of the monarch's dreams; the accomplish- plain. To the curiosity, which, negligent ment of one of them, by his degradation of its own interest in Christ, is ever anxand subsequent restoration; the preserva- iously inquiring into the future destination tion of the three children in the furnace, of those who never heard of him, the proand of Daniel in the den of lions; with per answer surely is "What is that to the decrees in favor of true religion, pro- thee? Follow thou me." mulgated through the whole extent of that enormous empire, to which most of the kingdoms of the known world were at that time subject. Upon the ruins of the Babylonian empire arose that of the Medes and Pérsians; the celebrated founder of which began his reign with the publication of a decree, for the return of God's chosen people to their own land, with leave to rebuild their city and temple. That the Jew, with the Scriptures in his hands, should be blind to the counsels of God respecting the Gentiles and their return to the church, is indeed truly marvellous. It was foretold that the posterity of Japheth should one day "dwell in the tents of Shem ;"* that in the promised seed of Abraham "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;"† that to Shiloh should "the gathering of the nations be." Isaiah is very express, and saith, "There shall be a root The prosperity and felicity of Israel after of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of their return from Babylon; the interview the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, between the high priest and Alexander, and his rest shall be glorious."-" It is e when upon his march to the conquest of light thing that thou shouldest be my serPersia, as it stands recorded by Josephus; vant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to the well known exploits of the Maccabees restore the preserved of Israel; I will also against Antiochus; the connection formed give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that about that period, between the Jews and thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the Romans; the translation of the Scrip- the earth."||" Arise, shine, for thy light tures into Greek, and the universal expec- is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen tation produced thereby among the nations, upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover of a ruler that should come out of Judea the earth, and gross darkness the people; all these considerations, though perhaps but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his they are suffered, in the course of our read- glory shall be seen upon thee. And the ing, to glide by us unobserved, as they oc- Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings cur separately and unconnected with each to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up other, yet when they are thrown together, thine eyes round about, and see; all they and duly weighed, may serve greatly to gather themselves together, they come to assist us in forming our judgment concern- thee; thy sons shall come from afar, and ing the state of the Gentiles, and the testi- thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. mony from time to time borne to the true Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and religion, by the then church of God, in the thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; beHeathen world. Notwithstanding the light cause the abundance of the sea shall be Heaven has been pleased to manifest, wheth- converted unto thee, the forces of the Gener in former or in latter times, many, both tiles shall come unto thee." No less clear individuals and nations, have still continued are several passages in the Psalms, which to sit in darkness and the shadow of death. never failed to make a part of the synaThe fate of such is not our business to de- gogue service. All the ends of the world termine. One thing we know, and more shall remember, and turn unto the Lord, we cannot, more we need not know; that and all the kindreds of the nations shall in the last great day, when that point and worship before him."**"The princes of all others shall be finally settled, He is to the nations shall be joined to the people of settle them, who, before men and angels, the God of Abraham."-"Praise the Lord "will be justified in his saying, and clear all ye heathen, praise him, all ye nations; when he is judged." What mercy can do, for his merciful kindness is ever more and mercy will do. All iniquity shall then stop more towards, and the truth of the Lord her mouth, and no person that shall be con- endureth for ever." demned will have power or reason to com The reader will find many curious and valuable observations upon this important and interesting subject, in the Bishop of CARLISLE's Theory of Religion, Part II; as also, in a Dissertation of Dr. WATEALAND, subjoined to Scripture Vindicated. See also LELAND's Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Revelation, Part I. ch. xxix. The event which bore so capital a share in the gracious designs of the Almighty, than beneficial, exerting an influence, powerful, though silent and secret; directing and attracting men to the salvation it portended !