1 c<c 
 ( m 
 
 d- * 
 
 s ? 
 
 
 
 C r**c 
 
 ^5 ^ 
 
 
 : « 
 
 (cc 
 
 
 
 
/ 
 
 DL 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 lie 
 
 Q. 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 -a 
 
 
 
 
 ^t 
 
 IE 
 
 
 
 
 5 * 
 
 Q. 
 
 
 
 
 ♦W • 
 
 
 
 
 
 fi& fe 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 «* o 
 
 tsfl 
 
 
 
 
 js & 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 ^ g 
 
 "a> 
 
 
 
 
 Si 5 
 
 1 
 
 ha 
 
 .5 
 3 
 
 
 Jv 
 ^ 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 IS 
 
 
 
 
 Ck 
 
 .a 
 
 
 
 
 &} 
 
 •a 
 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 *-> 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 to 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Q_ 
 
 
 
 
 SCO 
 
j 
 
 £-> zi 
 
The Circumftances of the Jewifh 
 People an Argument for the 
 Truth of the Chriftian Religion. 
 
 THREE 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 O N 
 
 ROMANS XL ik 
 
 By NATHAN I EL^ LARD NER. D.D, 
 
 The Second Edition, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Sold by J. Noon, in Cbeapfide : J. Wau c h, 
 in Lombard Street : and J. Buck land, in Pater- 
 nofter Row. Mdcclii. 
 
 Price One Shilling 
 
^^CCiC^CX^^O»^.:^:SQt%X^:^(SC:Sa3 
 
 Advertisement. 
 
 This fecond edition is made 
 from the firft without any al- 
 terations. 
 
 ^'K'&XWXi^tt^m&i&ts&SfteQ 
 
ROM. XL ii. 
 
 I fay tlwi^ have they fumbled ^ that 
 they Jhoul4 fall? God forbid. 
 But rather through their fall 
 falvation is come unto the Gen- 
 tilsy for to provoke them to 
 jealoujie. 
 
 JN this context the Apoftle D i s 
 diicourfeth of an affecting I. 
 fcene of things, the recep- v — ""v- 
 tion of the Gentils, and the 
 rejection of the Jews j the 
 former a juft occafion of much joy, the 
 later of like grief and concern : that they, 
 who had been long favored and diflin- 
 guifhed by religious privileges, fliould f !1 
 from them : and, when others receiv d 
 A 2 m u iks 
 
4 The Chrijtian Religion confirmed 
 D i B C, marks of divine favour, and indeed prefTed 
 I. in for a fliare in fpiiitual bleffings, they 
 ^^^^^ fliould be offended at it. 
 
 St. Paul has a long argument upon thefe 
 points in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh 
 chapters of this epiftle to the Romans. He 
 enters upon it at the begining of the ninth 
 chapter in thefe words : I fay the truth in 
 Chrifl, and lye not, my conference alfo bear- 
 ing me witneffe in the Holy Ghofl, that I 
 tare great heavinefje, and continual for row 
 of heart. For I could wiJJ: : I am almoft 
 ready to wifli. He does not fay, that 
 he actually wifheth it. For 1 could wiflj, 
 fays he, that myfelf were accurfed from 
 Chrifl, for my brethren, my hinfmen accord- 
 ing to the flefj -, who are Ifraelites, to whom 
 fertaincth the adoption, and the glorie, and 
 the covenants, and the giving of the law y 
 and thi fcrvice of God, and the promijes , 
 bofe arc the fathers, and oj whom, as 
 concerning the fiejh, Chri/l came. And it 
 concludes with a pious acknowledgement, 
 and humble adoration of the wifdom and 
 equity of divine providence : though thefe 
 and other events in this world appear to 
 u?, for a time, ftrange and furprifing. O 
 
 the 
 
by the EJiate of the Jews. 5 
 
 the depth of the riches both of the wifdom Disc. 
 and knowledge of God ! How unfearchable I. 
 are his judgements, and his ways pajt find- ^^^ 
 ing out ! — For of him, and through him, 
 and to him are all things. To whom be 
 glorie for ever. 
 
 My chief defign at this time is to ob- 
 ferve forne advantages, which Chriftians 
 have in their argument for the truth of 
 their religion, from the prefent afflictive 
 circumftances, and low eftate of the 
 Jewifli people and nation. 
 
 I fay then, have they /tumbled, that they 
 Jkould fall? As if the Apoftle had faid : 
 " But by this their prefent rejedion, 
 " which I have been fpeaking of, do I 
 " intend to fay, that they have fo ftum- 
 " bled, as to fall; that is, fo as never to 
 cf rife again, and never to be again re- 
 " ftored to profperous circumftances, as 
 " a people? " 
 
 Or, according to another interpreta- 
 tion : <( Do I by what I have faid in- 
 " tend to intimate, that all of them (hould 
 " fall, and none believe, and partake of 
 " the bleffings of the Meffiah's kingdom, 
 u and the divine favour?" 
 
 God 
 
6 77ie Clyrijlian Religion confirmed 
 
 D i 5C< God forbid: or, which would be bet- 
 I. ter, and more proper: By no means, or 
 Far be it : for the name of God never 
 is in the original phrafe, by which this 
 emphatical negative is expreffed. " No, 
 " by no means: that is not the cafe, 
 " that none of the natural pofterity of 
 " Jacob fhould believe, and come into the 
 " privileges of the Mefiiah's kingdom." 
 
 But through their fall fahation is come 
 
 unto the Gentils, to provoke them unto jea- 
 
 hufie. " But by the Jewifh people now 
 
 " generally rejecting the Meffiah, it has 
 
 <c fo happened, that falvation has been 
 
 " conveyed unto the Gentils. And herein 
 
 * c there is not only a benefit to them, in 
 
 " their falvation, but alfo to the Jews. 
 
 H For by the Gentils embracing the gofpel 
 
 <l propofcd to them, and coming to par- 
 
 ** take of religious privileges, the JewiiLi 
 
 <c people will be provoked to emulation: 
 
 ' l more of them will now believe, and 
 
 C accepted of Gcd, than if the gof- 
 
 <c pel had not been preached to and re- 
 
 11 ceived by the Gentils." 
 
 11 When therefore I (peak, as I have 
 . , concerning the offenfe taken by 
 
 the 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 7 
 
 " the Jews againft Jefus and his gofpel, Disc, 
 cc and concerning the divine difpleafure !• 
 <c againft them upon that account ; I do 
 " not intend to infinuate, that the pofte- 
 #c rity of Jacob are totally and abfolutly 
 excluded : or to deny, that fuch of them, 
 who now, or at any time hereafter 
 (hall believe, will be received and ap- 
 proved." 
 
 The fenfe I have given of this text 
 is confirmed by what the Apoftle fays 
 at the btgining of this chapter, where 
 alfo, in the courfe of his argument, he 
 has thefe like words: I fay then, has God Rom.xlx. 
 caji away his people ? By no means. For I 
 alfo am an Ifraelite, of the feed of Abra- 
 ham, of the tribe of Benjamin. < c I reckon 
 " myfelf a proof to the contrarie, and 
 <c that God is willing to receive any of his 
 " ancient people the Jews, who believe 
 " in Jefus, and obey the revelation made 
 " by him." Then inftancing in the num- 
 ber of true Ifraelites, fervants and wor- 
 fhipers of God in the time of Elijah, no 
 lefs than feven thoitfand, though the apo- 
 ftafie was fo general, that Elijah thought 
 he was left alone, he adds : Even fi then Rom.xl 5 
 
 at 
 
8 "the Chrifiian Religion confirmed 
 
 D i s c. at this prefent time alfo there is a remnant 
 !• according to the election of grace. 
 
 Indeed tne Jewif 1 ": .^ople by generally 
 rejecting the gofpel of Chrift, preached 
 to them with divine authority, had ge- 
 nerally excluded therhfelves from the pri- 
 vileges of God's people, having refufed to 
 accept the blcffings offered to them. 
 What then fhould be done? Was the 
 Mefllah of God to have no people, when 
 the Jews rejected him? It was not fit. 
 Since therefore they now fhew great re- 
 luctance to that kind propofal, the gofpel 
 {hall be preached to the Gentils, who 
 will hear and receive it. And when they 
 have received it, they will be of ufe to 
 the Jewiih people. For they will pro- 
 voke them to jealonfie^ and all good men' 
 among them will be difpofed to receive 
 the Median, and from time to time will 
 be brought into his kingdom : till at 
 length, poffibly, there (hall be a general! 
 converfion of them, and that very much 
 owing to the profeffion of true religion' 
 made by Gentils. So the fall of the Jews 
 has been the Gentils falvation : The Jews 
 rejecting the Mefiuh haftened the preach- 
 ing 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. g 
 
 ing of the gofpel to the Gentils* And the D i s c, 
 Gentils receiving and maintaining the gof- I. 
 pel will provoke the Jews to emulation, ' "~** 
 and excite them to receive it, that they al- 
 fo may partake in the divine favour and 
 the marks of it. 
 
 So the Apoflle argues in this and fol- 
 lowing verfes : But through their fall faL Rom. xi. 
 vat ion is come unto the Gentils, to provoke ll ~ l S- 
 them unto jealoujie. Now if the fall of them 
 be the riches of the world, and the diminijh- 
 ing of them the riches of the Gentils, how 
 much more their fulneffe ? that is, their ge- 
 neral converfion, or a more numerous con- 
 verfion of them, than has yet been. For 1 
 /peak unto you, Gentils, inafmuch as I am the 
 Apoflle of the Gentils. I magnify mine of- 
 fee. If by any means I may provoke to emu- 
 lation them which are my fleJJj, and might 
 favejome of them. For if the cajling away 
 of them be the reconciling of the world, what 
 Jhall the receivijtg of them be, but life from 
 the dead? Again : For I would not, brethren, „ t 
 that ye fiould be ignorant of this myjlerie y 
 (leafl ye f bo u Id be wife in your own conceit-,) 
 that blindnefje in part has happened to If 
 rael, until the fulnejfe of the Gentils be come 
 B /;;. 
 
io The Chriflian Religion confirmed 
 
 in. And jo all Ijrael ' fiall be faved. 
 
 For as ye in times pajl have not believed 
 Cod, yet now have obtained mercie through 
 their unbelief : even Jo have theje alfo now 
 not believed, that through your mercie they 
 a jo may obtain mercie. For God has con- 
 cluded all in unbelief] that he might have 
 mercie upon all. 
 
 There are therefore two things fpoken of 
 in the lb and divers other verfes of this 
 chapter : An advantage accruing to the 
 Gcntils through the unbelief and rejection 
 of the Jews: An advantage accruing to 
 the Jews through the belief and reception 
 of the Gentils. 
 
 It is the firft point chiefly, upon which 
 I (hall infill, and in the following method. 
 I. I (hall obferve the prefent (late of 
 things with regard to Chriftians, the 
 followers of Jefus, and the Jews who 
 reject him. 
 IL I (hall fliew what advantages Chrif- 
 tians have in the argument for the 
 truth of their religion from the pre- 
 lent ftate of things in the world. 
 III. I intend to mention fome remarks 
 and obfervations upon this fubjecl. 
 
 Lift 
 
hy the Eft ate of the Jews. x r 
 
 I. In the firft place I would obferye Disc 
 the prefent ftate of things in the world I. ' 
 both with regard to Chriftians, the fol- t/"V\J 
 owcrs of Jefus, and the Jews who reject 
 him. J 
 
 And the cafe is very obvious, fuch as 
 every one is able to perceive, upon a little 
 thought and confideration. 
 
 There are now great numbers of men 
 in the world, in various kingdoms, fates 
 and governments, in countreys near and 
 afar off, profefling fahh in Jefus as the 
 Chrift, who are not the natural dependents 
 of Abraham and the ancient Patriarchs. 
 
