How far the subscribers to these two volumes may think it proper to encourage the rest, must be referred to themselves. In the mean time, as that must be exceeding precarious which depends on the continuance of one man's life and health, I would desire permission here to take leave of my friends, at least for the present, with such a serious address as may be the most substantial expression of my sincere gratitude and respect. I should have thought, ny honoured friends, that I had made you a very unworthy return for this public token of your regard to me, if I had offered you merely an amusement, though ever so critical and polite. It had been much better, on both sides, that the work should never have been undertaken or perused, than that these Divine authors should be treated like a set of profane classics; or that the sacred and momentous transactions they relate should be handled and read like an invented tale, or a common history. I have often reminded myself of it, and permit me now, Sirs, solemnly to remind you, that these are the memoirs of the holy Jesus, the Saviour of sinful men, whom to know is life eternal, and whom to neglect is everlasting destruction. We have here the authentic records of that gospel which was intended as the great medicine for our souls; of that character which is our pattern; of that death which is our ransom; of him, in short, whose name we bear as we are professed Christians, and before whose tribunal we are all shortly to appear, that our eternal existence may be determined, blissful, or miserable, according to our regard to what he has taught, and done, and endured. Let not the greatest therefore think it beneath their notice; nor the meanest imagine, that, amidst all the most necessary cares and labours, they can find any excuse for neglecting, or even for postponing it. Had I not been fully convinced of the certainty and importance of Christianity, I should not have determined to devote my whole life to its service (for on the principles of natural religion, I know the soul to be immortal, and should expect nothing but its ruin in the ways of the most sanctified fraud :) but as I am thus convinced, I must make it my humble request to every one that enters on the perusal of these volumes, that they may, for a little while at least, be the employment of his retired hours; and that as he proceeds from one section to another, he would pause and reflect," Whose words do I hear? Whose actions do I survey? Whose sufferings do I contemplate?" And as all must know they are the words, the actions, and the sufferings of Jesus the Son of God, our supreme Lord, and our final Judge, let it be farther and very seriously inquired in what degree the obvious and confessed design of the glorious gospel has been practically regarded and complied with: "Can I, in my heart, think that I am a disciple whom such a Master will approve, and whom he will choose for his attendant in that world of glory to which he is now gone?" Let the plainness of this advice be forgiven; for such is the temper and conduct of most who call themselves Christians, that, if this religion be true, their cold and unaffecting knowledge of the history of Christ, and of the purposes of his appearance, will only serve to furnish out matter for eternal self-accusation and remorse: and he is, at best, but a learned and polite infidel who would not rather be the instrument of conducting the lowest creature, capable of reading or hearing these lines, to the saving knowledge of a crucified Redeemer, than fill the most refined nation with his own applause, while the grace of the Saviour is forgotton, or his service neglected. I have yet one farther request to add to those of my readers who are heads of families; which is, that they would please to remember the title of the work, and consider it as chiefly intended in its most essential parts, for a Family Expositor. I heartily rejoice in the reason which I have to hope, that low as our religious character is fallen in these degenerate days, acts of domestic worship are PREFACE are yet performed by multitudes of Christians of various denominations: yet I cannot but fear, that the scriptures are not so constantly read at such seasons as they formerly were; an omission which must be to the great detriment both of children and servants. One would think, that those who believe the Divine authority of scripture, and its infinite importance, should be easily prevailed upon to restore this useful exercise, at least for one part of the day; and I would hope, that what I here offer them may render it more agreeable and useful. It would give me inexpressible delight to find that this is the case in those families with which I am most intimately acquainted; and would be an encourage ment to hope this work may be proportionably useful in places and times to which neither my observation nor intelligence can extend. I shall conclude this preface, with my hearty prayers, that, weak and imperfect as these labours are, the Divine blessing may every where and always attend them; and that it may rest on all who have patronized them, and on all who shall peruse them! May every prejudice against the truth of Christianity, or against its power, be vanquished? May the most insensible minds be awakened to attend to religion, and may the weak and languishing be animated to press on to greater attainments in it! May those that are preparing for the service of the sanctuary (as every part of this performance is their concern,) be by every part of it more abundantly furnished for the various duties of their important office! And may those who are as yet but babes in knowledge, through the Divine blessing grow by that sincere milk of the word, which is here presented, as I trust, in its genuine simplicity! In a word, may many persons, families, and larger societies, receive devout pleasure and solid lasting