitre refulgent with jewels was placed 
 on its head. The archbifhop with a folemn pace and a look full 
 of awe and veneration, approached, holding forth the facred phial 
 which contained the precious lump of blood ; he addrefled the 
 faint in .the humbleft manner, fervently praying that he would 
 gracioufly condefcend to manifeft his regard to his faithful vota 
 ries, the people of Naples, by the ufual token of ordering that 
 lump of his facred blood to aflume its natural and original form : 
 in thefe prayers he was joined by the multitude around, particu 
 larly by the women. My curiofity prompted me to mingle with 
 the multitude; I got by degrees very near the buft. Twenty mi 
 nutes had already elapfed, fince the archbifhop had been praying 
 with all poffible earneftnefs, and turning the phial around and 
 around without any effect. An old monk ftood near the archbi 
 fhop, and was at the utmoft pains to inftrucT; him how to handle, 
 chafe, and rub the phial ; he frequently took it into his own 
 hands, but his manoeuvres were as ineffectual as thofe of the arch 
 bifhop. By this time the people had become exceeding noify ; the 
 women were quite hoarfe with praying ; the monk continued his 
 operations with increafed zeal, and the archbifhop was all over in 
 
 a profufe fweat with vexation An acquaintance whifpered 
 
 it might be prudent to retire I direclly took his hint, and 
 
 joined the company I had left. An univerfal gloom overfpread all 
 
 their countenances One very beautiful young lady cried and 
 
 fobbed as if her heart had been ready to break. The paffions of 
 fome of the rabble without doors took a different turn ; inftead 
 of forrow they were filled with rage and indignation at the faint s 
 obduracy, .... and fome went fo far as to call him an old, un 
 grateful, yellow-faced rafcaL .... It was now almoft dark, .... 
 and when leaft expected, the fignal was given, that the miracle 
 
 was performed The populace filled the air with repeated 
 
 fhouts of joy ; a band of mufic began to play ; Te Deitm was 
 fung ; couriers were difpatched to the royal family, then at Por- 
 tici, with the glad tidings ; the young lady dried up her tears ; 
 the countenances of our company brightened in an inftartt, and 
 they fat down to cards without farther dread of eruptions, earth 
 quakes, or peftilence." [Dr. MOORE S View of Society and Man 
 ners in Italy, Lett. 64.3 
 
 Thefe miracles need no comment ; but fome Proteftants acM a 
 third clafs of popifli miracles, wrought, as they fuppofe, by the 
 agency of the devil ; but thefe we omit, knowing of none for 
 which the cunning of the priefts was not quite futficient. 
 
 [N. U.]
 
 49 o HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 from meats, which God hath created to be received with 
 thankfgiving. -(12.) That he fhould be very rich, and 
 arrive at a great degree of earthly fplendour and glory: 
 [Rev. xvii. 4.] And the woman was arrayed in purple, 
 and fcarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious 
 4 Hones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand. 
 [See alfo chap, xviii. 7, 12, 13, 16.] (T) It was fore 
 told, 
 
 (T) RICHES <77z</SpLENDOUR of the church 0/"RoME.] Thcfc 
 are principally obvious in their veitments, images, and magnificent 
 ceremonies. We fliall give a fliort fpecimen of each. 
 
 (i.) For veftments, we (hall mention only thofe of Pope Paul 
 II. who "in his pontifical veftments outwent all his predeceflbrs, 
 efpecially in his regno, or mitre, upon which he had laid out a great 
 deal of money in purchafing at vaft rates, diamonds, fapphires, 
 emeralds, chryfoliths, jafpers, union*, and all manner of precious 
 ftonca, wherewith, adorned like another Aaron, he would appeal- 
 abroad fornewhat more auguil than a man He made a de 
 cree that none but cardinals mould wear red caps ; to whom he 
 had in the firft year of his popedom given cloth of that colour to 
 make horfe cloths or mule cloths of, when they rode." [Platina s 
 Lives of the Popes, tranflated by Rycant, p. 414.] 
 
 N. 13. Theftarkt coloured beaft ! 
 
 (2.) For images, and other ornaments, the popifli treafure is 
 immenfe. In the catalogue of the treafury of St. Denis, the tute 
 lar faint of France, are the following, among innumerable other 
 articles : 
 
 " A great, very beautiful, and precious crofs of mafTy gold, 
 all covered before with rubies, fapphires, emeralds, and oriental 
 peail. There is mown, under the rich little crofs which is in the 
 midft of it, the length of a foot and a half of the wood of the 
 true crofs. A little crucifix enchafed in gold, very delicately 
 made of the wood of the true crofs by Pope Clement the Third s 
 own hands. There is (liown under the cryftal a little phial, in 
 which there is of the blood and water which ran from the fide 
 of our Saviour, when it was pierced with a lance ; there is more 
 over fome of the milk, and of the gown of our Lady ; a finger 
 of the apoille St. Thomas, another finger of St. Medard, and the 
 myrrh which ihe kings offered to our Saviour ; and twenty-eight 
 other different forts of reliques. One of the nails wherewith our 
 Saviour was fattened to the crofs ; it is enchafed in a great filvcr 
 tabernacle gilt and gnrnifhed with precious (tones, made by the 
 monks. An image of the holy Virgin of filver gilt, which holds 
 with one hand a little reliquary, in which is feen a piece of the 
 fwaddling cloaths wheremtfa fiie wrapt our Saviour in the manger 
 of Bethlehem. A great image of our Lady, of filvcr gilt, holding 
 
 in
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 491 
 
 told, that he ihould forbid any to buy or fell, but thofe 
 that had his mark. [Rev. xiii. 17.] And that no man 
 
 might 
 
 in the right hand a fleur de lis of gold, in which there are of her 
 hairs and cloaths. Another great image of St. John the Evange- 
 lift, of filver gilt, holding with one hand a cryilal tube fet in 
 gold, in which is feen a tooth of the faid apoftle. A great crcfs, 
 all of gold and precious flones, called the crofs of St. Laurence, 
 becaufe in it there is a bar of the iron grate on which this holy 
 martyr was roafted. A great image of St. Nicolas, of filver gilt, 
 whole mitre is enriched with precious ftones, and at the foot of it 
 there are reliques of the faint. A golden head of the great St. 
 Denis the Areopagite, apoftle of France, and patron of the place, 
 whofe mitre, alfo of gold, is all covered with precious ftones and 
 oriental pearls ; the whole borne up by two great angels of filver 
 gilt. The chalice and the little vefiels for holding wine and wa 
 ter, which the fame St. Denis made ufe of at the facrifice of the 
 mafs about 1550 years fince ; the whole of rock cryilal enchafed 
 in filver, and the chalice enriched with precious (tones. A great 
 crofs of marly gold, made by St. Effay ; it is enriched with a num 
 ber of oriental pearls, and other very precious ftones, and among 
 others with a very great and very fine oriental amethift. A beau 
 tiful, great, very ancient, and curious vefiel of rich cryftal, which 
 was ufed in the temple of Solomon. A great cup ef gold and pre 
 cious ftones, which belonged to the fame Solomon. A little idol 
 of Apollo, engraved on an amethift, fet in gold, enriched with pre 
 cious ftones. With innumerable other precious images, curiofities 
 and reliques. Add to thefe the riches of the miraculous houfe of 
 Loretto, where Mr. ADDISON, who faw them, affures us, " Silver 
 can fcarce find a place, and gold itfelf looks but poorly amongft 
 fuch a number of precious ftones." \_Add iJor? s Travels, p. 93-3 
 
 For the pomp of the Romifh fervices, take the following ac 
 count from the late celebrated Mr. WHITEFIELD, of what he calls 
 * the crucifixion, reprefented partly by dumb fhow and partly by 
 living perfons," in the church belonging to the convent of St. De 
 Bcato : " We had not," fays Mr. W. " waited long before the cur 
 tain was drawn up; immediately, upon a high fcaffold hung in the 
 front v/ith black bays, and behind with filk purple damaik laced 
 with gold, was exhibited to our view an image of the Lord Jefus at 
 full length, crowned with thorns and nailed on a crofs, between two 
 figures of like dimenfions, representing the two thieves. At a little 
 diftur.ce, on the right hand, was placed an image of the Virgin 
 Mary in plain long rufHes, and a kind of widow weeds. Her veil 
 was purple filk, and fne had a wire gloiy round her head. At the 
 foot of the crofs lay, in a mournful peniive pofture, a living man, 
 drefled in woman s cloaths, who perfonated Mary Magdalen ; and 
 not far off flood a young man, in imitation of the beloved difciple. 
 He was drefled in a loofe green filk veiture and bob-wig. His eyes 
 3 R 2 were
 
 492 PI I STORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 might buy or fell, fave he that had the mark, or the 
 
 * name 
 
 were fixed on the crofs, and his two hands a little extended. On 
 each fide, near the front of the ftage,ftood two centinels in buff, with 
 formidable caps, and long beards ; and directly in the front flood 
 another yet more formidable, with a large target in his hand. We 
 may fuppofe him to be the Roman centurion. To complete the 
 fcene, from behind the purple hangings came out about twenty lit 
 tle purple-vefted winged boys, two by two, each bearing a lighted 
 wax taper in his hand, and a crimfon and gold cap on his head. 
 
 At their entrance upon the flage they gently bowed their 
 
 heads to the fpeftators, then kneeled and made obeifance, firft 
 to the image on the crofs, and then to that of the Virgin Mary. 
 When rifen, they bowed to each other, and then took their refpec- 
 tive places over againft one another, on fteps afTigned for them on 
 the front of the flage. Oppofite to this, at a few yards diftance, 
 ftood a black friar, in a pulpit hung in mourning. For a while 
 he paufed, and then, breaking filence, gradually lifted up his voice 
 till it was extended to a pretty high pitch, though I think fcarce 
 high enough for fo large an auditory. After he had proceeded in 
 his difcourfe about a quarter of an hour, a confufed noife was heard 
 near the front great door ; and upon turning my head, I faw four 
 long bearded men ; two of which carried a ladder on their moul 
 ders, and after them followed two more with large gilt dimes in 
 their hands, full of linen, fpices, &c. Thefe, as I imagined, were 
 the reprefentatives of Nicodemus and Jofeph of Arimathea. On 
 a fignal given from the pulpit, they advanced towards the fteps of 
 the fcaffold. But upon their fir ft attempting to mount it, at the 
 watchful centurion s nod, the obfervant foldiers made a pafs at 
 them, and prefented the points of their javelins direclly to their 
 breafts. They are repuifed. Upon this a letter from Pilate is 
 produced ; the centurion reads it, makes his head, and, with 
 looks that bcfpoke a forced compliance, beckons to the centinels 
 to withdraw their arms. L,eave being thus obtained, they afcend ; 
 and having paid their homage, by kneeling firft to the image on 
 the crofs, and then to the Virgin Mary, they retire to the back 
 of the flage. Still the preacher continued declaiming, or rather, 
 as was And, explaining the mournful fccne. Magdalen perfiRs in 
 wringing her hands and varioufly exprefifng her pcrfonatcd for- 
 row ; whilft John (feemingly regardlefs of all befides) ftood gaz 
 ing on the crucified figure. By this time it was near three o clock, 
 and therefore proper for the fcene to begin to dofe. The lad 
 ders are afcended, the fuperfcription and crown of thorns taken 
 off, long white rollers put round the arms of the image, and then 
 the nails knocked out which faftened the hands and feet. Here 
 Mary Magdalen looks moft languifhing, and John, if poffible, 
 ftands more thunderftruck than before. The orator lifts up hi.s 
 voice, and almofl all the hearers exprefied concern by weeping, 
 
 beating
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 493 
 
 4 name of the bead, or the number of his name, (u) 
 (13.) That he fliould fell the fouls of men, [Rev. xviii. 
 13.] in enumerating the articles of his merchandife, the 
 fouls of men are mentioned as one. -(14.) It was fore 
 told, 
 
 heating their brcafts, and fmiting their cheeks. At length the 
 body is gently let down ; Magdalen eyes it, and gradually rifing 
 receives the feet into her vvide-fpread handkerchief ; whiht John, 
 (who hitherto flood motionlefs like a ilatue) as the body came 
 nearer the ground, with an eagernefs that befpoke the intenfe af- 
 feftion of a fympathizing friend, runs towards the crofs, feizes 
 the upper part of it into his clafping arms, and with his difguifed 
 fellow mourner helps to bear it away. Great preparations were 
 made for its interment. It was wrapped in linen and fpices, &c. 
 and being laid upon a bier richly hung, was afterwards carried 
 round the church yard in grand procefllon. The image of the 
 Virgin Mary war, chief mourner, and John and Magdalen, with a 
 whole troop of friars with wax tapers in their hands, followed 
 after. Determined to fee the whole, I waited its return, and in 
 about a quarter of an hour the corpfe was brought in, and depo- 
 fited in an open fepulchre prepared for the purpofe ; but not 
 before a prieft, accompanied by feveral of the fame order in 
 fplended veftments, had perfumed it with incenfe, fung to, and 
 kneeled before it. John and Magdalen attended the obfequles ; 
 but the image of the Virgin Mary was carried away, and placed 
 upon the front of the ilage in order to be kiffed, adored, and 
 worfhipped by the people. This I faw them do with the utmoft 
 eagerncfs and reverence. And thus ended this Good Friday s 
 tragi-comical, fuperfntious, idolatrous droll. Surely, thought I, 
 \vhilft attending on fuch a fcene of mock devotion, if ever, now 
 is the Lord Jefus crucified afrefh ; and I could then, and even no\v, 
 think of no other plea for the poor beguiled devotees, than that 
 which fuiiering Innocence put up himfelf for his enemies, when 
 actually hanging upon the crofs, viz. " Father, forgive them, for 
 they know not what they do." [Account of fome Lent Procefs. 
 &c. at Lifbon, p. 31 37.] 
 
 (u) The MARK of the leafc, &c.j By the mark of the bead is 
 meant a profeffion of the popifh religion, commonly fignified by 
 the fign of the crofs in the forehead. Without this none might 
 luy or fell. So the council of Lateran and fynod of Tours, under 
 Pope Alexander III. and the bull of Pope Martin V. forbid any 
 traffic to be carried on with heretics, as the persecuting Roman 
 emperors had done before. The number of his name is to be 
 found kt the Greek word LATEINOS, The Lailn; the letters of 
 which as numerals make jiill 666, (as do thofe of the Hebrew 
 ROMIITH, the Roman beaft) and about that date the Latin fervice 
 was enjoined in all the Roman or Latin churches. [Bp. Nfwfon 
 pn the Proph, vol. viii. Dif. 25. aqd Reader on the Rev. inloc.]
 
 494 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 told, that antichrift would not fufFer the bodies of God s 
 people to be put into the graves. [Rev. xi. 8, 9.] * And 
 their dead bodies fhall lie in the ftreet of the great city, 
 
 * and they mall not fufFer their dead bodies to be put in 
 
 * graves. All thefe particulars have literally come to pafs 
 with refpe6t to die church of Rome, and I might mention 
 many others. 
 
 (4.) From what has been faid, we may learn that the 
 fpirit of true Chriftians is a [pint of fuffering. Seeing God 
 has fo ordered it, that his church mould for fo long a time 
 be in a fuffering flate, we may conclude, that the fpirit 
 of the true church is a fuffering fpirit, for dbubtlefs God 
 accommodates the ftate and circumftances of the church 
 to the fpirit that he has given them. We have feen how 
 many and great fufferings the Chriftian church for the 
 moft part has been under for thefe 1700 years ; no wonder 
 therefore that Chrift fo much inculcated upon his hearers, 
 that it was neceflary, if any would be his difciples, they 
 muft deny themfelves, and take up their crofs and follow 
 him. [Matt. xvi. 24.] 
 
 And we may prove that the fpirit of the true church of 
 Chrift is a fuffering one, by the fpirit the church has (hown 
 and exercifed under her fufferings. She has actually, under 
 rhofe terrible perfecutions through w 7 hich ihe has paffed, 
 rather chofen to fuffer the moft dreadful torments, to fell 
 all for the pearl of great price, and to endure all that her 
 bittereft enemies could inflit, than to renounce Chrift and 
 his religion. Hiftory furnifh.es us with a great number of 
 remarkable inftances ; fets in view a great cloud of wi 
 neries. This abundantly confirms the necefTity of being 
 willing to part with all for Chrift, to renounce our own 
 eafe, our worldly profit, and honour, and all, for him, and 
 tor the gofpel. 
 
 Let us now inquire, whether we are of iuch a fpirit. 
 How does it prove upon trial ? does it prove in fact that 
 we are willing to deny ourfelves, and renounce our world 
 ly intereft, and to pafs through the trials to which we 
 arc called in providence ? how fmall are our trials, com 
 pared with thofe of many of our fellow Chriftians in for 
 mer
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 495 
 
 mer ages ! And I would on this occafion apply that pafTage 
 [Jer. xii. 5.] If thou haft run with the footmen, and 
 they have wearied thee, then how canft thou contend 
 
 * with horfes ? If you have not been able to endure the 
 li^ht trials to which you have been called in this age, and 
 in this land, how would you be able to endure the far 
 greater trials to which the church has been called in for 
 mer ages ? Every true Chriftian has the fpirit of a martyr, 
 and would fuffer as a martyr if he were called to it in 
 providence. 
 
 (5.) Hence we learn what great reafon we have, af- 
 furedly to expect the fulfilment of thofe fcriptures which 
 yet remain to be fulfilled. The fcriptures have fore 
 told many great things yet to be fulfilled before the end 
 of the world. But there feems to be great difficulties 
 in the way. We feem at prefent to be very far from 
 fuch a ftate as is foretold ; but we have abundant reafon 
 to expect that thefe things, however feemingly difficult, 
 will yet be accomplifhed in their feafon. We fee the 
 faithfulnefs of God to his promifes hitherto. How true 
 has God been to his church, and remembered his mercy 
 from generation to generation : we may fay concerning 
 what God has done hitherto for his church, as Jofhua 
 faid to the children of Ifrael. [Jofh. xxiii. 14.] That 
 
 * not one thing hath failed of all that the Lord our God 
 
 * hath fpoken concerning his church ; but all things are 
 hitherto come to pafs agreeable to the divine prediction. 
 This mould ftrengthen our faith in thofe promifes, and 
 encourage us to earneft prayer to God for the accomplifh- 
 ment of the great and glorious things which yet remain to 
 be fulfilled. 
 
 IT has already been fliown how the fuccefs of Chrift s 
 redemption was carried on through various periods down 
 to the prefent time. 
 
 4. I come now to mow how the fuccefs of Chrift s 
 redemption will be carried on from the prefent time, till 
 antichrift is fallen, and Satan s vifible kingdom on earth 
 deftroyed. And with rcfpe6l to this fpace of time, we 
 
 have
 
 496 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 have nothing to guide us but the prophecies of fcripture. 
 Hitherto we have had fcripture hiftory or prophecy, to 
 gether with human hiftory. But henceforward we have 
 only prophecy to direct us. And here I would pafs by 
 thofe things that are merely conjectural, or are only fur- 
 mifed by fome from thofe prophecies which are doubtful 
 in their interpretation ; and (hall infill only on thofe things 
 which are more clear and evident. 
 
 We know not what particular events are to come to 
 pafs before that glorious work of God s Spirit begins, by 
 which Satan s kingdom is to be overthrown. By the 
 confent of moft divines, there are but few things, if any 
 at all, that are foretold to be accomplished before the 
 beginning of that glorious work of God. Some think the 
 flaying of the witnefles, [Rev. xi. 7-8-] is not yet ac- 
 complifhed.* So divines differ with refpect to the pour 
 ing out of the feven phials, [Rev. xvi.] how many are 
 already poured out, or how many remain ; though a late 
 expofitor,f whom I have before mentioned to you, feems 
 to make it very plain and evident, that all are already 
 poured out but two, viz. the* fixth on the river Euphrates, 
 and the feven th into the air. But I will not now ftand 
 to inquire what is intended by the pouring out of the fixth 
 phial on the river Euphrates, that the way of the kings 
 oftheeaft maybe prepared; but only would fay, that it 
 feeras to be fomething immediately preparing the wav for 
 the deftruction of the Spiritual Babylon, as the drying up 
 of the river Euphrates, which ran through the midll of 
 old Babylon, was what prepared the way for the kings of 
 the Medes and Perlians, the kings of the eaft, to come in 
 under the walls, and deflroy that city. But whatever this 
 be, it does not appear that it is any thing which (hall be 
 accomplifhed before the work of God s Spirit is begun, by 
 which, as it goes on, Satan s vifible kingdom on earth (hall 
 be utterly overthrown. And therefore I would proceed 
 directly to confider what the fcripture reveals concerning 
 this work of God. 
 
 And 
 
 * Newton, Lawman, Gill, Doddridge, Reader, &c. 
 Mr. Lawman.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 497 
 
 And I would promife two things in general concern 
 ing it. 
 
 i. We have all reafon to conclude from the. fcriptures, 
 that juft before this work of God begins, it will be a very 
 dark time with refpedl to the interefts of religion in the 
 world. It has been fo before thofe glorious revivals of 
 religion that have been hitherto. It was fo when Chrift 
 came in the flem, and alfo before the Reformation from 
 Popery. And it feems to be foretold in fcripture, that it 
 fhall be a time of but little religion, when Chrift {hall 
 come to fet up his kingdom in the world. Thus when 
 Chrift fpake of his coming, to encourage his eledt, who 
 cry to him day and night, [Luke xviii. 8.] he adds this, 
 
 * Neverthelefs, when the Son of man cometh, mall he 
 
 * find faith on the earth ? Which feems to denote a great 
 prevalency of infidelity juft before Chrift s coming to 
 avenge his fufFering church. Though Chrift s coming 
 at the laft judgment is not here to be excluded, yet there 
 feems to be a fpecial refpet to his coming to deliver his 
 church from their long continued fuffering, perfecuted 
 ftate, which is accomplished only at his coming at the 
 deftruction of antichrift. That time when the ele6l cry 
 to God, [Rev. vi. 10.] How long, O Lord, holy and 
 true, doft thou not judge and avenge our blood on 
 
 * them that dwell on the earth? and the time fpoken of 
 in Revelation, [chap, xviii. 20.] Rejoice over her, thou 
 
 * heaven, and ye holy apoftles, and prophets, for God 
 
 * hath avenged you on her, will then be accomplifhed. 
 It is now a dark time with refpeft to the interefts of reli 
 gion, and there is a remarkable fulfilment of that predic 
 tion, [2 Pet. iii. 3.] Knowing this, that there fhall 
 
 * come in the laft days fcofFers, walking after their own 
 
 * lufts. And fo Jude, [17, 18.] < But beloved, remem- 
 
 * her ye the words which were fpoken before of the apof- 
 ties of our Lord Jefus Chrift ; how that there fhould 
 be mockers in the laft time, who fhould walk after their 
 own ungodly lufts. Whether the times fhall be any 
 darker ftill, or how much fo before the beginning of this 
 glorious work of God, we cannot tell. 
 
 38 2. There
 
 498 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 2. There is no reafon to think but that this great woik 
 of God will be wrought, though very fwiftly, yet gradu 
 ally. As the children of Ifrael were gradually brought 
 out of the Babylonilh captivity, firft one company and 
 then another, and gradually rebuilt their city and tem 
 ple ; and as the heathen Roman empire was deftroyed 
 by a gradual, though a very fwift prevalency of the gof- 
 pel ; fo, though there are many things which feem as 
 though the work of God would be exceeding fwift, and 
 many wonderful events fuddenly be brought to pafs, and 
 fome great parts of Satan s vifible kingdom have a very 
 fudden fall, yet all will not be accompli/lied at once, as 
 by fome great miracle, (as the refurredtion of the dead at 
 the end of the world will be all at once;) but this is a 
 work which will be accomplhhed by means, by the preach 
 ing of the gofpel, and the ufc of the ordinary means 
 of grace, and fo will be gradual. Some fliall be con 
 verted, and be the means of converting others. God s 
 Spirit fliall be poured out firft to raife up inftruments, and 
 thofe inftruments fhall be ufed and fucceed. And doubt- 
 lefs one nation fhall be enlightened and convened after 
 another ; one falfe religion exploded after another. By 
 the reprefentation in Daniel [chap. ii. 3, 4.] the ftone cut 
 out of the mountain without hands gradually grows. So 
 Chrift teaches us, that the kingdom of heaven is like a 
 grain of muftard feed, [Matt. xiii. 31, 32.] and like lea 
 ven hid in three meafures of meal, [ver. 33.] The fame 
 reprefentation we have in the vilion of the waters of the 
 fan6tuary. [Ezek. xlviii.] The fcriptures mention feve- 
 ral fucceffive events by which this glorious work fhould 
 be accompli (lied. The angel fpeaking to the prophet 
 Daniel of thofe times, mentions two periods, at the end 
 of which glorious things iliould be accomplished ; [Dan. 
 xii. ii.] And from the time that the daily facrince Ihall 
 
 * be taken away, and the abomination that maketh deio- 
 
 * late fet up, there ihall be a thoufand two hundred and 
 
 * ninety days. But then he adds [ver. 12.] BlefTed is 
 he that waiteth, and cometh to the thoufand three hun- 
 
 * dred anu five and thirty days; intimating that fome- 
 
 thing
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 499 
 
 thing very glorious fhould be accompli fried at the end of the 
 former period, but fomething much more glorious at the end 
 of the latter. But I now proceed to fhow, 
 
 (3.) That this great work ihall be accompliihed, not 
 by the authority of princes, nor by the wifdom of learned 
 men, but by the Holy Spirit ; [Zech. iv. 6, 7.] * Not by 
 
 * might, nor by power, but by my fpirit, faith the Lord 
 
 * of hofts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before 
 
 * Zerubbabel thou fhalt become a plain, and he iliall Sring 
 
 * forth the head {tone thereof with fhouting, crying, Grace, 
 grace unto it. So the prophet Ezekiel, fpeaking of this 
 great work of God, fays, [chap, xxxix. 29.] Neither 
 
 * will I hide my face any more from them ; for I have 
 poured out my fpirit on the houfe of Ifrael, faith the 
 
 * Lord God. We know not where this pouring out of 
 the Spirit {hall begin, or whether in many places at once, 
 or whether what has already been, be not fome forerunner 
 and beginning of it. (w) 
 
 This 
 
 (w) Whether tie LATE CONVERSIONS be the leginning of thit 
 glorious event ?] We have already been pretty large in our account 
 of feveral remarkable out-pourings of God s Spirit in the conver- 
 fion of fmners in the prefent century; [See above, note L, p. 465 
 M, 468 N, 470 and o, 471.] To which might be added a 
 work of the like nature in Scotland, about the year 1 740, when 
 great multitudes were awakened in a fudden and lingular manner ; 
 but we mail only fubjoin on authentic account of fome very recent 
 inflances of the power of divine grace in propagating the gofpel 
 among the Indians in America ; where Dr. l j /heelock, in the year 
 1754, eftablifhed a fchool at Lebanon, in Connecticut, (fince re 
 moved to Hanover, in New Hampfhire, where it is ftill continued 
 by his ion) for the education of Indian and Englifh youths, as 
 miffionaries, interpreters, and fchool-mafters to the different Indian 
 tribes. The utility of this inflitution may in fome meafure be ef- 
 timated from the following extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. 
 KirUandy an eminent miffionary therein educated, dated Bofton, 
 March 10, 1784. 
 
 "The Oneidas expect in the courfe of two years to have more 
 than a thoufand Indians in their vicinity, who will be difpofed to 
 attend to the word of God, and among thofe, fome hearty lovers of 
 the religion of Jefus, as themfelves exprefs it. About eighty of 
 the Delaware tribe .... have lately petitioned the Oneidas for a 
 fettlement in their neighbourhood, where they might have the 
 privilege of religious inftru&ion. Their rcqueft was immediately 
 382 granted. *
 
 500 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This pouring out of the fpirit of God, when it is be* 
 gun, fhall foon bring great multitudes to forfake that 
 vice and wickednefs which now fo generally prevails, and 
 
 fliall 
 
 granted." In their addrefs to Mr. K. on this fubjedl, they have 
 the following words : " We intreat our father to make one trial 
 more for chriftianizing Indians, at leaft for one, if not for two 
 years, and if there be no encouragement after this, that we (hall 
 be built up as a people, and embrace the religion of Jefus ; he 
 may leave us, and we (hall expect nothing but ruin." In a letter 
 to the Scots coinmiffioners at Bofton for propagating the Chriltian 
 faith, the December preceding, is the following paffage, referring 
 to the unhappy American war : " Fathers, .... we haveb een dif- 
 trefled by the black cloud that fo long overfpread our country : 
 the cloud is now blown over ; let us thank the Great Spirit and 
 praife Jefus. By means of the fervants of Jefus, the good news 
 of God s word hath been publifhed to us. We have received it. 
 Some of us love it, and Jefus hath preferve-d us through the late 
 ftorm. Fathers, our fire begins to burn again ; our hearts rejoice 
 to fee it : we hope it will burn brighter than ever, and that it will 
 enlighten the nations around. Our brothers of the Stockbridge and 
 Mohegan tribes, and many others from the eaftward, have already 
 agreed to come and fit with us around it, who all hope to fee alfo 
 the light of God s holy word." [Ab draft of the Proceedings of 
 the Scots Society for propagating Chriftian Knowledge.] 
 
 " Since the abo e, Mr. Kirkland was fcnt to the Society in 
 Scotland for propagating Chrillian Knowledge, a copy of his jour 
 nal from May 1786, to May 1787. A concern about religion be 
 gan among the Ontida Indians, Auguft and September 1786, and 
 in November greatly increafed, and continued to do fo through the 
 winter and fpring. About feventeen, in three villages of that tribe, 
 appear favingly converted. In one of thsfe villages, the convic 
 tions have been remarkably rational and pungent ; and a fenfe of 
 the evil of fin has exceeded the fear of puniihment. In another, 
 juil views of their (late have been more mixed with enthufiafm. 
 Outward reformation is fuch, that in one village there hath not 
 been an inftance of an Indian drunk thefe fix months. On Lord s 
 days, Mr. Kirkland is often employed, without any confiderable 
 intermiffion, from morning to evening, and can hardly command 
 leifure for neceflary refrefnment ; and often, on other days, fpends 
 ten hours in preaching, catechizing, and private religious conver- 
 fation with the many who come to him, to unfold the diftreiTes of 
 their fouls, and to afk inftruction in Chriftianity. Their hunger 
 for the bread of life permits not his fending them empty away. 
 Frequently they have enjoyed much of God s prefence in public 
 worlhip. It was remarkably fo, January I, 1787, when they 
 were diilurbcd with pagan Indians difcovering their joy for the new 
 year, by firing of guns, and inviting the Chrifljans to an idola 
 trous
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 501 
 
 lhall caufe that vital religion, which is now fo defpifed 
 and laughed at in the world, to revive. The work of 
 converfion {hall break forth, and go on in fuch a manner 
 as never has been hitherto ; agreeable to that promile. 
 [Ifa. xliv. 3 5.] I will pour water upon him that is 
 * thirfty . . . my fpirit upon thy feed .... one fhall fay, 
 I am the Lord, &.c. God, by pouring out his holy 
 Spirit, will furnilh inftruments for carrying on this work ; 
 
 will 
 
 trpus dance, for which there was not a fufficient number, through 
 their refufal. Irritated at Mr. Kirkland, to whom they afci ibed 
 the difappointment, four Indian youths confpired to murder him 
 that night, which was happily difcovered, and by the care of fome 
 of his converts difappointed. Even the heathen Sachems difap- 
 proved this, and at an Indian council that week, three of the 
 youths expreficd their penitence, and the fourth fent his apology. 
 Thcfe appearances have (truck fome of the Tufcararo and Onon- 
 dago tribes. Mr. Kirkland writes, that his work, though fo un 
 commonly laborious, was never fo delightful. Indeed, fince the 
 days of Mr. David Brainerd, there has been nothing fo promifing 
 among the Indians. Mr. Kirkland is tranflating the gofpel of 
 Mark, and fome feleft Pfalms, into the Oneida language, which 
 he hopes to get printed. His labours are much helped by good 
 Peter the catechift, one of the mofl eloquent men among the fix 
 nations, and by the fchoolmafter, whofe name I do not recolledl." 
 [Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Oaccum^ Indian Miffionary on 
 the death of another Indian, juft publifhed by the 
 Rev. Mr. Ripnon.] 
 
