DISCOURSE THIRD.

THE GENERAL SCHEME-THREE PRIMARY REVELATIONS, TO ADAM, TO ABRAHAM, TO DAVID.

Then said he unto them, O fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.-LUKE Xxiv. 25–27.

WHEN we read of the journey to Emmaus on the morning of Christ's resurrection, we feel as if we would like to have been in company with Cleopas and his fellow-traveller, while Jesus talked to them by the way, and opened to them the scriptures. No wonder their hearts burned within them, while the Divine Expounder exhibited to them the object of their love, as the chief theme of scripture story and song. Led through the garden of revelation they found the buds of promise fragrant with his name, and the trees of prophecy covered with the bloom of his beauty. True, the dew-drops of his sorrow glistened on the leaves and filled the flower-cups; but they served to heighten the glory by the contrast. Had we been there, we should have learned much of the general scheme of prophecy. The divine purpose would have been unfolded to our view; our errors would have been corrected, and the different predictions would have appeared to us as so many scinctillations of one eternal mind, issuing from the throne of God and converging again in the complete redemption of man by Jesus Christ our Lord. But conjecture is vain. The discourse is not recorded. It was not necessary. We turn again to

the more sure word of prophecy, diligently comparing

scripture with scripture, that we may comprehend its general tenor, and find the key that shall unlock its most intricate wards.

We have already spoken of the general tenor of scripture-a grand Bible scheme-in accordance with which the several parts of prophecy agree, and by which they are to be interpreted. The mistakes of errorists and the cavils of infidels are mainly attributable to their want of attention to this point. Infidelity, like a fly, whose sight extends but a few inches around itself, lights upon some single point in the spacious dome of prophecy, and finding something at which to cavil, presumes to condemn the whole, from a misapprehension of an imperfectly considered part. And errorists, like the three men in the story of the Chameleon, are ready to affirm that the thing is blue, or black, or green, just as they may have happened to view it in the shade of their own peculiar notions. To such, and all others, who, like the disciples at that time, fix their mind on one single point of prophetic truth, and overlook the rest, the words of Jesus are applicable, "O fools! and slow of heart to believe ALL that the prophets have spoken." Ought ye not to have considered the whole, and learned the general tenor of the word of truth?

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I have already intimated that the chief subject—the general theme of prophecy, is Christ. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and ending-the first and the last. All things were created by him and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And the work of REDEMPTION, to which the prophets bear witness, is his work. A work which angels desire to look into, which is the great subject of the whole Bible; of its doctrines, its promises, its types, its songs, its histories, and predictions. This is expressed by the words, "He expounded unto them in all the scriptures

the things concerning HIMSELF." These things are referred to as being comprised under two general heads, which distinguish the teachings of prophecy. They are the sufferings of Christ, and the glory of Christ; the former of which were fulfilled at his first advent, and the latter to be manifested at his second advent, when he shall come again the second time, without sin unto salvation. Here, then, we are furnished with a clue to the general scheme, and shall proceed at once to its examination and illucidation. To this end your attention is particularly invited to those three primary revelations concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, given to Adam, Abraham and David, and which are the sum and substance of all prophecy.

I. God revealed his purpose of redemption to our first parents immediately after the fall. The revelation corresponded to the necessity and circumstances of the case. The particulars of the scheme were not developed, but the principal features stand out in bold relief. They respect the sufferings and triumph of the woman's seed, by whom redemption was to be effected. God said to the serpent, which had beguiled Eve, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The sufferings of Christ are expressed by the phrase "bruise his heel," and his triumph over the serpent by the phrase "bruise thy head," The Hindoos represent one of their deities whom they call Vishnoo under two different aspects. In the first he is represented as wrapped in the coils of a serpent, whose fangs are fastened in his heel, and in his countenance is depicted the keenest distress. In the second he stands with his foot upon the head of the serpent, holding its lifeless body extended in his hand; the countenance is lighted up with joy, and a crown of glory encircles his brow. The first aspect is called Vishnoo suffering, the second Vishnoo

triumphant. These representations have an undoubted allusion to the Divine declarations respecting the conquest to be achieved by the seed of the woman over the serpent, a traditionary knowledge of which was probably retained among the families of mankind long after the dispersion consequent upon the confusion of tongues.

The evident design of this revelation was to make known the saving truth, that the Son of God should become incarnate, and at his first manifestation suffer for the sin of the world, and at his second manifestation appear in his glory as the mighty conqueror over sin and death. This was the first revelation of the covenant of grace, and was made known when Christ entered upon the work of reconciliation. It was no doubt accompanied with religious rites and confirmed by sacrifice, to be perpetuated according to divine appointment, as an expression of faith, until the seed should come, and by his sufferings make atonement for the sin of the world. The tempter had succeeded in beguiling man to ruin, but this gave assurance of final redemption, indicating that the power of evil should be broken, and man delivered from the empire of death by the destruction of him that hath the power of death, which is the devil. Then the curse shall be removed from the earth and the bloom of Eden clothe the wilderness with beauty and the desert with fruitfulness.

II. At the calling of Abraham, another occasion was presented for an enlargement of the revelation, wherein the divine purpose was more fully disclosed. It does not appear that any particular separation of the people of God from the rest of mankind had been previously made, unless it was in the case of Melchizedec and his small dynasty whereof we shall have more to say in a subsequent discourse. But God now called Abraham to separate him and his posterity from the rest of the world as a peculiar people to himself. In so doing he began to develop the

scheme of redemption more fully. The promise to Abraham, as we find it recorded in several parts of the book of Genesis, comprehends the whole plan, and brings to light several particulars of it. In the phrase "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," Gen. xxii. 18, particular reference is made to Christ, who is pre-eminently the seed of Abraham, according to promise, and the restorer of holiness and happiness to man. Of course he is no other than the seed of the woman, and his bruising the serpent's head, will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

But there is reference also in this promise to the saints of God, who are believers in Christ Jesus, and of whom Paul says, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,' and heirs according to the promise;" Gal. iii. 29; which imports the future exaltation of the saints of God as coheirs with Christ, and kings and priests with him in his future mediatorial reign over the earth, when "he who blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth;" and which is to take place in the new heavens and the new earth as God hath promised. Isa. lxv. 16-25.

But the promise does not overlook the natural seed of Abraham, who were chosen in the wisdom of God for the accomplishment of special objects in connection with the redemption of our race. "To whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever;" Rom, ix. 4, 5; and who according to the scriptures are to be made in their future restoration a name and a praise among all people, and a blessing in the midst of the land.

The inheritance promised to the seed of Abraham is likewise of a complex character, including not only the