* The eastern Magi, as is evident from the the text, understood, before they began their journey, that the star which they saw did by its appearance indicate the birth of the which was thus predicted, and celebrated beforehand by patriarchs and prophets, began, as at this season, to take place, by the coming of the eastern sages to Bethlehem, in the name of us all, as representatives of ́the Heathen world. They were the firstfruits of that glorious harvest, afterwards reaped and gathered by the apostles and their successors; they were the standard-"King of the Jews," that is, of the person bearers of that noble army which, from the four quarters of the globe, hath since marched into the church, through the gates mercifully thrown open to admit them. From the consideration of the persons mentioned in the text, we proceed, therefore, to consider, Secondly, their journey; the occasion, and the end of it: "They came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his-star in the east, and are come to worship him." The birth of Christ was first revealed to the shepherds, who were Jews. For that purpose the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; a proper intimation of his appearance, at the brightness of whose rising on the intellectual world, darkness was to vanish, and the shadows fly away. A sign of the same import was vouchsafed to the Gentiles, as their conductor to the new-born Redeemer of mankind. "A star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came, and stood over where the young child was." I shall not take up your time in proposing conjectures on the nature and form of this star. It was undoubtedly such as night best answer the end in view, and probably far exceeded the other stars, to appearance, in magnitude and brightness; as it notified the birth of one, who was fairer than the children of men, on whom rested the spirit of grace and glory. How just and how beautiful an emblem was such a star of the blessed Person to whom it pointed! Celestial in its original; framed of the purest materials; admitting no dross and baseness into its composition; without spot, or the shadow of a cloud; shedding a lustre incapable of being sullied by the objects on which it fell, and passing through all things undefiled; moving above the world, though moving in it; placed in heaven, to give light upon the earth; rising in the east, but diffusing its glories to the west the first-fruits of the day, the bright and the morning star, dispelling the shades, clearing the skies, eclipsing the other luminaries, reigning alone and unrivalled in the firmament; from thence not more bright foretold and expected, under that character, among the people of God. They understood, that this person, though styled "King of the Jews," would accept the oblations of the Gentiles, and extend to them the blessings of his reign. They understood, as it would seem, that he was more than man; "We have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." By what means is it likely they should have attained this knowledge? It is certain, that at the period when these things happened, and for some time preceding it, a general expectation of a ruler to arise in Judea prevailed all over the world. Suetonius, not to mention other historians, expressly tells us, that an ancient and uninterrupted opinion had prevailed in all the east, that at that time (namely, at the beginning of the last Jewish war) it was decreed by the fates, that some one coming out of Judea should obtain the sovereignty. And no wonder, as a learned writer well observes, that such an opinion should be propagated throughout the east, when we consider the vast number of the Jews which were spread over all the eastern countries. In the reign of Ahasuerus, or Artaxerxes Longimanus, the Jews were dispersed throughout all the provinces of the Persian monarchy, and that, in numbers sufficient to defend themselves against their enemies in those provinces; and many of the people of the land also, as we read in the book of Esther, became Jews. After the Babylonish captivity, the Jews increased so mightily, that we find them not only througa out Asia, but in Africa, and in many cities and islands of Europe, mentioned in the second chapter of the Acts. Wherever they dwelt, they made many proselytes to their religion; and, in their attempts to this purpose, they must very much spread the expectation of the Messiah's coming; an article so important in itself, and so flattering to their national vanity. These opportunities of being informed of the approaching advent of the great King, the Magians of the east enjoyed in common with many other people. To * See these particulars beautifully expanded and enlarged upon, by the admirable Dr. SOUTH, in a discourse upon Rev, xxii. 16. "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Vol. III. Sermon vii. which it may be added, that Zoroaster, the They passed the rocks and sands of the famous reformer of the Magian sect, is gene- deserts, "the tents of Kedar," and "the hills rally said to have been by extraction a Jew, of the robbers." Children of the faith of and to have lived as a servant with one of Abraham, they left their own country, obeythe prophets, probably Daniel: he was well ing the heavenly call. Led by the star, as acquainted with the writings of Moses, and the Israelites of old by the pillar of fire, they has inserted in his book many particulars pursued their way through the wilderness to from them. the land of promise, there to seek Him, "in whom all the promises of God," made to the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews, were yea and amen.” Now, if we suppose the minds of men, of learned men more especially, to have been in this manner prepared, and rendered attentive to what happened, the sudden appearance of a new star in the heavens, super-eminent in splendor, and pointing towards Judea, might, perhaps, even without any farther information, be construed by them a sign, that the long looked for Prince and Saviour was actually born. Arrived at Jerusalem, they imparted the glad tidings to those from whom they should have received them. Neither afraid of Herod, nor ashamed of Messiah, they professed openly the occasion of their journey. They believed, and therefore they spake: "Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" To you, O If we farther suppose, that the famous pre- ye rulers and teachers in Israel, we apply diction, delivered in the mountains of the east, ourselves. You must know the birth-place by Balaam, a prophet of their own, who, of the Redeemer. Saw ye him whom we having his eyes opened, saw and mentioned, seek? Tell us where we may find and adore