SERMON XLVII. 59 were pardoned and saved as St. Panl proves in Rom. iv. 10-25. The great apostle inhis Epistles to the Romans, and Galatians, and Hebrews is often teaching'them that this Sinai- covenant, this lawof Moses, with all the ceremonies of it, could not give them life ; Gal. iii. 21. that is pardon of sin, and eternal salvation, when it is considered as a distinct thingfrom the constitution or covenant of grace, which was shadowed out by it : And it is in this sense chiefly the apostle in the verses following my text, tells them, " The first covenant was not faultless, that is, was not sufficient to save sinful men, or make them holyand happy ; and therefore he often warns them against trusting in it for salvation, and assures them that it waxedold in Isis day, and was vanishing away, verses 7, and 13, and that a new covenant is now intro- duced, that is, the christian dispensation, or the gospel itself in the most spiritual manifestation of it. Now as Moses was the mediator of this covenant of Sinai, andAaron the priest obtained the ministry thereof as in the foregoing chapters, so in my text the Son of God being manifest in the flesh, is that High-priest who hath obtained a more excellent ministry than Aaron, and is the. 1V.redíator of this covenant, which is better than that of Moses, and which is established upon better promises. Here let it be observed also that this christian dispensation ofthe covenant of grace, which is called the second or new cove pant, is not only better than the mere outward covenant of Sinai, or Jewish law ofworks, by the observance whereof the Jews were to obtain temporal blessings ; but it is better than the whole dispensation of Moses, even as including in it the spiritual con- . stitution or covenantof grace ; it is better than all the former dis- pensations of this covenant of grace that God ever gave to men ; and that will appear in the following particulars : I. " The christian dispensation, or the New Testament, though it bea rich discovery of grace, yet it contains the fairest and fullest representation of the moral law. That law which is of eternal obligation upon all mankind, is more particularly ei- plained here than in any of the former dispensations. The beauties of holiness which run through this law, shine with a fairer light under the gospel of Christ. The duties of worship, obedience and submission which we owe to God; the duties of justice, truth, and love which we owe to our neighbour ; and the duty of sobriety and temperance which we owe to ourselves, are set forth more at large in the New Testament by the apostles; Jesus Christ having begun this work in his excellent sermon on the mount, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew. Here the commands of the law of God are repre- sented in their full extent, as they 'require the obedience of the heart as well as of the life, as they relate to our inward thoughts
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