alone were to pertake of it. The Jews had received fo many tokens of the divine favour, had met with so many temporal deliverances, and fo long enjoyed the inestimable bleffing of being the peculiar church and people of God, that they began to prefume on the divine goodness, and to think themselves poffeffed of his favour by a kind of hereditary and indefeasible right. The Gentiles, on the other hand, had been fo long in a state of distance and alienation from God, so long excluded from his church, and under the power of darkness and fuperftition, that the Jews began to despair of their recovery, and to think that God, in punishment of their idolatry and wilful defertion of the truth, had given them over to a final blindness and impenitence; which mistake, for fome time, poffeffed the minds of the Apostles, as well as the rest of their countrymen. Though there are many paffages that expressly fortel the calling of the Gentiles, and that all kingdoms of the earth were to be bleffed in the Meffiah, and Christ himself had let fall feveral hints concerning his defign of bringing the Gentiles into his church, and admitting them to the privileges of the gofpel, yech was the force of their prejudices, that, at firft, they neither understood the one or the other, but continued, for feveral years, to preach the gospel to the Jews only. Accordingly we find, that when a door of mercy was to be opened to the Gentiles by the ministry of Peter, the Spirit of God thought it neceffary to remove his prejudices, and prepare him for that office, by a vifion from heaven: That his brethren, when they understood that he had difpenfed gofpel-privileges to thofe of another nation, queftioned him fomewhat fharply fharply for it and on declaring to them his commif fion and authority for what he had done, they exprefs themselves with a kind of furprise, that plainly discovers their former ignorance of God's merciful defigns towards the Gentiles; "Then hath God alfo "to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life:" Acts xi. 18. Partly from these prejudices, and partly from the love they bore to their native country, a paffion which is always ftrongest in virtuous minds, they continued for feveral years preaching the gofpel, chiefly with a view to the converfion of their own nation: But after many unsuccessful attempts, finding the greater part of them hardened in unbelief, and deaf to the voice both of fcripture and reason, and that instead of obeying the call, and welcoming the glad tidings of the gofpel, they blafphemed its bleffed Author, and reviled and perfecuted his minifters; this opened their eyes, and leffened that extravagant opinion they had of their own nation, and as the Jews funk in the one scale, the Gentiles rofe in the other. This effectually removed their prejudices, and rendered them more zealous and active in carrying on the great work of publishing among the Gentiles the principles and doctrines of Christ. That this was the effect which the unbelief of the Jews had upon the Apostles, we learn from the history of their Acts; where we are told, that, upon an occafion of the Apostles preaching the gospel at Antioch, when the Jews, who were in that city, oppofed his doctrine, contradicted and blafphemed, as it is faid, then he and Barnabas waxed bold, and faid, "It was necef"fary that the word of God fhould firft have been "spoken to you: but feeing you put it from you, "and "and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, "lo, we turn to the Gentiles :" Acts xiii. 46. 2dly, The unbelief of the Jews contributed to the converfion of the Gentiles, as it afforded them one of the strongest proofs of the truth of the gospel: I mean, a testimony in its favour from those that were its bitterest enemies; for though the Jews denied the truth of the gospel, yet they acknowledged the greater part of the facts on which the proof of it is founded. They not only acknowledged, that there was such a perfon as Jefus Chrift, who was the Author of the Christian religion-that he lived in Judea, and at such a time, and was put to death by the command of the Roman governor, but likewife many other facts, that tend more directly to prove the truth of the gospel. For example, they acknowledged, that he was a worker of miracles; or that, in proof of his divine mission, he performed many wonderful works, fuch as, to the nature of them, or the manner in which they were wrought, exceeded all the art of man, or the power of natural caufes. This, both the Jews and other enemies of Christianity, in ancient times, acknowledged; and in order to evade the force of it, foolishly endeavoured to account for it by the power of magic, or fome other hypothesis still more ridiculous and abfurd. They acknowledged, that he was born of mean parents, or those whofe worldly circumftances were poor and low; and, confequently, fuch as could not enable them to give him a liberal education. This was a matter of fome importance to the Christian cause; for from hence it was evident, as it still is, that neither the miracles he wrought, nor the fublime discourses B discourses with which he entertained the peopic, could be the effect of great learning, or a fuperior knowledge of the mysteries and powers of nature. Another fact, acknowledged by the Jews of old, and which contributed greatly to the converfion of the Gentiles, is, that our Saviour never made any attempt upon the government, or discovered any figns of fuch a defign. He never put on any of the enfigns of royalty, or affected the ftyle and title of a king. He never employed his authority with the people, to excite them to rebellion, or exhorted them to take up arms, in order to force his way to the throne, though he wanted not motives to tempt him to fuch an enterprise, as he was defcended from a race of ancestors that had for many ages fwayed the fceptre over the Jewish nation; had a numerous party among the people, that, upon the least intimation of fuch a defign, would have been ready to affert his pretenfions; and the nation in general was, at that time, weary of the Roman yoke, and ripe for a revolt: yet, in fpite of all these advantages, and fo great a profpect of fuccefs, he never made any attempt to feize the government, or discovered the smallest figns of a worldly ambition. This they acknowledged; and for this they rejected him. But what procured him the fcorn and contempt of the Jews, has, in all ages, raised his esteem among the Gentiles, and contributed very much to the confirmation of their faith; for hereby it is evident, that it was neither the love of riches, nor power, nor any temporal motive whatever, that induced him to act the part that he did. It must indeed be owned, that the hiftory of our Saviour's trial feems to contradict what we have now afferted. afferted. We there find him accufed by the Jews, of perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cefar, and making himself a king: But this they did, not because they had any evidence of his ever having acted in this manner; but they drew it as a confequence, from a very different part which our Saviour is indeed acknowledged to have acted he owned, that he was the Meffiah, the Saviour foretold by the Prophets: but the Meffiah, according to their notions of him, was to be a temporal prince and deliverer; and therefore they concluded, that whoever pretended to the one character, must neceffarily be fuppofed to have laid claim to the other. Befides, as the falfehood of this charge immediately appeared upon the examination of the witneffes, there is reason to believe, that the Jews afterwards gave it up which leads me to another fact, acknowledged by the Jews of old, and which must have contributed greatly to the converfion of the Gentiles; and that is, our Saviour's public acquittal at the bar of Pilate. They could not deny, that his conduct was there freely expofed to the examination of thofe who wanted neither capacity nor inclination to do it; and yet all their malice could not faften one blot upon his character, or prove him guilty of the smallest offence, either against the laws of God or man. This the governor declared oftener than once, in the hearing of the multitude; and though, to ingratiate himself with them, as he was already obnoxious to them on several accounts, and for fear left they should accuse him to Cefar, he at laft confented to our Saviour's crucifixion, yet it was with all the figns of reluctance, and not till he had tried every |