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Mark, ch. xii. v. 36. Luke, ch. ii. v. 26. 2d epiftle Peter, ch. i. v. 21. and in John, ch. xiv. v. 25, 26. Jefus fays to his difciples

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Thefe things have I fpoken unto you, being yet pre• fent with you; but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoft, whom the Father will fend in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatfoever I have faid unto you.' In the 15th, 16th, and 17th verfes of the fame chapter, Jefus fays- If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I г will pray the Father; and he fhall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you ⚫ for ever, even the spirit of truth.' In the Acts of the Apostles, we find this promise repeated to them after his death and previous to his afcenfion, ch. i. v. 4. with directions where they were to wait for it. And in the 2d chapter we are told, they actually did receive the Holy Ghost with power which immediately enabled them (if there is no mistake in the matter) to fpeak the language of every nation under Heaven. And of this extraordinary faculty they made fo good a ufe, that upon the fame day, it is faid, they converted about three thousand fouls. Thefe, I believe, are the chief informations given us concerning the Holy Ghoft; and though by thefe I am confirmed in the opinion aforefaid; yet I am at a lofs to apply it as a fact in the prefent cafe; fór if the Pharifees really believed Jefus to be an impoftor,

impoftor, they had not received the Holy Ghoft, Chapter Verfe and in courfe could not fin against it: if, on the contrary, they had received the Holy Ghost, they must have believed that Jesus is the Chrift, and in courfe have treated him accordingly. It does not plainly appear that they were averse to conviction in the 38th verfe they fay- Maf

ter, we would fee a fign from thee.' This requeft was made by the Scribes and Pharifees here we are not told what kind of fign they required, but in the 1ft verfe of the 16th chapter, we are told that at another time, the Pharifees and Sadducees defired he would fhew them a fign from Heaven. In reply each time, he calls them a wicked and adulterous generation, feeking after a fign, but to whom no fign should be given, fave that of the prophet Jonas. In the latter inftance he leaves them abruptly upon making this fimple declaration; but in the former, he explained what he meant by the fign of the prophet Jonas― For as Jonas was three days xii. ' and three nights in the whale's belly: so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' It is difficult to conceive, how, or when this fign, as it is called, could poffibly be understood, or be in the leaft ferviceable to the unbelieving but enquiring Scribes, Pharifees, or Sadducees. He likewife told them -The men of Nineveh, who repented upon the preaching of Jonas, fhould rife in judgment against that generation, who repented not, though F 2 a greater

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a greater than Jonas preached to them. That he was greater than Jonas, they at that time did not believe, and therefore requested a proof: this being denied, the fign of the prophet Jonas could, at that time, be of no fervice to them: if it was meant to be fo at a future period; it must be after his death and refurrection, con cerning which, this declaration must be remembered, and acknowledged as a true prophecy. But here, unfortunately, we have fome unaccountable error: this type does not correfpond in the exemplification, truth doth not appear. The four evangelifts agree that Jefus did not expire 'till the ninth hour (fix o'clock) upon Friday evening and that he had rifen from the dead and left the fepulchre, very early upon the Sunday morning. This being the cafe; he could be in the heart of the earth (if a fepulchre hewn out of a rock can be fo called) two nights only, and little more than one day. This unfavourable circumftance, added to what we find in the 43d, 44th, and 45th verfes, naturally produces an idea, that fome of his auditors might begin to entertain a more favourable opinion of him, wifhed to be convinced that he was greater than Jonas, and waited in hope that time would reveal him honourably. In this fituation the unclean fpirit may be faid to have gone out of them. But the conclufion of the affair not appearing to anfwer thefe hopes, they not only relapsed into their unbelief, but became enemies to his name

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and caufe. In this cafe, it may be faid (as it is Chapter Verfe in the 45th verfe) that they were poffeffed, not only by the old unclean fpirit, but by feven others ftill more wicked. While Jefus was thus employed, he was told, that his mother and his brethren food without, defiring to fpeak with him : to which he answered Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? and pointing to his difciples added-Behold my mother and my bre thren, telling them, that all were fo who did the will of his heavenly Father, This is an example of what he had taught before. In the 13th chapter we are informed that Jefus was followed by great multitudes to the fea fhore; where, out of a fhip, he fpake many things unto them in xiii. parables. Being afked by his difciples, why he fpoke to the people in parables, he makes a reply, which to those who are not deep in the myftery of mystery, muft appear very enigmatical

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Because it is given unto you to know the myfteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For whofoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance:

but whofoever hath not, from him fhall be taken away, even that he hath. (This would leave him less than nothing; therefore it fhould have been rendered-Whofoever hath little, from him, &c.) Therefore fpeak I to them in 'parables: because they seeing fee not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they under

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to the multitude? his difciples might have been inftructed privately, as they frequently were, when they understood not the parables) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Efaias, which faith-By hearing ye fhall hear and fhall not understand: and feeing ye fhall fee and fhall not perceive. For this peoples heart is waxed grofs, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; left at any time they should fee with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and fhould underftand with their heart, and fhould be converted,

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and I fhould heal them.' It requires more ingenuity than I am mafter of, to reconcile the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th verfes with the 15th. The former fay plainly of the multitude- that it was not given to them to understand the 'mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven.' If this was the cafe, how were they in fault? How were they to be converted? and more especially by parables? The 15th verfe, on the contrary, implies that they wilfully and obftinately fhut their eyes, their ears, and their understanding, to prevent their being converted and healed by him. But if this was the cafe, (and it is to be wifhed that it could, by other corroborating circum. ftances, be proved fo) it would follow, in courfe, that the fault was in themselves, and that they ftill were a perverfe and ftiff-necked generation

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