part of the nation, them they confuked in doubtful
cafes, to them they fled for conlblation in diftrefs,
and them they fometimes loaded with benefits. The
good Jofiah, although he fometimes performed the
office of reading the law in publick, and expound-
ing it himfelf, yet kept one, who was ftyled the
king^sfeer, and others, who were fcribes, and who
read and expounded the law to him and his
court. • It had been common with his anceltors (3)
to do the fame; Hence faife prophets, bad men,
who found it worth while to affed to be good,
crowded the courts of princes. Jezebel an idola-
trefs had four hundred prophets of Baal, and
Ahab, a pretended worfhipper of Jehovah, had as
many pretended prophets of his own profeffion, (4)
Thele covered their want of principle, with an
exterior like that of the true prophets, and even
went beyond them, witnefs the frantick zeal of
thofe, who publickly difputed with Elijah. By
means of thefe deceivers, the faithful preachers of
the divine word funk into difgrace. Zedekiah
would }iot humble himfelf when a Jenmy fpoke to him
from the mouth of the Lord. The chief of the priejts
imitated the prince, and the people them. The God
(2) Rom. X. 16. 21. (3) 2 Chron, xxxiv. 29, 30. &c.
XXXV. 15. — xxxiv. JlS,&c. (4.) 2 Chron. xvm. 5,
xvi A hrief Dijfertation
of their fathers feni to them hy his meffengerSy rifing
up betimes end fetidirg : but they mocked the meffengers
cf Gody defpifed his "iX^ord, and mifufed his prophets^
till the 'wrath of the Lord arofe^ and there was no re-
medy, Jnto captivity, therefore, for feventy years
they were obliged to go.
The prophets, and good men, who were carried
captive along with their countrymen, did not leave
their religion behind them. In Babylon, where
idolatry was ellabliihed, they profeffed, and fuf-
fered for non-conformity, and allembled in private
houfes for the worfliip of God, and there the pro-
phets availed themlelves of the difpenfation to
inculcate the principles of their religion, and to pof-
iefs their fellow captives with a fmcere averfion to
idohitry. There, as their former preachers had
foretold, being allured into a wildernefs^ and fur-
rounded with a hedge of thorns^ fo that they could
not return home, God hewed them hy his prophets^
and flew them by the words of his mouth \ there he
fpoke home to their hearts., took away the names of
Baalim out of their mouths., and taught them once
more to call him 7/^/, the being to whom they
(5) were in contract for obedience. To the fuccels
of preaching, and not to the fmart of afflicflion, are
we to attribute the remarkable reconverfion of the
Jews to the belief and worfliip of one God, a con-
vcrfion that remains to this day. The Jews have
Iince fallen into horrid crimes : but they have
never fince this period lapfed into idolatry.
The prophet Ezekiel was a man extraordinarily
appointed to preach to the captives, and endowed
with Angular abilities for the execution of his
office.
(5) Hofea iii. t4. 6. vi. 5. ii. 14. 17. \6,
ch Puhlick Preaching'* xvli
office. He received his inftruflions in extacies, (^)
and he uttered them generally in rapturous ve-
hemence. He had a pleafant voice, and the en-
tire management of it, he could play well on the
infirument, that is, he knew how to difpofe his or-
gans of fpeech To as to give energy by giving
proper tone and accent to all he fpoke. The
people were as much charmed with his difcourfes
as if they been odes fet to mufick, he was a lovely
fong in their ears, and they ufed to/^_y to one ano-
ther. Come, and let us hear what is the word, that
Cometh forth from the Lord. The elders and (7)
the people allembled at his houfe, and fat be-
fore him, and there, fometimes in the morning,
and at other times in the evening, he delivered
thofe fharp and pointed fermons, which are con-
tained in his prophecy. One while he preached
by figns, as the formerprophets had done, another
while he fmote with his hand, and ftamped with
his foot, when he addrefled them, trembling at their
depravities, and weeping over their calamities.
