viour taught obedience, and paid it himfelf, and never did any thing contrary to them, nor in the leaft weaken the obligation of them; but they continued in full force, till that nation and commonwealth was diffolved. So that these laws were no wife impeached or abrogated by the Chriftian religion; but they fell for want of a fubject to exercise their power upon, and because the people that were to be governed by them were deftroyed or diffipated; and though they neither are, nor ever were, obligatory to other nations, as given by Mofes, and as they were the peculiar laws of a particular nation; yet the natural reafon and equity of them, fo far as it concerned mankind, is duly confidered and regarded by us, and many of these laws are adopted into the laws of mot Christian nations. It is plain then, that this part of the Jewish law received no prejudice by Christianity, but continued in full force fo long as that nation and commonwealth lafted, which was to be governed by it. 2. As to the ritual and ceremonial part of the Jewish law, which confifted in circumcifion, and purifications, and facrifices, in diftinction of meats and times, and innumerable other rites and obfervances, this was not properly abrogated and made void by the coming of Chrift, but fulfilled and made good by him. The rites and ceremonies of the law were the types and fhadows of thofe future good things which were promised under the gofpel, a kind of rude draught of a better and more perfect inftitution, which was defigned, and at last finished and perfected, by the Christian religion. This account the Apoftle gives of the legal rites and obfervances, Col. ii. 16. 17. Let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the fabbath-days, which are a fhadow of things to come, but the body is of Chrift; that is, he is the fubftance and reality of all thofe things which were fhadowed and figured by thofe legal obfervances. And fo the Apoftle to the Hebrews calls the priests and facrifices of the law, the examples and shadows of heavenly things, chap. viii. 5. and so chap. x. 1. The law having VOL. V. Z. a a fhadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, that is, being but an obfcure type, and not a perfect reprefentation of the bleffings and benefits of the gofpel, which we now have in truth and reality. Now reafon will tell us, that the laws concerning thefe types and fhadows, were only to cóntinue till the fubftance of the things fignified by them fhould come, and that they would be of no longer ufe, when that more perfect inftitution, which was figured by them, fhould take place, and then they would expire, and become void of themfelves, becaufe the reafon and ufe of them ceafing, they must neceffarily fall. But they did not expire immediately upon the coming of Chrift, and therefore he himself fubmitted to thefe laws, fo long as they continued in force: he was circumcifed, and prefented in the temple, and performed all other rites required by the law, that firft covenant to which thefe laws and ordinances belonged, continuing in force till the ratification of the fecond covenant by the death of Chrift; and then thefe laws expired, or rather were fulfilled, and had their accomplishment in the facrifice of Chrift, which made all the facrifices and other rites of the Jewith religion needlefs, and of no ufe for the future, Chrift having by this one facrifice of himself, perfected for ever them that are fanctified, as the fame Apostle speaks, Heb. x. 14. So that Chrift did not properly abrogate and repeal thofe rites and ceremonial laws; but they having continued as long as they were defigned to do, and there was any use of them, they abated and ceafed of themfelves. And that the death of Chrift was the time of their expiration, because then the new covenant took place, St Paul exprefsly tells us, Eph. ii. 15. Having abolifhed or voided in his flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances; and this, ver. 16. he is faid to have done by his cross; and more plainly, Col. ii. 14. Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances which was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So So that ye fee that even the ceremonial law was not fo properly abrogated by the facrifice and death of Chrift, but rather had its accomplishment, and attained its end, in the facrifice of Chrift, which by the eternal efficacy of it to the expiation of fin, and the purifying of our confciences, hath made all the facrifices and wathings, and other rites of the ceremonial law, for ever needlefs and fuperfluous. 