 To the above-mentioned inftances may be applied a remark of 
 fome eminent divines on the work of God in New England, not 
 impertinent to the occaiion of introducing this note : 
 
 " We are taught alfo by this happy event how eafy it will be 
 for our blefled Lord .... to fpread his dominion, from fea to fea, 
 through all the nations of the earth. We fee how cafy it is for him 
 with one turn of his hand, with one word of his mouth, to awaken 
 whole countries of ftupid and fleeping finners, and kindle divine 
 life in their fouls. . . . The name of Chrift fnall diffufe itfelf like 
 a rich and vital perfume to multitudes that were ready to fink, and 
 to perifh under the painful fenfe of their own guilt and danger. 
 Salvation mall fpread through all the tribes and ranks of mankind, 
 as the lightning from heaven in a few moments would communi 
 cate a living flame through 10,000 lamps or torches placed in a 
 proper iituation and neighbourhood. Thus a nation fliall be born 
 in a day when our Redeemer pleafes, and his faithful and obedient 
 lubjefts fhall become as numerous as the fpires of grafs in a mea 
 dow newly mown and refrefhed with the flowers of heaven." 
 [Dr. Watts and Dr. Gulfed Preface to Mr. Edward s, Nar. p. vii.]
 
 5 oi HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 will fill them with knowledge and wifdom, and fervent 
 zeal for promoting the kingdom of Chrift, and the falva- 
 tion of fouls, and propagating the gofpel in the world. 
 So that the gofpel (hall begin to be preached with abun 
 dantly greater clearnefs and power than it has hitherto 
 been : for this great work of God fhall be brought to 
 pafs by the preaching ot the gofpel, as is reprefented 
 [Rev. xiv. 68.] that before Babylon falls, the gofpel 
 (hall be powerfully preached and propagated in the 
 world. 
 
 This was typified of old by the founding of the filver 
 trumpets in Ifrael in the beginning of their jubilee : 
 [Lev. xxv. 9.] * Then fhalt thou caufe the trumpet of 
 
 * the jubilee to found on the tenth day of the feventh 
 
 * month ; on the day of atonement fhall ye make the 
 trumpet found throughout all your land. The glorious 
 times which are approaching, are, as it were, the church s 
 jubilee, which (hall be introduced by the founding of the 
 filver trumpet of the gofpel, as is foretold [Ifa. xxvii. 13.] 
 
 * And it fhall come to pafs in that day, that the great 
 
 * trumpet fhall be blown, and they fhall come which were 
 
 * ready to perifn in the land of Aflyria, and the outcafts 
 of the land of Egypt, and fhall worihip the Lord in the 
 holy mount at Jerufalem. And there fhall be a glorious 
 effufion of the Spirit with this clear and powerful preach 
 ing of the gofpel, to make it fuccefsful for reviving thofe 
 holy doctrines of religion which are now chiefly ridiculed 
 in the world, and turning many from herefy, and from 
 pcpery, and from other falfe religions ; and alfo for turn 
 ing manv from their vice and profanenefs, and for bringing 
 vaft multitudes favingly to Chrift. 
 
 That work of converfion fnall go on in a wonderful 
 manner, and fpread more and more. Many fhall flow 
 together to the goodnefs of the Lord, and fhall come, as 
 it were, in flocks, one flock and multitude after another. 
 [Ifa. Ix. 4, 5.] Lift up thine eyes round about, and 
 fee ; all they gather themfelves together, they come to. 
 thee ; thy fons fhall come from far, and thy daughters 
 < fliall be n v.rfed at thy fide. Then thou {halt fee and 
 
 flow
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 503 
 
 flow together. [ver. 8.] * Who are thefe that fly as a 
 * cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? And it 
 being reprefented in the forementioned place in the Revela 
 tion, [chap. xiv. 6 8.] that the gofpel (hall be preached 
 to every tongue, and kindred, and nation, and people, 
 before the fall of antichrift ; fo we may fuppofe, that it 
 will foon be glorioufly fuccefsful to bring in multitudes 
 from every nation ; and it mail fpread with wonderful 
 fwiftnefs, and vaft numbers fhall fuddenly be brought in 
 at once, and as it is faid, a nation mall be born in a day. 
 [Ifa. Ixvi. 79-] 
 
 (4.) This pouring out of the Spirit of God will not 
 affect the overthrow of Satan s vifible kingdom, till there 
 has firft been a violent and mighty oppofltion made. In 
 this the fcripture is plain, that when Chrift is thus glori 
 oufly coming forth, and the deftrudlion of antichrift is 
 ready at hand, and Satan s kingdom begins to totter, the 
 powers of the kingdom of darknefs will rile up, and 
 mightily exert themfelves to prevent their kingdom bein^ 
 overthrown. Thus after the pouring out the lixth phial, 
 which was to dry up the river Euphrates, to prepare the 
 way for the definition of fpiritual Babylon, it is repre 
 fented [Rev. xvi.] as though the powers of hell will be 
 mightily alarmed, and mould ftir up themfelves to oppofe 
 the kingdom of Chrift, before .the feventh and laft phial 
 mail be poured out, which fhall give them a final and 
 complete overthrow. After an account of the pouring out 
 of the fixth phial, [ver. 12.] the beloved difciple informs 
 us in the following verfes, that * three unclean fpirits, 
 
 * like frogs, fhall go forth unto the kings of the earth, to 
 gather them together to the battle of the great day of God 
 
 * Almighty. This feems to be the laft and greateft effort 
 of Satan to fave his kingdom from being overthrown ; 
 though perhaps he may make as great an effort towards the 
 end of the world to regain it. 
 
 When the Spirit begins to be glorioufly poured forth, 
 and the devil fees fuch multitudes flocking to Chrift in 
 one nation and another, and the foundations of his king 
 dom daily undermining, its pillars breaking, and the 
 
 whole
 
 504 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 whole ready to fall, it will greatly alarm him. Satan has 
 ever had a dread of his kingdom being overthrown, ajui 
 he has long been endeavouring to fortify his kingdom^ 
 nnd to prevent its ruin. To this end he let up the two 
 mighty kingdoms of Antichrift and Mahomet, and has 
 nurfed all the herefies and fuperftitions in the world : 
 but when he fees all begin to fail, it will roufe him ex 
 ceedingly. If Satan dreaded being cafl out of the Roman 
 empire, how much more does he dread being cafl out of 
 the whole world. 
 
 It feems as though in this laft great oppofition which 
 fliall be made againfi: the church to defend the kingdom 
 of Satan, that all the forces of antichrist, mahometanifm 
 and heathenifm, will be united ; all the power of Satan s 
 vifible kingdom through the whole world : and therefore 
 it is faid [Rev. xvi. 14.] that fpirits of devils (hall go 
 
 * forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole 
 
 * world, to gather them together to the battle of the great 
 day of God Almighty. And thefe fpirits are faid to 
 come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
 mouth of the beaft, and out of the mouth of the falfc 
 prophet : i. e, there fliall be the fpirit of popery, and the 
 fpirit of mahometanifir., and the fpirit of heathenifm, all 
 united. By the beail L, meant antichrift ; by the dragon, 
 in this book, is commonly meant the devil, as he reigns 
 over his heathen kingdom ; by the falfe prophet, in this 
 book, is fometimes meant the pope and his clergy : but here 
 an eye feems to be had to Mahomet, whom his followers 
 call the great prophet of God. This will be, as it were, 
 the dying fhuggle of the old ferpent ; a battle wherein he 
 will fight as one that is defperatc. 
 
 We know not particularly in what manner this oppo 
 fition will be made. It is reprefented as a battle ; it is 
 called * the battle of the great day of God Almighty. 
 There will be fome way or other a mighty ftruggle be 
 tween Satan s kingdom and the church, and probably in 
 all manner of ways ; and doubtlefs great oppofition will be 
 made by external force ; wherein the princes of the world 
 who are on the devil s fide ihall join hand in hand; for 
 
 it
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 505 
 
 it is faid, The kings of the earth are gathered together 
 
 * to battle. [Rev. xix. 19.] And probably alfo there will 
 be great oppofition of fubtle difputers and carnal reafoning ; 
 great perfecution in many places, and virulent reproaches. 
 The devil now doubtlefs will ply his {kill, as well as 
 ilrength, to the utmoft. The allies and fubjects who be 
 long to his kingdom, will every where be flirred up, and 
 engaged to make an united and violent oppofition againft 
 this holy religion, which they fee prevailing fo mightily 
 in the world. But, 
 
 (5.) Chriil and his church {hall in this battle obtain a 
 complete vifiory over their enemies. They {hall be to 
 tally routed and overthrown in this their laft effort. 
 When the powers of hell and earth are thus gathered to 
 gether againft Chrift, and his armies {hall come forth 
 againft them by his word and fpirit to fight with them, 
 in how auguft and glorious a manner is this defcribed. 
 [Rev. xix. u 16.] And I law heaven opened, and 
 1 behold a white horfe, and he that fat upon him is called 
 faithful and true, &c. And to reprefent to us how great 
 the victory mould be which they fliould obtain, and how 
 mighty the overthrow of their enemies, it is faid, [ver. 17, 
 1 8.] that all the fowls of heaven are called together, to 
 4 eat the great fupper given them, of the flelh of kings, 
 and captains, and mighty men. 6cc. and in the follow 
 ing verfes we have an account of the victory and over 
 throw. 
 
 In this victory, the feventh phial {hall be poured out. 
 It is faid, [Rev. xvi. 16.] of the great army that fliould 
 be gathered together againft Chrift: And he gathered 
 them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, 
 Armageddon ; and then it is faid, And the feventh an- 
 
 * gel poured out his phial into the air ; and there came a 
 great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
 throne, faying, It is done. Now the bufmefs is clone 
 for Satan and his adherents. When this victory is ob 
 tained, all is in effect done. Satan s laft and greateft op 
 pofition is conquered ; all his meafures are defeated ; the 
 pillars of his kingdom broken, and will fall of courfe. 
 
 3 T The
 
 506 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 The devil is utterly baffled and confounded, and knows 
 not what clfe to do. He now fees his antichriftian, Ma 
 hometan, and hearhenifh kingdoms through the world, all 
 tumbling about his ears. He and his nioft powerful inftru- 
 ments are taken captive. Now that is in effect done which 
 the church of God had been fo long waiting and hoping 
 for, and fo earneftly crying to God for, faying, How 
 long, O Lord, holy and true ? Now the time is come. 
 
 The angel that fet his right foot on the fea, and his left 
 foot on the earth, [Rev. x. 57-] lift up his hand to hea 
 ven, and fware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
 created heaven, and all things that therein are, and the 
 earth, and the things that therein are, and the fea, and the 
 things which are therein, that when the feventh angel 
 fhould come to found, the time fhould be no longer. And 
 now the time is come ; now the feventh trumpet founds, 
 and the feventh phial is poured out, both together; inti 
 mating, that now all is rinifhed as to the overthrow of 
 Satan s vifible kingdom on earth. This victory fhall be 
 by far the greateft that ever was obtained over Satan and 
 his adherents. By this blow, with which the ftone cut 
 out of the mountain without hands (hall ftrike the image of 
 gold, and filver, and brafs, and iron, and clay, it fhall all 
 be broken to pieces. This will be a rinifhing blow to the 
 image, fo that it fhall become as the chaff of the fummer 
 threfhing floor. [See Dan. ii. 35.] 
 
 In this victory will be a mofl glorious difplay of divine 
 power. Chrift fliall therein appear in the character of 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords, [Rev. xix. 16.] and fliall 
 dafli his enemies, even the ftrongcft and proudeft of them, 
 in pieces ; as a potter s veffel fliall they be broken to fhi- 
 vers. Then fhall flrength be lliown out of weaknefs, and 
 Chrift fliall caufe his church as it were to threm the moun 
 tains. [Ifa. xli. 15.] Behold, I will make thee a new 
 fharp threfhing iultrument having tceih ; thou fhalt threfh 
 the mountains, and beat them fmall, and fhalt make the 
 * hills as chaff. [Sec alfo Ifa. xliii. 1315-] 
 
 (6.) Confcquenton this victory, Satan s vifible kingdom 
 on earth fliall be deftroyed. When Satan is conquered in 
 
 this
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 507 
 
 this laft battle, the church of Chrifl will have eafy work 
 of it ; as when Joihua and the children of Ifrael had ob 
 tained that great victory over the five kings of the Amo- 
 rites, [Jofh. x. 514.] when the fun flood fliJl, and God 
 fent great hailftones upon their enemies, they after that 
 went from one city to another, and burnt them with fire : 
 they had eafy work of fubduing the cities and country to 
 which they belonged. So it was alfo after that other great 
 battle that Jofhua had with that great multitude at the wa 
 ters of Merom. [Jofh. xi. 5 -9.] So after this glorious 
 victory of Chrift and his church over their enemies, the 
 chief powers of Satan s kingdom, they fhall deftroy that 
 kingdom in all thofe cities and countries to which they 
 belong. Then the word of God ihall have a fwift progrefs 
 through the earth; as is faid, that on the pouring out of 
 the feventh phial, the cities of the nations fell, and every 
 ifland fled away, and the mountains were not found. 
 [Rev. xvi. 19, 20.] When once the ftone cut out of the 
 mountain without hands had broken the image in pieces, 
 it was eafy to abolifh all remains of it. The very wind 
 will carry it away as the chaff of the fummer threfhing- 
 floor. Becaufe Satan s vifible kingdom on earth {hall now 
 be destroyed, therefore it is faid, that the feventh phial, by 
 which this ihall be done, fhall be poured out into the air ; 
 which is reprefented in fcripture as the fpecial feat of his 
 kingdom ; for he is called the prince of the power of the 
 air. [Eph. ii. 2.] Now is come the time for puniflnng 
 Leviathan, that piercing ferpent, of which we read, [Ifa. 
 xxvii. i.] In that day the Lord with his fore and great 
 and ftrong fword, ihall puniih Leviathan the piercing 
 ferpent, even Leviathan, that crooked ferpent, and he 
 * iliall flay the dragon that is in the fea. 
 
 Concerning this overthrow of Satan s vilible kingdom 
 on earth, I would, [i.] Show wherein this overthrow of 
 Satan s vifible kingdom will chiefly confilT: ; [2.] The 
 extent and univerfality of this overthrow. 
 
 [T.] I would ihow wherein this overthrow of Satan s 
 kingdom will chiefly confift. I ihall mention the princi 
 pal things in which it will confift, without pretending to 
 3 T 2 deter-
 
 508 
 
 determine in what order they (hall come to pafs, or which 
 {hall he accomplished firft, or whether they {hall be ac- 
 complifhed together. 
 
 Here/ies, infidelity > zn& fuperftition, among thofe who have 
 been brought up under the light of the gofpel, will then 
 be aboliihed. Then there will be an end to Socinianifm, 
 Arianifm, Quakerifm, and Arminianifm ; and Deilm, 
 which is now fo bold and confident in infidelity, fhall 
 then be crufhed to nothing ; and all {hall agree in the 
 fame great and important doctrines of the gofpel ; agree 
 able to that promife, [Zech. xiv. 9.] * And the Lord 
 {hall be king over all the earth : in that day ihall there 
 
 * be one Lord, rind his name one. Then Ihall all iu- 
 perftition be aboliihed, and all ihall agree in worfhipping 
 God in his own ways. [Jer. xxxii. 39.] And 1 will 
 give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear 
 
 * me for ever, for the good of them, and of their chil- 
 dren after them. 
 
 The kingdom of ontlcJir iJl {hall be utterly overthrown. 
 His kingdom and dominion has been much brought down 
 already by the phial poured out on his throne in the Re 
 formation ; but then it {hall be utterly deftroyed. Then, 
 fhall be proclaimed, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. When 
 the feventh angel founds, the time, times and half, fhall 
 
 * be out, and the time fhall be no longer. Then fhall 
 be accomplifhed concerning antichrift the things which 
 are written, [Rev. xviii.] concerning the fpiritual Baby 
 lon, that has for fo many ages been the great enemy of 
 the Chriftian church, firft under heathenifm, then under 
 popery : that proud city which lifted herfelf up to heaven, 
 and above Gcd himfelf in her pride and haughtinefs ; 
 that cruel, bloody city, fhall come down to the ground. 
 Then ihall that be fulfilled, [Ifa. xxvi. 5.] < For he 
 
 * bringeth down them that dwell on high, the lofty city 
 
 * he layeth it low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, 
 he bringeth it even to the duft. She fhall be thrown 
 
 * down with violence, like a great millftone cafl into the 
 
 * fea, and {hall be found no more at all, and {hall become 
 an habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul fpirit, 
 
 and
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 509 
 
 * nnd a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now 
 ihall flie be dripped of all her glory, and riches, and or 
 naments, and fhall be caft out as an abominable branch, 
 and fhall be trodden down as the mire of the ftreets. All 
 her policy and craft, in which {he fo abounded, {hall not 
 fave her. And God fhall make his people, who have been 
 fo perfecuted by her, to come and put their foot on the 
 neck of antichrift, and he fhall be their footftool. All 
 the ftrength and wifdom of this great harlot fhall fail her, 
 and there fhall be none to help her. The kings of the 
 earth, who before gave their power and ftrength to the 
 beaft, {hall now hate her, and fhall make her defolate and 
 naked, and fhall eat her flclh, and burn her with fire. 
 [Rev. xvii. 16.] 
 
 The Mahometan kingdom fhall be utterly overthrown : 
 the Jocufts and horfemen [Rev. ix. 10.] have their ap 
 pointed and limited time fet them, and the falfe prophet 
 lhall be taken and deftroyed. And then, though Maho- 
 metanifm has been fo vaftly propagated in the world, and 
 is upheld by fuch a great empire, this fmoke, which has 
 afcended out of the bottomlefs pit, fhall be utterly fcat- 
 tered before the li^ht of that glorious day, and the Maho 
 metan empire fhall fall at the found of the great trumpet 
 which fhall then be blown. 
 
 Jewijh infidelity fhall then be overthrown. However 
 obftinate they have been now for above lyoo years in re 
 jecting Chrift, and though inftances of their converfion 
 have been fo rare everfince the deftrudtion of Jerufalem. 
 and they have, againft the plain words of their own pro 
 phets, continued to approve of the cruelty of their fore 
 fathers in crucifying Chrift ; yet when this day comes, the 
 thick vail that blinds their eyes fhall be removed. [2 Cor. 
 iii. 1 6.] divine grace fhall melt and renew their hard 
 hearts. and they (hall look on him whom they have 
 pierced, and they fhall mourn for him, as one mourneth 
 for his only fon, and fhall be in bitternefs as one that is 
 in bitiernefs for his firft-born. [Zech. xii. 10, &c.] 
 And then fhall the houfc of Ifrael be faved : the Jews in 
 all their difperfions fhall cafl away their old infidelity ;
 
 5 jo HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 lhall have their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor 
 themfelves for their pad unbelief and obftinacy; and fhall 
 flow together to the bleflfed Jefus, penitently, humbly, and 
 joyfully owing him as their glorious King and only Saviour, 
 and fhall, with one heart and voice, declare his praifes unto 
 other nations. 
 
 Nothing is more certainly foretold, than this national 
 converfion of the Jews is in the xith chapter of Romans. 
 And there are alfo many paflages of the Old Teftament 
 which cannot well be interpreted in any other fenfe, which 
 I fhall not now particularly mention. Befides the pro 
 phecies of the calling of die Jews, we have a remarkable 
 leal of the fuliilment of this great event in providence, by 
 their being preferred a diftinct nation in fuch a difperied 
 condition for above 1600 years, which is a kind of conti 
 nual miracle, (x) When they fhall be called, then fhall 
 
 that 
 
 (x) PRESERVATION of the JEWS.] " I have often amufed my- 
 felf (fays Mr. ADDISON) with fpeculations on the race of people 
 called Jews, many of whom I have met with in moft of the confi- 
 derable towns which I have paffed through in the courfe of my 
 travels. They are, indeed, fo diffeminated through all the trad 
 ing parts of the world, that they are become the inftruments by 
 which the moft diftant nations converfe with one another, and by 
 which mankind are knit together in a general correspondence : 
 they are like the pegs and nails in a great building, which though 
 they are but little valued in themfelves, are abfolutely neceflary to 
 keep the whole frame together. 
 
 " The Jews are looked upon by many to be as numerous at 
 prefent, as they were formerly in the land of Canaan. This is 
 wonderful, confidering the dreadful (laughter made of them under 
 fome of the Roman emperors, which hiftorians defcribe by the 
 death of many hundred thoufands in a war ; and the innumerable 
 maflacres and perfecutions they have undergone in Turkey, as 
 well as in all Chriftian nations of the world. The Rabbins, to ex- 
 prefs the great havock which has been fometimes made of them, 
 tell us, after their ufual manner of hyperbole, that there were 
 fuch torrents of holy blood ihed as carried rocks of an hundred 
 yards in circumference above three miles into the fea. 
 
 " Their difperlion is the fecond remarkable particular in this 
 people. They fvvarm over all the Eaft ; and are fettled in the re- 
 moteil parts of China : they are fpread through moft of the na 
 tions of Europe and Africa, and many families of them arc eftab- 
 lifhed in the Weft-Indies; not to mention whole nations bordering 
 
 on
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 511 
 
 that ancient people, that were alone God s people for fo 
 long a time, be received again, never to be rejected more : 
 they fhall then be gathered into one fbld together with the 
 
 Gentiles ; 
 
 on Preiler-John s country, and fome difcovered in the inner parts 
 of America, if we may give any credit to their own writers. 
 
 " Their firm adherence to their religion is no lefs remarkable 
 than their numbers and difperfion, efpecially confidering it as per- 
 fecuted or contemned over the face of the whole earth. This is 
 likewife the more remarkable, if we confider the frequent apoftafics 
 of this people, when they lived under their kings in the Land of 
 Promife, and within fight of their temple. 
 
 " If in the next place we examine, what may be the natural 
 reafons for thefe three particulars which we find in the Jews, and 
 which are not to be found in any other religion or people, I can, 
 in the firft place, attribute their numbers to nothing but their con- 
 ftant employment, their abftinence, their exemption from wars, 
 and, above all, their frequent marriages, for they look on celibacy 
 as an accurfed ftate, aud generally are married before twenty, as 
 hoping the Meffiah may defcend from them. 
 
 " The difperfion of the Jews into all the nations of the earth is 
 the fecond remarkable particular of that people, though not fo 
 hard to be accounted for. They were always in rebellions and 
 tumults while they had the temple and holy city in view, for which 
 reafon they have been often driven out of their old habitaticjns in 
 the Land of Promife. They have as often been baniihed out of mod 
 other places where they have fettled, which muft very much difpcrfe 
 and fcatter a people, and oblige them to feek a livelihood where 
 they can find it. Befides, the whole people is now a race of fuch 
 merchants as are wanderers by profeffion, and at the fame time are 
 in moft, if not all, places incapable of either lands or offices, that 
 might engage them to make any part of the world their home. 
 
 * This difperfion would probably have loft their religion, had it 
 not been fecured by the ftrength of its conftitution ; for they are 
 to live all in a body, and generally within the fame enclofure ; to 
 marry among themfelves, and to eat no meats that are not killed 
 or prepared their own way. This (huts them out from all table 
 converfation, and the moft agreeable intercourfes of life ; and, bv 
 confequence, excludes them from the moft probable means of con- 
 verfion. 
 
 " If, in the laft place, we confider what providential reafon 
 may be afiigned for thefe three particulars, we fhull find that their 
 numbers, difperfion, and adherence to their religion, have fur- 
 nifhed every age, and every nation of the world, with the ftrongeft 
 arguments for the Chriftian faith ; not only as thefe very particu 
 lars are foretold of them, but as they themfelves are the depofi- 
 taries of thefe and all the other prophecies, which tend to their 
 
 ovra
 
 512 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Gentiles ; and fo alfo (hall the remains of the ten tribes, 
 wherever they be, and though they have been rejeftcxl 
 much longer than the Jews, be brought in with their 
 brethren. The prophecies of Hofea efpecially feem to 
 hold this forth, that in the future glorious times of the 
 church, both Judah and Ephraim, or Judah and the ten 
 tribes, lhall be brought in together, and fhnli be united as 
 one people, as they formerly were under David and Solo 
 mon ; Then fliall the children of Judah and the chil- 
 dren of Ifrael be gathered together, and appoint them- 
 felves one head, [Hofea i. ii.] and fo in the lail chap 
 ter, and other parts of his prophecy. Though we do not 
 know the time in which this converiion of the nation of 
 Ifrael will come to pafs ; yet thus much we may determine 
 by tcripture, that it will be before the glory of the Gentile 
 part of the church {hall be fully accompli/bed ; becaufe ir 
 is faid, that their coming in /hall be life from the dead to 
 the Gentiles. [Rom. xi. 12 15.] (Y) 
 
 Then 
 
 own confufion. Their number furnimes us with a fufficient cloud 
 of witneiTes that atteil the truth of the Old Bible. Their difper- 
 lion fpreads thefe witneflcs through all parts of the world, The 
 adherence to their religion makes their teilimony ur.queftionablc." 
 
 [Spectator, No. 495.] 
 
 To ftrengthen thefe remarks, we fhall add the following anec 
 dote : A perfon, the former part of whofe life was fpent in vice, 
 when he became thoughtful of death and eternity, was fhaken in 
 mind from day to day with many doubts about the truth of the 
 Chriilian faith ; and being upon the point of a refolution to re 
 nounce it, as he was pafling through a ftreet in the city, he call 
 his eyes upon a Jew ; prefently his doubts vanifoed, and by the 
 bleffing of God attending that providential occurrence he becamr 
 a confirmed believer. 
 
 [WINTER S Sermons on Dan. p. 153.] 
 
 (Y) The RESTORATION of the JEWS.] Mr. LOCKE [in loc.] 
 gives us the fubilance of the xith chapter of the Romans above re 
 ferred to in a few words : " St. Paul in this chapter goes on to 
 fhe\v the future (late of the Jews and Gentiles, as to Chriltianity, 
 viz. that though the Jews were for their unbelief rejected, and the 
 Gentiles taken in their room to be the people of God ; yet there 
 was a few of the Jews that believed in Chrift, and fo a fmall rem 
 nant of them continued to be God s people, being incorporated : 
 with the converted Gentiles into the Chriftian church. But when i 
 
 the :
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 513 
 
 Then fliall alfo Satan s hcatheni/Ji kingdom be over 
 thrown. Grofs heathenifm now pofleflfes a great part of 
 the earth, and there are fuppofed to be more heathens 
 now in the world, than of all other profeilions taken to 
 gether, Jews, Mahometans, and Chriltians. But then the 
 heathen nations (hall be enlightened with the glorious got- 
 pel. There will he a wonderful fpirit of pity towards 
 them, and zeal for their instruction and converfion put 
 into multitudes, and many ihall go forth and carry the 
 gofpel unto them ; and then ihall the joyful found be 
 heard among them, and the Sun of righteoufnefs (hall 
 arife with his glorious light fhining on thofe many vaft 
 regions of the earth that have been covered with heathen- 
 ifli darknefs for fome thoufand years, many of them 
 doubtlefs ever fmce the time of Mofes and Abraham, and 
 have lain thus long in a miferable condition, under the 
 cruel tyranny of the devil, who has all this while blinded 
 
 3 U and 
 
 the fulnefs of the Gentiles is come in, [fee ver. 25, 26.] the whole 
 nation of them fliall be converted to the gofpel, and again be rc- 
 ftored to be the people of God." 
 
 Dr. W. HARRIS juftly obferves, that " as thiscpiftle was writ 
 ten .... long after the moft remarkable converfion of the Jews, 
 by the firft preaching of the gofpel, and after Paul had been about 
 thirty years engaged in the work, it appears that the Prophecies 
 relating to the calling of the Jews were not accomplifhed then, and 
 consequently are not yet accomplifhed." [Dif. on the Meffiah, 
 p. 91.] 
 
 Dr. WHITBY, [in loc.] very jiiitly obferves, that " there is a 
 double harveft of the Gentiles fpoken of in this chapter ; the firft 
 called their riches, [ver. 1 2.J as confiding in preaching the gofpel to 
 all nations, whereby indeed they were happily enriched with divine 
 knowledge and grace ; the fecond, the bringing in their ful/nefs, 
 which exprefles a more glorious converfion of many to the true 
 faith of Chriitians in the latter age of the world, which is to be 
 occafioned by the converfion of the Jews." 
 
 It is indeed now prttty generally agreed among the learned, 
 that we are warranted by the fcriptures to expect a national con- 
 yerfion of the Jews, and their return to their own land ; and the 
 chief thing which has prejudiced fo many perfons againft this hy- 
 pothefis is, that fome divines have carried it too far, alrnoit to 
 the rellitution of Judaifm itfelf, and added a number of particu 
 lars from their own conjecture, which are by no means plainly 
 revealed. [G. E.J
 
 514. HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and made a prey of them from generation to generation. 
 Now the glad tidings of the gofpel fhall found there, and 
 they fhall be brought out of darknefs into marvellous 
 light, (z) 
 
 It is promiied in many places that hearhenifm fhall 
 thus he deflroyed ; thus it is faid, that the gods which have 
 not made thefe heavens and this earth, ihall perilh from 
 the earth, and from under thefe heavens, [ Jer. x. n.] 
 and that lie will utterly abolifh idols. [Ifa. ii. 18.] Then 
 
 fhall 
 
 (z) State of the HEATHEN world.] Divines have much difpu- 
 ted about the falvation of the heathen; fome have precipitately 
 given them up entirely to the devil, and configned them over to 
 everlafting darknefs and defpair ; while others, muddering at fo 
 horrid an idea, have ran into the oppofite extreme, and fuppofe, 
 that they might be faved merely by the light of nature. 
 
 " I am perfuaded, (fays the amiable Dr. Watts) that God ne 
 ver did, nor will forgive the fin of any man, .... but upon the 
 account of what Jefus has done and fuffered, . . . fo that if hea 
 thens are faved, I think it is owing to the merit of Chrifl and his 
 death. * There is ialvation in no other, nor is there any other 
 4 name whereby men may be faved. [Acts iv. 12.] .... But, 
 though I fuppofe no man (hall be faved but by virtue of the me 
 diation and death of Chrift, .... yet there is good reafon to be 
 lieve, that there have been many fmners actually faved, who never 
 believed in Jefus Chrift, . . . nor ever heard of his name." [Strength 
 and Weaknefs of human Reafon, p. 106.] 
 
 To confirm the latter obfervation our Chriftian Philofopher, 
 among other iuftances, mentions Cornelius, who feared God, and 
 * was accepted of him, previous to his having any knowledge of 
 Jefus Chrilt and the gofpel. [Aftsx. 31, 33.] 
 
 Perfectly confident with the above are the fentiments of the 
 elegant Monf. SAURIN ; " We will not fay with fome divines, 
 that the heathens were faved by an implicit faith, .... we will 
 mt affirm with Clement of Alexandria, that philofophy was to the 
 Greeks, what the law was to the Jews ; . . . . nor with St. Chry- 
 foftom, that they who, defpifing idolatry, adored the Creator . . . 
 were faved without faith ; . . . . [nor] like one of our reformers, 
 (Zuinglius) place Thefus, Hercules, Numa, &c. with the pa 
 triarchs . . . and apoftles; .... lefs ftill do we fay with St. Au- 
 
 guftin that the Erythrean Sybil is in heaven But after all, 
 
 who dare limit the Holy One of Ifrael? Who dare affirm that 
 God could not reveal himfelf to a heathen on his death bed? 
 Who will venture to fay he hath never done fo ? [Sermons, vol. 
 ii.p. 314.]
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 515 
 
 ihall the nations of Africa, the negroes, (A) and other 
 heathens who chiefly fill that quarter of the world, who 
 now feem to be in a fbte but little above the hearts, and 
 in fome refpeifs below them, be enlightened with glori 
 ous light, and delivered from all their darknefs, and ihall 
 become a civilized, intelligent, and holy people. Then 
 iliall the vaft continent of America, fo great a part of 
 which is covered with barbarous ignorance and cruelty, 
 be every where covered with glorious gofpel light and 
 Chriftian love ; and inftead of worshipping the devil, as 
 now they do, they mall ferve God, and praifes fhall be 
 fung every where to the Lord Jefus Chrift, the Saviour of 
 the world. So may we expecl: it will be in that great 
 and populous part of the world, the Eaft Indies, which 
 are now moftly inhabited by the worfhippers of the devil ; 
 and fo throughout that vaft country Great Tartary : (B) 
 then the kingdom of Chrill: will be eftablifhed in thofe 
 continents which have been more lately difcovered towards 
 the north and fouth poles, where now men differ very 
 ittle from the wild beafts, excepting that they worlhip 
 
 3 U 2 the 
 
 (A) The Jlate of the NEGROES.] May we not hope from the 
 >refent appearance of things, that it is referved for our age and 
 
 ation to liberate, at leaft in a happy degree, thefe miferable out- 
 afts of mankind, and thus prepare the way for the introduction 
 f the gofpel among them ? which in their prefent ftate feems next 
 
 impoffible. [U. S.] 
 
