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INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE Scriptures, both New and Old, contain one great central truth round which every part, whether personal, prophetical, doctrinal, or historical, consistently revolves; and no one can expect to read them aright and profitably who does not recognise, and acquiesce in, the fact that the Glory of God in Christ is the one great, glorious design of the whole Bible: all revelation tends to this object, from the first verse in Genesis to the last in the Apocalypse-it is the universal theme-and if we wish to fathom its mighty depths, see its true proportions, and trace its principles of coherence, we should ever have this blessed truth impressed upon our minds.

In order to attain a comprehensive view of God's dealings with man, we must study the Holy Scriptures as one consistent and harmonious whole; we must be impressed with the solemn conviction that the Old as well as the New Testament are inspired by Him-the King of all ages, the Immortal, the Invisible, the only God (1 Tim., i, 17)—and that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for discipline which is in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto every good work" (2 Tim., iii, 16, 17).

It is a very prevalent idea, even among believers, that we who live in this dispensation possess in the New Testament all that pertains to our religious necessities, and that there is little personal profit in pouring over the records of the past, seeing, as they urge in self-justification, "that having now boldness to enter into the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" (Heb., x, 19, 20); we have no further need, save that of acknowledging in general terms the truth and validity of the Old Testament, of searching into its now, in many parts, obsolete history.

This mode of acting and arguing seems to me most dishonoring to God, and I hold that any entertaining such views can possess no right appreciation of God's holiness, or of the progressive way by which He leads us to a knowledge of His character as manifested in the various types and figures He has thought fit to illustrate His gracious and merciful dealings towards man.

Another source of error, as I conceive, is the apparently unreflecting manner in which the Bible has been divided into chapters-the employment of isolated and fragmentary portions in our Prayer Book-the constant repetition of certain passages in preference to others—and especially the incorrect and often fallacious headings of the several chapters invented by man-result often of misconception or prejudice-all these tend to preclude the great mass of Bible readers from realizing the fact that every portion of God's Word is equally inspired, that every part demands our best and deepest consideration, that not a word is inserted without meaning and intention-that the whole is a manifestation of God's wisdom, and of great and exceeding love to all mankind, and that if read, and studied

in dependence on God's blessing, it is able to make us wise unto salvation.

Without entering minutely into the subject, which is uncalled for in this place, let any unbiassed mind look at the various headings in the prophetical books, inclusive of the Psalms (which in my apprehension are all prophetical), and see if the interpretation put upon them by the translators of the Bible is not generally speaking most fallacious. I do not doubt that in some instances they are historically correct as regards the circumstances which, in their primary sense, first called them into existence; but that this is their conclusive or exhaustive object I never can admit. Prophecy is the revelation of God's counsel to man as manifested in Jesus Christ, and consequently cannot have its final completion till the time comes when God shall have put all things under the feet of Jesus, for He must reign till He hath put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor., xv, 25; Heb., ii, 8; Ps., viii, 6): and that certainly will not take place till the close of the millennium (see 1 Cor., xv, 28).

Take, as an instance, Isaiah xxxiii: headed "God's judgments against the enemies of his Church," which speaks of Zion filled with righteousness and judgment-the city of solemnities-a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, &c. Chapter xxxiv speaks, according to the heading, of the judgments wherewith God avengeth the enemies of His Church: chapter xxxv, of the virtues and privileges of the gospel, chapter xl of the promulgation of the gospel, the preaching of John the Baptist, the preaching of the apostles, &c.—all of which have nothing to do with the subjects here mentioned, except that John the Baptist quotes one portion to point out that he was the typical forerunner of a future and more expansive witness

to the coming of the Lord. Chapters xliii, xliv, xlv, which relate exclusively to the restoration of the lost tribes and cognate subjects are appropriated, in the heading, to blessings belonging to the Church: and chapter xlix, from verse 13, represents God's perpetual love to His Church: and if so, I ask how is it that in verse 14 Zion cries out "the Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten thee ?"

If Zion is the Church, the cry of anguish is unintelligible, for Christ can never forsake the Church, the elect according to the foreknowledge of God, especially in the moment of her joy, for in the preceding verse (which refers to the returning tribes and not to the Church), she is exultingly exclaiming, "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth," &c. This is sufficient to point out to any careful student of prophecy not only the fallaciousness of these headings, but how liable they are when read carelessly to lead weak or unobservant souls away from the real object and tendency of the inspired writer. Hundreds of instances more glaring than these might be advanced; such as, for instance, Psalms lxviii, lxxvi, lxxx, lxxxvii, cxlvii, and cxlix—all of which pertain to Israel, and yet, to the exclusion of the chosen race, are claimed as heirlooms by the Church.

I would submit most humbly, yet most strenuously, to any one who may peruse these words, that the Church, as a body complete in Christ, and joined to Him through the Holy Spirit in love and unity, was not known to the Old Testament saints or prophets; it only came into existence on the ascension of our Lord from the grave, and was only instituted as a corporate body on the day of Pentecost; the Church in this dispensation is purely parenthetical-not known or recognised in the former or Jewish dispensation.

The calling of the Gentiles is frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch, Psalms, and prophetical books, and is foreshadowed in many deep and solemn types; but the Church is nowhere explicitly and unmistakeably declared: that it is adumbrated in recondite and mysterious figures I would not deny: such as Eve, who was evolved from Adam's side during a death-like sleep, and was therefore bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. In the same manner was the Church the bride of Christ developed, formed, and instituted on the rising of Christ from the grave; for we then became members of His body. The mystery is great; but the union between Christ and the Church is of the same nature as that existing between our first parents (see Gen., ii, 21-24; Eph., v, 29-32).

The rapture of the Church may be again exemplified and shadowed forth in the translation of Enoch: and the saints who come with the Lord to execute judgment, as prophecied by this man of God (Jude, 14, 15), may represent the Church, which partakes with Him in all His acts at this period. It is also probable that Noah and his family, saved from the flood of waters, prefigure the Church caught up to heaven before the destruction coming upon an ungodly world. These are all antediluvian types, and being prior to the call of Abraham and the promulgation of the law, may fitly be applied to the Church, as future demonstrations of heavenly blessings, apart from those of Israel, which are essentially earthly.

The marriage of Joseph with Asenath, daughter of the Priest of On; that also of Moses with Zipporah, daughter of a Midianitish priest; and, again, his second marriage with an Egyptian woman; the marriage of Salmon with Rahab; that of Boaz with Ruth; of David with Bathsheba; and other similar instances, such as the Mosaic law

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