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death, and exaltation. But with these, we know, was interwoven a change in the Mosaic system; a change, therefore, more or less exhibited by Moses, and by all the succeeding prophets; by some of them expressly, by others only in hint, allusion, or inference.

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St. Paul, who informs us, that Christ hath blotted out this handwriting of ordinances, which was against us, and contrary to us; taken it out of the way, and nailed it to his cross;' who declares, that Christ hath made both,' (Jews and Gentiles) one; and broken down the middle wall of partition; abolished in his flesh the enmity between them, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances,' argues this fact also at length, as declared by the Prophet Jeremiah. For,' saith he, if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. But finding fault, he saith, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, &c. By saying, A new covenant, he hath made the former old. Now that which decayeth, and waxeth old, is ready to vanish.*' See Jer. xxxi. 31, &c.; Heb. viii. 7, &c.

The Mosaic system, therefore, was originally designed in part (viz. that part of it, which consisted of the commandments contained in ordinances') to be abolished at some future period. It was also to be abolished, when the new covenant was to be completed; the covenant originally published to Abraham, but completed under the Christian dispensation.

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That it was to be abolished by Christ, is indicated in the prophecy concerning him, dwelt on so largely in the preceding Discourse. I will raise up unto them a Prophet like unto thee; that is, a Prophet who, like thee, shall bring into the church a new dispensation, and change whatever needs alteration in the old, even as thou hast done with respect to the patriarchal dispensation.

The same truth is also abundantly declared by preceding prophets, especially Isaiah, who describes at large the very changes actually made by Christ in this dispensation, almost as distinctly as the apostles; at least in several particulars.

• Macknight.

Christ published this abolition of the peculiarities of the Mosaic system,

(1.) By teaching that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, were henceforth to be the people of God.

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And I,' saith he, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.' John xii. 32. Again: And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.'

The Jews under the dispensation of Moses, were the only people of God. All others who became members of the church, became such by being proselyted to the Jewish religion, and obeying the Jewish laws throughout; in other words, by becoming Jews, in every thing except blood. But Christ here declares, that the Gentiles, as such, shall become members of his church, and belong to his fold; hear and follow him, and thus constitute a part of the people of God.

(2.) By teaching the uselessness of external rites.

Christ exhibited in many ways the emptiness of external rites; particularly by declaring, that meats and washings,' and other things of the like nature, neither purified on the one hand, nor, on the other, defiled the man; and universally by showing, that internal purity and integrity constituted the only object of the divine approbation, and the only title to the kingdom of God.

(3.) By instituting a new ministry in the Church.

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This he did by commissioning the apostles, and all other ministers, Matt. xxviii. 18, &c., to go into all the world, preaching the Gospel, and discipling all nations, and baptizing them in (or into) the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' In this commission he invested a new set of men, in the place of Jewish priests and Levites, with all the authority and offices of ministers in the future church of God. The Jewish ministry was, therefore, henceforth done

away.

(4.) By substituting baptism and the Lord's Supper for the Jewish sacraments of circumcision and the passover.

Christ made baptism the initiatory ordinance of the Christian church, and the Lord's Supper the confirmatory one. Circumcision, therefore, and the passover ceased of course. Besides, the death of Christ, the antitype of the passover,

having taken place, the passover which typified it ceased of

course.

(5.) By substituting a new, simple, and spiritual worship for the ceremonial worship of the Jews. In his discourse with the Samaritan woman, Christ said, 'The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father, in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.'

In the parable of the sower also, he declares, that they, who ' received the seed in good ground, are such as receive the word in an honest and good heart;' and that these only are either fruitful or accepted.

(6.) By teaching that God was to be worshipped acceptably, wherever he was sincerely worshipped, and not in the temple at Jerusalem only.

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In the above-mentioned conversation with the Samaritan woman, Christ said, Woman believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.' He also, as you well know, predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and its services; declaring that not one stone' of the temple should be left upon another, which should not be thrown down;' that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled;' and that all these things should come to pass' during the continuance of the then existing generation. In the mean time, he declared to his disciples, that wherever two or three of them should be met together in his name, there he would be in the midst of them.'

