III.]

AND CONSOLATION TO BE DERIVED.

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filthiness of flesh and spirit, so that the seeds of sin which may remain in the mortal body, are not imputed as sin for the sake of Him on whom that soul believes and depends; then as soon as the breath of life is gone, and the body is only fit to be mingled with the dust, the spirit enters into security and rest, to be kept by the power of God (in what state He pleaseth, but unknown to us) until that day; then shall there be given unto it "the grace that is to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ," and so shall the believer shine forth in the firmament of God's glory as a star1, which shall twinkle in its sphere throughout the ages of eternity.

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1 Daniel xii. 3.

1 Cor. xv. 41.

1 Pet. i. 13.

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LECTURE IV.

THE STATE OF RELIGION AMONG THE JEWS PREVIOUS TO THE COMING OF CHRIST.

ST. MARK vii. 6–9. 13.

Jesus answered and said unto them, well hath Esais prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit, in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; for laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. * Making the word of God of none effect, through your tradition which ye have delivered and many such like things do ye.

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If the Gentile world were sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and were ignorant of the true God, it is no wonder, humanly speaking, that they made to themselves gods after their own inventions, and fell headlong into all manner of superstition if they knew not the law of God,

LECT. IV. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE JEWS.

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but were directed only by the feeble light of the law of nature, which fluctuated with their passions, and was frequently lost in the defiled conscience, it is no matter of great surprise that they were immoral and if they were without hope, and knew nothing of a life to come, it is no wonder that they sorrowed even to despair at the thought of leaving this world. But for the Jews, to whom were committed the oracles of God, who had heard of the "wonders in Egypt, and the miracles in the field of Zoan," who had learned His righteous statutes and judgments, which He delivered by His servant Moses, and who had heard that God was "not the God of the dead, but of the living," how came they to fall into such a state of depravity, as to be no less in need of a new revelation than the rest of the heathen world? The answer is set forth in the words of the Redeemer, which I have now read to you. Although they were in possession of the law of Moses and the prophets, and might have learned better things, they had corrupted that word of God, and substituted for it, or mingled with it, the ordinances and traditions of men, more congenial to their natural and depraved hearts. For inward purity, they had substituted the external forms and ceremonies of worship: they had laid aside the weightier matters of the law, at the same time that they rigidly

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THE ADVANTAGES OF THE JEWS. [LECT. adhered to the letter of their religious rites, which might be performed with heartless service : they were very scrupulous in observing a fair outward show of religion, and purchasing the good will of the priesthood, for they paid tithe even "of mint, and anise, and cummin," but they omitted "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith." The Jews therefore were justly in the same state of condemnation with the Gentiles, but from different causes the one having no law and following their own corrupt imaginations, the other having the law of God, but corrupting it to the standard of their own depravity. The condemnation of the Jew was as much increased as his means of knowledge exceeded those of the heathen; when, therefore, the light did appear to lighten the Gentiles as well as to be the glory of Israel, it was said to be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for the privileged city which, by rejecting the Lord of glory, increased the measure of its guilt.

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But in order to achieve our proposition, and fully show the necessity as well as the inestimable blessing of Divine revelation, let us now take a special view of the religious condition of the Jews, whence we may discern how justly they deserved the severe rebukes which our Lord so often directed against them. It will however be

Iv.] THE ADVANTAGES OF THE JEWS.

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necessary to keep in view the three subjects on which we have tried the heathen world, viz. what was their theology? what were their morals, both in knowledge and practice? and what hopes they had of another state of existence ?

"What advantage then hath the Jew?" (asks St. Paul, for the sake of argument) "or what profit is there in circumcision?" "Much every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God:" and in no particular was this advantage more apparent than in preserving among them the knowledge of the true God, so that they at least honoured Him with their lips. Possessing the books of Moses and the prophets, it was hardly possible they could have any degrading notions of the Deity; neither do we find that the Jews had formed any speculative ideas of the Divine Essence: they adhered closely to the written word, pronounced the name of Jehovah with profound reverence, and read the sublime descriptions of His attributes and His glory with fear and trembling. It was not in the abstract view of the Godhead that they erred they never lost the name whereby the Almighty was so awfully denominated, “I am; nor was it in the object, but in the manner of their worship, that they were mistaken. The severe rebukes of our Lord do not fall upon their pure theological faith as it respected the Deity; but upon