improvement from it; that the great God, of whom and throngh whom are all things, may in all be glorified, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who in all the sacred volumes, and especially here, is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, to whom be everlasting honour, love, and obedience! Amen. Northampton, August 9th, 1740. THE FAMILY EXPOSITOR. THE LATTER PART OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST AS RECORDED SECT. CXVI. Christ, on the mention of some calamities which had befallen others, warns his hearers of the danger they were in, if they did not repent, and illustrates it by the parable of the barren fig-tree. Luke XIII. 1-9. LUKE XIII. 1. at that season, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood their sacrifices. LUKE XIII. 1. Luke XIII. 1. THERE were present NOW, while our Lord was thus discoursing SECT. of the necessity of being at peace with God, cxvi. some who were present at that time, told him of those unhappy Galileans, the followers of Judas Gaulonites, who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the Roman power by some acts or principles of resistance to it; and whose blood Pilate the governor had in effect mingled with their sacrifices, having circumvented and slain them when they were come to worship in the temple at a public feast. aTold him of those Galileans, the followers of Judas Gaulopites.] Josephus has given us the story of this Judas Gaulonites at large, Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 1, § 1. (See also Bell, Jud. lib. ii. cap. 8 (al. 7), § 1; cap. 17. § 8; & lib. vii. cap. 8. (al. 28), Havercamp.) It appears he was at the head of a sect who asserted God to be their only Sovereign, and were so utterly averse to a submission to the Roman power, that they accounted it unlawful to pay tribute unto Cæsar, and rather would endure the greatest torments than give any man the title of lord, This Judas is probably the person whom Gamaliel refers to by the And name of Judas of Galilee, Acts v. 37.- b You SECT. cxvi. Luke Except we repent, we shall all perish. said unto these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans,because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise And Jesus, without making any remarks on 2 And Jesus, anthe cause on which they were engaged, endea- swering, them, Suppose ye that voured, with his usual wisdom and piety, to lead XIII. 2. the minds of his hearers into some profitable reflections upon the event; and, in reply, said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were notorious sinners above all the rest of the Galileans, that they suffered such sad things as these, and 3 were cut off in so miserable a manner? If you do, you are very unfit to judge of the conduct of Providence: for, howsoever you may censure them, as shewn hereby to be the most enormous sinners, I tell you, No; you are not to conclude from hence, this was the case; but, except you repent, you shall all perish thus"; vengeance will overtake you in your evil ways, and, in the desolating judgments, that will shortly come on your whole nation, the blood of many of you shall be mingled with your sacrifices. 4 perish. upon whom the tower that dwelt in Jerusalem? Or, to instance in another unhappy case that 4 Or those eighteen has lately occurred, I mean that of those eigh-in Siloam fell, and slew teen men on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and them,think ye that they slew them, do you think they were greater of- were sinners above all •fenders than all the other inhabitants of Jerusa-men lem, that they were thus providentially singled 5 out for destruction? I tell you, No; you 5 I tell you, Nay; would judge very rashly if you were in general but, except ye repent, to draw such conclusions; for the best of men may be involved with others in temporal calamities: but remember what I told you before, that, b You shall all perish thus, woaulws ano2. Some content themselves with rendering it, You shall all perish as well as they; and possibly no more may be intended: yet the rendering I prefer appears to be more literal; and I the rather choose it, because (as Grotius, Tillotson. Whitby, and many others have observed) there was a remarkable resemblance between the fate of these Galileans and that of the whole Jewish nation; the flower of which was slain at Jerusalem by the Roman sword while they were assembled at one of their great festivals (see Joseph. Bell. Jud lib. vi. cap. 9 (al. vii. 17), (3, 4); and many thousands of them perished in the temple itself, and were (as their own historian represents it at large) literally buried under its ruins. Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 4 (al. vii, 10), § 6, & cap. 5 (al. vii, 11), § 3, 2. c On whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them.] From the fountain of Siloam, which was without the walls of Jerusalem, except ус a little stream flowed into the city (Isa. viii. 6), which was received in a kind of bason, which some have thought to be the same with the pool of Bethesda (see 2 Kings xx. 20. Neh. iii. 16. Isa. viii. 6. and John v. 2. ix. 7). Being near the temple, it is no wonder that many frequented it for purification; but the calamity occasioned by the fall of the neighbouring tower is not, that I can find, mentioned any where but here; probably it had happened at some late feast; and some of Christ's hearers might then have been at Jerusalem.-Erasmus indeed takes this Siloam to have been Shiloh, the place where the tabernacle was first settled (Josh. xviii. 1. Psal. xxviii. 60), but without sufficient reason; see Drusius, in loc.-This last instance might seem in some respects more to the purpose than the former, as there was no human interposition attending the death of these men; so that it seemed more immediately providential, than that of the Galileans whom Pilate had massacred. d These |