 Thefe people called Chriftians, of Ge'ntil 
 flock and original, declare themfelves wor- 
 fhipers of the one living and true God the 
 creator of the heavens and the earth,' the 
 God of Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob,' the 
 God, who delivered the law by M f es 
 and often fpake unto the children of Jfrael 
 by the Prophets. 
 
 And as they are wormipers of the one 
 true God, they are likewife free from all 
 that kind of idolatrie, which once pre- 
 vailed univerfally in the world, and into 
 which the Jewim people themfelves for- 
 B 2 merly 
 
1 2 Tie Chfiftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, mcrlv were often feduced and perverted, 
 I- They worfhip not, as Gods, the fun, or 
 the moon, or the ftars : nor Baal, nor 
 Saturn nor any other of the Gods of the 
 people of the Eaft, or of the Egyptians, or 
 of the Greeks and Romans, or of any of the 
 countreys of the Barbarians in the northern 
 parts of the world. 
 
 Nor are they only worflhipers of the 
 one living and true God, the God of the 
 people of Ifrael, but they alfo receive the 
 icripturcs of the Old Teftament, delivered 
 in a fucceffion of ages, at divers times, 
 to the defcendents of Abraham and Ifrael. 
 They believe them to be the writings of 
 men, animated and infpired by the Spirit 
 of God, and have them in equal venera- 
 tion with the Jewifh people themfelves. 
 
 Moreover they highly refpect and ho* 
 nor not only the Patriarchs and Mofes and 
 the Prophets, but likewife all the worthies 
 of the ancient difpeniation, who walked 
 with God, and in the main were upright 
 in his fight, and ftedfaft in his covenant. 
 
 Thcfc ChrifHan people differ indeed 
 
 from the Jews in receiving a perfon as a 
 
 at and eminent Prophet, whom the 
 
 Jews 
 
by the RJlate of the Jews. i 3 
 
 Jews reject. But yet their regard for that Disc. 
 Prophet, whom they call the Chrift, or I- 
 the Meffiah, is very much owing to their 
 refpect for thofe ancient fcriptures, in which 
 they think he is foretold and promifed. 
 
 And though they do not conform to all 
 the ordinances of the law of Mofes, they 
 allow and believe his law and his whole 
 inftitution to have been of divine appoint- 
 ment, and wifely defigned, and of great 
 ufe, as the (late of things in the world then 
 was. And with chearfulneffe and zeal 
 they afTert and maintain againft all oppof- 
 ers the divine authority of that difpenfa- 
 tion. * The are likewife fometimes almoft 
 compelled to wonder, that the Jewifh 
 people of old, who had fuch a law, fhould 
 forfake God, and depart from his worfhip, 
 fo often as they did. 
 
 And, which is very confiderable, they 
 do not make void the law of Mofes, 
 but eftablifh it. For their religion ftri&ly 
 requires obedience to all the moral laws of 
 righteoufneffe and true holineffe therein 
 delivered, and upon which the greateft 
 ftreffe is there laid : which righteoufneffe 
 is fo elegantly and copioufly taught and 
 
 recom- 
 
i 4 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 D i s c. recommended in the books of Job, the 
 I. Pfalms, and the Proverbs : in comparifon 
 t-'^V^ f which the later Prophets openly declared 
 ritual obfervances to be of little value, and 
 without it ufeleffe and offenfive. Info- 
 much that the fubftance of the Chriftian 
 religion is no other, than what has been 
 accounted true religion by Mofes, and 
 the Prophets, by all the righteous men, and 
 wife and pious Princes, that ever were. 
 
 This is what is inculcated in their reli- 
 gious affemblies, and enforced from the 
 confideration of everlafting rewards and 
 punimments in a future ftate; more forcible 
 motives, than the hope or fear of temporal 
 rewards and penalties in the prefent life. 
 
 Nor do they neglect to emprove the 
 in fiances of faith and piety recorded in 
 the Old Tcftament : though more efpeci- 
 ally they dwell upon the mining example 
 of perfect virtue in the life and death of 
 Jefus, their great lord and mafter. 
 
 As hereby men are trained up in great 
 
 numbers to true and eminent virtue, they 
 
 cannot but look upon themfelves as the true 
 
 Phil.iii. 3.1frael, who worjhip God in the fpirit, and 
 
 have no confidence in unneceffarie, ritual 
 
 appoint- 
 
om. viu, 
 
 hy the EJlate of the Jews. 1 5 
 
 appointments. And the righteoufneiTe, Disc 
 principally required in the law, is better I. 
 fulfilled by them who have the religion of ^ 
 Jefus, than it was by thofe who had only 4 
 the inftitution of Mofes. 
 
 And indeed the religion of Chriftians 
 is that of Abraham, according to which 
 he was juftified, without the peculiarities 
 of the law of Mofes. And it is a cha- 
 racter, which they are pleafed with, and 
 boaft of, that through Jefus Chrift they 
 are become, according to the fpiiit, the 
 children of faithful Abraham, and are jufti- 
 fied and accepted of God as he was. 
 
 Nor ought it to be forgotten, that as 
 the difciples and followers of Jefus do not 
 take upon them the yoke of the ritual or- 
 dinances of the law of Mofes, as necef- 
 farie to falvation ; fo neither have they in- 
 troduced any other like ordinances in their 
 ftead. At left they profefs, that Jefus, 
 whom they own for the Meffiah, has no 
 fuch ordinances in his religion : excepting 
 two only, both plain and fimple; one ini- 
 tiatorie to a profeflion of faith in him, and 
 of obedience to his law ; the other com- 
 memorative of his love, who freely laid 
 
 down 
 
1 6 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, down his life, though fpotlefs and innocent, 
 I- as a teftimonie to the truth of that im- 
 
 { ^ S ^ J portant do&rine, which he had taught and 
 recommended to mankind. 
 
 Thefe are the followers of Jefus. Thefe 
 are Chriftians, who now do, and' for a 
 long time have flourifhed, and been nu- 
 merous and confiderable. 
 
 In the next place we are to obferve the 
 ftatc of the Jews, the natural pofterity of 
 Jacob, who reject Jefus, and do not allow 
 him to be the Meffiah, the great Prophet 
 and deliverer, foretold and pfomifed in 
 many parts, and in almoft every book of 
 the Old Teftament. 
 
 They alfo are in great numbers, fome 
 in almoft every province and kingdom 
 cf the knowjn world. They are nume- 
 rous, but not a people. They have a 
 being, but they dwell not in the land of 
 Canaan, which had been given them for 
 an inheritance. They have no power and 
 authority, no empire, no civil government, 
 fcarce * a right and privilege to poffefs the 
 
 fmalleft 
 
 * If they have a right to pur chafe and foflefs lands of 
 inheritance in fame places, 1 fuppofe in but a few only, and 
 there by fome /fecial favour and indulgence. 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 17 
 
 fmalleft trad: or territorie of land in any Disc, 
 part of the world. I. 
 
 Nor have they any temple. For their 
 ftately temple, once glorious in outward 
 appearance, ftill more glorious for the 
 efpecial prefence of the Divine Majefty, 
 and the frequent manifestations he there 
 made of himfelf : the temple, I fay, where 
 their tribes were to affemble, where alone, 
 according to the law of Mofes, facrifices 
 were to be offered, is in ruins, or rather 
 is no more : without any traces of it re- 
 maining, but the remembrance of the 
 place where it once was. 
 
 Other tokens of the divine favour are 
 alfo wanting. They have not the Urim 
 and Thummim of the priefthood, nor 
 any vifion, or prophecie, nor voice or word 
 from God to direct or comfort them. 
 Prophecie and vifion, in ancient times fre- 
 quent, or even conftant, are now not only 
 rare and uncommon, but altogether un- 
 known among them. Learned Rabbis, and 
 traditionarie teachers they may have. But 
 what Prophet can they boaft of, as theirs, 
 fince the time of Jefus; who truly was 
 C - a Pro- 
 
1 8 The Chriftian Religion^ 8cc» 
 
 D i s c. a Prophet mighty in word and deed, and, 
 I. as we fay, the looked for and promifed 
 Median, but defpifed and crucified by 
 them? 
 
 Such is the {rate of things in the world, 
 with regard to Chiiftians, the followers 
 of Jefus, and the Jews, who rejecl him. 
 
 ROM 
 
ROM. XI. ii. 
 
 I fay then^ have they fumbled, that 
 they Jhould fall? God forbid. 
 But rather through their fall 
 
 falvation is come unto the Gen- 
 tils, for to provoke them tq 
 
 jealoujie. 
 
 AM now in the fecond D i s c, 
 place, as formerly pro- II. 
 pofed, to fhew, what ad- ' — **+* 
 vantages Chriftians have 
 in the argument for the 
 truth of their religion, from this ftaie of 
 things, and particularly from the afflictive 
 circumftances of the Jewifh people, who 
 reject the Lord Jefus, and believe not in 
 him as the promifed Mefliah. 
 
 C 2 We 
 
20 The Chriftia?i Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc. We know Jefus to be the Chrift, the 
 II. Son of God, the Saviour that (hould come 
 
 **-^~~' into the world, from the fulfilment of ma- 
 ny ancient prophecies in his perfon and 
 miniftrie, from the confideration of the 
 perfection and excellence of his doclrine, 
 the unfpotted purity and holinelTe of his 
 life, the proofs he gave of wonderful 
 knowledge and underftanding : from his 
 many miraculous works, his refurredtion 
 from the dead, and afcenfion to heaven, 
 and from the mighty works done by his 
 Apoftles, and others, preaching to Jews 
 and Gentils, in his name, and under his 
 authority. 
 
 Befide all this, we have, as I apprehend, 
 a great advantage in the argument for the 
 truth of our religion from that (late of 
 things, which was formerly taken notice 
 of. And I (hall now endeavor to (hew it 
 under the following particulars. 
 i. It was foretold by our Lord. 
 
 2. It is agreeable to many prophecies 
 in the Old Tcftament. 
 
 3. The prefent (late of the Jewiih peo- 
 ple affords reafon to believe, that the Mef- 
 fiah is already come. 
 
 4. The 
 
by the EJlate of the Jews. 2 1 
 
 4. The time and circumftances of the D 1 s c. 
 prefent captivity and difperfion of the Jewifh II. 
 people are an argument for the truth of the v>r V^^ 
 Chriflian religion. 
 
 5. The fubfiftence of the Jewifli peo- 
 ple to this time affords an atteftation to 
 divers things, upon which fome evidences 
 of the Chriftian religion depend. 
 
 I. This /late of things, with regard both 
 to Jews and Gent Us, was foretold by our 
 Lord. And, as the event has been agree- 
 able to what he faid long ago, it fhews, 
 that he was a Prophet. It alfo demon- 
 ftrates the truth and juftneffe of all his 
 claims ; not only, that he came from God 
 but that he was the Chrift, as he faid. 
 
 When the centurion had expreffed a 
 remarkable faith in the power of our 
 Lord, to heal his fick fervant at a di- 
 ftance, he faid to them that followed : I Matt. viii. 
 have not found fo great faith, no not in IC " 
 IfraeL And I fay unto you, that many 
 /hall come from the eaji, and the weft, and 
 /hall fit down with Abraham, Tfaac, and 
 Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. See al- 
 fo Luke xiii. 29. How unlikely was this! 
 How little profpect was there at that time, 
 
 that 
 
 5— 12. 
 
2 2 7^<? Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 
 that great numbers of Gentils in all quar- 
 ters of the world, fhould believe in God 
 and his Chrift, whom he had fent ! But 
 yet that faying of our Lord has been abun- 
 dantly fulfilled. The truth of his words 
 appeared foon after, and they have been 
 fulfilling to this day. 
 
 Luke xv. The reception of the Gentils, with the 
 diflike and refentment of the Jewifli peo- 
 ple, is evidently reprefented in the parable 
 of the prodigal ion, who upon his re- 
 pentance is mod kindly received by the 
 father : but the elder fon, meaning the 
 Jewifh people, the natural poflerity of Ja- 
 cob, is offended, and will not come in. 
 
