said [Ex. xxviii. 38] that the diadem or plate of gold worn on certain solemn festivals upon the forehead of the high priest, signified that he bore (i. e., representatively, or in a typical manner) the sin of the holy things, and made an atonement for the imperfection of the Hebrew offerings and sacrifices. So also in Deuteronomy (xxx. 6) the spiritual import of the rite of circumcision plainly appears in these words: "And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” And again in Jeremiah (iv. 4): “Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings." Whence it appears that there is a spiritual as well as a natural meaning to circumcision; a circumcision of the heart or mind, as well as of the body. Again: if there be no internal sense to the Word, what are we to understand by that prayer of the Psalmist, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold the wondrous things of thy law." (cxix. 18.) Certainly no one can suppose that the Psalmist is here pray. ing that his natural eyes may be opened, but the eyes of his mind. He evidently means, by these words, to ask that his understanding may be so illuminated by the Lord, that he shall be able to understand the wondrous things contained in the internal sense of the Word. Eyes, in the spiritual sense, denote the understanding; for the understanding receives and is affected by spiritual light, which is truth, as the eyes receive and are affected by natural light. And if, (agreeably to the opinion of most modern commentators) there be no other meaning to the Word than its obvious and literal sense, why should the Psalmist pray that his eyes might be opened, or his understanding illuminated, to enable him to discern the wondrous things of the law? Surely he might have understood the law in its obvious and literal sense, without any peculiar illumination. And what can be meant by the wondrous things of the law, unless it be those illimitable treasures of sacred wisdom which are stored up within the letter of the Word, and which do not immediately appear, unless the eyes be opened, or the understanding be illuminated to receive them? Again it is written in Psalms (lxxviii. 1, 2): "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of 1 old." These words would naturally lead us to expect that the Psalmist was about to speak in symbolic language, or to clothe his thoughts in such imagery, that they would not be readily comprehended; consequently, that they would be obscure,-dark sayings. But what do we find immediately succeeding this solemn announcement? Nothing but a plain, brief, and simple narrative of what the Lord did to the children of Israel from the time of their departure out of Egypt, to the reign of David. Indeed we cannot conceive of a more naked and unvarnished statement of facts— facts, too, which must have been well known at the time- than we find throughout the whole of this chapter. In its literal sense, it contains a portion of plain and well known history; and there is not the slightest appearance of anything obscure, or difficult to be understood. Yet in the second verse it is denominated a parable, and dark sayings. Certainly if there be no other than a literal sense to this historical narration, it could not be called a parable, as we shall see by and by from the explanation of a parable given by the Lord himself; neither could it be called dark sayings, because in the sense of the letter it is perfectly plain. Here then we have as strong evidence as one could reasonably ask, that the whole of this Psalm, and consequently the whole recorded history of the Jewish people, contains an internal sense. And it is fair to conclude that the same is true of the prophetical and other portions of the Word, the whole of which, we may presume, is composed upon some fixed and uniform plan. We pass, finally, to consider evidence upon this subject which is of the highest authority, and more conclusive, perhaps, because more explicit, than any yet adduced the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In the gospel according to Matthew, this infallible Witness says: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one iota or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (v. 17, 18.). Now it is manifest that this declaration cannot be true, unless the Word contain an internal sense. For we know that many things of the law, in its literal sense-many of the rites and ceremonies enjoined upon the Jewish Church were abolished on the establishment of Christianity. And we also know, that, not only was there no injunction on Christians to observe the ceremonial law, but that even the power to do so in all particulars, was taken away from them when their city and temple were destroyed. Moreover, the Lord has fully illustrated the meaning of these words in the very chapter from which they are taken. For He therein teaches that the precept which forbids murder, does also, when rightly understood, forbid anger or hatred toward a brother; for this is the cause, and consequently the internal or essence, of all murder. (v. 22.) He teaches that the precept which forbids adultery, extends even to the thoughts and affections of man, and condemns all internal unchastity. (v. 28.) He teaches that the precept which condemns false swearing, does also condemn swearing of all kinds; and declares that whatever is more than yea, yea, nay, nay, cometh of evil. (v. 37.) Thus the Lord has shown us, in these and other similar examples, what He means by fulfilling the law, or filling it full (for this is the true meaning of the original word npwoar [plerosai] here employed). He evidently means that He had come to show the real substance, of which the outward ceremonial law was but the shadow- to show the divine fullness of the precepts of the Word, and thus to fill the letter full with spirit and with life; so that all who would be