FOOTNOTES
Rev. Dr. Cogswell, of Windham.
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On 2 Samuel xii. 13.
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The two discourses on this text were originally one, and preached before Windham Association, at Thompson, October Session, 1798. Probably some of the ideas which they contain, may have been suggested by reading Paley's Evidences of Christianity; but as the author had not that book in his possession when he wrote on this subject, he is not able particularly to give credit to that excellent writer, if here his due.
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Vid. Discourse on Romans ii. 11.
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Vid. a discourse on this subject by Timothy Dwight, D.D. President of Yale College, printed at Newhaven, A.D. 1798.
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Comparatively None. The number will be exceedingly small—the times resemble those just before the flood, when Noah was said to stand alone. The pageantry of Romish worship may be kept up in that church, till mystical Babylon shall be destroyed, in the awful manner foretold in the Revelation; but infidelity hath long since, tipped the foundation of catholic religion, being grafted on the ruins of superstition. The absurd doctrines, and legendary tales of popery, may have been credited in the dark ages, when many of the clergy were unable to write their names, or so much as read their alphabet; but the belief of them is utterly inconsistent with the light everywhere diffused since the revival of literature.
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Tormented them. This language is remarkable. It intimates that the pains occasioned in the wicked, by the warnings of the faithful are the same, in kind, as those of the damned, and that they are often severe. This accounts for the mad joy of infidelity—for the frantic triumphs of those who have persuaded themselves that religion is a fable. It accounts for the representation here given of the conduct of an unbelieving world, when infidelity shall have become universal, and the dead body of religion lie exposed to public scorn. Such is the time here foretold—a time when the age of atheism may be vauntingly termed "the age of reason."
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Revelation xiv. 15, 20.
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Daniel viii. 18, x. 9.
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2 Corinthians xii. 4-7.
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2 Kings iv. 26.
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Ezekiel xviii. 31.
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Romans vi. 2, 11.
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Genesis vi. 3.
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Mark xii. 24, x. 21.
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1 Corinthians iii. 13.
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Job xi. 7, 8.
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Matthew xi. 23, 24.
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Vid. Concordance, under BLOT.
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Vid. Pool in locum.
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Vid. Henry in loc.
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Vid. Hunter's Lect. Vol. iv. Lect. iv
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Matthew vi. 32.
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Revelations xix. 12.
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Isaiah xliv. 22.
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Jeremiah l. 20.—Vid. Cruden's Concord. under BLOT.
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Deuteronomy ix. 19.
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Numbers xiv.
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James v. 16.
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Hebrews xi. 26, xii. 2.
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Hunter Vol. ii. Lect. xviii.
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Euxoman gar autos ego anathema einai apo tou xristou uper tou adelphon mou suggenon mou kata sarxa.
Euxoman, rendered in translation by I could wish forms in the imperfect of the indicative mood, in the Auic dialect. Mr. Pool was too accurate a scholar not to observe the disagreement of the translation with the original. Some read it as in the indicative; but it is generally considered as in the optative, and altered by a figure which takes on iota from the middle, and cuts an an end of the word forming Euxoman, instead of auxoiman an. [123]
But what warrant have we for these alterations? They only serve to darken a difficult text.
The most natural and common construction of euxoman, derives, is, to glory or boast. Gloriar is the first word used to express the meaning of it in Schrevelius' Lexicon; and the meaning euxos, the theme of this verb justifies the construction, in preference to that used by the translators. And the Greek preposition uper, which is rendered for, is often used to signify above, or more than.
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1 Timothy i. 13.
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Romans x. 12.
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1 Kings xv. 5.
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Psalm xxxii. 5.
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Chapter ii. 16, 21.
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Lev. xviii. 5, Ezek. xviii. 4.
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Chapter vii.
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Mark vi. 20.
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Cogito, ergo sum. Descartes.
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Proverbs iv. 14.
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Matthew x. 37.
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Matthew xv. 12-19.
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John xv. 22-24.
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Luke xi. 19.
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St. Mark ix. 38, 39.
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Acts xix. 13.
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1 Cor xiii. 1, &c.
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Luke iv. 34.
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1 Cor. v. 5, 1 Tim. i. 20.
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Ephesian iii. 2-7.
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Matthew x. 42.
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Mark x. 17, &c.
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Genesis iii. 9.
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John vii. 37.
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Numbers xv. 30, 31.
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Deuteronomy xxix. 20.
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Rom. xv. 3.
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Ezekial xxxiii, 10.
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Matthew xi. 23.
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Romans xiv. 15.
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Jeremiah ii. 5, Micah vi. 3.
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Numbers xxii, &c.
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2 Kings iii. 4.
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2 Corinthians viii. 12.
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Isaiah lxi. 8.
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Isaiah i. 10, &c.
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Numbers xv. and xxi. 16.
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Matthew x. 32.
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Titus i. 16.
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Titus i. 16.
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Genesis xvii. 9-14.
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Isaiah l. 11.
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Vide Sermon on Colossians ii. 8.
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Matthew xix. 3-10.
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Tenders of pardon and life were made to the whole human race, through a Mediator, and the church at first included the whole family of Adam; but this did not long continue. Cain, enraged that his offering was not accepted, slew his brother, and "went out from the presence of the Lord"—left his father's house, in which God was worshipped, and where his ordinances were administered—cast off religion, and taught his children to disregard it. His progeny were not deficient in worldly wisdom. They cultivated the arts of life, and made improvements in them, as appears from the sketch of their history given by Moses. [124] But they were without God in the world; having cast off his fear, and the apprehension of his presence, and their accountableness, which often follow the dereliction of the divine institutions.
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Matthew xxvii. 53.
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Luke xviii. 1, &c.
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Witherspoon's Sermon on Education.
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Vide Henry and Brown's Dictionary.
