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under the Christian dispensation-a dispensation not of shadows but of realities-and that the privileges of that dispensation are not confined, like those of the preceding, to the Jews, but are extended to the Gentiles of every tribe and nation, unto whom the word of salvation has reached, has so taken hold of the minds of many, and so filled the field of their vision with regard to subjects of this nature, that no room, if I may so speak, has been left for the Jewish people to occupy. Israel has been supposed to be nothing else than a metaphorical expression intended to signify the Church, or the people in covenant with God. The Land of Promise too has been supposed to signify the Kingdom of Heaven, the place where the people of God shall receive their eternal inheritance, and the like.

Some have supposed that the authority of Scripture itself might be pleaded in favour of this mode of proceeding; they have imagined that when it is declared that "unto the prophets it was revealed," or revelation was made,-"that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now declared unto you by them which have preached the gospel unto you ; "* the thing intended by such declaration was no other than to assure us, who live under

* 1 Peter i. 12.

the present dispensation, that every promise of the Old Testament is to be understood in a spiritual sense only; and that to suppose any special reference to be had to the Jews in the development of God's purposes of mercy, or any temporal favours, or national glories or privileges, to be designed for the children of the stock of Abraham, is utterly at variance with the characters of spirituality and universality, which belong to the church of Christ.

Similar conclusions have also been drawn from various passages in the writings of St. Paul; as, for instance, where it is said, "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Rom. ii. 28, 29.) "They are not all Israel which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Rom. ix. 6-8.) And especially, "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 for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And

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if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal. iii. 27—29.) Of which it may be sufficient to observe, that had they been adduced for the purpose of shewing that equal spiritual mercies and privileges are secured under the Gospel to believers of every nation, whether Jew or Gentile; and that no spiritual privilege belongs to the Jew, simply in virtue of his descent from Abraham, unless he be also a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, they would supply suitable and indisputable evidence in favour of the truth of those propositions; but that they are altogether irrelevant and inapplicable, and therefore inadequate, to the very different purpose of proving that the prophecies which speak of Judah and Israel, and describe them as in a state of great temporal and spiritual prosperity, have no special reference to the fortunes and expectations of that remarkable people.

But to this figurative or (as it is sometimes called) spiritual mode of interpretation of the prophetic scriptures, there do, I conceive, exist several most formidable, and indeed insuperable objections, grounded upon the principles already laid down, by which all interpretation must be governed.

And the first of these objections is drawn from what appears to me to be the true scope or mean

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ing of the passage of this Epistle of St. Peter, of which the text is the concluding part.

Commencing from verse 16, we read thus:"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Now it is obvious that St. Peter here alludes to one of the most remarkable events in the history of our Lord, of which he, in common with two other favoured disciples James and John, had enjoyed the singular privilege of being an eye-witness: -that of his transfiguration.

The history of this transaction is thus recorded by the Evangelist, Matthew xvii. 1—5.

"And Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and

one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."

This glorious form, in which the Lord Jesus was thus presented to the view of his favoured disciples, accompanied as he was by the presence of his servants Moses and Elias, who also appeared in glory; was evidently believed by the Apostle to have been an exhibition of that yet future glorious appearance in which he shall one day be manifested in the sight of all his people, when he shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him."

Now this glorious coming of Christ, which is still the "blessed hope" of his church, had been the subject of prophecy under the Old Testament: in proof of which, we may just refer to Zechariah xiv. 5, where it is said, "And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." But it had also been directly proph esied of by our Lord himself; as we read in Matthew xxv. 31 : "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he upon the throne of his glory." And again in Matthew xxvi. 64: "Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on

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