he could not but see in the works of nature, the providence, the justice, and the majesty of God: but all these ideas were entombed in an almost infinite number of errors, and all became useless, by the infinite dissipations which worldly objects caused, by the natural blindness of his mind, and hardness of his heart. In one word, he slept a double sleep, equally ignorant of his misery and his duty. The sword of divine justice was upon him; but he did not feel it: and although the condition of his nature, and his dependence upon God, bound him to almost infinite obligations, yet he did not perceive them.

It was therefore needful, before Christ came into the world, to awaken mat from his double security. He must be made to feel the greatness of his sins, the curse that he had drawn on himself, the horror of hell, which he deserved, the excellent glory that he had lost, and the Creator's indignation, to which he was exposed. It was needful to discover to him his inability to raise himself from that profound abyss into which he was fallen; to, make him see, in all their extent, the rights of God, what mankind were obliged to render to him, and how far they were from an ability to do it. It was needful, in one word, to mortify their vanity, to abase their pride, and to conduct them, all-trembling, confounded, and afraid, to the foot of God's tribunal, in order that they might receive with joy the declaration of his mercy.

This was the end which God proposed in the ministry of the law, and for this purpose. 1. He manifested himself from the highest heavens in all the magnificence of infinite Majesty, to which all that pompous train belongs, which accompanied the publication of the law, and surrounded mount Sinai with thunderings and lightnings.

2. He declared all his rights over the creature, and the duty which a creature naturally owes him, by that admirable moral law, the words of which he caused them to hear from the midst of flaming fire, and which at length he wrote with his immortal finger on tables of stone.

3. He shewed most clearly and intelligibly, what a just and innocent creature might naturally hope for from him; and on the contrary, what a sinner had to fear. Do this (said he) and thou shalt live; and on the other hand, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things written in the law to do them.

4. Moreover, as all this tended to discover to man his sin, God was pleased to declare to him the necessity of satisfaction, without which he might not hope for mercy. This declaration he made by ordaining a great number of propitiatory sacrifices, the use which he settled among them; for all the parts of the ceremonial law were so many public informations that divine justice must be satisfied, before mankind could hope for mercy.

5. To shew yet further the sovereign dignity and infinite glory of God above the creature, and to abase man in his presence, and reduce him as it were to dust and ashes, he loaded the Israelites, to whom all the Economy belonged, with a yoke of ceremonies, heaping them one upon another, and ordaining the observation of all under the same penalty of a curse, which had accompanied the publication of the moral law.

Finally, Because all this exterior revelation would have been useless on account of the natural blindness of all mankind, God accompanied the law with a degree of his Spirit, or of that inward light, which, by illuminating the eyes of the understanding, produces not any true regeneration, nor any real consolation, but only opens a man's eyes to see the greatness of his sin and misery, discovering those sad objects, and exciting those painful agitations, which St. Paul describes in the 7th of the Romans, and which ever terminate in this exclamation, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

After you have thus explained the law, as it is a ministry of rigour, in opposition to grace, you must proceed to consider it in the other view, as opposed to truth.

You may observe, in the first place, that the term truth is in the holy scripture put in opposition to promise; inasmuch as truth is the accomplishment and execution. God, to soften the great rigour of the law, which of itself could only produce despair in the souls of the Israelites, and render their condition more miserable than that of other people, mixed in that economy a revelation of mercy; and the first discoveries of this mercy are in the promises and prophecies which God gave them touching the Messiah. Immediately after the fall, he said, I will put enmity betwixt the woman and the serpent; her seed

shall bruise the serpent's head, and the serpent his heel. He represented it more fully to Abraham in the covenant made with him, and afterward reminded them in Jacob's blessing, that the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh came; and unto him should the gathering of the people be. And Moses himself filled them with hopes, in these admirable words, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from among your brethren, him shall ye hear.

2. Truth is also taken in scripture for substance, in opposition to figures and shadows; and here it means that of which God had given a model in the Jewish dispensation. His divine wisdom placed in full view a thousand beautiful images of what he intended to do for the redemption of men. Here you may observe the principal figures under the law, and shew the use of them; for they were intended to maintain the hope, and support the souls of the Israelites, till the Messiah came, before whose coming eternal salvation was declared to them.