 The rejection of the jewifli people, 
 who had been long barren and unfruitful 
 to a great degree, and were ftill likely to 
 neglect the beft means of emprovement, 
 is fet before them by our Lord very intel- 
 ligibly, though with as little offenie as 
 might be, which is agreeable to all the 
 
 Lake xiH. rules both of wifdom and goodneffe. He 
 fpake alfo this parable, fays the Evangelift : 
 A certain man had afigtree planted in his 
 vineyard, that is, in fome enclofed fpot of 
 ground, where it was well fituated and 
 
 de- 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 23 
 
 defended. And he came, and fought fruit, Disc. 
 and found none. Thenfaid he unto the dref H- 
 fer of the vineyard : Behold, thefe three l ^** v ~^' 
 years I come feeking fruit on this figtree, 
 and find none. Cut it down, why cumbreth 
 it the ground ? 
 
 And in like manner in fome other pa- 
 rables, reprefenting their great and immi- 
 nent danger of ruin, and alio fetting forth 
 the juftneffe and fitneffe of the fentence 
 to be pronounced upon them, if they 
 fhould not repent ; if they fhould ftill 
 continue unfruitful after enjoying the bell: 
 means of emprovement, and fhould withal 
 oppofe and abufe the meflengers of God 
 fent from time to time to warn and reclaim 
 them. Then began he to fpeak unto the people Luke xx. 
 this parable : A certain man planted a vine- 9 '~ l ' 
 yard, and let it out to hujbandmen, and went 
 into a far countrey. — And at the feafon he 
 fent afervant unto the hufbandmen, that they 
 fhould give him of the fruit of the vine- 
 yard. But the hufbandmen beat him, and fent 
 him away empty. In like manner did they 
 unto others, who were fent unto them. 
 At length the lord of the vineyard fent his 
 fon. But him they caft out of the vine- 
 
 yard, 
 
24 The Chrifticm Religion confirmed 
 Disc, yard, and killed him. What therefore /hall 
 II. the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He 
 ^S~V^ win ccr ne and dejlroy thofe hujbandmen, and 
 will ghe the vineyard unto others. Com- 
 pare Matth. xxi. 33. — 41. 
 
 Our bleffed Lord, all whofe other mi- 
 racles were healing and beneficent, with a 
 view to the advantage of that people, if 
 by any means they might be alarmed and 
 perluaded, conftrained himfelf to fpeak 
 one word of maledi&ion, a fentence of 
 condemnation upon a barren figtjee, and 
 with furprizing effect. He was going to 
 Mat. xxi. Jerufalem. And when he faw a Jigtree in 
 the way, he came to it, and found nothing 
 therem, but leaves only, and faid unto it : 
 Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward 
 forever. And prefently the figtree wither- 
 ed away. A miracle that was emblema- 
 tical and prophetical, fignifying the affect- 
 ing and fpeedie ruin and defolation of the 
 Jewifli nation, if they out-finned the day 
 of tryal allotted them, and perfilted to 
 negled: and abufe the means of falvation 
 afforded them. 
 
 We have in our Lord's difcourfes divers 
 predictions of the deftrudion of Jerufalem, 
 
 and 
 
hy the Eft ate of the Jews. 25 
 
 and the calamities attending it. And the D 1 s c 
 event has (hewn the truth of his prophe- II. 
 tical character. ' — 
 
 It fhould be alfo obferved by us, that 
 thofe predictions were publicly fpoken in 
 the hearing of many people, not of the 
 difciplcs only. And they were delivered 
 with fuch marks of affe&ion and tender- 
 ncffe, and contained fo diftind and fo 
 moving a defcription of impending cala- 
 mities, that nothing could have been better 
 fuited and adapted to prevent them, by 
 inducing men to repent. And if they 
 did not repent, he allured them, that 
 then would be great tribulation, fuch as was Mat. 
 not fince the begining of the world to that 2l 
 time, no nor ever fiall be. And when he 
 was led away to be crucified, and there L„k.„ 
 followed him a great company of people, and 26 -~3<. 
 of women, who aljo bewailed him and la- 
 mented him, J ejus turning unto them f aid: 
 Daughters of Jerujalem, Weep not jor me, 
 but weep for yourfehes, and for your chiL 
 dren. — For if they do thefe things in a 
 green tree, what Jhall be done in the dry? 
 
 And we plainly perceive by his words, 
 
 that the defolation, which he forefaw r 
 
 £*. would 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 xxiii. 
 
2 6 The Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, would be of a long duration, as we alfo 
 lh fee in the event: Which added to his 
 L - r * ' concern for that people. It was not a 
 fingle judgement, a calamity of one day, 
 though great and terrible, but a long fcene 
 of affliction and darkneffe, which he fore- 
 Luke xx. told and bewailed, And when he was 
 4I<41, come nigh, he beheld the city, and wept 
 over it, faying : If thou had/1 known, even 
 thou, in this thy day, the things which be- 
 long unto thy peace ? But now they are hid 
 Mat. xxiii. from thine eyes. And, How often would I 
 37- 38, have gathered thy children together, even as 
 a hen gathereth her chickens tinder her 
 wings, and ye would not ! Behold, your houfe 
 Lukexxi. is left tint o y ou deflate. Once more, Then 
 2I >~ 2 4- ] e t them which are in Judea flee to the 
 mountains, and let them which are in the 
 mid/1 of it, meaning the city of Jerufa- 
 lem, depart out, and let not them that are 
 in the countrey enter therein. For thefe be 
 the days of vengeance, that all things which 
 
 are written may be fulfilled. For there 
 
 /hall be great difrejje in the land, and 
 
 much wrath upon this people. And they 
 
 fiall fa/1 by the edge of the fword, and 
 
 /hall be led away captive into all nations. 
 
 And 
 
hy the Eft ate of the Jews. 27 
 
 And Jerufalemfiall be troden down of the D 1 s o. 
 Getitils, until the times of the Gentils be II. 
 fulfilled. 
 
 The great and punctual accomplifhment 
 of thefe and other words of our Lord, con- 
 cerning the fud ruin, the wide difperfion, 
 and long captivity of the JewHh people, 
 afford a ftrong argument for the truth of 
 the Chriftian religion, and aflure us, that 
 Jefus fpoke with divine authority, and that 
 the doctrine taught by him, and contained 
 in the New Teftament, the writings of 
 his Apoftles, and their faithful companions, 
 is true and of God. 
 
 2. The fate of things ^ formerly obferved, 
 is alfi conformable to ancient prophecies 
 found in the books of Mofes and other parts 
 of the Old Teftament. 
 
 In thofe books are contained prophecies 
 of the general converfion of the nations 
 of the earth to the acknowledgement and 
 fervice of the one living and true God, 
 delivered, when the worfhip of God was. 
 confined to the one nation of the Jews 
 alone, or to a few men only, their pa- 
 triarchs and anceftors, and a very fmail 
 number befides, The way or means, by 
 D 2 which 
 
28 T7jc Chriftian Religion co?ijirmed 
 
 Disc, which this bleffing mould be conveyed to 
 H. the world, was alio intimated. To Abra- 
 
 GcmxiT^ ham it was declared, that in him, that is, 
 through him and his pofterity, all nations, 
 or families of the earth mould be bleffed. 
 That confines the accomplishment of the 
 promife to his familie : Some one or more 
 of which muft be the author, or authors 
 and instruments of this general bleffing. 
 The fame promife is folemnly renewed to 
 
 xxviii. i.;.. Jacob. Afterwards there were prophecies 
 delivered, containing limitations and re- 
 ftrictions, relating to the tribe of Judah* 
 and the familie of David. The depen- 
 dents of Abraham in general, or many of 
 them, may fome way contribute to this 
 defign. But the tribe of Judah and the 
 familie of David are often fpoken of with 
 fpecial regard. In Ifaiah particularly, it 
 
 Ifa xi i ls f° rct °ld : There flail come forth a rod cut 
 
 »•«*■ of the Jl cm of Jcfe, and a branch fid all 
 
 grow out of his roots. — In that day there 
 
 fall be a root of Je//e, which /hall /land 
 
 for an etfgn to the people, to it flail the 
 
 Ifa.xlLv.6. Gent its feek. Again, I will give thee for 
 a light to the Gentils, that thou mayefl be 
 my Jahation unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 And 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 29 
 
 And it is out of the tribe of Judah, and Disc. 
 the familie of David, that our Lord arofe. H« 
 And by him, as is manifeft, the know- { ^* >J 
 ledge of God has been fpread over the 
 earth, and the promife made to Abraham, 
 that in him all the families of the earth 
 Jhould be bkffed y has been fulfilled. 
 
 But befide this there are intimations 
 given in the Old Teftament, that when 
 this event mould happen, the Jewifti peo- 
 ple would be in fome circumftances, 
 which are difadvantageous. 
 
 Obfervable are the words of our Lord, 
 when he foretells the deftruction of Je- 
 rusalem. For thefe be the days of vengeance y Lukexxi. 
 that all things which are written may be 
 fulfilled. It is not improbable, that our 
 Lord has here an efpecial reference to fome 
 prophecies in the book of Daniel, relating 
 particularly to the deftru&ion of the city 
 of Jerufalem, which he forefaw, and was 
 then fpeaking of. But he might alfo have 
 an eye to fome other parts of Scripture. 
 And we may without much difficulty 
 perceive divers things faid in the Old 
 Teftament, which are prophetical, not 
 only of the deftruction of Jerufalem, but 
 
 like- 
 
Tlie Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 
 likewife of the long captivity and difperfion, 
 
 which were to enfue. 
 
 Jacob foretelling the condition of his 
 Gen. x\\x. pofterity in future times fays: Judah, thou 
 art he> whom thy brethren Jhall praife. Thy 
 hand jh all be upon the neck of thine enemies^ 
 thy father s children Jhall bow down unto 
 thee. The tribe of Judah, as we find 
 from the hiftorie of the people of Ifrael, 
 ufually had fome diftin&ion among the 
 reft. At length David' and his depen- 
 dents, who were of that tribe, fat upon 
 the throne of government among them. 
 And from Judah the kingdom of the two 
 tribes was called. And indeed from that 
 tribe all Ifraelites in general were ftiled 
 Jews. 
 Vcr. 10. It follows in the place juft cited: The 
 Jceptre JJjall not depart from Judah, nor the 
 lawgiver from between his feet, until Shi- 
 loh come. And unto him Jhall the gather- 
 ing of the people be. The fenfe of which 
 prophecie may be briefly taken in this 
 manner : IC The * royal power and au- 
 11 thority, which (hall be eftabliftied in 
 " the pofterity of Judah, (hall not be 
 
 <l taken 
 
 * See Patrick upon the place. 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 3 1 
 
 <c taken from them; or at left they (hall Disc, 
 
 " not be deftitute of rulers and gover- H* 
 
 " nours j no, not when they are in a de- °^ 
 
 <c dining condition, until the coming of 
 
 H the Mefliah : But when he is come, 
 
 " there (hall be no diftindion between 
 
 c< the Jews and other nations, who (hall 
 
 " be obedient to the Mefliah. And af- 
 
 <x ter that the pofterity of Judah and 
 
 <c people of the Jews (hall have neither 
 
 " King, nor ruler of their own, but the 
 
 " commonwealth of Judah (hall lofe all 
 
 " form of civil government and autho- 
 
 < c rity." 
 
 This we know to have happened about 
 the time of our Saviour's coming. From 
 David to the Babylonifh captivity that 
 tribe held the fceptre for feveral ages. 
 After feventy years captivity the Jews 
 returned to Judea, or the land of Canaan, 
 where they lived again according to their 
 own laws. Their temple was rebuilt, 
 and they facrificed and worfhiped there, 
 for the moft part, with great freedom, 
 according to the appointments of the law 
 of Mofes. They were a diftincl people, 
 and had among them civil government 
 
 and 
 
3 2 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, and authority. But at the time of our 
 H Lord's birth, and afterwards, they were in 
 
 ^^ r ^ J f om e meafure fubjed to the Romans. And 
 the Jewifh power and authority declined, 
 till it was quite abolifhed and overthrown 
 by the Emperours, Vefpafian and Titus, 
 about forty years after our Lord's afcenfion. 
 And fo it has been to this day. 
 
