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attracted around him great multitudes of people, and attached to himself twelve disciples, whom he intended to appoint to the apostolic office, he gave the new dispensation to mankind. He embodied the spirit of the Mosaic law in the sermon on the mount; and annihilated for ever all other modes of pleasing God, than purity of mind, rectitude of principle, spirituality of soul, and holiness of life.

Having promulgated his new dispensation, our Saviour healed the servant of the centurion, who was probably a Gentile; and he again hinted to the Jews the conversion of the Gentiles. By healing the widow's son, he proved his power over the laws of life and death, and again demonstrated to the Jews, upon their own principles, that he was that Messiah whom they expected to raise the dead. The message of John, who was still in prison, enabled our Lord to point out the real Elias, who was to precede the Messiah; it appears to have given occasion to his bitter reproach of the impenitent cities of Judæa, which he concludes, however, with an invitation to all to receive his mission. Various miracles and instructions follow, till the time arrived when the foundation of the Christian Church should be laid in the appointment of twelve apostles; who should possess equal power, and equal authority, to assert the present existence of the Messiah in Judæa, and the spiritual nature of the kingdom which he had come to establish.

The principal notes in this chapter, in addition to those on the history and dates, refer to the possible or probable existence of the types of the New Testament, a subject which has never, I believe, been sufficiently considered by theolo gians. To which must be added the notes on the demoniacs -the bearing of our sins by Christ-the conduct of our Lord respecting the Jewish Sabbath, the Jewish traditionary observances, and others of this nature..

IV. The fourth Chapter includes the time from the mission of the twelve apostles, to that of the seventy. In the

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note to the former of these events, I have entered at some length into the question of Church government. An opinion has very generally of late years prevailed in society, that all inquiries on this subject are useless, and that our conclusions are of no importance. It is said that sincerity is equally acceptable with the Deity, whatever be our form of worship; and as our opinions are out of our own power, we cannot be responsible for involuntary decisions. It has been said also, that the Deity has not preferred one form of discipline to another, or it would have been plainly revealed.

Reasonings of this nature do not appear to me to be satisfactory. I would reply to them, by observing, that the peace and order of society have hitherto been dependent on the conclusions of the student in his closet. Armies are moved and states are shaken by the effects of the prevalence of opinions, which are proposed or defended, by the more retired and reflecting. Discussion elicits truth; and the establishment of truth alone can bestow peace and happiness. Our conclusions, therefore, upon the subject of Church government, must and will be of importance, so long as the usurpations of the Papacy, and the divisions of parties, continue to agitate mankind. As far as the happiness of society in this world is concerned, it is impossible that the sincerity of error can be equally acceptable to God, with the sincerity of truth. Happiness is connected with truth, rather than with sincerity; and that which most promotes the happiness of man, must be more pleasing to God, than the sincerity which causes persecution. The form of worship which I believe to be proposed in the New Testament, would have effectually preserved the world from the sincerity of persecution; for it would have prevented the intolerable assumption of that ecclesiastical dominion, which was founded on usurpation, and is supported by intolerance and ignorance.

But it is said our opinions are not in our own power. The position is too general to be accurate. Opinions are not in

voluntary, when we possess the means of examining their evidence and foundation. I reserve, till another opportunity, an inquiry into the criteria of moral and religious truth.

The most objectionable of the notions to which I refer, is the assertion that the Deity has not preferred one mode of discipline to another, or it would have been more plainly revealed.