 (B) The IDOLATRY of the TARTARS.] " The Delal Lama is 
 e grand object of adoration for the various tribes of heathen 
 
 "artars, who roam that vaft traft of continent which ftretches 
 Vom the banks of the Volga to Correa on the fea of Japan ; the 
 Tioft extenfive religious dominion, perhaps, on the face of the 
 lobe. He is not only the fovereign pontiff, the vicegerent of 
 lie Deity upon earth ; but . . . the more remote Tartars abfo- 
 itely regard him as the Deity himfelf. They believe him immor- . 
 al, and endowed with all knowledge and virtue. Every year 
 liey come up from different parts to worfln p and make rich of- 
 erings at his (hrine. . . . The orthodox opinion is, that when the 
 i and Lama feerns to die, .... his foul .... only quits a .... 
 razy habitation to look for another, .... and is difcovered again 
 
 1 the body of fome child, by certain tokens known only to the 
 mas, or priefts." [Stewart s Account of Thibet, Philof. Tranf, 
 ol. Ixvii.]
 
 5 i6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the devil, and beads do not. The fame will be the cafe 
 with thofe countries which have never yet been difcovered. 
 Thus will be glorioufly fulfilled that promife, [Ifa. xxxv. 
 I.] The wildernefs and the folitary place (liall be glad 
 for them : and the defert fhall rejoice and bloflbm as the 
 rofe. [See alfo ver. 6, 7.] 
 
 [2-] Having thus fhown wherein this overthrow of 
 Satan s kingdom will confift, I come now to obferve its 
 univcrfal extent. The vifible kingdom of Satan fhall be 
 overthrown, and the kingdom of Chrift fet up on the 
 ruins of it, every where throughout the habitable globe. 
 Now ihall the promife made to Abraham be fulfilled, that 
 
 * in him and in his feed all the families of the earth be 
 bleffcd ; and Chrift now (hall become the defire of all 
 nations. [Haggai ii. 7.] Now the kingdom of Chrift (hall, 
 in the moft ftrivSt and literal fenfe, be extended to all na 
 tions, and the whole earth. There are many pafTages 
 of fcripture that can be underftood in no other fenfe. 
 What can be more univerfal than this, [Ifa. xi. 9.] For 
 the earth (hall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
 
 * the waters cover the fea. As there is no channel or cavi 
 ty of the fea any where, but what is covered with water ; fo 
 there fhall be no part of the habitable world, but what mall 
 be covered with the knowledge of God. So it is foretold 
 [Ifa. xlv. 22.] that all the ends of the earth fhall look to 
 Chrift and be faved. And to mow that the words are 
 to be underftood in the moft tmiverfal fenfe, it is faid in 
 the next verfe, * I have fworn by inyfelf, the word is 
 
 * gone out of my mouth in righteoufnefs, and fhall not 
 
 * return, that unto me every knee fhall bow, every tongue 
 fliall fwear. So the prophet Daniel, [chap. vii. 27.] 
 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatnefs of the 
 kingdom under the whole heaven fhall be given to the 
 
 * people of the faints of the moft High God. When 
 the devil was caft out of the Roman empire, that being 
 the principal part of the world, and the other nations 
 being mean in comparifon of thofe of that empire, it was 
 reprefented as Satan s being caft out of heaven to the 
 earth, [Rev. xii. 9.] but it is reprefented that he fliall 
 
 be
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 517 
 
 be caft out of the earth too, and (hut up in hell. [Rev. xx. 
 i 3.] This is the greateft revolution by far that ever 
 came to pafs : therefore it is faid, [Rev. xvi. 17, 18.] that 
 on pouring out the fevcnth phial there was a great earth 
 quake, fuch as was not fince men were upon earth, fo mighty 
 an earthquake and fo great. 
 
 (7.) And this is the third great difpenfation of Provi 
 dence, which is in icripture compared to Chrift s com 
 ing to judgment. So it is faid, after the fixth phial, and 
 after the devil s armies were gathered together to their 
 great battle, and juft before Chrift s glorious victory over 
 them, [Rev. xvi. 15.] Behold, I come quickly; bleffed 
 * is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments. So 
 [2 Thef. ii. 8.] fpeaking of antichrift, it is faid, And 
 1 then mall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord mall 
 confume with the fpirit of his mouth, and fliall deftroy 
 with the brightnefs of his coming. So Chrift s coming 
 to fet up his kingdom on earth, and to deftroy antichrift, 
 is called coming with clouds of heaven. [Dan. vii. 13, 14.] 
 And this is more like Chrift s laft coming to judgment, 
 than any of the preceding difpenfations which are fo called, 
 on thefe accounts : 
 
 [ i . ] That the difpenfation is greater and more uni- 
 verfal, and fo more like the day of judgment, which re- 
 fpedls the whole world. 
 
 [2.] On account of the fpiritual rcfurre&ion which will 
 accompany it, refembling the general refurreiStion at the 
 end of the world. [Rev. xx. 4.] 
 
 [3.] Becaufe of the terrible judgments and fearful de- 
 ftru flion which fliall now be executed on God s enemies. 
 There will doubtlefs be at the introduction of this difpen 
 fation a vifible and awful hand of God againft blafphe- 
 mers, and obftinate enemies of Chrift ; and efpecially 
 antichrift himlelf, which is compared to the cafting of 
 antichrift into the burning flame, [Dan. vii. n.] and to 
 cafting him alive into the lake that burns with fire and 
 brirnftone. [Rev. xix. 20.] Then mall the cruel church 
 of Rome fufter thofe judgments from God, which fliall 
 be far more dreadful than her crueleft perfccutions of the 
 
 faints,
 
 5 i8 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 faints. [Rev. xviii. 6, 7.] The judgments which God 
 fhall execute on the enemies of the church, are fo great, 
 that they are compared to God s fending great hailftones 
 from heaven upon them. [Rev. xvi. 21.] And there fell 
 xipon men a great hail out of heaven, every ftone about 
 
 * the weight of a talent: and men blafphemed God, be- 
 caufe of the plague of the hail ; for the plague thereof 
 
 * was exceeding great. And now fhall be the treading of 
 the wine-prefs of the wrath of God. [Rev. xiv. 19, 20-] 
 
 [4.] This fhall put an end to the church s fuffering 
 flate, and fhall be attended with their glorious and joyful 
 praifes. Indeed, after this, near the end of the world, 
 the church fhall be greatly threatened ; but it is faid, it 
 fhall be for a little feafon, [Rev. xx. 3.] for as the times 
 of the church s reft are but fhort. before the long day of 
 her afflidiions are at an end, fo whatever affliction ihe 
 may fuffer after this, it will be very fhort : but otherwifc 
 the day of the church s affliction and perfecution fhall 
 now come to a final end. The fcriptures, in many 
 places, fpeak of this time as the end of the fuffering ftate 
 of the church. [Ifa. li. 22.] God fays to his church, with 
 refpedt to this time, Behold, I have taken out of thine 
 hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of 
 
 * my fury ; thou fhalt no more drink it again. [Ch. xl. 
 i, 2.] Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, faith your 
 
 * God. Speak ye comfortably unto Jerufalem, and cry 
 
 * unto her that her warfare is accomplilhed, that her ini- 
 
 * quity is pardoned ; for (he hath received of the Lord s 
 
 * hand double for all her iins. [Ch. xl. 20.] The 
 Lord fhall be thine everlafting light, and the days of 
 thy mourning fhall be ended. [Zeph. iii. 15.] The 
 Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath caft out 
 
 * thine enemy : the King of Ifrael, even the Lord is in 
 the midft of thee : thou fhalt not fee evil any more. 
 [See alfo Ifa. liv. 8, 9.] 
 
 The time which hath been before this, hath been the 
 church s fovving time, wherein ihe fowed in tears and in 
 blood : but now is her harveft, wherein (he will come 
 again rejoicing, bringing her fheaves with her. Now the 
 
 time.
 
 TO THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 519 
 
 time of the travail of the woman cloathed with the fun is 
 at an end: now ilie hath brought forth her fon ; for this 
 glorious fetting up of the kingdom of Chrift through the 
 world, is what the church had been in travail for, with 
 fuch terrible pangs, for fo many ages; [Ifa. xxvi. 17.] 
 
 * Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time 
 
 * of her delivery is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs ; 
 
 * fo have we been in thy fight, O Lord. [Seech. Ix. 20. 
 and Ixi. 10, n.] And now the church (hall forget her 
 forrow, fmce a man-child is born into the world : now 
 fucceed her joyful praife and triumph. Her praifes fhall 
 then go up to God from all parts of the earth; [Ifa. xlii. 
 10 12.] And praife (hall not only fill the earth, but alfo 
 heaven. The church on earth, and the church in hea 
 ven, fhall both glorioufly rejoice and praife God, as with 
 one heart, on that occallon. Without doubt it will be a 
 time of very diftinguifhed joy and praife among the holy 
 prophets and apoftles, and other faints in heaven: [Rev. 
 xxiii. 20.] Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy 
 
 * apoftles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on 
 
 * her. [Tfa. xliv. 23.] Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord 
 
 * hath done it ; fhout, ye lower parts of the earth : break 
 
 * forth into fmging, ye mountains, O foreft, and every 
 
 * tree therein : for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glo- 
 
 * rifted himfelf in Ifrael. See what joyful praifes are fung 
 to God on this occafion by the univerfal church in heaven 
 and earth. [Rev. xix. 17.] Allelujah, falvation and 
 
 * honor and power unto the Lord our God, 8cc. 
 
 [5.] This difpenfation is above all preceding ones, like 
 Chrift s coming to judgment, in that it puts an end to the 
 former ftate of the world, and introduces his everlafting 
 kingdom. Now Satan s vifible kingdom fhall be over 
 thrown, after it has flood ever fmce the building of Babel; 
 and the old heavens and the old earth fhall pafs away, and 
 the new heavens and new earth be fet up in a far more glo 
 rious manner than ever before. 
 
 THUS I have fhown how the fuccefs of Chrift s pur- 
 chafe has been carried on through the times of the afflicted 
 ftate of the Chriftian church, from Chrift s refur reel: ion, 
 
 unti]
 
 520 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 until antichrift is fallen, and Satan s viiible kingdom on 
 earth is overthrown. 
 
 IV. THE SUCCESS OF CHRIST S REDEMPTION CAR 
 RIED ON IN A PROSPEROUS STATE. 
 
 I COME now to fliow how the fucccfs of redemption 
 will be carried on through that fpace wherein the Chrif- 
 tian church fhall for the moft part he in a ftate of peace 
 and profperity. And in order to this, I would, i. Speak 
 of the profperous ftate of the church through the greater 
 part of this period. 2. Of the great apoftafy there (hall be 
 towards the clofe of it. 
 
 i. I would fpeak of the profperous ftate of the church 
 through the greater part of this period. And here obferve, 
 
 (i.) That this is moft properly the time of the king 
 dom of heaven upon earth. Though the kingdom of hea 
 ven was in a degree fer up foon after Chrift s refurretion, 
 and in a farther degree in the time of Conftantine ; and 
 though the Chriftian church in all ages of it is called the 
 kingdom of heaven ; yet this is moft eminently the king 
 dom of heaven upon earth, the time principally intended 
 by the prophecies of Daniel, which fpeak of the kingdom 
 of heaven, whence the Jews took the expreffion. [See 
 Dan. ii. 44.] 
 
 (2.) That this is the grand period for the fulfilment 
 of all the prophecies of the Old Teftament which fpeak of 
 the glorious times of the gofpel in the latrer days. Though 
 there has been a bleffcd fulfilment of thole prophecies 
 already, in the times of the apoftles, and of Conftantine ; 
 yet the cxpreffions are too high to fuit any other time en 
 tirely, but that which is to fucceed the fall of antichrift. 
 This is moft properly the glorious day of the gofpel. 
 Other times are only forerunners and preparatories to this ; 
 other times were the feed-time, but this is the harveft.-- 
 But more particularly, 
 
 [i.] It will be a time of great light and knowledge. 
 The prefent days are days of darknels, in companion of 
 
 thofe
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 521 
 
 thofe days. The light of that glorious time fhall be fo 
 great, that it is reprefented as though there fhould then 
 be no night, but only day; no evening nor darknefs. 
 [Zech. xiv. 6, 7.] And it fhall come to pafs in that 
 day, that the light fliall not be clear, nor dark. But it 
 fhall be one day, which fhall be known to the Lord, 
 
 * not day, nor night : but it fliall come to pafs, that at 
 
 * evening- time it fhall be light. It is further reprefented, 
 as though God would then give fuch light to his church, 
 that it fhould fo much exceed the glory of the light of the 
 fun and moon, that they fhould be afhamed : [Ifa. xxiv. 
 23.] Then the moon fhall be confounded, and the fun 
 afhamed, when the Lord of hofts fhall reign in Mount 
 Zion, and in Jerufalem, and before his ancients glo- 
 
 * rioufly. There is a kind of veil now caft over the 
 greater part of the world, which keeps them in darknefs ; 
 but then this veil fhall be deftroyed : [Ifa. xxv. 7.] And 
 he will deftroy in this mountain the face of the covering 
 
 * caft over all people, and the veil that is fpread over all 
 
 * nations. And then all countries and nations, even 
 thofe which are now moft ignorant, fhall be full of light 
 and knowledge ; and not only divines, but ordinary Chrif- 
 tians fhall then be very intelligent in religion ; [Ifa. 
 xxxii. 3, 4.] The eyes of them that fee, fliall not be 
 < dim; and the ears of them that hear, fhall hearken. 
 The heart alfo of the rafh fhall understand knowledge. 
 [Jer. xxxi. 34.] * And they fhall teach no more every 
 man his neighbour, and every man his brother, faying, 
 Know the Lord; for they fhall all know me, from the 
 
 * leaft of them unto the greateft of them. There Hi all 
 then be a wonderful unravelling of the difficulties in the 
 doctrines of religion, and a clearing up of feeming incon- 
 iiftencies : [Ifa. xl. 4, 5.] Crooked things fhall be 
 4 made ftraight, and rough places plain, and darknefs 
 J~hall become light before God s people. Difficulties in 
 fcripture fhall then be cleared up, and myfteries difcovered 
 in the word of God, which were never revealed before. 
 This feems to be compared to removing the veil, and dif- 
 covering the ark of the teftimony to the people, which 
 
 3 X before
 
 522 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 before ufcd to be kept in the fecret part of the temple, 
 and was never feen by them. Thus, at the founding of 
 the feventh angel, when it is proclaimed, [Rev. xi. 15.] 
 That the kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms .of our Lord and of Chrift; it is added, [ver. 
 19.] that the temple of God was opened in heaven, and 
 1 there was feen in his temple the ark of his teftament. 
 So great fhall be the increafc of knowledge in this time, 
 that heaven ihall be as it were opened to the church of 
 God on earth. 
 
 [2.] It fhall be a time of great holinefs. Now vital 
 religion fhall every where prevail and reign. Religion 
 fhall not be an empty profeflion, as it now moftly is, but 
 holinefs of heart and life fhall abundantly prevail. Thofe 
 times fhall be an exception from what Chrift fays of the 
 ordinary ftate of the church, viz,, that there fhall be but 
 fewfaved; for now holinefs fhall become general : [Ifa. 
 Ix. 21.] Thy people alfo fhall be all righteous. Not 
 that there will be none remaining in a Chriftlefs condi 
 tion ; but that vilible wickednefs fhall be fupprefled every 
 where, and true holinefs fhall become general, though 
 not univerfal. And it fhall be a wonderful time, not 
 only for the multitude of godly men, but for eminency of 
 grace: [Ifa. Ixv. 20.] There fhall be no more thence 
 an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled 
 his days : for the child ihall die an hundred years old, 
 
 * but the fmner being an hundred years old, fhall be ac- 
 curled. [Zech. xii. 8.] He that is feeble among them 
 at that day fhall be as David; and the houfe of David 
 fhall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 
 And holinefs fhall then be as it were infcribed on every 
 thing, on all men s common bufmefs and employments, 
 and the common utenlils of life : all fhall be as it were 
 dedicated to God, and applied to holy purpofes : every 
 thing ihall then be done to the glory of God; [Ifa. xxiii. 
 18.] And her merchandife and her hire fhall be holi- 
 
 * nefs to the Lord. [Zech. xiv. 20, 21.] And as God s 
 people then fhall be eminent in holinefs of heart, fo they 
 ihall be alfo in holinefs of life and practice. 
 
 [3-1 ^
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 523 
 
 [3.] It fhall be a time wherein religion (hall in every 
 refpet be uppermoft in the world. It fhall be had in 
 great efteem and honour. The faints have hitherto for 
 the moft part been kept under, and wicked men have 
 governed; but now they will be uppermoft. The king 
 dom fhall be given into the hands of the faints of the 
 * Moft high God, [Dan. vii. 27.] And they fhall reign 
 on earth. [Rev. v. 10.] They {hall live and reign with 
 Chrift a thoufand years. [Rev. xx. 4.] In that day, 
 fuch perfons as are eminent for true piety and religion, 
 ihall be chiefly promoted to places of truft and authority. 
 Vital religion ihall then take poflefTion of palaces and 
 thrones ; and thofe who are in the higheft advancement 
 ihall be holy men; [Ifa. xlix. 23.] And kings fhall 
 be thy nurfmg fathers, and queens thy nurfing mothers. 
 Kings fliall employ all their power, and glory, and riches, 
 for the advancement of the honour and glory of Chrift 
 and the good of his church; [Ifa. Ix. 16.] Thou fhalt 
 alfo fuck the milk of the Gentiles, and (halt fuck the 
 breaft of kings. And the great men of die world, and 
 the rich merchants, and others who have wealth and in 
 fluence, (hall devote all to Chrift and his church; [Pfal. 
 xlv. 12.] The daughter of Tyre fliall be there with a 
 gift, even the rich among the people fhall intreat thy 
 favour. 
 
 [4.] Thofe will be times of great peace and love. 
 There fhall then be univerfal peace and a good underftand- 
 ing among the nations of the world, inftead of fuch con- 
 fuiion, wars, and bloodfhed, as has hitherto been from 
 one age to another: [Ifa. ii. 4.] And he fhall judge 
 among the nations, and fhall rebuke many people : and 
 they ihall beat their fwords into plow fhares, and their 
 fpears into pruning hooks : nation fhall not lift fword 
 againft nation, neither fhall they learn war any more. 
 So it is reprefented as if all inftruments of war Ihould be 
 deftroyed, as being become ufelefs ; [Pfal. xlvi. 9.] He 
 4 maketh wars to ceafe unto the end of the earth ; he 
 breaketh the bow, and cutteth the fpear in funder ; he 
 burneth the chariot in the fire. [See alfo Zech. ix. 10 3 
 3X2 Tht a
 
 524 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Then fhall all nations dwell quietly and fafely, -without 
 fear of any enemy: [Ifa. xxxii. 18.] * And my people 
 fhall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in lure dwel- 
 
 * lings, and in quiet reftiug places. [Alfo Zech. viii. 10, 
 II.] 
 
 Then fhall malice, envy, and wrath, and revenge, be 
 fupprefled every where, and peace and love prevail be 
 tween man and man; [which is moft elegantly fet forth 
 in Ifa. xi. 6 10.] Then fhall there be peace and love 
 between rulers and ruled. Rulers fhall love their people, 
 and with all their might feck their belt good; and the 
 people fhall love their rulers, and fhall joyfully fubmit 
 to them, and give them that honour which is their due. 
 And io fhall there be an happy love between miniflers 
 and their people : [Mai. iv. 6.] And he fhall turn the 
 
 * heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the 
 children to their fathers. Then fhall flourifh in an 
 eminent manner thofe Chriltian virtues of meeknefs, for- 
 givenefs, long differing, gentlenefs, goodnefs, brotherly 
 kindnefs, thofe excellent fruits of the Spirit. Men in 
 their temper and difpoiition fhall be like the Lamb of 
 God, the lovely Jefus. The members fhall be conformed 
 to the head. 
 
 Then fhall all the world be united in one amiable fo- 
 ciety. All nations, on every fide of the globe, fhall then 
 be knit together in fweet harmony. All parts of God s 
 church fhall aflift and promote the fpiritual good of one 
 another. A communication fhall then be upheld between 
 all parts of the world to that end; and the art of naviga 
 tion, which is now applied fo much to favour men s co- 
 vetoufnefs and pride, and is ufed fo much by wicked 
 debauched men, fhall then be confecrated to God, and 
 rendered fubfervient to the intereft of religion. [Ifa. Ix. 
 5--- o.] And men fhall then exprefs their love one to ano 
 ther, not only in words, but in deeds of charity, as we 
 learn, [Ifa. xxxii. 5.3 The vile perfon fhall be no more 
 
 * called liberal, nor the churl faid to be bountiful ; [ver. 
 8.] But the liberal devifeth liberal things, and by liberal 
 " things fhall he ftand.
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 525 
 
 [3 ] It will be a time of excellent order in the church 
 of Chrift. The true government and difcipline of the 
 church will then be fettled and pra&ifed. All the world 
 fhall then be as one church, one orderly, regular, beau 
 tiful fociety. And as the body ihall be one, fo the mem 
 bers fhall be in beautiful proportion to each other. Then 
 fhall that faying be verified, [Pfal. cxxii. 3.] Jerufalcm 
 is builded as a city that is compa6l together. 
 
 [6-] The church of God fhall then be beautiful and 
 glorious on thefc accounts ; yea it will appear in perfection 
 of beauty: [Ifa. Ix. i.] * Arife, fliine, for thy light is 
 come, and the glory of the Lord is rifen upon thee. 
 [Ifa. Ixi. 10.] He hath covered me with the robe of 
 
 * righteoufnefs, as a bridegroom decketh himfelf with or- 
 naments, and as a bride adorneth herfelf with her jewels. 
 On thefe accounts, the church will then be the greateft 
 image of heaven itfelf. 
 
 [7.] That will be a time of the greateft temporal prof- - 
 perity. Such a fpiritual flate as we have juft defcribed, 
 has a natural tendency to temporal profperity : it has a 
 tendency to health and long life ; and that this will ac 
 tually be the cafe is evident. [Zech. viii. 4.] Thus 
 faith the Lord of hofts, There Ihall yet old men and 
 
 * old women dwell in the ftreets of Jerufalem, and every 
 -* man with a ftaff in his hand for very age. It has alfo 
 a natural tendency to procure eafe, quietnefs, pleafant- 
 nefs, and cheerfulnefs of mind, and alfo wealth, and great 
 increafe of children; as is alfo intimated, [Zech. viii. 5.] 
 And the ftreets of the city fhall be full of boys and 
 
 * girls playing in the ftreets thereof. But further, the 
 temporal profperity of the people of God will alfo be 
 promoted by a remarkable bleffing from heaven : [Ifa. 
 Ixv. 21.] They ihall build Jioufes, and inhabit them; 
 and they fhall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them." 
 And [Micah iv. 4.] They fhall fit every man undci 
 
 * his vine, and under his fig-tree, and none fhall make 
 . them afraid. [Zech. viii. 12-] For the feed Ihall be 
 profperous, the vine fhall give her fruit, and the ground 
 , fhall give her increafe, and the heavens fhall give their 
 
 dew,
 
 5 z6 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 dew, and I will caufe the remnant of this people to 
 4 poffefs all thefe things. [See alfo Jer. xxxi. 12, 13. 
 and Amos ix. 13.] Yea, then they fhall receive all 
 
 * manner of tokens of God s prefence, and acceptance 
 1 and favour. [Jer. xxxiii. 9.] And it fhall be to me 
 a name of joy, a praife and an honour before all the 
 4 nations of the earth, which fhall hear all the good that 
 
 * I do unto them ; and they fhall fear and tremble for 
 all the goodnefs and for all the profperity that I procure 
 unto it. Even the days of Solomon were but an image 
 of thofe days, as to the temporal profperity which fhall 
 obtain in them. 
 
 [8.] It will alfo be a time of great rejoicing. [Ifa. xxxv. 
 jo.] * And the ranfomed of the Lord fhall return and 
 : come to Zion with fongs, and everlafting joy upon their 
 heads: they Jhall obtain joy and gladnefs, and forrow 
 and fighing fhall flee away. [Chap. Iv. 12.] * For ye 
 fhall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace : the 
 mountains and the hills fliall break forth before you. 
 [Chap. Ixvi. IT.] That ye may fuck, and be fatisfied 
 with the breafts of her confolations ; that ye may milk 
 out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 
 [Chap. xii. 3.] With joy fliall ye draw water out of the 
 4 wells of ialvation. - Then will be a time of feafting. 
 That will be the church s glorious wedding-day, fo far as 
 her wedding with Chrift fliall ever be upon earth : [Rev. 
 xix. 7.] Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to 
 4 him ; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
 wife hath made herfelf ready. [Ver. 9.] Blefled are 
 they which are called to the marriage-fuppcr of the 
 Lamb. But I come now, 
 
 (3.) To fay fomething of the duration of this (rate of 
 the church s profperity. On this I fhall be very brief. 
 The fcriptures every where reprefent it to be of long con 
 tinuance. The former intervals of reft and profperity, as 
 we before obferved, are reprefented to be but fhort ; but 
 the reprefentations of this ftate are quite different : [Rev. 
 xx. 4.] And I faw the fouls of them that were beheaded 
 for the witnefs of Jcfus, and they lived and reigned with 
 
 Chrift
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 527 
 
 * Chrifl: a thoufand years. (c) Whereas thou haft been 
 
 * forfaken and hated, fo that no man went through thee, 
 I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many 
 i generations. [Ifa. Ix. 15.] 
 
 This 
 
 (c) The MILLENIUM.] < The fouls of them that were beheaded 
 for the witnefs of Jefus, may be confidered as meant, not of the 
 individual perfons that fuffered martyrdom for his fake, but of their 
 fucceflbrs in the fame fpirit, who being of the fame temper for 
 faith, patience, zeal, and fortitude, and profeffing the fame doc 
 trines with the martyrs, were one body with them, and fo, in the 
 flile of prophecy, might be fpoken of, as though they were the 
 fame perfons, in like manner as John the Baptifl is called Elias, 
 becaufe he came in the fpirit and power of Elias, [Matt. xi. 14. 
 and xvii. 12. compared with Luke i. 17.] and as Rorne-antichrif- 
 tian is in feveral places of this prophecy called Sodom, Egypt, and 
 Babylon, on account of its being like them in idolatry, pride, 
 luxury, and cruelty; and the two witneffes that were to prophefy 
 in fackcloth one thoufand two hundred and fixty days of years, 
 [Rev. xi. 3.] could not mean the fame individual perfons, but a 
 fucceflion of them that perfifted in the fame faith and profeflion. 
 When therefore it is faid, * The fouls of them that were beheaded 
 
 * for the witnefs of Jefus, lived and reigned with Chrifl: a thoufand 
 years; this may be taken, according to prophetic* ftile, in a me 
 taphorical fenfe, and may fignify a fucceflion of fuch; in like man 
 ner as the two witneffes being killed, and their dead bodies rifing 
 and flandingon their feet, is to be underftood, f_Rev. xi. 7. II.J 
 and as the reiteration of Ifrael from their captivity is called their 
 living and {landing on their feet, and God s opening their graves, 
 and caufing them to come out of their graves, [Ezek. xxxvii. 
 9, 10, 12.] and as the converfion of the Jews, in the lail days, is 
 fpoken of, as life from the dead. [Rom. xi. 15.] Accordingly 
 the faints living and reigning with Chrift, may relate to their 
 abundance of fpirituality, purity and glory, light, love, and joy, 
 tranquillity and fafety ; and to the power of the civil magillracy, 
 as being in their hands, and exercifed with great authority and 
 fuccefs, for fuppreffing all iniquity and prophanenefs, and promot 
 ing true religion and holinefs in thofe happy days. I am not in- 
 fenfible, that many learned and pious men have put a literal con- 
 ftruftion on this prophecy, to denote a proper refurreftion.of th 
 dead bodies of former martyrs, and (as fome of them think) of all 
 other departed faints; and they accordingly fuppofe, that their 
 dead bodies fhall be raifed to life, and reign, in a glorious manner, 
 with Chrift, as personally and vifibly fitting on his throne, for n 
 thoufand years, upon earth. But as I can fcarce think that the cor 
 poral prefence of Chrifl will be removed, for a thoufand years, from 
 KeaveH to earth, fo a literal refurreftion of all the bodies of the 
 
 faint<
 
 52$ HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This may fuffice as to the profperous ilate of the church 
 through the greater part of the period, from the deftruclion 
 of Satan s viiible kingdom in the world, to Chrift s appear*- 
 ing in the clouds of heaven to judgment. 
 
 I now come to fpeak of the great apoflafy there fhould 
 be towards the clofe of this period, and how eminently the 
 church fhould be for a Chert time threatened by her ene 
 mies. And this I ihall do under three particulars: 
 
 (i.) A little before the end of the world there /hall be 
 2 very great apoftafy, wherein great part of the world Chall 
 fall away from Chrifr and his church. It is fa id, [Rev. 
 xx. 3.] that Satan fhould be caft into the bottomlefs pit, 
 
 and 
 
 faints Is fpoken of, as, * in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye 
 at the laft trump, in order to their meeting the Lord in the air, 
 and being with hiin, not on earth, but for ever in heaven, [i Cor. 
 xv. 52. and i Theff. iv. 16, 17.] And after the expiration of 
 this thoufand years, and after Satan fhall be loofed agiJn for a 
 little while at the end of them, we have an account of the general 
 refurreftion of all perfons, without any exception, or the leaft hint 
 that the martyrs, or any other faints, had rofe fo long a time 
 before. [Rev. xi. 12, 13.] And as a proper refurreftion is never 
 cxprefi ed, in fcriptiire, by the reviving or living again of the foul, 
 but only of the body; fo it feems extremely forced to underftand 
 the * living again of the immortal fouls of them that were be 
 headed, as defcriptive of a literal refurreftion, and a refurreftion 
 of the bodies of glorified faints, to live on earth for a thoufand 
 years, feems inconfiftent with the fublimer felicity and honour of 
 their fouls were poffeffed of before in heaven, and with their being 
 liable to be deceived, in cafe Satan had not been restrained, as alfo 
 with the trouble that muft neceffarily arife to them from the vigor 
 ous oppofit Jon which he and his army would make againft them at 
 the expiration of the thoufand years in which he was bound. It 
 muft likewife be an exceeding debafement of their refined dignity 
 and delight in the immediate prefence of Chrift on his heavenly 
 throne, to exchange them for any pleafures or honours upon the 
 earth, efpecially if (as fome Millenaries imagine) they are to be 
 entertained with any fenfitive enjoyments. I therefore rather in 
 cline to think, that, according to the ftile of prophecy, and par 
 ticularly in this book, which is figurative, all this relates not lite 
 rally to the refurreftion of the martyrs or ether faints, and the 
 perfonal reign of Chrift for a thoufand years on earth; but figu 
 ratively, and in a fpiritual fenfe, for glorious days of long conti 
 nuance to the church on earth ; whether for the prec ife number of 
 a tkoujznd years, or more. [Dr. GUISE S Paraph, in loc.]
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 529 
 
 znd fhut up, and have a feal fet upon him, that he fliould 
 deceive the nations no more till the thoufand years ihall 
 be fulfilled; and that, after that, he muft be loofed out 
 of his prifon for a little feafon. And accordingly we are 
 told [ver. 7 and 8.] that when the thoufand years are 
 expired, Satan fhall be loofed out of his prifon, and {hall 
 go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four 
 quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. Which feems as 
 though the apoftafy would be very general. The nations 
 of the four quarters of the earth fhall be deceived; and 
 the number of thofe who fhall now turn enemies to Chrift 
 lliall be vaflly great, as the army of Gog and Magog is 
 reprefented in Ezekiel, and as it is faid [Rev. xx. 8.] that 
 the number of them is as the fand of the fea, and that 
 they went upon the breadth of the earth, as though they 
 were an army big enough to reach from one fide of the 
 earth to the other. 
 
