these all having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise God having provided some better thing for us This is the great perfection of the Christian institution that it gives the clear promise and sure hopes of Eternal life And 't is mentioned as doing so when it is compared with the Mosaical institution Heb. 7.19 For the Law made nothing perfect i. e. it did not perfect those very men who lived under it and submitted to it For it not giving a full pardon for offences and not affording express assurance of Eternal life it was not powerfull enough to perfect those who were under it But then follows what the Gospel doeth But the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God Where we find the Gospel called the bringing in of a better hope and that must be the hope of Eternal life for the hope of temporal good things was brought in by the Law of Moses Agreeably hereunto it is also said of Jesus that he was made a surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 And a Mediatour of a better Covenant which was established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 And it is elsewhere said of Jesus that he hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 2.10 And the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks to the same purpose elsewhere Heb. 9.6 7 8. He tells there were two parts of the Sanctuary which he calls two Tabernacles and that the Priests went always i. e. constantly twice every day into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of God viz. to offer incense and to take care of the Lamps But into the second went the high Priest alone once every year not without bloud which he offered for himself and the errours of the people Thus the High Priest at the day of expiation onely was admitted into the Holy of Holies The meaning of this is expressed in the following words The holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing The meaning of which words is plainly this That the holy Spirit by this appointment in the Mosaical institution Pag. 332. 333. did intimate that the way to Heaven was not laid open during that dispensation And this will evidently appear from what hath been said before to this purpose 2 Pet. 1.3 4. St. Peter blesseth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope Or an hope of life as it is in another Greek Copy and that of Eternal life also as appears from the following words by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Here we have an encouragement incomparably great and such as will sufficiently move us to obedience The hope of eternal life is enough to engage us to obey the precepts of Jesus and to reconcile us to all the labour and difficulty which may at any time attend upon our obedience Eternal life imports more than we can express or comprehend something more excellent than what our eye hath seen our ear hath heard or our shallow mind is able to conceive Crowns and Scepters Feasts and Triumphs worldly Success and prosperity are but little and faint resemblances of the eternal unspeakable and inconceivable happiness This it clearly revealed the promise is often repeated the thing promised is expressed by words of the highest import and in such a manner as speaks the thing it self too big to be expressed and too glorious to be comprehended by men who dwell in the body It is a reward stupendiously great and therefore very powerfull it is spiritual and therefore engageth us to be so too it is conditional and therefore is fitted to secure our duty The faint hope of riches of honour of temporal good things hath a mighty force The hope of Heaven where it is well grounded where believed and considered with due application will be of great force to render us patient and diligent and fervent in our obedience I proceed to consider The help and power to obey this Religion which the Religion of Jesus is attended with The laws of our Saviour have the promise of Divine assistance annexed to them The effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the days of the Messias Our Saviour promised this Divine aid and made good his word as hath been shewn before Joel 2.28 Isa 35.7.44.3 Joh. 14. The Prophets of old did foretell what our Jesus made good And when Jesus did promise the Holy Spirit to his followers he did promise him as a Comforter who should abide with them for ever Indeed the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were not designed to continue in the Church any longer than the reason and the necessity of them continued When the Christian Doctrine was planted and Vniversally received Miracles ceased But the Holy Spirit continues still in the Church of Christ and does renew and purifie the hearts of the sincere believers We have the utmost assurance that we shall receive this Holy Spirit who helps our infirmities Lu. 11.13 Rom. 8.26 1 Joh. 44. and is greater in us than he who is in the World The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit and of such a spirit as does not kill as the letter of the law did but giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 8. Gal. 2.3 5 14. 'T is by faith and not by the law that we have the promise and the assistance of the Spirit Gal. 4.6 Rom. 8.3 The Gospel is a state of liberty of ingenuity and freedom We are by this Spirit freed from the greatest slavery and bondage from the Dominion of our lusts and the dread and horrors of our conscience We are enabled to obey and endued with power to doe what our Religion does command Hence it is that the Gospel Rom. 5.21 Gal. 5.4 Tit. 2.11 as it is considered in opposition to the law is called grace or the grace of God in the new Testament because it is accompanied with power or grace enableing us to yield obedience to the precepts of Jesus Christ And our obligation to conquer our sins under the Gospel is now inferred from our having embraced it Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have Dominion over you For ye are not under the law but under grace i. e. Sin shall no longer over-power you now for ye are not under the law which did indeed rigourously require obedience but not help you to obey but ye are under grace that is ye are now admitted to a covenant of grace where you have not onely assurance of pardon upon your sincere repentance but are encouraged also by the promise of eternal life and offered assistance to enable you to obey On the other hand the law
