Rom. xi. was rent in its sacrificial types at the crucifixion, and is still spread upon Moses and the Prophets, when the Jew reads carelessly and without a desire to discover Messiah: but "this veil shall be taken away." And the descendants of David, his sons by the brethren of Christ, may yet live in obscurity amongst some of those numerous noble families, whose Hebrew countenances, and proverbial wealth, attract at times the gaze and surprize of the reflective Gentile Christian.* * In France, in the 14th century, the family of David it was said existed. Basnage. Hist. des Juifs. DISSERTATION XI. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. ISAIAH lix. 20, 21. THE POLITICAL AND SUCCESSFUL PROGRESS OF THE twofold meaning of many Prophecies may be illustrated, by reflecting upon the passage at the head of this Dissertation: It has received its first literal fulfilment in the nativity of Christ in Judæa, his presence in the temple, and his establishment of Christianity in the world from its beginning in Jerusalem. The gates of Hell, or all the powers and deep craft of Satan, by open violence, and in secret corruption, have been arrayed against the Church. Yet she flourishes, and the covenant remains untouched, though frequently shaken. Her children possess that spirit of vitality, which leaps like fire from one martyr's dying embers to another. The sacred deposit is kept by a succession of Holy Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, by long ranks of faithful believers ; and, from the earliest of her days, L until the last moment of militant progress, she will in her Clerical and Lay members be found perfected in perpetuity for ever. But a larger development of the prediction will take place when the great accession to her members shall arise in the latter days, from the Jews, and their missionary exertions. Then its second application will exceed its first, as the spirit of every prophecy far transcends its letter. The literal and corporeal will be absorbed in the spiritual. Warfare shall be swallowed up in victory. Till then, we must be content to trace at a distance the sacred outlines of reality, whilst we breathe a constant prayer for its full and increasingly near approach. We can enumerate without much repetition : : IX. THE RELIGIOUS CONDITION, OPINIONS, AND CHANGE OF CREED IN THE HEBREW NATION. This section will assist us to complete in our own minds that evidence which exists in such abundance for the literal Restoration of Israel, and may serve as a record of the texts. The impression of the reality of a future temporal kingdom, is not made to be as vivid from these dissertations, as it is from a quiet and reflective perusal of the texts. But these dissertations will promote a more deliberate and attentive examination of the text itself. This may require some little labour, and too much cannot be done on each day. The subject requires thought. And laborious thought is not the character of this present age. Indeed, too often the Church has great reason most painfully to deplore the flimsy theology of some of these days, when a little scriptural knowledge, in stringing texts together, like children threading pearls, seems to be all that is necessary to warrant with many, an immediate dissent from all established usages and forms, Apostolic creeds, and wise articles. When we however reflect upon the words of God, we should remember that we are then studying the revelation of Him, who wishes to make us wise unto salvation, and not unto schism-for the life and not for the death of Churches; wise, in loving all means which can promote, however lightly, the knowledge of God. His spirit acts by these words. We bring his hand upon our hearts when we place His Scripture in our lips and thoughts. Its warmth may then be more surely felt. Our own spiritual condition improves. We grow, we are nourished, we flourish as trees in a good soil, in this knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. We become more satisfied of many deep mysteries in the kingdom of God. Thought expands, as it touches his great thoughts. How paltry, poor, and vile, are then the struggles for merely secular parties or purposes, confined by the little hour of their existence to superiority over others. Greater objects than the rivalry of sects, greater designs than an equality with those who are above us in worldly estimation, impregnate the Christian's soul, and he can support that to which he does not outwardly belong, because he sees it producing good fruit, and feels that without some fixed public recognition of God in a national Church, Christianity would either be hypocrisy or fana ticism, and with multitudes profession must end in Infidelity or Popery. Turn then to the records themselves, whenever any subject is to be searched for, and you shall find. Open this cabinet of precious jewels, study their beauties by the aid of that great light which the Sun of Righteousness reveals, and also by those artificial lights in the thoughts of other men, and the more you read in connection with their assistance, the more profoundly and soberly you will become filled with all the knowledge of God, and peace and joy in believing. The last of the prophets, Malachi, announced in the final words of the Old Testament, the coming of that divine person who should commence the New. This messenger of the Covenant, the Christian world believes in, as Messiah the Prince of Peace. A great purification by judgments is then declared. And these purgations against nations are always composed of wars, calamities, pestilences, and those evils which involve individual families in such fearful sufferings. He has sat upon the house of Judah" as a refiner and purifier Mal. iii. 2, of silver;" he purifies the sons of Levi, and " pur 3. V. 4. ges them as gold and silver." This has been almost completed. The day of his first coming to them has been a sore trial of eighteen hundred years. How the spirit sighs over their past sufferings in the different nations of Europe. So far the refinement has proceeded, the prediction is accomplished, but the end " in the offering of Judah and Jerusalem being pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years," is still future. It is however certain to be effected, if God's word is not to remain void, for "thou shalt re |