and necessary deductions of divine revelation; secondly, that it is not warranted by prophecy itself; but, thirdly, that the very reverse is the doctrine of the prophetic Scriptures, and, fourthly, is found to be in perfect harmony with every other part of the Word of God, by which its correctness can be properly tested.

The prosecution of this inquiry will, if we do not greatly mistake, disclose the important facts, that whatever conflicts may hereafter ensue between the church and the world, will be provoked chiefly by the success of the gospel, — and that whatever judgments the earth may yet be called to witness, they will only concur with the power of the gospel, like the miracles of the primitive church, to enlarge the domains of the Christian faith; so that those very predictions, which are too often made to depress the hopes, and dishearten the zeal, of the church, will be found calculated, when rightly understood, to animate its activity as with the blast of a trumpet. It will then be our aim, in concluding the chapter, to harmonize the whole with the chapters which have gone before; and to show the bearing of the entire Part on the consecration of the church for the conversion of the world.

I. 66 Every single text of prophecy," remarks Bishop Horsley, "is to be considered as part of an entire system, and to be understood in that sense which may best connect it with the whole." Extending still farther the application of this valuable rule of prophetic exposition, we may add, that the entire scheme of prophecy itself is to be regarded as a part of the great system of revelation, and to be understood in that sense which may best harmonize with every other part.

1. Now, if there be a principle in Scripture to be relied on, surely it is this, that the divine injunction of any relative duty implies a promise of the divine assistance requisite to its performance, and of success proportioned to the degree in which we avail ourselves of that assistance. In illustration of this position, it will be sufficient to quote the familiar passage, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Nor does this language, or the large class of Scriptures to which it belongs, imply any thing more than that the moral department of the divine government is conducted on a plan equally with the natural or physical; that in the world of mind, as well as of matter, certain causes produce certain effects. The effects,

indeed, may not result precisely in accordance with human calculations. As in the ministry of Christ, they may be long delayed, and even apparently be made frustrate. But though "he was despised and rejected of men," the same chapter which foretold his rejection, adds, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; " and every subsequent age has witnessed its gradual fulfilment. This constancy of connection, indeed, between means and ends between causes and effects seems essential to the character of a wise and gracious government, as well as to furnish some of the motives necessary to obedience; especially, too, as it still reserves to its Divine Sovereign the right of exceeding his promises in whatever way he pleases.

But, according to the views of many of those of whom we are speaking, here is a grand exception to the uniformity of the divine procedure. Yes, in the very last act, the closing scene of the great drama of Providence, where, if apparent irregularity had previously obtained, we should rather have looked for the explanation and coincidence of the whole, even here, forsooth, the universe is to witness the disruption of a principle which had previously maintained the stability of a rock; a great gulf is to open and yawn between means and ends. For though the commands of God had pointed to a particular issue, the conversion of the world; and though the hopes and endeavors of his people had, in dependence on his gracious aid, travelled in the same direction, it is then to appear that they had never tended to realize it, and that a stupendous miracle alone can prevent the dreadful result. Thus the prophecies of Scripture are made to clash with its commands.

2. Equally at variance does such an interpretation appear with the unimpeachable sincerity of the divine character. The substance of all the relative commands which God has enjoined is this," Evangelize the world;" and the substance of all his promises corresponds with it, - The world shall be evangelized." In obedience to this command, and animated by this promise, his church is beginning to address itself more seriously than ever to its great vocation. while it is allowed that the command which enjoins this duty, and the promise which inspires this hope, stand out so clearly on the sacred page that he who runs may read, it is contended by the party in question that a third class of Sacred Scripture comes to light; more occult, it may be, in mean

But

ing, and requiring very prolonged and careful consideration; but the practical result of which is, that obedience to the command will prove all but fruitless for the end proposed, and that the hope of personal success inspired by the promise is almost entirely unfounded. As if a king should forward to the commander of his forces positive orders to engage the foe, accompanied with assurances of certain triumph, but should interline the despatches with a secret writing in cipher, which required to be held to the fire and laboriously studied in order to be understood, and the inference to be drawn from which was, that the campaign would end in all but entire defeat, and that the victory promised would ensue in a manner quite irrespective of his conflicts. Such a communication would throw at least a deep shade on the sincerity of him who sent it.

