then Serveth the Law? It was Added (he says) because of transgressions, till The SEED should Come, to Whom the Promise was Made: and It was Ordained by Angels in the Hand of A MEDIATOR. Now a Mediator is not a Mediator of Öne; but GOD is ONE. Is the Law then against The Promises of GOD? GOD Forbid! For if there had been a Law Given, Which could have Given Life, verily Righteousness should have been by the Law. But the Scripture hath Concluded All under sin, that The Promise by Faith of JESUS CHRIST might be Given to Them that believe. But before Faith Came, we were kept under the Law, Shut up unto the Faith Which should afterwards be Revealed. Wherefore the Law was our School-Master to Bring us unto CHRIST, that we might be Justified by Faith. But after that Faith is Come, we are no longer under a School-Master." And then to the unspeakable consolation of All that have vital Faith to be Saved, he adds, "For ye are All the Children of GOD by Faith in CHRIST JESUS: for as Many of you as have been Baptized into CHRIST, have put on CHRIST. There is neither Jew, nor Greek; there is neither Bond, nor Free; there is neither Male nor Female; but ye are All One in CHRIST JESUS and if ye be CHRIST'S, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and Heirs according to The Promise."-Gal. iii. The Apostle then proceeds in the same vigorous train of reasoning and deduction by analogy from the History of Abraham, and the Advent of the Promised Blessedness through his SEED, CHRIST JESUS ;-" Now I say, That the Heir, as long as he is a Child, differeth nothing from a Servant, though he be Lord of all; but is under Tutors and Governors, until the time appointed of the Father. Even so we, when we were Children, were in bondage under the elements of the World: but when the Fulness of the Time was Come, GOD Sent forth His SON, Made of a Woman, Made under the Law, to Redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons. And, because ye are Sons, GOD hath Sent forth The SPIRIT of His SON into your hearts crying, 'ABBA! FATHER!' Wherefore thou art no more a Servant, but a Son; and, if a Son, then an Heir of GOD through CHRIST. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law? For it is Written (Gen. xvi. 15, xxi. 1 to 3), "that Abraham had two Sons, the One by a Bond-Maid, the Other by a Free-Woman:" but he, who was of the Bond-Woman, was born after the Flesh; but he of the Free-Woman was by Promise; Which Things are an allegory, for These are the Two Covenants; the One from Mount Sinai, Which Gendereth to bondage, which is Agar: for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her Children. But Jerusalem, Which is Above, is Free, Which is the Mother of us all. For it is Written (Is. liv. 1), 'Rejoice thou Barren, that bearest not! break forth, and cry, thou that travailest not! for the Desolate hath many more Children than She which hath an Husband.' Now we, Brethren, as Isaac was, are the Children of Promise. But as then, he, that was born after the Flesh, persecuted him that was born after The SPIRIT, even so it is now. Nevertheless, What Saith The Scripture? (Gen. xxi. 10, 12,) 'Cast out the Bond-Woman and her Son! For the Son of the Bond-Woman shall not be Heir with the Son of the Free-Woman.' So then, Brethren, we are not Children of the Bond-Woman, but of the Free."-Gal. iv. 1 to 7, 21 to 31.

*** That The Covenant, Entered into by JEHOVAH with Abraham, (of the acceptance of Which on the part of Abraham and his Descendants Circumcision was the Seal and Testimony,) was Fulfilled by the Advent of The LORD'S CHRIST, when a New Feature of Adoption, even The SPIRITUAL Circumcision of the Soul was Appointed in Substitution for that of the Body, the Apostle, in the concluding chapters of the same Epistle, seeks to show; pointing out, in a manner the most clear and impressive, the mode by which All of us should in Spirit and in truth, and in that Faith which worketh by love, adopt The New Covenant with our