You may add, 3dly, That the term truth is taken also for perfection, in opposition to the beginnings and seeds of the gospel, in a degree sufficient for the salvation of the people of Israel. The mercy of God was manifested to them, not only for ages to come, but for themselves in particular; for they were called, the remission of their sins was promised, their eternal salvation declared, the Messiah proposed not only to their speculation, but also to their faith; the spirit of adoption, consolation, and perseverance, was communicated to them. Yet, if all this be compared with the New Testament dispensation, you will find only beginnings and foretastes, in comparison with that admirable plenitude which we have received by Jesus Christ.

4. You may subjoin, that whatever advantages the Israelites had, or whatever degree of grace was diffused in the Mosaic ministry, all together; however, it is called law: the reason is, that the denomination of an economy must be taken from the predominant part of it. Now, it is certain, in that dispensation, justice prevailed above mercy, the measure of the spirit of bondage exceeding that of the spirit of adoption; for which reason St. John

makes no difficulty of including all under the name of law; The law, says he, came by Moses.

Having thus explained what the law is, go on to its author, Moses. And first, set aside in a few words the false erroneous sense which may be given of these words, that Moses was the first and principal author of the law. You may observe, that St. John did not intend to take from the law the glory of its divinity: God was the first and principal author of it, as is evident: Because the law was a fulfilment of what God promised to Abraham in the covenant made with him: Because, in all that economy, there was too great wisdom to be the work of man: And, in fine, because it was attended with so many miracles, and with so much happy súccess. In all this, it is impossible not to acknowledge the finger of God. In this dispensation, then, Moses was only the dispenser, the servant of God.

The true sense of St. John's words being thus established, you must enquire wherein the ministry of Moses consisted, and make it appear, that he was not a true mediator, who by his merit or dignity inclined God to be reconciled to man. For, as men were sinners, he, who had power to reconcile God to men, must suffer for sin, and offer to the Divinity a sufficient propitiation: but this Moses could not do, being only a simple creature; a simple creature! nay, he was a sinner, and had need of a propitiation himself, so far was he from being able to give one for another; we must not therefore attribute that glory to him. Entirely to prevent such a thought, Divine Wisdom has related three remarkable things in Moses's history. 1. The sins and failings of Moses. 2. That the priesthood was assigned to Aaron his brother, and not to him. And, 3. That not he, but Joshua, had the honour of leading the Israelites into the land of Canaan. Moreover, to be the real mediator of a covenant between God and men, it would have been necessary for him to have been master of the hearts of men, that he might answer to God for their obedience to his commands, and perseverance in his love. Moses could not do this. He spoke to the ear, he exhorted, censured, promised, threatened, he did all that a mere creature could do: but he could not absolutely govern their hearts and minds, nor bend and turn

them as he would; God only was capable of a dominion so great.

In what then did the ministry of Moses consist? I answer, in three great advantages. 1. He was a mutual interpreter between God and the people. He ascended the mountain to present to God the people's promises of obedience, and their engagements to his service; and when God had given him his orders, he came down to speak on the Lord's part to the people, to declare his ordinances, to make them understand his laws, and to collect, in the name of God, the solemn Amens, by which the people consented to the blessings, and to the curses: thus he was reciprocally the interpreter of God to the Israelites, and of the Isrealites to God. What the people said, when they saw the majesty of God upon the mountain, and when trembling they cried, Let not the Lord speak to us; but speak thou with us, and we will hear; Exod. xx. 19. implies the office of which I speak.

The second advantage of the ministry of Moses was this: it was accompanied with the supreme and infinite power of God, who, according to his promise, when he called him, wrought miracles by him: I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders: and thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. Indeed the miracles that God wrought by the ministry of his servant, were very great; he turned the waters into blood, &c.

The inspiration of Moses was his third advantage. Having delivered the Israelites from bondage; having separated them from all other people; having associated them in one body; having established a covenant between God and them; having prepared in the midst of them an ordinary service and settled religion; God chose him to write the whole history, and filled him with the Holy Spirit, to enable him to perform a work so important. It was he who first began to compose that admirable book called the Scripture, which is the church's eternal rule, the foundation of our consolation, instruction, and hope. Having thus explained the first part, pass on to the second, Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. You must explain what grace is, and what truth is; you may apply both to the person of Jesus Christ, and to the manner of