LECT. I.

plies Reve

If you run over the history of the Old Testament in your minds, you will see that I am not Calling im talking at random, when I say that it is all a com- lation. mentary on this word 'Ecclesia.' First you have God calling out a man, Abram; sending him forth into another country; promising him that his descendants should possess it; establishing a covenant with him; causing him to wait for a son; making that son the heir of the covenant. This calling is grounded upon a Revelation. God reveals or unveils Himself to Abraham. Now and then we hear of visions that were presented to the bodily eye of Abraham. But even where these were granted, they were for the sake of raising him above what he saw with his eyes. The real revelation was to Abraham's heart. God made him feel that he had a righteous Ruler over him. He believed Him, and trusted Him, and so became a righteous and true man. He was called out to witness of this Lord of his spirit, this righteous Being whom he could trust.

nant.

So was his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob, The Coveand the twelve Patriarchs. All these had the sign of the covenant, the sign that they were separated to an unseen Being. Circumcision witnessed that they were not to follow their flesh, but to serve the God who was drawing them away from it. Those Patriarchs did, as you know, follow their own inclinations; they were most of them self-willed bad men. They were not the less, men called out. Their sin was that they did not believe in their calling. The covenant was nothing to them. Joseph, who did believe

LECT. I. it, who acted as a called man, claimed the calling for his brethren as well as for himself.

The Nation.

Idolatry.

So far, we have had the calling out of a man and the calling out of a family. Not of a family that was better and purer than all other families, but of one which could bear witness to all others, that God is the Author of families, that He has established the order of husband and wife, of father and child, of brother and sister; and that these ordinances would go to wrack and ruin if men were left to themselves, and He did not watch over His own handiwork. Now, if you recollect what you have read in the book of Exodus, you will see how a Nation was called out, just as a man had been, just as a Family had been. Do not fancy that you know what that word 'Nation' means. It is often on your lips. You yourselves, thank God, belong to a nation. But it takes a long while to learn what that privilege is; still longer, to know how we may use it rightly. I believe the book of Exodus is a great help in discovering the secret. No book teaches us what a nation is like that book. It says that God spoke to Moses in the bush, and told him that He remembered His covenant with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and that His Name was the I AM, and that He cared for the poor slaves who were bondsmen in Egypt, and that Moses was to command the king of Egypt, in His name, to let His people go. That Name, the I

The Law; AM, was the ground of the existence of the Jewish nation. In that Name the law was proclaimed from Sinai. In that Name all the ordinances of the people

stood. They were a nation because He was their LECT. I. God. And they were called out, to testify to all the nations of the earth, that this Lord is the God; that the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, whom they trusted, and in whom their children might trust, was He, from whom all the commandments came. He had called them out and chosen them; therefore they were not to fancy Him in the likeness of any thing in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. They were not to have gods whom they made, or whom they could see, but a God who had created them, whom they could believe, and in whom they could put their trust.

over.

The Passover, which was to remind all their de- The Passscendants of their deliverance from Pharaoh, was to remind them also, that they were called by God; that they were the witnesses of Him as a Deliverer, whilst the greater part of men,--the Egyptians as much as any, thought their gods were tyrants, like the Pharaohs. This Passover was a feast for the whole people. Each family was to partake of it. Each family was to understand that it was called out by God, dedicated to Him. The blood on the doorposts was a sign that their Deliverer had marked them out for His. When they ate the lamb, they were taught that they were united to Him, and that this was the secret of their union to each other.

The Officers

of the Na

tion called

You will recollect, again, that it was not only the nation, as a body, that was called out and consecrated to God. Every officer in the nation was men. also a called man.

Aaron was called out to be

LECT. I. the high priest; his sons were called to be priests; Bezaleel and Aholiab were called out to make the curtains of the tabernacle. All these people are said to be set apart to God for a special work. Then they are endued by Him with powers for that work. You will observe that order which the Bible points out to us. I shall often have occasion to recal it to your minds, in my future lectures.

The Priest.

Heathen

Priests.

My great object at present, is to bring this fact of a calling before your minds, and so to make you understand the word Ecclesia. I am not therefore so careful to dwell at this time upon the particular offices to which either Aaron or other men were called. Still I must say a word to you on that point too; otherwise you will not know what the called nation meant, or what its business was. The Priests, you will recollect, were first of all to offer Sacrifices. That was the office of a priest everywhere, among the Egyptians as much as among the Israelites. All people everywhere, or almost all, felt that there were powers over them, which might do them good or do them harm. They felt that they had offended these powers. They felt that they must do something to make peace with them. The wisest men among them were those who must tell them what they were to do. They must tell them what sacrifices they ought to offer. When a people became governed and civilized, as the Egyptians were, these priests, or wise men, became an organized body; the sacrifices and worship which they prescribed, became, in a measure, sacrifices and worship for the whole people.

I use the words "in a measure," because you must not suppose that the worship of all Egypt was the same. There was a difference between the worship of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, for there was a difference in the condition of the two regions; and so the powers that seemed to make them fertile or barren were thought to be different, and the ways of conciliating them different. Moreover, there were dif ferences between the classes of the people, which also affected their services. The worship of the priests themselves was more refined than the worship of the kings whom they advised, and of the people whom they kept down.

LECT. I.

You will see how much the Bible doctrine of The two priests and sacrifices must differ from this. The compared. living God, it says, Himself called out the nation to be His nation. He chose the priests to be His ministers, and the ministers of the people. He appointed the sacrifices. He was not a power which the people were to make friendly by offering Him something, or giving up something to Him. He was their Friend. He had revealed Himself to Abraham as Duties of his Friend; He was revealing Himself to them as their Deliverer. He was revealing Himself by His law, and by all His acts, as a Righteous Being, whose mind. and purposes are the same always; not as a capricious power, who may purpose one thing to-day, and be persuaded to do another to-morrow. His priests, therefore, could never be merely clever men, who were to find out the things which would please Him or pacify Him. He declared His will; He appointed

the Priest.