GOD through CHRIST'S Mediation. This part of his Address he commences with an exhortation to firmness in adhering to That Solely-Saving and Vital Faith, "Stand fast, therefore, in the Liberty Wherewith CHRIST hath Made us Free! And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage!" And then, in order to deter the new Converts to Christianity from surrendering to the repudiated Sign of bodily Circumcision, to the exclusion of That Which was the Seal of The New Covenant in CHRIST JESUS, and of Which the Former was but the Type, he adds, with peculiar emphasis, "Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, (referring, doubtless, to Those who, whether actually circumcised or preparing to be so, relied on the efficacy of that sacrifice, and not on That, of Which Faith in CHRIST was the Sign,) CHRIST shall Profit you nothing; for I testify again to every Man that is circumcised, that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law: CHRIST is Become of no Effect unto you, Whosoever of you are Justified by the Law; ye are fallen from Grace!" But then, not to give rise to the erroneous idea that a profession of Faith could Save, without our sincere adoption of It and Its Fruits, which are repentance and obedience unto Holiness, he writes, "For we, through The SPIRIT, wait for the hope of Righteousness by Faith: for in JESUS CHRIST neither Circumcision availeth anything, nor Uncircumcision, but Faith which worketh by love."—Gal. v. 1 to 6. So also, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul saith, "We are GOD'S Workmanship, Created in CHRIST JESUS unto good works, which GOD hath before Ordained that we should walk in them!" And then the Apostle shows the Glorious Privileges that belong and are Assured to Such as have faith in CHRIST; "Wherefore (adds he) remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the Flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that, which is called the Circumcision in the Flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without CHRIST, being Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and Strangers from the Covenants of Promise; having no hope, and without GOD in the World. But now in CHRIST JESUS ye, who sometimes were far off, are Made Nigh by The Blood of CHRIST. Now, therefore, ye are no more Strangers and Foreigners, but Fellow-Citizens with the Saints, and of the Household of GOD; and are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, JESUS CHRIST Himself Being The Chief Corner Stone; in Whom All the Building, Fitly Framed Together, Groweth unto An Holy Temple in The LORD: in Whom ye also are Builded together for An Habitation of GOD through The SPIRIT."—Eph. ii. 10 to 13, 19 to 22. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Writer (supposed to be St. Paul) designates The DIVINE NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST, by an express assertion of His having Himself Elected to be That SEED of Abraham, from Which the Promised Blessedness unto All Nations was to Flow, saying, "Verily He Took not on Him the Nature of Angels; but He Took on Him the Seed of Abraham."—ii. 16.

26

THOUGHTS ON THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

REFLECTIONS ON DAVID'S HISTORY.

Having taken a view of the character and influence of Abraham, we proceed to look into the not less importantly profitable Life of David, thus so Eminently Distinguished as the Stem, equally with Abraham as the Root, from which The BRANCH Arose, That Bears the Soul's most Nutritious and Delicious FRUIT, Gathered by Believers in The Incarnation of The SON of GOD for Man's Salvation. For David, who was "the Man after GOD'S Own Heart," as well in the sincerity of his repentance for sin, as in his piety and general devotedness to the Will and Cause of GOD, may be unto us a valuable Example, and emulate us to be, as professing to be Servants, and hoping to be Children of The MOST HIGH, " perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works," through the supplicated Aid of The HOLY SPIRIT.—2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.

MATT. i. 1.-"The Book of the Generation of JESUS CHRIST, The SON of David, The SON of Abraham."