 Thus after fuch an happy and glorious feafon, fuch a 
 long day of light and holinefs, of love, and peace, and 
 joy, now it fhall begin again to be a dark time. Satan 
 fhall begin to fet up his dominion again in the world. 
 This world fhall again become a fcene of darknefs and 
 wickednefs. The bottomlefs pit fhall be opened, de> 
 vils fhall come up again out of it, and a dreadful fmoke 
 (hall afccnd to darken the world. And the church of 
 Chrift, inftead of extending to the utmoft bounds of the 
 world, as it did before, fliall be reduced to narrow limits 
 again. Mankind being continued fo long in a flate of 
 fuch great profperity, will now begin to abufe their prcf- 
 perity, to ferve their lull: and corruptions. [Luke xvii. 
 26, Sec.] 
 
 (2.) Thofe apoftates ihail make great cppo/ition to the 
 church of God. The church mall feem to be eminently 
 threatened with a fudden and entire overthrow by them. 
 It is faid [Rev. xx. 8, 9.] Satan mall gather them together 
 to battle, as the fand on the fea more ; and they went up 
 on the breadth of the earth, and compaffed the camp of 
 the faints about, and the beloved city. So that this be 
 loved city fhall feem jufl ready to be fwallowed up by 
 
 3 Y" them ;
 
 530 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 them ; for her enemies fhall not only threaten her, but 
 ihall actually have gathered together againft her ; and not 
 cnlv io, but mall have befieged her, and mall have com- 
 pafted her about on every fide. 
 
 There is nothing in the prophecy which feems to inti 
 mate the church s actually falling into their hands, as it h?.s 
 fallen into the hands of antichriil, to whom it was given to 
 make war with the faints and to overcome them. [Rev. 
 xiii. 7.] God will never fufrcr this to be again after the 
 fall of antichrill ; for then the day of her mourning {hall 
 be ended. But the church lhall feem moft eminently threat 
 ened with utter and fudden deftruirion. 
 
 (3.) Now the ftate of things will fcem moft remarka 
 bly to call for Chrift s immediate appearance to judgment. 
 For then the world mall be filled with the mod aggravated 
 wickednefs, much the greater part of the world fhall bc-- 
 come open enemies to Chrill, and their wickednefs will 
 be dreadfully aggravated by their apoftafy. Before the 
 fall of antichrifr, moll parts of the world are full of 
 wicked men. But the greater part of thcfe are poor 
 heathens, who never enjoyed the light of the gofpel ; and 
 others that have been bred up in the Mahometan or Popilh 
 darkncfs. But thefe are apoftates from the Chriflian 
 church, and the vifible kingdom of Chrifl, in which they 
 enjoyed the great light and privileges of die glorious times 
 of the church, which (hall be incomparably greater than 
 the light and privileges which the church of God enjoys 
 now. This apoftafy will be more like that of the fallen 
 angels than any that ever has been ; for they apoftatifed, 
 and turned enemies to (Ji.rift, though they enjoyed the 
 light of Leaven ; and tlieic will apoftatife, and turn ene- 
 n,if> to hii:), though they have enjoyed the light and pri- 
 s of the glorious times of the church. And that 
 fuch moulu turn open and avowed enemies to Chrill, and 
 iliould feck the ruin of his church, will cry aloud for im 
 mediate vengeance. 
 
 The v.ickednefs of the world will remarkably call for 
 Chrift s immediate appearance in flaming fire to take ven 
 geance on toe in, bccaufe of the way in which they ihall 
 
 maniieft
 
 TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 53 1 
 
 uianifcft their wickednefs, which will be by fcofEng and 
 blafpheming Chrift and his holy religion : and particu 
 larly, they will feoff at the notion of Chrift s coming to 
 judgment, of which the church fhall be in expectation, 
 and of which they will warn them. For now doubtlefs 
 will be another, and the principal fulfilment of that text. 
 j 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4.] Knowing this firft, that there fhall 
 4 come in the laft days fcoffers, walking after their own 
 lufts, and faying, Where is the promife of his coming ? 
 For fuice the fathers fell afleep, all things continue as 
 they were from the beginning of the creation. They 
 fhall be in no expectation of the coming of Chrift to 
 judgment, but fhall give up themfelves to their lufts, to 
 eat and drink, and wallow in fenfual delights, as though 
 they were to be forever. They (hall defpife the warnings 
 the church fhall give them of the coming of Chrift to 
 judgment, as the people of the old world defpifed what 
 Noah told them of the. approaching flood, and as the peo 
 ple of Sodom did when Lot faid to them, [Gen. xix. 14.] 
 The Lord will deftroy this city. The wickednefs will 
 alfo cry aloud to heaven for Chrift s appearing to take 
 vengeance of his enemies ; for their attempts again ft the 
 holy city of God. 
 
 And the number of the wicked is another thing 
 which {hall efpecially call for Chrift s coining: for the 
 world will doubtlefs then be exceeding full of people, 
 having continued fo long in fo great a ftate of profperity, 
 without fuch defolating calamities, as wars, peftilences. 
 and the like, to diminiih them, and the moft of this po 
 pulous world will be fuch wicked contemptuous apoftates 
 from God. And if the wickednefs of the old world, 
 when men began to multiply on the earth, called for the 
 deftruClion of the world by a deluge of waters, this wick 
 ednefs will as much call for its dcftruilion by a deluge of 
 fire. 
 
 Again, the c n-cumjianccs of the church at that day 
 will aifo eminently call tor the immediate appearance of 
 Chrift, as they will be compaffed about by their blafphe- 
 rnous enemies and juft ready to be fwallowecl up by them. 
 
 3 Y 2 Ir
 
 532 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It will be a moft diftreffing time with the church, except 
 ing the comfort they will have in the hope of deliverance 
 from God : for all other help will feem to fail. The 
 cafe will be come to the laft extremity, and there will 
 be an immediate neceflity for Chrift s coming to their de 
 liverance. But though the church mall be fo eminently 
 threatened, yet mall it be preferved till Chrift mall appear 
 in the glory of his Father with all his holy angels. And 
 then mall all the elet be gathered in, whofe names were 
 written in the book of life before the foundation of the 
 world, mall be brought in : not one foul fhall be loft. 
 And the myftical body of Chrift will be complete as to 
 its number of parts, having every one of its members. 
 Jn this refpedt, the work of redemption will now be 
 finiihed. And the end for which the means of grace have 
 been inflitutcd mail be obtained. All that effc& which 
 was intended to be accompli Hied by them (hall now be ac- 
 compliihed. 
 
 V. COMPLETION OF THE WORK OF REDEMPTION IN 
 A FUTURE STATE. 
 
 THUS I have mown how the fuccefs of Chrift s re 
 demption has been accomplilhed during the continuance 
 of the Chriftian church under the means of grace. We 
 have feen what great revolutions there have been, and 
 are to be during this fpace of time ; how the wheels ot 
 Providence have gone round for the accomplifhment of the 
 fuccefs of ChriiVs purchafe, in the beftowment of grace 
 on the ele6t : and we are now come to the time, when the 
 courfe of things in this ftate of it is finiftied, and all things 
 arc ripe for Chrift s coming to judgment. 
 
 You may remember, that we are difcourfing on this 
 propolition, viz. That from the refurrcction of Chrift to 
 the end of the world, the whole time is taken up in pro 
 curing the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe of redemption, and 
 1 obfeive that the fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe is of two 
 kinds, confifting either in grace or glory ; and that the 
 
 fuccefs
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 533 
 
 luccefs confining in the former of thefe, is to be feen in 
 thofe works of God which are wrought during thofe ages 
 that the church is continued under the means of grace ; and 
 that the fuccefs, coniifting in the latter, will chiefly be ac- 
 jcomplifhed at the day of judgment. 
 
 Having already fhown how the former kind of fuccefs 
 has been accomplished, I come now to that kind of fuc- 
 cefs which is accomplilhed in the beftowment of glory on 
 the church, which fhall chiefly be at the day of judg 
 ment. And here I would mention two or three things 
 in general concerning this kind of fuccefs of Chrift s pur- 
 chafe. 
 
 (i.) How great this is, chiefly appears in that the fuccefs 
 of Chrift s purchafe does fumrnarily confift in thefalvation 
 of the eler. But this beftowment of glory is eminently 
 called their fahatlon : [Heb. ix. 28.] To them that look 
 for him, fhall he appear the fecond time, without fin 
 unto falvation. So it is called redemption. [Eph.iv.go.] 
 * Sealed unto the day of redemption; [Eph. i. 14.] 
 4 Redemption of the purchafed pofTeflion. 
 
 (2.) All thofe glorious things which were brought to 
 pafs for the church while under the means of grace, are 
 but preparatory to, and images and fhadows of this. The 
 means of grace and grace itfelf are to fit for glory and all 
 the glorious things which were accomplilhed for the church 
 in the days of Conftantine, and which are to fucceed the 
 fall of antichrift, are but a ihadowof what will be bellowed 
 at the day of judgment ; and therefore, are fpoken of in 
 fcripture as images of Chrift s laft coming to judgment. 
 -But I haften more particularly to ihow how this kind of 
 fuccefs of Chrift s purchafe is accomplilhed. 
 
 i. Chrijl will appear in the glory of his Father, -with all 
 his holy angels coming in the clouds of heaven. When 
 (he world is revelling in their wickcdnefs, and compafling 
 the holy city about, juft ready to deftroy it, then fhall the 
 glorious Redeemer appear in the fight of the world ; the 
 light of his glory fhall break forth; the whole world fhall 
 immediately have notice of it, and they fhal! lift up their 
 eyes and behold this wonderful fight. It is faid [Rev. i. 7.] 
 
 Every
 
 534 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * Every eye fhall fee him. - --Chrift (hall appear in his hu 
 man nature, in that fame body which was brought forth in 
 a (table, laid in a manger, and which afterwards was fo 
 cruelly ufed, and nailed to the crofs. 
 
 Men fhall now lift up their eyes and behold him com 
 ing in fuch majefry and glory as is to us utterly inconceiv 
 able. The glory of the fun in a clear firmament will be 
 but darknefs in comparifon of it ; and all the glorious an 
 gels (hall attend on him, a thoufand thoufand miniftering 
 to him, and ten thoufand times ten thoufand round about 
 him. How different a perfon will he then appear from 
 what he did at his firft coming, when he was as a root out 
 of dry ground, a poor, delpifed, afflicted man ! How 
 different now is his appearance, in the midft of thofe glo 
 rious angels, principalities, and powers, from what it was 
 when in the midft of a ring of foldiers, with his mock 
 robe and his crown of thorns, to be bufretted and fpit 
 xipon, or hanging on the crofs between two thieves, with a 
 multitude of his enemies round about triumphing over 
 him ! (n) 
 
 This 
 
 (D) Chri/l APPEARING in the Clouds. ] 
 
 " Thence ifluing I behold (but mortal fight 
 Suftains not fuch a ruming fea of light) 
 I fee on an empyreal flying throne, 
 Awfully rais d, heav n s everlafting Son ; 
 Crown d with that majefty which form d the world, 
 And the grand rebel flaming downward hurl d. 
 Virtue, dominion, praife, omnipotence, 
 Support the train of their triumphant prince. 
 A zone, beyond the thought of angels bright, 
 Around him, like the zodiac, winds its light. 
 Night fhades the folemn arches of his brows, 
 And in his cheek the purple morning glows. 
 Where er ferene he turns propitious eyes, 
 Or we expefl, or find a paiadife ; 
 But if refentment reddens their mild beams, 
 The Eden kindles, and the world s in flames, 
 On one hand knowledge mines in pureft light, 
 On one the fvvord of juftice fiercely bright. 
 .Now bend the knee in {port, prefent the reed, 
 Now tell the fcourg d impoftor he fliall bleed i" 
 
 " Triumphant;
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 535 
 
 This will be a moft unexpected fight to the wicked 
 world : it will come as a cry at midnight : they fhall be 
 taken in the midft of their wickednefs, and it will give 
 them a dreadful alarm. It will at once break up their re 
 vels and caroufmg. It will put an end to the defign of 
 the great army, that will then be comparing the camp of 
 the faints : it will make them let drop their weapons out 
 of their hands. The world, which will then be very 
 full of people, moil of whom will be wicked men, 
 will then be filled with dolorous fhrieking and crying ; 
 for all the kindreds of the earth (hall wail becaufe of him. 
 j Rev. i. y.] And where (hall they hide themfelves? How 
 will the fight of that awful majefty terrify them ? Then 
 they fhall fee whom they have mocked and fcoffed at, and 
 whofe church they have been endeavouring to overthrow. 
 
 This 
 
 " Triumphant King of glory ! foul of blifs ! 
 What a ftupendous turn of fate is this ! 
 O ! whither art thou rais d above the fcorn 
 And indigence of him in Bethlem boi-n, 
 A needy, helplefs, unaccounted gueft, 
 And but a fecond to the fodder d beail ! 
 How chang d from him, who meekly proftrate laid, 
 Vouchfaf d to warn the feet himfelf had made ! 
 From him who was betray d, forfook, deny d, 
 Wept, languifh d, pray d, bled, thirfted, groan d and dy d ; 
 Hung pierc d and bare, infulted by the foe, 
 All heav n in tears above, earth unconcern d below ! 
 
 " Now the defcending triumph ftops its flight, 
 From earth full twice a planetary height. 
 There all the clouds, condens d, two columns raife 
 Diflinft with orient veins and golden blaze. 
 One fix d on earth, and one on fea, and round 
 Its ample foot the fwelling billows found. 
 Thefc an immeafurable arch fupport, 
 The grand tribunal of this awful court. 
 Sheets of bright azure, from the pureft fky, 
 Stream from the chryital arch, and round the columns fly. 
 Death wrapt in chains low at the bafis lies, 
 And on the point of his own arrow dies. 
 
 " Here high enthron d th eternal judge is plac d, 
 With all the grandeur of his Godhead grac d; 
 Stars on his robes in beauteous order meet, 
 And the fun burns beneath his dreadful feet." 
 
 [YOUNG S Laft Day, book ii.J
 
 536 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 This fight will change the voice of their laughter and fing- 
 ing into dreadful wailing. Their countenance fhall be 
 changed from a (how of carnal mirth, pride and contempt, 
 to ghaftly terror, trembling, and amazement. 
 
 But with refpe6l to the faints, the church of Chrift, it 
 fhall be a joyful and moft glorious fight to them ; for it 
 will at once deliver them from all fear of their enemies, 
 who were before compaffing them about, juft ready to 
 fvvallow them up. Then fhall they lift up their heads, 
 and their redemption fhall be drawing nigh. [Luke xxi. 
 ?.8.]-~ And thus Chrift will appear with infinite majefty. 
 and at the fame time with infinite love in his counte 
 nance. Their countenances alfo (hall be changed, not 
 as the countenances of the wicked, but from forrow 
 to exceeding joy and triumph. And now the work of 
 redemption will be tinifhed in another fenfe, viz. that 
 the whole church fhall be completely and eternally freed 
 from all perfection and moleftation from wicked men and 
 devils. 
 
 2. The lajl trumpet fliall found and the dead (hall be 
 raifed, and the living changed. God fent forth his angels 
 with a great found of a trumpet, to gather together his 
 cle6t from the four corners of the earth in a myftical fenfe, 
 before the deftrudtion of Jerufalem ; / . e. he fent forth 
 the apoftles, and others, to preach the gofpel all over the 
 world. And fo, in a myftical fenfe, the great trumpet 
 was blown at the beginning of the glorious times of the 
 church. But now the great trumpet is blown in a more 
 literal fenfe, with a mighty found, which (hakes the 
 earth. There will be a great fignal given by a mighty 
 found made, which is called the voice of the archangel, 
 [i Thel. iv. 16.] For the Lord himielf (hall defcend 
 from heaven with a (hout, with the voice cf the arch- 
 angel, and with the trump of God. On the found of 
 this trumpet, the dead fhall be railed every where. Now 
 the number of the dead is very great. How many ha^ 
 death cut down iince the world has ftood. But then the 
 number will be much greater after the world (hall have 
 tt(K d fo much longer, and through moil of the remaining 
 
 time
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 537 
 
 time will doubtlefs be much fuller of inhabitants than ever 
 it has been. All thefe ihall now rife from the dead. The 
 graves fhall be opened in all parts of the \vorld, and the 
 fea {hall give up the innumerable dead that are in it. [Re\ r . 
 
 XX. 13.] (E) 
 
 And now all the inhabitants that ever (hall have been 
 upon the face of the earth, from the beginning of the 
 
 3 Z world 
 
 (E) The TRUMP ET JJoail found !~] " Plow alarming, how ftupen- 
 dous the fummons ! Nothing equal to it, nothing like it, was ever 
 heard through all the regions of the univerfe, or all the revolutions 
 of time. When conflicting armies have discharged the bellowing 
 artillery of war, or when victorious armies have fhouted for joy of 
 the conqueft, the feas and fliores have rung, the mountains and 
 plains have echoed. But the voice of the archangel, and the 
 trump of God, will refound from pole to pole. It will {hake the 
 pillars of earth, and ftartle the dungeon of hell, Stronger, rtron- 
 ger ftill ! it will penetrate even the deepeft recedes of the tomb. 
 It will pour its amazing thunder into all thofe abodes of filence. 
 The dead, the very dead fhall hear. 
 
 ** When the trumpet has founded, the dead .{hall arife. In 
 a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the graves open; the mo 
 numental piles are cleft afunder ; the families, the nations under 
 ground, ftart into day. What an immenfe harveft of men and wo 
 men, fpringing up from the caverns of the earth, and the depths 
 of the fea ! Stand awhile, my foul, and contemplate the wonderful 
 fpectacle. Adam formed in Paradife, and the babe born but yef- 
 terday, the earlieft ages, and lateft generations, meet upon the 
 fame level. Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, people of 
 all climes and languages, unite in the promifcuous throng. Here, 
 thofe vaft armies, which, like fwarms of locufls, covered coun 
 tries; which, with an irrefiftible fweep, over-run empires ; here 
 they all appear, and here they all are loft. Loft, like the fmall 
 drop of a bucket, when plunged amidft the unfathomable and 
 bo an die fs ocean. O ! the {multitudes ! the multitudes ! which 
 thefe eyes fhall furvey, when God calleth the heavens from above, 
 and the earth that he may judge his people. What mame mu(t 
 flufn the guilty cheek ! What anguifh wound the polluted breaft ; 
 to have all their filthy practices, and infamous tempers, expofcd 
 
 before this innumerable croud of witnefies ! Fly> rny foul; 
 
 inftantiy let us fly, earneftly let us fly, to the purifying blood of 
 Jefus. That all our fins may be blotted out ; that we may be 
 found unbhiuieable and unreproveable, in the prefence of the 
 aflembled world; and, what is infinitely more to be revered, in 
 the fight of the omnipotent God. [HERVEY, Tijcr. and Afp. 
 Tol. ii. Let. 5.]
 
 538 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 world to the end (hall appear upon the earth at once. The 
 church of God in all ages, Adam and Eve the firft pa 
 rents of mankind, and Abel, Seth, Methufelah, and all 
 the faints who were their contemporaries ; Noah, and 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, the prophets, and all the Old 
 Teftament faints, the holy apoftles of Jefus Chrift, and all 
 the faints of their times ; the martyrs under the ten hea 
 then perfecutions; all who belonged to the church during 
 the dark days of antichrift, all the holy martyrs who have 
 fuffered under the cruelty of the Popifh perfecutions ; all 
 the faints of the prefent time ; and all that fliall be from 
 
 hence to the end of the world. Now alfo the enemies 
 
 of the church in all ages of the world lhall appear upon 
 the face of the earth again ; the wicked drowned by the 
 flood, and the multitudes of impenitent finners that died 
 all over the world among God s profefluig people, or others 
 before Chrift, and all wicked Heathens, Jews, Mahome 
 tans, and Papifts, that have died fmce ; all fliall come 
 together. Sinners of all forts; demure hypocrites; thofe 
 who have the faireft and beft outiide, and open profane 
 drunkards, whoremongers, profane Deifts, cruel perfecu- 
 tors, and all that have died, or fliall die, in fin, to the end 
 of the world. 
 
 And at the fame time that the dead are raifed, the living 
 lhall be changed. The bodies of the wicked who flinll 
 then be living, fliall be fo changed as to fit them for eter 
 nal exigence without corruption ; and the bodies of all the 
 living faints lhall be changed to be like Chrift s glorious 
 body; [i Cor. xv. 51, 52, 53.] fo changed as to render 
 them for ever incapable of pain, affliction, or uneafmefs; 
 and all that dullnefs, heavinefs, and deformity, which their 
 bodies had before, fliall be put off; and they ihall put on 
 lirength, and beauty, and activity, and incorruptible un 
 fading glory. And now the work of redemption fliall be 
 finiihed in this refpect, viz. that all the ele6t (hall be ac 
 tually redeemed in both foul and body. Before this, the 
 work of redemption, as to its aclual fuccefs. was but in 
 complete ; for only the fouls of the redeemed were aclually 
 laved and glorified, excepting in a very few inftrmces: but 
 
 now
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 539 
 
 now all the bodies of the faints {hall be faved and glorified 
 together, both in foul and body. (F) 
 
 3. Now fliall faints be caught up in the clouds to meet 
 the Lord in the air, and all wicked men and devils fliall 
 be arraigned before the judgment-feat. When the dead 
 faints are raifed, then the whole church, confirming of all 
 
 the 
 
 (F) The general RESURRECTION.] The xvth chap, of St. Paul s 
 firft epiftle to the Corinthians is a kind of treatife on this fubjeft, 
 which ought in the firft place to be confulted, as being the lan 
 guage of divine infpiration. Next to the fcriptures is commonly 
 ranked an excellent epiftle to the fame Corinthian church by St. 
 CLEMENT of Rome [mentioned as is fuppofed Phil. iv. 3.] writ 
 ten is feems before the deftru&ion of Jerusalem. [Seech. xli.J In 
 that epiftle is the following pafiage, remarkably coincident with 
 the language of St. Paul, on tbis jubjeft : 
 
 " Let that be far from us which is written, Miferable are the 
 double-minded, and thofe who are doubtful in their hearts. Who 
 
 * fay, thefe things have we heard, and our fathers have told us 
 thefe things. But behold we are grown old, and none of them 
 
 * has happened unto us. O ye fools! Confider the trees; take 
 the vine for an example: firft it iheds its leaves; then it buds; after 
 that it fpreads its leaves; then it flowers; then come the four 
 grapes; and after them follows the ripe fruit. You fee how in a 
 little time the fruit of the trees come to maturity. Of a truth, 
 yet a little while, and his will (hall fuddcnly be accomplifhed. 
 The holy fcripture itfelf bearing witnefs, * that he fhall quickly 
 
 * come and not tarry, and that the Lord fhall faddenly come to 
 his temple, even the holy one whom ye look for. Let us con- 
 fuler, beloved, how the Lord does continually fhevv us, that there 
 fliall be a future refurreclion ; of which he has made our Lore! 
 Jefus Chrift the firft-fruits, raifing him from the dead. Let us 
 contemplate, beloved, the" refurreclion that is continually before 
 our eyes. Day and night manifeft a refurreclion to us. The 
 night lies down, and the day arifes : again the day departs and the 
 night comes on. Let us behold the fruits of the earth. Every 
 one fees how the feed is fo\vn. The fower goes forth, and cafts it 
 upon the earth; and the feed which when it was fown fell upon 
 the earth dry and naked, in time diffolves : and from the diflblu- 
 tion, the great power of the providence of the Lord raifes it again ; 
 and of one feed many arife, and bring forth fruit." [Clement s ift 
 epift. Abp. Wake s Tranf. fe<ft. 23, 24.] 
 
 From this pafiage, but efpecially St. Paul s epiftle, in the chap 
 ter above referred to, we may venture to determine that contro 
 verted point, how far the bodies of the faints will be the fame when 
 raifed from the dead, namely, juft as the corn which fprings up in 
 
 / 2 the
 
 540 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the elect through all ages, {hall appear together en the face 
 of the enrth, (excepting thole few whofe bodies were glo 
 rified before ;) and j liall afcend to meet Chrift, who fhall 
 fix his throne in the air, whence he may be feen by all 
 that vaft multitude that {hall be gathered before him. The 
 church of faints therefore fhall be taken up from the earth 
 to afcend to their Saviour. Thus the apoftle tells us, that 
 when the dead in Chrift are raifed, and the living chang- 
 eJ, then thofe who are alive and remain, {hall be caught 
 up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and fo 
 
 * fhall we be ever with the Lord. [i Thef, iv. 16, 17.] 
 Then fhall the work of redemption be nnifhed in another 
 refpe& : then fhall the whole church be perfectly and for 
 ever delivered from this evil world : they fliall take their 
 everlafting leave of this earth, where they have been gran 
 gers, and which has been to them a fcene of trouble and 
 forrow ; where the devil for the moft part has reigned as 
 god, and has greatly molefted them ; where Chrift their 
 Lord has been crucified ; and where they have been fo 
 hated, reproached, and pcrfecutcd, from age to age. And 
 there {hull be an everlafting feparation made between them 
 and wicked men. Before they were mixed together, and 
 it was impoflible in many inftances to determine which 
 were which ; but now both faints and fmners fhall appeal 
 in their true characters. 
 
 What an immenfe cloud of them will there be when 
 all the church fhall be gathered together from the eaft 
 and weft, north and fouth, to the right hand of Chrift. 
 
 Then 
 
 the harvcft, is the fame which the hufbandman previoufly fows; 
 not indeed the bare grain which was caft into the ground, but 
 wonderfully increafed and improved. [See i Cor. xv.J So doubt- 
 Icfs the bodies raifed will be effentially (not to quibble on the word 
 individually} the fame as die ; but no lefs wonderfully improves 
 than the blade and ear of corn from a fmgle grain. The manner 
 of this we may not be able to comprehend at prefent; but we may 
 furely believe the fat on the credit of immutable omnipotence. 
 From an expreffion of St. Paul, [i Thef. iv. 16.] that the dead 
 
 * in Chrift (hall rife Jirft? fome divines have inferred a twofold re- 
 furrettion, firft of the righteous and afterwards of the wicked, but 
 this text only aflerts, that the dead mall be raifed before the living 
 are changed, as appears from the following verfe. [G. E.]
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 541 
 
 -Then the work of redemption will be finifhed in this 
 refpetft alfo. They all belonged to one fociety before, but 
 yet were widely feparated from each other; tome being in 
 heaven, and fome on earth ; and thole on earth were fepa 
 rated one from another, many of them by wide oceans and 
 vaft continents. But now they fhall all be gathered to 
 g-ether, never to be feparated any more. And not only 
 gathered together, but gathered unto their Head, into his 
 immediate glorious preience, never to be feparated from 
 him any more. 
 
 At the fame time, all wicked men and devils fliall be 
 brought before the judgment-feat of Chrift. Thefe fhall 
 be gathered to his left hand, and, as it feems, will flill re 
 main upon the earth, and riot be caught up into the air, as 
 the faints fhall. Satan, that old ferpent, who firft procured 
 the fall and mifcry of mankind, and has all along mown 
 himfelf fuch an inveterate enemy to the Redeemer, fhall 
 never more have any thing to do with the church of God, 
 or be fuffered in the leaft to afflict any member of it any 
 more for ever; but fhall now be judged, and receive the 
 due reward of his deeds. Now is come the time which 
 he long has dreaded, and trembled at the thought of; the 
 time wherein he mud be judged, and receive his full pu- 
 nifhment. He who by his temptation malicioufly pro 
 cured Chrift s crucifixion, and triumphed upon it, as 
 though he had obtained the victory, even he fhall fee the 
 confequences of the death of Chriit which he procured : 
 for Chrift s coming to judge him in his human nature is 
 the confequence of it ; becaufe he obtained and purchafed 
 this glory to himfelf by that death. Now he muft (land 
 before that fame Jefus whofe death he procured, to be 
 judged, condemned, and eternally destroyed by him. If 
 Satan, the prince of hell, trembles at the thought of it 
 thoufands of years beforehand, how much more will he 
 tremble, as proud and as ftubborn as he is. when he comes 
 to ftand at Chrift s bar ! Then fhall he alfo (land at the 
 bar of the faints, whom he has fo hated, afflicted, and mo- 
 lefted : for the faints lhall judge him together with Chrift: 
 [j Cor. vi. 3.] Know ye not that we fliall judge angels! 
 
 Now
 
 542 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 Now (hall he be as it were fubdued under the church s 
 feet. [Rom. xvi. 20.] Satan, when he tempted our rirft 
 parents to fall, deceitfully and falfely told them, that they 
 fhould be as gods : but little did he think that the confe- 
 quence fhould be, that they fhould indeed be fo much like 
 gods, as to be afleffors with God to judge him. (G) Much 
 lefs did he think, that in confequence of this one of the 
 pofterity of thofe peiibns whom he tempted, fhould aclu- 
 ally be united to God, fhould judge the world, and that 
 he himfelf muft ftand trembling and aftonifhed before his 
 judgment-feat. And all the infernal fpirits who have fo 
 pppofed Chrift and his kingdom, fhall now at laft ftand in 
 the utmoft amazement and horror before Chrift and his 
 church, who ihall appear to condemn them. 
 
 Now alfo fhall Chrift s other enemies be brought to 
 appear before him. Now fhall the proud fcribes and Pha- 
 rifces, who had fuch a malignant hatred againft him while 
 in his ftate of humiliation, and who perfecuted Chrift 
 to death ; thofe before whofe judgment-feat Chrift was 
 once called, and ftood as a malefactor at their bar, and 
 thofe who mocked him, and buffetted him, and fpit in 
 his face ; now fhall they fee Chrift in his glory, as he 
 forewarned them, [Matt. xxvi. 64, 65.] when he was 
 before their judgment-feat; but now they fhall ftand 
 before his judgment-feat with inconceivable horror and 
 amazement. 
 
 Now alfo all the cruel enemies and perfecutors of the 
 church that have been in all ages, fhall come in fight 
 together, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes, the perfccuting fcribes and Pharifees, the per- 
 
 fecuting 
 
 (c) The faints Jkall judge the FALLEN Angfh.~\ "There feems 
 a peculiar dignity and propriety in this determination of the great 
 God, that when the Devils who arc exprefsly faid to be referved 
 in chains of darknefs to the judgment of the great day, [Jude 
 6.] (hall be condemned, thefainfs being raifed to the feats of glory 
 which thefe wicked fpirits have forfeited and loft, fliould affift in 
 that fentence which fhall difplay the victory of Chrift over them 
 in his fervants, once their captives, and will no doubt render the 
 fentence itfelfyct more intolerable to creatures of fuch rnalignitv 
 and pride." [DODDRIDGE, on I Cor. vi. 3.]
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 543 
 
 fecuting heathen emperors, Julian the apoftate, the cruel 
 perfecuting Popes and Papifts, Gog and Magog, fhall all 
 appear at once before the judgment-feat of Ch rift. They 
 and the faints, who have in every age been perfccuted by 
 them, muft confront one another before the great Judge. 
 And now fhall the faints on their glorious thrones be made 
 the judges of thofe unjuft kings and rulers, who have be 
 fore judged and condemned them to death. Now fhall 
 thofe perfecutors behold the glory to which they are ar 
 rived, whom they before fo defpifed and cruelly treated, 
 and Chrift will make thofe holy martyrs as it were to come 
 and fet their feet on the necks of their perfecutors ; they 
 fhall be made their footftool. [See Jom. x. 24.} Thus 
 wonderfully will the face of things be altered from what ic 
 ufed to be in the former times of the world ; now will all 
 things be coming to rights. 
 
