i

that of idolatry; whereby, within 400 years after the flood, the worship eir and knowledge of the one fupreme God was in danger of being utterly loft. To prevent this, the Divine Wifdom erected a new difpenfation by calling Abraham from among his idolatrous kindred, and conftituting his family the ftorehouse and standard of divine knowledge. To them he refpake and revealed himself at fundry times, and in divers manners, and wifeparated them from the reft of the world, by peculiar laws and reliregious ceremonies, to fecure them from the idolatrous practices of their neighbours. Thus they became God's peculiar people, diftinguifhed above all other nations, but with a view to the future great benefit of all nations. And to this day, bleffed be God, we experience the happy effects of this noble scheme, and owe to it both our Bible, and the very being of the Gofpel church.

IX. The family of Abraham, by the divine conduct, was led into Egypt. And when they had been there, under grievous oppreffion, 215 years, and were grown numerous enough to be a nation, God fet himfelf at the head of them, as their King. And, in a country much efteemed for learning and arts, whither men of genius and curiofity reforted from all other parts, upon this stage, so proper, because fo public, God, as the king of Ifrael, combated the king of Egypt, and his fictitious gods, and difplayed his infinitely fuperior power both to deftroy and to fave, by many plagues inflicted upon the land of Egypt, and by bringing out the Ifraelites in oppofition to all the forces of the king, and all the obftacles of nature, and fettling them, after they had been fufficiently difciplined in the wildernefs, in the land of Canaan. Here God fet up his peculiar kingdom amongst them; and they alone of all the nations of the earth were the fubjects of it, and happy in its fingular privileges and bleffings; but, at the fame time, were exercised with various providential difpenfations. The general rule of which, was this while they adhered to the worship of the true God, they were always profperous; when they declined to idolatry, they were either oppreffed at home, or carried captive into other countries.

X. The long captivity in Babylon was not only a punishment to the Jews, but allo a mean of publifhing the knowledge of the true God over all the Babylonish empire, as appears very evidently in the Book of Daniel. And the divifion of the Grecian empire, which put an end to the Perfian, after the death of Alexander, caufed a new difperfion of the Jews, especially into Afia minor, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, and Lybia, where their fynagogues were very common. And lastly, when they were fubjected to the Roman power, their God and religion became more known over all the Roman empire. Thus the way for the kingdom of the Meffiah was gradually prepared. For though the knowledge of God, received from the Jews, made no public reformation of Pagan idolatry, yet it greatly difpofed men to receive the Gofpel when it fhould be preached unto them. Some became Jews, many renounced idolatry, and worshipped no other but the living and true God, who, in the Acts of the Apostles, are called, devout Profelytes, Greeks, those that feared God.

XI. Thus we are brought to the coming of Chrift, who came in the fulnefs of Time; for he came as foon as God, by the various methods of his

pro

providence, had prepared the world to receive him. When God had made ready a people prepared for him, then Chrift came, and fully explained the nature, laws, extent, and glory of the kingdom of God, and fulfilled the great and moft excellent defigns of divine wifdom, by giving himself a facrifice and propitiation for the fin of the world.

XII. Then the great mystery of God, the calling of other nations, befides the Jews, into his kingdom and church, was opened, and made manifeft by the preaching of the Gofpel. For which purpose, he sent out his apoftles, furnifhed with proper powers and credentials, efpecially the gift of tongues, whereby they were enabled to communicate the wonderful things of God to people of different countries. And by this means, the glad tidings of falvation, and the glorious light and privileges of the Gofpel, have reached even to us in Great-Britain, who dwell in the uttermoft parts of the earth.

XIII. But as Chrift came to restore, to explain, and by the most glorious discoveries, and the richeft promifes, to enforce the law of nature, the true religion of all nations; and confequently, as his defign was to erect an univerfal religion, which fhould recommend itself to all people, under their feveral political diftinétions, and which, therefore, was to interfere with no political establishments, but fhould leave them, in every country, juft as it found them, teaching the nations only to obferve the eternal rules of righteousness in the hope of eternal life; I fay, upon this grand, noble, and extenfive plan, the Jewish polity would be funk to a level with all other national governments; and the Jew, on account of any prior national advantages, would have no more claim to the bleffings and privileges of the kingdom of God, than any of the Gentiles, or nations, who, in any of the most barbarous and defpifed parts of the earth, fhould receive the faith of the Gofpel. For in the Chriftian religion there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcifion nor uncircumcifion, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Chrift, i. e. the faith and obedience, or true religion, which Chrift taught, is all, and in all, Col. iii. 11. Thus the Jew is fallen from his fuperior claims and privileges; and he falls by that very method of divine wifdom and grace, which brought falvation to all other nations. Thus the diminishing of the Jews is the riches of the world, and the cafting away of them is the reconciling of the world, (Rom. xi. 12, 15.) or the opening a door for the whole world to come into the peculiar kingdom of God.