was weak and had not this promise of the Spirit annexed unto it Rom. 7.5 Gal 4.9 Phil. 3.3 with Rom. 8.3 Gal. 3.3 Heb. 7.16 And upon the account of its weakness it is very frequently called flesh in the new Testament as the Gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit upon the account of that power enabling us to obey with which it is attended And the legal ordiances are called weak and beggarly elements or rudiments And indeed the law of Moses might be justly called weak as compared with the Doctrine of the Gospel for the law was not able to effect what the Gospel hath done it gave not life Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.5 8. Act. 15.10 it did not furnish men with power to yield an inward and spiritual obedience Sin was forbid indeed by the law but not kept under and restrained It directed mens obedience but did not powerfully assist them It was a yoke but not an easie one as that which Jesus puts upon us but such as the Jews knew neither how to bear or to break Gal. 4.3.24 And hence it is that they who were under the law are represented as in a State of Slavery and Servility Whereas the law of Moses was weak and they to whom it was given did transgress it and were obnoxious to a curse God does promise to the Jews to enter into a new and better convenant with them Jer. 31.33 after those days saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people I shall in the next place take into consideration The assurance of pardon of sin which the Gospel gives and consequently the foundation it layes for the quieting our consciences far beyond what was done by the law of Moses I have before shewed the defectiveness of that provision by Sacrifices which was made in the law of Moses I shall shew that this is supplied in the covenant of grace made by Christ And this was foretold very particularly as a special and peculiar grace belonging to this new covenant as it is distinguished from that between God and Israel by the mediation of Moses which God had promised to make God promises not onely to write the law upon their hearts and consequently to work in them the saving knowledge of himself but more especially assures them of their pardon and remission Jer. 31.34 For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more There is nothing bears so hard upon a man as his guilt does And in many things we offend all We are all guilty more or less and consequently obnoxious to the horrors of our conscience and the wrath of God This is the great torment of life and there is no trouble like it A guilty mind bears harder upon us than any outward trouble And then he that hath sinned is anxious and suspicious he is not easily assured of his pardon he that broke the Law of Moses was liable to the Curse of it And though Sacrifices were allowed I have shewed the defects of that provision But the Gospel gives us the utmost assurance of our pardon upon terms that are gentle and reasonable and by no means to be refused What-ever our sins have been yet upon our repentance and sincere obedience for the future we are sure of God's favour and of his being reconciled to us He beseecheth us now to be reconciled to him upon these gentle and easie terms This is the Tenor of this new covenant or covenant of grace of which Jesus is the Mediator He hath procured this for us he hath purchased this by his merits sealed it by his own precious bloud assured it to us by his Resurrection and powerfull intercession he confirmed it by stupendious Miracles proclaimed it to all the world by his messengers and given us the signs and evidences of it by his holy Sacraments and solemn institutions There is nothing wanting to ensure this our pardon unto us Here 's no shadow left for our doubt or anxious fears we have all the possible assurance which we can desire Rom. 5.8 9 10. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more then being now justified by his bloud we shall be saved from wrath through him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life These last words contain an argument invincible and altogether unanswerable and such as affords the strongest consolation If God looked after us when we were his avowed enemies if even then he gave up his most dear Son to death and at so great an expence restored us to favour surely he will now not abandon us to destruction He that was so kind to his enemies will not now forsake his friends So great and dear a love will not be extinguished It was a great price and an instance of the greatest love by which we were reconciled when we were enemies 't was by the death of the Son of God We had little reason to expect this favour and this expence But now we may be saved without his giving up his Son again to death and need not therefore doubt that we shall be saved by his life The Jew under the law of Moses had great cause to fear for when he transgressed and that he did when-ever he continued not obedient to all the words of that law he put himself under the rigour and curse of the law But God hath now made a better covenant with us and given us the greatest hopes of pardon upon our repentance and sincere though it be not sin-less obedience to the laws of Christ Here is pardon to be had for all manner of sin There were many sins under the law of Moses as hath been observed for which no remission was to be had from any Sacrifice allowed by that law He that was guilty was liable either to death or to excision Mat. 12.31 We are better provided for by this covenant of grace All manner of sin and blasphemy says Christ shall be forgiven unto men Blasphemy as hath been observed before was one of those sins for which there was no expiation allowed under the law of Moses But even for this sin there is pardon in this covenant of grace For our Soviours words do not speak of the event of things but of the provision which is now made Blasphemy shall be forgiven 1 Tim. 1.13 16. i. e. there is pardon to be had for it And he who was himself a Blasphemer tells us that he obtained mercy nor does he onely tell us that but also that he therefore obtained mercy for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe Our Saviour goes on whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him Matt. 12.32 There were those who spake against Christ The Person
to the Jews imply no less What nation is there so great that hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day The giving a law to the Jews was a special dignation and favour He sheweth his word unto Jaâ—ob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them This was a great treasure which the Jews had when the neighbouring Countries were not admitted to the favour of a Divine Revelation The study of this law is frequently pressed upon them And the devout Psalmist does upon all occasions express the great esteem which he had for it It was sweeter to him than honey more valuable than Gold and Silver 't was the joy of his heart the desire of his soul the delight of his eyes and great comfort of his life Jesus himself shewed all due regard to the law of Moses He professed that he did not come to destroy the law and the Prophets he puts the people upon searching the Scriptures he was circumcised according to the law he wore such a Garment as the law of Moses prescribed he observed the Feasts which that law appointed and when he had healed the Leper he sends him to the Priest to doe according to the law of Moses The Jews had no cause to quarrel with our Lord in this matter St. Paul who was the Apostle of the Gentiles yet allows that the giving of the law to the Jews was a singular privilege and advantage He reckons it their great advantage that unto them were committed the Oracles of God and that to them pertained the covenants and the giving of the law Deut. 4.8 Ps 147.19 20. Ps 19.10 Ps 40.8 Ps 119.70 72 92 97 136. Mat. 5.17 Joh. 5.39 Luk. 2.21 Mat. 10.20 Luk. 2.41 Joh. 2.13 23. and ch 7.2 Mat. 8.4 Rom. 3.1 2. Rom. 9.4 And as the law of Moses came from God so it must also be granted that it was as it is called by the Psalmist a perfect law That is it was well fitted for that people