Thus, Saint Paul applies what was spoken to Joshua, (ch. i. 5.) to the believing Hebrews (Heb. xiii. 5.): Jesus Christ being the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, as it is added in the eighth verse of the same chapter; he has the same grace to pity, and the same power to help his sincere disciples now, as formerly, without respect of persons. A distinction, however, must be taken between such of the promises in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Psalms; as are of universal application, and such as were made to those Israelites and Jews who obeyed the law of God, which were strictly temporal. Of this description are all those promises of peace and prosperity in this world, which were literally suitable to the Jewish dispensation, God having encouraged them to obey his laws, by promises of peculiar peace and prosperity in the land of Canaan. Whereas now, under the Gospel dispensation, "godliness hath indeed the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come," (1 Tim. iv. 8.) but with an exception of the cross, when that may be best for us, in order to our future happiness in heaven. So that the promises in the Old Testament, of a general felicity in this life are not so literally to be applied to Christians as they were to the Jews.1

III. Such promises as were made in one case, may be applied in other cases of the same nature, consistently with the analogy of faith. The instance, adduced under the preceding canon, will also illustrate the present. The promise there mentioned was made to Joshua, on his going up against the Canaanites, lest he should be discouraged in that enterprise; yet it is applied by the apostle as a remedy against covetousness or inordinate cares concerning the things of this life; it being a very comprehensive promise that God will never fail us nor forsake us. But if we were to apply the promises contained in Psal. xciv. 14. and Jer. xxxii. 40. and John x. 28. as promises of absolute and indefectible grace to believers, we should violate every rule of sober interpretation, as well as the analogy of faith.

IV. God has suited his promises to his precepts.

By his precepts we see what is our duty, and what should be the scope of our endeavours; and by his promises we see what is our inability, what should be the matter or object of our prayers, and where we may be supplied with that grace which will enable us to discharge our duty. Compare Deut. x. 16. with Deut. xxx. 6. Eccles. xii. 13. with Jer. xxxii. 40. Ezek. xviii. 31. with Ezek. xxxvi. 37. and Rom. vi. 12. with v. 14.

V. Where any thing is promised in case of obedience, the threatening of the contrary is implied in case of disobedience: and where there is a threatening of any thing in case of disobedience, a promise of the contrary is implied upon condition of obedience.

In illustration of this remark, it will be sufficient to refer to, and compare, Exod. xx. 7. with Psal. xv. 1-4. and xxiv. 3, 4. and Exod. xx. 12. with Prov. xxx. 17.

VI. God promises that he may perform what he promises, but threatens that he may not fulfil his threatenings.

In other words, by his promises he encourages men to obedience, that they may receive the reward of it: but, by his threatenings, he warns men, and deters them from sin, that they may not feel its ef fects. For instance, in Rev. ii. 5. he threatens, as if he were unwilling to inflict the punishment, repeating the means by which it may be prevented. For the same purpose is the menace denounced in Rom. 1 Collyer's Sacred Interpreter, vol. i. p. 336.

2 Bp. Wilkins, in his admirable Discourse on the Gift of Preaching, has stated this rule in the following terms:-"Every Scripture does affirm, command, or threaten, not only that which is expressed in it, but likewise all that which is rightly deducible from it, though by mediate consequences." (Dr. Williams's Christian Preacher, p. 22.)

viii. 13. against professors of the Gospel, that they may beware of such things as have in themselves a tendency to eternal death.

There are, however, two important cautions to be attended to in the application of Scripture promises; viz. that we do not violate that connection or dependency which subsists between one promise and another; and that we do not invert that fixed order which is observable between them.

1. The mutual connection or dependency subsisting between promises, must not be broken

As the duties enjoined by the moral law are copulative, and may not be disjoined in the obedience yielded to them (James ii. 10.); so are the blessings of the promises; which may not be made use of as severed from each other, like unstringed pearls, but as collected into one entire chain. For instance, throughout the sacred volume, the promises of pardon and repentance are invariably connected together so that it would be presumptuous in any man to suppose that God will ever hearken to him who implores the one and neglects to seek the other. "He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy word." In like manner, in Psal. lxxxiv. 11. the promise of grace and glory is so insepa rably united, that no person can lay a just claim to the one, who is not previously made a partaker of the other. Bishop Horne's commentary on this verse is not more beautiful than just.1

