275 the one true God, and very fignal and particular teftimonies of the divine Providence, which did naturally tend to beget in them good hopes of a future life, and the rewards of another world: they had the natural law revealed, and the main precepts of it written with God's own hand, and by Mofes delivered to them; by which means they had a more certain and distinct knowledge of their duty: they had prophets frequently fent to them to admonith them of their duty, and to exhort them to repentance, and to warn them of approaching judgements: they had good encouragement given to hope for the pardon of fin, by God's appointment of feveral ways of expiation; which, how unlikely foever they were to be available to the effectual expiation of fin, yet they did fignify, that the divine nature was placable, and did feem to figure fome more effectual way, defigned by God for that purpose, that should be exhibited in due time and, finally, they had most exprefs promifes and threatenings of temporal bleffings and judgements, to encourage them in their obedience, and to deter them from the tranfgreffion of God's laws. Thefe advantages the Jews plainly had above the rest of the world; God did not deal fo with other nations, neither had the Heathen fuch a knowledge of God's laws.

But notwithstanding this, the Jewish religion was very fhort and defective, very weak and ineffectual to the great end of righteoufnefs and true holiness, and to raife men to that perfection of goodness, of which human nature, through the grace of God, is capable; and therefore there wanted a more perfect inftitution, to fupply the defects, and weakness, and imperfection even of that divine revelation which God had made to the Jews, and really to effect and accomplish that which the Jewish religion attempted and aimed at, and was but, as I may fay, rudely begun under that imperfect inftitution. And this the gofpel, or the Chriftian religion revealed by our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, hath fully effected, as will evidently appear by a particular furvey and confideration of the main defects of the Jewish religion,

which I fhall fhew to be all perfectly made up by the revelation of the gofpel, and the doctrine of Chriftianity, in these following particulars.

1. It was a great defect of the Jewish religion, that a confiderable part of it was merely external, concerning the purification of the body and the fleth, and only figurative of that inward purity and real righteousness which renders men truly good, and like to God. For which reafon the Jewish inftitution is, by the Apostle to the Hebrews, called the law of a carnal commandment, Heb. vii. 16.; and chap. ix. 10. is faid to confift only (that is, chiefly) in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, impofed on them until the time of reformation; that is, till the Meffias fhould come, and give fuch laws as should really tend to reform the hearts and lives of men; and therefore thefe laws and ordinances are called poor pitiful elements, and the rudiments of the world, fitted rather for children in understanding and goodness, than to bring men to any maturity and perfection in goodness. All their rites of purification did only fanctify to the purifying of the flesh; but did not purge the confcience from dead works, as the Apoftle to the Hebrews fpeaks, chap. ix. 13. 14. They could not make thofe that performed and obferved them perfect, as pertaining to the confcience, ver. 9.; that is, thefe laws had no effect upon the minds of men, to make them really better, to cure them of their moral defects and impurities, their fins and vices.

But the Chriftian inftitution doth perfectly fupply this defect, by taking us off from thofe carnal and external obfervances, and principally requiring, that we worship God in fpirit and in truth; by giving us fuch laws as wholly tend to advance real and fubftantial goodness, purity, and holiness of heart and life, fuch as mainly tend to reform the minds and manners of men, and to make us like to that holy and perfect Being whom we worship and, befides an external, humble, and reverent demeanour of our felves in the worship of God, (to which natural religion doth likewife direct), Christianity hath only inftituted

ftituted two folemn external rites, viz. baptifin and the Lord's fupper; whereby we folemnly oblige our felves to the practice of all virtue and goodness; I fay, only thefe two, that by the multitude of external obfervances, Christians might not be taken off from the minding of the real and fubftantial duties of Teligion.

And therefore the church of Rome have extremely abated and weakened the force of Chriftianity upon the hearts and lives of men, by amufing them with external rites, which they have multiplied to that exceffive degree, as to make the yoke of Chrift really heavier than that of Mofes, and the Chriftian religion a more external and carnal commandment than that of the law; and by this means have diverted and taken off the minds of men from the main defign of Christianity, infomuch that they are fo employed and taken up with matters of external ceremony, that they have no leifure to think of being good men, and to mind the great and substantial duties and virtues of the Chriftian life; fo that they have spoiled the Chriftian religion of one of its chief excellencies and perfections, I mean the fimplicity of its worship, which they have now incumbered with fo many foolish and frivolous rites and obfervances, as do not only render it more burthenfome, but lefs apt to make men inwardly and fubftantially good, than even Judaism itfelf. This is fo true, and fo vifible, that the wifer and better fort of them have complained of it for feveral ages, and ftill do, as much as they dare for fear of the Inquifition, or fome other cenfure.