to whom and for that time in which and for those ends for which it was given It taught them their duty to God their neighbour and themselves and laid before them such precepts as concerned them as men as members of a Body Politick and of a Church It was so full and so complete that it wanted nothing for the end it was designed to It was expressly provided that they to whom it was given should neither add to it nor diminish from it Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it that ye may keep the Commandments of the Lord your God which I commanded you It was indeed full of rites and ceremonies but it required nothing immoral and did not allow of the least shadow of Idolatry Its precepts were just they were consistent they were plainly revealed and sufficiently confirmed Indeed many rites and ceremonies were prescribed But as they were of God's own appointment so they were ordained for wise ends also viz. to keep the people from Idolatry to which they were prone and from the foppish and superstitious usages of their neighbours for a proof of their obedience to God and for the fore-shadowing of some better things to come they were many of them very instructive and were so many Sacraments or Symbols of very weighty things Ps 19.7 Deut. 4.2 Notwithstanding what hath been said it does not follow that the law of Moses was never to be altered The Jews might not add or diminish but God himself was not bound by that law It stood upon divine authority and was revealed by God but it does not thence follow that the same authority which set it up could not take it away God no where tells us that 't is his last Revelation and that he intended it should be taken as such God is not obliged to reveal his mind all at once He may make what laws he pleaseth and add to them when he will Nay God himself does expressly declare that he would make a new Covenant And it is added not according to the covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt Jer. 31.31 32. It reflects no dishonour upon God to say that he reverses some Constitutions of his own that he alters or adds to his own laws All the laws which proceed from him are not of the same importance and moment The Jews themselves will own this and the thing is very evident and plain This appears from the greater or less punishments assigned to the transgressors of these laws There were some sins so great as admitted no Sacrifice to expiate them There were others which were easily atoned for We do not call the wisedom of God in question nor disparage his law when we shew how far short it comes of the Gospel For all this while we do but compare one Divine Revelation with another God made the Heaven and the earth and all that which he made was good It is no reflexion upon his wisedom or goodness or veracity to say that God will make a new Heaven and a new earth For God who promised to make a new covenant promised to make a new Heaven and earth also Isa 66.22 These things I thought fit to premise that I might proceed in this weighty argument with the greater caution I shall now consider the law of Moses more particularly in order to the proving this that the Gospel of Christ does excell it The whole body of the law of Moses comprizeth those precepts given by him which were either Moral Ecclesiastical or civil The Moral law concerned them as men and was given at Mount Sinai in ten distinct precepts or Commandments These are called the word or words of God and the ten words and the words of the covenant word in Scripture phrase signifying at intire sentence or precept Ps 147.19 Exod. 20. 1. Deut. 4.13.10.4 Exod 34.28 Gal. 5.14 Mark 7.13 with Matth. 15.6 The other laws which Moses gave are expressed by statutes and Judgments Ps 147.19 as the Moral are by word or words in the same place For statutes the Jewish writers tell us that they are to be understood of those precepts the reason whereof is not revealed Bechai in Legem fol. 185. Abravenel fol. 177. or at least is not obvious and plain Such were the laws concerning divers kinds concerning the scape Goat and the red Heifer and the like And to these belong the ceremonial and ritual precepts which concerned the Hebrews as they were a Church Judgments are such precepts as are more agreeable to reason and such as might at least in some measure be found out by it Such are tâ—ose which relate to adultery and theft c. These have relation to a Polity or civil Society As for
example the several specialties contained under the general prohibition of theft where Abravenel reckons up no less than ten are called Judgments and so are those precepts called which we find in Exod. ch 21. c. and that whole Section of the law is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Judgments containing several Judicial laws or laws which respected the Hebrews as they were a Commonwealth or civil Society These statutes and judgments contain the Laws of their Church and State And Judaism as considered in Contradistinction to Christianity consisted in the solemn profession of and obedience to these Laws which God had given to the Jewish Nation I shall now proceed to what I mainly intended to speak to viz. to shew First the defects of that Law which was given by Moses Secondly that these defects are made up and supplied by the Gospel of Jesus Christ Thirdly the use and application of this Doctrine The defects of that Law which was given by Moses For it will appear that it is defective if compared with the Gospel The Divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues very strongly to this purpose For if that first Covenant bad been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second For finding fault with them he saith Behold the days come saith the Lord c. This he infers from the very words in the Prophet where God declares himself in this matter and it is very evident that the words of the Prophet are by this Divine Authour truely applied to the times of the Messias whose miraculous birth is predicted in the very same Chapter in those words a Woman shall compass a Man For it is evident that those words do refer to the stupendious manner of the birth of the Messias Vid. Dr. Pocock Not. Miscel in Portam Mosis pag. 348. I shall therefore proceed to shew the defects of the Law of Moses as compared with the Gospel and that in the following particulars Heb. 8.7 8. with Jer. 31.31 and with v. 22. 