Although the covenant of promise revealed to Abraham, is unconditional, yet it embraces in it all the means of grace through which it is essential the promised blessings should be conveyed to all the tamilies, kindreds and nations of the earth; such as faith, repentence, &c. and those means are no less certain than happiness. All are to be blessed in faith, hope, repentence and charity, which implies all true obedience, for "In the day of thy power thy people shall be willing." All this is ac cording to promise. Now let it be understood, that the promise of a blessing on all, and the blessing in itself considered, are two distinct subjects. Abraham was favoured with a revelation of the covenant of promise, that God will certainly bless all souls in Christ, but he received not the fulfilment of that extensive promise, although he received the blessing of assurance as a comforting earnest of the final inheritance of that final blessing, in which all are to partake. I believe all true Christians receive the same earnest of this holy truth. Therefore, St. Paul says to his brethren, Eph. 1. 13, 14. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ve believed, ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." The purchased possession here named, must mean the family of mankind for whom Christ died and purchased with his blood, and the redemption of it, must imply the salvation of that possession, or in other words the perfect deliverance of the whole world from sin and misery. A revelation of this truth, is only made to those whose hearts are prepare to receive it, let men profess what they will as partisans. Abraham never had the covenant of promise revealed to him until God had first prepared his heart to receive it believingly; nor will he reveal it in this day to any unprepared soul; although it is recorded in every gospel page, the ungodly cannot comprehend it, so far as to believe the record God has given of his son Jesus. This preparation of the heart cannot be performed by man, for, "The preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." And because Abraham's heart was right with God, therefore, he revealed the truth to him, even the same which in substance had been before declared in the garden of Eden, and in every age from that day, down to Abraham; and yet he knew it not till God prepared his heart. Yes verily, the covenant of promise, in full extent, existed before Abraham was; as certainly as Christ said, "Before Abraham was I am. But when that patriarch was made to see our Lord's day, we learn he rejoiced as Christ saith, "Your father Abraham saw my day and rejoiced." After him his son Isaac received the same covenant of promise. And after Isaac, Jacob his son was prepared and received it. For the Lord said unto Jacob, Gen. 28. 14: "Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Now this covenant is always old with God, but new to him to whom it is revealed in the spirit; therefore, may be called new in revelation, but old in existence. Hence "Every Scribe wisely instructed, will bring forth things out of the treasure house, both new and old.” Abraham might tell his son Isaac of those things, and Isaac Jacob, but the powerful revelation must be of God, or no man will believe the truth as it is in Jesus. CHAPTER 9, ON THE NATURE OF THE EXTERNAL LET- St. John, 1. 17. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Heb. 7. 19. "For the law made nothing perfect." By a close examination of the whole Law given to Israel, in its nature, it appears, it was designed as an outward rule of life to that people, that they might be judg ed by this external rule according to their visible works and actions. That outward law in itself considered, could take no cognizance of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, no farther than as a shadow witnesseth to us, there is a substance. And here I must observe a distinction between the actions of men and the secret motives by which they are disposed to act. Now if the motive is good in the sight of God, the action from such design, although a transgression of the outward law, yet can be no inward sin against God. Hence the law of Moses could make nothing perfect. For it could neither reward nor punish the people for the secret internal exercises of the mind whether they were good or bad thoughts, therefore we learn that all the rewards and punishments held out under that law, were outwardly administered on the flesh. And although as a type of future things in the rnvisible world, it might prefigure punishment to be experienced in that state as well as rewards, yet like every other outward national law rightly instituted, the law of Moses had no dominion over a man any longer than this life, either to reward or to punish. And although according to that external law, the whole house of Israel might receive in the flesh, both rewards and punishments according to all their worldly outward actions, yet all their secret good motives and holy exercises, might go still unrewarded internally, for all any spiritual virtue in an outward law; and likewise the evil motives, and secret ungodly exercises of their hearts, might go unpunished eternally, if no other law or rule existed but that of Moses, by which men are to be judged. However, there is another law, which is inward, holy, pure and divine; by this rule, every man's thoughts and disposition shall be tried; of this the outward law was but a shadow, and the rewards and punishments by that in this world, were but the mere shadows of the spiritual rewards and punishments in the invisible world, when men are judged by the law of the spirit of God. Now as the outward is a shadow of the inward spiritual law of God, and as that which is the type, carries none of its rewards and punishments beyond this present world, even so, the antitype will inflict no punishment, nor bestow any rewards after the end of the world to come, for all will then partake of one univer sal free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But this spiritual divine law in its holy nature, I design to be the subject of a future chapter, and also that of the future world and a boundless eternity likewise, which will open in the end of time on all creation. I shall therefore, now proceed to a further illustration of the law of Moses, and shall endeavor to show that its rewards and punishments may be properly con sidered, as only the shadows of real rewards for obedience, and punishments for real sin; for as has already been seen, a bad action is more properly the effect of a sinful design, than sin itself, being therefore the token of a sinful heart, or in other words the shadow of sin in the mind. God looks at the heart, but the law of Moses at the outward action. For instance that Law says "thou shalt not commit adultery," and if any one was guilty of the very act, he must be stoned to death, according to Moses; but this death only punished the action and not the evil secret motive; that is still left with God to correct, as being out of the province of Moses. Our Lord seems to have a mind to convey the same idea, St. Matt. 5. 28: "But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his own heart." The law of Moses could not punish this inward sin with temporal death; but let the shadow appear in the very act, and then the shadowy law could take hold of that. Jesus first refers to the commandment in the letter law on this sin, and then repeats the words cited in the text, as though he would show the Jews that their law was not a perfect criterion by which to determine sin. Howeyer, as sin is the transgression of the law, I am willing to admit that the very act before explained is sin against the law of Moses. But still, as that law was but an outward figure and not the vital substance of the divine law, it will follow that the transgression of it, was e ly sin in the figure of the real sin lurking in the wick heart. .W, na For as that law made nothing perfect, we must it could not make a perfect estimate of the whole ture of sin so as to inflict a perfect punishment to the full extent of its desert. We will suppose a man is stoned to death for an evil act; well, this punishes the outward action according to the law of Moses. But how is the sinful, secret, ungodly design punished, seeing that that law says noth-. ing about it? To say we do not know, that matter must be left with God, will not answer, for we are too much interested in this important inquiry to leave the subject here in the dark; we must therefore go farther in our investigation. I shall here remark, that the law of Moses was introduced as a restraint on the people : Its utility was two fold in this respect; and yet in th it was weak, it could never change the heart. Th law could frighten the people into obedience outward. by examplary punishments; and when any were put to death by that law, they could trouble their brethren no more with their evil conduct. But could death change |