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to men, and to fhew mercy and pity to thofe that are in mifery; and the greatest good that one man can do to another, is to be instrumental to reclaim him from the evil and error of his way; because this is to fave his foul from death and we cannot imagine that God ever intended, by any rule of prudence, or pofitive conftitution of the Jewish law, fo to forbid their accompanying with bad and fcandalous men, that it fhould be unlawful to converfe with them, in order to their recovery and amendment: Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not facrifice.

And St Paul was of the fame mind in the precepts he gives concerning avoiding the company of fcandalous Chriftians, 2 Theff. iii 14. 15. And if any man obey not our word by this epifile, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed; yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. St Paul qualifies his precept, leit Christians fhould mistake it, and fall into the Jewish extreme, not to converfe with those whom they esteemed scandalous and wicked, upon any account whatfoever, no, not in order to their amendment and reformation. The bond of intimacy and friendfhip with bad men ought to be broken, and yet the bond of common humanity may be as firong as ever. It is one thing to difcountenance bad men, to bring them to fhame and a fenfe of their fault; and quite another thing to abandon them to ruin and even in case of notorious herely or wickednefs of life, it is one thing to cut them off from the fociety and communion of Chriftians; and quite another, to cut them off from human fociety, to cut their threats, and to extirpate them out of the world.

And yet the matter was carried thus far by the fu rious zeal of the Jews, when Chriftianity first appeared in the world: they thought that no mercy in fuch cafes was the beft fervice that could be done, and the beft facrifice that could be offered to Almighty God; and this pattern hath been fince, not only closely fal lowed, but outdone by the doctrines and practices of

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the church of Rome; as we have too much reafon to remember * upon this day.

But to proceed in the further explication of the text, the meaning whereof, in fhort, is this; that the ritual and inftrumental parts of religion, and all laws and duties concerning them, are of lefs value and efteem with God, than those which are of a moral nature, especially the great duties and offices of piety and humanity, of the love of God, and of our neighbour. And if we confider the matter well, we fhall fee the reason of it to be very plain; because natural and moral duties are approved of God, for themfelves, and for their own fake, upon account of their own natural and intrinfical goodness: but the ritual and inftrumental parts of religion are only pleafing to God in order to thefe, and fo far as they tend to beget and promote them in us; they are not naturally good in themselves, but are inftituted and appointed by God for the fake of the other; and therefore great reafon there is that they fhould be fubordinate, and give way to them, when they come in competition with one another.

For this is a known rule, which takes place in all laws, That laws of lefs importance fhould give way to thofe that are of greater: Quoties leges ex circumftan tia colliduntur, ita ut utraque fervari non poteft, fervanda eft lex potior; "Whenever two laws happen "to be in fuch circumftances as to clash with one an "other, fo that both of them cannot be obferved, "that law which is better, and of greater confe

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quence, is to be kept." And Tully gives much the fame rule in this matter: "In comparing of laws. (fays he) we are to confider which law is moft ufeful, and juft, and reasonable to be observed.” From whence it will follow, that when two laws, or more, or how many foever they be, cannot be obferved, because they clafh with one another, ca maxime confervanda putetur, quæ ad maximas res pertinere videatur: It is reafonable that that law fhould be "obferved, which is of greatest moment and con<< cernment.'

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Preached on Nov. 5. 1688.

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By what hath been faid, we may learn what is the meaning of this faying, which our Saviour more than once cites out of the Prophet, I will have mercy, and not facrifice.

From the words thus explained, I fhall take occa fion to profecute the two propofitions which I mentioned before, namely,

1. That natural religion is the foundation of inftituted and revealed religion.

2. That no instituted religion was ever defigned to take away the obligation of natural duties; but is intended to establish and confirm them.

And both these are fufficiently grounded in the reafon of our Saviour's discourse, from this rule, I will bave mercy, and not facrifice.