1. In its Precepts and Commands as it was a rule of life These Precepts are not such as perfect humane nature and as make men better who obey them and obedience to them was necessary because it was commanded But they were not such things as tend immediately to make men better in their tempers and inclinations They were good because they were commanded they were not therefore commanded because they were antecedently good We doubt not but that God commanded them for wise ends during the Minority of his Church but as they were not to endure for ever of which I may have occasion elsewhere to speak more largely so are they far from being of equal moment and value with the Laws of Jesus These Laws of Moses were given to the Jews Cosri par 1. and not intended to oblige mankind The Jews themselves frankly confess this And several of them were of that nature that they could not be supposed to concern any of the rest of mankind Such were all those Laws which were founded upon something which had happened to that People and of which the observances required were but Memorials or Testimonies Thus the Passover being appointed in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt was a peculiar Law to that People who were delivered thence The other Nations were not under the same obligation nor do we find that the Jews went about to impose their Law upon the Neigh bouring Countries The world had continued considerably above two thousand Years before the Law of Moses and there were in the World very considerable examples of Piety in that time when the Law was given it was given to the Jews indeed but they admitted of Proselytes to live among them who did not undertake an obedience to the Laws of Moses The things themselves which Moses requires are not things in which all men are concerned Indeed generally speaking they are of that nature that they cannot belong to any but to them onely to whom they were revealed All men are bound to be just and to speak the truth to worship God and to be chast and the like But for wearing fringes on Garments or frontlets between the Eyes for eating or forbearing such or such meats and drinks c. no man could be obliged to these Laws but those persons who had received them from Heaven For the Jews do confess that the reason of their Laws is not always to be found out and consequently the Laws themselves cannot be supposed to oblige mankind For though the Will of God be reason enough for our obedience yet it is so onely to them to whom it is made known And therefore those Laws of Moses which were not founded in any other reason than the Will of God could never be designed to oblige all the World Cicero de Leg. l. 2. Cicero affirms it to be the opinion of the wisest men that a Law is something eternal wisely governing the whole World by its affirmative and negative Precepts and that the prime and ultimate Law Mentem esse omnia ratione aut cogentis aut vetantis Dei i. e. is the Divine mind governing all things with reason We do not question the wisedom of God who by Moses gave Laws to the Jews we onely say that they were not intended for the whole world which would have been concerned in them if they had been agreeable to the needs and the best improved reason of all mankind and had been written in the heart of all men And as these Laws were onely given to the Jews so many of these Laws did not oblige them in any place besides their onw Land to which they were annexed which they would have done if they had been Laws good antecedently and such as had been founded upon the eternal reason of things The Jews do allow that so it was and do frequently in their Writings distinguish between those Laws which obliged them within the Land and those which obliged them without the Land of Israel And a very great number of Precepts they are which were annexed to that very Land in which they lived and to which they were not obliged any longer than they kept the possession of that Land So that what was their duty while they lived together in Canaan ceased so to be when they were dispossessed of it and were scattered abroad in other Countries I shall not goe about to number up the Precepts which were annexed to that Land I should too much enlarge if I should give in the full number of those Precepts I shall however name some of them The Jews acknowledge that the sheaf that was first reaped must be of the gowth of Canaan and so must also the first-fruits be which are elsewhere mentioned in their Law and the Loaves of Shew-bread must be made of the Corn of that Countrey The Laws which concerned Tithes the Sabbatical year their year of Jubilee their Festival rites their Cities of Refuge their
hath a mighty force and influence upon men but it is onely upon carnal worldlings that it hath this influence and the love of this world is generally so far from advancing piety that it obstructs it and is the root of all evil The Jew obeyed the law of Moses for the sake of worldly prosperity and when he had obtained it that would be a temptation and snare to him The very reward of obedience was a temptation to rebell And though plenty and prosperity be promised often in the law of Moses as a reward yet it is often mentioned as a snare too The Jews are often cautioned against Sinning against God when they are blessed with worldly prosperity Such promises might have some influence in inclining men to obey the letter of the law they did not move men powerfully to obey the inward and spiritual meaning of it 3. Another great defect in the law of Moses was that it did not furnish the Jews to whom it was given with power and ability to obey It did rigorously command obedience but did not help men to obey They had not that power assured to them from God's promise by which they might be enabled to obey the Moral precepts which they had received The plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the times of the Messias or the latter days and is therefore promised as a future blessing by the Prophets themselves The law was written which Moses gave it was not kept from the Jews but the writing it upon their Hearts was promised as a part of the new covenant which God would make with them The Letter of the Law was that which the Jews regarded they did not give obedience to the inward and spiritual meaning of it The law of Moses made nothing perfect it did not reform as well as teach They who were exercised in the precepts of Moses were not renewed by them The law was weak and ineffectual and that which did not give life and power to obey Hence it is that it is called flesh in the New Testament to intimate the weakness of that law It was a shadow of good things to come and consequently was not attended with the power which accompanyed those better things when they were exhibited v. Isa 35.7 with ch 44.3 Joel 2.28 with Act. 2.17 Jer. 31.33 with Heb. 8.10 Heb. 7.11 18 19. Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.8 ch 8.3 Gal. 4.9 Heb. 10.1 4. The law of Moses was defective compared with the Gospel in that it gave not the assurance of pardon nor laid that foundation for the easing and quieting the consciences of men which the Gospel of Christ is attended withall The law of Moses was a yoke which the Jews were never able to bear They were subjected to the curse of that law who confirmed not all the words of it to doe them It consisted of very many precepts and they were very nice and operose such as required great attention and heed cost and great labour very uneasie to be observed and yet the neglect of any of them exposed the neglecters to the curse of that law Hence it is that the law is called by the Apostle the ministration of death and of condemnation And that State in which the Jews were under the law of Moses is represented not onely as a State of minority but as a State of bondage and Slavery also Act. 15.10 Deut. 27.26 with Gal. 3.10.2 Cor. 3.7 9. Gal. 4.3 24. And indeed it must needs be such a condition that the Jews were under and it will be evident that such it was when it is considered that they were greatly straitned between the great difficulty in keeping and the great danger of breaking those