increase, or in the dispensation of the Spirit. All mankind, now, therefore, instead of being divided into only Jews and Gentiles, are separated into three classes; namely, Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God, as 1 Cor. x. 32. the apostle notes to the Corinthians. And the promises to Abraham belong to "the Jerusalem above;" or his spiritual seed, represented by the seed borne by Sarah,

after she had long been barren. To this history Isaiah apparently alluded in the Isa. liv. 1. words, "Rejoice, O barren!" which denote neither Jew nor Gentile, but the church of God, bearing the children of promise; as the apostle applies it, in the following verse. He then draws out the allegorical history still farther, shewing, that the persecution of the church by the Jews was typified by the mocking of Ishmael: and he concludes by intimating, that the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael prefigured the complete destruction of the Jewish polity, and the casting off of the nation, in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Throne of
David.

My next head is concerning the throne of

Reign of the more exten

Son of man

of

sive than that of the

be

son of

David.

David. But without going through the prophecies, I purpose at once examining the promise to the Virgin (Luke, i.), and then the first chapters of Acts, upon the subject, taking up, as they may occur in the text, the points already treated respecting the reign of the Son of man; namely, the suc cession, subordination, place, and nature the kingdom. Whether these reigns identical is not essential to my present inquiry: it appears to me, that the reign of the Son of man extends over all that was under the dominion of the first Adam; and that the Gentiles will be governed by the laws of that kingdom. But the throne of David is specially over God's ancient people. By comparison of passages, we learn that which is indeed universally assumed; namely, that the kingdom of the Son of Son of man, David, and that of the Son of man, in the same individual Jesus, and commence simultaneously; for we may gather out of the passage considered in the last chapter, that "the Son of man coming in his kingdom" is the same as "the kingdom of Mark, ix. 1.

centre

Reign of the

Son of

David, and

that of the

centre in Christ.

Comp. Matt.

xvi. 28 with

God and

reign of Son of

David identical. Luke, i. 32.

16 with

1 Chron.

xvii. 14.

God coming with power." But as Jesus, when he shall return to this earth, will "inherit the throne of glory" proper to him as "the Son of man," so the Lord has also promised to confer upon him this hereditary Kingdom of throne, as the descendant of David: "the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." Again, it appears by 2 Sam. vii. comparing 2 Sam. vii. 16, with 1 Chron. xvii. 14, that the kingdom of God, and the reign of Messiah upon David's throne, are alike. But we have already seen, that the kingdom of God coming with power, and the Son of man coming in his kingdom, are one: hence they are all identical in the period of commencement, and centre in the same individual Jesus. We now turn to the consideration of the promise to the Virgin just mentioned (Luke, i. 32): "the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." To sit upon the throne of any one, in its fullest sense, perhaps embraces the idea not only of reigning over the particular geographical division,-as it might be said that Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes,

was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (Dan. ix.) ;—but it would also include being the legitimate descendant: for which reason Solomon could not be said to sit upon the throne of Saul, it being another dynasty. And, thirdly, reigning over the same people is included: for example, when the Israelites were removed from their land, and the other nations brought up by Asnapper, then it ceased to be the throne of Israel. In this passage, however, as if to prevent the possibility of any mistake, these points are all expressed :

I. The throne, "of David."

II. The dynasty, "his father David."

III. The people he "shall reign over, the house of Jacob;" that is, the twelve tribes.

Now, we know what is meant, in plain language, by "the throne of David." It will be acknowledged, that David sat upon the throne of David; but when he died, and passed into another state, he ceased to sit upon the throne of David; and Solomon sat upon the throne of David: and when

Acts, i. 3.

Solomon passed into another state, he ceased to sit on David's throne.

The Virgin saw no impediment to the fulfilment of this promise, excepting the physical consideration; it being necessary, that a man should be born upon earth, in order to sit upon David's throne.

This promise having been given to Mary, it must be made good. But Christ did not sit upon David's throne in the days of his flesh, for then he would have continued to sit there; for he is to reign "for ever." Nor is Christ sitting on the throne of David whilst he is in heaven; for he is sitting on the throne of God: and we must not confound the throne of God with the throne of a creature. The promise, then, remains yet to be fulfilled; which we shall farther attempt to establish, by the consideration of the first three chapters of Acts.

Our Lord, for forty days after his passion, discoursed with the apostles "of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." This did not hinder them from asking him before