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SACRED BIOGRAPHY;

OR,

THE HISTORY

OF

THE PATRIARCHS.

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

THE HISTORY OF DEBORAH, RUTH, AND HANNAH,

AND ALSO THE

HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

BEING

A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE SCOTCH CHURCH, LONDON-WALL

BY HENRY HUNTER, D. D.

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.

Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.-JOHN viii. 58,

: am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to
come, the Almighty.-REVELATION i. 8.

PHILADELPHIA:

J. J. WOODWARD, No. 7 MINOR STREET.

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON.

1836.

22

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

1885. May 1,

Gift of

Miss A. M. Cudworth

of East Boston,

G

cide with our own, we cheerfully allow him to be in the right; when they differ, without hesitation we pronounce him to be mistaken.

of truth, of pleasure, and of improvement, instantly disappear. Length of duration can oppose no cloud to that intelligence, with which "a thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years." The human heart is there unfolded to our view, by Him "who knows what is in man,” and "whose eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." The men and the events therein represented are universally and perpetually interesting, for they are blended with "the things which accompany salvation,” and affect our everlasting peace. There, the writers, whether they speak of themselves or of other men, are continually under the direction of the Spirit of all truth and wisdom. These venerable men, though subject to like passions with others, there speak not of themselves, but from God; "for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."* And "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."+

Most of the writers of profane ancient history are chargeable with an absurdity, which greatly discredits the facts they relate, and reduces their works almost to the level of fable. They attempt too much; they must needs account for every thing; they conjecture when light fails them; and because it is probable or certain that eminent men employed eloquence on important public occasions, their historians at the distance of many centuries, without record, or written document of any kind whatever, have, from the ample store of a fertile imagination, furnished posterity with the elaborate harangues of generals, statesmen, and kings. These, it is acknowledged, are among the most ingenious, beautiful, and interesting of the traces of antiquity which they have transmitted to us: what man of taste could bear to think of stripping these elegant performances of one of their chief excellencies? But truth is always injured, by every the slightest connexion with fable. The moment I begin to read one of the animated speeches of a hero or a senator, which were Having premised these things, we will never composed, delivered, or written, till proceed next Lord's day, if God permit, to the historian arose, I feel myself instantly the execution of our plan; and shall begin, transported from the real theatre of human as the order both of nature and of scripture life, into a fairy region; I am agreeably prescribe, with the history of Adam, the amused, nay, delighted; but the sacred im-venerable father and founder of the human press of truth is rendered fainter and feebler to my mind; and when I lay down the book, it is not the fire and address of the speaker, but the skill and ingenuity of the writer that I admire. Modern history, more correct and faithful than ancient, has fallen, however, into an absurdity not much less censurable. I mean that fanciful delineation of character, with which the account of certain periods, and the lives of distinguished personages, commonly conclude; in which we often find a bold hypothesis hazarded for the sake of a point; and a strong feature added to, or taken away from a character, merely to help the author to round his period.

Finally, a great part of profane history is altogether uninteresting to the bulk of mankind. The events recorded are removed to a vast distance, and have entirely spent their force. The actors exhibited are either too lofty to admit of our approach, with any interest or satisfaction to ourselves; too brutal to be considered without disgust, or too low to be worthy of our regard. The very scenes of action are become inaccessible or unknown; are altered, obliterated, or disregarded. Where Alexander conquered, and how Cæsar fell, are to us mere nothings.

But on opening the sacred volume, all these obstructions in the way of knowledge,

race.

