ing with Expreffions of Zeal, and eagerly contending for their Own way of Worship, tho' at the fame time they have a Pharifaical contempt of all befides themselves,and, with them, negle& the more weighty matters of the Law, Judgment, Mercy, and Faith? those indifpenfable Duties which God defires rather than Sacrifice, which are the true Love of God, and therefore exprefsly fo call'd by St. Luke in a parallel place, where he expreffes whatSt. Matthew callsfudgment, Mercy, and Faith, by Judgment and the Love of God. Luke 11.42. Wo unto you Pharifees, for ye Tithe Mint and Rue, and neglect Judgment and the Love of God.

Are there not thofe, who think they have fulfill'd this firft Great and Comprehenfive Commandment of Loving God with all their Heart, if they are exact and fcrupulous in the Duties of the firft Table, tho' they flight and difregard, as meer Heathen Virtues, all thofe of the fecond? Who are very Devout towards God, but very Unmerciful towards Men; Abhorrers of Idols, but full of Covetousnefs, which is alfo Idolatry; exceedingly fearful of a vain Oath, but reconcileable enough to a profitable Lye; who can after a long Prayer devour a Widow's Houfe, and after a folemn Faft greedily drink up the Tears of the Oppreffed; in short, who are of a Burning Zeal, but a FrozenCharity. Whereas if we confider

our

our Saviour's Life, the perfect Pattern of Love, we shall find that he lays as great ftrefs upon Beneficence; and Charity, and Univerfal good Will, and all those Duties that relate to our Neighbour, as upon those that we are bound to pay immediately to God himself. And this Command, says St.John, we have from him, that he who Loveth God Love his Brother allo; For if a Man fay he Loveth God, and Hateth his Brother, he is a Liar. 1 John 4. 20, 21.

But yet farther, has not this Spirit, that works in the Children of Difobedience, infatuated fome to that degree, as to make Legal Obedience even inconfiftent with Evangelical Love? to pronounce good Works not only Unneceffary to Salvation as Some, but even Pernicious, as Others have dar'd to Blafpheme. To affert that a ftrong Faith and Affurance, a confident Relying, and familiar Refting upon Christ, is all that is requir'd to Saintship here, or to Salvation hereafter. Willingly enough they would use Christ as their Priest, but care not to Obey him as their King; not confidering what St. Peter and the other Apoftles taught Acts.5. 31. Him has God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, a Prince to give Laws to be fubmitted to by Obedience, as well as a Saviour to procure Redemption to be embrac'd by Faith. But

the fe

thefe it feems, who are more intimate with Chrift, are not oblig'd to the observance of the Moral Law, for St. Paul has in feveral places told them, that the Faithful are freed from the Law, are Dead to the Law, are no longer under the Law, and fuch like expreffions, which thefe unlearn'd, prefumptuous Souls wreft, as they do other Scriptures, to their own Deftruction. Not rightly understanding, or not duly attending to I this plain Diftinction, that will clear up all this Difficulty; namely, that the Law in Scripture is fometimes confider'd as a Covenant, fometimes as a Rule; and when it is fpoken of as abrogated, it is taken as a Covenant of Works; but when 'tis urg'd as fill in force, 'tis confider'd as a Rule of Life: fo Chrift has freed us from the Curfe of the Law, as it was a Covenant of Works; but more strongly enforc'd the Obedience of the Law, as it is aRule of Life. For as a Covenant, 'twas rigorous and condemning, Do This and Live, Fail in One Tittle and Die. That Rigour and Condemnation Chrift has taken away: but as a Rule it was Equal and Juft and Good, commanding nothing but what God himself did, when he was pleas'd to become Man; and that Equity and Juftice and Goodness, he has by no means taken away, he has rather establish'd and confirm'd Them; Think not, fays he himself, Bb that

that I am come to deftroy the Law, I am not come to deftroy the Lam, but to fulfill; and St. Paul, Do we then make Void the Law by Faith? God forbid. Tea we establish the Law. In fine, the Duties of the Moral Law being not Good because commanded, but commanded because Good, are of indispensable and never ceafing Obligation, fo exactly conformable to the Eternal Rectitude and immutable Holiness of God, the Copy not only of his Will but his Nature, that it is as impoffible that God fhould ever abrogate or difpenfe with these, as it is that he should deny himfelf. As concerning thy Teftimonies I have known long fince, that thou hast founded them for ever. Pfal. 119. v. 152. and again, All his Commandments are True. They ftand fast for ever and ever,and are done in Truth and Equity. Pfal. 111. 8. and our Saviour himself

Ve

rily I fay unto you, Till Heaven and Earth pass away, one fot or one Tittle shall in no wife pafs from the Law. Mat. 5. 18.

Can any One therefore, who lives in oppofition to thefe Holy Rules, think, that he can have the leaft pretence to any share in God's Favour, or perfwade himself that he has within him the leaft Inclination or Affection towards God? No certainly; Love, which is rightly defin'd a Defire of Union with the Object Belov'd, towards that end produces ever a moft natural Effect, a defire

of

of Likeness, a ftudy of Imitation and Conformity with thatPerfection and Excellence, with which it is enamour'd. It is manifeft Deceit therefore and Hypocrify to pretend to Love God without endeavouring to be like him. And This none can ever hope for, but by adjusting his whole Life to those most Holy Laws of his, which as I faid are not only the Arbitrary Declarations of his Will, but a Sample of his Effential Goodness, the Image and Reflection of his Divine Nature.

An Heart enflam'd with Love feeks out; and delights in what is agreeable and pleafing to the Beloved, is ever poffefs'd with a dread of Offending, a jealoufy of Difpleafing, a tenderness of Grieving the Fountain of its Delight. Is it not then an im pious and abfurd piece of Nonfenfe to imagine, that any one can be actuated by this generous and tender Affection toward God, at the fame time that he is in league with his profest Enemy, the Devil, and cherishes That moft, which is the only Thing in the whole World which God hates, SIN; The utmost Abomination to his Purity, the most audacious Outrage to his Adorable Majefty, the perfect Contradiction to his Deity?

This I think is too plain to be further infifted upon, and fhall therefore take it for granted now with the Apostle, that Bb 2 who