Tet the Gentiles were not to boast against the Jews;

ciling of the World; What fball the receiving of them be,

but Life from the Dead?

16 For if the Firft-fruit

holy. And if the Root be holy, fo are the Branches.

17 And if fome of the Branches be broken off, and thou being a wild Olivetree, wert grafted in amongst them, and with them partakeft of the Root and Fat

143

25.

of the Heathen World to GOD, as it was the Means Sect.
of fending the Gospel of Peace among them;
what [will] the Reception [of them be,] but Life Rom. XI. 15:
from the Dead? What Joy will it neceffarily give,

and what a general Spread of the Gospel will it
naturally produce?

A

And this bleffed Event we may affuredly ex- 16 be holy, the Lump is alfo pect: For if the First-fruits [be] holy, fo [is] the Lump. The Confecration of them was looked upon as, in Effect, the Confecration of all. And fo would I look upon the Converfion of fome few of the Jewish Nation, as an Earneft of the Converfion of all the Reft. And fo much the rather, when I confider, how eminently dear to God these pious Patriarchs were, from whom they have defcended For if the Root [be] holy, the Branches [are likewife] fo, and will furely at length be regarded as fuch. And this, though 177 fome of them be at prefent in fo melancholy a State; for if fome of the Branches were broken off, and thou, Oh Gentile, being, as it were, a Scion of a wild Olive, wert grafted in among them that remained (c), and art with them Partaker of, and nourished by, the Root and Fatness of the good Olive being not only a Graft upon another Stock, but a meaner Graft on a Stock originally. nobler and more excellent ; Boaft not thyself 18 prefumptuoufly and ungratefully against the natural Branches; and if thou boafteft, [remember] to thy Humiliation, [that] thou bearest not the Root, but the Root thee. Thou haft received many Benefits from Abraham's Seed, and the Covenant made with him, but they have received none from thee, Wilt thou therefore object, and fay, "the natural "Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted 19! "in; and therefore we may glory over them, as

nefs of the Olive-tree;

18 Boast not against the Branches: But if thou boaft,

thou beareft not the Root,

but the Root thee.

19 Thou wilt fay then, The Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

they

(c) Wild Olive grafted in among them.] It is very improper to object, that it is unnatural to fuppofe an ignoble Branch grafted on a rich Stock; for it was not neceffary, that the Simile taken from Inoculation fhould hold in all its Particulars; and the Engagement to Humility arifes in a confiderable Degree from the Circumftance objected against. Had the Scion been nobler than the Stock, its Dependance on it for Life and Nourishment would render it unfit that it fhould boaft against it; how much more, when the Cafe was the Reverse of what in human Ufage is practifed, and the wild Olive is ingrafted on the good.

(d) Be

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Sect. 25.

20 Well; because of Un

For the Jews, the natural Branches, fhall be again grafted in. they once did over us:" Well, take this Thought belief they were broken off, at leaft along with thee, they were broken off for and thou ftandeft by Faith. Rom. XI.20. [their] Infidelity, and thou hitherto ftandeth in their Be not High-minded, but Place thro' Faith. Therefore be not High-minded fear. and arrogant, but fear (d), left thou by thy Sins forfeit the Priviledges, to which thou art fo won

21 derfully raifed. For if GOD spared not the

21 For if GOD fpared

take Heed left he also spare not thee.ong

22 Behold therefore the

Goodnefs, and Severity of Severity; but towards thee, Goodness, if thou continue in his Goodness: Otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

GOD: On them which fell,

bid not still in Unbelief, 23 And they also, if they fhall be grafted in For Gop is able to graft them in again.

Branches, which were according to Nature, neither not the natural Branches, will be by any Means fpare thee, if thine Unbelief make thee, after all thy peculiar Obligations, as bad, and in that Refpect, even worse, than they. 22 Behold therefore on the whole, a remarkable Difplay of the intermingled Goodness and Security of GOD, and endeavour to improve both well! Towards them that fell, thou indeed feeft a memorable Inftance of his Severity; but to thee, a Difplay of Gentleness and Goodness, if thou wilt be careful to continue in [his] Goodness, and endeavour gratefully and dutifully to improve it: Elfe, thou alfo fhalt be cut off; for the bleffed GOD will not bear always to be infulted with the Pe23 tulency of Sinners. And I would have you farther to confider, as a Motive to think of the Jews with Respect, rather than Contempt, that they alfo, if they do not continue in their Unbelief, fhall be grafted on again, and restored to their former Priviledges. For it is certain, GOD is able again to ingraft them: Hopeless as their State may feem, both with Refpect to their Obftinacy and their Mifery, his powerful Access to their Mind can fubdue their Prejudices againft the Gospel, as thou mayeft eafily argue from what 24 thou haft thyself experienced. For if thou wert, as I may properly enough exprefs it, cut off, from the Olive-tree, which was naturally wild, and contrary to the Courfe and Procefs of Nature, wert grafted on the good Olive-tree; if thou wert admitted into Covenant with GOD, tho' defcended from Parents that were Strangers and Enemies, how much more fhall they who are the natural [Branches,] to whom the Promises do origi