2. In applying the promises, their order and method should not be inverted, but be carefully observed.

The promises, made by God in his word, have not inaptly been termed an ample storehouse of every kind of blessings, including both the mercies of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. There is, indeed, no good that can present itself as an object to our desires or thoughts, but the promises are a ground for faith to believe, and hope to expect the enjoyment of it: but then our use and application of them must be regular, and suitable both to the pattern and precept which Christ has given us. The Pattern or example referred to, we have in that most comprehensive prayer, emphatically termed the Lord's prayer (Matt. vi. 9-13.); in which he shows what is chiefly to be desired by us, viz. the sanctification of his name in our hearts, the coming of his kingdom in our souls, and the doing of his will in our lives; all which are to be implored, before and above our daily bread. We are not to be more anxious for food than for divine grace.

The Precept alluded to, we have in his sermon on the mount (Matt. vi. 33.); Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The soul is of more worth than the body; as the body is more valuable than raiment and therefore the principal care of every one should be, to secure his spiritual welfare, by interesting himself in the promises of life and eternal happiness. Here, however, a method must be observed, and the law of the Scripture must be exactly followed, which tells us, (Psal. lxxxiv. 11.) that God first gives grace and then glory. " As it is a sin to divide grace from glory, and to seek the one without the other; so it is also a sin to be preposterous in our seeking, to look first after happiness and then after holiness: no man can be rightly solicitous about the crown, but he must first be careful about the race; nor can any be truly thoughtful about his interest in the promises of glory that doth not first make good his title to the promises of grace."?

6

6

1 "Jesus Christ is our Lord' and our God:' he is a 'sun,' to enlighten and direct us in the way, and a 'shield' to protect us against the enemies of our salvation. He will give grace' to carry us on from strength to strength,' and 'glory' to crown us when we appear before him in Zion ;' he will withhold' nothing that is 'good' and profitable for us in the course of our journey, and will himself be our reward, when we come to the end of it." Commentary on the Psalms, vol. ii. (Works, vol. iii. p. 81.)

2 Dr. Spurstowe's Treatise on the Promises, pp. 62. 65. The whole volume will abundantly repay the trouble of perusing it. There is also an admirable discourse on the Promises, in the Sermons published by the late Rev. Charles Buck: in which their divine origin, their suitability, number, clearness of expression, the freeness of their communication, and the certainty of their accomplishment, are stated and illustrated with equal ability and piety. See also Hoornbeck's Theologia Practica, pars I. lib. v. c. 2. pp. 468–477.

VOL. II.

$6

CHAPTER XII.

ON THE INFERENTIAL AND PRACTICAL READING OF SCRIPTURE. SECTION L

ON THE INFERENTIAL READING OF THE BIBLE.

I. General Rules for the deduction of Inferences. II. Observations for ascertaining the Sources of Internal Inferences.-III. And also of External Inferences.

I. THE sense of Scripture having been explained and ascertained, it only remains that we apply it to purposes of practical utility: which may be effected either by deducing inferences from texts, or by practically applying the Scriptures to our personal edification and salvation. By inferences, we mean certain corollaries or conclusions legitimately deduced from words rightly explained: so that they who either hear or read them, may form correct views of Christian doctrine and Christian duty. And in this deduction of inferences we are warranted both by the genius of language, which, when correctly implied, not only means what the words uttered in themselves obviously imply, but also what may be deduced from them by legitimate consequences; and likewise by the authority of Jesus Christ and his apostles, who have sanctioned this practice by their example.

To illustrate this remark by a single instance :- Our Lord (Matt. xxii. 23-32.), when disputing with the Sadducees, cited the declaration of Jehovah recorded in Exodus iii. 6. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and from thence he proved the resurrection of the dead inferentially, or by legitimate consequence. It should be observed, that Abrahain had been dead upwards of three hundred years before these words were spoken to Moses, yet still Jehovah called himself the God of Abraham, &c. Jesus Christ properly remarked that God is not the God of the dead (that word being equivalent, in the sense of the Sadducees, to an eternal annihilation), but of the living whence it follows, that if he be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they have not altogether perished, but their bodies will be raised again from the dead, while their spirits or souls are alive with God, notwithstanding they have ceased for many centuries to exist among mortals. In the same reply, our Saviour further confuted, inferentially, another tenet of the Sadducees, viz. that there is neither angel nor spirit, by showing that the soul is not only immortal, but lives with God even while the body is detained in the dust of the earth, which body will afterwards be raised to life, and be united to the soul by the miraculous power of God.