of that heavenly kingdom which He had come to establish, must attend to their inward motives not less than their outward actions- must let their righteousness be of the heart and the spirit, and thus exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, whose aim was merely to cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter. It is plain, therefore, that the Lord teaches in this chapter the existence of an internal or spiritual sense to the law. : Again it is known to all familiar with the New Testament, that our Saviour generally taught by parables. In Matthew xiii. 34, it is said: "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them." The same thing is also declared in Mark iv. 33, 34: "And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake He not unto them; and when they were alone, He expounded all things unto His disciples." * Now the true meaning of a parable, is, any spiritual truth clothed in proper natural habiliments-in appropriate imagery drawn from the natural world. When natural objects and events are so selected and arranged as to form suitable vessels for containing divine and spiritual things, and thus to become a medium of transmitting these to the minds of men, then we have what, in Scripture phraseology, is denominated a parable. Any one may convince himself that such is the true meaning of the term, by an attentive examination of some of the parables, in connection with the context: as, for example, the parable of the grain of mustard seed; of the treasure hid in the field; of the net cast into the sea; of the householder who sent forth laborers into his vineyard; of the marriage feast; of the ten virgins, and of the talents; for all these and other parables also, are declared to be representative images of the kingdom of heaven. They are said to be what the kingdom of heaven is like unto. And if we reflect that the kingdom of heaven is not external but internal itual -- not natural but spir as the Lord has Himself declared, "My kingdom is not of this world;" and again: “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you we may see that this kingdom is one which belongs to the mind or spirit of man; one whose government is of love according to truth; and hence that love and wisdom, or goodness and truth from the Lord, are the essentials of this kingdom. Therefore it must be something of these spiritual and essential principles of heaven, which is contained within the literal sense of the parables, and which constitutes their life and soul. It is on account of the internal meaning of the parables, that the kingdom of heaven is said to be like unto such things as are mentioned in the Word. Moreover, wherever the Lord has explained the meaning of a parable, as that of the sower, for example, and that of the tares and the wheat, we find that all the natural objects therein mentioned, are made to signify something spiritual; and thus the parable is seen to have a spiritual sense. Thus in his explanation of the parable of the sower, He says: "When any one heareth the Word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the wayside. But he that received seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it: yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the Word; and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth ; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matt. xiii. 19-23.) Here we see that the Lord makes the seed, mentioned in the parable, signify the word of the kingdom, i. e., the truths of heaven and the church; the wayside, the stony and thorny places, and also the good ground upon which this seed falls, signify, according to this explanation, the different mental states of persons to whom heavenly truths are taught; and the fowls, the sun, and the thorns, denote the false persuasions and evil loves of the natural man, which destroy in various ways-signified by devouring, parching, and choking the principles of heaven or "the Word of the kingdom," before it has become appropriated to life. Thus we perceive, that, in the Lord's explanation of this parable, a spiritual signification is given to each of the natural objects herein men-tioned. Again in explaining the parable of the tares and the wheat, He says: "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man," i. e. the Lord, who is the Divine Being, and from whom proceedeth all divine truth. "The field is the world," i. e., all human beings to whom truths are taught: "the good seed are the children of the kingdom," i. e., the good principles which proceed from and are the offspring of heaven: "but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]," i. e., the evil principles which proceed from and are the offspring of hell: "the enemy that sowed them is the devil,” i. e., hell, or all evil spirits in one complex: "the harvest is the consummation of the age," i. e., the full and final state of the church, and of every individual: "and the reapers are the angels," i. e., divine truths, which, as heavenly messengers, separate the tares from the wheat in every mind, or the false principles from the true, and the evil from the good. Here, again, we find a spiritual meaning given by the Lord to each of the natural things mentioned in the parable. Now if all the Lord's parables have a spiritual sense, and if the Holy Word be indeed the Word of the Lord, and if it be true that He spake all things in parables, and without a parable spake He not, then it follows of necessity that the Word must have a spiritual sense throughout. But there are other passages in which the Lord teaches the existence of a spiritual sense in the Scripture, in a manner still more explicit. We are informed (Luke xxiv.) that after His resurrection, He appeared to two of the disciples as they were journeying' toward Emmaus, "and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concern |