3,4-8 In/iitutedReligion not intended Vol. I. of rivers ofOyl? Shalllgive myfsrfl bornfor my'tranfgrefon, thefruit of my bodyfor thefin ofmyfoul ? He hath fbewed thee, O. man, what isgood ; and what doth the Lord require of thee, hot to do frailly, and to love mercy, and to walkhumbly with thy God ? He had required Sacrifices but had no regard to them in comparifon with there. IL No Inflituted Service of God, no pofitive part of Religion whatfoever, was ever acceptable toGod, when moral Duties were negle&ed ; nay, fo far from be- ing acceptable to him, that he reje&ts themwith Difdain and Abhorrence. To this purpofe there arealmoft innumerable Paffages in the Prophets ; Ifa. t. et, &c. To what purpofe is the multitude ofyour Sacrifices unto me ? 11'hen ye come to appear be- fore me, who bath required this atyour hands, totread my Courts ? Bring no more vain Oblations ; incenfe is an Abomination to me ; the new moons andfabbaths, the calling of affemblies, I cannot away with; it is Iniquity, even the folemn meeting, andwhen ye Jpread forthyour hands, Iwill hide mine eyes from you whenye make many prayers I will not hear. What is the reafon ofall this ? Becaufe they were defective in the moral Duties of Religion ; fo it follows ;your handsare frill of Blood;wafhye, make ye clean, put away the evil ofyour doings from before mine eyes, ceafe to do evil, learn to do well ; feek judgment, relieve the oppreffed, judge the.fatherlefs, pleadfor the Wi- dow ; come now and let cis reafon together, faith the Lord; implying that till they had refped to morel Duties, all their external Worthip and Sacrifices fignified nothing. And fo likewife, Ifa. 66.3. He tells them that nothing could bemore abominable than their Sacrifices,fo longas they allowed themfelves in wicked Practices; Hethat killeth an Ox is as ifheflew a Man ;he that facrificeth a Lamb, as ifhe cut offa Dog's neck; he that offereth an Oblation, as ifhe offeredSwine's Blood; and hi thatburneth In- cen e, as ifhe blefed an Idol;yea, theyhavechofen their ownways,and their Soul delighted) in their Abominations. And to mention but one Text more out of the Old Tefta- ment, fer. 7. 4, 5.Trufi ye not in lying wards, faying, thetemple ofthe Lord, the temple of the Lord, the templeof theLordare thefe. Throughly amendyour ways andyour doings, throughly execute judgment between a man andhis neighbour ; opprefi not theoranger, the fatherlefs and the widow, and flied not innocent blood. If they did not prattife thefe Duties, and forbear thofe Sins, all the reverence for the temple and the worfhip of God lignifies nothing. Youfee in the fewifh Religion what it was that was accepta- ble to God for its felfand its own fake, via. the pra&ice ofmoral Duties ; and that all Inflituted Religion, that did not promote and further thefe, or was deftitute of them, was abominable to God. And under the Gofpel our Saviour prefers a moral Duty before any gift we can offer to God, and will have it to take place, Mat. 5. 23, 24. If thou bring thygift unto the Altar, and there remembre(l that thy Brother bath ought againfl thee, leave- there thygift before the Altar, and go thy way, firfi be reconciled to thy Brother, and then come and offer thygift. But it fhould feem by this, and what hath been .faid before, that God prefers Goodnefs and Righteoufnefs to Men, before his own Worthip: and obedience to thePrecepts of the Second, Table, before obedience to thofe of the Firfi. But this does but feem fo ; all that can be collected from this paffage of our Sa- viour, or any thing that hath been already faid, are only thefetweThings. i. That God prefers the pra&ice of the Moral Duties of the fecond Table, be- fore any Inflituted Worthip, fuch as Sacrifice was; and before obedience to the Laws of Religion, which are meerly pofitive, tho' they do immediately concern the Worthip of God. a. That ifwe negle& the Duties of the fecond Table of Goodnefs and Righte- oufnefs towards Men, God will not accept of our obedience to the Precepts of thefirfi, nor ofany a& ofReligious Worfhip that we can perform. This our Sa- viour'means when he lays, leave there thygift before the Altar, Ali be reconciled to thy Brother, then come andoffer thygift ; intimating, that fo long as we bear a revengeful mind towards our Brethren, God will not accept ofany Gift or Sacri- fice that we can offer to him ; or indeed of any ad of Religious Worfhip that we can perform. Thirdly, The great Defign of the Chriflian Religion is to reftore and reinforce the pra&ice of the natural Law, or which is all one, of Moral Duties; and there-
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