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Mr. Henry undertakes to assign the reasons of all these injunctions; but as none can be assigned which are not merely conjectural, we choose rather to leave each one to make his own conjectures, as he may find occasion.
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James v. 19, 20.
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Preached at the house of one made a widow by her husband's desertion; who left her in straitened circumstances to provide for a young family.
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Hebrews xiii. 5.
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Preached at the funeral of Asa Witter, Esq. Oct. 9th, 1792.
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1 John i. 8-10.
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Revelation xix. 10.
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Revelation vi. 9, 10.
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Revelation xxi. 22.
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Sundulos sou gar eimi, xai ton adelphon sou ton prophaton. Doct. Doddridge in his notes on this passage observes, that it may be rendered I am thy fellow servant and the fellow servant of thy brethren the prophets.
But the translation in the Bible is perfectly literal. The sentence is elliptical. The elipsis may as well be filled by tis, as by sundoulos. If filled by the former, it reads thus, I am a fellow servant, and one of the brethren the prophets. This, for the reasons given above, we conceive to be the sense of the passage. The learned reader wilt judge for himself.
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The term angel signifies a messenger. If glorified saints are used to carry God's messages, or sent to do his business, they are made angels, in the proper sense of the word. Such appear to have been the angelic band, who united in praising God, when the Lamb prevailed to open the book of his decrees and reveal them to the apostle—"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy—for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests: And we shall reign on the earth." Surely these must have been of our race.
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Luke ix. 29.
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Matthew xxvii. 52, 53.
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Job xiv. 21.
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Vid. Henry in locum.
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Genesis vi. 5.
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Luke xv. 7-10.
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Daniel x. 13. Jude 9.
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Matthew xviii. 10.
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Hebrews i. 14.
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Verse 1.
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Verse 18.
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Verse 9.
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1 Corinthians xi. 3.
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These are not mere conjectures—they are intimated by St. Jude, when he declares the schismatics of his day "have gone in the way of Cain and Core." Core, or Korah, certainly attempted to change a divine order by which the functions of the priesthood were appropriated to the family of Aaron. And the schismatics, who were contemporary with the apostles, set themselves up for teachers in the church without a regular, or supernal call to the ministry. These went in the way of Cain. His sin must therefore have been a departure from divine institutions.
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1 Samuel xiii. 1-14, xv. 15-13.
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2 Samuel vi. 6, 7.
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Daniel vii. 25.
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Neither the day of Christ's birth, death, resurrection or ascension appear to have been regarded as holy time, or any way distinguished from the other days of the year, during the apostolic age. The former of these is not marked in the scriptures. Whether it happened on the twentyfifth of December, or at some other season is uncertain. So are the times in which the apostles and primitive Christians suffered martyrdom. These events are veiled. Divine providence hath hidden them from mankind, probably for the same reason that the body of Moses was hidden from Israel—to prevent its being made an object of idolatrous worship—or for the same which is supposed to have occasioned our Lord's seeming neglect of his mother, and his severer reproof given to Peter, than to any other of his disciples—"Get thee behind me Satan;" namely, that idolatrous honor, which he foresaw would be afterwards paid them by some called Christians.
Easter is once mentioned in our translation of the New Testament; but it is not found in the Greek original. The word there used is "Pasxa," the Passover. It is mentioned only to note the time in which Herod intended to have brought forth Peter and delivered him up to his enemies. [125]
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We would not be understood to intend that all religious meeting on week days are unlawful. Special occasions often require them. But the Lord's day is the only time set apart by divine order for the stated attendance. No other hath he consecrated to the business of religion. Neither would we be considered as denying the legality of ever uniting to seek the Lord previous to the celebration of eucharist. We may look to God to assist and accept us in every duty. But if we consider these preparatory exercises as indispensibly requisite, and as constituting a part of the duty, we do it without divine warrant.
From an attention to the gospel history, we are induced to believe that the celebration of that ordinance constituted a part of the common duties of every Lord's day, while the apostles ministered in the Christian church; [126] and that an attendance at the sacramental table, was not distinguished by any special preparatory exercises, diverse from those which anteceded other sanctuary duties. No trace of distinction, in these respects, is to be found in scripture; neither precept nor example can be adduced to support it. Whence then its origin?
Did not it derive from Rome? We know the errors of the Romish church relative to the eucharist; and their tendency to induce a belief that it is more holy, and requires greater sanctity in communicant, than is requisite to an attendance on other ordinances. And the same notion is prevalent and many who have withdrawn from the communion of that church. Many serious people who attend other religious duties with pleasure and advantage, are afraid to obey Christ's dying command! Is not this a relic of popery? When Luther left the papal communion, his reformation, particularly relative to this ordinance, was but partial. Many other protestants retain a tinge of catholic leaven. Is not the distinction respecting the sanctity of divine ordinances from this source? It is not found in the gospel. If the exercises under consideration serve to perpetuate this unscriptural distinction, and to drive men from a plain and important duty, they have a baleful effect. They may be well intended. Doubtless they are so by the generality of those who attend them. It is painful to be obliged to dissent from men whom we receive as brethren, and revere as Christians. But after much deliberation, such are our views of the subject before us; and we offer them to the serious consideration of the followers of Christ.
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Numbers xvi. 27-33.
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Jeremiah xviii. 7-10.
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2 Kings xxi. 13.
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Jeremiah xv. 1-4.
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Numbers xxxv. 33.
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2 Kings xxiii. 26, xxiv. 3, 4.
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Joel ii. 3.
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Revelation xiv. 14-22
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1 Corinthians x. 11.
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Revelation xvi. 7.
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Romans xi. 26.
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Vid. Pool in loc.
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Genesis iv. 17-22.
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Acts xii. 4.
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Acts xx. 7.
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