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Matt. ix. 32.

Matt. ix. 33.

Matt. ix. 34.

SECTION XL.

Christ casts out a Dumb Spirit.

MATT. ix. 32-35.

mAs they went out, behold, they brought to him m Luke xi.14, a dumb man possessed with a devil.

And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

Mark iii. 22.

But the Pharisees said, "He casteth out devils n Ch. xii. 24. through the prince of the devils.

Luke xi. 15.

SECTION XLI.

Christ returns to Nazareth, and is again ill-treated there.
MATT. xiii. 54, to the end.

Mark vi. 1.

Mark vi. 2.

MARK vi. 1-6.

And he went out from thence, and came into Nazareth. his own country; and his disciples follow him.

And

Matt. xiii. 54. when he was come into his own country,
when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach
in the synagogue: and

Mark vi. 2.

Matt. xiii. 54 insomuch that

Mark vi. 2.
Matt. xiii, 54,

Mark vi. 2.

Mark vi. 3.

Matt. xiii. 55.

many hearing him were astonished,
and said,

From whence hath this man these things? and
what wisdom is this which is given unto him,
that even such mighty works are wrought by his
hands?

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the
brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Si-
mon? and are not his sisters here with us?

• Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mo- o John vi. 42, ther called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Matt. xiii. 56. are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

Mark vi. 3.

Mark vi. 4.

Mark vi. 5.

And they were offended at him.

But Jesus said unto them, PA prophet is not p John iv. 44. without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

And he could there do no mighty work,

Matt. xiii. 58. because of their unbelief;

Mark vi, 5.

Mark vi. 6.

save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk,
and healed them.

And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

MATT. xiii. part of ver. 54. 56. ver. 57. and part of ver. 58.

54 And he taught them in their synagogue-they were astonished-Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

56 And his sisters

57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

58 And he did not many mighty works there

Mark vi. 6.

SECTION XLII.

Christ preaches again throughout Galilee.

MATT. ix. 35, to the end.

9 And Jesus went about all the cities and vil- Matt. ix. 35.

Luke xii. 2. lages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

r Mark vi. 34.

* Or, were

tired and lay down.

8 Num. xxvii. 17.

t Luke x. 2.

*

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved Matt. ix. 36. with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

S

t

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest Matt. ix. 37. truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that Matt. ix. 38. he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

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J. P. 4741.

V. Æ. 28.

On a progress, probably in Galilee.

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From the Mission of the Twelve Apostles to the Mission of

the Seventy.

SECTION I'.

Christ's Commission to the Twelve Apostles".

MATT. X. xi. 1. MARK vi. 7-14. LUKE IX. 1—7.. THEN he called his twelve disciples together, Luke ix. 1.

The various sections of this chapter are placed in the same order in which they are respectively inserted in the arrangements of the five harmonizers, by whom I am principally guided. Doddridge considers John vii. 1. as belonging to the same passages to which it is annexed by the others, though, for the sake of convenience, he joins it with the rest of the chapter (a). Michaelis also places

(a) Vide notes and paraphrase, Doddridge's Fam. Expositor, sect. 98, vol. i. P. 503.

2 See next page.

and gave
devils.

them power

and authority over all On a progress,

probably in Galilee.

the calling of the twelve Apostles in the order of St. Matthew, and inserts John vii. 1. at the head of various passages, which he considers supplementary to the accounts of the other Evangelists.

2 ON, THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

Our Lord had now continued his ministry till the whole population of Judæa, Samaria, and Galilee, had heard of his miracles and preaching. Many had followed him from place to place, and from these he selected twelve, as the constant witnesses of his actions. The word ikλeλvμévot, which in our translation is interpreted "they fainted," is generally considered as an erroneous reading. It is rejected by Griesbach, and all the best MSS., versions, and fathers, who read torvλuevo, which may be rendered grieved, or melancholy; and this interpretation is supported by the harmony. For it does not appear that our Lord was followed by the multitudes to any very considerable distance from their respective cities, (Matt. ix. 36, compared with 35, and Mark vi. 6.) but that our Saviour's compassion was excited for the people, whom he saw to be grieved for want of proper instruction, and scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. To remove this spiritual dearth, he gave the first commission to his Apostles, to proceed to the house of Israel, and declare to them that their Messiah had come; and to preach to them the kingdom of God. Our Lord afterwards sent out the Seventy, to prepare the people for his reception; enjoining them to preach in those cities only which himself intended to visit (Luke x. 1); whereas the Apostles were commanded to preach to all the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

The ordination of the Apostles to preach the kingdom of God leads us to consider the manner in which the Church, which Christ had come to establish, was to be perpetuated among mankind until his coming again. The question, therefore, what plan of Church government was instituted by our Lord and his Apostles? cannot be esteemed unimportant.

The priesthood under the Mosaic economy was so publicly instituted, that its validity and divine origin were never disputed. The rebellion of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, proceeded only from envy at its exclusive nature; and though the kings in after ages innovated during the prevalence of idolatry, and made priests of the lowest, or, as it would be better rendered, of the common people; the line of the succession was considered sacred, and none were admitted into the order of the priesthood, or acknowledged as priests by the people, who could not trace their descent from the sacerdotal house of Aaron.

This regular succession of the priesthood, on the part of the Jews, has been sometimes supposed to form an objection to the Christian dispensation." If the Christian religion be true," it has been argued, "its priesthood would have been divinely appointed, and its succession rigorously observed. The whole Christian world, on the contrary, is divided on this point: it is to be presumed, therefore, that the claims of that religion are at least dubious, in which the origin of the priesthood is so uncertain, and its various pretensions and orders so jarring, that they are equally ridiculed and despised." In reply, however, to these objections, I do not hesitate to assert, from an impartial consideration of the testimony both of Scripture and antiquity, that the origin of the Christian priesthood is as evident as that of the Levitical; that its descent can be as distinctly traced

On a progress, probably in Galilee.

a Mark iii. 14.