 Deut. Mofes affured the people of Ifrael : The 
 
 ' * Lord thy God will raife thee up a Prophet, 
 
 from the ?nidfl of thee, of thy brethren, 
 
 like unto me. Unto him f hall ye hearken. 
 
 Ver. 1 8. And God himfelf faid to Mofes: I will 
 raife them up a Prophet from among their 
 brethren, like unto thee. And I will put 
 my words in his mouth, and he pall fpeak 
 unto them all that I Jhall command him. 
 And it pall come to pafs, that whofoever 
 will not hearken unto my words, which he 
 pall fpeak in my name, I will require it of 
 him. 
 
 Some underftand this to be an exprefs 
 prophecie concerning the Meffiah himfelf, 
 that great Prophet, who would be in an 
 efpecial manner like unto Mofes. Others- 
 have fuppofed it to be a promife of a con- 
 front fucceffion of Prophets among them. 
 
 Allow 
 
by the Eftate of the Jews. 33 
 
 Allow this laft to be the meaning, it D 1 s c< 
 implyes a command to hear Jefus, if he H. 
 was a Prophet ; and a threatening of pu- ^^ 
 nifhment, if he was not heard and obeyed. 
 And that Jefus was a Prophet, is evident 
 from teftimonials furpafling not only thofe 
 given to other Prophets among them, but 
 even to Mofes himfelf. Confequently dis- 
 obedience to him was a thing, for which 
 God would certainly reckon with them. 
 
 I (hall cite a paffage or two more out 
 of later Prophets. In Daniel it is faid : 
 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy peo- Dan I*. 
 pie, and upon thy holy city, to fini/h tbe 2 ^'~~ Z7 ' 
 tranfgrejjions, and to make an end of fins ; 
 and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and 
 to bring in everlajling right eoufnejfe, and 
 tofeal up vifion and prophecie y and to anoint 
 the moft holy. Know therefore and under- 
 /land, that from the going forth of the 
 commandment to reflore and to rebuild Je- 
 rufalem unto the Mefiah, the prince, /hall 
 be feven weeks. And threefcore and two 
 weeks the ftreet Jhall be built again, and 
 the wall, even in troublous times. And af- 
 ter threefcore and two weeks Jhall MeJJiah 
 he cut off, but not for himjetf And the 
 E people 
 
34 Tlie Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, people of the prince that Jk all come fall ie* 
 II. firoy the city and the fanBaarie , and the 
 v- ^ v ^° end thereof JJ:all be with a food, and unto 
 the end of the war defolatiom are determined. 
 And he flail confirm the covenant with ma- 
 ny for one week, and in the midfl of the 
 week he fall caufe the facrifice and the 
 oblation to ceafe. And for the overfpread- 
 ing of abomination he fall make it defolatey 
 even until the confummation, and that de- 
 termined fall be poured upon the deflate. 
 
 Here is a promife made to Daniel, that 
 the city of Jerufalem with it's temple 
 mould be rebuilt : and that they mould for 
 fome while there worfhip and ferve God, 
 as we know they did after the return from 
 Babylon. And here is a promife of- the 
 appearing, of the Mefliah, and a prediction 
 of great defolations afterwards : which al- 
 fo we know to have happened foon after 
 the time of Jefus, who was a great Pro- 
 phet, and anointed of God in a mod ex- 
 traordinarie manner, and was generally re- 
 jected by the people, to whom Daniel be- 
 longed, and to whom he prophefied. 
 
 In Malachi, the laft of the Prophets of 
 the Old Teftament, are thefe words : Be- 
 hold, 
 
111. 
 
 -3. 
 
 IV. 
 
 I. — 3, 
 
 by the Eft ate of the Jews. 35 
 
 bold, 1 will fend my meffenger, and he Jhall Disc. 
 prepare the way before me. And the Lord II. 
 whom ye feek Jhall fuddcnly come to his tern- m 
 pie, even the meffenger of the covenant, in 
 whom ye delight. Behold, he Jhall come, 
 Jaith the Lord of hop. But who may a- 
 bide the day of his coming ? And whofijall 
 (land, when he appears ? For he is like a 
 refiners fire, and like fuller s foap. And 
 he Jhall fit as a refiner of fiher. And af- 
 terwards : For behold the day comeih, that 
 Jhall burn as an oven, and all the proud, 
 yea and all that do wickedly, Jloall be as 
 Jlubble. And the day that come th Jhall burn 
 them up, faith the Lord of ho/Is, that it 
 (hall leave them neither rcJt nor branch. 
 But unto you that fear my name Jhall the 
 fun of righteoufnejje arije with healing un- 
 der his wings, and ye (ball go forth, and 
 grow up as calves of the fi a 11. And ye fid all 
 tread down the wicked, end they jhall be 
 afhes under the files of your fed, in the day 
 that I fiall do this, faith the Lord of hofls. 
 Certainly thefc are rot infignificant 
 words in the mouth of the Prophet. And 
 thefe emphatical expreffions do evidently 
 appear to relate to a great perfon, who 
 E 2 fliould 
 
36 'The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, fhould come among the Jews, whilft their 
 
 II- temple was ftanding: whereas their tern- 
 
 w " v ~"~' pie was deftroyed, and they were led into 
 
 captivity foon after the time of Jefus our 
 
 Lord. 
 
 John the Baptift, who well underftood 
 thefe prophecies, and knew his own cha- 
 Mnt. iii. racier, fays therefore : And now alfo the 
 K ll ' axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every 
 tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is 
 hewn down and cajl into the fire. I indeed 
 baptize you "with water unto repentance. 
 But he that cometh after me is mightier 
 than I. — Whoje fan is in his hand, and he 
 will throughly purge his floor. He 'will 
 gather his wheat into the garner > but will 
 burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 
 
 And Simeon, who when he faw the 
 
 child Jefus at the temple, doubted not 
 
 but he was the Lord's Chrift, and fpoke 
 
 Luke H. of him as fuch, and that he was a light to 
 
 32 * lighten the Gent Us, and the ghrie of God's 
 
 people Ifraely faid to Marie his mother : 
 
 1 34- This child is Jet for the fall and rifing of 
 
 many in Ijraei 
 
 The converfion of the Gentils, then, 
 and the low condition of the Jewifli peo- 
 ple, 
 
by the EJlate of the Jews. 3 7 
 
 pie, are not only agreeable to prophecies Disc. 
 of the Lord Jefus, but likevvife to many II. 
 ancient prophecies contained in the books 
 of the Old Teftament % . 
 
 3. The prefent (late of the Jewi/h people, 
 particularly their afficlive circum/lances, 
 afford good reafon to believe, that the Mef- 
 fiah, that great perfon fpoken of in the Old 
 Teftament, but /till wi/J?ed for and expecled 
 by them, is already come. 
 
 For the prophecies concerning him fpeak 
 of his being of the tribe of Judah, and fa- 
 milie of David. He muft appear therefore, 
 whilft the regifters of their tribes and fa- 
 milies are in being. But now they are 
 loft. If any one fhould now arife, claim- 
 ing that great character; it could not be 
 known what tribe he was of, and there- 
 fore there could not be any good affurance, 
 that his claim was juft. 
 
 This is an advantage in the argument 
 for the truth of the Chriftian religion. 
 For we know, that Jefus was of the tribe 
 of judah, and familie of David. But 
 
 fince 
 
 + If any Jhould find this difcourfe too long for a Jingle 
 reading, here is a proper rejling place. 
 
The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 fince the long captivity and numerous dif- 
 perfions and removals of the Jewifh peo- 
 ple from one place to another, often- 
 times under the greateft difficulties, it is 
 impoffible, that their regifters fhould be 
 preferved, or the families of particular per- 
 fons be known. 
 
 Another thing clearly intimated by the 
 later Prophets of the Old Teftament is, 
 that the Meffiah fhould come, during the 
 time of the temple built after the return 
 from Babylon. God was pleafed, by the 
 Prophet Haggai, to encourage the people 
 to go on in rearing up the temple after this 
 Hagg. ii. manner: Thus faith the Lord of ho/Is, Yet 
 4 * 5 * once more, it is a liftk while, and I will 
 Jhake the heavens and the earth. And I 
 will pake all nations, and the defire of all 
 nations Jloall come. And 1 will fill this 
 houfe with glorie, faith the Lord of hojls. 
 Again, 1 'he glorie of this later houfe Jhall 
 be greater than that of the former, faith the 
 Lord of hojls. 
 
 That temple wanted fome things, which 
 were in the temple built by Solomon ; 
 particularly, the fymbol of the divine 
 
 prefence, 
 
 — ver. 9. 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 39 
 
 prefence, the cloud of glorie overfhadow- Disc. 
 ing the mercie feat. By the greater glorie II. 
 of the later houfe therefore feems to be ^V\J 
 meant the appearance of the Mefliah, who 
 is Emmanuel, or God with us : in whom 
 the Deity dwelt and manifefted himfelf in 
 a peculiar manner: by which means a- 
 lone, that is, by whofe prefence alone, 
 this fecond temple could be rendered more 
 glorious than the former. 
 
 The coming of the Meffiah to that 
 temple is alfo promifed in Malachi before 
 quoted. Behold, I will fend my me/fenger, M&liil 1: 
 and he /hall prepare the way before me. And 
 the Lord whom ye feek Jhall fuddenly come 
 to his temple, even the ?nejfenger of the co- 
 venant, in whom ye delight. Behold, he Jhall 
 come, faith the Lord of hojls. 
 
 Since therefore the temple, where the 
 promifed meffenger of fo great eminence 
 and diftinction was to appear, is now no 
 more, but has long fince been deftroyed, 
 and continues to be in ruins ; we are af- 
 fured, that he is already come. For it is 
 impoffible for God to fail, or that he 
 mould alter the purpofe he has fo folemnly 
 pronounced and declared. 
 
 Have 
 
4-0 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc. Have any of the promifes or threaten- 
 II. ings delivered by the Prophets failed of 
 ^^^ accomplishment? Did not the pofterity of 
 Jacob defcend into Egypt, a few in num- 
 ber ? And were they not brought thence 
 again, a great hoft, by mighty power and 
 an outftretched arm, at the time before 
 appointed and promifed ? 
 
 Were not the threatenings with regard 
 to Saul, David, Solomon, accomplished ? 
 Were not the threatenings concerning the 
 ten tribes, and the tribe of Judah, fulfil- 
 led ? Were not the former, the ten tribes, 
 fent into captivity, and fcattered, fo as to 
 return no more ? 
 
 And when the kingdom of Judah took 
 not warning by the judgements inflicted 
 upon the kingdom of Iirael, the threatened 
 captivity was brought upon them. And 
 the promife of their return from Babylon 
 was alio wonderfully and punctually ac- 
 complished. They fettled again in the 
 land of Ifrael, they were encreafed and 
 multiplied, and became once more a great 
 people. The temple, which had been laid 
 wafte, was railed up, and it's worfhip re- 
 
 flored 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 41 
 
 ftored, according as God had before faid by D 1 s c. 
 his holy Prophets. II. 
 
 Why then mould it be thought by any, v ^ v *" v - ; 
 that the promife concerning the coming 
 of the Mefliah to that temple mould not 
 be performed? It mud have been fulfilled. 
 The defire of all nations did come to that 
 temple, and the nations have received 
 him, and believed on him, and have par- 
 taken of his fulneffe. They have received johnl. 16. 
 grace for grace. They have gained through 
 him the knowledge of the one living and 
 true God. He is their God, and they 
 are his people. They worfhip him in 
 fpirit and truth. And the law of Mofes, 
 introduced fince the Abrahamic covenant, 
 and ordained for a time only, as to all 
 it's unneceffarie and burdenfome appoint- 
 ments, is no longer in force, or of any 
 ufe unto them. 
 
