men.

harm in those desires which makes a man merely covet his neighbour's wife or daughter. Jesus, however, declared, that, whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart-Before the time of Jesus, falseswearing, where the lives and properties of men were concerned, was forbidden under the severest penalties; but those oaths and exclamations which occurred in common conversation were believed perfectly innocent, and were in familiar use with the best and wisest These, however, in every shape, Jesus forbade as highly sinful; and declared, that, whatsoever was more than yea yea, or nay nay, came of evil. In former times, retaliation and revenge had been held lawful; but Jesus required his followers not to resist evil. It had been said, that we should love our neighbour, and hate our enemies; but, Jesus required, that we should love also our enemies, forgive the injuries which are done to us, and indulge a charity and benevolence as universal and extensive as the love of our Father in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and who sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. These are

some of those instances in which Jesus has published to the world a system of moral truths more excellent than that either of Jews or heathens.

Besides this, although the precepts of the ancient philosophers might be excellent in themselves, they could never be considered as a complete rule of conduct; for they were delivered, only, as the opinions of those individuals who taught them, without the authority of a law, or the sanction of a lawgiver. Accordingly, they were practised, only, by the followers of their own sect, while they were neglected or opposed by those of another, and had no weight with the vulgar who believed in neither. The Authour of christianity on the other hand, spake as one with authority; he commanded his followers in the powerful language of I say unto you; he delivered his precepts as a legislator who had a right to be obeyed, who could reward the obedient and punish the disobedient. The rule of life was, thus, rendered complete, certain, and level to the capacities of all men; because the principle or reason of obedience was thereby put upon a sure footing. The obligation of every precept rested on the will of the lawgiver, a

circumstance, of which the force would be immediately acknowledged, and which, being a matter of fact, could easily be ascertained without any laboured process of reasoning and investigation. But this plainness and certainty were evidently wanting in the heathen systems. They explained the reason of obedience, all in a very different, some in a most absurd manner. One sect* argued, that, men ought to be virtuous because of the native beauty and fitness of virtue; a second sect,† because of its good effect in the present life; a third sect‡ because it was commanded by the laws of their country; but, all forgot that the will of God constituted the very essence of duty, and omitted to explain those obligations which the connection between the creature and the Creator necessarily infers.

In like manner, though God had been pleased to deliver a law from Sinai, to his beloved people whom he had chosen out of all the nations of the earth; yet, neither, could this be compared with the laws of that pure dispensation by which it was succeeded. The Jewish law partook of the imperfections of

The Stoicks. ↑ The Epicureans. # Socrates, &c.

that covenant of which it was a part. It was local, temporary, and obligatory only on one people. Jesus commanded his laws to be published to every creature and throughout every land: he delivered them in a general manner, suited to suited to every case, to every climate, and to every stage of society: he laid men under obligations that were universal, immutable, and everlasting. The Jewish law was mixed and accompanied with many ceremonies and rites, with sacrifices, offerings, and burnings of incense, with washings and purifications, with keeping of days and fasts, new moons and sabbaths, and solemn assemblies. The observance of it was, thus, rendered highly burdensome and expensive; and, while they were careful of the smaller matters of the law, viz. the ceremonial part, they forgot the weightier matters, mercy and judgment. On the other hand, the precepts of the gospel are all pure, spiritual and moral, unmixed with any unmeaning ceremony, unaccompanied with any burdensome service. The commandments of Jesus are not grievous; "his

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yoke is easy, his burden is light." True religion and undefiled before God and the Fa

ther, according to the definition of one of his

Apostles, is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.

We may add, that the christian morality is superiour to every other system, on account of the example of him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

But here let us draw back with awful reverence from so grand an object. For, with whatever instruction and profit the character of Jesus may be studied and imitated, as delivered in the simple and unadorned page of the Evangelists, and as intermixed and spread out with the transactions of his life, whereby its splendour is softened and allayed; yet to delineate it by itself is a task for which the human powers are unequal; to collect all the scattered rays of excellence into one point, would form an object too bright and too glorious for human eyes to contemplate. We could no more behold it than we could look upon the sun in his noontide blaze.

IV. Jesus Christ has discovered many important truths concerning our state after death; he has assured mankind of an immortal existence beyond the grave; he has brought to light, life and immortality, and a state of ever