so many ages before its appearance, "the him. STAR that should arise out of Jacob, the sceptre that should come out of Israel; "if we suppose, I say, that this famous prediction was carefully preserved, and handed down from one generation to another, as would most probably be the case, it doubtless might have lent its assistance at this time, and upon this occasion. But after all, when we consider, that every circumstance relative to the birth of Christ was, and must needs be, extraordinary and supernatural, full of wonder, and full of mystery; when we reflect on the journey and oblations of these sages, thus representing, as it were, the whole Heathen world, now at length returning to the acknowledgment and adoration of its Redeemer, who should have been all along an object of faith to the nations, as well as to the Jews; why should we not conclude, that as an angel accompanied the glory that shone round the Jewish shepherds, and proclaimed to them the nativity of Jesus, so some beneficent spirit was enjoined to communicate to these Gentile philosophers the same gracious and comfortable ntelligence. This, however, we may most assuredly conclude, that he who hung out the star in the firmament, visible to their outward eyes, took care that it should not be hung out in vain; but that some attendant light should at the same time shine inward, and irradiate their minds with the knowledge of its signification and import. The fact is clear. They saw, they understood, they set out. No distance, no difficulties, no dangers, were sufficient to deter them. Far other sentiments were excited by this question in the breast of Herod. Human policy would not suffer him to hear of a king, without thinking of a rival; and therefore he immediately projected a plan for the destruction of the new-born Prince. For this end, he summoned a council of the chief priests and elders, and demanded of them, where Christ should be born? Their lips were intended to preserve knowledge; and they did so. They answered, " In Bethlehem of Judea ;" and cited their authority from the prophet Micah. They gave true information, and directed others aright, though they went not themselves. Herod inquired concerning Christ, as many do concerning his religion, in order not to revere and obey, but to oppose and destroy. The Magi, having now obtained the desired information, proceeded to Bethlehem; and, lest their ardor should be damped by any doubt, lo, the star which they saw in the east, and which, therefore, had disappeared for a time, again "went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." The sight of their original and faithful monitor cheered their spirits, dispelling every anxious and uneasy thought. "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." When their guide had conducted them to their journey's end, we read not that they were at all offended, or disconcerted, at the humble and lowly state in which they found the heaven-proclaimed King. The queen of Sheba came from far to hear the wisdom, and see the glory of Solomon. She accordingly heard his wisdom, and saw his glory: both " beyond even her high-raised expectation. I was now found, he that had been dead was These men came from far to behold the King alive again!"O sing unto the Lord a new of the Jews. But in his appearance there song; sing unto the Lord, bless his name: was neither beauty, nor glory, that they show forth his salvation from day to day. should desire or admire him. They saw, Declare his glory among the heathen, his they heard nothing, but signs of poverty and wonders among all people. For the Lord is weakness. Great, surely, was their faith; great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be and greater, one is tempted to think, must feared above all gods. For all the gods of have been their knowledge of the divine dis- the nations are idols: but the Lord made the pensations, than we are aware of. Where heavens. Honor and majesty are before him: the star rested, there was the person whom strength and beauty are in his sanctuary! they had been directed to seek. They therefore entered, and adored; and the Gentiles acknowledged him, whom the Jews disowned and rejected. They offered to him the richest productions of the country from whence they came; such things as were most precious, and of highest use and signification in ornamenting and exalting the services of the temple and altar. "All they," says Isaiah, "from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and," by so doing, "they shall show forth the praises of the Lord," while they thus devote themselves and their substance to his service. And since the eastern Magi, as hath been before observed, are upon this occasion to be considered by us as the delegates and deputies of the Heathen world, the history of their journey and their oblations speak the same language with that employed by St. John in the Revelation, concerning the Christian church: "And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the gates of it shall not be shut at all; and the kings of the earth" do bring their glory and honor into it." + Some reflections on the subject naturally offer themselves, in the way of application. And first, let us evermore, on this returning festival, give thanks unto our Lord God, for the revelation of that great mystery of mercy, the restoration of the Gentiles to the church, from which they had been, for so many ages, excluded; rather should we say, they had excluded themselves. The unhappy prodigal voluntarily left his father's house, the door of which was still open, whenever he should be disposed to return, and re-enter. But the time was long ere he came to himself, and thought of being again received into the family of the faithful. No sooner was that the case, than the father, as if he had all along been looking out, in hope and expectation of his child, saw him while he was yet a great way off, ran to meet him, embraced him with a parent's