The foundation of inferential reading is the perpetual harmony of sacred things; so that any one who has thoroughly considered and rightly understood a single doctrine, may hence easily deduce many

1 Qui enim intelligit, quod loquitur, non modo vim, sed ambitum quoque verborum perspicit; ideoque id omne, quod ex iis legitime colligi potest, adprobare etiam merito creditur. Buddei Elementa Philosophie Instrumentalis, part ii. cap. ii § Xxx. p. 246.

others which depend upon it, as they are linked together in one continued chain. But, in order to conduct this kind of reading with advantage, it is necessary that we bring to it a sober judgment, capable of penetrating deeply into sacred truths, and of eliciting with indefatigable attention and patience, and also of deducing one truth from another by strong reasoning; and further, that the mind possesses a sufficient knowledge of the form of sound words in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. i. 13.) Without this knowledge, it will be impossible to make any beneficial progress in this branch of sacred literature, or to discover the exhaustless variety of important truths contained in the sacred writings. It will likewise be requisite to compare inferences when deduced, in order to ascertain whether they are correct, and are really worthy of that appellation. For this purpose the following rules may be advantageously consulted. 1. Obvious or too common inferences must not be deduced, nor should they be expressed in the very words of Scripture.

Thus, if from Matt. vi. 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, the following inferences be deduced: 1. The Kingdom of God is to be sought in the first instance. 2. It is necessary that we seek the righteousness of God; and, 3. To him that thus seeks, all other things shall be added. Although these are in themselves weighty truths, yet they are expressed too plainly in the very words of Scripture, to be called inferences. They are, rather, truths seated in the text itself, than truths deduced from those words.

2. Inferences must be deduced from the true and genuine sense of the words, not from a spurious sense, whether literal or mystical.

We have a striking violation of this sober and almost self-evident canon, in the inference deduced by Cardinal Bellarmin, from a comparison of Acts x. 13. with John xxi. 16. From the Divine command, Rise, Peter! kill and eat, compared with our Lord's direction to the Apostle, Feed my sheep, he exhorts this consequence, viz. that the functions of the Roman pontiff, as the successor of Peter, are two-fold- to feed the church, and to put heretics to death! It is scarcely necessary to add, that this inference is derived from putting a false and spurious sense upon those passages.

3. Inferences are deduced more safely as well as more correctly from the originals, than from any version of the Scriptures.

It is not uncommon, even in the best versions, to find meanings put upon the sacred text, which are totally foreign to the intention of the inspired penmen. Thus, from Acts ii. 47. (the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved), the papists have absurdly pretended to deduce the perpetuity and visibility of the (Roman Catholic) church; and, from the same text compared with Acts xiii. 48. (as many as were ordained to eternal life believed), some have inferred that those whom God adds to the church shall necessarily and absolutely be eternally saved. The question relative to indefectibility from grace is foreign to a practical work like this :1 but, without throwing down the gauntlet of controversy,

1 "It may not be the most philosophical, but it is probably the wisest opinion which we can adopt, that the truth lies some where between the two rival systems of Calvin and Arminius; though I believe it to exceed the wit of man to point out the exact place where it does lie. We distinctly perceive the two extremities of the vast chain, which stretches across the whole expanse of the theological heavens; but its central links are enveloped in impenetrable clouds and thick darkness." (Mr. Faber's Discourses, vol. i. pp. 478, 479.) Archbishop Tillotson has a fine passage on this subject to the same effect, (which is too long to be extracted) at the close of his hundred and seventh sermon. See his works, vol. v. pp. 395, 396. Compare also vol. vii. pp. 99, 100. (London, 1820.) On this topic the author cannot withhold from his readers the following admirable observations of the late Bishop Horsley. Addressing the clergy of the diocese of Gloucester, he says, "I would entreat you of all things to avoid controversial arguments in the pulpit upon what are called the Calvinistic points; the dark subject of predestination and