laws They must be uneasie in their own minds who are perpetually in danger of offending and of being punished There was no way left for them for perfect ease and quiet to their conscience if the law were considered as a covenant of works There was not that provision made then for peace of mind which was made afterwards in the time of the Messias It is true there were Sacrifices allowed and prescribed in that law for the atonement expiation of the offender but there are many things to be considered which do speak the defectiveness of Sacrifices under the law and shewing the need of some better provision And to that purpose I desire the following particulars may be duly considered First that for some sins there was no expiatory Sacrifice allowed in the law of Moses and consequently the offender was left without hope of pardon notwithstanding the provision made under the law by Sacrifices for the obtaining of it In many cases the Sinner was to bear his own iniquity and could hope for no pardon from any Sacrifice whatsoever And there are very many sins of this sort Such were wilfull murther and blasphemy and many other sins of which we may see Levit. 20. And indeed all those sins which were committed with an high hand were of this sort And whatever hope there might be for the sinner who was surprized and sinned ignorantly yet if he did it presumptuously and were guilty of those sins which admitted no atonement he was left without hope from the law of Moses and was to dye the death And if the Supreme Magistrate did not condemn him God declared that he would set his face against him and cut him off But of this I have before discoursed p. 27.28 Ps 51.16 Levit. 24.17 and v. 13. Numb 35.31 32. Levit. 20.5 Secondly that where Sacrifices were not onely allowed but prescribed by God himself yet they were not things of their own nature pleasing unto God And God did to the Jews frequently declare this and did it after such a manner as might well beat them off from relying upon the Sacrifices which they brought to procure their pardon and atonement I might heap up Scriptures to this purpose I shall content my self with these that follow I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings to have been continually before me I will take no Bullock out of thine house nor He-goats out of thy folds Again I desired mercy and not Sacrifice And I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings or Sacrifices But this thing commanded I them saying obey my voice c. Again To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts And I delight not in the bloud of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats bring no more vain oblations c. Again He that killeth an Oxe is as if he slew a man He that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he out off a Dogs neck He that offereth an oblation as if he offered Swines bloud He that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol Ps 50.8 9. Hos 6.6 Jer.
and Governours even then when we suffer wrong It teaches us the most exact justice and the greatest humanity and mercy to one another It obligeth us to pray for our greatest enemies and to forgive them who do us the greatest wrong It allows us to do no wrong to another and to return none which is done to us It is so far from allowing us to kill those who are of another Religion that it permits us not to hate them There is no friendship so inviolable and sacred no Justice so impartial no charity so unfained and extended and so fervent no gentleness so exemplary as that which obtains among the genuine followers of Jesus They who are such live at perfect peace with one another they think no evil so far they are from doing it They love one another with a pure heart fervently As to our selves our holy Religion recommends to us the profoundest humility the greatest meekness under calumnies patience under sufferings contentedness in every condition it teaches the most unbroken fortitude the most unspotted chastity the most unshaken constancy it teacheth us strict temperance in eating and drinking great moderation in the use of bodily exercises painfull diligence in our several callings a singular modesty and gravity it puts us upon the greatest simplicity and candour the greatest contempt of worldly things and the greatest hunger and thirst after Spiritual This holy Religion commends to our care and to our thoughts whatsoever things are true honest or venerable just and pure lovely and of good report that have any thing of vertue and any just title to praise Phil. 4.8 There is nothing commanded that is mean and low and unbecoming the greatest rank of men the highest birth or the most refined wits Here 's nothing required of us that is unreasonable and unaccountable We must be very humble but here 's room too for the greatest fortitude and courage We must be modest but may not be sneaking and cowardly and afraid to appear for the truth We must be grave but need not be morose just but not inclement long-suffering but not stupid courteous but free from foolish affectation here we are taught true greatness of mind but not insolence poverty of Spirit without dejectedness and a contempt of the world without haughtiness fortitude is commended but not audacity constancy but not contumacy diligence but not anxious carefulness This Religion teaches us to prefer the publick good before our private to prefer what is just to what we judge commodious to abridge our selves of our own liberties for the good of others What Celsus objected of old against the Christians v. Orig. contra Celsum l. 8. that they shunned the dedication of Altars of Statues and of Temples did but import that their Religion was spiritual and so indeed it is and 't is a great perfection which belongs to it It is not charged and burthened with ceremonies 2 Col. 20. and ordinances and rudiments of the world as the law of Moses was But what was aenigmatically and symbolically taught in the law of Moses is plainly delivered in the Christian Religion We are taught to offer up fervent Prayers instead of incense to pare away all superfluity of naughtiness instead of circumcising the foreskin we have our Sacrifices of praise instead of the bloudy Sacrifices and are taught to offer up to God our souls and bodies instead of the Holocausts prescribed in that law We are required to pay a reasonable service instead of that bodily one which God required of the Jews by Moses Those things which our Religion requires are good in themselves and the practice of them makes us better and are therefore of general and universal good to mankind and the whole race of mankind is concerned in them They are not municipal or topical laws which oblige onely in one place or Countrey but they oblige every where in all times and all Persons whatsoever Origen contra Cels l. 7. The Christian says Origen looks upon every place as a part of the Vniverse and upon the Vniverse as the Temple of God and therefore prays in every place We are all united by the Religion of Jesus into one body and are all concerned in his holy Laws The difference between the Jew and Gentile is quite taken away and we are all one in Christ Jesus This difference was once very great The Jews were tyed to certain ordinances and observations