I have endeavoured to shew that a plan of Church Government was so plainly revealed, that it was uniformly acted upon for fifteen centuries. That plan is founded upon the one simple and general proposition, that the Church of God was to be composed of several societies, each of which should be united by this one rule-that no person should assume any spiritual office without the permission of those superiors to whom the power of ordaining, confirming, and regulating the Churches, had lawfully and regularly descended. Every Church might consist of many congregations, and was independent of its neighbours; episcopacy alone being the bond of union among all Christians. The collision of opinions which has taken place since the Reformation, has prevented the adherents of this form of Church Government from so uniformly maintaining this truth, as it was their duty to do. They shrank from the appearance of defending a position, with which their own interest was identified. The consequence has been, that episcopalians have been long considered merely as the principal sect among Christians-and Christianity itself, as a collection of disputable opinions, supported by a variety of sects. The members of the reformed Episcopal Churches ought to have remembered that they were required in defence of truth, to submit to reproach and insult in every form.

The coincidence does not appear to be merely accidental, that the Baptist should be put to death at the time when the twelve apostles were sent forth. The Old Dispensation had now done its work. The schoolmaster led the people to Christ, and the twelve went forth to bring them in to their

divine lawgiver. The foundations of the Christian Church were laid, Christ and his apostles being the corner stones. He now continued his miracles and teaching; by correcting the opinions of the people on their Jewish traditions-healing the Syrophoenician, as the earnest of the future healing of the Gentiles, a doctrine never wholly lost sight of-feeding the four thousand, who had probably followed him in the anticipation that he would save them from the Roman yoke. When our Lord healed a blind man about this time, St. Peter first declared his conviction in more express and decided terms, that the prophet of Nazareth was the Messiah. Upon this confession our Lord declares his Church to be built; and predicts to St. Peter, that he should become its second founder, by first opening its gates to the Gentile world. He then astonishes the apostle by prophesying his approaching death; and confirms the faith of his wondering disciples, whose minds were confounded with the apparent inconsistency between his asserted dignity and his anticipated degradation, by that scene which visibly opened the union of the two worlds, the Transfiguration on the mount. While their minds were still impressed with the remembrance of his glory, he again predicted his sufferings-and submitted, as a man, who was bound by the political regulations of society, to the demand for tribute. The chapter concludes with the contention among the disciples for superiority. They could not, till the Holy Spirit had illumined their minds, understand the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom. They saw that Christ could have maintained an army without expence they saw the people eager to follow him—and they imagined that the Roman yoke would be thrown off at an early opportunity.

The principal notes refer to some of the Jewish traditions -our Lord's applying to himself certain expressions, by which the Jews described their Messiah, and the nature of the Messiah, whom they expected. The address to St. Peter-the disputing of the apostles-and the transfigura

tion, are briefly considered as interesting subjects of inquiry to the theological student.

V. The fifth chapter embraces the next great division of our Lord's ministry, the period from the mission of the seventy to his own triumphant entry into Jerusalem. As the victim was led to the altar garlanded with flowers, and followed by the acclamations of the people; so was our great Sacrifice adorned for the altar of the cross. Few remarks are necessary on the contents of this Chapter. The deeper impression produced by the preaching of his apostles and of the seventy, and by his own wonderful example, miracles, and teaching, began to appear more plainly. The agitation of the public mind at Jerusalem-the public assertion of his pre-existence-his increased boldness, as his personal danger became greater-his more numerous cautions to his disciples -his assertion of his divinity, and the consequent resolution of the Jews to apprehend him-successively prove the wisdom of the plan upon which our Lord acted, of gradually convincing the people, and then submitting to his painful death. No sooner was the resolution taken to seize him, than his lamentations over Jerusalem begin-his parables assume a more prophetic character, descriptive of the reception of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. At length he goes on to work his greatest miracle, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and with that, (which appears to have been publicly performed before many of the rulers, who were eager to apprehend him,) to discontinue the appeal to the Jews by this kind of evidence. If he had wrought miracles at Jerusalem, it would have appeared that he desired to excite the people to rebellion. The whole nation were now made acquainted with his pretensions, and with the evidence upon which they were supported. He entered therefore Jerusalem amidst the shouts of the people, in a manner so remarkable, that he evidently fulfilled a prophecy of Zachariah. I have enquired, in a note to this passage, from a review of the history of the Jews, from the

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