nally

24 For if thou wertcut out of the Olive-tree, which is

wild by Nature, and wert grafted contrary to Nature into a good Olive-tree; how be the natural Branches, be

much more fhall these which

grafted

(d) Be not high-minded, &c.] Archbishop Tillotson well obferves, that this Caution ill fuits the Claim to Infallibility, which the modern Church of Rome fo arrogantly makes, amidst all

the Abfurdities with which her Doctrine, and her Ritual are loaded.

Reflections on GOD's Dealings with Jews and Gentiles. grafted into their ownOlive

tree.

L

145

nally belong, be grafted on their own Olive? GOD Sect. 25.
will not seem to do fo wonderful a Thing, in
reftoring them to what might feem the Priviledge Rom. XI. 24.
of their Birth-right and Defcent, and faving the
Seed of Abraham his Friend; as he hath done,
in calling you Sinners of the Gentiles, to parti-
cipate the Bleffings, of which you had not the
least Notion, and to which you cannot be fup-
posed to have had any imaginable Claim.

IMPROVEMENT.

ET us fet ourselves seriously to pause upon the Conduct of GOD towards the Jews and Gentiles, in that Part of it, which the Apoftle here defcribes; and rejoice with Trembling in it. Let us reflect on the Divine Severity to them, and the Divine Goodness to us. What Ver. 22. immenfe Goodness! That we should be taken from that wretched Condition, in which we were utterly ignorant of the great Author and End of our Being, of the Nature of true Happiness, and the Way of obtaining it; that we and our Off-fpring might be grafted on the good Stock, be called to the most important of thofe Priviledges and Hopes, with which the Seed of Abraham were honoured, and inriched. We partake of the Ver. 17. Fatnefs of the good Olive: May our Fruit abound to the Honour of GOD, to the Benefit of Mankind.

Ver. 24.

Let us cherish the most benevolent and tender Difpofition towards the Houfe of Ifrael, to whofe fpiritual Priviledges we are raised; and let us earnestly pray that they may be awakened to Emulation; efpecially as Ver. 11. their Fulnefs is to be the Riches of the Gentiles, and the receiving them again, Ver. 15. as Life from the Dead to the languishing and decaying Church.

In the mean Time, as the Gospel comes to us in fo awful a Manner, vindicated from the Contempt of former Defpifers, let us folemnly charge upon our Souls this Leffon of holy Caution, these falutary Words, (Oh that they may be continually prefent to our Thoughts!) Be not High- Ver. 20. minded but fear: Whatever our Priviledges, whatever our Experiences are, whatever our Confidence may be, let us dwell upon the Thought; for there is no Chriftian upon Earth that hath not Reafon to fear, in Proportion to the Degree in which he feels his Thoughts lowering on High, and grows into any Conceit of himself. Daily let us recollect, what we were in our natural Eftate, and what, with all our Improvements and Attainments, we fhould immediately be, if GOD fhould forfake us. Let us pray therefore, that we may continue in GOD's Goodness; and Ver. 22. whoever may appear to fall from it, let us not glory; but rather mourn over them, and pray for their Recovery and Salvation, to that GOD, who

6

146

Sect. 25. Ver. 18.

Blindness is to Ifrael, till the Fulness of the Gentiles come in, is able to recover from the moft obftinate Infidelity and Impenitence, and to graft on not only foreign Branches, but what may feem yet more wonderful, those that have appeared more than twice dead.

Sect. 26.

Rom. XI.25.

The Apostle farther illuftrates the future Converfion of the Jews to the Gofpel; and concludes the Argument, with obferving, that in the mean Time, their Obftinacy is over-ruled to fuch happy Purposes, as make the whole Scene a moft glorious Difplay of the unfearchable Wisdom of GOD. Rom. XI. 25, to the End.

A

ROMANS XI. 25.

