might cover the earth, and all nations might rest under her shadow.

The single table of shewbread, and the single golden candlestick, were sufficient for the service of the tabernacle in the limited state of her ministration; but when the temple of God was built, and at the period when the nations came to bring presents, and to bow themselves before the king of Israel, ten golden candlesticks, and the same number of tables of shewbread, were provided to signify that the light of divine truth, and the spiritual food of the children of God, the priests of the Most High, will be extended and enlarged by the care of their heavenly Father, the supplies of whose grace and mercy will ever be in proportion to the wants of his people; whose increased numbers will never experience on that account a diminution of the abundance of his blessings. "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them to drink of the river of thy pleasures;' none "shall be sent empty away."

The exclusion of the Aaronical priesthood from the temple at the moment of its sanctification, shows not only the imperfection of their service, but also the abolition of their ministration, when the temple should be built under the

* Ps. xxxvi. 8.

M M

true Solomon, and be sanctified by the real Ligh priest.“ And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord."* When the Messiah consecrated the vail of his flesh as the tabernacle of Jehovah, he abolished that imperfect priesthood, the symbol of his perfect one. The true atonement was then offered by the high priest not of the order of Aaron, but of that of Melchizedec, and the temple reared without hands, was full of that glory which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

A typical relation exists between David and Solomon very similar to that between Moses and Joshua. David was a man of war, the military leader and captain of the Lord's host; as such he fought with and subdued the adversaries of Israel. He descended to the grave a mighty conqueror. In his stead, and as if risen from his tomb, Solomon ascended his throne. The latter reigned in peace and righteousness, exalted to glory surpassing that of all other monarchs; his foes put under his feet, and his people dwelling in peace, each one under his own vine and his own fig-tree, none 1 Kings viii. 10, 11.

making them afraid. Yet the foundation of his peace, and splendour, and glory, was laid in the bloody wars, toils, and conquests of the former. The Messiah suffered, endured, and overcame. He went down to the grave a man of war, but victorious over his enemies, and the champion of his people. Raised from the dead, all enemies are put under his feet, he reigns in glory. But his exaltation is the fruit of his humiliation. "He took on him the seed of Abraham, and was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Him we see crowned with glory and honour. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."*

*Heb. ii. 16, 9, 17, 9 and 10.

532

CHAPTER XIX.

Of Baptism.

OUR Lord established this typical rite during his abode on earth, yet he never administered it himself, but only by his disciples, and to those alone who believed on him. As he confined his labours to the house of Israel, those who received it must generally have been descendants of Abraham.

But when the fulness of time was come that he should be received up into heaven, and the gospel of the kingdom should be made known unto the Gentiles, he gave as a parting injunction to his disciples, a command to preach this legacy of blessings to the whole of a perishing world: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned."† This commission was a full and complete * Matt. xxviii. 19.

+ Mark xvi. 16.

"He

abrogation of the Abrahamic covenant, and the Mosaic dispensation. It announced the consummation of these; that these promises and types were fulfilled; and consequently, that their operation, as far as they seemed to restrict and confine the church, was annulled. The covenant of grace, as originally proclaimed, had continued in its full extent, and the privileges which had been lost sight of by the Gentile world, were now recovered. The voice from heaven now spake to them and said, " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."* The blessings which had been enjoyed by the typical church of God, and scarcely known beyond the boundaries of Judea, were now publicly declared to be restricted to neither time, nor place, nor people, but to be equally the portion of every country, age, and nation; the inheritance of every one who believed in Jesus as the promised seed of the woman, of Eve, "the mother of all living," as the Messiah, the Anointed, "God manifest in the flesh."† The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."+

The former dispensation being thus fulfilled, and consequently superseded, the pledges connected with it, became unsuitable to the succeeding one. The typical priesthood had given * Ephes. v. 14. +1 Tim. iii. 16. ↑ John i. 29.