His writings contain the dodrines, which he
taught ; and the manner, in which he delivered
them, is in all probability a pattern of the method
employed by all the other preachers- during the
captivity.
It fhould feem, after the Jews had rejected the
true prophets, they were punifhed with multitudes
of publick preachers, pretending to a fpirit of
prophecy. Thefe pefts of fociety had art and
addrefs enough to infinuate themfelves into fa-
vour, and to obtain popularity. They fwarmed
every where, and became the heavieft curfe, that
was ever infli(5ted on a guilty world. The pro-
VoL. II. c phets
(6) Ezek. ii. iii. (7) Ezek. xxxiv. 30, &c.
xviii A hrief Bijfertcition
phets held them in the utmoft abhorrence, and a
great part of their miniftry was addrefled to un-
mafk them. They defcribed them by every odious
image they could invent, and they pointed out in
the clcareft manner the dreadful confequences of
their deteftable hypocrify.
Thefe men v^ere the mere creatures of thofe
abandoned tyrants, who ufurped the crown, and
they were fet up to afllft their profligate creators
in defpoiling the people of their liberty and God
of his glory. Religion was made an engine of
Hate, and thefe hirelings were appointed to work
it. Jeroboam, the firft manufadlurer of thefe de-
tefted tools, made them of the national filth-, he,
in mere policy, took the bafefl: and mod depraved
and unprincipled of the nation, and ordained them
miniflers of that motley religion, which he had fet
up to prevent the return of the ten tribes to the
(8) family of David. The King of AlTyria, with
views exadlly fimilar, allowed the captives to per-
petuate this vile race, and we find them in Ba-
/g) bylon, defcribed and execrated by Ezekiel.
The fuccefs of thefe bad men is chiefly to be
afcribed to thefe four caufes. Firft, they pretended
a divine righl^ and faid, The Lor4 faith fo and fo.
They were too artful to profefs the truth, that
would have been. The king faith fo and fo, The
lying fpirit of the devil fent us to preach thus and
thus : but here was a pretended reverence of
God, and ^n acknowledgement of his authority.
(^^ Secondly, they affcdled to imitate the true pro-
phets, till they had obtained the popular plaudit,
then they dropped them into obfcurity, and funk
them
(8) I Kings xii. 26— 32. (9) 2Kingsxvii. Ezek. xiii.
(i) 2 Chron. xviii. 3—12 — 21.
en Puhlick Preaching, xix
them into difgrace, and at laft they turned the
general odium over them, becaufe they continued
inflexibly upright, and could not be brought to
mimick their betrayers. Thirdly, they framed
their do5irine and deportment, not by the nature;
of God, and the dictates of his written word: but,
on the contrary, by the prevailing pajjlons of the
bulk of their auditors. Their ftudy v/as to pleafe,
and they faid and did whatever they thought
would anfwer that end. Fourthly, they were the
conftant companions of their admirers, and went
â– with them into the perpetration of every crime.
The true prophets were irkfome or infipid to bad
men-, but thefe, thefe were chaplains exadlly fuited
to their patrons, they could fafl with Ahab, and
feafl with Jezebel.
According to thofe, who had the beft opportu-
nities of knowing them, their qualifications were
mean and their difpofitions wicked. Hence they
are called blinds ignorant^ dumb dogs, that could not
,bark — greedy dogs, for their avarice, every one
looking for his gain from his quarter — Jleeping
dogs, for their Indolence — drunkards^ frying, Fetch
wine, we will fill ourfelves with ftrong drink, to-
morrow {hall be as to-day, and much more abun-
dant — perfecutors when in profperity, and cowards
in adverfity — dogmatical cavillers about learning
and religion, while they were deftitute of decency,
civility, and common fenfe — unprincipled wretches,
who, though they would not Jhnt a door in the
temple y or kindle a fire on the altar of God, their
creator, for nought^ would proteft, applaud, and
canonize the greateft criminals for a handful of
c 2 barley^
XX A brief Differiation
harky^ and doom millions to deftru6lion for a
I ^\ piece of bread!