 4. The righteoufnefs of the church fhall be manifefted, 
 and all the wickednets of their enemies fhall be brought to 
 light. Thofe faints who had been the objects of hatred, 
 reproach and contempt in the world, and were reviled and 
 condemned by their perfecutors without a caufe, fhall now 
 be fully vindicated. They fhall now appear cloathed with 
 the glorious robe of Chrift s righteoufnefs. And their in 
 herent holinefs fhall alfo be made manifeft, and all their 
 good works brought to light. The good things which they 
 did in fecret fhall now be manifefted openly. Thofe holy 
 ones of God, who had been treated as though they were 
 the tilth and offscouring of the earth, as though they were 
 not fit to live upon earth, fhall now appear to have been 
 the excellent of the earth. Now God will bring forth 
 their righteoufnefs as the light, and their judgment as the 
 noon-day. And now fhall it be feen who were thofe that 
 were not fit to live, when all the wickednefs of the ene 
 mies of Chrift and his church, their pride, their malice, 
 their cruelty, their hatred of true religion, fhall be fet 
 forth in its true light. And now all the wickednefs of the 
 whole world fhall be fully difcovered, their very hearts 
 opened to view; and things that have been fpoken in the 
 car, in the clofet, and done in the dark, fhall be manifefted
 
 544 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 in the light, and proclaimed before angels and men. [Luke 
 xii. 3.] 
 
 5. Sentence {hall be pronounced both on the righteous 
 and the wicked. Chrift, the judge, fhall pafs that fen- 
 tence on the church at his right hand, Come, ye We fled 
 4 of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 from the foundation of the world. [Matt. xxv. 34.] 
 This fhall be pronounced with infinite love, and the 
 voice will make every heart to overflow with joy. Thus 
 Chrifi fhall pronounce a fentence of juftification on thoo- 
 fands and millions, who have before had a fentence of 
 condemnation pafTed upon them by their perfec utors. He 
 will thus put honour upon thofe who have been before 
 defpifed : he will own them for his, and will as it were 
 put a crown of glory upon their heads before the world ; 
 and then fhall they fhine forth as the fun with Jefus Chrift 
 in glory and joy, in the fight of all their enemies. (H) 
 
 And then (hall the fentence of condemnation be pafled 
 on the wicked, Depart, ye curfed, into cverlafAing rire, 
 * prepared for the devil and his angc-ls. [Matt.] Thus 
 ihall the church s enemies be condemned ; in which fen 
 tence of condemnation, the holy martyrs, who have fuf- 
 fered from them, ihall concur, (i) When the words of 
 
 this 
 
 (H) Chrlfl will p u t HONOUR upon his faint j.~\ How beautiful 
 
 and pointed is that pafTage in the apocryphal book of Wifdom, 
 
 which reprefents the wicked at the laft day, thus bewailing their 
 
 oily and contempt of the faints : Then fhall the righteous man 
 
 ftand in great boldnefs before the face of fuch as have a/Hited 
 
 him, and made no account of his labours. When they fee it, 
 
 they fhall be troubled with terrible fear, and fhall be amazed at 
 
 the ftrangenefs of his falvation, fo far beyond all that they looked 
 
 for. And they, repenting and groaning for anguifh of fpirit, 
 
 fhall fay within themfelves, " This was he whom we had fome- 
 
 times in derilion, and a proverb of reproach. We fools ac- 
 
 counted his life madnefs, and his end to be without honour. 
 
 How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is 
 
 among the faints!" [Wild. v. I 5.] 
 
 (i) DEPART, ye curfed.~] "Oh! let me never hear thy voice 
 pronounce thofe dreadful words. With what terrors would that 
 fentence pierce my heart, while it thunders in my ears ! To be 
 
 feparated
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 545 
 
 this fcntence are pronounced, every fyllable of it will be 
 more terrible than a ftream of lightning through their 
 hearts. We can conceive but very little of the horror 
 which it fhall produce. 
 
 6. Upon this Chrift and all his faints, and the holy 
 nngels miniftering unto them, {hall leave this lower world, 
 and afcend up to the higheft heavens. Chrift {hall afcend 
 in as great glory as he defcended, and in fome refpecrs 
 greater ; for now he {hall afcend with his elect church with 
 him, glorified in both body and foul. Chrift s firft afcen- 
 fion to heaven foon after his own refurrecStion was very glo 
 rious ; but this fecond afcenfiofl, the afccnfion of his myfti- 
 cal body, his whole church, {hall be far more fo. The 
 redeemed church {hall all afcend with him in a moft joyful 
 and triumphant manner; and all their enemies and perfe- 
 cutors, who fhall be left behind on this accurfcd ground, 
 fhall fee their glory and hear their fongs. 
 
 y. When Chrift and his church have afcendcd to hea 
 ven, this world {hall be fet on fire, and turned into a great 
 furnace, wherein all the enemies of Chrift and his church 
 (hall be tormented for ever and ever. [2 Pet. iii. 7.] 
 
 * But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the 
 
 * fame word are kept in ftore, referved unto fire againft 
 
 4 A the 
 
 fcparatcd from thee, and curft with immortality, who can fuftain 
 the intolerable doom ? 
 
 O dreadful ftate of black defpair, 
 
 To fee my God remove, 
 And fix my doleful ftation where 
 
 I muft not tafte his love, 
 
 nor view the light of thy countenance for ever. Unutterable 
 woe ! there is no hell beyond it. Separation from God is the 
 depth of mifery. Blacknefs of darknefs, and eternal night muft 
 neceflarily involve a foul excluded from thy prefence. 
 
 " Depart from thee ! Oh ! whither fliall I go from thee ? Into 
 utter darknefs? After that fearful doom, I fhould without con- 
 ftraint feek out fhades as dark as hell, and in the horrors of eternal 
 night bewail the infinite lofs. 
 
 "The remembrance of that loft happinefs would render celeftial 
 day infufFerable. The light of paradife could not cheer me with 
 out thy favour : the fongs of angels would but heighten my an- 
 guifh and torment me with a fcene of blifs which I muft never 
 tafte." [Mrs. ROWE S Meditations, p. 67.]
 
 546 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. 
 Ah ! how will it ftrike the wicked with horror, when the 
 world fhall be fet on fire, either by lightning from heaven, 
 or fire iffuing out of the bowels of the earth : efpecially 
 when the fire begins to lay hold upon them, and they find 
 no way to efcape it. [2 Pet. iii. ic. 12.] The heavens 
 ihall pafs away with a great noife, and the elements 
 ihall melt with fervent heat, the earth alfo, and the 
 works that are therein ihall be burnt up ; and that the 
 heavens being on fire ihall be diffolved, and the elements 
 ihall melt with fervent heat. And fo fierce ihall be its 
 heat, that it ihall burn the earth into its very centre. 
 [Deut. xxxii. 22.] For a fire is kindled in my anger, and 
 * ihall burn unto the loweft hell, and /hall confume the 
 earth with increafe, and fet on fire the foundations of 
 the mountains. 
 
 And here ihall all the perfecutors of the church of 
 God burn in everlafting fire, who have before burnt the 
 faints at the ftake, and fhall fufrer torments beyond 
 all that their utmoft wit and malice eould inflict on 
 them. Here their bodies fhall be tormented eternally, 
 and never be confumed : while the wrath of God ihall be 
 poured out upon their fouls. Though the fouls of the 
 wicked in hell do now fuffer punimment, yet that will 
 be fo increafed at the day of judgment, that what they 
 fuffered before, is in comparifon of it, as an imprifonment 
 to the execution which follows. (K) And now the devil, 
 
 that 
 
 ( K) The ETERNITY of hell iorments.~\ This is a fubjeft fo awful 
 and alarming, that a benevolent mind would never wifh to con 
 template, much lefs to difcoorfe of it, but a faithful minifter muil 
 not always confult his feelings, but be content fometimes to offer 
 violence to himfelf for the good of others. " Where is the mini 
 fter of the gofpel (fays Mr. Saurin) who has notathoufand and a 
 thoufand times difplayed the charms of religion, and difplayed 
 them in vain?" Some fouls muft be terrified; fome fmners muft 
 be faved with fear and pulled out of the fire. [Jude 23.] Some 
 hearts are fenfible only to one objeft, that is hell; and if there be 
 any one way of preventing their being really precipitated into that 
 frightful abyfr hereafter, it is by precipitating them there in ima 
 gination
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 547 
 
 that old ferpent, fhall receive his full punifhment ; and 
 that which he long trembled for fear of, fliall now fully 
 
 come 
 
 gination now ! Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we per- 
 fuade men. [2 Cor. v. n.J [Sermons, v. vol. i. Ser. 7.] 
 
 Such preachers have been called minifters of damnation, with as 
 much propriety as a man who alarmed a family in danger of fur- 
 rounding flames, mould be called a meffenger of definition. 
 
 Monf. Claude points out a very judicious method of treating the 
 fubjedl By (hewing that man is a creature fubjeft to a law a 
 law fuppofes a judge and a judge punifhment upon tranfgreffors. 
 This is fo evident to the common fenfe of mankind, that all na 
 tions have admitted the doftrine of future punifhment into their 
 religions. But the evidences of this muft not reft here ; fcrip- 
 ture muft be applied to as the ultimate authority ; and from this 
 muft be (hewn, not only that God will punifti finners, but par 
 ticularly, that he will punifh them in a future ftate that this pu 
 nifhment will invole both foul and body, as both have been 
 
 connected in fin that it muft be a real punifliment, including 
 
 real, permanent, and everlafting fenfaticn of pain^and that its 
 degree will be proportional to the greatnefs of the Judge, the 
 ftriftnefs of the tribunal, and the power of the Almighty hand that 
 executes it. [See CLAUDE S Effay, tranfl. by Robinfon, vol. i. 
 402 408.] But we fhall rather abftraft the fubftance of a fermon 
 of our author (Pref. EDWARDS) who has treated the fubjeft with 
 much argument and good fenfe, interfperfing (between crotchets) 
 fome obfervations from other authors. 
 
 After fome preliminary remarks our author eftablifhes this 
 DOCTRINE, viz. That the mlfery of the wicked in hell -will le alfo- 
 lutely ETERNAU. In difcourfmg on this docirine he advances four 
 propofitions : 
 
 I. That it is not contrary to the divine perfeftions to inflict on 
 wicked men a punifhment that is eternal. ( i . ) That it is not incon- 
 
 fiftent with divine juftice appears from the infinite evil of fin. 
 
 [Confider that among men all offences increafe their malignity in 
 proportion to the dignity of the perfon offended. The murder of 
 a flave is highly criminal, but that of a mafter, a father, a prince, 
 proportionally more fo. God is a being of infinite Majefty, and 
 his authority over all the creatures abfolute and unlimited :] God 
 is alfo infinitely worthy of love, honour, and obedience ; our ob 
 ligations to honour and obey him are therefore infinite, and confe- 
 quently fin, which violates all thofe obligations, [infults that Ma- 
 jdty, and renounces his authority] muft be in its object, at leaftj 
 hjinite, and therefore deferves infinite, or which is the fame thing, 
 eternal punifhment. (2.) Neither is the doftrine inconfiftent with 
 the divine mercy. It is an unreasonable and an unfcriptural notion 
 God s rnrcy, to fugpofe that his nature is fo liable to be moved 
 and overcome, by feeing a creature in naifcry, that he cannot bear 
 
 4 A 2 to
 
 548 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 come upon him. This world, which formerly nfed to be 
 
 the 
 
 to fee impartial juftice executed. The fcriptures reprcfent the 
 mercy of God as free and fovereign, and not of fuch a nature that 
 God cannot help but deliver finners from mifery. This is a mean 
 and mofl unworty idea of the divine mercy ; it is alfo contrary 
 to plain facl. For if there be any meaning in the objection, it fu- 
 pofcs that all the mifery of a creature, whether juft or unjuft, is 
 in itfelf contrary to the nature of God. For if a very great de 
 gree of mifery, though juft, is contrary to his nature, then it is 
 ::ly, in our conceptions, to add to the mercy, and then a lefs de- 
 Tee of mifery will be fo. And fo, the mercy of God being infi- 
 * nite, all mifery mujl be contrary to his nature ; which is msnifeftly 
 . contrary to fadl. For we fee that God, in his providence, inflicts 
 very great calamities on mankind, even in this life. However 
 ftrong fuch kind of objections may feem, they arife from want of 
 a fenfe of the infinite evil and provocation that there are in fin. If 
 fin appeared as hateful to us, as eternal mifery appears dreadful ; 
 if it ftirred up our indignation and deteftation, as eternal mifery 
 does our terror, all objections againfl this doctrine would vanifli at 
 once. [So obferves the inimitable Saurin.] " Allow the obliga 
 tions under which the incarnation lays mankind, and everlafting 
 piuiimment feems to me to have nothing contrary to divinejuftice. 
 No, the burning lake with its fmolii, eternity with its abyffes, 
 devils with their rage, all hell with ail its horrors, feem to me not 
 too rigorous for the punifhment of men, who have * trodden un- 
 
 * der foot the Son of God, counted the blood of the Covenant an 
 
 * unholy thing, crucified the Son of God afrefh, and done defpite 
 
 * unto the Spirit of Grace." [Heb. vi. 6. x. 26.] [Saurin, vol. iii. 
 Sen 13.] 
 
 But eternal mifery is not only confident with the divine perfec 
 tions, but they appear evidently to require it. They require that 
 God fliould infinitely hate fin that he Ihould exprefs that hatred ; 
 (for no pofiible reafon can be given why^it is not fuitable for God 
 to aS, as it is fuitable for him to be;} and the proper expreflion 
 of an infinite hatred to fin, in the r.;. :icnon of eternal punifliment 
 on incorrigible finners. 
 
 II. That eternal death or punifliment, which God threatens to 
 the wicked, is not annihilation, but an abiding fenJi!>L fiuni/bmcrtt, 
 or mifery. (i.) The fcripture reprefents it as implying extreme 
 [wins and fufferings The fmoke of their torment. ("Rev. xiv. 1 1. 
 See alib Matt. xxvi. 24.] (2.) It defcribes them as fen/ilk of their 
 punilhment I am tormented. [Luke xvi. 24.] (3.) It men 
 tions different .degrees of punishment * Few ftripes and many. 
 [Luke xii. 47. See alfo Matt. v. 22.] (4.) The wicked arc called; 
 Spirits in prifon. [i Pet. iii. 19.] 
 
 III. The punifhment of the wicked mall be abfohitely without 
 er.th Of thofe who have held that the tormeiita of hell are not : 
 
 abfo- .
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 549 
 
 the place of -his kingdom, where he fet himfelf upas God, 
 
 fliall 
 
 abfolutely eternal, i. Some fuppofe, that in the threatenings of 
 everlafting punifhment, the terms ufed do not necefiarily import 
 a proper eternity, but only a very long duration. 2. Others fup 
 pofe, that if they do import a proper eternity, yet we cannot 
 neceflarily conclude thence, that God will fulfil his threatenings. 
 But ( i . ) that thefe terms imply a proper eternity, obferve that al 
 though the words for-ever, &c. are fometimes ufed in a limited fig- 
 nification, as referring to along time, on this fubjedl; they cannot 
 well be fo taken as relating to a period which commences not until 
 time is no more that they are doubled * for ever and ever, [Rev. 
 xiv. ii.] the fame expreluons defcribe thehappinefs of the blef- 
 fed, [Matt. xxv. 46.] and even the divine exigence, [Rev. iv. 9.] 
 where there is no doubt of their importing an endlefs period. 
 Our Lord fays that finners fliall not be delivered till they have paid 
 the utmoft farthing, [Matt. v. 26.] that their worm dieth.no/, and 
 their fire is not quenched. [Markix. 44.] [See Note D, p. 46.] 
 (2.) There are others who allow, that thefe threatenings de 
 note a proper eternity ; yet fuppofe that pofiibly God may not 
 fulfil them ; there not being the fame reafon to oblige God to ful 
 fil his threatenings as his promifcs. 
 
 But, though this is granted as to conditional threatenings, it 
 muft not be admitted of thofe which are pofitive and peremptory, 
 as are thofe of eternal punimment ; many of which are exprefled 
 in the form of predictions. Such perfons alfo fuppofe, that God 
 was obliged to make life of -A fallacy to govern the world by ; and 
 a fallacy fo weak that they have been able to deleft it. 
 
 [" But if it were allowed, that God had no other defign in de- 
 nouncing^eternal punifhtn^ps than that of alarming finners, would 
 it become us to oppofe his wife purpofe, and with our unhallowed 
 hands throw down, the baurftr which he had erefted againfl fin ? . . 
 Let us preach the gofpei as Ck>d hath revealed it. God did not 
 think the doclirine of evei4afting punifnment injurious to the holi- 
 nefs of his attributes. Let not us pretend to think it will injure 
 them." Saurin, Ser. 3. vol. iii.] 
 
 IV. Several good and important ends will be obtained by this 
 eternal punifhment of the wicked. As the vindication of God s 
 injured majefty the honour of divine juftice and even indirect - 
 ly, the glory of divine mercy and the greater happinefs of the 
 faints. [Not that they can take any pleafure in the fight of mi- 
 fery, but] it will make them more fenfible of their own happinefs, 
 and more to prize difcriminating grace. [Pref. Edwards^ Serm. 
 Etern.ofHell.] 
 
 Tims far our author; prolix as this note may be, it is hoped 
 the importance of the fubjedl (especially at this time) will apolo 
 gize ior briefly confidering an objc&ign or two not mentioned 
 above, but which to fome have appeared of great force. 
 
 i. It;
 
 550 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fhall be the place of his full and everlafting punifhment. 
 (L.) And in this another defign of the work of redemption, 
 viz. putting ChrilVs enemies under his feet, (hall be per 
 fectly accomplirtied. His enemies fliall now be made his 
 footftool, in the fulleft degree. Now ihall be the com 
 plete 
 
 1. It has been often urged, that the whole period in which men 
 fin being but a few years, bears no proportion to an eternity of fuf- 
 fering. But (as Mr. Saurin hath well obferved) " it is not the 
 length of time employed in committing a crime that determines the 
 degree and the duration of its punifhment, it is the turpitude and 
 atrocioufnefs of it." A man mail rob us in the ftreet, another 
 mall receive the article ftolen, our law fhall tranfport the former 
 for 7 and the latter for 14 years, though both were inftantaneous 
 adls. But a third mail by a long continued feries of cruelty ftarve 
 a domeftic to death, and yet he fhall receive an inftantaneous pu- 
 nifhment, he fhall die. 
 
 2. It is poffitively faid God will not keep his anger for ever, 
 will not be always wrath, [Pf. ciii. 9. Ifa. Ivii. 16.] and yet it is 
 alfo as pofitively faid that he will have no mercy on the creatures 
 of his own hand, but punifh them with everlafting deftruftion, 
 [Ifa. xxvii. 2. 2 Thef. i. 9.] how then fhall we reconcile thefe af- 
 fertions ? By fixing a different fenfe on the fame words to favour a 
 flattering hypothecs ? No, but by diftinguifhing the perfons to 
 whom the promifes and threatenings are addrefled, the former to 
 Ifrael, to the contrite and humble penitent ; the latter to obftinate 
 and impenitent finners, as may be feen in the context. 
 
 After all we do not deny, but that fome perfons by treating this 
 doctrine injudicioufly have given too much handle to objectors 
 we do not pretend that it has no difficulties ; but we think moft of 
 them may be refolved (Saurin fays all of them) by confidering 
 that though all the wicked will b< involved in puniihment of the 
 fame duration, yet God can apportion the degree of punifhment, 
 to the degree of the finners turpitude. And that this punifhment 
 will not be merely an arbitrary infliction of Deity, but the natural 
 confequence of fin. Sin eftranges the foul from God banifhes 
 it from his prefence torments the confcience hardens the heart, 
 and, without almighty grace, a finner left to himfclf will for ever 
 iin, and confequently forever fuffer. [I. N.] 
 
 (L) This W ORLvJbal! be HELL.] So conjectured our author; on 
 the contrary Dr. Burnett and many others have imagined that the 
 earth would be purified and become the heaven of the faints, 
 perhaps both were wrong. At leaft neither of thefe pofitions feem 
 to be plainly revealed; and our notions of fpiritual bodies are fo 
 uncertain aud imperfeft that we can hardly reafon on the fubjeft. 
 Donbtlefs the Divine Majefty will not want means of punifhing ob- 
 ilinate rebels againft his government, and wherever may be the 
 
 fcene
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 551 
 
 plete fulfilment of that threatening, [Gen. iii. 15.] < It fhall 
 bruife thy head. 
 
 8. At the fame time, all the church fhall enter with 
 Chrift, their head, into the higheft heavens, and {hall 
 there enter on the ftate of their higheft and eternal blefTed- 
 nefs and glory. While the lower world, which they 
 have left under their feet, is fcized with the fire of God s 
 vengeance, the whole church fhall enter, with their glo 
 rious head, and all the holy angels attending, in a joy 
 ful manner, into the eternal paradife of God, the palace 
 of the great Jehovah, their heavenly Father. The gates 
 ijiall open wide for them to enter, and there Chrift will 
 bring them into his chambers in the higheft fenfe. He 
 will bring them into his Father s houfe, into a world 
 not like that which they have left. Here Chrift will 
 bring them, and prefent them in glory to his Father, fay 
 ing, * Here am I and the children which thou haft given 
 me; [Heb. ii. 15.] as much as to fay, Here am I, 
 
 * with every one of thofe whom thou gaveft me from eter- 
 nity to take the care of, that they might be redeemed and 
 
 * glorified, and to redeem whom I have done and fufFered 
 fo much, and to make way for the redemption of whom 
 I have for fo many ages been accomplishing fuch great re- 
 volutions. Here they are now perfectly redeemed in body 
 
 * and foul ; I have perfedlly delivered them from all the 
 
 ill 
 
 fcene of his juftice, it muft exceed the power of our prefent con 
 ceptions. MILTON has perhaps in the following pafTage given the 
 fineft fpecimen of the terrific fublime, which ever came from an 
 uninfpired pen. 
 
 " A dungeon horrible on all fides round 
 
 As one great furnace flam d, yet from thofe flames 
 
 No light, but rather darknefs vifible 
 
 Scrv d only to difcover fights of woe, 
 
 Regions of forrow, doleful (hades, where peace 
 
 And reft can never dwell, hope never comes 
 
 That comes to all; but torture without end 
 
 Still urges, and a fiery deluge fed 
 
 With ever burning fulphur unconfum d : 
 
 Such place eternal juftice has prepared 
 
 For thofe rebellious." , 
 
 [Par. Loft. b. i.J
 
 552 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 ill e ffccls of the fall, and freed them from all their ene- 
 
 * mies ; I have brought them all together into one glorious 
 fociety, and united them all in myfelf : I have openly 
 juftified them all before angels and men, and I have 
 
 * brought them hither from that accurfed world where 
 
 * they have fuiFered fo much, and prefented them Ipotlefs 
 
 * before thy throne : I have done all that for them which 
 
 * thou haft appointed me: I have perfectly cleanfed 
 them from all filthinefs in my blood, and here they 
 
 * are refplendent with thy perfect image. And then the 
 Father will accept and own them for his children, and 
 will welcome them to the eternal and perfect inheritance 
 and glory of his houfe, giving them more glorious, mani- 
 feftations of his love than ever, and admitting them to a 
 more full and perfect enjoyment cf himfelf. 
 
 And now ihall be the marriage of the Lamb in the 
 moft perfect fenfe. The commencement of the glorious 
 times of the church on earth, after the fall of antichrifr, 
 is reprefented as the marriage of the Lamb : but after 
 this we read of another marriage of the Lamb, at the clofr 
 of the day of judgment. After the beloved difciple had 
 given an account of the day of judgment, in the clofe of 
 the xxth chapter of Revelation, then he proceeds to give 
 an account of what follows in the xxift and xxiid chapters ; 
 and particularly he gives an account, that he faw the 
 holy city, the new Jerufalem, (M) prepared as a bride 
 adorned for her hufband. And when Chrift fhall bring 
 his church into his Father s houfe in heaven, after the 
 judgment, he (hall bring her thither as his bride, having 
 there prefented her, whom he loved, and gave himfelt 
 for, to himfelf without fpot or wrinkle, or any fucli 
 thing. [Eph. v. 27.] The bridegroom and the bride fhall 
 then enter into heaven, both having on their wedding 
 
 robes, 
 
 (n) The NEW JERUSALEM. "\ Among other circumftanccs 
 (which are undoubtedly allegorical) in the magnificent defcription 
 of this city, it is faid [Rev. xxi. 21.] The itreet of the city was 
 pure gold as it were tranfparent glafs. From this paflage an in 
 genious
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 553 
 
 robes, attended with all the glorious angels, and com 
 mencing an eternal feaft of bleffednefs This {hall 
 
 be the day of the gladnefs of Chrift s heart, wherein he 
 will greatly rejoice, and all the faints with him. Chrift 
 (hall rejoice over his bride, and the bride fhall rejoice in 
 her hufband, in this ftate of her confummate and everlaft- 
 ing bleffednefs. 
 
 And now the whole work of redemption is finifhed- 
 We have feen how it has been carrying on from the fall 
 of man to this time. But now it is complete, the top 
 ftone of the building is laid. In the progrefs of the dif- 
 courfe on this fubjecl, we have followed the church of 
 God in all the ftorms and tempefts through which fhe has 
 paffed, till at length we have feen her enter the harbour, 
 and land in the higheft heavens,, in complete and eternal 
 glory. We have gone through time, and the feveral ages 
 of it, as the providence of God, and the word of God 
 have led us ; and now we have iffued in eternity when 
 time fhall be no more. We have feen all the church s 
 enemies tixed in endlefs mifery, and the church prefenred 
 before the Father in heaven, there to enjoy the moft un- 
 4 B fpeakablc 
 
 genious writer (Mr. Newton,} has fuggefted the following beauti 
 ful ideas :...." If our reading is right, we muft underftand it 
 cither of gold, pure, bright, and perfpicuous as the fineit tranf- 
 parent glafs. or elfe, as two diftindl comparifons ; iplendid and 
 durable, as the pureft gold, clear and tranfparent as the fineil 
 glafs. Our glafs is clear but brittle, our gold is fhining and folid, 
 but it is opaque and difcovers only a furface ; and thus it is with 
 our minds. The powers of imagination are lively and extenfive, 
 but tranfient and uncertain. The powers of the underftanding are 
 more folid and regular ; but at the fame time more flow and limit 
 ed, and confined to the outfide properties of the few objects around 
 us. But when we arrive within the vail, the perfections of the 
 glafs and gold will be combined, and the imperfections of each 
 entirely ceafe. Then we fliall know more than we can now ima 
 gine ; the glafs Jkall be all gold. And then we mall apprehend truth 
 in all its relations and coniequences .... by a iingle glance of 
 thought, as the fight pierces in an inftant through the largeft 
 
 tranfparent body : the gold will be all glafs (I do not offer 
 
 this as the fenfe of the paffage.") [CARDi PHOBIA, vol. i. p. 
 H 15-3
 
 554 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 fpeakable and inconceivable glory and bleffednefs through 
 out the never ending ages of eternity. (N) 
 
 Now all Chrift s enemies will be perfectly put tmdef 
 his feet, and he fhall have his moft perfect triumph over 
 fin and Satan, and all his inftruments, and death and hell. 
 Now fhall all the promifes made to Chrift by the Father 
 before the foundation of the world, the promifes of the 
 covenant of redemption, be fully accomplifhed. Chrift 
 fhall now perfectly have obtained the joy that was fet be 
 fore him, for which he undertook thofe fufferings which 
 he underwent in the ftate of humiliation. Now (hall all 
 the hopes and expectations of the faints be fulfilled. The 
 ftate of things that the church was in before was a pro- 
 greflive and preparatory ftate ; but now flic is arrived to 
 her moft perfect ftate of glory. All the glory of the beft 
 times of the church on earth is but a faint ftiadow of this 
 her confummate felicity in heaven. 
 
 And now Chrift the great Redeemer fhall be moft per 
 fectly glorified, and God the Father (hall be glorified in 
 him, and the Holy Ghoft fhall be moft fully glorified in 
 the perfection of his work on the hearts of all the church. 
 And now fhall that new heaven and new earth, or that 
 renewed ftate of things, which had been building up ever 
 fmce Chrift s refurre&ion, be completely finifhed, after 
 the very material frame of the old heavens and old earth 
 are deftroyed : [Rev. xxi. i.] And I faw a new heaven 
 
 and 
 
 (N) ETERNITY.] 
 
 " ETERNITY, the various fentence paft, 
 Affigns the fever d throng diftindl abodes, 
 Sulphureous orambrofial : what enfues ? 
 The deed predominant ! the deed of deeds ! 
 Which makes a hell of hell, a heav n of heav n. 
 The goddefs, with deternrin d afpett, turns 
 Her adamantine keys, enormous fize, 
 Thro deitiny s inextricable wards, 
 Deep driving every bolt, on both their fates. 
 Then from the chryftal battlements of heav n, 
 Down, down, fhe hurls it thro the dark profound, 
 Ten thoufand, thoufand fathoms, there to ruft, 
 And ne er unlock her resolution more." 
 
 S Night Thoughts, N. 9.]
 
 COMPLETED IN A FUTURE STATE. 555 
 
 and a new earth : for the firft heaven and the firft earth 
 
 * were parTed away. And who can conceive of the tri 
 umph of thofe praifes which fhall be fung in heaven on 
 this great occafion. The beloved difciple John feems to 
 want expreflion to defcribe the joy on the fall of antichrift, 
 and fays, It was as the voice of many waters, and as the 
 voice of mighty thimderings, faying Alleluia : for the 
 
 * Lord God omnipotent reigneth. But much more inex- 
 preffible will thofe praifes be which will be fung in heaven 
 after the final confummation of all things: they will be 
 mighty thunderings indeed ! 
 
 And now how are all the former things pafled away, and 
 what a glorious ftate are things fixed in to remain to all 
 eternity ! and as Chrift, when he firft entered upon the 
 work of redemption after the fall of man, had the king 
 dom committed to him of the Father, and took on him- 
 felf the adminiftration of the affairs of the univerfe, to 
 manage all fo as to fubferve the purpofes of this affair ; fo 
 now, the work being finifhed, he will deliver up the king 
 dom to God, even the Father, [i Cor. xv. 24.] Theq 
 
 * cometh the end, when he (hall have delivered up the 
 
 * kingdom to God, even the Father; when he {hall have 
 
 * put down all rule, and all authority and power. Not 
 that Chrift fhould ceafe to reign or have a kingdom after 
 this; for it is faid, [Luke i. 33.] He fliall reign over 
 the houfc of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there 
 mail be no end. [Dan. vii. 14.] His dominion is an 
 
 * everlafting dominion, which fhall not pafs away, and 
 his kingdom that which fhall not be deftroyed. But 
 the meaning is, that Chrift fhall deliver up that kingdom 
 or dominion which he has over the world, as the Father s 
 delegate or vicegerent, to be managed in fubferviency to 
 this great defign of redemption. The end of this com mil 
 lion, or delegation, which he had from the Father, feems 
 to be to fubferve this particular defign of redemption ; and 
 therefore, when that defign is fully accomplifhed, the com- 
 miiTion will ccafe, and Chrift will deliver it up to the 
 Father, from whom he received it. 
 
 4 B ? GENE-
 
 556 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 I PROCEED now to enter upon fome improvement 
 of the whole that has been faid from this doctrine. 
 
 I. Hence we may learn how great a work this of re 
 demption is. We have now, in an imperfect manner con- 
 fidered its whole progrefs from its foundation at the fall 
 through a long fucceflion of wonderful works, advancing 
 higher and higher from one age to another, till the top- 
 flone is laid at the end of the world. And now let us con- 
 fider how great this v/ork is. Do men, when they behold 
 the palaces of princes admire their magnificence, and gran 
 deur? How then (hould we admire this building of God, 
 which he has been erecting for himfelf through a long fuc- 
 ceffion of ages. There are three things which have been 
 mentioned, that efpecially fhow the greatnefs of this work 
 of redemption. 
 
 (i.) The nature of thofe particular events and difpenfa- 
 tions of Providence, by which it is accomplifhed. What 
 great things were done in the world to prepare the way for 
 Chrifl s coming, and fubfequent purchafe of redemption ! 
 How wonderful was the incarnation of Chrift, that God 
 ihould become man, mould refide upon earth for four and 
 thirty years in a mean, defpifed condition ; that he fhould 
 fpend his life in fuch labours and fufferings, and at laft die 
 upon the crofs ! And what great things have been done to 
 accomplifh the fuccefs of Chrift s redemption ! For this 
 purpofe he arofe from the dead, and afcended up into hea 
 ven, and all things were made fubjecl: to him. How many 
 miracles have been wrought, what mighty revolutions have 
 been brought to pafs in the world already, and how much 
 greater do we yet expect ! 
 
