left out, than any necessary article of the gospel, to make his history concife. We see what our Saviour was fent for. In the next place, let us look into the commiffion he gave the apoftles, when he fent them to preach the gofpel. We have it in the tenth of St. Matthew, in thefe words: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any "city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But But go rather "to the loft sheep of the house of Ifrael. And as ye go, PREACH, SAYING, THE KINGDOM of HEAVEN IS AT HAND. Heal the fick, cleanfe the lepers, "raife the dead, caft out devils: freely have ye re"ceived, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor filver, "nor brafs in your purfes, 'nor fcrip in your journey; "neither two coats, neither fhoes, nor yet ftaves, (for "the workman is worthy of his meat.) And into "whatsoever city, or town, ye shall enter, inquire who "in it is worthy, and there abide until ye go thence. "And when ye come into any houfe falute it. And "if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace return to And whofoever shall not receive you, nor you. "hear your words; when ye depart out of that house, or city, shake off the duft of your feet. Verily I "fay unto you, it fhall be more tolerable for the land "of Sodom and Gomorrha, in the day of judgment, "than for that city. Behold I fend you forth as fheep, "in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wife as ferpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men; " for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they "will fcourge you in their fynagogues. And ye fhalt "be brought before governors and kings for my sake, "for a teftimony against them and the Gentiles. But "when they deliver you up, take no thought, how or "what ye fhall fpeak; for it fhall be given you in that "fame hour, what ye fhall fpeak. For it is not ye "that speak, but the Spirit of your Father, which fpeaketh in you. And the brother fhall deliver up "the brother to death, and the father the child, and "the children fhall rife up against the parents, and "cause them to be put to death. And ye fhall be hated "of "of all men, for my name's fake: but he that en"dureth to the end fhall be faved. But when they "perfecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for veri"ly I fay unto you, ye fhall not have gone over the cities "of Ifrael until the Son of man be come. The disciple " is not above his mafter, nor the fervant above his lord. "It is enough for the difciple, that he be as his master, " and the fervant as his lord. If they have called the "mafter of the house Beelzebub, how much more fhall they call them of his houfhold? Fear them not. "therefore; for there is nothing covered, which fhall "not be revealed; and hid, that fhall not be known. "What I tell you in darknefs, that fpeak ye in light: "and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the houfe-tops. And fear not them which kill the body, "but are not able to kill the foul: but rather fear him, "which is able to deftroy both foul and body in hell. "Are not two fparrows fold for a farthing? And one "of them fhall not fall to the ground without your "Father. But the very hairs of your head are all num"bered. Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value "than many fparrows. Whofoever therefore fhall con"fefs me before men, him will I confefs alfo before my "Father, which is in heaven. But whofoever fhall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to fend peace on earth: I came not to send "peace, but a fword. For I am come to set a man at "variance againft his father, and the daughter against "her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her "mother-in-law. And a man's foes fhall be they of "his own houfhold. He that loveth father and mo"ther more than me, is not worthy of me: and he that loveth fon or daughter more than me, is not worthy " of me. And he that taketh not his crofs, and fol"loweth after me, is not worthy of me. He that "findeth his life fhall lofe it: and he that lofeth his "life for my fake, fhall find it. He that receiveth you, "receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth "him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in "the name of a prophet, fhall receive a prophet's re"ward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the "C name 1 "name of a righteous man, fhall receive a righteous This is the commiffion our Saviour gave his apostles, when he sent them abroad to recover and fave "the "loft fheep of the houfe of Ifrael." And will any of the unmasker's intelligent and obferving men say, that the history of the "fcripture is fo concife, that any "paffages," any effential, any material, nay, any parts at all of the apoftles commiffion, "are here omitted by "the facred penman?" This commiffion is fet down fo at full, and fo particularly, that St. Matthew, who was one of them to whom it was given, feems not to have left out one word of all that our Saviour gave him in charge. And it is fo large, even to every particular article of their inftructions, that I doubt not, but my citing fo much, " verbatim," out of the facred text, will here again be troublesome to the unmafker. But whether he will venture again to call it tedious, must be as nature or