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bave tranfgreffed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me. And to this Declaration it is that our bleffed LO RD refers the cenforious Pharifees in the. Gospel.

Mat. ix.
13.

2.

And the fame Prophet, again, is urgent with them to repent, and return to the LORD with this Supplication, Take away Hof. xiv. all iniquity and receive us graciously: fo will we render the calves of our lips. And this St. Paul alludes to; when, having ex- Heb. xiii. plain'd how Chrift had fulfill'd the Types 15. in the ceremonial Law by being our HighPrieft and Sacrifice both; he concludes, with this Exhortation; By Him therefore, let us offer the facrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips; giving thanks to his name. But to do good, and to communicate, forget not; for, with fuch facrifices, God is well pleafed.

8.

In like manner the LORD is reprefented by another Prophet, as having a contro- Micah. verfy with his people, and pleading with vi. 2. 6. Ifrael. And, after they are brought in, 7 hypocritically prevaricating, and pretending their Ignorance as a Cloak for their Iniquity, by saying, Wherewith Shall I come

Mark xii. 33.

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before the LORD, and bow my felf before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl? Shall I give my firft-born for my tranf greffion, the fruit of my body, for the fin of my foul? No, by no means; nor can any Ignorance of this fort be justly pleaded; for the Answer is, He hath fhewed thee, O man, what is good. And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? And, in fupport of this great Truth, the new Teftament ecchoes to the old; even out of the Mouths of those who were not yet thorough Converts to CHRIST'S Doctrine. For even one of the Scribes could fay, for a Man, To love God with all the heart, and with all the underftanding, and with all the foul, and with all the ftrength, and to love his neighbour as bimfelf is more than all whole burnt-offerings and facrifices. Upon which, JESUS Saw that be answered difcreetly, and faid unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

SECT.

SECT. XV.

JESUS the MESSIAH.

Such gracious Intimations was God, all along, pleas'd to give, that Sacrifices, tho' he had condefcended to humour the Infirmities of Mankind by permitting them for a while, were not, what He requir'd; upon his own Account; but, after having been tolerated for a certain Time, were, with all the reft of the ceremonial Law, to be taken away and abolish'd, to make room for a Difpenfation of another kind; which, being perfectly agreeable to the Divine Nature, was to continue for ever.

Mofes himself clearly forefaw and foretold this; tho' he had been fo intirely inftrumental in delivering to them the ritual Inftitution of Sacrifices. For he tells the Ifraelites, The LORD thy God Deut. will raise up unto thee a prophet, from the xviii. 15, midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall bearken. According to all that thou defiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb, in the day of the affembly, faging,

&c.

Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God; neither let me fee this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD faid unto me, They have well Spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet, from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them, all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass, that whefoever will not hearken unto my words, which He shall Speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Here God commends this Request of the People, as rational and right; it was according to the Divine Will, and He is refolv'd, in due Time, to comply with them. Which he accordingly did; by sending the Son, the fecond Perfon of the Godhead, to be born of a Woman, of one of their own Tribes; that fo, concealing the Divinity under the Form of Humanity, he might dictate the Will of the Father, in the most familiar easy manner, and instruct without terrifying.

For, (to pursue this feasonable Digreffion a little furthe:) If the Mofaical Difpenfation were the intire Will of God, and

as

xxxiv,

10.

as fuch, to abide for ever; while they ob-
ferv'd that, there could be no Occafion for
them to receive further Inftruction from
any Prophet whatever; nor did any of the
mere Prophets, who arofe after Mofes (but
not one like unto him, whom the LORD Deut.
knew face to face) pretend to teach any new
Doctrine, or give another Inftitution, dif-
ferent from what they had before; but
only to exhort them to the Obfervance of
the old one. But when, in the Fulness of
Time, CHRIST was come into the World,
and had begun to promulge his new Com- John xiii.
mandment, of universal Charity, a Voice
from a bright cloud upon the mount, with-
out the Terror of Thunders and Lightnings,
pronounc'd; This is my beloved fon in whom Mat,
I am well pleased, hear ye Him.

34.XV.12,

xvii. 5.

CHRIST, accordingly, refers the unbelieving Jews to the Testimony Mofes had given of him; fays He, Do not think that John iii, I will accufe you to the father: there is one 45. that accufeth you, even Mofes, in whom ye truft. For, had ye believed Mofes, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of

me.

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