When the feventy years of the captivity were
expired, the captives were divided in their opinion
about returnino". Some traded and flourifhed in
Babylon, and, having no faith in the divme pro-
mife, and too much confidence in their fordid
guides, chofe to live where idolatry was the efta-
blifhed religion, and defpotifm the foul of civil
government. The good prophets and preachers,
Zerubbabel, Jofliua, Haggai, and others, having
confidence in the word of God, and afpiring after
their natural, civil, and religious rights, endea-
voured by all means to extricate themfclves and
their countrymen from that mortifying ftate, into
•which the crimes of their anceftors had brought
them. They wept, faded, prayed, preached,
prophefied, and at length prevailed. The chief
inftruments were Nehemiah and Ezra-, the firfl
was governor and reformed their civil ftate, the
laft was a fcribe of the law of the God of heaven^
and addreffed himfelf to ccclefiaflical matters, in
• which he rendered the nobleft fervice to his coun-
try, and to all pofterity.
Ever fince iVlofes had committed the revelations
of God to writing, and had commanded the book
to be tranfcribed, a great number of ingenious
men, of feveral tribes, had taken up the profefTion
of writing, and were called fcribes. The five
facred
(2) Ifaiah IvI. Jer. xxiii. Ezek. xlii. 19. xxxiv. Mai.
j. 10. Amos vii. 12, Suz. Jer. xx. &;c. &c. z Chion. xviii.
2[edekiah fmote Micaiah on the cheek, and faid, Which way
went the Spirit of the Lord from me to fpeak unto thee ! And
Micaiah faid. Thou {halt fee on that day, when thou Ihalt run
from chamber to chamber to hide thyfclf. 23, 24.
6n Publick Preaching, xxi
facred books of Mofes contained the genealogies
of all the families of the nation, the body of jurif-
prudence, that direfted all their courts of lav/, the
whole ritual of the church, and many other articles
of neceflary and daily ufe. The prophets fince
Mofes had added to the infpired code, and by lb
doing had both increafed knowledge, and the ne-
cefTity of numberlefs fcribes to diffufe it. The
men, who employed themfelves thus in tranfcrib-
ing the infpired writings, were called fcribes ot
the lazv.
r. The benefit of writing and records prefently
became obvious, and other fcribes were foon em-
ployed about fecular matters. 1 here were under
the judges many of the tribe of Zebulon, v/ho bajj-
died the pen of the writer^ fcribes who kept records.
There were afterward fcribes of the king^ that is,
private fecretariesi fcribes of the hoji, that is, fe-
cretaries at war, or commifTaries of the army; and
the profeffion became very honourable and lu-
.crative. This clafs of writers, I Ihould call, for
diltindiion (dkc, fecular fcribes.
Writing, reading, giving a fenfe of what is
written, ftudying to find out a true fenfe to o-ive,
and proving and fupporting the fenfe given, go
together, and fcribes naturally became ftudious,
difputatious, and learned men. Ezra, the re-
former of the church at the return from captivity,
was the moft eminent of his profeflion, a ready
fcribe in the law of his God.
This man laid the foundation of reformation in
religious principle, and he refted religious prin-
ciple on that infallible rock, tlie word of God. In
order to lay a firm and good ground of this, he
collected and collared manufcripts oi tht facred
writings.
xxii A brief Bijfertation
writings, added a few explanatory lines, and a few
anecdotes (himfelf was infpired) and arranged and
publifhed the holy canon in its prelent form; To
this he added a fecond work, as necelTary as the
former-, he revived, and new modelled publick
preaching, and exemplified his plan in his own
perfon. The Jews had almoft loft in the feventy
years captivity their original language, that was
now become a dead language, and they fpoke a
jargon made up of their own language, and that
of the Chaldeans, and other nations, with whom
they had been confounded. Formerly preachers
had only explained fubjedts : now they were o-
bliged to explain words, words, which in the fa-
cred code were become obfolete, equivocal, or
dead.
