YeR. 30.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 17
most acceptable to Grod: Ps. cxivii. 11, ' The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.' Oh ! when these two are coupled, the fear to offend him and dependence upon his grace in Christ, the Lord takes pleasure in them. And it will be most com- fortable to you: Acts ix. 31, 'They walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost.' And it is most honourable to religion, for this is the religion of Christ's making ; religion is then in its true constitution and frame : Mat. xi. 29, ' Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls/ When we reflect upon the proper ground of comfort, the mercy of God, the covenant of grace, and the merits of the Eedeemer, and keep up a due care of obedience, this is christian re- ligion. And it is an honourable thing in the world ; and this will show that you are sincere and upright ; and that after a while that you have gone on walking in his fear, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, you shall enjoy his blessed presence in heaven.
SEEMON LXIV.
By faith the locills of Jericho fell doivn, after they were compassed about seven days. — Heb. xi. 30.
In the last verse we have represented the faith of Israel under the con- duct of Moses, now we shall represent their faith under the conduct of Joshua. There we saw what was done in their passage out of Egypt, here we shall see what is done in their entrance into Canaan. ' By faith the walls of Jericho fell down,' &c. Here is —
1. The grace exercised — Faith.
2. The event that followed — The lualls of Jericlio fell down.
3. The manner how it was accomplished — After they were com- passed about seven days. Where — (1.) The means, ' They were com- passed about;' (2.) The time, 'Seven days.'
1. The grace exercised — Faith. The great skill of christians is to find out the new testament pre-signified in the old, and the old testa- ment fulfilled in the new ; both agree to tell us the way of living by faith in Christ. Joshua was a type of Christ, as his name shows, which in the new testament is always written Jesus : as Acts vii. 45, ' They were brought in with Jesus into the possession of the gentiles,' and Heb. iv. 8, ' If Jesus had given them rest ; ' that is, Joshua. Now this also was the name of our Lord: Mat. i. 21, ' Thou shalt call his name Jesus (which signifies a saviour), for he shall save his people from their sins.' Joshua was a great captain ; and Christ is the 'cap- tain of our salvation,' Heb. ii. 10. Joshua was to overcome strong- holds, and whatever let the people's possessing the land of promise ; so doth Christ demolish all strongholds, the devil and the grave, death and hell, that he may introduce us into the heavenly Canaan, the land of our eternal rest. Joshua overcame by God's appointed means, by
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18 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LXIV.
the priests mavcliing before, and the ark of the covenant following, and then the people : Joshua vi. 8, ' And it came to pass when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests, bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns, passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Ijord followed them,' &c. So doth Christ overcome by the gospel ; the ark of the covenant is our strength : Ps. cv. 4, ' Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face evermore.' The priests blowing with trumpets of rams' horns is a figure of the ])ower of the ministry ; for- so the apostle exjilains this: 2 Cor X. 4, 5, ' For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imagi- nations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ' As they by the blast of their trumpets were to throw down this strong city, the way to be partakers of this benefit is faith ; they walked about with the ark of the covenant, and the priests blowing their trumpets, submitting to God's direction ; they expected the event; and so the prayer of faith will do very much to the demolishing of the strongholds of Satan as we go to the promised land.
2. The event that followed — the walls of Jericho falling down ; their hope was not frustrated. If we will believe God's promises, and exe- cute his commands, we need no shifts, or artifices, or secular policy, or means of our own, to work deliverance for us. To evidence tlie greatness of the success, we must know —
[1.] That Jericho was a strong and well-fenced city, one of those which frighted the spies who were sent to view the land: Num. xiii. 20, ' The cities are walled, and very great.' And see how the people aggravate the report of the spies ; Deut. i. 28, ' The cities are great, and walled up to heaven ; and, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.' Every rumour increases in the spreading. This city, amongst others, to men's eyes seemed impregnable, so much we gather from Joshua, chap vi, 1, 'Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel ; none went out, and none came in.' In the Hebrew (and so it is noted in the margin), the city ' did shut up itself;' that is, it was strongly fortified in itself, both by its situa- tion and by art, and was shut up by the obstinacy of the inhabi- tants.