3. But efpecially as to the moral law, and thofe precepts which are of natural and perpetual obligation, our Saviour did not come either to diffolve, or to leffen and flacken the obligation of them. And of this I told you our Saviour doth principally, if not folely, fpeak here in the text, as will ap pear to any one that fhall attentively confider the fcope of this difcourfe. In the beginning of his fermon, he promifeth blefling to thofe, and thofe only, who were endued with thofe virtues which are required by the precepts of the moral law, or comprehended in them; and then he tells them, that Chriftians must be very eminent and confpicuous for the practice of them: ver. 16. Let your light fo fhine before men, that they may fee your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven; and then he cautions them not entertain any fuch imaginations, as if he intended to diffolve the obligation of the law, and to free men from the practice of moral duties, which probably fome might have fuggefted against him: Think not that I am come to deftroy the law and the prophets as if he had faid, You cannot entertain any fuch conceit, if you confider that the precepts which I inculcate upon you, and thofe virtues the practice whereof I recommend to you, are the fame which are contained in the law and the prophets; fo that I am fo far from croffing the main defign of the law and the prophets, and taking away the obligation of moral duties injoined by the Jewith religion, that I come purpofely to carry on the fame defign to further per fection, to give a more perfect and clear law, and to give a greater enforcement and encouragement to the practice of moral duties: Thefe were always the fum and fubftance of religion, the ultimate defign of the Z 2 lar law and the prophets; and therefore I am fo far from discharging men from the obligation of the moral precepts of the law, that I come to bind them more ftrongly upon you. And verily I fay unto you, that is, I folemnly declare, that whosoever shall break one of thefe leaft commandments, and fhall teach men fo, he fhall be called the leaft in the kingdom of heaven; that is, he fhall in no wife enter therein. You think the fcribes and Pharifees very pious and excellent men, and to have attained to a high pitch of righteoufnefs; but I say unto you, that except your righ teousness shall exceed the righteousness of the fcribes and Pharifees, je fhall in no wife enter into the kingdom of heaven. And then he inftanceth in feveral precepts of the moral law, which in the letter of them, especially as they were interpreted by the teachers of the law among the Jews, were very much fhort of that righteoufnefs and perfection which he now requires of his difciples and followers. So that his whole difcourfe is about precepts and obligations of the moral law, and not a word concerning the ri tual and ceremonial law; which makes me very prone to think, that our Saviour's meaning in the text is this, that his religion was fo far from thwarting and oppofing that which was the main defign of the law and the prophets, that is, of the Jewith religion, that the principal intention of Christianity was to advance the practice of goodnefs and virtue, by ftrengthening the obligation of moral duties, and giving us a more perfect law and rule of life, and offering better arguments and greater encouragements to the obedience of this law. Therefore, for the fuller explication and illuftration of this matter, I fhall endeavour to clear thefe three points: 1. That the main and ultimate defign of the law ard the prophets, was to engage men to the practice of moral duties, that is, of real and substantial gcod nefs. 2. That the law of Mofes, or the difpenfation of the Jewish religion, was comparatively very weak and infufficient to this purpofe. 3. That 3. That the Chriflian religion hath fupplied all the defects, and weakneffes and imperfections of that dif penfation. Thefe three particulars will fully clear our Saviour's meaning in this text. I. That the main and ultimate defign of the law and the prophets, was to engage men to the practice of moral duties, that is, of real and fubftantial goodnefs, confifting in thofe virtues which our Saviour mentions at the beginning of this fermon, humility, and meekness, and mercy, and righteoufnefs, and purity, and peaceablenefs. This our Saviour more than once tells us was the fum and fubftance, the main fcope and defign, of the whole doctrine of the law and the Prophets, Matth. vii. 12. Therefore all things whatfoever ye would that men fhould do to you, doje even foto them for this is the law and the prophets. And Matth. xxii. 40. That the love of God and our neighbour, thofe two great commands, to which all moral duties are reduced, are the two great hinges of the Jewith religion, on thefe two hang all the law and the prophets St Paul calls love, the fulfilling of the whole law, Rom. xiii. 10.; St James, the perfect and the royal law, as that which hath a fovereign influence upon all parts of religion. And therefore the Apoftle, Rom. iii. 21. tells us, that this more perfect righteoufnefs which was brought in by the gofpel, or the Chriftian religion, is witnessed by the law and the prophets. And indeed the Prophets every where do flight and undervalue the ritual and ceremonial part of religion, in comparifon of the practice of moral duties, If. i. 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your facrifices unto me? bring no more vain oblations your new moons and your appointed feafts my foul ha teth. But what then are the things that are acceptable to God? He tells us at the 16th verfe, Walb ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil, learn to do well; feek judgement, relieve the opprejfed, judge the fatherlefs, plead for the widow. And by the Prophet JeAnd by the bufinefs remiah, God tells that people, that the bufinefs of facrifices was no the thing primarily defigned by: God, but obedience to the moral law. The rituál 7.3 of law |