sceptic, whom I will not hesitate to pronounce a fool, to look upon a revelation of one, the sufficiency of which precludes the necessity, and consequently the existence of more, to be adequate to a fuller view of that which admits of a fuller view. In short, my recommendation amounts to no more, nor less, than the old established maxim, that proofs, and consequently our credit, are to be deduced from the best evidence the nature of the case admits of.

The best evidence then, which the nature of the cafe before us admits of, is the revelation of God, allowed to have been made by him, and admitted incontrovertibly true. Whatsoever is related therein, is advanced upon authority sufficient to warrant our affent; but as the revelation is not itself supported by an equally strong evidence as that which, upon admittance, it affords to whatsoever it testifies, we are not required to yield more than belief to the assertions contained in it; were it as certainly the word of God, as the word of God is certainly true, we should possess little less than certainty of the facts revealed therein; but being allowed, upon that evidence which is unquestionably fufficient to induce credit, it remains to be enquired into, whether it bears teftimony to the divinity of our blessed Reedeemer Jesus Christ, or not?

As I have now reached the threshold, and am just entering into the proofs, and the nature of the proofs, which the scriptures afford of the truth of this great mystery, once more let me warn, and deeply inculcate the warning, to beware of the delufions of natural religion, if such a religion there be, and if that which we conceive to have been derived from nature, be not rather a refiduum, after our pride has rejected whatsoever is revealed beyond its reach.

The

1

The Chinese philosopher believes, that the earth stands upon the back of an elephant, which stands upon the back of a tortoise, which stands upon the back of, &c. &c. &c. Now, suppose this same philofopher to be instructed in the Copernican system, and that he had, upon full confideration, yielded his aflent to the great probability of its truth; would it not rather seem absurd in him, after a time, to recur to his old tenets, because the sufficiency of the sun's attractive power to support this world, was inconfiftent with the occupation of his old elephant and tortoise, and that he could not see how it should be poffible for ani mals fo loaded, and of themselves none of the fwiftest, to carry the earth, whirling through its orbit with such aftonishing velocity? Just so absurd shall we be, if, af ter our affent to the truth of God, and admiffion that he has revealed himself, we suffer any one previous perfuafion to recur, and require that scripture should be confonant to it, after we have admitted that the word of God is true, whether it be confonant to any previous perfuafion or not. The sensible Chinese would furely reject his ancient tenets upon the admiffion of that which he had afsented to, because of the value of those arguments which had induced his assent; let us then, upon the admission of the scriptures as the ultimate boundary of argument, reject whatsoever seems to make against their ceded truth; howsoever we may perfuade ourselves that reason had supplied it to us, we must have expatiated beyond her limits to seek for the tenet, for within her proper province it is not to be found.

CHAP

CHAP. II.

Of the Nature of the Evidence of our Saviour's Divinity afforded by the Scripture.

HE full effulgence of the Gospel did not burst
Huddenly upon mankind. That run of righteou

ness, by the light of which we are enabled to walk, did not at once reach its meridian height; so exceedingly gradual was its progress, that, when first it dawned upon the world, its rays were not difcernible; "it shone in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not;" it encreased in splendor, but was not sufficient to be the "light of those who come into the world; at length the day-ftar arose, and a light shone forth to lighten the Gentiles, and the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that fit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

To drop the metaphor. We find the prophecies of our bleffed Saviour, from great obfcurity, become more and more explicit as they approach the great event: At the first they were extreamly indefinite, and such only as were adapted to the purposes for which they were pronounced. The first hope of redemption to mankind accompanied the sentence of condemnation, and was graciously conveyed by God himself, who comforted the forlorn state of our fallen parents with a promife conceived in general terms, that the feed of the woman should bruife the head of the ferpent which had beguiled her.

Noah is afterwards taught by the Spirit to hope, and to exclaim, "blessed be the Lord God of Shem." Το

thew that this bleffing is a prophecy, it is enough to say, that Noah spoke it in a train of prophecy concern ing the future state of his own fons and their pofterity. From Shem descended Abraham, to Abraham was the promise made, and from Abraham, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. From the manner in which the bleffing upon Shem is pronounced, I incline greatly to believe that this descent was the object of Noah's prophetic vision; it seems to have been the result of his having foreseen, that, in the progeny of Shem, all the families of the earth should be blessed: and let it be remembered, that Noah was no unconcerned prophet in whatsoever should happen to any future inhabitants of the earth; for all were then equally to defcend from him as their common parent; and well might he rejoice and bless the God of Shem, by one of whose line he foresaw that all his pofterity should be blessed.

To Abraham, because he had obeyed the voice of the Lord, it is foretold, (and this is by the New Teftament declared to be spoken of Jesus Christ) that in his feed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; and this promife is from time to time renewed in that line of which our Saviour was to be born; to Ifaac, in preference to Ishmael; to Jacob, in preference to Esau; and to Judah, in preference to his eleven brothers. To Judah, indeed, there is somewhat of more particular revelation made, for the length of time during which he shall bear the sceptre (that is, continue a tribe) is made commenfurate with the coming of Shiloh, upon which the fceptre is to depart from him. Judah alone continued to be a tribe after the Affyrian Captivity, and then only ceased when Christ came; whence, however difficult it may be to explain this passage with certainty, it is to be presumed that the prophecy of Jacob, concerning the fceptre of Judah and its time

of

of departure, bears reference to the coming of the

Meffiah.

Moses, who is the relater of what was spoken before his day, in his own person also often speaks of a future prophet: And in the compelled prophecies of Balaam, when he poured forth blessings from a heart replete with curses, and in spight of that indignation with which he ascended the rock to denounce evil, foreshewed the future brightness of the star that shall come forth out of Jacob, there is something which, however obfcure it may be, is certainly referable to our Lord:

David hoped for one of his feed to fit upon his throne; and though he looked for a descendent from himself, he has nevertheless " in spirit called him Lord." That our Saviour was the object of David's expectation, though he knew not why he called him Lord, and only trusted that some great good was promised to him, the declaration of the angel to the Virgin Mary evinces, who says to her of the child which she is to bear, and whom she is to call Jesus, "Не shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Higheft; and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his Father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end," Luke i. 32, 33.

Every succeeding prophet throughout the Old Testa ment found a confolation to the several troubles of Judea, in looking forward to that which was revealed to them in a general way by the spirit of Christ; but the full declaration of that which was so revealed was withheld from them; they understood it not themselves, and even when they spoke of the divinity of our Saviour,

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