Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

bus sißng awo. BERM. obfcurely difpenfed, that his followers are LVIH ever and anon foliciting him to explain his meaning. And his anfwer to them, upon one of these occafions, only increases the embarras. Unto you (fays he) it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God, but, unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables; that feeing they may fee and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; left at any time they should be converted, and their Sins fhould be forgiven them. A penurious difpenfation of truth is the leaft offenfive circumstance in this dreadful account of his commiffion. The keeping numbers in darkness, in order to work their deftruction, gives but an untoward idea of a divine Meffenger; and a much worfe of him in particular who, by his own declaration, was fent not to destroy men's lives but to fave them, or, as he expreffes it on an occafion more to our prefent purpose, to fave that which was loft

་་

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

I fhall examine this offenfive circumftance in the Gofpel difpenfation, not merely to fhew the conformity between Jefus's Luke ix. 56. Toen bri

Mark iv. 11, 12.
Matt, xviii. II.

[ocr errors]

own practice, and that, which in my text SERM he recommends to his followers; but prin- vIII. cipally to vindicate the juftice of the divine conduct towards thofe, who, it is confeffed," were the proper objects of his vengeance. And the rather, as this circumftance is become a ftumbling-block which licentious men are ever ready to throw in the way of the ftaggering and the weak fighted.

In order to do this, we must go back to the inftitution of the Law. This eftablishment, tho' preparatory to the Gospel, was yet, in order to fit it to the genius of the Jewish people, delivered under a carnal cover; which, for the fake of what was to come, the Prophets, from time to time, were ever lifting up; and pointing to the spiritual substance beneath. Notwithftanding this attention of providence to conduct them to their true happiness, the genius of the people prevailed; and instead of fuffering the SUBJECT difclofed by the prophets to erect their minds to heavenly things, They catched at the EXPRESSION to fortify themselves in their carnal habitudes. In a word, The Jews growing more and more earthly-minded; and with an obftinacy

ERM. ftinacy fo peculiar to them, that their blind VIII. nefs feemed to fpread in proportion to their increafe of day-light; By fuch time as the change of the economy approached, any cover for truth, even the plaineft apologue, or moft obvious parable, was fufficient to keep them in that ignorance, into which their paffions and prejudices had brought them.

Against this hardness of heart and groffnefs of understanding, the prophets had long ftruggled, by all the addrefs of information, by all feverity of reproof; till at length every mean of reformation having proved ineffectual; God, in his wife providence, thought fit, that those who would not fuffer him to fave them fhould, for a warning to an impious world, have their rejection of the Lord of life predicted by the mouth of his Prophets; and their final deftruction recorded in their own Oracles.

[ocr errors]

The time foretold was now come. The Lord of life was fent to THEM and to all MANKIND. And agreeable to his bufinefs, was his Office and Character. To mankind at large he was primarily a divine Meffenger; To the Jews, a divine Meffen

gen

ger foretold. To prove his miffion he s ERM. worked miracles: to prove himself the VIII. Meffiah he fulfilled Prophefies. Under the first part of his Character his light fhone before men in the manner he recommends it to his followers' imitation; under the latter, it fhone indeed, but fo as to be fubfervient and inftrumental to the evidence arifing from the marks predicted of their promised Deliverer. Now God, by Isaiah, had said, "Alfo I heard the voice of the Lord faying, "Whom shall I fend and who will go for "us? Then faid I, Here am I, fend me. "And he faid, Go and tell this people, "Hear ye indeed, but understand not ; and • fee ye indeed, but perceive not. Make "the heart of this people fat, and make "their ears heavy, and fhut their eyes:

left they fee with their eyes, and hear "with their ears, and understand with "their heart, and convert and be healed'." From this prophecy, (which the Disciples might have feen was then fulfilling on the Jews, in the very mode of communicating the Gospel to them) our bleffed SaviIfaiah vi. 8, 9, 10. Matth, xiii. 14. John xii. 39. 2

[ocr errors]

SER M. Our deduceth the proof of his MeffiahVIII. Character -Unto you it is given to know Nthe mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that feeing they might not fee, and hearing they might not underftand". As much as to fay, Take this mark amongst others of the truth of my pretenfions: My offers of Salvation, as was foretold, are rejected of my Countrymen ; and I have delivered my meffage to them in fuch terms, and attended with fuch circumftances, as the good providence of God hath foretold; and by foretelling, hath prescribed the Meffiah to employ, in order to promote the accomplishment of his will. So that Jefus, we fee, is not here declaring the MODE, in which, as a divine meffenger, he was to propound God's good will to man: Much less is it any intimation of the peculiar GENIUS of the Gofpel; which in one place felected it's favourites, and in another doomed the unhappy to perdition : But it is a fimple affertion that the prophetic prediction, or, if you will, God's fentence, was now fulfilling or executing on the Jews: And that Jefus, as the inftrument of it's com

Luke viii. 10,

pletion,

« AnteriorContinuar »