This is the idea we ought to have of the rejection of the Jews. The grace of God was, and ftill is, as free to them as to other people, upon their embracing the Gofpel; but their political conftitution from henceforth gave them no diftinction, or privileges in the kingdom of God, above the rest of mankind. And in no long time after the publication of the Gospel, their polity and civil conftitution, which otherwise would have remained in full force, and have obliged them to obey its laws, as much as the conftitutions of the other kingdoms of the world obliged their feveral fubjects, was quite overthrown, by the deftruction of the temple, and the expulfion of the Jews out of the land of Canaan. Which they have not been able to recover, but remain difperfed over the face of the whole earth to this day. Thus the Gofpel difpenfation was erected, and spread and prevailed every where.

XIV. The

XIV. The next of God's works was the permitting and managing a grand apoftacy and corruption of religion in the chriftian church, foretold by the Apofties, and at large in the book of the Revelation. After the apoftles were removed out of the world, it pleafed God to leave the profeffors of the Gospel, in matters of religion, to their own ignorance, paffions and prepoffeffions. Thus the chriftian faith, by degrees, was depraved, till the Man of Sin arofe, a tyrannical, ufurped power, domineering over, and impofing upon confcience, forbidding the ufe of understanding, and intoxicating the inhabiters of the earth with falfe and delufive learning, worldly pomp and fplendor, religious forcery, and cruel perfecution of the truth. This, as it was the propereft mean of producing the most eminent and nobleft characters, was to be a long and fevere trial of the faith and patience of the faints. In the times of this fad difpenfation, it is certain, we are now living; but, we hope, towards the latter end of it. Through the whole courfe of it God hath variously appeared, both in wrath upon the corrupters of religion, and in mercy for the comfort and fupport of those who oppoled it. And thus the wheels of providence moved on, till the morning of reformation appeared in our happy land, which, for fome centuries, hath been gradually advancing, and ftill continues to advance, towards the perfect day. For a fpirit of religious liberty, which hath been long oppreffed, revives and gains ftrength, the fcriptures are more carefully ftudied, ecclefiaftical tyranny and perfecution, under every form, more generally detefted; and things feem to have a tendency towards love, unity, and concord, the moft perfect ftate of religion, in this world.

XV. This muft give pleafure to every good man, and he will cheer, fully join his endeavours to bring on the next glorious difpenfation, which we have in profpect, when the mystery of God, with regard to the aforefaid corrupt ftate of religion, fhall be finished; when Babylon, in all its principles and powers, fhall fall; when the holy city, the new Jerufalem, fhall come down from Heaven, and God fhall set up a pure and happy ftate of the church.

XVI. How long that ftate will continue, we do not certainly know, Nor have we any further clear difcoveries of God's works till the aw ful day of the refurrection, when the Lord himself fhall in perfon defcend from heaven with a fhout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and the trump of God. Then all they that fleep in the dust of the earth sball awake, and fhall be judged, fome to everlasting life, and fome to fhame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wife, under any of the changes and difpenfations of this prefent world, fhall fine as the brightnefs of the firmament, and they that work together with God, and endeavour to turn many to righteousness, as the fars, for ever and ever.

Thus I have given a fketch of the works of God from the beginning of the world to the confummation of all things. And very beautiful and furprising would the whole appear, could we fee them in a full and clear light. But before we attempt a more particular explication of them in their feveral views, circumstances, and connexions, we muft make a few general remarks, which will aflist our conceptions and in quiries.

СНАР.

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God

CHÁ P. III.

GENERAL REMARKS upon the DIVINE DISPENSATIONS.

ONCERNING the foregoing difpenfations, we may in general remark, that as they are devifed and executed by I. They are all agreeable to the most perfect rules of righteousness and truth. Nothing falfe, unjuft, or injurious, can be charged upon the divine conftitutions. For (Deut. xxxii. 4.) all God's ways are judg ment; a God of truth, and without iniquity; juft and right is hes Pfal. cxlv. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy, fteadily acting according to truth, in all his works. See also Rev. xv. 3. And therefore they are in perfect confiftence with each other.