we may remark, that these passages have no relation whatever to the doctrine of election; and that if the translators of our authorised version had rendered the original of Acts ii. 47. literally, as they have done in other parts of the New Testament, it would have run thus, the Lord added daily to the church, Tous su pevous, the saved; that is, those who were saved from their sins and prejudices; and so the passage is rendered by Drs. Whitby, Doddridge, and other eminent critics and divines. Further, if Acts xiii. 48. had been translated according to the proper meaning of rerayuevo, that verse would have run thus : — As many as were disposed for eternal life, believed: which rendering is not only faithful to the original, but also to the context and scope of the sacred historian, who is relating the effects or consequences of the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. For the Jews had contradicted Paul, and blasphemed, while the religious proselytes heard with profound attention, and cordially received the Gospel he preached to them; the former were, through their own stubbornness, utterly indisposed to receive that Gospel, while the latter, destitute of prejudice and prepossession, rejoiced to hear that the Gentiles were included in the covenant of salvation through Jesus Christ; and, therefore, in this good state or disposition of mind, they believed. Such is the plain and obvious meaning deducible from the consideration of the context and scope of the passage in question; and that the rendering above given is strictly conformable to the original Greek, is evident from the following considerations. In the first place, the word Terayuevo is not the word generally used in the New Testament to denote fore-ordination, or an eternal decree, but the verbs and ooop, which exactly answer to our English words determine and predetermine. Further, Dr. Hammond remarks, the verb racow, or rarrw, (whence the participle Terayμevos) and its compounds, are often employed in the sense of our military word tactics, by which is meant whatever relates to the disposal or marshalling of troops. (Compare Luke vii. 8. and Rom. xiii. 1. Gr.) and hence, by analogy, it is applied to other things:-Thus, in 1 Cor. xvi. 15. we read, "They devoted (Eragav) themselves to the ministry of the saints." See also 1 Mac. v. 27. and 2 Mac. xv. 20. (Gr.); and particularly Acts xx. 13., where we read that Saint Paul went on foot to Assos, for so he was (duereraypevos) disposed. Similar expressions are to be found in the Greek classic writers. But what confirms the preceding election I mean, and the subordinate questions. Differences of opinion upon these subjects have subsisted among the best Christians from the beginning, and will subsist, I am persuaded, to the end. They seem to me to arise almost of necessity, from the inability of the human mind to reconcile the doctrine of a providence, irresistibly ruling all events, with the responsibility of man as a moral agent. And persons, equally zealous for God's glory, have taken different sides of the question, according as their minds have been more forcibly impressed with awful notions of God's right of sovereignty on the one hand, or of his justice on the other. But in certain leading principles, Lutherans, Calvinists, Arminians, and we of the church of England are, I trust, all agreed. We are agreed in the fundamental doctrines of the Trinity; all believing in the united operation of the three persons, in their distinct offices in the accomplishment of man's redemption. We are all agreed that the fore-knowledge of God is like himself—from all eternity, and absolute; that his providence is universal, controlling not only all the motions of matter, but all the thoughts and actions of intelligent beings of all orders; that, nevertheless, man has that degree of free agency which makes him justly responsible; that his sins are his own; and that, without holiness, no man shall see God. While we agree in these principles, I cannot see to what purpose we agitate endless disputes upon the dark-I had almost said—presumptuous questions upon the order of the divine decrees; as if there could be any internal energies of the divine mind, and about the manner of the communion between the Spirit of God and the Soul of the believer." (Bp. Horsley's charge in 1800, pp. 32, 33. 4to.)

1 It is worthy of remark that the participle wouevos occurs in four other places of the New Testament, in all which our translators give the true meaning. These are Luke xiii. 23. ei odiyoɩ owĽopevoɩ; are there few that BE SAVED? - 1 Cor. i. 18. τοις δε σωζομενοις ἡμιν, but unto us WHICH_ARE SAVED. - 2 Cor. ii. 15. εν τοις σωζόμενους, in them THAT ARE SAVED. - Rev. xxi. 24. Ta dvn 7wv ow(operwv, the nations of them WHICH ARE SAVED. In none of these instances have the translators given the forced and arbitrary meaning above noticed, and no reason can be assigned why they should have so rendered Acts ii. 47.

2 Dr. Hammond (on Acts xiii. 48.) has cited and commented on several passages which we have not room to state. He renders the word Terayperor by fitly disposed and qualified for; Dr. Wall, by fit to receive; and Mr. Thompson, the learned