which rendred them very different from the Gentile world and they thought they could not converse with them by their Religion and did despise them greatly hence it was that there was a great Enmity between the one and the other and thus things stood till Jesus came and till he suffered Eph. 2.14 15. But by cancelling those distinguishing Laws and Ordinances which he did by his Cross he abolished the Enmity and made peace He did thereby reconcile both to God having slain the Enmity 1 Cor. 12.13 Gal. 3.28 Ephes 3.6 There were some things allowed in the Law of Moses upon the account of the hardness of the Jews hearts and for the time of the Mosaical dispensation which are now by the better Law of Jesus superseded such were Polygamy and Divorces And many other things were required during that Minority of the Church which we are in no wise obliged to Our Religion is full of the most weighty principles and commends to us those things which are of the greatest and highest importance whatsoever I proceed to consider 2. The Reward annexed to our obedience of these holy Precepts and that is Eternal life The Jews were engaged to obey their Law by promise of Temporal rewards Those rewards were very suitable to that Carnal people and very proportionate to those rudiments of the World Thus we doe with Children when they goe to School to learn their first Elements we allure them with knacks and toys that we may engage them to lay the foundation of more manly wisedom pueris dant Crustula blandi Doctores elementa velint ut discere prima God did thus by the Israelites He invited them to obey those ordinances by the promise of victory and plenty and long life He designed all this while greater things and though he did not clearly promise yet he did intend to bestow the Blessing of Eternal life to his sincere and faithfull Servants But the clear promise of Eternal life was a blessing which God reserved for the times of the Gospel The good men under the Law obtained indeed a good report by faith And by the great things they did and suffered they gave proof that their faith was sincere and accompanied with an hope that extended beyond this present state But still the express promise of Eternal life was reserved for the days of the Messias And this is the clear meaning of the words of the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 11.39 40. Where speaking of the holy men of old time he adds And
Jews every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And presently after that he added save your selves from this untoward Generation 1 Pet. 3.21 The same Apostle elsewhere speaking of the Ark of Noah wherein they were saved who entred into it adds the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us c. And the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is also a pledge of God's favour and our reconciliation We are admitted to feast upon the great Sacrifice which was offered upon the Cross This was not allowed in Sacrifices under the Law that were expiatory to the People We partake of the body and bloud of Christ of that body which was offered upon the Cross and of that bloud of the New Testament which was shed for many for the remission of sins Matt. 26.26 6. Our Lord Jesus sent forth his Messengers into the World to declare pardon to the penitent He took care that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations Luk. 24.46 They were entrusted with the Power of the Keys to bind and loose to let into the Kingdom of God and to exclude from it It were easie to shew that the Christian Religion does upon other accounts besides what have been named excell the Law of Moses It had a better Mediatour and was better confirmed It was more succesfull and farther spread and affords both more and more conspicuous Examples than are to be found under that Law It is attended with greater motives to obedience as well as greater motives of Credibility The Jews are pressed to obey God because he brought them out of Egypt The motive had great force but 't was peculiar to that People We are constrained by the Love of God in Christ Jesus We are moved by the love of Christ which passeth knowledge His death and passion the comforts of the Holy Ghost the unspeakable love of God and hope of pardon and of Eternal life these are our motives to obedience These are great enough to thaw and unlock the most obdurate heart to work upon the most benummed minds I proceed to consider The usefulness of the foregoing discourse And that is very great where it is duly weighed and considered It would be of great use to the Jew would he but consider it and lay it to heart And is of very great use to the Christian to awaken him to the greatest regard to his holy Religion and to a very hearty embracing of it I shall at present onely consider this one advantage which it will afford us viz. that it gives us a fair occasion of inquiring into the grâ—at Ends and Causes for which the Law of Moses was given I will not here undertake to insist upon all the Causes of the Law of Moses Much less will I goe about to inquire into the reason of the particular Precepts of that Law I make no doubt but that God gave the Jews that Law to keep them from Idolatry and to that purpose to preserve that People separate from the neighbour Nations Many of the rites appointed I doubt not were therefore prescribed because they ran Counter to those rites which did obtain among Idolaters then in being I will onely consider the ends of this Law as far as my present argument is concerned And that I shall doe in the following particulars 1. The Law was given to restrain the Jews and keep them from a loose and licentious Course of sinning The promise of the Messias was made to Abraham above four hundred years before the giving of the Law But though the Messias were then promised God did not think fit to send him presently In the mean time the Jews the Children of Abraham whom God had chosen for his Church were to be restrained from living as they list They were very prone to wickedness and needed a restraint in the mean time Therefore was the Law given and given with great solemnity and terrour It denounced many evils against transgressours and left them liable to a curse the more effectually to oblige them to obedience It was not given as God's last revelation nor to give life and to justifie them Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law It was added because of transgressions God did not think it fit that they should be left unrestrained 1 Tim. 1.9 with Gal. 5.22 The Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient 2. The Law was given as that which contained types and shadows of good things to come and was therefore given that they might have among them a pledge of those spiritual good things to be bestowed in the days of the Messias The great promise which God made to Abraham was the promise of the Messias this promise was renewed afterward when Isaac was born it was repeated by Jacob to his Sons before his death The Messias was the desire and expectation of the more wise and devout Israelites They receive a Law in the mean time full of types and shadows of what they were to expect in the latter days or the days of the Messias Hence it is that the Gospel as it is distinguished