 4. The time and circumftances of the 
 prefent captivity and difperjion of the "Jewifh 
 people afford an argument for the truth of 
 the Chri/lian Religion. For their afflictions 
 appear to have the marks of divine dif- 
 pkafure againil them for rejecting and 
 F cruci- 
 
42 The Chrtftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, crucifying Jcfus, and for perfiiting to reject 
 
 II- him and his apoftles. 
 ' "^ ' Their prefent afflictions began foon af- 
 ter, and have continued ever fincc. It 
 was not more than forty years after our 
 Lord's crucifixon, that the people of the 
 Jews underwent the dreadful calamities of 
 the fiege of their city : when alfo it was 
 taken, and their temple confumed, and 
 they flain, or fcattered abroad upon the 
 face of the. whole earth. 
 
 Nor can we avoid obferving the eflate 
 and condition of this people, the pofterity 
 of Abraham, the friend of God j the chil- 
 dren of Jacob, whom God preferred to the 
 children of Efau ; whom God had chofen 
 to be his people above all the people of the 
 earth : as Mofes reminds them in that fo- 
 lemn and pathetic addrefTe, at the end of 
 Deut. the book of Deuteronomie : When the Mojt 
 " 9 " High divided to the nations their inherit- 
 ancc, when he [eparated the Jons of Adam i 
 he fet the bounds of the people according to 
 the number of the children of Ifrael. For 
 the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the 
 lot of his Inheritance, 
 
 It 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 43 
 
 It is not reafonable to think, that God Disc, 
 would carry it unkindly toward them, or H. 
 ftand at a diftance from them, without {y ^^ sj 
 fome juft ground of offcnfe and provo- 
 cation. 
 
 Moreover we know, that he promifed 
 to blefs them abundantly, if they hearken- 
 ed to his Prophets, and walked in the ways 
 he prefcribed them: declaring at the fame 
 time, that if they were difobedient, he 
 would not leave them unpunimed : If ye Lev. xxvi. 
 will walk in my ftatutes, and keep my com- 3 * 
 mandments, and do them ; — / will fet my — ver. u. 
 tabernacle among you, and my foulfiall not 
 abhor you. And I will walk with you, a fid 
 will be your God, and ye fl:all be my people. 
 — But if ye will walk contrarie unto me, ver. 23. 
 then will I alfo walk contrarie unto you, and 2 *' 
 will puniJJj you. — And if ye will not for all —ver. 27. 
 this hearken unto me, but walk contrarie un- 
 to me -, then I will walk contrarie unto you 
 infurie, and will chaftife you yet /even times 
 for your fins. And his treatment of this 
 people in all ages has been agreeable to 
 thefe, and other like declarations. 
 
 Since therefore this favorite people, fo 
 
 long called by the name of the Lord, and 
 
 F 2 fo 
 
44- T%? Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 D i s c. fo diftinguifbed by him, are under tokens 
 II. of divine difpleafure : fince they are no 
 longer in the land of Canaan, which had 
 been given to them, and lye under many 
 disadvantages in the places where they 
 live, there mnft be fome ground and rea- 
 fon of it. And a very likely reafon offers, 
 when we confider, as before hinted, the 
 time, when the prefent affliction com- 
 menced, even foon after the appearing of 
 Jefus in this world. 
 
 And we fhall be confirmed in the fup- 
 pofition, that this difperfion is owing to 
 their fin in rejecting the Lord Jefus, if 
 we confider farther, when he appeared, 
 and who he was. 
 
 He came at the time appointed for the 
 Mefliah, when the temple, built after the 
 Babylonifh captivity, was in its glorie, 
 when the regifters of their families were 
 in being, and when the Jews themfelves 
 and all nations around them were in ex- 
 pectation of fuch an eminent perfon. 
 
 And muft we not think, that fince 
 Jefus anfwered the character of the pro- 
 mifcd Mefliah, or the Lord's anointed, it 
 tiiuft be a great and heinous fin to reject: 
 
 and 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 45 
 
 and crucify him ? If there be any truth Disc, 
 in the evangelical hiftorie, (as certainly it 1 1. 
 is all matter of fad, and but a part only *" ""v— ^ 
 of the great things done by Jefus are there 
 related;) he was a mofl excellent perfon, 
 and a mod eminent Prophet. Muft: not a- 
 ny people, the Jews especially, be accoun- 
 table for fuch a privilege ? Muft not their 
 guilt in rejecting Jefus appear aggravated, 
 when we confider that they crucified him, 
 and repented not : though he rofe from 
 the dead, and his apoftles continued a good 
 while afterwards preaching among them ? 
 
 It is alfo remarkable, that when Jefus Mat. 
 was condemned as an impoftor and male- XXV11 - 2 ?- 
 factor, they imprecated the guilt of his death 
 upon themfelves and their children. 
 
 And the long continuance of this afflic- 
 tion is very ftriking, fo far beyond any 
 thing they had before undergone. And 
 yet they are not guilty of idolatrie, as in 
 times pad : but all falfe gods, and all 
 images in wormip, are an abomination to 
 them. 
 
 When Solomon confecrated the temple 
 he had built, he prayed : If thy people 1 Kings 
 fin againji thee, and thou be angrie with vl ^.' ? 0> * 
 
 them, 
 
46 Tie Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, them and deliver them to the enemie, fo 
 II. that they carry them captive into the land 
 1 — ""■"" of the enemie, far or near .• #* *&y Jhall 
 bethink themfelves, in the land whither they 
 are carried captives, faying, we have finned, 
 and have done perverfly, we have committed 
 r ,:ickedne[je: And fo return unto thee with 
 all their heart, and with all their fcul, in 
 the land of their enemies, which led them 
 captive, and pray unto thee : — then hear 
 thou their prayer and their fupplication in 
 heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain 
 their caufe, and forgive thy people that 
 have finned againjl thee, and all their tranf 
 grejjions wherein they have tranfgreffed a- 
 gainjl thee. 
 
 And long after this Nehemiah, mindfull 
 of the meafures, which God had openly 
 declared he would obferve with this peo- 
 Nch. i. pie, prays after the fame manner : O Lord 
 5 ~~ 9 ' God of heaven, that keepeft covenant and 
 mercie with them that love thee-, — Re- 
 member, 1 befeech thee, the word which 
 thou commandeft thy fervant Mofes, faying, 
 If ye tran/grefs y I will Jcatter you abroad 
 among the nations. But if ye turn unto me^ 
 and hep my commandments, and do them : 
 
 though 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 47 
 
 though there were of you cafl cut unto the Disc. 
 uttermojl part of heaven, yet I will gather U- 
 them from thence, and will firing them to 
 the place that I have chofen tofet my name 
 there. 
 
 Since then they ftill continue, under 
 many difadvantages, in the difperfion, 
 which began fo long ago ; it leads us to 
 conclude, that there is fome fin they have 
 committed, which they have not repented 
 of, the guilt of which therefore ftill lyes 
 heavie upon them. 
 
 St. Chryfoftom in one of his homilies 
 to his hearers the people of Antioch, dif- 
 courfing upon this very topic^ the long 
 duration of the Jews difperfion and cap- 
 tivity, has this thought : If *^* Jefus had 
 been a malefadtor and a deceiver, as the 
 Jews pretended ; it might have been ho- 
 norable, and accounted for righteouiheflfe 
 to them, that they put him to death. On 
 the contrarie, fince the crucifixion of Jefus, 
 they have been chaftifed more feverely, 
 than when they were guilty of idolatrie, 
 and facrificed their children to Moloch. 
 
 In 
 
 • # » Fid. Chryfefi. T. I. p. 6$2. 653. Ed. Bened. 
 
4.8 7b e Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc. In this long difperfion, of fo many a- 
 II, gts, it is not unlikely, that divers attempts 
 k- ^~ v " Vh ' h a ve been made by them to return into 
 Canaan, and rebuild their temple. And 
 it is well known, that they have form- 
 ed confpiracies, and made violent attempts 
 to reftore their government in the land of 
 Canaan. But they have been always de- 
 feated and overthrown, 
 
 Defigns of another kind may have been 
 entred into. One thing is often mention- 
 ed by ancient hiftorians. The Emperour 
 Julian, commonly called the Apoftate, 
 bcctufe after having been educated in the 
 Chritian religion he turned Heathen, a- 
 bout three hundred years after the deftruc- 
 tion of Jerufalem, formed a fcheme of 
 rebuilding the temple. Filled with enmi- 
 ty againft the people whom he had for- 
 faken, but fiiil delirous to avoid the fcan- 
 dal of open perfecution, he tryed every 
 method to humble the Chrifiians, and 
 root out their religion. Knowing -f- the 
 averhon of the Jewiuh people to Christia- 
 nity, 
 
 •f- Sei Socrat. H. E. /. 3, r. 20. Sozom. I. 5. c. 20. 
 Their*. /. 3. c. 20. Cbryf, <f. \. p. 580. 646. &c. T. 2. 
 />-574- 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 49 
 
 nity, he fent for fome of their chief men, Disc, 
 and afked them, Why they did not fa- H. 
 crifice? They anfwered, becaufe they could 
 facrifice no where, but at the temple at 
 Jerufalem, and now they had none. He 
 bid them take good heart, and engaged to 
 build a temple for them. And -f-4* accord- 
 ingly gave full powers and ftrift orders 
 for that purpofe to proper officers, allot- 
 ting likewife large fums out of the public 
 revenue. But when materials were pro- 
 vided, and they were about to lay the 
 foundations of the intended temple, the 
 workmen were terrified, and fome of 
 them fcorched by frequent and repeated 
 eruptions of fire from the earth : as is re- 
 lated by divers authors, who lived at the 
 time, or near it : and particularly by a 
 G Heathen 
 
 f]. Ambitiofum quondam apud Hierofolymam tem- 
 plum, quod poll multa et interneciva certamina obfidente 
 Vefpafiano pofteaque Tito aegre eft expugnatum, inftau- 
 rare fumtibus cogitabat immodieis. Negotiumque matu- 
 randum Alypio dederat Antiochenfi, qui olim Britannias 
 curaverat pro Praefeclis. Cum itaque rei idem fortiter in- 
 ftarct Alypius, juvaretque provinciae rector, metuendi glo- 
 bi flammarum prope fundamenta crebris afTukibus erum- 
 pentes, fecere locum exuftis aliquoties operantibus inaccef- 
 fum. Hocque modo elemento deftinatius repellente, cef* 
 iavit inceptum. Amm. Marcel. L 23. c. /. 
 
The Ghriflian Religion confirmed 
 Heathen hiftorian of good credit, and a 
 friend and admirer of Julian. Undoubtedly 
 fuch a defign was formed and defeated. 
 
 Jf they, * who lived about three hun- 
 dred years after the deftrudtion of Jeiufa- 
 lem, thought this captivity of the Jewifli 
 people long : how much more may we, 
 when it is now, not only three hundred, 
 but thrice three hundred years, and almoft 
 double that number, fince the commence- 
 ment of it? 
 
 If they who lived above a thoufand 
 years ago obferved the long continuance 
 of this difperfion, as exceeding every thing 
 of the like kind that had befallen this 
 people, certainly the continuance of it to 
 this day muft appear very extraordinarie 
 and affecting. 
 
 5. The fubfijience of the Jewijh people 
 to this time affords an attejlation to divers 
 things, upon which forne evidences of the 
 Chriftian religion depend. 
 
 For hereby all are allured of the anti- 
 quity and genuinnefle of the Scriptures of 
 the Old Teftament. Thefe are received 
 by them, and read in their fynagogues. 
 
 And 
 
 * Cbrj/oftm, and oilers. 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 5 1 
 
 And they allow, that therein are con- Disc, 
 tained promifes of a great and eminent de- H. 
 liverer. None therefore can pretend, that 
 the Scriptures, fo often appealed to by 
 Chrift and his Apoftles, are forgeries of 
 Chriftians. 
 