Men, brethren, and fathers, we are about to study the lives of other men; but it concerns us much more to look well to our own. Our forefathers were; we are. The curtain has dropped, and has hid ages and generations past from our eyes. Our little scene is going on; and must likewise speedily close. We are not, indeed, perhaps, furnishing materials for history. When we die, obscurity will probably spread the veil of oblivion over us. But let it be ever remembered by all, that every man's life is of importance to himself, to his family, to his friends, to his country, and in the sight of God. They are by no means the best men, who have made most noise in the world neither are those actions most deserving of praise, which have obtained the greatest share of fame. Scenes of violence and blood; the workings of ambition, pride, and revenge, compose the annals of men. But piety and purity, temperance and humility, which are little noticed and soon forgotten of the world, are held in everlasting remembrance before God. And happy had it been for many of those, whose names and deeds have been transmitted to us with renown, if they had never been born.

One corruption subdued, is a victory infi

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nitely more desirable, and more truly ho- | drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the nourable, than a triumph gained amidst the glory of God." confused noise of ten thousand warriors, and as many garments rolled in blood; for "he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."* Remember, my friends, that to be a child of God is far more honourable than to be descended from kings; and that a christian is a much higher character than a hero. And let this consideration influence all that you undertake, all that you do. Act as if the eyes of Cato were always upon you, was the precept given, and the motive urged, to the Roman youth, in order to excel in virtue. The eyes of God are in truth continually upon you. Live then as in his sight; and knowing that every action as it is performed, every word as it is spoken, and every thought as it arises, is recorded in the book of God's remembrance, and must come into judgment, "keep thy heart with all diligence," set a watch on the door of thy lips, "and whether you eat or

*Prov. xvi. 32.

We are about to review ages past, and to converse with men long since dead. And the period is fast approaching, when time itself shall be swallowed up; when Adam and his youngest son shall be contemporaries, when the mystery of providence shall be cleared up, the mystery of grace finished, and the ways of God fully vindicated to men. In the humble and solemn expectation of that great event, knowing and believing the scriptures, and the power of God, let us study to live a life of faith and holiness upon the Son of God; "redeeming the time, because the days are evil," and working out our own salvation with fear and trembling." And may the God of our fathers be our God and the God of our offspring, and conduct us through the dangerous and difficult paths of human life, and through the valley of the shadow of death, to his own presence, where there is fulness of joy, and to his right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore.". Amen.

66

HISTORY OF ADA M.

LECTURE II.

And all the days that Adam lived, were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.-GENESIS v. 5

quences of whose actions we are all to this day involved?

In pursuing this important inquiry, we have GOD himself for our guide, and we plunge into the dark regions of the remotest antiquity, lighted by that gracious SPIRIT, to whom all nature stands confessed, and with whom the whole extent of time is a single point, an unchanging NOW.

IF to trace the origin of particular nations; if to mark, and to account for, the rise and progress of empire, the revolutions of states, the discovery of new worlds, be an interesting, pleasant, and useful exercise of the human mind; how amusing, interesting, and instructive must it be, to trace HUMAN NATURE itself up to its source! Placed beneath the throne of God, it is pleasing to observe how the heavens and the earth took their God having framed and fitted up this vast beginning; and by what means this globe fabric, this magnificent palace, the earth, was at first peopled, and continues to be worthy of the inhabitant whom he designed filled with men. If there be a natural, and to occupy it, and worthy of himself; having not illaudable propensity, in individuals, to formed, arranged, and fructified the varidive into the pedigree of their families; and ous and innumerable vegetable and animal in nations, to fix that of their princes, he- tribes; having created, suspended, and baroes and legislators; is it possible to want lanced the greater and the lesser lights, and curiosity, or to miss entertainment, when settled the economy of the whole host of the history of the venerable Father of all heaven; at length, with all the solemnity Men is presented to our attention—that of and majesty of Deity, as with the maturity Adam, to whom we feel ourselves closely of deliberation, as with a peculiar effort of allied by condition and by blood, however divine power and skill, he designs and prounconnected we may seem to be with most duces ADAM, the first of men. When the of the collateral branches of the family: of earth is to be fashioned, and the ocean to be whose nature we all partake; by whose con- poured into its appointed bed; when the duct we are all affected, and in the conse-firmament is to be expanded, and suns to be

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