" Let all then take heed, lest, a promise being left them of entering into God's rest, they should by any means come short of it P."]
P Heb. iv. 1.
See Sermon on 1 Tim. i. 11. zohere it forms the third Sermoii of a series.
1 Cor. X. 1 1 . Noiv all these things happened unto them for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
THE Holy Scriptures were not given to the world, to amuse us with an account of past occurrences, but to instruct us in the way to eternal life. Nor are the historical parts less conducive to this end, than the preceptive ; since they shew us, in a striking view, the characters of them that are saved, and of them that perish. The history of the Israelites would be entertaining as a romance ; but, as an exemplification of God's dealings with his Church, it is inestimable. Hence the Apostle expresses great concern that the Corinthian Church should be acquainted with the things that had happened to the Jewish nation ; in order that they themselves might be on their guard, lest, resembling the Jews in their conduct, they should also resemble them in their fate.
Let us consider, L The typical events here specified —
The Jews, notwithstanding the mercies vouchsafed to them, perished in the wilderness for their iniqui- ties—
[Great, exceeding great, were the favours conferred upon them: they were brought, under the immediate direction of God, through the Red Sea, and were baptized thereby into the covenant which God made with them by Moses. They