 Poffibly, we are not aware, how great 
 an advantage we have, in this refpedt, 
 from the fubfiftence of the Jewifti peo- 
 ple, and their fynagogue worfhip, where 
 the Scriptures of the Old Teftament are 
 often read. 
 
 It is true, the time of Chri(Vs coming 
 feems to have been a time of greater 
 knowledge, and more general commerce, 
 than that of the deliverance of the JewilTi 
 people from Egyptian bondage. But a 
 variety of evidence for important fads, 
 fuch as the coming of Chrift, and his 
 teaching among the Jews, is not to be 
 defpifed, but thankfully accepted. And 
 if the Jewith people had been extinguiflied 
 foon after the coming of Chrift, and the 
 planting his religion in the world; fome 
 things might have been difputed by ene- 
 mies, which now are unconteftable. Some 
 might have had the a flu ranee to deny, 
 G 2 that 
 
5 2 The Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, that ever there was fuch a people in the 
 U» world, or that ever a nation exifted which 
 conformed to the inftitutions of Mofes* 
 And they might have formed an argu- 
 ment, which would have affected fome 
 perfons, little converfant in ancient hiftorre. 
 And our cafe might have refembled that 
 of the Jewifh people of old, who were 
 fometimes obliged to labor in the proof, 
 that || they were not expelled out of E- 
 gypt, but conducted thence under the ef- 
 pecial care of a powerful providence and 
 protection. 
 
 But here poffibly a fcruple may arife in 
 the minds of fome. And they may fay : 
 If the fubfiftence of the Jewifli people 
 be fo much to the advantage of the Chrif- 
 tian religion, might it not have been as 
 well for them to have continued in the 
 land of Canaan, maintaining the ancient 
 form of their commonwealth, and living 
 in power and fplendour, as in fome times 
 of old ? 
 
 I anfwer : It was not fit. 
 
 i.) For, 
 
 H Sec Jofrpbus at the end of bis firjl look agahift Ap- 
 pton y and compare Tacitus, Hift. book v. near tbe be- 
 fining. 
 
hy the EJlate of the *Jews. 5 3 
 
 1.) For, their rejecting the Mejfiah miift Disc, 
 require fome tokens of divine refentment and II. 
 dijpleafure. If Jefus wrought fuch mi- V ^V^ - ' 
 racks, as are recorded in the Gofpels, and 
 was crucified by the Jews : and if his A- 
 poftles preached in his name, and were 
 abufed, as the hiftorie of the New Te- 
 ftament relates : it was highly proper, that 
 after waiting to be gracious God (hould 
 fend remarkable judgements upon them, if 
 they repented not : which they did not, 
 but went on encreafing in wickedneffe • 
 as we are allured by Jofephus, and other 
 hiftorians. 
 
 2.,) It was by no means ft, that the 
 ancient power of the Jews Jhould be conti- 
 nued to them, confidering their rejeBion of 
 Jefus, and their enmity to them that be- 
 lieved in him. The oppofition they would 
 have made to the followers of Jefus, the 
 fufferings they would have brought upon 
 them, would have been infupportable by 
 human nature. By the fevereft perfec- 
 tion within their own territories, and by 
 folemn and powerful ambaflies into foreign 
 parts, difparaging the difciples of Jefus 
 
 and 
 
5± The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, and their principles, they would have ex- 
 U. tirpated them, as foon as they were rifen 
 
 1 — vW up. We may clearly collect as much 
 from the afflictions and fufferings, they ac- 
 tually brought upon the Apoftles and o- 
 ther difciples of Jefus : though their au- 
 thority and influence were greatly reftrain- 
 ed by the fuperior power of the Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 3.) If the Jewijh nation had continued 
 to Jubfjl in their former power and fplen- 
 dour, fome evidences of the truth of the 
 Chriftian religion had not been fo cogent* as 
 they are. For now the temple, built after 
 the return from Babylon, where the pro- 
 mifed Mefliah was to appear, is in ruins. 
 Therefore he is already come. The Jewifh 
 tribes and families are confounded, and 
 it is impoflible, any Mefliah (hould arife 
 now, who can be known to be of the 
 tribe of Judah, and the familie of David. 
 In a word, if the Jewifli commonwealth 
 and temple ftill fubfifted, all the preced- 
 ing arguments, taken from their afflictive 
 circumftances, would be weakened. But 
 that is neither for their, nor our benefit. 
 
 That 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 5 5 
 
 That it is not for ours, is manifeft. Nor Disc* 
 is it for theirs. For it is conducive to "• 
 their bed intereft, that the evidences of^^^ 
 Christianity fhould be ftrong and affect- 
 ing ; that they may be provoked to jea- 
 loufie, and all Ifrael may be favedj that 
 is, that the prejudices, which they are fo 
 apt to indulge, may be weakened and 
 removed 5 and that all who can be per- 
 fuaded, may be difpofed to embrace the 
 truth as it is in Jefus, and receive him as 
 the Meffiah. 
 
 
 ROM. 
 
ROM. XI. ii. 
 
 I fay then^ have they fumbled^ that 
 they jloould fall? God forbid. 
 But rather through their fall 
 falvation is come unto the Gen- 
 tilsj for to provoke them to 
 jealoufie. 
 
 EFORE I conclude 
 this argument I choofe 
 to mention a few re- 
 marks and obferva- 
 tions, which I hope may be of fome ufe. 
 
 i. The argument afforded us for the truth 
 
 of our religion from the fubf fence and af- 
 
 jlictroe circumflances of the fewijlo people 
 
 was not abfolutly necefjarie : but yet it was 
 
 expedient, and is very ujejuk 
 
 It 
 
hy the Eft ate of the yews. 57 
 
 It was not abfolutly nccejfarie. For though Disc, 
 the Jewifh nation had been long ago ex- HI. 
 tinct y that is, though they had not now ( -^V > 
 been a diftind: people, but had been loft 
 and mingled with other nations, fo that 
 no remains of them had been now obfer- 
 vable, following any of the ordinances of 
 the law of Mofes; yet we fhould have 
 had fufficient evidence of the truth of the 
 Chriftian religion, or that Jefus is the 
 Chrift, and his doctrine from heaven. This 
 we could have been allured of from our 
 Lord's character, the excellence of his 
 principles, his miracles, his refurre&ion, and 
 other particulars, well known, and former- 
 ly mentioned. 
 
 But yet this argument, from the being 
 ancl afflictive circumftances of the Jewifh 
 people, was expedient, and is very ufeful : 
 as abundantly appears from the confidera- 
 tions, which have been infilled on in the 
 difcourfes upon this fubjedt. 
 
 2. We may likewife obferve, that fome 
 evidences of the truth cf the Chriftian reli- 
 gion are not weakened^ but do rather gain 
 force by length of time. 
 
 H A hit 
 
The Chriflian Religion confirmed 
 
 A hiftorie of fads may be thought to 
 lofe fome degrees of credibility in a long 
 tradt of time. And therefore it might be 
 feared, that the evangelical hiftorie might 
 fome time fuffer upon that account. But 
 indeed it is fo circumftanced, and has in 
 it fo many internal chara&ersof truth, and 
 is fo fupported by external teftimpnies of 
 various kinds, that it's credit muft remain 
 tp the lateft ages inviolable. 
 
 However it is fufBcient, that this kind 
 of evidence remains as it is. But then fome 
 other evidence advances and gains ftrength 
 by time. 
 
 Chrift afTured Peter, that he would 
 Mat xvi. build his Church upon a rock, and that 
 the gates rf hell Jhould not prevail againjl 
 it. The longer Chriftianity has a being 
 in the world, the fulfilment of that pro- 
 mife is the more remarkable, and the fore- 
 knowledge of Chrift the mere confpicu- 
 ous : cfpecially confidering what oppofi- 
 tions of various kinds, in all ages, are made 
 
 uft this do&rinej fome by force, and 
 
 phiftrie : and confidering 
 
 like wile the weakneffe and inconftance of 
 
 fpj#e. who in name are 
 
 friends. 
 
 16. 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jewu 59 
 
 friends, weaken the interefl they profefs to D 1 s c. 
 uphold. III. 
 
 When a certain woman, not long be- m^ Xxv j. 
 fore our Lord's removal out of this world, 6. — 13. 
 opened a very precious ve(Tcl of ointment, 
 and poured it upon his head j fome had 
 indignation, and feemed to think it too 
 great and expenfive a mark of refpett. 
 But he an/were d them : Verily, I fay unto 
 you, Where/never this gofpel ftali be preached 
 in the whole world* there /hall alfo that 
 which this woman has done be told for a 
 memorial of her. And every time this por- 
 tion of Scripture is read, efpecially in late 
 ages, it eftablifhes the belief of our Lord's 
 great character. 
 
 Jefus often fpoke of many coming from Mat.viii. 
 the ea/l and the weft, and from the north 
 and the fouth, to jit down with Abraham, 
 and Ifaac and Jacob in the kingdom of hea- 
 ven; that is, to || partake of the privileges 
 of the gofpel, and the bleffings of the 
 Meflkb's kingdom. So long therefore as 
 there are Gentils in the world, who thank- 
 fully embrace the gofpel, this declaration 
 is fulfilled* And the longer it is, fince 
 H 2 thefe 
 
 (I Stt Whitby upon Matth. viii. If. I*. 
 
 1 1. 
 
60 The Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, thefe words were fpoken, the more are they 
 III. verified. And every acceffion to the Church 
 of Chrift from among ignorant and dark- 
 ened Gentils is a frefli confirmation of the 
 truth of his doctrine, 
 
 The difperfion of the Jews, the longer 
 it lafts, ftill more and more does it 
 itrengthen the evidences of the Chriftian 
 relieion. It is the more remarkable. It 
 is a plainer and a more affecting token of 
 divine difpleafure againft them. The greater 
 affurance does it afford, that the Meffiah 
 is already come. And the more impoffible 
 is it rendred for any man to prove himfelf 
 of the tribe of Judah, and the familie of 
 David, whence the Meffiah was to arife. 
 For thefe reaions their prefent difperfion is 
 prolonged. And may it be duly attended to 
 by all, to whorn the confideration of it may 
 be of ufe! 
 
 3. Thefe things ought alfo to be confukred, 
 
 lings to us. 
 
 Paul, the Apoftle more efpecially of the 
 
 tils, fails not to make this ufe of the 
 
 Rom. y\. argument he is upon. And if fome of the 
 
 branches be broken off, and thou being a wild 
 
 olive y wa/l graffedin among them> and with 
 
 them 
 
 17.— 23. 
 
ly the Eft ate of the Jew$. 6 1 
 
 them partahfl of the root and fatneffe fl/Disc' 
 the olive tree, boa ft not again ft the branches. HI. 
 But if thou boaft, thou bear eft not the root, 
 but the root thee. Thou wilt fay then: The 
 branches were broken off] that 1 might be 
 graffed in. Well, becaufe of unbelief they 
 were broken off, and thou ft an deft by faith. 
 Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God 
 /pared not the natural branches, take heed, 
 lea ft he fpare not thee. 
 
 In the fubjedt we have been treating of 
 there is not only an argument for the 
 truth of our religion, but likewife an ad- 
 monition to us to take heed to ourfelves. 
 For from us too the glorie may depart, if 
 we emprove not our privileges. The feven 
 churches of Afia, in the Revelation, were 
 warned, and mod of them threatened with 
 the removal of their candleftick : unlefs 
 they fpeedily repented, and did the firft 
 works. Many Chriftian churches, plant- 
 ed by Apoftles of Jefus, and watered by 
 their fellow-laborers, have fallen to decay 
 and ruin. The name and title of Chriftian 
 will not fave particular perfons in the day 
 of judgement. Nor will the name of 
 Jefus, or Chriftian, alone, fecure churches 
 
 and 
 
6 2 The Chrifiian Religion Confirmed 
 
 Disc, and focieties in this world. There mould 
 III. be not only the leaves of a fair profeffion, 
 but alfo fruits of love and peace, and all 
 the branches of righteoufneffe and true 
 holinefTe. Ghriftians mould have heaven- 
 ly minds, and their lives fhould be adorn- 
 ed with a&s of meekneffe, patience, felf- 
 denyal, and zeal for each other's welfare. 
 With fuch Chrift will dwell. They htf- 
 nor him, and he will honor them with a 
 diftinguiftied care and protection. 
 