 (2.) The number of thofe great events by which God 
 carries on this work, fhows the greatnefs of the work. 
 Thofe mighty revolutions fill up many ages. The work 
 of creation was completed in fix days; but the great dif- 
 ptnfations by which the work of redemption is carried 
 on, are fo many, that they fill up fix or feven thoufand 
 
 years.
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 557 
 
 years. The flood, the building of Babel, the difperfion of 
 the nations, the fnortening of the days of man s life, the 
 calling of Abraham, the deftru6lion of Sodom and Go 
 morrah ; a long feries of wonderful providences relating to 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and Jofeph ; the \vondersin 
 Egypt, in the Red Sea, in the wildernefs ; and a long fuc- 
 ceffion of wonderful providences from age to age towards 
 the nation of the Jews, all contributed in fome view to this 
 great end. What great things were done alfo in Chrift s 
 time, and fince then, in overturning Satan s kingdom in 
 the heathen empire, in prefcrving his church in the dark 
 times of popery, and in bringing about the Reformation ! 
 How many great and wonderful things muft be effe&ed in 
 accomplishing the glorious times of the church ; and at 
 Chrift s laft coming on the day of judgment, in the cle- 
 ftrucliion of the world, and in carrying the whole church 
 into heaven ! 
 
 (3.) The glorious iffue of this whole affair, in thcjuft 
 and eternal defiru&ion of the wicked, and in the confum- 
 mate glory of the righteous. And now let us once more 
 take a view of this building, now it is finiihed and die top- 
 ftone laid. It appeared in a glorious height in the apoftle s 
 time; higher in the time of Conftantine, and will appear 
 much more glorious ftill after the fall of antichrift ; but at 
 the confummation of all things, it appears in its greateft 
 magnificence, as a complete lofty ftrudture, whole top 
 reaches to the heaven of heavens ; a building worthy of the 
 great God, the King of kings. 
 
 From what has been faid, we may infer, that the work 
 of redemption is the greateft of all God s works of which 
 we have any knowledge. This work is the principal of 
 all God s works of providence, and to this they are all re 
 ducible. All the revolutions in the world are to fubferve 
 this grand defign. The work of redemption is alfo greater 
 than that of creation, as the ufe of an houfe is the end 
 of building it. The work of the new creation is more 
 excellent than the old ! So it ever is, that when one 
 thing is removed by God to make way for another, the 
 new one excels the old. Thus the temple excelled the 
 
 tabernacle
 
 556 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 tabernacle ; the new covenant, the old ; the new difpenfa- 
 tion of the gofpel, the difpenfation of Mofes; the throne 
 of David, the throne of Saul ; the priefthood of Chrift, 
 the priefthood of Aaron ; the new Jerufalem, the old ; 
 and fo the new creation far excels the old. This work of 
 redemption is fo much the greateft of God s works, that 
 all the other are to be looked upon either as parts or ap 
 pendages of it, or as fome way reducible to it ; and fo all 
 the decrees of God do fome way or other belong to that 
 eternal covenant of redemption which was between the 
 Father and the Son before the foundation of the world. 
 Every decree of God is fome way or other reducible to 
 that covenant. And feeing this is fo great a work, we 
 need not wonder that the angels defire to look into it : 
 that it is fo much inlifted on in the Bible ; being the great 
 fubje6t of its doctrines, promifes, types, fongs, hiflories, 
 and prophecies. 
 
 2. Hence we may learn that God is the Alpha and 
 Omega, the beginning and end of all things. Such are 
 the characters and titles we find often afcribed to God in 
 thofe places where the fcripture- fpeaks of the courfe of 
 providential events; [Ifa. xli. 4.] * Who hath wrought 
 
 * and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? 
 
 * I, the Lord, the firft and the laft, I am he. [See alto 
 Ifa. xlv. 6, 7. and xlviii. 9, 12.] And therefore, when 
 Chrift reveals the future events of Providence relating to 
 his church and people, and this affair of redemption, to 
 the end of the world, to his difciple John, he often reveals 
 himfelf under this character; [Rev. i. 8.] I am Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the ending, faith the 
 
 * Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, 
 the Almighty. [ver. 10, n.] I heard behind me a great 
 
 * voice as of a trumpet, faying, I am Alpha and Omega, 
 the firft and the laft. Alpha and Omega are the names 
 of the rirft and laft letters of the Greek alphabet, as A and 
 Z are of ours ; and therefore it figniries the fame as his 
 being the firft and the Jaft, and the beginning and the end 
 ing. Thus God is called in the beginning of this book, 
 before the courfe of the prophecy begins : and fo again at 
 
 the
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 the end of it, after the final iffue of events. [Rev. xxi. 6.] 
 
 * And he faid unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Ome- 
 ga, the beginning and the end. [Chap. xxii. 12, 13.] 
 And behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with 
 
 * me, to give every man according as his work fhall be. 
 
 * I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
 firft and the laft. 
 
 We have now feen how all things were from God in 
 the beginning ; on what defign God began the courfe of 
 his providence, and how it has been carried on agreeable 
 to his defign, without ever failing : and that at laft the 
 conclufion and final iffue of things are to God ; we may 
 therefore exclaim with the apoftle, [Rom. xi. 33, 36.] 
 O the depth of the riches both of the wifdom and know- 
 
 * ledge of God ! how unfearchable are his judgments, 
 and his ways paft finding out ! . . . . For of him, and 
 through him, and to him, are all things : to whom 
 
 * be glory for ever, Amen. We have feen other ftates 
 and empires, one after another, fall and come to nothing, 
 even the greateft and ftrongeft of them ; how the world 
 has been often overturned, and will be more remark 
 ably fo yet than ever it has been : we have feen how 
 the world was firft deftroyed by water, and that at laft it 
 {hall be utterly confumed by fire 5 but yet God remains 
 the fame through all ages. He was before the beginning 
 of this courfe of things, and he will be after the end of 
 them. [Pfal. cii. 25, 26.] We have feen all other gods 
 periiri ; the ancient gods of the heathen in the nations 
 about Canaan, and throughout the Roman empire, are 
 all deftroyed, and their wormip long fmce overthrown ; 
 we have feen Antichrift, who has called himfelf a god on 
 earth, and Mahomet, who claims religious honours, and 
 all the gods of the Gentiles, periih : and even Satan, the 
 great dragon, that old ferpent, who has fet up himfelf as 
 god of this world, will be caft into the lake of fire, there 
 to fuffer his complete punifhment: but Jehovah remains, 
 and his kingdom is an everlafting kingdom, and of his 
 dominion there is no end. We have ften mighty and 
 
 numberlefs
 
 560 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 numberlefs changes in the world ; but God is unchange 
 able, the fame yefterday, to-day, and for ever. [Heb. 
 xiii. 8.] 
 
 We began at the head of the ftream of divine provi 
 dence, and have traced it through its various windings and 
 turnings, till we are come to the end of it, and we fee 
 where it ifTues. As it began in God, fo it ends in God. 
 
 God is the infinite ocean into which it empties itfelf 
 
 Providence is like a mighty wheel, whofe circumferance 
 is fo high that it is dreadful ; with the glory of the God of 
 Ifrael above upon it, as it is reprefented in Ezekiei s vifion. 
 [Ez,ek. i. 15. &c.] We have feen the revolution of this 
 wheel, and how, as it was from God, fo its return has 
 been to God again. All the events of divine providence 
 are like the links of a chain ; the firft link is from God, 
 and the laft is to him. 
 
 3. We may fee by what has been laid, how Chrifl in 
 all things has die pre-eminence. For this great work of 
 redemption is all his work ; and therefore being, as it 
 were, the fum of God s works of providence, this fhows 
 the glory of our Lord Jefus Chrift, as being above all, and 
 through all, and in all. That God intended the world 
 for his Son s ufe in the affair of redemption, is one reafon 
 given why he created it by him, as feems to be intimated 
 by the aportle in Eph. iii. 912. What has been faid 
 ihows how all the purpofes of God are in Chrift; that he 
 is before all, and above all, and that all things confift and 
 are governed by him, and for him. [Colof. i. i^ 18.] 
 That God has made him his firft-born, higher than the 
 kings of the earth, and fct his throne above their thrones; 
 and upheld his kingdom, when theirs have all come to an 
 end. We fee, that whatever changes there are, and how 
 ever Chrift s enemies may exalt themfelves, that yet finally 
 all his enemies fhall become his footftool, and that he fhall 
 reign in uncontrouled power and immenfe glory; alfo that 
 in the end his people ihall be all perfectly faved and made 
 eternally happy. Thus God gives the world to his Son 
 for his inheritance. 
 
 (4.) Hence
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 561 
 
 -(4.) Hence we may fee the conliftency, order, and 
 beauty, of God s works of providence. If we behold 
 thefe events in any other view than that in which they have 
 beqji fet before us, they will all look like confufion, like 
 a number of jumbled events coming to pafs without any 
 order or method ; like the tofling of the waves of the lea ; 
 things will look as though one coniufed revolution came to 
 pafs after another, merely by blind chance, without any 
 regular or certain end. 
 
 But if we confider the events of Providence in die ii^ht 
 in which the fcriptures fet them before us, they appear an or 
 derly feries of events, all \\il~iy directed in excellent harmo 
 ny and confidence, tending all to one end. The wheels 
 of Providence are not turned round by blind chance, but 
 they are full of eyes round about, as Ezekiel reprefents, 
 and they are guided by the fpirit of God, [ch. i. 18 20. ] 
 where the fpirit goes, they go : and all God s works of pro 
 vidence, through all ages, meet in one at laft, as fo many 
 lines in one centre, (o) 
 
 It 
 
 (o) The myfteries of Proindence.~\ It is a remark of fome of the 
 Puritan divines, that he that duly obferves the divine providences, 
 will never want providences to obferve. And this hath always 
 been the practice of believers. * If thou be a Chriftian indeed, 
 (fays pious Mr. BAXTER) I know thou haft, if not in thy book, 
 yet certainly in thy heart, a great many precious favours of Provi 
 dence upon record. [Sants* Reft ,p. 1 68.] And not only on earth, 
 but particularly in heaven, the contemplation of divine Providence 
 will be a fource of inconceivable delight to the believer. " When the 
 records of eternity (fays Mr. HOWE) fhall be expofed to view, all 
 the counfelfl and refults of that profound wifdom looked into, how 
 will it tranfport ! when it fhall be difcerned, lo ! thus were the 
 defigns laid ; here were the apt junctures *and dependencies of 
 things, which when afted upon the ftage of time, feemed fo per 
 plexed and intricate!" [BlefTednefs of the Righteous, p. 76.] 
 The fubjecl: is exhauftlefs ; we (hall only add a fhort paffage from 
 another admirable writer of the laft century. 
 
 " O how ravifhing a fight is that ! to behold at one view the 
 whole defign of Providence, and the proper place and ufe of every 
 fingle ad\, which we could not underftand in this world ; for what 
 Chrift faid to Peter, [John xiii. 7.] is as applicable to fome provi 
 dences in which we are now concerned, as it was to that particular 
 aftion ; * What I do thou knoweft, not now, but hereafter thou 
 
 4 C
 
 5 6z HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It is with God s works of providence, as it is with his 
 work of creation ; it is but one work. The events of Pro 
 vidence are not to many diftinft, independent works, but 
 they are rather fo many different parts of one work, one 
 regular fcheme. The works of Providence are not dif- 
 united and jumbled without connection or dependence, but 
 are all united, juft as the feveral parts of one building. 
 There are many (tones, many pieces of timber, but all 
 are fo joined, and fitly framed together, that they make but 
 one building : they have all but one foundation, and are 
 united at lait in one top-ftone. 
 
 God s providence may not unfitly be compared to a 
 large and long river, having innumerable branches, be 
 ginning in different regions, and at a great diftance one 
 from another, and all confpiring to one common iffue. 
 After their very diverfe and contrary cowries which they 
 held for a while, yet they all gather more and more to 
 gether, 
 
 < (halt know it. All the dark, intricate, puzzling providences at 
 which we were fometimes fo ftumbled, and fomettmes amazed, 
 which we could neither reconcile with the promife, nor with each 
 other; nay, which we fo unjullly cenfured and bitterly bewailed, 
 as if they hnd fallen out quite crofs to their happinefs ; we (hall 
 then fee to be unto us, as the difficult pafiage through the wilder- 
 nefs was unto Ifrael, the right way to a city of habitation. [Pfal. 
 cvii. 7.] 
 
 " And yet, though our prefent views and reflections upon Pro 
 vidence be fo fliort aud imperfect in comparison of that in hea 
 ven, yet fuch as it is, under all its prefent difadvantages, it hath 
 fomuch excellency and fweetnefs in it, that I may call it a little 
 heaven, or as Jacob called his Bethel, the Gate of Heaven. It is 
 certainly an highway of walking with God in this world, and as 
 fweet communion may afoul enjoy with him in his providence, as 
 in any of his ordinances. How often have the hearts of its obfer- 
 vers be.n melted into tears of joy, at the beholding of its wife and 
 unexpected productions ! how often hath it convinced them, upon 
 a fcber recollection of the events of their lives, that if the Lord had 
 left them to their own counfels, they had as often been their own 
 tormentors, if not executioners! Into what, and how many fatal mif- 
 chicfs lu>.J they precipitated themfelves, if Providence had been as 
 mort-fighted as they ! they have given it their hearty thanks, for 
 confitlering their interell more than their importunity, and not fuf- 
 fering them to perim by their own deiires." [FLAVEL on Provi 
 dence, page u, 12.3
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT 563 
 
 gether, the nearer they come to their common end, and all 
 at length discharge themfelves at one mouth into the fame 
 ocean. The different dreams of this river are apt to ap 
 pear confufed to us, bccaufe of die limited nature of our 
 light, whereby we cannot fee the whole at once, nor dif- 
 cover how they unite in one. Their courfe feems very 
 crooked, and different ftreams feem to run for a while dif 
 ferent and contrary ways : and if we view things at a dif- 
 tance, there feem to be innumerable obftacles and impedi 
 ments in the way of their ever uniting, and coming to the 
 ocean, as rocks, mountains, and the like ; but yet if we trace 
 them, they all unite at latt, difgorging themfelves in one 
 into the fame great ocean. 
 
 5. From what has been faid, we infer, that the fcrip- 
 tures are the word of God, becaufe they alone inform us 
 what is God s defign in all thefe works. It is moft reafon- 
 able to fuppofe, that there is fome certain fcheme to which 
 Providence fubordinates all the great fucceffive changes in 
 the affairs of mankind ; that all revolutions, from the be 
 ginning of the world to the end of it, are confpiring to 
 bring to pafs that great event which the great Creator and 
 Governor of the world has ultimately in view ; and that 
 the plan will not be finiihed, nor the ultimate event fully 
 accomplilhcd, till the end of the world. 
 
 Now there is nothing elfe that informs us what this 
 fcheme and defign of God in his works is, but only the 
 holy fcripture. Nothing elfe pretends to fet in view the 
 whole feries of God s works of providence from beginning 
 to end, and to inform us how all things were from God 
 at firft, and to what end they fhall be brought at laft. 
 Nothing but the fcripture fets forth how God governed 
 the world from the beginning, in an orderly hiftory ; or 
 how he will govern it to the end, by an orderly prophecy 
 of future events: agreeable to the challenge which the 
 God of Ifrael makes to the gods, and prophets, and teach 
 ers of the heathen. [Ifa. xli. 22, 23.] * Let them bring 
 them forth, and {hew us what lhall happen : let them 
 fhew the former things what they be, that we may con- 
 fider them, and know the latter end of them : or declare 
 4. C 2 us
 
 yH HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 * us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come 
 
 * hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods. 
 
 It feems very fit and requifite, that the rational part of 
 the creation fhould know fomething of God s fcheme nnd 
 defign in his works: for they doubtlefs are the beings 
 principally concerned in them ; efpecially feeing God has 
 given them reafon, and a capacity of feeing him in his 
 works: for this end, that they rmy give him the glory of 
 them. But how can they glorify God in his works, if they 
 know nothing of his defigns ? And this feems farther rea- 
 fonable, becaufe they are made capable of actively falling 
 in with and pronouncing that defign, ailing herein as his 
 friends and fubjefb ; it is therefore reafonable to fuppofe, 
 that God has given mankind fome revelation to inform 
 them of this : but there is nothing elfe that does it, but the 
 Bible. In that we may learn the firft original of things, 
 and an orderly account of the fcheme of God s works from 
 the beginning, through ages beyond the reach of all other 
 hiftories. Here we are told what is the grand end that G jd 
 purpofes, and the great things he defires to exhibit. Here 
 we have an account of thefe worthy of God, and the glory 
 of his perfections. 
 
 Here we learn the connections of the various parts of 
 the work of Providence, in a regular, beautiful, and glo 
 rious frame, and have an account of the whole fcheme of 
 Providence, from the beginning of the world to the end of 
 it, either in hiftory or prophecy, and how they iflue in 
 the fubduing of God s enemies, and in the falvation and 
 glory of his church, and creating the everlafting kingdom 
 of his Son. 
 
 How rational, ufcful, and excellent a book is the Bible, 
 and what characters it bears of being a divine revelation ! 
 a book, without which, we fliould be left in miferable 
 darknefs and contufion. 
 
 6. From what has been faid, we may fee the glorious 
 majefty and power of God in this affair of redemption. 
 His power appears in upholding his church for fo long a 
 time, and carrying on this work ; preferring it oftentimes 
 when it was but as a little (park of fire, or as fmoakmg 
 
 flax,
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 565 
 
 flax, in which the fire was almoft extinct. Yet God has 
 never fuffei exl it to be quenched, but will bring forth judg 
 ment unto vi&ory. God glorifies his ftrength in his 
 church s weaknefs ; in caufing his people, who are but like 
 littie infants, finally to triumph over all earth and hell ; 
 fo that they (hall tread on the lion and adder ; the young 
 lion and dragon mall they trample under foot. [Pf. xci. 13.] 
 The power of God appears alfo in conquering his many 
 .and mighty enemies by that Jefus who was once an infant 
 in a manger, and afterwards a poor, weak, defpifed man ; 
 yet he conquered, and triumphed over them in their own 
 weapon, the crofs. 
 
 God s power glorioufly appears in conquering Satan 
 when exalted in his ftrongeft and moil: potent heathen 
 kingdom, the Roman empire. Chrifl:, our Michael, has 
 overcome him, and die devil was caft out, and there was 
 found no more place for him in heaven ; but he was caft 
 out unto the earth, and his angels with him. Again, his 
 power glorioufly appears in conquering hi;n in his proud, 
 fubtle, and above all cruel, antichriftian kingdom; par 
 ticularly in Satan s molt violent exertions juft before its 
 final fall. 
 
 The mighty kingdoms of Antichrift and Mahomet, 
 which have made fuch a figure for many ages together, 
 and have trampled the world under foot, when Chrifl ap 
 pears, will vanilh away like a ihadow, or as the darknefs 
 in a room does, when the light is brought in. What 
 are God s enemies in his hands? How is their greateft 
 ftrength weaknefs when he raifes up ! and how weak will 
 they all appear together at the day of judgment ! Thus 
 we may apply thofe words in the long of Mofes. [Exod. 
 xv. 6.] Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in 
 power : thy right hand, O Lord, hath darned in pieces the 
 enemy. And how great doth the majefty of God ap 
 pear in overturning the world from time to time, to ac- 
 complim his deligns, and at laft in caufmg the earth and 
 heavens to flee away, for the advancement of the glory of 
 his kingdom ! 
 
 7. From
 
 566 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 7. From what has been faid, we may fee the glorious 
 wifdom of God. This wifdom appears in Beating the 
 world for fo great and important ends; in bringing fo 
 great good out of fuch evil, in making the fall and ruin 
 of mankind, which in itfclf is fo lamentable, an occafion of 
 effecting fuch a glorious work as this of redemption, and of 
 bringing his eledt to a ftate of fuch unfpeakable happinefs. 
 How doth the wifdom of God appear alfo in the long fe- 
 ries of revolutions which take place in the world, in bring 
 ing fuch order of confufion, in fo fruftrating the devil 
 and turning all his fubtle machinations to God s glory, 
 and the honour of his Son Jefus Chrift ; and in caufmg the 
 greateft works of Satan to be wholly turned into occa- 
 fions of glorious triumph of the great Redeemer ! How 
 wonderful is the wifdom of God, in bringing all things 
 to fuch a glorious period at laft, and in fo directing all 
 the wheels of providence by his fkilful hand, that every 
 one of them confpires as the manifold wheels of a moil 
 ourious machine, at laft to ftrike out fuch an excellent if- 
 fue, fuch a manifeftation of the divine glory, fuch happi 
 nefs to his people, and fuch a glorious and everlafting king 
 dom to his Son ! 
 
 8. From what has been faid, we may fee the (lability 
 of God s mercy and faithfulnefs to his people ; that he 
 never forfakes his inheritance, and remembers his cove r 
 nant to them through all generations. Now we may fee the 
 truth of our text, * The moth mall eat them up like a 
 
 * garment, and the worm fhall eat them like wool ; but 
 
 * my righteoufnefs fliall endure for ever and ever, and my 
 falvation from generation to generation. And now we 
 may difcover the propriety of that name by which God re 
 veals himfelf unto Mofes. [Exod. iii. 14.] And God 
 
 * faid unto Mofes, / am that I am: i. c. I am the fame 
 that I was when I entered into covenant with Abraham, 
 Ifaac, and Jacob, and ever mall be the fame ; I keep co 
 venant for ever ; I am felf-fufficicnt, all-fume ient, and 
 immutable. 
 
 And now we may fee the truth of that word, [Pfa. 
 xxxvi. 5, 6.] * Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; 
 
 * and
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 567 
 
 c and thy faith fulr.efs reacherh unto the clouds. Thy 
 righteoufnefs is like the great mountains; thy judgments 
 are a great deep. And if we confider what has been 
 faid, we need not wonder that the Pfalmift, in the cxxxvith 
 Pfalm, fo often repeats this, For his mercy endurcth for 
 ever ; as if he were in an ecftacy at the confederation of the 
 perpetuity of God s mercy to his church, and delighted 
 to repeat it. Let us with like pleafure and joy celebrate 
 the everlafling duration of God s mercy and faithfulnefs to 
 his church and people, and let us be comforted by it under 
 the prefent dark circumftances of the church of God, 
 and all the uproar and confuflons that are in rhe world. 
 And let us take encouragement earneftly to pray for thofe 
 glorious things which God has promifed to accompli fli for 
 his church. 
 
 9. Hence we may learn how happy a fociety the church 
 of Chrift is. For all this great work was for their fakes 
 both undertaken and carried on ; even becaufe he has 
 loved them with an everlafting love. For their fakes he 
 overturns ftates and kingdoms. For their fakes he fhakes 
 heaven and earth. He gives men for them, and people 
 for their life. [See Ha. xliii. 4.] Since they have been pre 
 cious in God s fight, they have been honourable ; and 
 therefore he firft gives the blood of his own Son to them, 
 and then, for their fakes, gives the blood of all their ene 
 mies. For their fakes he made the world, and for their 
 fakes he will deftroy it : (P) for their fakes he built heaven, 
 
 (p) The DESTRUCTION of tie World.~\ " If one mould now go 
 about to reprefent the world on fire, with all the confuflons that 
 neceffkrily nauft be in nature and in mankind upon that occafion, 
 it would fecm to moft men a romantic fcene ; yet we are fure there 
 mufl be fuch a fcene : the heavens will pafs away with a noife, 
 and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and all the works of 
 the earth will be burnt up. We think it a great matter to fee a 
 fing-le perfon burnt alive ; here are millions flirieking in the flames 
 at once. It is frightful to us to look upon a great city in flames, 
 and to fee the diftraftions and mifery of the people ; here is an uni- 
 verfal fire through all the cities of the earth, and an universal maf- 
 facre of theii inhabitants. Whatfoe ver the prophets foretold of the 
 
 defolations
 
 568 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 and for their fakes he makes his nngels miniftering fpirits, 
 Therefore the apoftle fays, f i Cor. iii. ai, &c.] * A1J 
 
 * things are yours : whether Paul, or ApoIIos, or Cephas, 
 or the world, or life, or death, or things prefcnt or 
 things to come; all are yours. How bicfled is this 
 people who are redeemed from among men, and are the 
 firft fruits unto God, and to the Lamb ; who have God in 
 all ages for their protection and help ! [Deut. xxxiii. 29.] 
 
 * Happy art thou, O Ifrael : who is like unto thee, O 
 
 * people faved by the Lord, the fhield of thy help, and 
 
 * who is the fwcrd, thy excellency I and thine enemies 
 
 * (hall be found liars unto thee, and thou {halt tread upon 
 
 * their high places. 
 
 Let 
 
 bos < 
 
 defolations of Judea, Jerufalcm, or Babylon, [Ifa. xxiv. Jer. II. 
 Lament. J in the highelt {trains, is more than literally accomplished 
 in this lalt and general calamity ; and thofe only that are fpec- 
 tators of it, can make itshiilory. Eat it is not pofiible from any 
 ilation, to have a full profpedt of thislaft fcene of the earth ; for 
 it is a mixture of fire and darkuefs. This new temple is filled with 
 fmoke, while it is confecrating, and none can enter into it. But 
 I am apt to think, if we could look down upon this burning world 
 from above the clouds, and have a full view of it, in all its parts, 
 we fhould think it a lively representation of Htll itfelf. For fire 
 and darknefs are the two chief things by which that ftate, or that 
 place, ufes to be defciibed; and they are both here mingled to 
 gether, with all other ingredients that make that Tophet that is 
 prepared of old. [Ifa. xxx.j Here are lakes of fire and brimftone ; 
 rivers of melted glowing matter ; ten thoufand volcano s vomit 
 ing flames all at once ; thick darknefs, and pillars of fmoke twift- 
 cd about with wreaths of flume, like fiery fnakes ; mountains of 
 earth thrown up into the air, and the heavens dropping down in 
 lumps of fire. Thefe things will be all literally true, concerning 
 that day, and that ftate of the earth. And if we fuppofe Beelze 
 bub, and his apoftate crew, in the midit of this fiery furnace (and 
 I know not where they can be elfe ;) it will be hard to find any 
 part of the univerfe, or any ftate of things, that anfwers to fo 
 many of the properties and characters of Hell, as this which is 
 now before us. But if we fuppofe the ftorm over, anc^that the 
 fire hath got an entire victory over all other bodies, and fubdued 
 every thing to itfelf; the conflagration will end in a deluge of fire, 
 or in a fea of fii e, covering the whole globe of the earth. But let 
 us only, to take leave of this fubjecr, reflect upon this occafion, on 
 the vanity and tranfient glory of all this habitable world ; how, by 
 the force of one element breaking loofe upon the reft, all the va- 
 
 > rieties
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 569 
 
 Let the enemies of the church exalt themfelves as much 
 as they will, thefc are the people that (hall finally prevail. 
 The laft kingdom {hall be theirs; and ihall not be left 
 to other people. [See Dan. ii. 44.] We have ieen what 
 a bleffed iffue things (hall finally be brought to as to them, 
 and what glory they fhall arrive at, and remain in pofTef- 
 fion of, for ever and ever, after all the kingdoms of the 
 world are come to an end, and the earth is removed, and 
 4 D mountains 
 
 rietics of nature, all the wonders of art, all the labours of men 
 are reduced to nothing ; all that we admired and adored before, 
 as great and magnificent, is obliterated, or vanilhed ; and another 
 form and face of things, plain, fimple, and every where the fame,, 
 overfpreads the whole earth. Where .are now the great empires 
 of the world, and their great imperial cities ? their pillars, tro 
 phies, and monuments of glory ? Shew me where they flood, read 
 the infcription, tell me the victor s name. What remains, what 
 imprefiions, what difference or diflin&ion do you fee in this mafs 
 of fire ? Rome itfclf, eternal Rome, the great city, the emprefs 
 of the world, whofe domination and fuperilition, ancient and mo 
 dern, make a great part of the hiflory of this earth ; what is be 
 come of her now ? She laid her foundations deep, and her palaces 
 were llrong and fumptuous : She glorified herfelf, and lived dcli- 
 cioufly, and faid in her heart, I fit a queen, and fliall fee no for- 
 row. But her hour is come, me is wiped away from the face of 
 the earth, and buried in perpetual oblivion. But it is not cities 
 only, and works of men s hands, but the everlafting hills, the 
 mountains and rocks of the earth, are melted as wax before the 
 fun ; and their place is no where found. 
 
 [" The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
 
 The folemn temples, the great globe itfelf, 
 
 Yea all which it inherits (hall diffolve. 
 
 And like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion 
 
 Leave not a wreck behind." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE.] 
 
 " Here flood the Alps, a prodigious range of ftone, the load of 
 the earth, that covered many countries, and reached their arms 
 from the oc.ean to the Black Sea ; this huge mafs of ftone is fof- 
 tened and diflblved, as a tender cloud, into rain. Here llood the 
 African mountain!, and Atlas with his top above the clouds. There 
 was fro*/ en Caucafus, and Taurus, and Imaus, and the mountains 
 of Afia. And yonder towards the north, flood the Riphcean hilL, 
 cloathcd in ice and fnow. All thefe are vanimed, dropped away 
 as the fnow upon their heads, and fwallowed up in a red fea of 
 fire. Rev. xv. 3.] Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord 
 God Almighty ; jufl and true are thy ways, thuu, Kiii of Saint*. 
 Halleluiah."
 
 570 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 mountains are carried into the depth of the fea, or where 
 the fea was, and this lower earth fhiill all be diffolved. O 
 happy people, and blcffed fociety ! Well may thev fpend 
 an eternity in praifes and hallelujahs to him who hath 
 loved them from eternity, and will love them to eter 
 nity, (oj 
 
 10. And, lafHy, hence all wicked men, all that are in 
 Chrift lels condition, may fee their exceeding mifery. 
 You that are fuch, have no part or lot in this matter : 
 you are never the better for any of thofe things of which 
 you have heard ; but your guilt is fo much the greater, 
 and the mifery you are expofed to the more dreadful. You 
 are fome of thofe againft whom God, in the progreis of 
 the work, exercifes fo much manifeft wrath ; fome of 
 thofe enemies who arc liable to be made Chrift s fboiflool, 
 to be ruled with a rod of iron, and to be dallied hi pieces. 
 You are fome of the feed of the ferpent, to bruife the head 
 of which is one great defign of all this work. What 
 ever glorious things God accomplifhes for his church, if 
 you continue in the ftate you are now in, they will not 
 be glorious to you. The moft glorious times of the 
 church are always the moft difmal times to the wicked 
 and impenitent. And wherever glorious things are foretold 
 concerning the church, there terrible things are predicted" 
 of the wicked, frs enemies. [See Ifa. Ixvi. 14.] And fo 
 it ever has been in fadl; in all remarkable deliverances 
 wrought for die church, there has been as remarkable an 
 
 execution 
 
 ( oj) TbsfeKcity ofH.F.AVEK.] One of the moft beautiful ideas 
 that the fcripture gives us of the glory of heaven is, that it fhall 
 conlitl in the fight and enjoyment of the deity in the perfon of Jefus 
 Chrift. " Grand idea of heavenly felicity, my brethren ! Glorified 
 believers fhail fee with their eyes the glorious body of Jefus Chrift! 
 What joy to contemplate this object! What delight, if I may fpeak 
 fo, when the rays of the deity, always too bright and confounding; 
 for mortal eyes to behold, fhall be foftened to our fight in the per 
 fon of Jefus Chrift! What tranfporting joy to fee the greateft mi 
 racle that was ever included in the plans of the wifdom of God! 
 What felicity to behold in the body of Jefus Chrift aright of ap 
 proaching with confidence to a familiarity with God! We know 
 that, when he {hall appear, we fhall be like him, for we fhall fer 
 kiin as he is." i John iii. 2. [SAURIN S Ser. XII. voL in.]
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 571 
 
 execution of wrath on its enemies. Thus, when God 
 delivered the children of Ifrael out of Egypt, he poured 
 out his wrath on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So when 
 he brought them into Canaan by Joflma, and gave them 
 that good land, he remarkably executed wrath siipon the 
 Canaanitcs. When they were delivered out of their Baby- 
 loniih captivity, fignal vengeance was inflicted on die Ba 
 bylonians. So when the Gentiles were called, and the 
 elect of God were faved by the preaching of the apoftles, 
 Jerufalem and the perfecuting Jews were deftroyed in a 
 mo ft awful manner. I might obferve the fame concerning 
 the glory accomplifhed to the church in the days of Con- 
 ftantine, at the overthrow of Satan s viiible kingdom in the 
 downfall of antichrift, and at the day of judgment. In all 
 thefe inftances, and efpecially in the laft, there have been, 
 or will be, exhibited nioft awful tokens of the divine wrath 
 againft the wicked. 
 