I. That natural religion is the foundation of inftituted and revealed religion. And all revealed religion does fuppofe, and take for granted, the clear and undoubted principles and precepts of natural religion, and builds upon them. By natural religion, I mean obedience to the natural law, and the performance of fuch duties as natural light, without any exprefs and fupernatural revelation, doth dictate to men. Thefe lie at the bottom of all religion, and are the great and fundamental duties which God requires of all mankind; as, that we fhould love God, and behave ourselves reverently towards him; that we should believe his revelations; and teftify our dependence upon him, by imploring his aid and direction in all our neceffities and diftreffes; and acknowledge our obligations to him for all the bleffings and benefits which we receive; that we fhould moderate our appetites, in reference to the pleafures and enjoyments of this world, and use them temperately and chastely; that we fhould be juft and upright in all our dealings with one another, true to our word, and faithful to our trust; and in all our words and actions obferve that equity towards others, which we defire they fhould ufe towards us; that we fhould be kind, and charitable, merciful and compaffionate one towards another, ready to do good to all, and apt not only to pity, but to relieve them in their mifery and ne

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ceflity. These, and fuch like, are those which we call moral duties; and they are of eternal and perpetual obligation, because they do naturally oblige, without any particular and exprefs revelation from God. And thefe are the foundation of revealed and inftitu. ted religion; and all revealed religion does fuppofe them, and build upon them; for all revelation from God, fuppofeth us to be men, and alters nothing of thofe duties to which we were naturally obliged before. And this will clearly appear, if we confider thefe three things.

1. That the fcripture every where fpeaks of these, as the main and fundamental duties of the Jewith religion.

2. That no inftituted fervice of God, no pofitive part of religion, was ever acceptable to him, when thefe were neglected.

3. That the great defign of the Chriftian religion, was to restore and reinforce the practice of the natu ral law.

1. That the fcripture every where speaks of thefe as the main and fundamental duties of the Jewith religion. When our Saviour was afked, Which was the firft and great commandment of the law? he anfwered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy ftrength; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. One would have expected he would have given quite another an fwer, and have pitched upon fome of thofe things. which were fo much magnified among the Jews, and which they laid fo much weight upon; that he should have inftanced in facrifice, or circumcifion, or the law of the fabbath: but he overlooks all thefe as inconfiderable in comparison, and inftances only in thofe two great heads of moral duty, the love of God, and our neighbour; which are of natural and perpetual obligation, and comprehend under them all other mcral duties.

And these are thofe which our Saviour calls the law and the Prophets, and which he fays he came not to defroy, but to fulfih, Matth. v. 17. 18. 19. 20. Think not that I am come to deftroy the law or the Pro

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phets: I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil. For verily I fay unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jor or one tittle fhall in no wife pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whofoever therefore shall break one of thefe leaft commandments, and shall teach men fo, he shall be called the leaft in the kingdom of heaven: but whofoever shall do, and teach them, the fame fhall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I fay unto you, That except your righteoufnefs fhall exceed the righte oufness of the fcribes and Pharifees, ye shall in no cafe enter into the kingdom of heaven.

That our Saviour doth not here fpeak of the judi cial or ceremonial law of the Jews, but of the duties of the moral law, will, I think, be very plain, from thefe following confiderations.

ift, That the judicial or ceremonial laws of the Jews were to pafs away, and did fo not long after but this law, which our Saviour speaks of, was to be perpetual and immutable; for he tells us, that heaven and earth fhould pass away, but one jot or one tittle of this law fhould not pafs.

2dly, The obfervation of the law which our Saviour fpeaks of, confifted in fuch things as the Scribes and Pharifees neglected; for he tells his difciples upon this occafion, that except their righteoufnefs did exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharifees, they Should in no cafe enter into the kingdom of heaven. But now the fcribes and Pharifees were the moft accurate and punctual people in the world, in obferving the precepts of the judicial and ceremonial law; they were fo far from taking away any thing from thefe obfervances, that they had added to them, and enlarged them, by innumerable traditions of their own; fo exact were they, that they would pay tithe of mint, and anife, and cummin, as our Saviour obferves but then they were extremely defective in moral duties; they were unnatural to their parents, and would pretend that their eftates were confecrated to God, that under this pretence of pofitive religion, they might excufe themfelves from a natural duty, and let their parents tarve for God's fake;

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