 4. From this argument we may be able to 
 
 form feme judgement concerning the general 
 
 converfton of the Jews* It is not a likely 
 
 thing. If ever it is to be, there does not 
 
 appear good reafon to think it nigh. 
 
 It is not a likely \\. things considering* 
 that their prejudices are (till very great 
 and ftrong, and have been fo all along 
 from the begining: notwithstanding the 
 great care of the Apoftles of Jefus, and 
 other zealous preachers of the gofpel, to 
 remove them. 
 
 If ever there is to be a general conver- 
 sion of the Jews, there is no good reafon 
 to think it near at hand. The advantages 
 
 afforded 
 
 f J. See Light/oof; Works, Vol. i. j>. 375. 376. 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 63 
 
 afforded to believers in Jefus as the Chrift, Disc. 
 from the difperfion and affliftive circum- HI. 
 ftances of the Jewifh people, in their ar- l> " Nrv ' 
 gument for the truth of their religion, 
 lead us to this apprehenfion. So long as 
 there remain great numbers of Gentil peo- 
 ple unconverted to the faith of Jefus, who 
 are ftrangers to God and his Chr t: fo 
 long as there is, and is likely to b., a ftre- 
 nuous oppofitipn made by many, feveral 
 ways, againft the Chriftiap doctrine: fo 
 long, it is likely, the Jews will remain, 
 and continue to be a diftind: people, Mat- 
 tered abroad upon the face of the earth : 
 forafmuch as their fubfiftence in that man- 
 ner tends mightily to awaken men, and to 
 confirm and ftrengthen divers arguments 
 for the truth of the Cbriftian religion. 
 
 Nor is there any injuftice done them 
 herein. As they at firft generally rejected 
 Jefus, they were juftly rejected and caft off 
 as a people. But ftill, by the faith and 
 reception of the Gentils, they are called 
 upon and excited to believe in Jefus. And 
 whenever any of them are awakened, and 
 convinced, and converted, fhey fhall be 
 accepted. 
 
 . Paul's 
 
64 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc. St. Paul's argument in this context leads 
 
 HI. us into this way of thinking. Have they 
 
 Xy ^ r>J fumbled, that they ftou Id fall? By no means. 
 
 But rather through their fall falvation is 
 
 come unto the Gcntils, for to provoke them 
 
 to jealoufe. 
 
 And his words at the twenty-fifth verfc 
 of the chapter may be reckoned ftrong 
 to this purpofe : For I would not y brethren, 
 that ye foculd be ignorant of this myflerie* 
 leaft ye be wife in your own conceit : that 
 blindne[[e in part is happened unto Ifrael, 
 until the fulnejfe of the Gent i Is be come in : 
 that is, as an admired expofitor paraphra- 
 feth the verfe: " For * to prevent your 
 cc being conceited of yourfelves, my bre- 
 " thren, let me make known unto you 
 " what has been yet undifcovered to the 
 <c world; that the blind neiTe, which has 
 11 fallen upon a part of Ifrael, (hall remain 
 " upon them but till the time come, 
 " wherein the whole Gentil world {hall 
 te enter into the Church, and make profef- 
 " fion of Chriitianity." 
 
 This may be the thing intended by our 
 xxi. Lord, when he fays; And Jerufalem /hall 
 
 be 
 
 * Locke ufon the place* 
 
oy the Eft ate of the Jews* 65 
 
 he troden down of the Gentils, until /& Disc. 
 times of the Gentih be fulfilled. HI. 
 
 As for St. Paul's words at the twenty- s ^ r V , °' 
 fixth verfe, they are underftood by fome 
 in this manner : And fo all Ifrael Jhall be 
 faved: " And ** fo all Ifrael (hall be con- 
 cc verted to the Chriftian faith, and the 
 <c whole nation become the people of 
 <c God :" that is, when the fulneffe of the 
 Gentils is come in. 
 
 But I rather think the meaning to be : 
 cc In this way, according to this method 
 " of divine providence, all f good and 
 " well-difpofed men, both Jews and Gen- 
 <c tils, will be faved ; that is, will be 
 " brought into the way of falvation, taught 
 by the gofpel; or, will embrace the 
 means of falvation, propofed therein ; 
 the Jews being all along provoked to 
 emulation by the Gentils, and the Gen- 
 tils being confirmed in their faith by the 
 " circumftances of the Jewifh people." 
 
 I How- 
 
 ** Locke » as before. 
 
 •\ Tlctvloc, <Te 'IcrpoiKA kolKu tk$ <zsiSivov\ot,<;-> \ni sf /«- 
 fhav ziiv, rriv qvaixm avyyiveidu isoqs rlv 'Ifpgi/A iyov- 
 USt hrs 1% iQvcov, Kctra, tm 7«f <gWsu{ ivyiv&a,v uut$ 
 fwewflbiAiVQi* Theodore*, in he. T. 3./. 91. D. 
 
66 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc. However this feems evident, that as in 
 III. paft ages the Jews had been of great fer- 
 
 ^SV^) vice iri upholding religion in the world, 
 and from them at length it was brought 
 to the Gentils ; fo, if in the end the Jews 
 are converted to the faith of Chritl, it will 
 be through the Gentils : and probably, 
 upon fome more general converfion of 
 them than has yet been. So fays St. Paul : 
 
 Rom.xi. For as ye, Gentils, in time paft have not 
 30 ' 3 '* believed in God, yet now have obtained 
 mercie through their unbelief: even fo 
 have thefe alfo now not believed, that 
 through your mercie they alfo may obtain 
 mercie. 
 
 And poffibly, we may now perceive, 
 that fome notions concerning the conver- 
 fion of the Jews are falfe and groundlefs, 
 or at beft doubtful and uncertain. For 
 fome imagine, that upon their general con- 
 verfion to the Chriftian faith, they will be 
 eflabliuhed again in the land of Judea, 
 and that Jerufalem, with it's temple, will 
 be rebuilt with great fplendour and mag- 
 nificence. 
 
 But 
 
by the Eft ate of the jfews. 67 
 
 But t-j- that fuppofition is lyable toDisc, 
 many difficulties and objections. Should HI. 
 their ancient polity be reftored, and they 
 be a diftindt people in the land of Ifrael 
 feparate from all the other people of the 
 earth ? The || gofpel revelation does not 
 encourage fuch a ftate of things. And there- 
 fore it is not reafonable to expecT, it fhould 
 be brought in by extraordinarie interpo* 
 I 2 fitions 
 
 +4- See the fentiments of Origen, and Chryfoftom, and. 
 ethers, in Grotius upon Luke xxi. 24. And fee Lightfoofs 
 Works. Vol.1, p. 375.— 377- andp.yij. 738. What 
 nvas Eufebe*s fentiment upon this point, may he fcen in his 
 Commentaries upon the Pfa/ms, not publifhed, till fince the 
 time of Grotius. AMtnteflctt \vyi£>ot,i rvy^elv 7n* cst) 
 tw zQvuv ffuvuyoyvs, fy >;<Tw ts'otz t»$ J/oco-Tropas aTa,\- 
 hctykvlts I-tti to avro <rvv<x,'XJ3co(TW qkio h<Pa/oi (Av <pa,v- 
 
 TU^OVJOCI fJ.ihkeiV iO'Z&CttZvTCp'ffOlpQlll ft'lO), k'7rt<?dvl& uv 
 TolfTu «A«/U/x4f«. Ylftiii <Pi y.- A. Eufeb. in Pfalm. 105. 
 al. 106. ver. 47. 48. p. 690. edit. Montf. 
 
 || " — Not that Jerufalem mould be built again, when 
 " the fulneffe of the Gentils is come in, which the Jews 
 u conceit : nor that then the Jews mould beunblindfolded* 
 " and become a gofpel church, as the Gentils had been. 
 " For what a ftrange world does fuch a fuppofal imagine? 
 M And how often does the gofpel gainfay fuch diflinttive- 
 " nefTe and peculiarity ?" Lightfoot. Vol. i. p. 377. ^he 
 fame author fays t " That the calling of the Jews (hall be 
 *' in the places of their refidence among Chriftians: and 
 «* that their calling (hall not caufe them to change place, 
 " but condition. " /. 738. 
 
68 The Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 pofitions of providence, under the difpen- 
 fation of the Meffiah. 
 
 Should they facrifice again, as in times , 
 part ? The law of Mofes is no longer in 
 force, and the facrifices appointed therein 
 are below the dignity of the gofpel infti- 
 tution. 
 
 Moreover our Lord plainly declared, that 
 all diftindtions of places fhould ceafe under 
 the gofpel : and that worfhip would no 
 longer be peculiarly acceptable at Jerufa- 
 lem, or any other city. 
 
 The continued fubfiftence of a large 
 body of the Jewifh people in feveral parts 
 of the world, and the prefent defolation 
 of their countrey, or the fmall number 
 of inhabitants therein, are thought by fome 
 to amount to a ftrong argument, that they 
 fhall themfelves return thither, and take 
 poffeffion of it again. But from what has 
 been now faid it appears, that the fore- 
 mentioned ftate of things anfwers very 
 valuable ends and purpofes : though the 
 Jewifh people fhould never be reinftated 
 in their ancient inheritance. 
 
 It is likely therefore, that whenever 
 there is a general converfion of the Jews 
 
 to 
 
by the Eft ate of the Jews. 69 
 
 to the faith of Jefus ; they will become Disc, 
 Chriftians indeed, and their fondnefle for 
 the rites of the Mofaic law will ceafe : 
 that they and the Gentils may become one 
 people, and one fheepfold under Chrift, 
 the univerfal Lord of the Church, the Sa- 
 viour, and the Bifhop of Souls. 
 
 Such an event we have good reafon to 
 wifh and pray for, that the fulneffe of the 
 Gentils may be brought in, and that then 
 the blindnefle, which in part has long 
 happened to the Jewifli people, may be 
 entirely removed. 
 
 In the mean time we fhould both labor 
 for the converlion of ignorant Gentils, and 
 do what lyes in our power to provoke the 
 people of the Jews to jealoufie by the 
 iimplicity of our worfhip, the purity of 
 our faith, and the goodneffe of our lives. J 
 
 5. We 
 
 -%. 1 have not denyed, that there wo ill he a general con- 
 verfion of the Jewijh people. Nor would I he under flood 
 to he pojitive, that they Jhall never return to the land of 
 Canaan: though I have mentioned fame difficulties , attend- 
 ing the fuppofetion. And if indeed they are fome time not 
 only to be converted, hut alfo rejlored ; I am perfuaded, 
 that their reftoration will he accomp'lijhed in a manner 
 becoming the Divine Majefty, and that all people nuill re- 
 joy ce therein. 1 am moreover of opinion, that if ever this 
 be brought c. bout, their vjorjbip thencefarvjard voill be en- 
 tirely fpiritual and evangelical. 
 
70 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc. 5. We mu ft be hence induced to admire 
 III. the exceeding riches of the wifdom y and good- 
 nejfe of God, who has gracioujly afforded 
 mankind in all ages helps for knowing the 
 great truths of religion. 
 
