XX. by the fact that not only the ceremonial details of SERMON the Jewish law are interpreted by the writers of the New Testament as containing a deep symbolism, and that one long epistle (that to the Hebrews) rests altogether upon this allegorical view of the ancient ritual, but that historical events also are shewn to have a spiritual significance; that the waters of the flood which baptized and purified the earth, and the waters of the Red Sea through which the Israelites 1 Pet. iii. past from slavery to freedom, are compared to the 1 Cor. x. I, Sacrament through which we are brought from the 2 land of spiritual exile to our true home; or that I I the manna and water which refreshed Israel in the 1 Cor. x. 4, desert, are likened to the communion of Christ's 16. body and blood by which we are strengthened in our pilgrimage from earth to heaven; or that the Joh. iii. 14. brazen serpent lifted up for the healing of the people is said to typify the Son of Man crucified for our sins; or that St John speaks of a great city Rev. xi. 8. which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified; or lastly, that St Paul, in the passage before us, sees in the two wives of Abraham figures of the old and new covenants, and in the two sons of Abraham types of those who crouched beneath the bondage of the one, and of those who stand fast in the truth and liberty of the other. Nor are these images arbitrarily chosen from the Old Testament, and used at random to illustrate Christian truths which happen to resemble them, or to which by greater or less stretch of fancy, XX. SERMON they may be applied. Such has been the practice of many uninspired writers, but it is not the way in which the apostles teach us. Their types are all taken from important turning points in Jewish history, which had a marked bearing on the preparation for Christ; and thus they are historical parallels and foreshadowings at once. Thus, towards the accomplishment of God's gracious purposes for mankind a great step was taken, when Isaac, the child of promise was separated from Ishmael, the child born after the flesh, and was declared to be the founder of the nation which was to undergo a special training to receive Him who, in the fulness of time, would Is. lxi. 2. proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And therefore when we read that Abraham cast out the bondwoman and her son, we may well see in their sorrowful exile and homeless, purposeless wandering a figure of the fate of those who either have not learned to know God in Christ, or are straying from that blessed knowledge to grasp at the vain shadows of other hopes; while in the child of the freewoman growing up in peace and willing obedience under the shelter of a father's love, we recognize the true Col. iii. 1. spiritual life of those who are seeking those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Nay, we might almost go further, and as Gen. xxi. God heard the voice of the lad in the desert, and sent His angel to call to Hagar out of heaven, and opened her eyes, and shewed her a well of water, so with the eye of hope we may see in that loving 17 ff. XX. typical kindness an image of the time, when the children of SERMON Hagar and Ishmael, now entangled in the yoke of Mohammedan bondage, shall drink of the true water of life, and be brought back to their Father's home, and be united with the sons of Isaac, as members of the great spiritual family who in Christ Jesus are all Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Gal. iii. 29. 5. And now, brethren, it only remains that I Limit to should in a very few words remind you of the gene-interpretaral principle by which we should be guided when tions. we view the Old Testament in its third or spiritual light. When we use it and meditate upon it in this way we must follow the analogy of those expositions which we find in the New Testament. This will save us on the one hand from indulging in fanciful explanations as those ancient writers did who under the influence of earlier systems of interpretation, saw a type of redemption through Christ's blood in the scarlet thread which Rahab hung from the window1, of the cross in the attitude of Moses as he stood with outstretched arms over Amalek", or of the call of the Gentiles in his marriage with an Ethiopian woman. But, on the other hand, it will not require us to acquiesce in the servile rule that nothing "may be considered allegorical but that which inspired persons have interpreted allegorically." We learn from the New Testament that 1 Clement of Rome. Josh. ii. 18. 2 Justin Martyr. Ex. xvii. 12. • Macknight. 3 Irenæus. Num. xii. 1. SERMON Israel after the flesh is a figure of the spiritual XX. Israel, regarded sometimes as the congregation of 1 Cor. x. 6. Christian people, sometimes as Christ himself who Gal. vi. 16. is the Head of the body, the representative of His Matt. ii. redeemed. Great events in the history of the Hos. xi. 1. earthly Israel at once hastened on and shadowed 15. forth the setting up and development of the trueIsrael, the kingdom of Christ, and so are intended to enlighten and encourage the members of that kingdom in the love and service of their King. This knowledge we shall devoutly and thoughtfully apply in our own study of Scripture, and by remembering that Christ is the living Word of God to whom the written word testifies, we shall be ever gaining from it new treasures of wisdom: every part of it will speak to us of the Saviour "who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven:" patriarchs, kings, prophets, priests, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, all the saints and heroes who guided the destinies of God's ancient people, will be to us as Figures marching in the van of Christ's triumphal procession. BISHOP'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, 1861. XXI. CHRIST'S SACRIFICE. FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. HEB. IX. 13, 14. If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? XXI. The Old Covenants. Gal. v. 21 As Lent advances, the tone of its services becomes SERMON deeper and more solemn. The portions of Scripture chosen for its earlier Sundays speak to us merely of and New difficulty, temptation, sin, and repentance. But last Sunday we were reminded of a covenant resting on ―31. a better foundation than enforced obedience, and of a service which is perfect freedom. To-day we have heard something more of the nature of this new covenant, and of the Sacrifice by which its blessings are obtained. The passage chosen to remind us of these precious truths is taken from the epistle to the Hebrews, and is grounded, like most of the teaching of that epistle, on the allegorical |