3. Nor does such an interpretation seem less to impugn the benignity of the divine character. Instead of taking it for granted that we should be enamored of duty for its own sake alone, he evinces the kindest consideration for our fallen condition by accompanying his commands with appropriate promises and blessings; graciously alluring us to cultivate the tree by engaging that its fruits shall be our own. Savior himself was not called to suffer without enjoying the sustaining prospect of its glorious results. On the lofty moral elevation of the cross, the triumphs of his gospel, through all the ages of time, passed in review before him; and "for the joy which was thus set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame.”

The

But on the hypothesis in question his followers are required to labor and suffer, not only without the hope of consequent usefulness, but even in the clear foresight of comparative failure. Now to expect that we should be as active in our efforts to evangelize the world in the face of this foreseen defeat as we should be in the prospect of success, is, to say the least, at variance with that benignity by which we are accustomed to regard the divine requirements as ordinarily distinguished.

4. It may properly be objected, also, that the hypothesis which makes prophecy disclose the comparative failure of a course of conduct which the command of God has yet made obligatory, is at variance with that wise reserve of Scripture concerning such events of the future as involve the freedom of human action. While some of the prophecies predictive

of happy results are so constructed as to encourage the obedience of those whom they chiefly concern, and others predictive of evil are calculated to produce repentance, and while they thus denote the benignity of their Author, by furnishing motives to holiness, there is none which, if rightly interpreted, can be regarded as furnishing a single motive of a contrary nature. But according to the views we are opposing, here is a large class of prophecies the tendency of which is to dishearten obedience by depriving it prospectively of its appropriate results; thus interfering with that probationary freedom of action which a concealment of the future would have left undisturbed.

5. Besides which, the views in question appear highly derogatory to the present economy as the dispensation of the Spirit, and to the ordinance of preaching as the medium of his operation. "Glorious things are spoken" in prophecy of the results which should signalize the impartation of the Spirit. If Isaiah, for instance, be asked how long the spiritual desolation of his people, as at present exhibited, will continue, he replies, "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high; then shall the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed a forest." If we inquire of the Lord, at the hand of Ezekiel, by what agency the Jews are to be finally converted, and made eminent in the earth, the reply is substantially the same; † "Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." In the prophecy of Joel the promise of the Spirit takes a still wider range; "For it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." Gentiles as well as Jews are included in its comprehensive embrace; for, says the apostle Paul, when quoting a part of the prediction,§ "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whoscever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Here, then, is a series of predictions importing that during the last days || spiritual transformations of the most glorious

The phrase, LXX iv tais ioxarais quégars,

originally and properly denoted future times.

But as the coming of

and comprehensive nature shall result from the impartation of the Holy Spirit. From the day of Pentecost down to the present, the Spirit has effected these transformations chiefly through the preaching of the gospel. Even on that memorable day, the " signs and wonders" which attended his effusion only prepared the way for the pungent address of the apostle Peter. It was "when they heard this," that the arrows of the Lord took effect in three thousand hearts. Miraculous phenomena may be employed to engage the requisite attention for a messenger from God, and adequately to attest the divinity of his message, and may even disarm unbelief, and enlist the judgment on the side of the truth; but when the heart is to be pierced and subdued, the "message" itself is "the sword of the Spirit." Whence we may infer that in all subsequent times, whatever miraculous means may be subordinately em ployed, his renewing influence will be exerted principally through the same instrumentality. And as the church has not yet witnessed any thing answering to the fulfilment of these predictions, as an untouched ocean of spiritual influence is yet contained in them, we are to conclude that, great as the triumphs of the gospel at times have been already, a period is impending when we shall see far greater things than these. So that any views which cast but a passing shade on that happy prospect, or which transfer the honor of effecting them to any other department of the divine government, must be regarded as disparaging to the dispensation of the Spirit, and to the divine appointment of the diffusion of the gospel as the medium of his influence.

II. But instead of multiplying objections to a view which may prove on investigation to have no foundation in Scripture, let us, secondly, inquire whether it can produce any direct warrant from the word of God.

In applying the predictions of the Old Testament to the present economy, our first care should be to select those only which cannot possibly have found their accomplishment in the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity.

Now, confining our attention to a few of such only, we find

the Messiah was, for the Jew, the most glorious event in all the future, the phrase came to be appropriated to the period of his advent and reign. Accordingly, in the New Testament, for example, in Acts ii. 17, Heb. i. 2, I Pet. i. 20, it is employed to denote the times ever since the first coming of Christ.