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It needs no proof, that in these declarations he caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,' and put a final end to the peculiarities of the Mosaic system.

2. Christ taught the same system of religion which was taught by Moses.

The system of religion taught in the Old and New Testament is one and the same. This Christ has himself sufficiently declared in his Sermon on the Mount. One of the first declarations in it is this: Think not I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to

fulfil.'

The system of natural religion taught in the Scriptures is one and unchangeable. Sooner shall heaven and earth pass away than one jot or one tittle of the law' on which it is founded, and by which the duties of it are required. As the law is unchangeable, so the duties which it requires are unchangeable also. The relations on which this law is founded, and whence these duties arise, are eternal and immutable. Of course the law itself, the duties which it requires, and the conditions of acceptance and rejection, together with all the truths or doctrines which in natural religion, or the religion founded on mere law, are the proper, obligatory objects of faith, must for ever be the same. Accordingly, our Saviour, when the lawyer asked him, Which is the first and great commandment of the law?' declared, after reciting the two great commands, that on these two hang all the law and the prophets,' or the system of religion contained in the Old Testament. At the same time he recited these commands, as being those on which was also suspended his own religion, which were still in full force, and the foundation of all virtue or moral excellence.

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Nor is the Christian system substantially different in the New Testament from what it is in the Old. By the Christian system, I intend the system of doctrines and duties, by means of which apostate creatures are restored to obedience and favour. The Gospel,' says St. Paul, was preached to Abraham.' It was also disclosed to our first parents. 'Christ,' says St. Peter,' preached' (that is, by the voice of Noah) to the spirits in prison:' viz. the rebellious world, imprisoned under the divine sentence, during one hundred and twenty years preceding the deluge. Your father Abraham,' says our Saviour to the Jews, ' rejoiced to see my day; he saw it, and was glad.' All these,' says St. Paul, speaking of the Old Testament witnesses, from Abel to Daniel and his companions, 'died in faith; that is, the faith of the Gospel. Now, therefore,' says the same apostle again to the Ephesian Christians, 'ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets; Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.' It would be useless to recite more passages to this purpose, although many more might easily be recited. These prove in the most deci

VOL. II.

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sive manner, that there is one system of religion only taught in the Old and New Testament; one law, on which the whole is ultimately founded; one system of doctrines and duties of what is called natural religion; one system of doctrines and duties of the Christian system, appropriately so called: that the Gospel was preached not only to Abraham, but to the Jewish and patriarchal churches in every age: that good men have always died in the faith of the Gospel; that the foundation of the prophets and apostles is the same; and that of both Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone.

3. Christ taught all the fundamental doctrines of this system.

By the fundamental doctrines of the Christian system, I intend those which are necessary to be believed and obeyed in order to the attainment of salvation. Such, for example, are the existence and perfections of the one God; the law of God; its righteous and reasonable character; the rebellion, apostasy, and corruption of man; the impossibility of justification by the works of the law: Christ's own divine character as the Son of God, and the Saviour of men; justification by faith in him; the nature and necessity of regeneration, faith, repentance, and holiness of heart and life; a future state; a judgment; and a recompence of reward to the righteous and the wicked, beyond the grave.

I will not say, that the belief of every one of these is indispensable to salvation, but they are all essential parts of one system; and within this list is found whatever is thus necessary to be believed. That Christ taught all these things will not, I suppose, be questioned by any man, who admits that they are at all taught in the Scriptures.

4. Christ taught the religion of the Scriptures more plainly and perfectly than those who went before him.

In a former Discourse, I considered the character of the Redeemer as the light of the world; and observed, that he is exhibited in the Scriptures as the source of all knowledge natural, revealed, and spiritual, concerning moral subjects. Agreeably to this general character, he appeared with peculiar splendour as the great luminary of the world while executing the office of a preacher of truth and righteousness. Every subject which he discussed, he illustrated, and every duty enjoined by him he inculcated, with a force, distinctness,

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