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There are several, and some much fairer divisions of the subject, besides this and the preceding, that might be mentioned; as e. g.

3. One, by selecting and combining from among the materials above enumerated, to form subdivisions or departments; as 1, the earthly-visible; 2, earthly-invisible.

4. Another by the criterion of accidents, and particularly of the divine operation and agency manifested in different channels, as we understand it; whence may be derived three several departments, by the names of Nature, Grace, and Providence. To this it may be added,

5. That in every subject there is something particularly essential and indispensable, which constitutes its identity, and cannot be separated from the same without its destruction, though, what that something may be, is not yet agreed. And so it seems with respect to the subject of the everlasting kingdom of God, which is over all from the beginning and for ever. Yet a good part of this kingdom cannot be everlasting, we know; and of the heavens too, as well as the earth, of which it is said, "They shall perish, but thou (their Maker) shalt endure: they all shall wax old, as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed" (Ps. cii. 26, 27). Upon which the kingdom may be divided into parts, proper, lasting, essential, &c., and parts common, perishing, incidental: one, in which there is no confusion of the passions, nor any other sort of unrighteousness; " and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" (Rev. xxi. 27); but all is order, peace and regularity-another, full of envying and strife, where "there is confusion and every evil work" (Jam. iii. 16), and all is lying, abomination and unrighteousness; clamour, rage and uproar, the very throne of anarchy, and dominion of discord. For the Kingdom of God in Christ divides, like his general kingdom, into two parts, that

may seem rather paradoxical, being that which is his, and that which is not, upon every imaginable characteristic. Hence

6. The medium and mode of subjection in the kingdom differing, afford three other plain criterions, each distinguishing the same into two parts; v. g. as the said subjection is either-1, covenanted or uncovenanted; 2, perfect or imperfect; 3, mediate or immediate. For

1, As this subjection is either covenanted or uncovenanted, being the same as knowing or blind, two parts will be formed thereon, and may be similarly named; the first including those who come under the yoke of Jesus Christ willingly by invitation and agreement; the second including those who are compelled to come, and come without knowing it, from "the highways and hedges" (Luke xiv. 23), being "other sheep" (John x. 16), as our Saviour calls them.

2, As the subjection to the covenant is more or less entire in any respect, the two subordinate parts of perfect and imperfect may also be distinguished, or of that which is Christian wholly and solely; and that which is either partly heathen, like the Mahometan population, or but half Christian, like the Jewish, in which Christ is acknowledged, but not Jesus.

3, And still two other parts may be formed or conceived by means of this subjection, though these are not coexistent in effect, being mediate and immediate or present and future. For at present the Kingdom is governed in a great measure by means and ministries; but we look forward to an epoch after time, when even the highest ministry, that of the Son himself, shall cease, "that God may be all in all" (Cor. I. xv. 28).

For if St. Peter would seem to have confounded the distinction of covenanted and uncovenanted altogether, when he said, "Of a truth I perceive, that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness Is accepted of him" (Acts

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x. 34, 35), it should be observed, that this was spoken, not of the work, but of the evidence it afforded, as much as to say, It may appear who is accepted of God in every nation by the work of God which is wrought by them through faith in Christ; as he told his disciples, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John vi. 29). Else it might be asked, "What advantage then hath the Jew?" (Rom. iii. 1) if men might be as likely to enter the kingdom without any reference to the covenant. But the Jew would have an advantage "every way" as St. Paul continues, if he had but the grace to avail himself of it; and "chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (Ib. 2.). The Jewish church, being a shadow or nucleus of the Christian, is not subject therefore blindly, if it be blindly alienated; but freely and knowingly, however imperfectly, by deed and covenant fairly proposed.

4, And even among "the other sheep" a subordinate distinction may be made on the same criterion, with the addition of blood or descent; v. g. between the seed of Jacob and the seed of the stranger: the former having also become "other sheep" frequently, by forsaking the covenant of their God for Baal-peor, and other gods of the nations round about, long before the grand apostacy; in which, as St. Peter told them to their face, "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life" (Acts iii. 14, 15). These, therefore, at such times, were also "other sheep", as much as the unbelieving stranger: but, as formerly by other means, so latterly by the preaching of St. Peter and others, a remnant has been reclaimed continually, and brought back into the fold of the church: "For ye were (said he to some of them) as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (Pet. I. ii. 25.) And more of these "other sheep", it is hoped, will still return; notwithstanding that blindness, in part, is happened to Israel, until “the

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fulness of the gentiles be come in" (Rom. xi. 25). "Also, the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants; every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer (saith the Lord): their burnt offerings, and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isai. lvi. 6, 7).

Now "the house of prayer for all people" is not to be seen any longer at Jerusalem, any more than it is on MOUNT GERIZIM; nor could be either if the temple should be restored immediately, except as a nominal, partial, or periodical place of worship; as it used to be according to the Psalmist. "For thither the tribes go up (says he) even the tribes of the Lord; to testify unto Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there is the seat of judgment, even the seat of the house of David" (Ps. cxxii. 4, 5). But the proper seat of judgment is conscience: the constant, real, and universal house of prayer, being also that which Jesus predicted to the woman of Samaria. "Woman (said he) believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John iv. 21, &c.). This being, as one might say, his HOLY INVISIBLE CHURCH. Add to which, St. Paul likewise reminds the Corinthians of another place, but not very distinct from the forementioned: "What (says he), know ye not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own? For ye are

bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God's" (Cor. I. vi. 19, 20).

So the whole subject of the kingdom of God in Christ is properly an house of prayer in two sections or spheres ; the material and immaterial, the outside and in, the body and soul above described in their essential properties, resembling together the temple and sanctuary at Jerusalem, and being an excellent substitute indeed for the same. Whereupon, advancing another step, and adopting another very common conceit, we may fill this "house of prayer" at once with an ample congregation by the name of Contents or Individuals; being the fourth degree of complexity in which the constituents of the kingdom are liable to be considered.

§ 5. To understand the difference between Contents or Individuals, and the forementioned constituent, parts, it should be observed, that there are in general two sorts of division, v. g. constituent and integral, applying to every complex subject; which will yield two corresponding results or products, called Parts and Contents. Every complex subject, and every subject that has any thing in common with others may be so divided: and hence comes the last mentioned sort particularly. For the mind having a power to distinguish more and more precisely between constituents by means of the faculty of abstraction, &c., with an abundance of criterions, as aforesaid, is got at last so far in this way, as to be able to make constituents that meet in the same subject, and even in the same composition, numerically distinct, and as it were perfectly independent; not only of each other, but also of the subject in which they meet. Thus the contents of a book shall be one thing, the book itself another; and thus the very stones too accumulated in any country or part, shall come to be regarded no longer as parts, either of the country in which they lie, or of the rock in which they originated; but absolutely as individual stones, and relatively as contents of the field: and thus, likewise, men come to be con

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