The Scriptural History of David opens with Samuel's anointing him as King, on the defection of Saul from The DIVINE Commandment: It is taken from the Sixteenth chapter of the 1st Book of Samuel.-" And The LORD Said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have Rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go! I will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehemite; for I have Provided Me a King among his Sons.' And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear me, he will kill me!' And The LORD Said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to The LORD!'—and call Jesse to the Sacrifice! And I will Shew thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt Anoint unto Me him whom I Name unto thee!' And Samuel did That Which The LORD Spake; and came to Beth-lehem; and the Elders of the Town trembled at his coming, and said 'Comest thou peaceably?' And he said, 'Peaceably I am come to sacrifice unto The LORD: Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the Sacrifice!' And he sanctified Jesse and his Sons; and called them to the Sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, 'Surely The LORD'S Anointed is before Him!' But The LORD Said unto Samuel, 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature ! cause I have refused him; for The LORD Seeth not as Man seeth: for Man looketh on the outward appearance; but The LORD Looketh on the heart.' Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, 'Neither hath The LORD Chosen this!' Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by; And he said, Neither hath The LORD Chosen this!' Again, Jesse made Seven of his Sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not Chosen these.' And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy Children?' And he said, There remaineth yet the Youngest; and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.' And Samuel said unto Jesse, 'Send and fetch him! for we will not sit down till he come hither.' And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And The LORD Said, Arise, Anoint him! For this is he!' Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and Anointed him in the midst of his Brethren: and The SPIRIT of The LORD Came upon David from that day forward."-1 Sam. xvi. 1 to 13. THE ALMIGHTY had Previously Declared His High Estimation of David, and his worthiness, notwith

Be

standing the humbleness of his occupation as a Shepherd, to be King over The Chosen People of Israel; having, in the Denunciation of The DIVINE Displeasure against Saul, through the mouth of the Prophet Samuel, thus Foretold David's Election,-"The LORD hath Sought Him a Man after His Own Heart, and The LORD hath Commanded him to be Captain over His People."-1 Sam. xiii. 14. That David was the Person here Alluded to, we have the double testimony of Jew and Christian, for the Jewish History establishes David to have been the immediate Successor of Saul on the Throne: and St. Luke, in his Account of the Acts of the Apostles, relates St. Paul to have thus preached before the Jews at Antioch in reference to the same event, saying, "Men of Israel, and ye that fear GOD, give audience! THE GOD of this People of Israel Chose our Fathers: and Exalted the People, when they dwelt as Strangers in the Land of Egypt; and with an High Arm Brought He them out of it; and about the time of forty years Suffered He their manners in the Wilderness. And, when He had Destroyed Seven Nations in the Land of Chanaan, He Divided their Land to them by lot. And after that, He Gave unto them Judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the Prophet. And afterward they desired a King: and GOD Gave unto them Saul, the Son of Cis, a Man of the Tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years: And when He had Removed him, He Raised up unto them David to be their King: to whom also He Gave Testimony, and Said, 'I have Found David, the Son of Jesse, a Man after Mine Own Heart, which shall fulfil All My Will.'" The Apostle then goes on to confirm the Connection of this with the History of JESUS CHRIST, saying, "Of this Man's Seed hath GOD, According to His Promise, Raised unto Israel A SAVIOUR, JESUS; when John had first Preached, before His Coming, the Baptism of Repentance."-Acts xiii. 16 to 24.

The Discrimination of The DIVINE MIND is the Effect of Its Omniscience to That the Future, the Present, and the Past are Alike. And as it is the Spirit of Man that knoweth what is in Man, so The SPIRIT of GOD, Which is Mightier, Alone Knoweth of what that Spirit in Man is formed; and though to Man That DIVINE SPIRIT be Invisible, or but dimly seen by the eye of Faith, yet doth It Penetrate the inmost recesses of the Human Soul, and is Fully Acquainted with all the imaginations of the thoughts of Men's hearts, even ere they are formed. In the selection of a Successor to Saul, a Prophet was mistaken, for on Eliab, the First-born of Jesse, being presented to him, he said "Surely The LORD'S Anointed is before Him!" the loftiness of his figure and the probable nobleness of his mien, added to his primogeniture, had, in Human eyes, rendered him apparently most deserving of the dignity that was to be conferred on One of his Father's Sons; but the pride and naughtiness of his heart (though as will afterwards appear, himself accusing David of those failings), his jealousy of merit, though possessed by his own Brother, and his confidence in the arm of Flesh, instead of a prayerful dependence on the Power and Protection of GOD, unfitted him for being The Chosen Servant of The LORD: and That Omniscient BEING, All Whose Judgments are Righteous, Said unto Samuel, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have Refused him. For The LORD Seeth not, as Man seeth; for Man looketh on the outward appearance: but The LORD Looketh on the heart!" How Great a Truth is here Revealed; and how Acceptable a Guide should It prove to us in the journey through life! Others of our Fellow-Creatures, though honoured even with the appellation of Prophets, yea, the Parent that begat us, and watched over us from infancy to maturity, nay, even our own selves we may deceive, but we cannot deceive Him, on Whom all Being depends; and Who will Sit in Judgment upon every Human Soul, Determining in Equal Righteousness and Wisdom the Sentence to be Pronounced on every word and work, and thought and purpose; and which His