 You are indeed fome of thofe that God will make ufe 
 of in this affair; but it will be for the glory of his 
 juftice (R) and not of his mercy. The enemies of God 
 
 thall 
 
 (R) God will make ufe of fome Jinners to dtfplay his JUSTICE.] 
 This alludes to the doctrine of reprobation, which is neither more 
 oor lefs than the neceffary confequence of election ; for if, out of 
 a world of tinners God clefts a part to everlafting life, the remain* 
 der muft be left to the confequences of their own fin. This note 
 is not intended to difcufs the truth of that doctrine, but only to 
 offer a few hints with a view of obviating, in fome meafure the 
 force of a popular objection. 
 
 It is commonly faid that this fuppofition involves the damnation 
 of a great majority of the human fpecies; but this we apprehend a 
 vulgar miilake. In the firlt place we admit the falvation of all 
 infants, dying before they attain the proper exercife of their rea- 
 fon, which are of themfelves fuppofed the greater half of mankind ; 
 to which we add idects, who are as to their mental powers exactly 
 in the fame fituation. We hope, moreover, that God has in all 
 ages and nations been pleaied to form to himfelf a people (though 
 known only to himfelf) who are enabled to fear God and vvoik 
 righteouinefs ; for we think that the heathens who never had the 
 advantage of a written revelation, claim our charity tar beyond the 
 Chriitian world (fo called) who neglect or defpife it. [See note /, 
 p. 514.] We believe that in the worll (late of religion among its 
 profeiTors, God referved to hiinfelf thouftuids of iincere woriliippcrs. 
 
 D 2 [See
 
 572 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 (hall be referred for the triumph of Chrift s glorious power 
 in overcoming and punilhing them, and (hall be contained 
 with tliis accurfed world after the day of judgment, when 
 Chrift and his church fhall triumphantly and glorioufly 
 afcend to heaven. Therefore let all that are in a Chriftlefs 
 condition amongft us ferioufly confider thefe things, and 
 not be like the foolifh people of the old world, who would 
 not take warning, when Noah told them that the Lord 
 was about to bring a flood of waters upon the earth: or 
 like the people of Sodom, who would not flee from the 
 wrath to come, and fo were confumed in that terrible de- 
 flruction. (s) 
 
 ; ifo;^ 
 
 [See note L, p. 62.] Add thefe to the millions of faithful martyrs, 
 and the more innumerable multitudes that have, or will form the 
 church of God in all ages; and the objection in great meafure, at 
 leaft, vanifhes. But if we extend our thoughts to higher worlds ; 
 if we include the thoufands of thoufands of angelic fpirits that 
 wait on God s immediate prefence, or execute the orders of his 
 throne; if we allow ourfelves to venture fo far into the modern 
 philofophy, as to fuppofe that other planets may be inhabited as 
 well as ours and that the fixed ftars may be funs to other fyftems 
 of habitable globes who can tell but there may be as many worlds, 
 na y fyft ems f worlds, of innocent and happy intelligent creatures, 
 as miferable and guilty individuals? [G. E.] 
 
 (s) JLetJinners tale WARNING.] We fhall conclude thefe notes 
 with the following animated paffage, from a fermon preached on 
 occafion of the earthquakes in London, 1749. " ^ i m P re ft do I 
 find my mind with the weight and moment of eternal things, that 
 I could, mcthinks, wifh I had a voice that would reach as far as 
 
 this noife and convulfion did : and if I had, I would repre- 
 
 fent, that if the convulfion of an earthquake is fo dreadful, how 
 dreadful that fcene muft be, when all things fhall be diffblved; 
 the heavens pafs away with a great noife, and the elements melt 
 with fervent heat, the earth and the -things that are thereon, not 
 only fhaken, but burnt up. I would reprefent the horror and af- 
 frightment which will feize the fouls of finners, when the arch 
 angel with the trump of God fhall (hake the whole creation; when 
 they fhall call for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, and 
 the earth opening and fwallowing them up would be a blefllng, if 
 it would hide them from the wrath of God, and the Lamb. I 
 would clifplay the vanity of building on any thing in this uncertain 
 convulfive world, and the wretchednefs of the men who have cho- 
 fen their; portion in this life. And, finally, I would hail every 
 faint and child of God (every one who by faith in Chrift, ferious 
 
 religion.
 
 GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 573 
 
 And now T would conclude my difcourfe in thefe words 
 from the laft of the Revelation : " Thcfe fayings are faith- 
 * ful and true, and blcffcd is he that keepeth thefe fayings. 
 " Behold, Chrift cometh quickly, and his reward is with 
 " him, to render to every man according as his work (hall 
 " be. And he that is unjuft, (hall be unjuft ftill ; and he 
 " that is filthy, (hall be filthy ftill ; and he that is holy, 
 " fhall be holy ftill. Blefled are they that do his com- 
 * mandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 
 " and may enter in through the gates into the city : for 
 " without are dogs, and forcerers, and whoremongers, and 
 " murderers, and idolaters, and whofoever loveth and ma- 
 " keth a lie. He that teftifieth thefe tilings, faith, Surely 
 " I come quickly. Amen; even fo come Lord Jefus." 
 [Rev. xxii. 6, &c.] 
 
 religion, and a good confcience towards God, can lay his humble 
 claim to the promifes and hopes of the gofpel) as the happiefl 
 among men. Such convulfions as thefe we have now felt, make on 
 his mind reverential impreffions of the power and majefty of God ; 
 but cannot hurt, nor need they give him any flavifh terror. His 
 God is his refuge and ftrength, a very prefent help in trouble ; 
 therefore he need not fear, though the earth be removed, and the 
 mountains be carried into the midft of the fea :" [Pfa. xlvi.] 
 Nay more, 
 
 " Should the whole frame of nature break, 
 
 In ruin and confufion hurl d ; 
 He unconcern d might hear the mighty crack, 
 And itand fecure amidft a falling world." 
 
 [Dr. ALLEN S Ser. on defpifing reproofs.] 
 
 I N I S.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ** The Articles referring to the Text only, are dijllnguijtied bj 
 the Page ; thofe to the Notes only, by a "Letter prefixed to the 
 page; [as s 79. i. e. Note s page 79,] thofe that refer to both Text 
 and Note have the Letter added after the Pase: fas 88 and x, 
 88and^/ex.] 
 
 Angels, how employed about 
 
 Redemption, 357 
 
 Antediluvian hiftoryconcife 101 
 & K 
 
 Anthony St. his power over fire, 
 s 488 
 Antichrift, who, F 429 
 
 his kingdom, 428, 429 
 
 its commencement, 430, 43 1 
 
 & H 
 
 its rife gradual, 431 & i 
 
 its fall, 508 
 
 prophecies concerning, 486 
 
 to 494 
 
 Antiochus Epiphanes perfe- 
 cutes the Jews, 291, 292 & K, 
 
 his death, 293 & T 
 
 A;~;- o ^as, R 76 
 
 Apoitafy, the laft grand, 5 2 8, 529 
 Apoftles, their commiflion, 2/8 
 preached in Britain, 0^.407 
 
 App^rnr. ces of Chrift before 
 the Incarnation 66 & N p 7 1 
 198, 199 & A 
 
 to Adam, 66 & N 
 to Abraham, 140, c 154 
 
 A Page - 
 
 jLJLBEL s facrifice, s 79 
 
 his character, ib 
 
 his death, 88 & x 
 Abraham, Jewim tradition of 
 
 him. T 126 
 
 - his calling, 126, &c. 
 
 his divine vifion, 140 & z 
 
 pleads for Sodom, c 155 
 Achan s (in andpunifhment, 
 
 191 & \v 
 
 Adam and Eve, their nakednefs, 
 p 69 
 
 their eyes opened, P 70 
 
 their aprons, what, p 7 1 
 
 their penitence andfalvation, 
 
 84 & u 
 Age, how that term is ufed, D 46 
 
 See Century. 
 
 Agony, Chrift s, 344, 345, & 
 p & CL 
 
 Ahaz, the fign given him, 23 i 
 & o 
 
 his danger and deli verance246 
 Alaric and his Goths c 42 } 
 Alban, St. martyred, s 410 
 Alcuin oppofed Popery, s 442 
 Alexander s conquefts, 285 &. N 
 
 he fpares the Jews, 290 & o^. 
 America, peopling of, 464 & K. 
 EM 3 N B 44 
 Anabaptifts, German. 460 
 
 Modern Englilh, 460 ^c F 
 Angel, Chrift fo called, A io,o,&:c. 
 
 See Appearances. 
 Angels, Chrift their head, 59 
 
 miniftring 1 piritsto Chrift 66 
 
 Redemption made known to 
 
 them, 66 & o &c. 
 
 conducled Abel s foul to 
 
 glory 
 
 88 & v 
 
 to Jacob, . , , 
 
 to Mofes, 167 & i, 198 
 
 to the fevcnty elders, ib. 
 to Jofiiua, ib. 
 
 : to Daniel, 27 t 
 
 Arabians, converted by Origen, 
 
 425, E 426 
 
 Arius and Ariarufm, 420 & x 
 
 Arianifm, its revival, 462 
 
 Armada, the Spanifh, 452 & x 
 
 Arminiusand Arminianiim,46i 
 
 Afcenfion, Chrift s, 37.;; 
 
 Afs, Balaam s, fpake, s 184 
 
 Athacrfius, St. and his creed, 
 
 x 42 
 
 Attila
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Attila and his Huns, c 423 
 
 Auguftin, St. his converfionand 
 
 writings, 421 & Y 
 
 Auftin converts the Britons, E 
 
 427 
 
 B 
 
 Babel, its building and deftruc- 
 tion, ii2tou8&Q_ 
 Babylon s deftruftion, 273 & E 
 foretold by the Prophets, 
 
 Babylon, why Rome was fo 
 called, 387 
 
 grand enemy of the 
 
 church, 387 
 
 Babylonifh captivity, 260 
 
 cured the Jews of idolatry, 
 
 261 
 
 prepared the way for 
 
 Chrift, 262 
 
 Balaam s prophecy, 184 & s 
 
 his afs (pake, s 184 
 
 Baptifm, Chrift s, 331 
 
 Chriftian, inftituted, 379 
 
 Baptift, John, Chrift s fore 
 runner, 329 
 
 His office very honour 
 able, 330 & H 
 
 Baptifts. See Anabaplifts. 
 
 Barbarians, gofpel preached to 
 
 them, 425, 426, & E 
 
 Beaft, myftical, his mark, u 493 
 
 his image, F 429 
 
 Beauty of the church in the 
 
 Milennium, 525 
 
 Biography, its utility, 3 
 
 Birth of Chrift, 314 
 
 in the fulnefs of time, 
 
 314, A 316 
 
 at Bethlehem, 3 1 7 & B 
 
 Blefiing, Noah s, on Shem, 
 
 p 115 
 Brainerd, Mr. J. his miflion 
 
 among the Indians, 1-465 
 Brethren, who fo called by the 
 
 Hebrews, P 1.13 
 
 Britain, gofpel preached here br 
 the apoftles, 0^4 7 
 
 Popery brought in by 
 
 Auftin, F 427 
 
 Bull, Rev. Mr. of New Eng 
 land, o 473 
 
 Burgundians, how converted, 
 425 E 426 
 
 Bum, burning, i 167 
 
 Cain, his facrifice and character, 
 s 80 
 
 Murders Abel, 88 & x 
 
 mark fet on him, G 99 
 
 Calling on the name of the 
 
 Lord, 89 & z 
 
 Calling cf Abraham, 1 26, &c. 
 
 Calves, golden, 238 
 
 Canaan, his crime, PHI 
 
 Canaanites deftroyed, p 113 
 
 Candleftick, golden, typical, 
 
 p 235 
 
 Canon compiled by Ezra, 
 
 280 & r 
 
 completed by Malachi, 283 
 Canticles, book of, its excel 
 lency, 17 
 
 its divine authority, s 241 
 Captivity, Babylonifli, 260 
 Captives, feveral nations con 
 verted by means of,42 5, E 426 
 
 Celfus, enemy of Christianity, 
 s 349, L 401 
 
 Century, witnefles of the truth 
 in every century, s 442 
 
 Century, the tenth, its charac 
 ter, ib. 
 
 Children, feveral converted very 
 young, o 47?- 
 
 Chrift, his fulnefs and glon , 
 
 cB 
 
 the head of all things, 59 & i 
 
 begins to execute his media 
 torial office, 64, &c. 
 
 the defire of all nations, x 257 
 
 generally expected, 266 & p 
 
 the grand fubjedt of th* 
 Bible, 306 
 
 Chili?
 
 I N U E X. 
 
 Chriii Appeared in the fecond 
 temple, 321 
 
 Chrift, his death an a6t of obe 
 dience, 325 &: F 
 
 obeyed and honoured the 
 law, 326, 328 
 
 his fecond coming to judg 
 ment, 530, 533, 534& D 
 
 takes his church with him 
 from this world, 545 
 
 afcends with her to the 
 higheft heavens, 551, 552 
 
 refigns his mediatorial king 
 dom, 555 
 
 has in all things the pre 
 eminence, 560 
 See Appearances and Jefus. 
 
 Chriftianity perfecuted more 
 
 than other religions, 480 & R 
 
 Church of Chrift, its happinefs, 
 
 44 
 
 wonderfully preferved,g7, 
 
 482, 484 
 
 her fufferings ended, 518 
 
 Church, Jewifli, its glory in 
 Solomon s time, 235 
 
 declined foon after 237 
 
 this made way for Chritts 
 
 coming, 239, 240 
 
 preferred when the ftate 
 
 declined, 243 
 
 Church s profperity inConftan- 
 tine s time, 412, 413 
 
 L MfJt, an idol, 0^73 
 
 Colchians converted to Chrifti 
 anity. 425 
 Cole, Dr. anecdote of, p 459 
 College of prophets, 204 & c 
 Comfort, fpiritual fource of, 
 26, 27 
 
 Communion, ftrange term* of, 6 
 Cumpafs, invention of, 468 
 Conception of Chrift, 3 1 3 
 
 Conflagration of the world, 544 
 p 567 
 
 Confiifiou oftongues,oj2o,&c. 
 
 Conftantine s viiionand victory, 
 
 41 1, 412, & u 
 
 Contemplation on God s glory, 
 
 Contemplation on the worki of 
 
 Nature, 1 8 
 
 Conversions, remarks in New 
 
 England, o 471 
 
 See GrfpeL 
 
 Conviction of fin, 28, 29 
 
 Covenant, rites of, among the 
 
 Hebrews, z 140 
 
 among the Greeks, z 141 
 
 among the Romans, z 142 
 
 of redemption, 50, 5i,& 
 
 of grace, 
 
 renewed with Noah, 109 
 
 & o 
 
 with Abraham, 134 
 
 with Jacob, 156 
 
 with David, 219 
 
 Councils, ecclefiaftical, inftitu- 
 
 tion of, 383 & G 
 
 Crown of Judah preferved in 
 
 David s family, 228 
 
 , that of Ifrael often 
 
 changed, 230 
 
 Crucifixion of Chrift,347 to 3 50 
 
 afted at Lifbcn, T 491 
 
 Cruelty of popery, 454 & z 
 
 See Perfecution. 
 
 Curfe, Canaan s, PHI 
 
 Cyrus permits the Jews to re 
 turn and re-build the temple, 
 274 
 
 D 
 
 Daniel s prophecies, 255, 285 
 & N 
 
 feventy weeks, 272 & D 
 
 vilion of goat and leopard, 
 
 285 &N 
 
 Danifh miffionaries in the Eaft 
 Indies, 468 & M 
 Darknefs. miraculous at the 
 crucifixion, T 349 
 David anointed, 207 & E 
 . his life wonderfully pre 
 ferved, 210 & H 
 
 , his Pfalms, 2 1 $ 
 
 made king, 217 
 
 , God s covenant renewed 
 
 with, 2 1 9 
 
 David
 
 INDEX. 
 
 David conquered the whole 
 land of Canaan, 219,220 
 
 , his character, M 220 
 
 improved the Jewifii fer- 
 
 vice, 225 
 
 a type of Chrift, 226 
 
 anceftor of Chrift.228 & N 
 
 Domitian, a cruel perfecutor, 
 
 o 404 
 
 Dort, fynod of, 46 1 & H 
 
 Dragooning of the Prcreitu; u;, 
 
 B-, : -6 
 Drunk, Noah, 
 
 Death and dying words of Pref. 
 Edwards, 12, 13 
 
 of Chrift, 347 to 350 
 
 of Chrift and Socrates 
 
 compared, Y 353 
 
 of Julian the apoftate, 422 
 
 & z 
 
 of Rofleau and Voltaire, 
 
 p 474 
 
 Deacons firft appointed, 382 
 
 Deaconnefles in the primitive 
 
 church, F 382 
 
 Deifm, its fpread in England, 
 
 462, 474 & P 
 
 Delaware Indians defire the gof- 
 pel, w 499 
 
 Delight in religion, 19 
 
 Denis, St. his treafury, T 490 
 Defc ent, Chrift s into hell, 
 
 ^ w 350, B_372 
 
 Defign, God s in redemption, 
 60 & K 
 
 of Chrift s humiliation, 362 
 Deftruftion of the church s ene 
 mies, 104 & M 
 
 of Sodom, &c. 1 52 to 1 54 
 
 & c 
 
 Diary, extract from Mr. Ed- 
 
 wards s, 24 
 
 Difficulties of an Indian miflio- 
 
 nary, L 465 
 
 Dionyfius, the Areopagite, 297 
 
 &x 
 
 Difpenfations of Providence 
 
 dark before Chrift came, 63, 
 
 82 
 
 Difperfion of the nations, 122 
 
 Divinity of Chrift, A 199 
 
 Doctrines of the gofpel fully 
 
 revealed in the New Tefta- 
 
 ment, 380, 381 
 
 of the Waldenfes, T 444 
 
 4 E 
 
 Eaftern idolatry, u 131 
 Edwards, Pref! his birth, 4 
 education, ib. 
 
 entrance on the miniftry, ib. 
 appointed tutor of Yale 
 
 college, ib. 
 
 fixed at Northampton, 5 
 
 difference with his church, 
 
 ib. 
 his difmiilion from them, 
 
 7 ^ 
 attempts a reconciliation, 
 
 8, 9 
 appointed miflionary at 
 
 Stockbridge, 1 2. 
 appointed prefident of Jer- 
 
 fey College, ib. 
 
 his death, ib. 
 
 his dying words to his 
 
 daughter, 1 3 
 
 experience, 141030 
 
 remarks on, 30, 31 
 
 his delight in meditation, 1 7 
 
 thirft for holinefs, 20, 2 5 
 
 delight in the fcripture, 23 
 
 ficknefs, 24 
 
 fenfe of union to Chrift, 
 
 20 to 26 
 
 conviction of fin, 28, 29 
 
 writes the hiftory of Re 
 demption, 31 
 
 his ftudy and exercife, 32 
 
 his character, 8, 9, 32, 33 
 
 his works, 33, 34 
 
 his account of the revival 
 
 of religion in l\e\v England, 
 470, 47 1 & o 
 
 Egyptian idolatry, u 130 
 
 Empire, Perfian, deftroyed, 2^4 
 
 Empire
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Empire, Grecian, creeled, 284, 
 285 & N 
 
 divided, 286 & o 
 
 destroyed, 293, 294 
 
 Roman, erefted, ib. 
 
 at its height, 298 
 
 Encouragement forfinners, 359, 
 360 
 
 End of the world, meaning of 
 
 that phrafe, 363, 364 
 
 Enemies, the church s (hall pe- 
 
 ^ rifh, 43, 44, 56,^57, 104 & M 
 
 England, perfecution here, 
 
 410 &s, 457 
 See Britain. 
 Enoch s character, 92 & A 
 
 prophecy, 93 & B 
 
 tranflation, 95 & c 
 
 Enoch, pretended book of, E 94 
 H 100 
 Enthufiafts hurt religion, 
 
 460 & G 
 Eternity, contemplation of, 
 
 N 554 
 
 of hell torments, 546 & K 
 
 Events, typical, of Chrift s 2d 
 
 coming, 367, 369 
 
 Eve s hope of Cain, \v 86 
 
 See Adam, 
 
 Eunuch, his converfion, u 250 
 Eyes opened, what, p 70 
 
 Ezra s commiffion from Baby 
 lon, . 277 
 expounds the law, 278 & H 
 book of, 279 
 Expence of popery, M 434, 435 
 Ezekiel s prophecy, 270 
 
 Faith, modern popifh, 0^476 
 Fall of Man, 64 
 
 ruins of, God s defign to 
 
 reftore, 57, 58 & H 
 
 Fall of Antichrift gradual, 498 
 
 the work of God, 499 
 
 Falfe Chrifts before Jerufalem s 
 
 deftruction, i 398 
 
 Favin, Is. martyr, B 456 
 
 Fees of the Pope s chancery, 
 
 M 434 
 
 Flood, Noah s, 102 to 104 &: M 
 Forbearance, God s, 6c; & M 
 For-ever, its import, 46 & D 
 Folly of inattentive reading the 
 
 fcriptures, 308 
 
 France, converfion of, F 427 
 Frank, ProfelJbr, 469, 470 & N 
 Frogs, unclean fpirits, 503 
 
 Frumentius preaches in India, 
 425, F 426 
 
 Fulfilment of prophecies, 485, 
 
 &c. 
 
 as to the prefervation of 
 
 the church, 485 
 as to Antichrift, 486 to 
 
 494 
 
 Fulgentius, his timidity, N 436 
 
 Future ftate revealed under the 
 Old Teifemerit, 96 
 
 fuccefs of the gofpel how 
 
 it may probably be accom- 
 plifhed, 500, 501 & \r 
 
 G 
 
 Gemaraand Mifhna, quoted, E. 
 348 
 
 Genealogy, the Virgin Mary s 
 228 & N 
 
 Genferic and the Vandalls, 
 c 423 
 
 Georgia, orphan houfe at, o 473 
 Giants, what, H 100 
 
 Glauca hall, 469, 470 & N 
 Glory, Redemption completed 
 in, 532 
 
 See Heaven. 
 
 Gnoftics, their herefy, D 424 
 God the A and 17 in Redemption 
 
 558, 559 
 
 Gog and Magog, army of, 529 
 
 Gofpel revealed to the angels, 
 
 o 67 to 70 
 
 to Adam, 6c) to 75 & p 
 
 its fuccefs in the apoftolic 
 
 times, 388, &c. 
 
 among the Jews, 389, 390 
 
 among the Samaritans, 391 
 
 among the Gentiles, 392, 
 
 394 
 
 means of falvation, 413 
 
 Gofpel,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gofpel, its fuccefs, owing to a 
 divine power, 417 
 
 foretold, 418 
 
 among the Barbarians, 425, 
 
 426 & E 
 
 means of, 426 
 
 in the Indies, 425 
 
 in Ireland, 426 
 in Britain, ^47 
 
 in Scotland, w 499 
 among the American In 
 dians, 463, 464, L 466, Vf 
 
 497, &c. 
 
 opposition to it, proves its 
 
 divinity, 479, &c. 
 
 fuccefs of, fince the Re 
 formation, 462, &c. 
 in Mufcovy, ib. 
 
 in America, 0471.473 
 
 Goths converted to Chriitianity, 
 425, E 426 
 
 Grace triumphant over guilt, 
 57 & G 
 
 Grant of the earth to Noah, 108 
 
 Grecians, foreign Jews, 269, &c. 
 
 Greek language general, 287 
 
 prepared the way for pro 
 pagating the gofpel, 288 
 
 translation of Old TeSta- 
 
 ment, 288, 289, & p 
 
 Gregory XIII. his impiety A 455 
 
 H 
 
 Haggai s prophecy, 277 & c 
 Half, Rev. Mr. ie tter to, 10 
 Harnan, Jews delivered from, 
 282, & i. 
 Ham s crime and curfe, p 1 10 
 
 posterity, p 114 
 
 Hannibal s exclamation, p 113 
 Haran s pretended death, p 127 
 Head of all things, Chrift,59&L 
 Heart, man s, evil, 101 & r 
 Heaven created for the cleft, 52 
 
 & F 
 
 hofl of, worshipped, r 130 
 
 journey to, v 131 
 
 and earth, new, c;3, 365, 
 
 554 
 
 Heaven, happinefs of, 1570 & Q^ 
 Heavenly believer s journey 
 
 hither, v 131 
 
 Heathen, falvation of, 1.62, 171, 
 
 z 514 
 
 oracles, 408 & R 
 
 Heathens boaSt, having deftroy- 
 
 ed Chriftianity, 411 
 
 Heathenifm deftroyed, 412 to 
 
 41-4 
 
 Hebrew idiom, R 78 
 
 Hell, this world whether, 546 to 
 
 550 & L 
 
 its torments eternal, 546 & K 
 
 Milton s defcriptionof, L 551 
 Herefies, rife of, 420, D 424 
 their final end, 508 
 Heretics not allowed to trade, 
 
 u 493 
 
 Hermes, 0^.73 
 
 Herod, Kinginjudea, G 163 
 
 High Church perfecutors, 458, 
 
 & c 
 
 Hogs, maflacre of, 0^.73 
 
 Holinefs, its nature, 21 
 
 Holy of Holies, typical cf what, 
 
 233 & r 
 
 Honour of the Saints at the laft 
 
 day, _ 544 
 
 Horeb and Sinai, how diftin- 
 
 guifned, i 167 
 
 Horns, ten, beads with, 422, 423, 
 
 & B 
 
 Hofea, the firft who wrote his 
 
 prophecies, 247 
 
 Humility, its excellence, 22- 
 
 its true nature, 29 
 
 Hufs, John, martyred, 446 & w 
 Hyperbolies in religion, 29 
 
 Hypocrites admitted to the 
 Lord s Supper, " 6 
 
 I 
 
 Januaruis, St. his blood, s 488 
 
 Janus, the temple of, 299 & Y 
 
 Japhet s territory, p 1 16 
 
 4 E 2 Jacob s
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jacob s ladder, typical, 1 56 & D 
 
 wreftling, 157 & E 
 
 prophecy, 161 & G 
 
 death, G 161 
 
 Iberians converted to Chriftia- 
 
 nity, 425 
 
 Jefuits expelled Japan, R 480 
 
 Idohtry, origin of, 128 & u 
 
 Chaldean, ib. 
 
 kinds of, u 128 
 
 Egyptian, u 129, 130 
 
 Iv.lterr;. u 131 
 
 of the Tartars, 5 1 5 & B 
 
 Jehovah Jireh, B 148 
 
 Jerufalem, God s chofen city, 
 
 218 
 
 its deftruclion, 397 & i, 
 
 400 & K 
 
 foretold by Chrift, 397 
 
 & i 
 
 Xo\V, 552 & M 
 
 Jefus Chrift, his incarnation, 
 31,2, &c. 
 
 his conception, 3 r 3 
 
 his birth of a virgin,B 267, 
 
 . V!>, 3M 
 in the fulnefs of time, 3 14, 
 
 316 & A 
 
 proclaimed from heaven, 
 
 319, 320 
 
 ht3 fiitisficYion, 323, 324 
 
 his rightecufnefs and obe 
 dience, 3 2 <;,&(:. 
 hildhood, 328 & G 
 -i. .:!,, 328 
 
 P; ivate life, 328,329 
 
 p:K:e miniihy, 329, &c. 
 
 .runner, 329 
 
 : ..i-.tifm, 331 
 
 temptation, ib. 344 & o 
 preaching, 332 & i 
 
 miracles, 333 
 clofe of his miniftry, 334 
 
 & K 
 
 - character, 335, 339 & L 
 his fuiferings and infancy, 
 
 340 
 
 in his private life, 341 
 
 was a carpenter, 341 & M 
 
 truly fuffered, 342 & N 
 
 Jefus fuffered povctry, . 342 
 hatred and reproach, 
 
 343 
 tried as a malefactor, 345, 
 
 346 
 
 denied, ib. 
 
 crucified, 34710350 
 
 mocked, 348 
 
 Jews fought a pretence for 
 his death, R 348 
 
 death, 349 
 
 exact time of, T 349 
 
 preached to fpirits in pri- 
 
 fon, w 350 
 
 See Appearances and Chrift. 
 
 Jews difperfed to all parts of the 
 
 world, 
 return 
 Cyrus, 
 
 25, x 510 
 by permiffion of 
 
 typical, 
 
 7 
 
 wonderfully preferred, 
 
 291, 510 & x 
 given up to judicial blind- 
 nefs, 395 
 
 rejected of God, ib. 
 
 - deftroyed by the Romang, 
 396, 397 & i 
 
 - warned of this, 396 
 
 - perfecuted by the papifb, 
 
 1459 
 
 - converfion and re flotation, 
 
 509, 510 & x, 512 & Y 
 Jewifli difpenfation abolifhed, 
 
 377 
 
 Ignatius martyred, o 404 
 
 Incarnation, 312, &c. 
 
 - its neceffity, 3 1 3 
 Indians at Stockbridge,Pref. Ed. 
 
 miffionary there, 12 
 
 Indian Simplicity, L 466, 467 
 
 - letters, L 467, w 500 
 
 - fchools, M 469 
 
 - academy for miffionaries, 
 &c. - w 499 
 
 Indulgencies, prices of, M 434 
 Inquifition, 4^3 & Y 
 
 - praife of, Y 453 
 Infpiration of theO.Tefiament, 
 
 300, 301 
 
 - confirmed by Chrift,232&v, 
 
 Job
 
 INDEX. 
 
 job, book of, 178 & o, 305 
 
 John the Evangelift banimed to 
 
 Patmos, 433, N 404 
 
 the Baptift, his office, 329, 
 
 330 & H 
 Jofeph s hiftory, 1 157 & F 
 
 temptation and victory, 
 
 F 157 
 
 a type of Chrift, 158 
 
 Jofliua, book of, 212 & i 
 
 Ireland converted, 426 
 
 maflacre there, 459 & D 
 
 providential deliverance of 
 
 D 459 
 Ifaac, a pledge of the covenant, 
 
 M-3 
 
 his life fpared, 143 & A 
 type of Chrift riling from 
 
 the dead, B i 48 
 
 Ifaiah, prophefied of Chrift, 
 
 249 & u 
 
 Ifrael preferved in Egypt, 164 
 
 redeemed from Egypt, 1 66 
 
 that event typical, 166, 
 &c. 
 
 led through thewildernefs, 
 
 180 
 that alfo typical, ib. 
 
 wonderfully prefcrved, 
 
 183 & K 
 refcued by the judges, 196 
 
 poflefs all the land of Ca 
 naan, 192, 220 
 
 fubilee, of what typical, 502 
 Judah, tribe of, preierved, 244 
 Judas Maccabeus, his bravery, 
 292 & K 
 Judgments dreadful, caufed by 
 
 fin, 104 
 
 Judgment laft and general, 541 
 fudges, book of, K 2 1 4 
 
 Julian the apoftate, 421, 422 
 
 . his death, 422 & z 
 attempted to rebuild je- 
 
 rufalem, z 422 
 
 K 
 
 Kirldand, Rey. Mr. letter from, 
 w 499 
 
 Knowledge of good and evil, 
 
 P 70 
 
 Koran, account of, 437 & o 
 
 Kingdom of God and Heaven, 
 
 366, &c. 
 
 See Chrift and Empire. 
 
 Laban an idolater, s 125 
 
 Ladder, Jacob s, . 1 56 & D 
 Lamai, Delai, living idol, 6515 
 Lamentations, book of, 261 & Y 
 Languages, origin and confu- 
 iion of, 0^120, &c. 
 
 See Tongues. 
 
 Lafeinos, u 493 
 
 Latter days, what, 363 & A 
 Laud, Abp. his temper, c 458 
 Law, given from Sinai, 173, 
 
 174 & i. 
 not a covenant of works, 
 
 175 & M 
 
 typical, 175, 176 &N 
 
 book of, wonderfully pre 
 ferved, 243 & T 
 
 ceremonial aboliftied, 267 
 
 Learning, human, its vanity, 
 297 
 
 its proper ufe, 478 
 
 Letter to Mr. Hall, 10 
 
 See Indian. 
 
