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xviii. 41, 42. they cried, but there was none to save them...... then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind.' lx. 8. 'Moab is my wash-pot: over Edom will I cast out my shoe-.' Jer. xlviii. 10. 'cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.' Sixthly, that our confidence be not placed in human strength, but in God alone. Exod. xiv. 17, 18. ‹ I will get me honour upon Pharaoh and all his host.' Deut. xx. 1. when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots,' &c. 1 Sam. xiv. 6. there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.' xvii. 47. 'all this assembly shall know that Jehovah saveth not with sword and spear.' Psal. xxxiii. 16, 17. there is no king saved by the multitude of an host-.' xliv. 2, &c.

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didst drive out the heathen with thine hand-.' lx. 1.

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O God, thou hast cast us off,' &c. cxliv. 1. blessed be Jehovah my strength, which teacheth my hands to war.' cxlvii. 10. he delighteth not in the strength of the horse.' v. 13. he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates-.' Prov. xxi. 31. 'the horse is prepared against the day of battle; but safety is of Jehovah.' 2 Chron. xiv. 11. it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no powcr-.' xx. 21. 'he appointed singers unto Jehovah,' &c. xxiv. 24. the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and Jehovah delivered a very great host into their hand.' Isai. v. 26. he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far,' &c. Jer. xxi. 4. I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands-.' xxxvii. 10. 'for though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you,' &c. Ezek. xiii. 5. 'ye have not gone into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the

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Zech. x. 5, 6.

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house of Israel-.' they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle-.' Amos ii. 14. the strong shall not strengthen his force.' Seventhly, that the booty be distributed in equitable proportions. Numb. xxxi. 27. divide the prey into two parts between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation.' Deut. xx. 14. all the spoil thereof shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies.' Josh. xxii. 8. he blessed them, and he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents-.' 1 Sam. xxx. 24. as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff.'

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There seems no reason why war should be unlawful now, any more than in the time of the Jews; nor is it any where forbidden in the New Testament. Psal. cxlix. 6. let a two-edged sword be in their hand.' Two centurions, namely, the man of Capernaum and Cornelius, are reckoned among believers, Matt. viii. Acts x. Neither does John exhort the soldiers to refrain from war, but only from wrong and robbery; Luke iii. 14. he said unto the soldiers, Do violence to no man-.' 1 Cor. ix. 7. 'who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges?' Paul likewise availed himself of a guard of soldiers for his personal security; Acts xxiii. 17. 'bring this young man unto the chief captain.'

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The observance of the divine commandments is the source of prosperity to nations. See Lev. xxvi. It renders them flourishing, wealthy, and victorious, Deut. xv. 4-6. lords over many nations, v. 6. xxvi. 17-19. exalted above all others, xxviii. 1, &c. a

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Ezek. vii.

chapter which should be read again and again by those who have the direction of political affairs.* Compare also chap. xxix. and iv. Judges ii. and iii. and Psal. xxxiii. 12. blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah.' Prov. xi. 11. by the blessing of the upright the city is exalted.' xiv. 34. righteousness exalteth a nation.' xxviii. 2. for the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof.' See also Isai. iii. and xxiv. xlviii. 18. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!" See also Jer. v. The consequences of impiety to nations are described, Isai. iii. 7. in my house is neither bread nor clothing, make me not a ruler of the people.' lvii. 9, 10, 13. thou wentest to the king with ointment-.' Hos. v. 13. when Ephraim saw his sickness,' &c. vii. 11, 12. Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart-.' xii. 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind-.' Habak. ii. 12. to him that buildeth a town with blood.'

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Public ecclesiastical duties consist in the reciprocal obligations of ministers, and of the church considered collectively and individually.

The duties of ministers towards the church in general, and towards individual believers in particu

*For Milton's opinion of the value of the Scriptures as teachers of political wisdom, see Paradise Regained, IV. 353.

Their orators thou then extoll'st, as those,

The top of eloquence, statists indeed,
And lovers of their country, as may seem;
But herein to our prophets far beneath,

As men divinely taught, and better teaching
The solid rules of civil government
In their majestic unaffected style

Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome.
In them is plainest taught, and easiest learnt
What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so,
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat;
These only with our law best form a king.

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lar, are stated in the first book, in the chapter on ministers. Towards the church in general: Jer. i. 7, 8. ‘say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,' &c. v. 17-19. gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee.' xv. 10, 11. 'woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth.' xviii. 19, &c. remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them.' xx. 7, &c. thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived..... I am in derision daily.' Isai. lviii. 1. 'cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression-.' Ezek. ii. 6. 'thou, son of man, be not afraid of them,' &c. iii. 8, 9. behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces-.' xxxiii. 2-31. son of man, speak to the children of thy people,' &c. Matt. iv. 19. follow ' me, and I will make you fishers of men.' viii. 21, 22. suffer me first to go and bury my father; but Jesus said unto him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.' ix. 11. 'why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? but when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.' v. 36. he was moved with compassion on them, because ................. were scattered abroad-.'

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x. 14. whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,' &c. xiii. 52. 'every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.' xviii. 12. if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray,' &c. Acts xiii. 51. 'they shook off the dust of their feet against them.' xviii. 6. when they opposed themselves, and blas

phemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them—.’ 2 Cor. ii. 17. we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.' 1 Thess. ii. 5. 'neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know.' Tit. ii. 7. in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works.'

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Opposed to the above are the ignorant, the slothful, the timid, flatterers, the dumb, false teachers, the covetous, the ambitious. Isai. ix. 15. 'the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.' Ezek. xliv. 8. ‘ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves; as was done by bishops formerly, and is not unfrequently practised by magistrates in the present day, thus depriving the people of their privilege of election. Isai. Ivi. 10. his watchmen are blind,' &c. For an example of flatterers, see 2 Chron. xviii. 5. the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men,' &c. Neh. vi. 12. 'lo, I perceived that God had not sent him.' Jer. ii. 8. the priests said not, Where is Jehovah ?' v. 14. because ye speak this word,' &c. v. 31. the prophets prophesy falsely.' vi. 13, 14. from the least of them even unto the greatest,' &c. viii. 9. 'lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah, and what wisdom is in them?" x. 21. the pastors are become brutish.' xiv. 13-15, 18. thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name,' &c. xxiii. 9, &c. 'mine heart is broken within me, because of the prophets.' In this class are to be placed Hananiah, chap. xxviii. with the two other prophets mentioned in chap. xxix. 21. and Shemaiah, v. 24, &c. ' because thou hast sent letters in my name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem...... saying, Jehovah hath made

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