XXX.

Secret things belong unto the Lord: but those things which are revealed, belong unto us, and to our children for ever-that ive may do all the words of the law.-Deuteronomy, xxix. 29.

THIS text is taken from the law of Moses. But the law of Moses is one of God's revelations : and God's revelations will always have the same tendency. We may consider the text therefore as perfectly christian.

It contains these truths-that there are points of religion, (such as its mysterious doctrines,) which the understanding of man cannot fathom

that these points cannot properly be said to be revealed, as they belong to God-that there are other things which are revealed, and are intended merely for our use-that these things are plain and obvious to our capacities that they belong to us and our children and that the reason given for this distinction is, that we may do all the words of this law. That is, in

short,

short, that the grand intention of all revelation, is practical religion.

N. B. All these several points may with great advantage be dwelt upon and explained.

XXXI.

In which some things are hard to be understood. -2 Peter, iii. 16.

But

THIS expression is commonly thought to refer to St. Paul's epistles; which are here supposed to contain things hard to be understood. the original rather leads us to suppose, that, instead of St. Paul's epistles, the mysteries of the gospel are hard to be understood. This makes a much better sense; for though many reasons may be given, why some things in St. Paul's epistles may at this day be hard to be understood; yet we cannot well conceive them to have been so at the time they were written: we cannot well suppose that epistles written to particular churches, could contain any thing that was not easily understood by those churches.— To let this matter however pass, in the following discourse, I shall consider, first, the source of

scriptural

scriptural difficulties:-and secondly, how far a difficulty is an objection.

With regard to the sources of scriptural difficulties, they may be traced either to human, or divine origin. Scriptural difficulties of human origin arise from errors in transcribing-from errors in translating-from the idioms of the Jewish language so different from our ownfrom figurative, proverbial, and allegoric forms of speaking and lastly from ancient rites, manners, and customs, which are now little known. To one or other of these sources, I suppose most of the scriptural difficulties under this head may be referred.

Such difficulties, as arise from a divine source, are of a different kind. Of them no solution can be given. They consist of those mysterious points, which we can never understand. Such are the mysterious doctrines of the Trinity-of the incarnation of our blessed Lord-of his propitiation for sin-of the nature of redemption -of the mode of inspiration and of some other points, which are wholly beyond our capacity to explain. Let us however see, how far these, or the other species of scriptural difficulty, arising from human inadvertence, amount to matter of objection.. Sceptics have turned

both

both the one sort of difficulties, and the other into objection. Let us examine with what

reason.

Let us consider, first, the scriptural difficulties of human origin. These have in general been well explained by the labours of learned men. To the simple-minded, and well-disposed, they never were objections. But I should just ask those, who are in quest of difficulties, in order to turn them into objections, Whether they have fully and candidly examined all that has been said in answer to these difficulties? If they have, and remain still unconvinced with regard to a few particular difficulties, they must at least have found, in their inquiries, such a number of difficulties dissolved, that if they have any candour, they must suppose, those which remain, are not indissoluble.If the sceptic, on the other hand, which is most probably the case, has taken no pains to examine the difficulties, in which he seems to be so interested, he cannot certainly be considered as a judge of the case. He has heard one side only; and we may dismiss him without further attention. It is plain to what side he leans. He is a prejudiced man. He has other objections to the gospel, besides these difficulties; and if these were dissolved, a new set of difficulties would