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than other things would have been,-for nothing could be so perplexing to them as this; but because it was the great proof that was to serve alike for the circumcision and the uncircumcision; and in fact, the best and the last, except the effect of the Gospel upon the world, that Christianity had to present of its Divine origin. These events resembled each other,

5. In their remarkable efficacy.

So

Jonah, as a prophet of the most high God, had been engaged in other missions besides this; and however he may have failed of success in some instances, he had doubtless seen the power of his word to be great in others; but he had probably never before witnessed so extensive an effect as was produced at Nineveh. It was universal, from the king upon the throne to the meanest of the subjects. Some, no doubt, there were in the city, who did not repent, and they were left without excuse. the disciples of Christ, in a limited mission in which they had been engaged under the direction of their Divine Master, had seen even devils subject to them through his name; and they were told by their Lord of still greater effects that should follow: but it may be questioned whether they ever expected that in so little time such multitudes would be converted to the faith as were subdued by their preaching when confirmed by this miracle of the resurrection of Christ. It was but a little time before this sign had captivated the whole of the then known world, nor has the effect yet ceased; but Christ crucified for the sins of the world, and raised again for their justification, is preached,

and will be preached with increasing effect until he comes again without sin unto salvation. Hence he declared to the Apostles, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."*

DAVID.

Although any one of the names by which our Lord is designated, being given to a Scripture character, is not of itself sufficient to prove that a typical design was involved in its being so used, nevertheless it would appear that when, on the contrary, the name of a particular person is applied to him, that person is to be regarded as a type. This is seen in the case of David. That he was intended to prefigure Christ in his kingly office, pretty well all are agreed; but his name being given to his illustrious Son, especially taken in the connection in which it is found, forms the principal Scripture proof that he was intended to set him forth. Thus it is written, Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24: "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it." And again, xxxvii. 24: "And David my servant shall be king over them and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and

* Matt. xxiv. 14.

observe my statutes, and do them." So in Hosea, iii. 5, he is called "David their king."

Now at the time these prophecies were delivered, David had been long dead: it is clear, therefore, the reference cannot be to his swaying the sceptre over Israel, as he had done in his lifetime; neither was there ever any one who came after him to whom his name could, with any propriety, be applied: we are to look for the fulfilment, therefore, either in the circumstance of David being raised from the dead, and literally assuming the government again over Israel and Judah as a united people, or in Jesus Christ, who is here called David. The former hypothesis is too absurd to be admitted; for even if it be allowed that the Jews will return to their own land, and the two kingdoms be united in the Millennium, still surely no one will seriously contend for a personal reign of the son of Jesse. It is to the spiritual Davidhim of whom the king of Israel was a typethat the words above quoted refer; and they tend fully to set forth his office, and the tenure by which it is held. "If David had not been a type of Christ," says Bishop Horne, "the Jews would not have made so much of his Psalms as they did, nor would he have allowed it."

David was a type of Christ,

I. In the peculiarity of his regal character. 1. He was endowed, in an eminent degree, with the spirit of prophecy.

God, in his dominion over the world, acts as a sovereign; and though there are general rules by which his government is conducted, so that we can always calculate upon what may take place

by a reference to what has been, yet he cannot be restricted to any particular line of procedure. Thus, formerly, in making known his will, a particular class of men were raised up, unconnected with the secular affairs of the world, who were the channels of communication to mortals; but he has not always confined himself to them. Others were occasionally his instruments; and some even bad characters have been so employed. One and another of the kings. of Israel and Judah were at certain times inspired to deliver predictions, but none of them like David. When about to leave the world, he declared that "the spirit of the Lord spake by him, and his word was in his tongue.' So the Apostle Peter asserts, Acts ii. 25-30, that the Holy Ghost spake by David, and he claims for him the appellation of a prophetthat is, he not only delivered a prediction relating to the remarkable outpouring of the Spirit, the extraordinary event which then excited so much attention and interest, but he was entitled to a place among them who sustained the prophetic character. He was the sweet singer of Israel, whose Psalms provided themes of praise for the people of God; and many of them were, at the same time, direct prophecies of Christ, in his person, his work, his sufferings, and his kingdom; and so exactly were they fulfilled, that in various instances, as in the 22nd Psalm, they were used by our Lord as his own expressions.

So the prophetic office is held by Christ in connection with his regal dignity. He is the great Prophet of his church. As such he was

* 2 Sam. xxiii. 2.

foretold by Moses, who said, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken."* He delivered predictions of his own death and resurrection† -the destruction of Jerusalem-in reference to the state of the church after his ascension, and his coming to judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed.

David was a type of Christ,

2. In his person and conduct being so highly satisfactory to the Almighty.

God, we are sure from his very nature, as well as from what he has said of himself, can never approve of sin, whatever may be the character in whom it appears; yet he shows that he can connect himself with his creatures without necessarily partaking of their impurity, and has often employed the worst of men to carry out his designs, both in matters of a civil nature, and also in his church; but then, while he was the author of the connection which these men sustained, he often disapproved of the persons themselves, and the measures they adopted in the execution of his purposes. This was the case with Saul, the king of Israel. That he was approved of as the ruler of God's people, there is full proof; for all that was done in his election was the result of Divine direction; but of his personal character, and the manner in which he conducted himself on certain occasions, God never did approve hence he was dethroned and rejected.

But David was a king with whose private virtues, as well as regal conduct, the Almighty * Deut. xviii. 15. † John ii. 19. Matt. xxvi. 64.

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