Luke ix. 1. * Or, over.

And when he had called unto him his twelve Matt. x. 1. disciples, he gave them power * against unclean

that its regular succession has been preserved; and that, consequently, as it was at the beginning appointed by divine authority, it is entitled to the highest veneration, and to the devoted attachment of Christians.

The essential and immutable difference between the arguments that are adduced for the support of the Christian religion, and those which are brought forward in defence of other systems, consists in this. The Christian religion is founded upon the evidence of actions, and undeniable facts, while every other system depends upon theory alone. The speculations of the philosophers of antiquity, the impositions of Mahomet, the reveries of the schoolmen, the inconsistencies of modern infidelity, the inventions and strange doctrines of various sects among Christians, are all distinguishable from the fundamental truths of Christianity. The conclusions of uninspired men, on subjects of a religious nature, are generally founded upon abstract reasoning; the truths of the Christian religion are so identified with some well supported facts, that the belief of the fact compels at the same time the reception of the doctrine.

The five principal doctrines which may be said to constitute Christianity, and to comprise all its truths, and which are alike uniformly supported by facts, and the express words of Scripture rightly and literally interpreted, are, the doctrine of the Trinity; the Incarnation; the Atonement; the Resurrection from the Dead; and the Establishment of the Christian Church, as the means of perpetuating the truth of these propositions in the world. The doctrine of the Trinity is not only supported upon the general tenor of Scripture, as it may be collected from the fact that the inspired writers assign the attributes of the Deity to the three persons of the Godhead; but from the fact also that the voice came from heaven, that the Holy Spirit, as a dove, hovered over the Messiah, and that the Son of God was distinct from either of those which bore witness to him. The Incarnation of Christ was declared in prophecy, and was proved by the facts which are recorded concerning his birth. The Atonement is proved by the concurrence of all the types and institutions of the Jewish law, and the fact of Christ's death fulfilling them all to the uttermost. The Resurrection of the body was verified not only by the fact of Christ's resurrection, but by the restoration of the widow's son, and of Lazarus. The Establishment of a Church in the world was demonstrated by the fact of the peculiar care with which our Lord collected disciples, selected a certain number from among them, commissioned them to go forth and preach, added others to their number with different powers, and promised to be with them to the end (not, of the age, as many translate the word, but) of the world.

The first establishment of the Christian Church is necessarily brought before us, then, by the subject of this section. The commission given to the twelve Apostles may be called the foundation of the Christian Church. The conduct of the Apostles in their ecclesiastical government, considered as a model, ought to be adopted by all Christian nations, who desire that Christianity should be preserved among themselves, or diffused, and permanently continued, among

others.

I have already attempted to prove that Jesus, the Messiah of the New Testament, was the incarnated Jehovah of the Old Testament. He was the Lord and

spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of On a progress, sickness and all manner of disease.

Guide of the Patriarchal and Jewish Churches. He has uniformly been the religious legislator of mankind. He it was who walked with our first parents in the garden of Eden, and instituted sacrifice. When the world apostatized after the deluge, it was He who selected the family of Abraham. When the remembrance of their ancient religion began to be effaced from the minds of the Israelites, it was the same Angel Jehovah who guided them through the Red Sea into the wilderness, and soon after promulgated the law from Mount Sinai. It was He who ordained those minute laws, those rigid observances, those ordinances respecting the priesthood, and the whole frame-work of the ecclesiastical and civil polity, which distinguished the Jews from all other nations; and the very remnant of which, even to this day, unites them, notwithstanding their wide dispersion among the various nations of the world. Can we, then, for a moment, suppose that this same Almighty Being, this manifested God of mankind, should not be equally attentive, and provide equally for a still more glorious dispensation; of which the other was only a type and shadow? We have every reason to expect, that, in the Christian dispensation, some care would have been taken for the continual remembrance of the great truths and observances which the condition of man required.

The revealed religion of God was perpetuated under the Patriarchal and Levitical dispensations by human means. Though religion was of divine origin, mankind was appointed the guardians of its purity. The means, which God ordained for the preservation of his religion in the Patriarchal dispensation, were the setting apart the first-born of every family to minister in his service, and conferring on the heads of the tribes the spirit of prophecy. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and the other fathers of the Patriarchal Church were thus gifted. Noah and Shem, after the deluge, obtained the same pre-eminence. There was always a body of men set apart for the service of God. To enter into the proofs on this part of the subject, which might be variously collected from Scripture, ancient history, tradition, and the customs among the early Pagan nations, whose idolatry was but a perversion of primæval truth, would lead us far beyond the limits of a note.

The same means of perpetuating religion, which prevailed among the patriarchal families, were continued by the divine Legislator among the people of Israel, with this alteration only, that one whole tribe was set apart for the service of God, instead of the first-born of every family. The office remained the same; the first-born were redeemed, in remembrance of their original dedication to God; and it was solemnly enacted, that no stranger, not of the seed of Aaron, should offer incense in the public worship. Every individual, of every family, was required to present the sacrifice of praise and prayer to God, and to comply with all the institutions of the law; while it was left to one selected tribe to perform all the public functions required in the temple worship.

Thus did the divine Legislator first impart to fallen man a revelation, and appoint means for its preservation. The incarnated Jehovah has now granted to his creatures the most perfect form of that same religion which began at the fall in Paradise; and human means also, under the blessing of the same God, must preserve among mankind the consolations of his holy Gospel.

probably in Galilee.

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