Omniscience will Faithfully Reveal before Men and Angels. If These Things be so, and Assuredly They are, as GOD is TRUTH, how should Hypocrisy be driven from the heart, and a holy love and devout obedience to the Will of GOD Abound in us, did we sufficiently take heed to Them. And though Man seeth not, as GOD Seeth, the Fulness of the Effects of the Relative Judgments, Which Await the Righteous and the Wicked, or him that serveth The LORD and him that serveth Him not; yet is Enough Laid Open to our finite comprehension to excite us to avoid the One, and to cleave to the Other; Teaching us that on our decision and adoption will depend the Election or Rejection of us, when The SPIRITUAL DAVID Assumes His Everlasting Government.

So little expectation did even Jesse, the Father of so many Sons, entertain that the Last would be the Foremost in The DIVINE Adoption, that, though all Others were, he was not even called to the Sacrifice, as directed by the Prophet, no exception having been made by him; and the care of the sheep, perhaps, weighed additionally in the Father's mind. But how shallow are the reasonings of Man, when put in competition with The DIVINE Counsels. "GOD it is That Setteth the Solitary in Families. HE Bringeth down Some, and Setteth up Others; and Whom The LORD Will, He Chooseth, and there is no evading His Decrees." In all our exercises of elective powers, and most especially in those appertaining to Spiritual appointments and administrations, we should, like Samuel, pray in fervency to The LORD to Guide us in our choice, that we prefer not an Eliab to a David.

* "And The SPIRIT of The LORD Came upon David from that day forward." GOD Giveth the life of the Body, and why should it be doubted that He Giveth the life of the Soul? This indeed, in a degree, He Giveth equally to All: but we all use not the Gift alike; for too Many of us, in too many instances, misuse It: we pervert the faculties and powers of the Body from the paths of temperance, sobriety, and chastity; we dedicate its energies less to the honour of the GIVER, than to the promotion of our own selfish and sensual gratification. But with All it is not so; and though None of us but grieve The HOLY SPIRIT at times, yet it is not in the disposition of All to be so reprobate, as entirely to quench Its Influence. "The LORD Knoweth Them that are His." Even Gifted as was David thus Pre-eminently with DIVINE Grace, yet was not his free Agency taken from him; for, as will be shown hereafter, he resisted The SPIRIT by yielding to the impulse of carnal desire,-his conscience, however, soon convinced him of his error, and his heart was vexed, and he grieved for the sin he committed, and he deeply repented of it; and The LORD in Mercy Put away the Remembrance of his iniquity for CHRIST'S Sake, and Renewed a right Spirit within him and the Work of The LORD Prospered in his hand.

But The SPIRIT of The LORD Departed from Saul; and an evil Spirit from The LORD troubled him; and Saul's Servants said unto him, 'Behold, now an evil Spirit from GOD troubleth thee; let our Lord now command thy Servants, which are before thee, to seek out a Man who is a cunning Player on an harp, and it shall come to pass, when the evil Spirit from GOD is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well!' And Saul said unto his Servants, Provide me now a Man, that can play well, and bring him to me!' Then answered One of the Servants, and said, 'Behold, I have seen a Son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant Man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely Person; and The LORD is with him.' Wherefore Saul sent Messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David, thy Son, which is with the sheep!' And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David, his Son, unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly: and he became his Armour