tenderness, brought him into his house, made a feast for him, and commanded that no voice should be heard but that of joy and gladness, because he that had been lost Secondly, it may be remarked, that the persons who came at this time to Bethlehem,/ were the learned of their country, men particularly addicted to the sciences of philosophy and astronomy. They contemplated the heavens, and at length were favored with the sight of a star, which led them to Him who made the heavens, and was then descended from on high, to perform a work still more wonderful. Man was formed with an understanding, for the attainment of knowledge; and happy is he, who is employed in the pursuit of it. Ignorance is in its nature unprofitable; but every kind of knowledge may be turned to use. Diligence is generally rewarded with the discovery of that which it seeks after; sometimes, of that which is much more valuable. Human learning, with the blessing of God upon it, introduces us to divine wisdom; and while we study the works of nature, the God of nature will manifest himself to us; since, to a well-tutored mind, "The heavens," without a miracle, declare his glory, and the firmament showeth his handy work." Thirdly, from the example of the Magi, let us learn to be very watchful and observant of those lights, which at sundry times and in divers manners are vouchsafed to us. At the last day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and the circumstances of our lives shall pass in review, it will then be seen, that God did not " leave himself without witness." It will appear, that the sinner had many calls, both from within and from without, to which he might have hearkened; and to which if he had hearkened, they had been the means of correcting, instructing, and saving him. Above all things, how attentive should we be to the Scriptures, wherein are contained the words that must finally decide the fate of those who have them in their hands, and are capable of perusing them? In them shines, with pure and ever-increasing lustre, the sure word of prophecy, pointing always from the beginning to the Saviour 'of mankind, and at last marking out the very place of his birth; like the star in the east, Psal. xcvi. 1, &c. moving onward in its sphere, "till it came and stood over where the young child was." If we are not led by the one to seek after the Redeemer, surely they who set out for Judea, upon the evidence of the other, must rise up in the judgment against us, and condemn us. Lastly, when we reflect upon the difficulties and dangers that lay in the way of these eastern sages, and the unremitting perseverance which vanquished them all, we shall blush at the remembrance of those trifling obstructions in our Christian course, which we have so often been tempted to deem insuperable. Our faith, once fixed on the basis of its proper evidence, should never be shaken by the cavils of sceptical and licentious men. For when there is great strength of argument set before us, if we refuse to do what appears most fit to be done, till every little objection is removed that metaphysical refinement can invent, we shall never take one wise resolution as long as we live. Let faith, therefore, have its perfect work; let it go on, conquering, and to conquer, till we have thereby completely overcome the world. Though Herod should be moved, and all Jerusalem with him, let us follow our heavenly conductor, and, rejoicing with exceeding great joy, proceed directly to Bethlehem. There, through meanness, poverty, and obscurity, let us discern the King of the Jews, give him the honor due unto his name, acknowledge and adore him as our Lord and our God. And since we are commanded not to appear before the Lord empty, let us bring presents when we come into his courts. Let us offer to him of our substance, and the first-fruits of our increase; let us offer to him of the true riches with which he has blessed us; faith, tried, precious, resplendent, as gold; devotion, ascending from fervent affections, like the smoke of frankincense from the holy altar; love, peace, joy, and the other graces of sanctification, fragrant, cheering, and diffusing, like "myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices and powders of the merchant." Let us offer to him our strength, our time, and our talents, our souls and bodies, all we have, and all we are, to worship and obey him this day, and every day which it shall please him to add to our lives. With these dispositions and resolutions if we now come to his light, and haste to the brightness of his rising, we shall hereafter behold him in his meridian exaltation, when heaven and earth shall be full of the majesty of his glory; when, the last enemy being destroyed, he shall appear, as the "Prince of Peace," in a city that hath foundations; when all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him; when he shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords; when he shall receive as his just and rightful tribute (the only tribute which can then be paid) the praises of his redeemed subjects, the everlasting hallelujahs of the celestial choir, ascribing, as we now do, to him, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, all blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, might, majesty, and dominion, for ever and ever. let all the people say, AMEN. And DISCOURSE XIII. THE RIGHTEOUS DELIVERED. GENESIS, XIX. 29. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt EXDRAORDINARY interpositions of Provi- hopes and fears of all the dwellers upon dence demand extraordinary attention. If earth. By the deliverance vouchsafed to God speaks, it is but reasonable that man his righteous servant, he encouraged the should hear. And when he executed the hopes of such as, like him, preserved vengeance to which the text referreth, he their integrity in the midst of a crooked certainly spake, in an audible voice, to the 'and perverse generation; while, by the un |