Now alfo it became more necefiary than ever to
open houfes for popular inftruftion in towns all
over the country, after the pattern of the fchools
of the old prophets. Accordingly, houfes were
erefted, nor for ceremonial worfhip, as facrificing,
for this was confined to the temple : but for moral
obedience, as praying, preaching, reading the law,
divine worfhip, and fecial duties. Thefe houfes
were called fynagogues, the people repaired hither
morning and evening for prayer ; and on Sabbaths
and fellivals the law was read and expounded to
them. It is with a great deal of juftice, that
learned men afcribe the following Jewilh averfion
to idolatry, and their attachment to the law, to
conftant publick preaching in their fynagogues.
We have a fhort, but beautiful defcription
(3) of the manner of Ezra's firit preaching. Up-
wards
(3) Nehem, viil.
on Puhlick Preaching. xxiii
wards of fifty thoufand people aflembled in a
ftreet, or large fqiiare, near the Watergate. It
was early in the morning of a Sabbath-day. A
pulpit of wood, in the fafhion of a fmall tower, was
placed there on purpofe for the preacher, and this
turret was fupported by a- fcafFold, or temporary
gallery, where, in a wing on the right hand of the
pulpit, fat fix of the principal preachers, and in
another on the left feven. Thirteen other princi-
pal teachers, and many Levites, were prefent alfo,
on fcaffolds ere6led for the purpofe, alternately to
officiate. When Ezra aicended the pulpit, he
produced and opened the book of the law, and
the whole congregation inftantly rofeup from their
feats, and flood. Then he offered up prayer and
praife to God, the people bowing their heads, and
worfhipping the Lord with their faces to the
ground ; and at the clofe of the prayer with up-
lifted hands they folemnly pronounced Amen,
Amen. Then, all ftanding, Ezra, alTilled at times
by the Levites, read the law dijtinofly^ gave the
fenfe^ and caufed them to under/land the reading. The
fermons delivered fo affefted the hearers, that they
wept excefTively, and about noon the forrovv be-
came fo exuberant and immeafurable, that it was
thought neceffary by the governor, the preacher,
and the Levites to reilrain it. They, therefore,
reminded the congregation — that a iuii: grief might
run into excefs — that there was an incongruity be-
tween a feftival and lamentation — and that on this
feflival, there were finguiar caufes of extraordinary
joy, they were delivered from captivity, the law
was reftored, and they, the very poorelt of them,
had been made by the pains of the preachers to
underftand it. Go your ivay, laid they, eat the fat —
drink the fweet-—Jend portioris unto them, for zvhom
nothing
xxiv A hrief Dijfertation
Tioihing is prepared. — Be not difconraged — religious
joy isa people's itrength. The wife and benevolent
ientiments ofthefe noble fouls were imbibed by the
whole congregation, and fifty thoufand troubled
hearts were calmed in an inftant. Home they re-
turned to eat, to drink, to fend portions, and to make
mirth, hecaufe they had undcrJJood the words, that
were declared unto him. Plato was alive at this time,
teaching dull philofophy to cold academicks : but
what was he, and what was Xenophon, or De-
mofthenes, or any of the pagan orators, in compa-
rifon with thefe men !
From this period to that of the appearance of
Jefus Chrift, publick preaching was univerfal,
lynagogues were multiplied, there were thirteen in
his time at Tiberias, and at Jerufalem, they fay,
four hundred. In the latter number moft likely
are included profeuchas, or fmall places for pri-
vate prayer.
The great concourfe of people, who attended the
fervice at the fynagogues, and the manifelt utility
of publick inftrudion, rendered fome fort of order
neceflary. A fmall afiembly, therefore, was form-
ed of the wifelt and moft intelligent of the priefts
and fcribes, thefe were a council, called elders,
and the prcfident was named ruler of the fyna-
gogue. The rivlers fomctimes preached fermon-
•wile, at other limes inftrudcd the people by way
of qucftion and anfwer, and at all times directed
who fliould Ipeak and preach in the fynagogue.