 Lewis XIV. his cruelty, 456 & B 
 Libertine, converlion of, P 180 
 Licentioufnefs, its prevalence, 
 
 474 
 
 Light of the Old Teftament, 
 63,82 
 
 Living at the laft day mail bt 
 
 changed, 538 
 
 his wife s death, c 1 54 
 
 Longevity of the patriarchs, 
 
 178 & P 
 
 Long Ifland, revival of religion 
 
 there, 473 
 
 Lorretto, houfe of, moved by 
 
 miracle, s 488 
 
 its riches, T 491 
 
 Lot preferved in Sodom, 15210 
 
 154 & c 
 
 Luke
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Luke, the companion of St. 
 Paul, 384 
 
 M 
 
 Mahomet s rife and character, 
 436 to ,438 & P 
 
 Majefty and power of God feea 
 
 in Redemption, 564,156:; 
 
 Maimonides en idolatry, u 128 
 
 Makkaph, point, G 165 
 
 Malachi, prophecy of, 283 
 
 Manes and the Manichees, D 
 
 424 
 
 Mark of the beafr, u 493 
 
 MafTacre of the Jews, i 399 
 
 Irifh, 459 & v 
 
 Farifian, 455 & A 
 
 Mediatorial office, Chrift, com 
 menced at the fall, 64, &c. 
 Mediators, heathens, origin of, 
 u 129 
 
 Melchifedec blcffeth Abraham, 
 138 
 
 who? Y 138 
 
 Mercy, divine, its true nature, 
 
 K 547 
 Mercy feat typical, 233 & p 
 
 Merit of Chrift s obedience,322 
 Mcfliah expected as a facrifice, 
 
 0.234 
 
 Millennium, ftate of, tj2o, &c. 
 
 the time for fulfilling the 
 
 remaining prophecies, ib. 
 
 a time of great knowledge, 
 
 ib. 
 
 of great holinefs, 522 
 
 of vital religion, 1523 
 
 peace and love, 524 
 
 order in the churches, 
 
 5. 2 S 
 
 the church s glory, ib. 
 
 temporal profperity, 
 
 ib. 
 
 MiniftryofChrift,how fimfhed, 
 334 &K 
 
 Miniftry, gofpel, inftituted,378 
 
 Miracles in the wilder nefs, 183 
 
 & R 
 
 miracles of Chrift, 333 
 
 of theapoftles, c. 38o& E 
 
 popifh, 487 & s 
 
 Mifery of the wicked, 5 70 
 
 See Hell. 
 
 Mifana quoted, E 348 
 
 Monr.ftries, expence of, w 434 
 
 Morals of the heathen philofo- 
 
 phers, how corrupted, TI 29^ 
 
 Mofes prophefied of Chrift,i84, 
 
 187 & T 
 
 call of the Gentiles, 187 
 
 wrote the Pentateuch, QJ So 
 
 Moth worm defcribed, A 43. 44 
 
 Mufcovy, fuccefs of the gofpel 
 
 there, 462, 463 
 
 Myfteriesof Providence, 561 & o 
 
 N 
 
 Nakedncf;, oxir firft parent?;,? 69 
 Nathan and Gad, book of, 227 
 Neceffity of abolifhing the ce 
 remonial law, 267 
 Neglect of Chrift, danger of, 
 
 356, &G. 
 
 Negroes, prefent ftate of, 5 1 5 
 
 & A 
 
 Nehemiah s ccmmiffion, 276 
 
 book, 280 
 
 Nero s perfecution, 403 & M 
 
 New Teflarhent, when, and by 
 
 whom written, 385 & H. 
 
 New. See Heaven. 
 Noah faved in the ark 106, 107 
 
 typical, 1 06 & N 
 
 his prophecy, p 1 10 to 1 1 7 
 
 poetic, PHI 
 
 gm\tjoy, 
 
 526 
 ib. 
 
 its duration, 
 doctrine of explained, c 
 527 
 
 his intoxication, PIIO 
 
 his family preferved the 
 
 true religion, 124 
 
 Nod, land of, 97 & E 
 
 Number of the beaft, u 493 
 
 Obfcene
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Q 
 
 Obfcene publications, the evil of, 
 
 Odoacer, king of the Heruli, 
 0423 
 
 Old. See Teftament. 
 Oneida Indians, w 497 
 
 Oracle, heathen, 408 R 
 
 Sybilline, B 267 
 
 Origen platonized, p 424 
 
 Origin of language, 0^122 
 
 of preaching, H 278 
 
 of fynagogues, 281 &K 
 
 Orphan houfe at Glauca, 470 
 & N 
 
 at Georgia, o 473 
 
 Ofiris and Ifis, u 129 
 
 Patriarchs, the Old Teftament, 
 
 wonderfully preferved, 149, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Patrick, St. preaches in Ireland, 
 426 
 
 Paul, St. his converfion and 
 million, 382 
 
 quotes the heathen poets, 
 
 297 & w 
 
 Paul n, Pope, his veftments, T 
 490 
 
 Pelagius and Pelagianifm, 421 
 & Y 
 
 Pentecoft, day of, 379,380, 
 
 E 
 
 Pentateuch, written by Mofes, 
 o^ 1 80 
 
 Perfecution of the Jews by A n- 
 tiochus, 291, 292 & R 
 
 of Chriftisknity, by the 
 
 Jews, 394 
 
 -the firfl general, 403 M 
 
 the ad, N 404 
 
 the third, 5b. 
 
 Perfecution the 4th, p 45 
 
 the roth, 409, 410 s 
 
 of the Orthodox, by the 
 
 Arians, 42 1 
 
 chargeable on all parties, 
 
 D4?5 
 
 lefs than formerly, 476 
 
 Perfecutions, Popifh, 452, c. 
 
 in Germany, 454 
 
 France, 455 & A, 456 
 
 & 3 
 
 England, 457 
 
 Scotland, 459 
 
 Ireland, ib. D 
 
 Spain, 459 
 
 Spanifh America, ib. 
 
 Perfoas of the Trinity, E 50 
 Perfonal Types, z 197 
 
 Peter the Great, 463 
 Philofophers, the heathen, 295 
 u 
 
 oppofed the gofpel, 4.01 
 
 i. 
 
 Chriftian, depraved it, 
 
 0424 
 
 Phials, (in the Revelation) the 
 
 firft five expkined, 447, 448 
 
 the 6th and 7th, 503, 
 
 SS 
 
 Piety cf the Ifraelites, who en 
 tered Canaan, :QO 
 
 Pius VI. prefent Pope, his cha 
 racter, 0^.47 
 
 Pilgrims, believers fo called, v 
 
 Pillar of a cloud and fire, K 169 
 
 Plots, popifii, defeated, 450,452 
 
 Plutfcho,Mr. Daniih rnillionary 
 
 M 468 
 
 Points, Hebrew, G 165 
 
 Poly carp, martyred, p 40^ 
 Pope s power decreased, 475, 
 
 Q_ 
 
 Popes idolized, 432 K 
 depofed princes, 433, 
 
 L 
 
 robbed the people, ib. M 
 
 antichrilt, 429 F 
 
 early oppofed, 441 s 
 Popery
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Popery, its rife, gradual, p 431 
 
 See Antichrift. 
 
 Population, ftate of, at the flood, 
 
 98 
 at the end of the world, 
 
 53. 1 
 Porphyry wrote againft Chrifti- 
 
 anity, L 402 
 
 Poverty of Chrift, 342 
 
 Preaching, origin of, H 278 
 
 of Ezra, ib 
 
 -of Chrift, 332 & i 
 
 to fpirits in prilbn, w 
 
 35 
 
 Predeflination, a comfortable 
 doctrine, 16 
 
 Prefence of the Lord, D 97 
 Price of Redemption, 323 & E 
 Promife, the very firft compre- 
 henfive, 0^75 
 
 Promifes, abftracts of God s de 
 crees, Y 194 
 Prophecies fcarce in the time of 
 the judges, B 204 
 
 abundant after the capti- 
 vitv, 251 
 
 of Ezekiel and Daniel, 
 
 270 
 when ceafed, 283 
 
 fulfilment of, proves the 
 truth of revelation, 485 
 
 as to the prefervation of 
 the church, 485 
 
 concerning antichrift, 486 
 
 to 494 
 . r future reafon to credit, 
 
 495 
 grand period of fulfilling, 
 
 520 
 
 Prophets, order of, inftituted, 
 
 200, &c. 
 
 fchool of, ib. 
 
 college of, 204, c. 
 connect temporal events 
 
 with fpiritual, G 209, o 232 
 
 feveral eminent, 247 
 Proiperity of the Church in the 
 
 time of Conitantine, 412, 
 
 Proteftantifm, prefent ftate of ia 
 
 Ruffia, 463 & i 
 
 Providence, divine, 189, 560, 
 
 561 & o 
 
 Providences extraordinary, 470 
 & N 
 
 Providential deliverance for Ire 
 
 land, D 459 
 
 - feveral in England, 
 
 450, &c. 
 
 Pfalms, Book of, 215, 216 & L 
 
 Purchafe of Redemption, 322, 
 
 &c. 
 
 R 
 
 Redemption what, 49, 50 
 
 - covenant of, 50 E 51 
 
 - how carried on, 53, Sec. 
 
 - defign of, 56, &c. 
 
 - completed in glory, 532 
 Reformation, 446, &c. 
 Reformed church, decreale of, 
 
 473 
 
 Relics, popifli, T 490 
 
 Reprobation, an objection to it 
 
 obviated, R 571 
 
 Refurrection of Chrift, 372,374 
 
 fpiritual, 367, c 527 
 - general, 536, 537 & E, 
 
 539 &F 
 
 Refutation, univerfal, 58 
 
 Reftoration of the Jews, 512 
 
 & Y 
 
 Revolutions, remarkable in 
 
 Providence, 253 
 
 Righteoufnefs of God, 45 
 
 of Chrift, 325, &c. 
 
 of the Saints, 543 
 Rochefter Ld. his converfion, 
 
 u 250 
 
 Romiith, 493 
 
 Rome, why called Babylon, 387 
 Rome, church of, its riches and 
 fplendour, 490 & r 
 
 RofTeau s dying words, p 474 
 Ruth, book of, K 214 
 
 S. Sab-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sabbath, Chriftian, 
 
 378 
 
 & D 
 
 Saccas, Amm. his notions, 0424 
 Sacred fire loft, 264 
 
 Sacrifices, origin of, 76 & R 
 
 33 
 
 of Cain and Abel, s 79 
 
 types, 234 & QJ N 176 
 
 Saints, fliall judge devils, 542 
 Samaritans oppofe the Jews, 276 
 
 conversion of, 391 
 
 Samuel, the prophet, his writ 
 ings, 212, 214 & K 
 Saracens compared to locufts, 
 
 439 &0 ^. 
 
 Satan, his kingdom on earth de- 
 ftroyed, 506, &c. 
 
 his final judgment, 541 
 
 Satisfaction, Chrift s, 322, &c. 
 Saved, few, before Chrift s com 
 ing, 62 & L 
 
 number of, L 62 
 
 Scotland, revival of religion 
 
 there, w 499 
 
 Scripture hiftory, when filent, 
 
 251 
 
 ufe of, 301, 302 
 
 its infpiration proved, 563 
 
 hated by the papifts, 436 
 
 & N 
 Scriptures, wifdom of God in, 
 
 303 
 Seed of the woman, 0^74 
 
 of the ferpent, 0^73 
 
 Self righteoufnefs reproved,354, 
 
 355 
 Septuagin-t tranflation, 288, 289 
 
 &p 
 
 Serpent, the old, his curfe, 
 
 0^72, 73 
 
 worfhipped, ib. 
 
 his head bruifed, 0^74 
 
 Shechinah. p 71, K 169 
 
 See Appearances. 
 
 Sheth,the name of a place, s 185 
 Shewbread, typical, 233 & p 
 prophecy of, G 164, &c. 
 
 4 F 
 
 Signs before Jerufalem s de- 
 
 ftrucT:ion, i 398 
 
 Sin, the unpardonable, A 422 
 
 Skins, coats of, typical, Si & T 
 
 Smith, Mr. and Mrs. our au 
 
 thor s friends, 22 
 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, their fin. 
 
 and deftruftion, p 112- 
 
 Solomon, a type of Chrift, 237 
 
 - his writings, 241 .& s 
 Sons of God, who, 100 & H 
 Sovereignty of God, 15, 16, 25, 
 
 30 
 Spirit, Holy, his glory, 28 
 
 - effufion of in the wilder - 
 nefs, 190 
 
 - return at Chrift s coming;, 
 
 318 
 
 - in the latter days, 499 
 Spirit of Chriftianity, 494 
 Star, an emblem of Deity, s 185 
 Stone of Ifrael, x 192 
 Sufferings of Chrift, 340, &c. 
 Sun and moon ftand ftill, y 194 
 
 - worfhip of, u 1 30 
 
 Tabernacle, Jewifh,erefted, 195 
 
 a type. See Temple. 
 
 Talmud quoted, 3 1 3 
 
 Temple, Solomon s, a type of 
 
 Chrift, 232 & p 
 
 Temptation, Chrift s, 331, 344 
 
 & o 
 
 Terah, an idol maker, T 127 
 
 Teftament, Old, its inipiration, 
 
 300 
 
 its utility, 307 
 
 confirmed by Chrift, 
 
 282 & M 
 
 Tongues, confufion of, Q^ISO, 
 &c. 
 
 gift of, 379, 380 & E 
 
 Tradition often injurious to 
 
 truth, c 95 
 
 early, how convcvtx!. 
 
 i73"& P 
 Tree
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tree of the knowledge of good 
 
 and evil, p 70 
 
 Trent, council of, 449, 450 
 
 Trinity, perfons of, E 50 
 
 Trumpets (in the Revelation) 
 
 four firft explained, 423 & c 
 
 Turkifh conquefts, 440 
 
 Types, Old Teftament, B 1 48, 
 
 149, 175, 176 & N, 208 
 
 & F, 234&CL, 11350 
 
 U 
 
 Vail of the temple, 233 & p 
 
 Valentinus and his followers, 
 
 D 4:4 
 
 Veftments, popifh, T 490 
 
 Vials. See Phials. 
 Virgin, prophecy of, 0231 
 Voltaire s faying of the Pope, 
 
 - dying words, P 474 
 
 Unbelief reproved, 353 
 
 Urr of Chaklea, T 127 
 
 Urim and Thummim, 263 z 
 
 W 
 
 Walking with God, A 92 
 
 Waldenfes, 442, &c. 
 
 Waldenfes, their doctrine,T 444 
 
 perfecuted by the Papifts, 
 
 445 & u 
 
 Wars, popifh, 451, 452 
 
 Whitefield, his labours in Ame 
 rica, o 473 
 Wicldiffe and his followers. 445, 
 
 446 
 Wifdom of God in Redemption, 
 
 566 
 
 in the fcriptures, 303 
 
 WitnefTes for the truth in every 
 
 age, 441 & s 
 
 World burnt, 545 
 
 Young people in our author s 
 congregation, their improper 
 behaviour, 5 
 
 Young generation in the wil- 
 dernefs, their piety, 190 
 See Children, 
 
 Zechariah, the prophet, 277 
 
 Ziengenbalgh, Danifh miffion- 
 
 ary, M 468
 
 TABLE OF TEXTS 
 
 More or lefs explained in this Work. 
 
 77/(? Articles referring to the Text only, are dijlinguiflied by 
 the Page; thofe to the Notes only, by a Letter prefixed to the 
 fieige ; [as s 79. i. e. Note s page 79,] thofe that refer to both Text 
 and Note have the Letter added after the Page; [as 88 and x, 
 Page 88 and Note x.] 
 
 Gen. i. 28. 
 
 108 
 
 xxxi. 24. 
 
 151 
 
 iii. 8 ii 
 
 P 69 
 
 . $3- 
 
 125 and s 
 
 1 5. 
 
 57, 69, 70, 72 
 
 xxxii. 24, &c. 
 
 157 and E, 
 
 
 and Q^, 80, 82 
 
 
 A 199 
 
 iv. i. 
 
 85, 86 and w 
 
 xxxv. 5. 
 
 
 4, &c. 
 
 79 and s 
 
 xxxix. 7 12. 
 
 157 and F 
 
 8. 
 
 . x 88 
 
 xlviii. 21. 
 
 G 161, &c. 
 
 14, 15. 
 
 99 and G 
 
 xlix. 8 10. 161 
 
 and G, 262 
 
 16. 
 
 97 and E 
 
 1. 20. 
 
 158 
 
 25. 
 
 87, 98 
 
 Exod. iii. 2, 3. 
 
 167 and i 
 
 26. 
 
 89 and z, 90, 91 
 
 viii. 26. 
 
 188 
 
 v. 24. 
 
 92 and A, 95 & c 
 
 xii. 12. 
 
 168 
 
 29. 
 
 p 1 16 
 
 xxi. 6. 
 
 47 and D 
 
 vi. i 4. 
 
 100 & H, 103 
 
 xxiii. 20, 21. 
 
 A 2O I 
 
 viii. 15. 
 
 551 
 
 xxiv. 9 n. 
 
 198 
 
 2O 22. 
 
 101 and i, 109 
 
 xxxiii. 2 4. 
 
 A 2OI 
 
 ix. 13, 7 
 
 109 
 
 xxxiv. 6, &c. 
 
 198 
 
 4, &c. 
 
 1 1 8 and Q__ 
 
 xxxiv. 24. 
 
 196 
 
 9, 10. 
 
 109 and o 
 
 Levit. vi. 13. 
 
 264 
 
 20, &C. 
 
 P I IO 
 
 Numb. xiv. 31. 
 
 l8 7 
 
 2527. 
 
 P III, &C. 
 
 xx. 8 13. 
 
 334 
 
 xi. 28. 
 
 T 127 
 
 xxii. 28. 
 
 s 184 
 
 xiii. 21. 
 
 8 1 and T 
 
 xxiv. 17, 19. 
 
 184 and s 
 
 xiv. 4, &c. 
 
 . - 137 
 
 Dent. iv. 32 34. 
 
 170, 173 
 
 1820, 
 
 Y 139, 140 
 
 viii. 4. 
 
 183 and R 
 
 xv. 918. 
 
 1 40 and z 
 
 2, 3, IS- 
 
 188, 189 
 
 16. 
 
 150 
 
 
 and u 
 
 xvii. 10. 
 
 1 36 and w 
 
 xviii. 1 6 19/186, 187 and T 
 
 xvii. 17, &c. c 154 
 
 xxxii. 8. 
 
 122 and R 
 
 xix i 25 
 
 152, 154, &c. 
 
 21. 
 
 l8 7 395 
 
 xxii. i 16. 
 
 143 to 148 and 
 
 22. 
 
 546 
 
 
 A and B, 234 
 
 xxxiii. 13, 14. 
 
 Y 194 
 
 xxiv. 3 1 . 
 
 p 115 
 
 Jofh. v. 13, 14. 
 
 198 
 
 xxvi. 35, 
 
 150 
 
 vii. 19 26. 
 
 191 and w 
 
 xxviii. 12 
 
 14 156 and D 
 
 x. 514. 
 
 507 
 
 4 F2 
 
 Jofli.
 
 TABLE 
 
 TEXTS. 
 
 Jofh. x. 12, 13, 
 
 193, Y 194 
 
 Ifaiah xxvi. 17. 
 
 5*9 
 
 xviii. i. 
 
 195 
 
 xxxvii. 30, 31. 
 
 247 
 
 x>.iii. 8. 
 
 190 
 
 xl. 4, 5. 
 
 521 
 
 xxiv. 2. 
 
 124 
 
 15. 
 
 506 
 
 Judges vi. ii, &c. 
 
 199 and A 
 
 xii. 2, 3. 
 
 1 38 and x 
 
 xiii. 17, 21. 
 
 ib. 
 
 , 2 . 2 2 3- 
 
 563 
 
 I. Sam. iii. i. 
 
 202 and B 
 
 xliii. 4. 
 
 . 567 
 
 xiii. 14. 
 
 M 22O 
 
 xlv. 22. 
 
 
 xvi. 6, 7. 
 
 207 and E 
 
 Ii. 5. . 
 
 45 
 
 73- 
 
 215 
 
 8. 
 
 . 43, &c. 
 
 xvii. 14. 
 
 210 and H 
 
 liii: 3. 
 
 343 
 
 II. S?m. vii. 1 6. 
 
 219 
 
 4, 10. 
 
 249 and u 
 
 viii. 3. 
 
 222 
 
 
 P235 
 
 xxiii. i. 
 
 215 
 
 lx. 4, 5. 
 
 502 
 
 I. Kings viii. 9. 
 
 262 
 
 21. 
 
 522 
 
 xviii. 4. 
 
 204 
 
 Ixv. i. 
 
 396 
 
 II. Kings ii. 15. 
 
 204 
 
 Ixvi. 7 9. 
 
 w 501, 503 
 
 x\ii. 8, &c. 
 
 243 and T 
 
 Jerem. ii. 2, 3. 
 
 188 
 
 114. 
 
 204 and G 
 
 X. I I. 
 
 413 
 
 I. C .iro. y\ui. 26. 
 
 226 
 
 xxv. 15 27. 
 
 254 
 
 xxix. 29. 
 
 K 215, &C. 
 
 xxxii. 39. 
 
 508 
 
 II. Cbro. xxiii. 18. 
 
 225 
 
 xxxiv. 1 8 20. 
 
 Z 141 
 
 Ezra i. 4. 
 
 . 2 7 8 
 
 1- 35-38. 
 
 129 
 
 ii. 63. 
 
 262 
 
 Ezek. i. 1 8 20. 
 
 561 
 
 " 55-... 
 
 221 
 
 xxi. 7. 
 
 2 55 
 
 jleherti. viii. i 12 
 
 . 278 and H 
 
 Dan. ii. 7. 
 
 366 
 
 x. 3. 
 
 221 
 
 35- 
 
 . 506 
 
 Eflheriii. 8. 
 
 265 
 
 40. 
 
 294 
 
 Job x.xxi. 26, 27, 
 
 u 130 
 
 41. 
 
 422 
 
 Pfalms xvi. 10. 
 
 B 372 
 
 44- 
 
 259, 520 
 
 xlv. 12. 
 
 523 
 
 v. 30. 
 
 273 
 
 Ixxiv. 8. 
 
 281 and K 
 
 iii. 25. 
 
 271 
 
 xc. 10. 
 
 182 
 
 vii. 6. 
 
 288, 289 
 
 cv. 12, &:c. 
 
 151 
 
 13, 14. 
 
 369,517 
 
 ex. i. . 
 
 37 6 > 397 
 
 2O, 21. 
 
 454,487 
 
 cxviii. 24. 
 
 374 
 
 24. 
 
 486 
 
 cxxii. 3. 
 
 525 
 
 27. 387,516,523 
 
 Cant. ii. i. 
 
 7 
 
 vui. 5, 7, 21. 
 
 288, 289 
 
 vii. 7. 
 
 406 
 
 
 and N 
 
 Ifaiah ii. 3. 4. 2 
 
 19, 390, 523 
 
 ix. 24, 27. 
 
 272 and D, 
 
 12, &C. 
 
 259 
 
 
 276, 329 
 
 17, 18. 
 
 
 xi. 3, 4. 
 
 286 
 
 vii. 2 14. 
 
 231 and o 
 
 45- 
 
 293 
 
 xi. i. 
 
 209 and G 
 
 xii. 4. 
 
 477 
 
 6, &c. 
 
 392, 524 
 
 ii. 
 
 498 
 
 9. 
 
 516 
 
 Hofea i. ii. 
 
 . 512 
 
 xxiv. 23. 
 
 . 521 
 
 vi. 6. 
 
 R 78 
 
 xxv. 7. 
 
 ib. 
 
 xii. 4. 
 
 A 19 
 
 
 
 
 Amos
 
 TABLE 
 
 O F 
 
 TEXTS. 
 
 Amos vii. 14, 15. 
 
 205 
 
 John xv. 12, 14. 
 
 333 
 
 ix. ii. 
 
 3*7 
 
 xvi. 12, 13. 
 
 381 
 
 Haggaiii. 6, 7. 
 
 256, jj& 
 
 xvii. i. 
 
 K 334 
 
 23. 
 
 277 
 
 xviii. 20, 21. 
 
 R348 
 
 Micah v. 2. . 
 
 3 1 / 
 
 31. 
 
 322 
 
 Zechar. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 499 
 
 xix. 20, &c. 
 
 349 and p 
 
 viii. 4, 5, 12. 
 
 525 
 
 A6ts ii. 26 30. 
 
 215 
 
 xii. 10, &c. 
 
 59 
 
 S 1 - 
 
 37* 
 
 xiv. 6, 7. 
 
 521 
 
 iii. 24. 
 
 203, 213 
 
 20, 21. 
 
 C22 
 
 v. 31. 
 
 376 
 
 Mai. iii. i, 2. A 201, 257,321 
 
 vi. i. 
 
 268, & c 269 
 
 iv. 2 4. 
 
 283 
 
 3, &c. 
 
 282 
 
 6. 
 
 524 
 
 vii. 45. 
 
 221 
 
 Matt. ii. 3 6. 
 
 B 317 
 
 x. 31,33. 
 
 5H 
 
 iii. 7. 
 
 73 
 
 ..43- 
 
 D 2O6 
 
 10. 
 
 396 
 
 xii. i 3. 
 
 394 
 
 1315. 
 
 326 
 
 xiii. 46, 47. 
 
 396 
 
 1 6, 17. 
 
 331 
 
 xv. 6, &c. 
 
 383 & G 
 
 iv. i ii. 
 
 344 and o 
 
 xvii. 16. 
 
 .39* 
 
 viii. 20. 
 
 342 
 
 18. . 
 
 401 
 
 xii. 21, 22. 
 
 A 42 
 
 22, &C. 
 
 297 
 
 xvi. 28. 
 
 B 8C 
 
 26, 27. 
 
 125 & R 
 
 xxiv. throughout, 397 10400 
 
 Rom. i. 21. 
 
 47 8 
 
 
 and K 
 
 iv. ii. 
 
 I 37 
 
 22. 
 
 427 
 
 x. 19, 20. 
 
 187, 248 
 
 xxvi. 39. 
 
 O45 
 
 xi. 12 15. 
 
 513 & Y 
 
 xxvii. 40. 
 
 349 and s 
 
 27. 
 
 389 
 
 xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 378, 379 
 
 3032. 
 
 I 7 I 
 
 Mark vi. 3. 
 
 341 and M 
 
 xiv. 9. 
 
 373 
 
 xiv. 33, 34. 
 
 345 and p 
 
 xvi. i. 
 
 F 282. 
 
 Luke ii. i. 293 
 
 , 318 & c 
 
 I. Cor. i. 2r. 
 
 173 
 
 7- 
 
 340 
 
 iii. 22. 
 
 Y 193 
 
 24. 
 
 317 
 
 vi. 3. 
 
 541, 542 
 
 xviii. 8. 
 
 497 
 
 20. 
 
 E 323 
 
 xxii. 53. 
 
 349 
 
 X. I I. 
 
 181, 363 
 
 xxiv. 1 8. 
 
 . 269 
 
 XV. IO. 
 
 382 
 
 John i. 1 1 . 
 
 343 
 
 25. 
 
 57 
 
 14. 
 
 117 
 
 33- 
 
 297 
 
 iii. 8. 
 
 3 1 
 
 5 1 53- 
 
 . 538 
 
 30. 
 
 239, 331 
 
 II. Cor. i. 4. 
 
 8 
 
 iv. 20, &c. 
 
 391 
 
 iii. 10. 
 
 163 
 
 22, 23. 
 
 364 
 
 iv. 15. . 
 
 Y 193 
 
 35> 36. 
 
 392 
 
 Gal. iii. 24. 
 
 . 153 
 
 v. 37. 
 
 A 2OO 
 
 Eph. i. 10. 
 
 59 
 
 . 39- 
 
 282 and M 
 
 20 22. 
 
 376 
 
 vii. 27. 
 
 z 313 
 
 Phil. ii. 8, 9. 
 
 373 
 
 viii. 56. 
 
 249 
 
 Colof. i. 15. 
 
 66 
 
 xii. 20,21. 
 
 268 
 
 26. 
 
 . . 381 
 
 xiii. 7. 
 
 o 561 
 
 ii. 10. 
 
 } 59 
 
 xiii. 31, 32. 
 
 60 
 
 
 I. Thef,
 
 TABLE OF TEXTS. 
 
 I. Thef. iv. 1 6. 
 
 F 540 
 
 Rev. xii. i. 
 
 235> 387 
 
 26. 
 
 536 
 
 2. 
 
 257, 387 
 
 II. Thef. ii. 3. 
 
 428, 486 
 
 3- 
 
 406, 423 
 
 4- 
 
 432 and K, 486 
 
 6. 
 
 427, 443 
 
 7- 
 
 429, 486 
 
 7- 
 
 406 
 
 8. 
 
 517 
 
 9- 
 
 414, 516 
 
 9- 
 
 48 7 and s 
 
 14. 
 
 443 
 
 I. Tim. i. 17. 
 
 1 7 
 
 16. 
 
 424 
 
 v. 9. 
 
 F 382 
 
 xiii. i. 
 
 423 
 
 II. Tim. vi. 6, 
 
 7. 4 02 
 
 3- 
 
 . 429 
 
 Hebrews vii. i- 
 
 6. Y 139 
 
 7- 
 
 454 
 
 ix. 26. 
 
 - 363 
 
 9. 
 
 73 
 
 X. I. 
 
 N I 77 
 
 13, 14. 429 and F, 487 
 
 25, 27. 
 
 397 
 
 
 and s 
 
 3 1 - 
 
 M 104 
 
 !7- 
 
 493 and u 
 
 xi. 4. 
 
 79 and s 
 
 xiv. 4, 5. 
 
 444 
 
 5- 
 
 92 and A 
 
 16, 8. 
 
 502, 503 
 
 
 95 and c 
 
 XV. IO, &C. 
 
 448 
 
 13, 14. 
 
 . . v 131 
 
 xvi. 12. 
 
 496, 503 , 
 
 1719. 
 
 148 and B 
 
 14-. 
 
 504 
 
 xii. 21. 
 
 174 
 
 15. 
 
 5*7 
 
 I. Peter i. 3. 
 
 374 and c 
 
 16. 
 
 55 
 
 IO, I I. 
 
 205, 206, and D 
 
 19, 20. 
 
 507 
 
 12. 
 
 3i9 357 
 
 21. 
 
 518 
 
 ill. I 8 22. 
 
 1 06 and N, 
 
 xvii. 4. 
 
 49 and T 
 
 
 35 1 
 
 ? 
 
 . 387 
 
 II. Feter iii. 10 
 
 , 12. . 546 
 
 6. 
 
 452, 486 
 
 I. John iii. 2. 
 
 0.57 
 
 1 6. 
 
 509 
 
 iv. 19. 
 
 27 
 
 18. 
 
 486 
 
 Jude 7. 
 
 154 
 
 12, 13. 
 
 487 
 
 14, 15. 
 
 93 and B, 94 
 
 xviii. 24. 
 
 452 
 
 Revel, i. 10. 
 
 378 and D 
 
 xix. 7,9. 
 
 526 
 
 vi. 9, 10. 
 
 . 410 
 
 10. 206 and D, 248 
 
 i_3 17. 
 
 . 367, 412 
 
 ii 18, 19 
 
 505 
 
 vii. i. 
 
 386 
 
 xx. 3. 
 
 518, 529 
 
 viii. i. 
 
 420 
 
 4- 5 1 / 
 
 r, 5 2 3 5 2 " 
 
 713. 
 
 . 423 and c 
 
 5-. 
 
 368 
 
 ix. 3, &c. 
 
 439 and Q^ 
 
 7- 
 
 529 
 
 I 5 ,&C. 
 
 440 and R 
 
 8. 
 
 104, 529 
 
 x. 57. 
 
 506 
 
 9- 
 
 104 
 
 xi. 3, &c. 
 
 441 and s 
 
 . J 3- 
 
 537 and E 
 
 7, 8. 
 
 496 
 
 xxi. i. 
 
 3 6 5> 554 
 
 12, 13. 
 
 528 
 
 I 4f 
 
 379 
 
 15, 19. 
 
 522 
 
 23. 
 
 68
 
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