II. The ways of God are not to be confidered as the effect of neceffity, as if the end propofed could not poffibly have been otherwife gained; but as the refult of wife choice, or divine prudence, preferring fuch particular methods as preferable to any other, as beft adapted to our circumftances, or, all things confidered, as the moft likely to make mankind wife and happy. For inftance, it is by the difpenfation of God, that our prefent life is fuftained by food; not becaufe it is impoffible we fhould live in any other way, for God could fuftain our life in perfect health and ftrength by an act of his own immediate power. Again, our food is produced by the influence of the fun, by rain, the fertility of the ground, human labour and skill; not becaufe food could not be otherwise produced, for God could, by an immediate act of his own power, create food for us every day, as he did for the Ifraelites in the wilderness; but this method of fuftaining our life is a contrivance of divine wisdom, to fhew himself to our understandings, (for, had we been fuftained by an immediate act of divine power, we fhould have been led to imagine, that, not God, but our own nature, had fuftained itfelf) and to exercise our virtue and industry in providing a fubfiftence, and to be mutually helpful to each other. Hence the works of God, in fcripture, are affigned to his wifdom. See Pfal. civ. 24. Prov. viii. 22. Ephef. i. 5, &c.—iii. 9, 10.

· III. Affuredly all the difpenfations of God are calculated to promote virtue and happiness. This is the line which runs through the whole, as will appear in our future inquiries into the nature and tendencies of each of them. At prefent it may fuffice to obferve, that, however our circumftances may differ from those of our firft parents, the end of our being is the fame as theirs; and we, as well as they, are upon trial, in order to our having the habits of holiness formed in us, and our being fitted for eternal life. And though it is a fad reflection to confider, how the wickedness of men hath from time to time fatigued the patience of God, yet it must give us pleasure to obferve, how his goodnefs hath applied various remedies to prevent, or heal, the corruptions of mankind In what way foever men have gone aftray from him, his wifdom has never been at lofs to find out the most proper expedients to reclaim them. Evidently

Evidently his defign is to fave a finful world, and to carry religion, both in its perfonal influences, and general prevalence; to the highest perfection our prefent condition will admit (a).

IV. The fcriptural difpenfations, which have been enumerated, were feverally adapted to the then capacities and improvements, the moral ftate and circumftances of mankind. The feveral ages of the world may be compared to the feveral stages of human life, infancy, youth, manhood, and old-age. Now, as a man under due culture gradually improves in knowledge and wifdom, from infancy to old-age, fo we may conceive of the world, from the beginning to the end, as gradually improving in mental and religious attainments under the feveral divine difpenfations (b). Which difpenfations have been in every pe riod fuited to the improvements in knowledge and wifdom," which then fubfifted in the world. Adam, when created, may be confidered as a child without knowledge, learning, and experience; and therefore the difpenfation he was under, was very different from that which we are under, who enjoy the benefit and light of fo many preceding difpenfations. COROLLARY. A preceding difpenfation is intended and adapted to introduce and prepare for that which comes after it. Experience is a natural and certain mean of improving in knowledge and wifdom. This is univerfally true, as well with regard to communities as fingle perfons. It is therefore agreeable to the nature of things, that in a progrefive courfe of knowledge, and moral improvement, what we already have experienced fhould be a step to further advances; and confequently, in a just plan or fcheme of difcipline, it is fit, that what goes before, fhould be adapted to clear and establish what is to come after. Thus mankind, reflecting upon preceding difpenfations, will be admonished and directed to reform old errors and corruptions; and thus, even the monstrous apoftacy of the church of Rome may ferve to introduce and eftablish that moft perfect ftate of Chriftianity, which we expect will lucceed the difpenfation we are now under.

V. All God's difpenfations are in a moral way, and adapted to the nature of rational agents. Exod. xiii. 17. Force and co-action deftroy

the

(a) Now, if fuch a defign fhall appear evidently to run through the Books of the Old and New Teftament, a man may, with infinitely greater propriety, fuppofe the most perfect drama (where the fineft defign is carried on by the best chofen plot, and by the moft confiftent underplots, and beautiful, wellproportioned incidents) to have been writ by a number of the greatest made men or idiots, by piece-meal, in different ages; than imagine a thread of fuch an end and mean running through above 40 writers, in more than 1600 years, to be the work of fo many enthufiafts. Or, we may as well fuppofe the world to be framed by mere chance; or the most magnificent, beautiful, and convenient palace, that the imagination can figure to itself, to be built by men un acquainted with all the rules of architecture, in feveral diftant ages, and without any model to build by, and to be fupported by mere chance, through as many more; as imagine fuch an unity of defign and mean, as I have de fcribed, to be the refult of enthufiafm and accident mixed together. Barrington's Efay on the Div. Difpenfations. Part 1. Preface, p. 26.

(b) Ages of a Man. 6.

16. 20.

30.

*

40. 50.

Ages of the World. 600. 1600. 2000. 3000. 4000. 5000. 6000. 7000.

Ld.