"for a sanctuary and a rock of offence, (Isa. viii. 14.) it is impossible for us to conquer their perverseness. But this makes nothing against us, because we affirm that all the divine conduct conveys no conviction to obstinate minds, and such as do not sincerely seek the truth.

Jesus Christ is come," that those who see not, may see; and that those who see may be made blind." He is come to heal the sick, and let the healthy die: to "call sinners to repentance" and justification, and to leave those in their sins who think themselves righteous; to "fill the hungry with good things, and to send the rich empty away."

What do the prophets affirm of Jesus Christ? That he shall appear evidently to be God? No-But that he is a God veiled to the eye of sense; that he shall be unknown; that men will not think it is him; that he shall be "a stone of stumbling," against which 66 many shall fall," &c.

It was to make the Messiah known to the good, and unknown to the wicked, that God caused him to be so foretold. For had the manner of his appear ance been clearly described, there would not have been any obscurity, even to wicked men. And if the time had been obscurely predicted, even good men would have felt themselves in darkness. For the integrity of their heart could not have taught them, for example, that a signified six hundred years. The time, therefore, was clearly declared; and the manner only in figure.

By this means the wicked, apprehending that the blessings promised were temporal, were deceived, notwithstanding the clear predictions of the time; while the righteous were not deceived; for the sense in which the promised blessings are understood, depends on the heart, which calls that good which it loves; but the interpretation of the promised time does not depend on the heart. And thus the clear prediction of the time, and the obscure predic

tion of the blessings, could mislead none but the wicked.

What must the Messiah have been, seeing that in him the sceptre was eternally to continue with Judah; and that at his coming the sceptre was to be taken from Judah? “That seeing, they should not see; and understanding, they should not understand.” Isa. vi. 9. Nothing could have been more complete.

Instead of complaining that God is concealed, we ought to give him thanks that he has so clearly revealed himself; and to give him thanks also, that he still hides himself from the wise and the proud, who are unworthy to know so holy a God.

The genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, is intermixed with so many things of little consequence, that we can scarcely distinguish it. Had Moses kept no other register but that of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, it would have been too conspicuous; but even now, by careful inspection, we may trace it in Tamar, Ruth, &c.

The most apparent defects are of force with persons of discernment. For instance: the two genealogies of St. Matthew and St. Luke; it being manifest that they could not have been drawn out in concert.

Let not men, therefore, reproach us with want of light; for we ourselves profess to want it. But let them own the truth of religion in its very obscurity, in the imperfection of the light which surrounds us, and that indifference which is in men about knowing it.

Were there but one religion, God would be too conspicuous; and so likewise, if there were martyrs in no other religion than our own.

Jesus Christ, to leave the impious in their blindness, never told them that he was not of Nazareth, or that he was not the son of Joseph.

As Jesus Christ remained unknown amongst men, so truth remains amongst other opinions, undistin

guished by their external appearance, like the Eucharist amidst common bread.

If the mercy of God be so great as savingly to instruct us, even while he hides himself from us, what light may we not expect, when he shall please to unveil his perfections?

We can understand nothing of the works of God, if we do not take it as a principle, that he blinds some while he illuminates others.

H

CHAPTER XIX.

THAT TRUE CHRISTIANS AND TRUE JEWS, HAVE BUT ONE AND THE SAME RELIGION.

THE Jewish religion seems essentially to consist in the paternity of Abraham, the rite of circumcision, the sacrifices, the ceremonies, the ark, the temple at Jerusalem, and, in short, in the law and the covenant of Moses.

I affirm, however, that it consisted in neither of these, but in the love of God alone; and that God rejected every thing without this.

That God bore no manner of regard to the carnal Israel who descended from Abraham.

That the Jews were to be punished by God like strangers, if they provoked his displeasure. "And it shall be, that if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods; I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish; as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish." Deut. viii. 19, 20.

That strangers, if they loved God, should be accepted by him as the Jews.

That the true Jews would ascribe all their merit to God, and not to Abraham. "Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer." Isaiah lxiii. 16.

Moses himself assured them that God was no

accepter of persons. "God, says he, re gardeth not persons, nor taketh rewards." Deut. x. 17.

I affirm, that the circumcision enjoined was that of the heart. "Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. For the Lord your God is a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, who regardeth not persons," &c. Deut. x. 16, 17. Jer. iv. 4.

That God promised to bestow on them this grace. "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." Deut. xxx. 6.

That the uncircumcised in heart shall be judged of God. "I will punish them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." Jer. ix. 25, 26.

I add, that circumcision was a figure, instituted to distinguish the Jews from all other nations. Gen. xvii. 10. And this was the reason that it was not performed in the wilderness, because there was then no danger of their mixing with strangers; and since Jesus Christ has come, it is no longer necessary.

That the love of God is every where enforced: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for he is thy life." Deut. xxx. 19, 20.

It is said, that the Jews for want of this love of God, should be rejected on account of their crimes, and the Gentiles admitted in their stead. "I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy, with that which is not God, they have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will