as the Word of life; the Son of God, and eternal life; as cleansing us by his blood from all sin; as having laid down his life for us; as having come in the flesh; as sent by the Father to be the Saviour of the world; and as born of God; as an advocate with the Father, and the propitiation for our sins. He warns us, and it is indeed an awful warning, that whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.* And he concludes with those words, which, if I have succeeded in explaining his views, you will now without hesitation adopt, in their literal and unqualified sense; we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true; even in his Son Jesus Christ. THIS IS THE TRUE GOD, AND ETERNAL LIFE.” * 1 John i. 2, 7; ii. 1, 23; iii. 16; iv. 3, 14; v. 1. NOTES. LECTURE I. P. 10. decided the question by lots.] See Lev. xvi. 8. Josh. xviii. 6. 1 Sam. x. 20. 1 Chron. xxiv. 5. Bishop Beveridge, Sermons, Vol. I. p. 59, assigns the reason, which rendered necessary, in this instance, a direct and special appeal to the Holy Ghost, who, having taken upon him to supply the place of Christ to his Church, chose two Apostles, in as plain and apparent a manner as Christ himself had done it. The superstitious custom of drawing lots, which afterwards crept into the Christian Church, is, perhaps, less to be referred to this single transaction of the Apostles, than to the adoption of a heathen custom. Instead of the sortes Homericæ or Virgiliana, the early Christians drew lots from the Bible; and even stated offices of worship were used beforehand. This practice was sometimes resorted to by the priests, for the ends of gain. An instance occurs, in the Decretals, of a sacerdos sortilegus, who was excommunicated for this offence. The following is Jerome's sensible caution against abusing the example of the Apostles: "Non statim debemus sub exemplo Jonæ sortibus credere, vel illud de Actibus Apostolorum huic testimonio copulare, ubi sorte in Apostolatum Matthias eligitur; cum privilegia singulorum non possint facere legem communem." See Boehmer's Corpus Juris |