from this Law is called truth not as truth is opposed to falsehood but as it is opposed to types and shadows and as it speaks the substance of what was but symbolically represented before Thus it is said that the Law was given by Moses and that grace and truth come by Jesus Christ John 1.17 And the Gospel is called the word of truth Eph. 1.13 Joh. 14.6 Joh. 4.23 Heb. 8.2 Our Saviour tells us that he is the way and the truth and tells the Woman of Samaria that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth They that obey the Gospel are said to walk in the truth and obey the truth And Heaven is called the true Tabernacle Heb. 10.1 ch 8.5 The Law had a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things The Priests under the Law are said to serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Coloss 2.17 Heb. 3.5 That Law was a pledge of a better and the things therein commanded were but a shadow of things to come Moses was faithfull as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken viz. by Jesus and his followers For so the Syriack hath it for those things which were to be spoken by him 3. To dispose men for the reception of the Gospel of Christ It was well fitted for this end And that this was the end of it is very evident from the words of the Apostle Gal. 3.22 23 24. The Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe But before faith came we were under the Law shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed wherefore the Law was our
〈◊〉 As the LXXII render it That is let Pharaoh make and appoint Officers and not as we have rendred it Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint Again It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron or made as it is in the margent of 1 Sam. 12.6 And we usually speak after this manner when men are advanced to dignity and office they are said to be made what they are afterwards called To make a Consul a Captain or General signifies no more than to appoint them and raise them to those dignities and offices So that the meaning of these words is as if the Apostle had said let all the Israelites therefore be assured of this great and very evident truth that that Jesus whom the Jews have Crucified is by God the Father who hath raised him from the dead and taken him up to his right hand constituted and appointed head of the Church and instated in the Kingly office of the Messiah That Jesus is the Christ or Messiah that was foretold is that which the Apostle would have the Jews be assured of And this was the Doctrine which the first preachers of Christian Religion did mainly insist upon It being not onely an article of the Christian faith but such an one as is the foundation of the rest Who is a Liar says St. John but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 2.22 We read that Saul confounded the Jews which were at Damascus proving that this is very Christ Act. 9.22 He preacheth the same Doctrine at Thessalonica Acts 17.3 And at Corinth Acts 18.5 And of Apollos we read that he mightily convinced the Jews and that publickly shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ v. 28. A DEMONSTRATION OF THE MESSIAS CHAP. I. The CONTENTS Of the name Jesus That this name by which our Saviour was called and distinguished from other men is no objection against the Prediction Isa 7.14 The importance of the name Jesus In what sense our Lord is said to be a Saviour His Salvation compared with the deliverances mentioned in the Old Testament Of the word Christ Of anointing things and persons and the design of it Of the anointing of Jesus Some account of the Jewish constitutions about anointing with their holy Oil. BEfore I proceed to shew that Jesus is the Christ I shall shew what is meant by Jesus what by Christ Jesus was the name by which our Lord was commonly known among men the name which Joseph his reputed Father gave him Matt 1. v. 25. And it was given him at his Circumcision Luk. 2.21 And that too not without the particular command of the Angel of God This was the name by which he was called commonly by those that spake of him Thus he that was restored to Sight said A man that is called Jesus made clay c. Joh. 9.11 This was a name in use among the Jewish people and a name which others had as well as our Jesus and we have mention of several men to whom that name was given Col. 4.11 Heb. 4.8 And the Jewish Writers mention him by the name Jesus indeed they call him by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They cut off the last letter Eli. Levit. This bit p. 151. as Elias Levita tells us because they do not acknowledge him to be a Saviour But yet they do not deny that he was known and commonly called by the name Jesus which he received at his Circumcision It is true indeed it was foretold that a Virgin should bring forth a Son and 't is said they shall call his name Emmanuel Matt. 1.23 That these words are meant of our Saviour is also undeniable And though the Jew object against us from this place that either the words were never meant of our Saviour as the Evangelist will have them or that they were never verifyed in him because he was called by the name Jesus and not Emmanuel though I say they may thus object yet they do but trifle in it For if they look into their Prophets they will find that being called Orig. contra Cels l. 1. or called by such a name does not infer that the thing or person so to be called shall be commonly known by that name as a man is by the name by which he is known and distinguished from other men 'T is enough that they shall be that which they are called and that what is foretold shall truly belong to them as will appear from the following places Isa 1.26.60.14.62.4 Jer. 3.17 Ezek. 48.35 Zech. 8.3 There are many things said of our Saviour which serve to describe his office and acquaint us with his perfections and relation and were never intended for his name by which he was to be known among men His name shall be called wonderfull Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Isa 9.6 That is the Messiah shall be all this Theophylact in Matt. 1. v. 23. though not commonly known and called by these names For the word Jesus if we consider its Hebrew Original it signifies a Saviour And for that reason this name was given to our Lord because he was to save his people from their sins Mat. 1.21 And the Angel tells the Shepherds unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour Luk. 2.11 And the Apostle says no less when he says God hath raised up unto Israel a Saviour Jesus Act. 13.23 This word Saviour imports very much and is very agreeable to the great design of our Lord 's appearing Lactan. Institut l. 1. c. 11. Lactantius observes that the name Jupiter that the heathen gave their God was unbecoming a Deity For Jupiter being no more but Juvans pater an helping father it was a term of diminution For one man may help another And 't is no great matter to help but to save and deliver imports much Non intelligit beneficia Divina qui se tantummodo à Deo juvari putat He hath too mean and low an apprehension of the Divine benefits that thinks God does onely help him This is to attribute too much to our selves and too little to God He that helps me adds his strength to mine but he that saves shews his own power onely We were without all help and hope too Our Lord rescued us and saved us we contributed nothing toward our deliverance He is the Saviour of mankind Our intire deliverance is to be ascribed to him And 't will well become us to consider how justly this name of Jesus belongs to him and to meditate awhile upon the greatness of that Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us Now our Lord might well be called Jesus a Saviour 1. As he hath published and made known to us the Gospel which is the power of God unto Salvation Our Lord hath brought life and immortality to light and hath shewed us the way to eternal life There was no