 God ever fpoke to all in the voice of 
 reafon. When that was not duly attended 
 to, and the danger of univerfal ignorance 
 became great j he feparated a familie, that 
 of Abraham, from the reft of the world : 
 and of a part of it he made a great nation, 
 to whom he gave a law , who thereby 
 were fet up as a lamp upon a hill, to lighten 
 the world around them. And among 
 them, by frequent interpofitions of his wife 
 and powerful providence, religion was 
 maintained, and they were kept a diftindt 
 nation, enjoying many privileges, until 
 the Meffiah came, and religion was fpread 
 far and wide in the nations of the earth, 
 according to promifes made long before. 
 And then, the Jews generally rejecting 
 that bleffing, God caft them off from 
 being his people, as they had been, and 
 poured down upon them tokens of his 
 difpleafure : yet not deftroying them ut- 
 terly, 
 
by the EJiate of the Jews. 7 i 
 
 terly, and making ufe of them, even un- D i s c. 
 der afflictions, to fupport the truth of his HI* 
 Son's miffion and authority, whom they 
 had crucified. 
 
 Nor is there herein any injuftice, or 
 unkindneffe, as has been often obferved in 
 thefe difcourfes. For ftill they are pro- 
 voked to jealoufie by thofe who are taken 
 in their room. And in this refpeft they 
 now enjoy an advantage, with regard to 
 religion, beyond what the Gentils had 
 formerly. For then it was the nation of 
 the Jews only, to whom God was known, 
 and many of the nations of the earth 
 were remote from them. But the unbe- 
 lieving Jews for the moft part live among, 
 or near the followers of Jefus, and have 
 better opportunities to inform themfelves 
 of the principles of their religion, than the 
 Gentils had of old to know that of the 
 Ifraelites. 
 
 And the wifdom of divine providence 
 in the former and the later difpenfation 
 is admirable, though above our full com- 
 prehenfion : as the Apoftle obferves at the 
 tnd of this chapter, addrefling himfelf to 
 
 Gentil 
 
7 2 Tie Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc. Gentil Chriftians : For as ye in times pajl 
 HI. have not believed God, yet have now ob- 
 ISV^ t ained mercie through their unbelief : even 
 fo have thefe alfo now not believed, that 
 through your mercie they may obtain mercie. 
 For God has concluded all in unbelief, that 
 he might have mercie upon all. O the depth 
 of the riches both of the wifdom and know- 
 ledge of God! How unfearchable are his 
 judgeme?jts y and his ways pajl finding cut! 
 For who has known the mind of the Lord, 
 or who has been his counfellor ? or who has 
 given unto him, and it fJjall be recompenfed 
 to him again ? For of him, and through 
 him, and to him are all things. To whom 
 be glorie forever. 
 Arts xvr. 6. We may hence conclude, that known 
 unto God are all his works from the begin- 
 ing. It is an obfervation of St. James at 
 the council of Jerufalem. 
 
 We may infer from the event, that 
 God forefavv from the begining the ge- 
 neral apoflafie of mankind. And when 
 he called Abraham, and feparated him to 
 himfelf from the reft of the world, he 
 forefaw all the confequences of that gra- 
 cious 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 73 
 
 cious purpofe and choice : that religion Disc. 
 would be in fome meafure upheld in the HI. 
 world, till the Mefliah came : and that V ^V>^ 
 when he was come, after the fpace of ma- 
 ny ages from the time of the firit promife 
 concerning him, the various ordinances of 
 pofitive appointment, delivered to the Jews 
 by Mofes, which had been of ufe to pre- 
 ferve them in the land of Judea from 
 mixing with their idolatrous neighbors, till 
 he came, would likewife ferve to keep 
 them a- feparate people, wherever they 
 lived, for a long fucceffion of ages, to bear 
 teftimonie to his ancient covenants with 
 Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob and themfelves: 
 whilft ftill they would have opportunities 
 of knowing the religion of the Meffiah, 
 and whenever their hearts mould be 
 touched, they might be again received, 
 and partake in all the bleffings of his 
 kingdom. 
 
 7. It may be reafonably fuppofed, that 
 it will be delightful in the heavenly flate to 
 know and obferve the various methods of 
 divine providence , relating to his creatures, 
 in the world where we have lived : parti- 
 K cularly 
 
74 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, cularly to ohferve the manifold dejigns of 
 ■"*• wifdom and gcodneffe with regard to the con- 
 cerns of religion. 
 
 A wife and difcerning perfon has now 
 great delight and profitable entertainment 
 in reviewing thefe works of divine provi- 
 vidence, as recorded in the Scriptures of 
 the Old and New Teftament. But the 
 difcoveries in a future ftate may be much 
 more full and compleat, and confeqnently 
 more delightful. We may then fee the 
 overfpreading deluge of ignorance in fome 
 places and ages, the wonderful fteps by* 
 which light was reftored, and all the vir- 
 tue of the inftruments raifed up by God, 
 and employed by him -> the faithful and 
 difinterefled zeal, with which they ferved 
 God, and promoted the welfare of their 
 fellow- creatures ; and how even afflictive 
 events fubferved beneficial defigns. 
 
 But this review of things will not be 
 pleafing and comfortable, except in a ftate 
 of eafe and happinefTe. For fuppofing 
 any fuch ex ten five knowledge in regions 
 of defpair and miferie \ it could not alle- 
 viate, but muit aggravate the diftrefle. 
 
 It 
 
&y the Eft ate of the Jews. 75 
 
 It would not be fatisficlion, but vexa- Disc. 
 tion for any one, finally and juftly rejected HI. 
 of God, to look back on the long fpace 
 and numerous periods of time, and ob- 
 ferve the kind provifions made by the di- 
 vine being for the illumination and falva- 
 tion of men. For fuch an one, I fay, to 
 furvey the fcenes of divine providence in 
 feveral ages, and obferve the time and 
 place where he was fixed, having many 
 advantages afforded him, and more in his 
 power ; but all abufed, or nelected : whilft 
 fome others, lefs privileged, acted difcreet- 
 ly, honored God, and laid the foundation 
 of future happineffe : to fuch an one this 
 knowledge would be tormenting and vex- 
 atious. 
 
 But though fuch extenfive knowledge 
 (hould not be the portion o( thofe who 
 are finally feparated from God, there will 
 be remembrance of things part: ; what 
 men have done, or neglected to do; 
 what means of knowledge were afforded 
 them in this world, what convictions they 
 had of duty, what helps they enjoyed 
 for fecuring a virtuous conduit, and 
 K 2 ftregthen- 
 
76 7?je Chrijlian Religion confirmed 
 Disc, ftrengtbeping them againft; temptations; 
 III. and how they failed to emprove thofe ma- 
 t/^rv* ny advantages. 
 
 Hpw piercing muft it be in the place 
 of torment, for a ckfeendent of Abraham, 
 who lived in the time of our Lord, to 
 recollect the gracious words he heard 
 from his mouth : that though Jefus taught 
 in the ftreets of his city, and in the mod 
 winning manner promifed everlafting life 
 to luch as believed in him, and obeyed 
 him : and though he performed nume- 
 rous miracles, healing and beneficial, Ant- 
 ed to the goodneff: of his doctrine, and 
 tokens of inexprefiible mildnefle and be- 
 nevolence; yet he defpifed and abufed 
 this amiable perfon ! And though he 
 knew, the Prophets had fpoken of a great 
 deliverer to arife among them; and it 
 was the prevailing opinion, that was the 
 very time prefixed for his coming ; he 
 would not hearken to him, nor regard 
 him, becaufe of fome groundlefs preju- 
 dices, and too ftrong an afFedion for world- 
 ly poffeflions and enjoyments. 
 
 In 
 
by the EJiate of the yews. 77 
 
 In like manner, for certain, to others D 1 s c. 
 alfo the recollection of religious privi- III. 
 leges, not emproved, will be matter of °^ v ^° 
 torment and vexation. 
 
 Children of pious parents, who Jet at Prov. i. 
 nought all their counfel, and will none of z5 ' 3 °" 
 their reproof! 
 
 Servants, who are averfe to the or- 
 der and.reflraint of religious families, and 
 offended at daily devotions, and frequent 
 readings of the Scriptures or books of pie- 
 ty ; and choofe the habitations of the 
 wicked, where there is not fo much as a 
 form of godlinefle, or an appearance of 
 religion •> and prefer the companie and 
 manners of the diffolute, who are a re. 
 proach to human nature ! 
 
 A Chriflian, partaking in all the ordi- 
 nances of the gofpel, yet acting contrarie 
 to the obligations he is under ! 
 
 A minifter in Gods houfe, (hewing to 
 others the way of falvation, but not walk- 
 ing in it himfelf ! 
 
 How grievous muft the recollection of 
 fuch advantages be hereafter, if finally a* 
 bufed and difregarded ! No confolation 
 
 can 
 
78 The Chriftian Religion confirmed 
 
 Disc, can be given to men then. The fad re- 
 III. flection on their own folly will be un- 
 
 ^^^^ avoidable and incurable. 
 
 May we therefore be wife to know 
 arid mind the things of our peace now, 
 in this our day. Let us fecure time for 
 ferious reflections on cur conduct: and our 
 advantages. Let us compare our light 
 and knowledge with our actions and pur- 
 pofes. For between thefe there ought to 
 be an agreement. Where much is given, 
 
 Lukexii. much may be expected. And the fervant, 
 who knew his lord's will, and did it not, will 
 be beaten with many ftripes. 
 
 Thefe are certain truths. And thefe 
 things will fome time afford a pleafing and 
 comfortable, or an afflictive and forrowful 
 recollection and remembrance. It is an 
 awful and awakening obfervation of our 
 
 John iii. Lord : This is the condemnation, that light 
 is come into the world : and men loved dark- 
 nejfe rather than light, becaufe their deeds 
 were evil. If any of us fliould perifh, 
 have we not reafon to dread this aggravat- 
 ed condemnation ? For we mult be fen- 
 fible, we have had fufficient inftruction to 
 
 affure 
 
by the Eft ate of the yews. 79 
 
 aflure us, that things above are preferable Disc, 
 to things on this earth : and that nothing III. 
 ought fo to divert, or engage us, as to ^XiiT^ 
 prevent our laying up to ourfelves trea- 
 fures in heaven : and that we ought fo to 
 order all our prefent concerns, and the 
 whole of our converfation, as may beft 
 promote our moft important intereft, the 
 everlafting falvation and happinefle of our 
 fouls. 
 
 The END. 
 
Published by the fame Author. 
 
 i. /COUNSELS of Prudence, for 
 \^4 the Ufe of young People. 
 Price bd. 
 
 2. A Vindication of three of our Sa- 
 viour's Miracles : viz. the railing Jairus's 
 Daughter, the Widow of Nairn's Son, and 
 Lazarus. In Anfvver to Mr. Woolfton's 
 fifth Difcourfe. Price is. 6 d. 
 
 3. Sermons upon Various Subjefts. 
 Price bound, 5 s. 
 
 4. The Credibility of the Gofpel Hjfto- 
 ry. Part I. Or the Fads occasionally 
 mentioned in the New Teftament confirm- 
 ed by Paffages of ancient Authors. In two 
 Volumes. Price, bound, 10 s. 
 
 5. The Credibility of the Gofpel Hif- 
 tory. Part II. Or the principal Facts of 
 the New Teftament confirmed by Paf- 
 fages of ancient Authors. In eight Vo- 
 lumes, containing the Hiftory of the Chrif- 
 tian Writers of the fir ft three Centuries, 
 and part of the fourth, with their Tefti- 
 monie to the Books of the New Tefta- 
 ment. Price, bound, two Pounds. 
 
 In the Pre]fe 9 and will be publijhed before 
 Cbri/lmas, 
 
 Vol. IX. In which will be Apollinarius, 
 St. Bafil, Gregorie Nazianzen, and NyfTen, 
 Ephraim the byrian, Didymus of Alexan- 
 dria, Ambrofe Bifliop of Milan, the Prif- 
 cillianifts, and others. 
 
JBBi 
 
 
 
 * a ... 
 
 i 
 
 *> i 
 
 ^ 
 
 : 
 
 > 
 
 ^■'^8 
 
 
 Um 
 
 .. > 
 
 
 ^rr