caution happen to have the better on it. Can any one, who reads this commiffion, unless he hath the brains, as well as the brow of an unmasker, allege, that the concifenefs of the hiftory of the fcripture has concealed from us thofe fundamental doctrines, which our Saviour and his apoftles preached; but the facred hiftorians thought fit by confent, for unconceivable reafons, to leave out in the narrative they give us of thofe preachings? This paffage here, wholly confuteth that. They could preach nothing but what they were fent to preach and that we fee is contained in these few words, "preach, faying, The kingdom of heaven is ar "hand. Heal the fick, cleanfe the lepers, raise the dead, caft out devils;" i. e. acquaint them, that the kingdom of the Meffiah is come, and let them know, by the miracles that you do in my name, that I am that King and Deliverer they expect. If there were any other neceffary articles that were to be believed, for the faving of the loft fheep they were fent to, can one think that St. Matthew, who fets down fo minutely every circumstance of their commiffion, would have omitted the most important and material of it? He was an ear-witnefs, and one that was fent: and fo (without fuppofing him infpired) could not be misled by the short account he might receive from others, who by their own, or others forgetfulness, might have dropped those other fundamental articles, that the apostles were ordered to preach. The very like account St. Luke gives of our Saviour's commiffion to the feventy, chap. x. 1-16, "After "these things the Lord appointed other feventy also, " and fent them two and two before his face, into every city and place, whither he himfelf would come. "Therefore faid he unto them, The harvest truly is "great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore "the Lord of the harveft, that he would fend forth "labourers into his harveft. Go your ways: behold I "fend you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither "purse, nor fcrip, nor fhoes: and falute no man by the way. And into whatsoever hou fe ye enter, first fay, "Peacebe to this house. And if the Son of peace be there, your peace fhall reft upon it; if not, it shall re"turn to you again. And in the fame house remain, eat ing and drinking fuch things as they give: for the "labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to "houfe. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they "receive you, eat fuch things as are fet before you. "And heal the fick that are therein, and SAY UNTO THEM, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COME NIGH UNTO YOU. "But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the ftreets of the **fame, and fay, even the very duft of your city, which "cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you; notwith"standing, be ye fure of this, that the kingdom of God "is come nigh unto you. But I fay unto you, that it "fhall be more tolerable, in that day, for Sodom, than "for that city. Wo unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto "thee, Bethfaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in "" you, "you, they had a great while ago repented fitting in "fackcloth and afhes. But it fhall be more tolerable "for Tyre and Sidon, at the day of judgment, than "for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted "to heaven, fhalt be thruft down to hell. He that "heareth you, heareth me: and he that defpifeth you, despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, defpifeth "him that fent me." Our Saviour's commission here to the feventy, whom he fent to preach, is fo exactly conformable to that which he had before given to the twelve apoftles, that there needs but this one thing more to be observed, to convince any one that they were fent to convert their hearers to this fole belief, That the kingdom of the Meffiah was come, and that Jefus was the Meffiah: and that the hiftorians of the New Teftament are not fo concife in their account of this matter, that they would have omitted any other neceffary articles of belief, that had been given to the seventy in commiffion. That which I mean is, the kingdom of the Meffiah is twice mentioned in it to be come, verfe 9, and 11. If there were other articles. given them by our Saviour, to propose to their hearers, St. Luke must be very fond of this one article, when, for concifenefs fake, leaving out the other fundamental articles, that our Saviour gave them in charge to preach, he repeats this more than once. The unmasker's third particular, p. 76, begins thus: "This alfo must be thought of, that though there are "feveral parts and members of the chriftian faith, yet "they do not all occur in any one place of fcripture." Something is in it, (whether owing to his will, or understanding, I fhall not inquire) that the unmasker always delivers himself in doubtful and ambiguous terms. It had been as easy for him to have faid, "There are "feveral articles of the chriftian faith neceffary to be "believed to make a man a chriftian," as to fay, (as he does here) "There are feveral parts and members "of the chriftian faith." But as an evidence of the clearness of his notions, or the fairness of his arguing, he always refts in generals. There are, I grant, feveral VOL. VI. Z pars |