The fcribes were in their meridian glory in the
timeof Fzra. He and his colleagues were truly
great men, and their expofitions ot holy fcripture
were remembered long atter their deceafe, and
quoted by their fuccefibrs. Had fucceflive fcribes
quoted
en Puhlick Preaching. xxv
quoted their comments as comments, all had been
well : but they alledged them as law^ and ^ave
them as much authority as the text itfelf. This
was fetting a dangerous fnare for eager difputants,
more intent on gaining their argument than on
inveftigating the truth, and into this temptation
the whole nation fell. Hence came the national
attachment to the traditions of the elders, and
hence the invention and propagation of traditions,
never heard of by the elders. Hence fedts arofe»
and hence, in the end, that inefficiency of the divine
word, of which our Lord complained ; for, where
fcripture is not allowed to operate as law, it is, in
flridtnefs of fpeech, of no effe6t.
All the fed:s in the Jewifh church ran the fame
fate as elfewhere, they rofe in weaknefs, and ended
in wickednefs. A filly, fuperftitious, weak en-
thufiail is the natural founder of a fed, and a bold
villain is the ufual fupporter of it. The firft
profelytes are in earneft, the laft are knaves.
It would carry us too far from our fubjefl, were
we to particularize the rife, the hiftory, the opi-
nions, and the ruin of Samaritans, Pharif^es, Sad-
ducees, EfTenes, and other religious parties in Ju-
dea. They are in general pretty v/ell known, and
the New Teftament gives us a general idea of the
do6trines held by all except the EfTenes, who were
a kind of reclufes, Jewiili monks. It is fufficient
to obferve, each party preached, both in Jerufalem,
and in all other parts of Jewry •, and, when the ca-
lamities of their own country, or the prcfperity
of other places, induced them to quit their native
foil, and to fettle elfewhere, they built fynagogues,
or met in private houfes, where, on Sabbath days
and feftivals, they woffliipped God^ and preaching
Vol. II. d was
xxvi A Irief Dijfertation
(4) was always a part of their fervlce. It Is not
neceflary to give patterns of their fermons here, or
to defcribe their manner of delivering them. In
general, we may remember, the Jews in this pe-
riod were better known than their ancellors had
been to the Weflern world, and they themfelves
travelled into other countries more. They had
therefore dropped many of the ruder ways of
fpeaking ufed by the old prophets, and had adopt-
ed the more fedate and polilhed methods of
publick fpeakers in pagan fchools, and fenates,
and courts of law. This art imported into the
church makes fleepy fermons for the dog-days.
Happy for them, had they refted here : but alas !
they embraced popular errors, and pagan vices,
and incorporated both into the religion of Mofes,
fo that in the reign of Herod, who was a creature
of the Emperor Auguftus, the Jewiih church was
funk to a level with pagan temples, and all were
confidered as engines of ftate. Inferior church-
men were in fubjedion to the high prieft, and the
high prieft himfelf was an officer of the crown.
It is eafy to guefs what preaching they had.
In thofe days appeared that fmgular preacher,
John the Baptift. He was extraordinarily com-
miflioned from heaven to announce the advent of
the promifed MelTiah, and he adopted the plan
formerly ufed by Ezra, appealing by publick
preaching to the common fenfe of mankind. He
took j^lijah for his model, and, as the times were
very much like. thofe, in which that prophet lived,
he
(4) Phil. Jud. de Sept. et Fell.— — Buxtorfil Synagog. >
Wagenfeil Tel. I§Q.— Vitxing. Synagog.— AUing. Heptat.
Tqbu v. DiiT. 2. .
^on Puhlick Preaching. xxvll
he chofe a dodrine and a method very much re-
fembling thofe of that venerable man. His fub-
jedts were few, plain, and important, repentance
was the chief. His ftyle was vehement, his images
were bold and well placed, his deportment was
folemn, his a<5lion eager, and his morals fevere.