2. Another defect of the law of Mofes was, that it did not give encouragement enough to repentance, by declaring and affuring to us any certain way and method for the expiation and forgiveness of fin. This the rites of all religions aimed at, and pretended to; but were very ineffectual to that end. The heathen facrifices, and all the cruel and barbarous rites belonging to them, did all pretend to be fo many ways of appealing the offended Deity, and of making atonement and expiation for fin; and the facrifices of VOL. V.

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the Jews were inftituted by God himself, to make an external and legal expiation, and to be types and thadows of a better and more perfect facrifice, which thould really expiate fin; but even this was very dark. ly and imperfectly difcovered to them; befides, that the expiations of the law did only extend to the least forts of fins, thofe of ignorance and inadvertency, but not at all to prefumptuous fins, and fuch as were committed with a high hand, nor to wilful and deliberate fins, except in fome very few and rare cafes, particularly mentioned in the law fo that though a great part of the religious rites both of the Pagan and Jewith religion aimed at the expiation of fin, yet they were really ineffectual to that end; and upon the whole matter, mankind, though they conceived good hope of God's mercy and forgivenefs in cafe of repentance, (Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from kis anger?) yet they were unacquainted with any certain and effectual means to that purpofe.

It remains then, that this great bleffing of the forgiveness of fins was never fufficiently declared and affured to mankind, but through Jefus Chrift in the gofpel. So St Paul exprefsly afferts, Acts xiii. 38. 39. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of fins: And by him all that believe are juftified from all things, from which ye could not be juftified by the law of Mofes. The gofpel hath provided an expiation for all fins in general, and that by a facrifice of ineftimable value, the blood of the Son of God. And this is a mighty encouragement to repentance, and one moft effectual means to reclaim men from their fins, to be affured that they are indemnified for what is paft. And this the Apoltle means, when he fays, Gal. ii. 13. that Chrift hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curfe for us; that is, whereas the law left finners, as to thofe fins which tood most in need of pardon, under a curfe, having provided no expiation for them, Chrift hath redeemed them from that curfe, by making a general expiation for

fin. And in this fenfe it is that the author to the He brews fays, chap. ix. 15. that Chrift died for the redemption of the tranfgreffions that were under the firft covenant; that is, for those fins for which the covenant of the law had provided no way of forgivenefs; and therefore St John fays emphatically, 1 John i. 7. that the blood of Jefus Chrift cleanfeth us from all fin.

3. The law did not afford fufficiently plain and certain rules and directions for a good life. As the corruption and degeneracy of mankind grew worse, fo the light of mature waxed dimmer and dimmer, and the rule of good and evil was more doubtful and uncertain, and that in very confiderable inftances of our duty. The law of Mofes was peculiar to the Jews; and even to them, who had only the benefit and advantage of it, it did not give clear and perfec light and direction as to moral duties, and thofe things which are of an eternal and immutable reafon and goodness. And therefore our Saviour in this fermon explains it to a greater perfection than it was underfood to have among the Jews, or the letter of it feemed to intend, and hath not only forbidden feveral things permitted by that law, as divorce, and retalia tion of injuries; but hath heightened our duty in feveral inftances of it, requiring us to love our enemies, ' and to forgive the greatest injuries and provocations, though never fo often repeated, and not only not to ' revenge them, but to requite them with good turns; which were not understood by mankind to be laws before, but yet when duly confidered, are very agreeable to right reafen, and the fenfe of the wifet and beft men. So that the Chriftian religion hath not only fixed and determined our duty, and broughtit to a greater certainty, but hath raised it to a greater perfection, and rendered it every way fit to bring the minds of men to a more divinei temper, and a more reasonable and perfect way of ferving God, than ever the world was inftructed in before.

4. The promifes and threatenings of the law were only of temporal good and evil things, which are, in comparison of the endless rewards and punishments of