ND now, my Brethren, upon the whole

I will conclude what I have to fay, upon
this interesting and affecting Subject, which I have
indeed enlarged upon pretty copiously; for it lies
with great Weight upon my Heart.
Heart. And there-
fore I would not have you to be ignorant of this
material Circumftance relating to the great My-
ftery, in the Difpenfation before us, which, on the
firft Views of it, may appear very unaccounta-
ble; left you should have too high an Opinion of
yourfelves, when you fee the Jews rejected for
their fatal Error. I would not, I fay, have you
ignorant of this, that the lamentable Blindness
and Infatuation we have been speaking of, is in
Part happened unto Ifrael, and has spread itself
over by far the greatest Part of the Jewish Peo-
ple, not that they may utterly perish, and be for
ever cut off; but that they may continue in this
humbled and rejected State, till a certain Period
arrive, when the Fulness of the Gentiles, the ap-
pointed Harvest of them shall be brought in (a),

and

(a) Till the Fulness of the Gentiles fhall be brought in, &c.] It is well remarked, by my late learned, pious and candid Friend, Dr. William Harris, that as this Epifle was written

about

And when that Event is come, Ifrael fhall be faved;

26 And so all Ifrael fhall be faved: As it is written, There fhall come out of Si on the Deliverer, and fhall turn away Ungodlinefs from Jacob.

27 For this is my Covenant unto them, when I

fhall take away their Sins.

28 As concerning the

Gofpel, they are Enemies for your Sake: But as touching

145

and incorporated with those already affociated to Sect. 26.-
the Church of Christ. And fo, when this
happy Seafon marked out in the Divine Decrees, Rom. XI.26.
tho' to us unknown, shall be come, that bleffed
Event fhall make Way for it, and all the Seed
of Ifrael fhall, by a general Conversion, be fa-
ved from its Difperfion and Misery, and fixed in
a State of Covenant-favour and Acceptance with
GOD again. As it is written, (Ifai. lix. 20.)
a Deliverer fhall come out of Sion, and he shall
turn away the Punishment of their former Im-
piety from Jacob, when he hath brought them
to true Repentance (b). As it is added, and 27
this [is] my Covenant, which I fhall make with
them, when I shall take away their Sins, that is,
when their Sins as a Nation are remitted, it shall
be to bring them again into Covenant with myself.
And thus, on the whole, with Refpect to the Gospel, 28
[they are] indeed regarded as Enemies for your
Sakes, that is, for their obftinate rejecting the
Gofpel, GOD hath rejected them, in Favour of
you, and that he might receive you into his
Church as in their Stead (c): But as for the Elec-
tion,

about the Year 57, that is, long after the most remarkable Converfion of the Jews, by the furft Preaching of the Apostles, and after Paul had been about thirty Years engaged in his Work, it appears, that the Prophecies relating to the Calling of the Jews were not accomplifhed then, and confequently are not yet accomplished. Harris's practical Difcourfes on the Meffiah, pag. 91. Dr. Whitby very juftly obferves, that there is a double Harvest of the Gentiles, fpoken of by Paul, in this Chapter; the first, called their Riches, Verse 12. as confifting in the Preaching the Gospel to all Nations, whereby indeed they were happily enriched with Divine Knowledge and Grace; the fecond, the Beginning in their Fulness, which expreffes a more glorious Converfion of many to the true Faith of Chriftians, in the latter Age of the World, which is to be occafioned by the Converfion of the Jews. Whit. in Loc. This anfwers Orobio's Objection, (Limb. Collat. pag. 94.) that Paul's Account is contrary to the Prophecies of the Old Teftament, which reprefent the Recovery of the Gentile Nations, as confequent on the Redemption of Ifrael.

(b) As it is written, (Ifai. lix. 20, &c.)] This Text, as it ftands in the Hebrew, feems different from the Senfe in which it is here quoted. A Deliverer fhall come to thofe that turn from Iniquity. But if Christ be here foretold as a Deliverer to the Jews, it is all that the Apostle's Purpose requires. Yet it is obfervable the lxx. agrees better with the Words of the Quotation, as it poffibly might with the original Reading; and it is certain, that the general Tenor of GOD's Covenant with Ifrael gave no Hope of Deliverance after Rejection and Chastisement, but in a Way of Repentance, and Reformation. Compare Lev. xxvi. 39,-45. Deut. xxx. 1,-10,

(c) Enemies for your Sakes.] The most natural Sense of thefe Words, were they confidered alone, might feem, that the Calling the Gentiles prejudiced the Jews against the Gofpel: But as they generally rejected it, before the Gentiles were called, I, on the whole, prefer the Senfe given in the Paraphrafe. The different Senfe of de here fuppofed, may VOL. IV.

T

feem