LIB.V. The Lalll. A AlllfMl faw this: or ifthey werefo. intent uponrhe !laughter~ andfpoilc:-, that they obferved it n.. Jt, they m~ghr heare Jtfl'tcr fr<?m Aaran and HRr: yet tbts contents not God; It mtifl br """""· Many other nmacles had God done bcfGre ~not one,dirc:Clly commonded to be recorded : The other were onely for the wonder; this forrhe imitation of Gods people. In thtngs that muft ltve by report, every tongue addes or detr>cts fom;:thing; The word once written is both imlterable and : permanent. . . . , , . . ' ., As God is carefull to m11ntame the glory ofhtsmiraculous VIctory : fo IS MoJis ddirous to fccond him; God by aBook,and Mofis by an Altar, and aname. Goit commands to enroule it in parchment; Nofa regiflers it in the ftones of his Altar; which he raifesnot only for future memory,but for prdem ufe. That hand which B was weary oflifting up,flraight offers a facrifice ofpraife to God : How well It becomes the juft to be thankfull! Even very natureteach~th us mea to abho~mgrantude in fmall favours. How much letfc can thatFountam ofgoodnelfc ab1deto be laded at with umhankfu!l bands~ 0 God, we cannot but contelfeour dehverances: where are our Alrars~whcre are our Sa.:rificcs~whereis our Itbovah-nifsirl doe.not more wonder at thy power in preferving us~than at thy mercy, which is not \v.eary ofcafting away favours upon the ingratefull. 'The Law. C IJT is but about feven weeks, fince lfrlei came out ofAlgypt: In Which fpace God had cheri01ed their faith by five feverall wonders:yet now he thinks it rime to give them Statutes from heaven,as well as bread. TheMannaand waterfrom the Rock(whichwasChriftin the Gofpel) were given beforetheLaw.TheSacramentsofGrace, before the legal Covenant. The grace of God preventeth our obedience 1 Therefbre fhould we keep the Law ofGod,becaufe we havea Saviour.Oh themercyofour God!which beforewe fee what we are boundto doe, fhewes us oar remedy, ifwe doe it not: Howcan our f1ith difonull the Law, when it was before it ~ It may help to fulfill hat which fh111 be: it cannot fruftrate that which was not.TheLetters which God had written in our fle01y tables, were now (as thofe which are carved in fome D barkes) almoftgrown our; he faw ittimeto write them in dead Tables, whofe hardnefle fhould nor be cap1bleofalteration : He knew, that the ftone would be more faithfull then our beam. 0 marvellous accordancebetwixt thenvo Teftaments! In the very timeoftheir delivery, there is the fame agree:nem, which is in the fubftance. The ancient Jewes kept our Feafts, and we frill keep theirs. The Feaft of the P;~lfeovcr is the time of Chrifts refurrdlion, then did he palfe from under the bondageofDeath. Chrifl is our Pa!feover,rbe fpotletfe Lamb, '"hereofnot a bone muft be broken. The very day,wherein God came down iri fire and thunder to deliverrhe Law,evetnhefame day came alfo theHoly Ghoft down upon the Difciplcs in fiery tongues, _for rhe pr<>paganon of the Gofpd. That other was mfire and fmoak, obftunty was E mingled with rerrour .' This was in fire witho~lt fmoak, befitting the light and clearnelfe of the Gofpd: Fire,not mflafhes, but tn tongues; not to terrifie, but to inflrucr. The ptomulgation ofthe bw,makes way for the Law ofrhe Gofpel;No man receives the Holy Ghoft, but he which bath felt the rerrours of Sinai. ' God might have impofcdupon them a Law perforce; They were his <reature~, and he could require nothing but jullice. It had been but equall that they 01ould be compelled to obey their Maker; yet that God which loves to doe all things fweetly,gives the Law ofjuflice inmercy,and will not imperiouOy command, but cr::ives our affent for that, which it were rebellion not to doe. How gentle fhould be the proceeding offellow creatures, who have :in equahty ofbeing,wiihan incqni liry ofcondition;when their infiniteMakerrequefts, where hemight conflrain!God will make no covenantwith the unwilling;howmuch le!fe Dddd 3 the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=