The people flocked in great multitudes after him,
and furrounded him with a popularity, of which
his enemies were afraid. He fell, however, a fa-
crifice to female revenge at a tyrant's drunken
bout, where defpotifm gave whatever proftitution
required. Jefus Chrift had been openly introduced
by John to the knowledge and affeftion of the
people, and at John's death Jefus appeared in
publick as a preacher. Before his minifterial la-
bours began, and preparatory to them, he had that
vifion recorded in the firft eleven verfes of the
fourth chapter of Matthew, a vifion, as one of our
minifters has moll beautifully fhewn, excellently (s)
adapted to the time and purpofe.
Our Lord Jefus Chrill had been long expefted
to appear in the JewilTi church, as a prophet like
unto Mofes, and his miniftry had been chara<5terized,
as the mofl: beneficial, that could be imagined.
The people, therefore, formed the higheft expecta-
tions of his ceconomy, and he framed itfo as to
exceed all defcription. He taught . . , not as th§
firibes.
Firft, inftead of deriving his dodlrine from po*
pular notions, human pafTions, the interelts of
princes, or the traditions of priefts, he took \t
immediately from the holy fcripcures, to which ho
fonllantly appealed. The truths of natural reli^
d 2 gion
(5) Rev, Mr, Farmer.
xxviii A brief Dijferlatioh
gion he explained and eftablifhed -, the dodlrines'
of revelation he expounded, elucidated, and en-
forced, and thus brought life and immortality to
light by the gofpel.
Next, the doilrines, v/hich he taught, were all
plain facts — God is a fpirit — God fent his ion into
the world, that the world through him might be
faved — Mofes wrote of me — He that believeth on
him, that fcnr me, is pafit;d from death unto life —
The dead fliall hear the voice of the Son of God—
The wicked fhall go away into everlafting punifh-
ment — The righteous fhall go into life eternal —
t> _ to
My kingdom is not of this world — The merciful
are happy — Happy are the pure in heart — Few
find the narrow way, that leadeth to life — Many-
go in at the wide gate, that kadetli to defbruftion.
—All thefe, and many more of the fam.e kind, are
fads plain and true, and they were the fimple
truths, which Jefus Chrift chofe to teach.
Thirdly, the motives^ which he employed to give
his dodlrine energy, were not taken from fmful
fecular things ; but it was urged home in its truth
and importance. This fa6t is true^ and there-
fore you ought to believe it, whether the world
admit it or not. That duty is important to your
health, to your property, to your comfort, to your
falvation, to your pleafmg God, and, therefore
you ought to perform it, whether the world per-
form it or not.
The tempers^ in which he executed his miniflry,
were the noblell, that can be conceived. He was
humble, compalTionate, firm, difmtcrefted, and
generous. Hedifplayed,in all the courfe of his mi-
niltry, fuch an alTortment of properties as obliged
fome of his auditors to burfl into exclamatory ad-
miration.
en Pithlick Preachbfg. xxix
rhiration, hlejjcd are the -paps^ ivhich thou hafi
fucked ! others to hang upon his lips, vvonderin?-
at the gracious words, that proceeded out of his mouthy
and all to acknowledge, never man fpake like this
man ! This was not a temporary tide of popularity,
it was admiration founded on reafon, and all ao-es
fince have admired and exclaimed in like man-
ner.
Add to thefe the fimplicity and majefty of his
flyle, the beauty of his images, the aUcrnaie foft-
nefs and feverity of his addrefs, the clioice of his
fubjefts, the gracefulnefs of his deportmenr, the
indefatigablenefs of his zeal .... where
ihall I put the period ? his perfe6lions are inex-
hauftible, and our admiration is everlaftino-. The
charafter of Chrift is the beft book a preacher caa
ftudy.
In order to mortify human vanity, to convince
the world that religion was a plain fimple thing,
and that a little common {cnk accompanied wirh