express promise of eternal life in the law of Moses Temporal blessings were promised to the obedient but they had no assurances given them of a glorious immortality The way to this our Lord hath revealed plainly 2. He procured this for us also he bought it with no less price than his pretious bloud And now we stand reconciled to God by the death of his Son and then we may justly expect to be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 3. He confers this Salvation upon us He is set down at God's right hand and hath received all power in Heaven and Earth God hath exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of Sins Act. 5.31 We receive from him the power of his grace here and justly expect from him the glorifying of our souls and bodies hereafter And it will well be worth our while to enter into a meditation of this Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us And to that purpose let us compare it with those deliverances which were wrought of old for the people of the Jews For those deliverances may well be called Salvations and those men that were the instruments of them may be called Saviours for so they are called in the Holy Scripture 2 King 13.5 Nehem. 9.27 with the LXXII Judg. 3.9.15 Among those Saviours there was one who was not onely an eminent type of our blessed Saviour but who had the same name that was given our Saviour at his Circumcision And that was Joshua the Son of Nun For Joshua and Jesus are the same name and Joshua is called Jesus Heb. 4.8 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh. 8.17 'T is true indeed his name was Hoshea and so he is called but upon his being chosen to spy out or search the Land of Canaan Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua Num. 23.16 i. e. he made an honourable alteration of his name as Philo observes when he added to the name he had the first letter of the Tetragrammation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judae de mutat Nominum And he made this addition to his name by putting to it the first letter of the name of God when he sent him to search the Land of Canaan so that for the future he is a Saviour and by God's appointment was set apart to introduce the Israelites into the Land of Promise Moses the Lawgiver did not bring the Israelites into the promised Land This was left for Joshua to doe Now that Land was a type of heaven And Joshua of our Jesus And what the Law did not that the Gospel does It hath brought life and immortality to light And though Moses who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and Joshua who introduced them into the good Land and others who afterward fought their battels were great deliverers of their people yet all these deliverances put together come greatly short of that which our Lord hath wrought For these deliverances were but temporal our Saviour's is eternal Those Worthies fell asleep and then the Israelites fell under the malice and power of their enemies and ill neighbours then were they liable to the impressions of their enemies who did inslave their people and sack their City and burn their Temple and carry them away to a strange Land Their enemies were not dismayed with the great names of Moses and Joshua Gideon and Sampson These great men were dead and could yield no succours to the oppressed Israelites And what ever terrours these men impressed upon their enemies while they lived their names will strike none now The Chaldeans are not over-awed by the rod of Moses or the strength of Sampson these deliverers can afford no relief or help 't is otherwise with us Our Lord is the Authour of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 And hath obtained an Eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9.12 Those Saviours died and left their enemies behind them But Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Our Lord arose from the dead and is gone before us into Heaven and is there concerned on our behalf And this is unspeakably to our comfort and advantage Old Jacob in his last words to his Sons tells them what shall befall them in the last days Of Dan he foretells that he shall be a Serpent in the way an Adder in the path that biteth the Horse heels so that his Rider shall fall backward Gen. 49.17 These words seem to refer to Sampson who delivered his people from the Philistines But then 't is worth our observing what follows where the good man's Soul sallies out into another and greater contemplation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord V. Targum Hierosol Jonath in locum v. 18. That is as the Jews expound it as if he had said I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon and Sampson which will be but a temporal deliverance but thy Salvation O Lord is that which I expect for thine is an eternal Salvation These words seem to refer to the salvation of the Messias and do very well deserve to be considered farther V. Hieronym adversus Jovinianum l. 1. 'T is agreed that in the foregoing words Jacob speaks of Sampson He was a Nazarite and a great deliverer of his people And besides what he did for his people in their life-time he destroyed their enemies at his death In several respects we may suppose him a type of our blessed Saviour And we may very well suppose him so to be even as he is considered here as a Serpent by the way Phil. Jud. de Agricultura For Philo the Jew hath directed us to understand that expression of a Serpent not with reference to the Serpent which beguiled Eve or Voluptuousness but with respect to the Brazen Serpent of Moses a symbol of Temperance and Fortitude and as I shall shew afterwards a very remarkable type of the Messias And Jacob looks farther than Sampson he looks off from that Nazarite to our Nazaren from that temporal deliverer to our Jesus who is the Author of eternal Salvation I shall give you the sense of these words in the words of one of the Ancients who brings in Jacob speaking thus Hieronym Quaest Hebr. in Genes Nunc videns in Spiritu comam c. i. e. I foreseeing in the Spirit Sampson the Nazarite nourishing his hair and triumphing over his slaughtered enemies that like a Serpent and Adder in the way he suffered none to pass through the land of Israel and if any were so hardy confiding in the swiftness of an Horse as to adventure like a Robber to spoil it he should not be able to escape I foreseeing this Nazarite so valiant and that he dyed for the sake of an Harlot and dying destroyed our enemies I thought O God that he was the Christ thy son But because he dyed and rose not again and Israel was afterward carried away captive I must expect