Rom. xv. 26, 27. It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
AMONGST all the subjects which occupy the minds of men, there is one, which, though it has as great a claim to our attention as any other, is, as it were by the general consent of the Christian world, kept entirely upon the back ground, and is scarcely ever so much as named ; — I mean, our obligations to the Jews. Our blessed Lord has said, that " salvation is of the Jews ;" and yet notwithstanding we have received salvation from them, we scarcely ever think of making any return to them, or of bringing them to a participation of the blessings which they have transmitted to us. True indeed, in theory, we trace up all the great truths of Christianity to the writings of the Old Testament, where they were primarily revealed and shadowed forth : but beyond the con- sideration of Judaism as the foundation of Chris- tianity, and of Christianity as the completion of Judaism, we have in general scarcely a thought upon the subject. We hope that no apology will be deemed necessary for bringing to your view a point, which confessedly is of great importance ; and which, if regarded as it ought to be, by those whom I have the honour to address, would soon engage the atten- tion of Christians throughout the landa.
In the apostolic age, the converts, whether from amongst Jews or Gentiles, all considered themselves as one great family, of which Christ was the Head. Accordingly, when those of Judsea were brought into circumstances of peculiar distress, partly through persecutions, and partly through the famine that pre- vailed in the days of Claudius Caesar, the Christians
a Written with a view to the University ; but never preached be- fore them,