に

II. THE peculiar Form of these divine grants demands our attention in the next place; and the Apostles, as well as the prophets, give us to understand, that they were given in the form of a COVENANT: Said God, by Jeremiah, "Behold, the days come, faith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Ifrael, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was an husband unto them, faith the Lord: But this fhall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Ifrael, after those days, faith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they fhall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, faying, Know the Lord for they fhall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, faith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their fins no more*." And, left we should have mistaken the meaning of this oracle, the infpired Apoftle exprefsly applies it unto the Gofpel economy: "For, if the first covenant had been faultlefs, then fhould no place have been fought for the fecond: For, finding fault with them, he faith, Behold, the

* Jer. xxxi. 31-34.

day's

days come (faith the Lord) when I will make a new covenant with the houfe of Ifrael, and with the houfe of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, faith the Lord: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Ifracl after those days, faith the Lord, I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts: And I will be to them a God, and they fhall be to me a people. And they fhall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, faying, Know ye the Lord; for all fhall know me from the leaft to the greatest: For I will be merciful to their unrighteoufneffes, and their fins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he faith a new covenant, he hath made the first old*." I fhall not, at this time, attempt a vindication of the Apoftle's manner of quotation; this province has been already occupied by others. I fhall enquire, by the way, however, In what refpects this covenant is not ACCORDING to the Sinai Covenant. To me it appears, That this new covenant was not ACCORDING to that tranfaction in refpect of TERROR, and in refpect of TYPES. It ought never to be forgotten, that the Apostle is reafoning

Heb. viii. 7-13.

gainst the ufe of Jewish rites; and he avers, that this new covenant is NOT ACCORDING to the old covenant, as the old covenant had ORDINANCES OF DIVINE SERVICE; and a WORLDLY SANCTUARY, with an immenfe quantity of fplendid utenfils belonging to it. But thefe, having waxed old, are now evanished. It is not the Old Teftament, then, in refpect of its internal and effential privileges; but in respect of thefe ordinances which are fuperfeded under the New Testament.

BUT Our attention must be chiefly directed unto the peculiar form of thofe divine grants which are made by God unto the Gospel Church And he gave them in the form of a COVENANT. A foederal adminiftration has, in fovereign wifdom, been deemed fuitable to the glory of God, and the good of his people in every age. I have already offered various remarks on the term, in the introduction. It is of fmall importance whether we render it TESTAMENT or COVENANT, though the latter appears to be the beft tranflation in this connection: All God's dealings with mcn being by way of covenant; and his dealings with finful men being in the way of gracious covenant, proceeding on the foot of the eternal contract between the Father and the Son. This gracious dealing with finful men is often styled his MAKING, or CUTTING A COVENANT; denoting fuch a covenant as is competent for a God

of

of grace to make with fuch perfons as are fin ners by nature, and faved by grace through our Lord Jefus Chrift. In all foederal tranfactions between God and his people, fince the fall, there is first a divine grant, on the part of God; and then a ready acceptance of that grant, followed with a dutiful reftipulation, on the part of his people; which are either expreffed or neceffarily implied. The duties reftipulated are by no means the antecedent condition of thofe grants which God confers on his Church; but the confequences of them. Thefe grants were fometimes beftowed at the time when God took his people into covenant with himfelf: At other times, they were registered, that they might be of ufe in fucceeding periods; this grant is of the latter kind. As God intended to complete the canon of the New Testament very foon after the introduction of the Gospel œconomy; fo he bestowed fuch privileges upon the New Teftament Church, by this covenant, as fhould be adapted to her neceffities in every age. The form of them is also registered, as a standing warrant for our approaching unto God by covenanting, in the moft folemn forms. It had been prefumption, in the highest degree, for men to propose the making of a covenant with God, had not he first propofed to make a covenant with us. But this divine propofal, bearing this gracious form, affords foundation for faith, and lays us under indifpenfible ties of gratitude to put

hand

hand to this duty. Is any perfon difpofed to enter into covenant with God? Here is a divine propofal ready to be accepted. Is there any fociety, in their ecclefiaftic capacity, difpofed to covenant with the living God? Here is a divine proposal ready to be accepted by them, in like manner; a propofal adapted to their focial capacity, be they many or few. This covenant not only addreffeth individuals, but alfo a PEOPLE: "I will be unto them a God, and they fhall be unto me a people." Such is the peculiar genius of the New Teftament conomy! May we not conclude, that it is ignorance of the Gofpel economy, or inattention to it, which makes perfons imagine it incongruous with public covenanting?

THIRDLY, I fhall next enquire if the predictions of the Old Teftament Prophets, concerning the New Testament Church, lay a foundation for the exercife of faith in this duty. Could it be proved, that thefe prophets foretold this practice, then we may conclude not only the lawfulness, but alfo the certainty of its performance. That the argument from this topic may conclude with force, it is requifite to fhew, that the prophecies adduced refer unto the New Teftament; and could not be accomplished under the firft Teftament.That they intend focial covenanting, and cannot be explained of any other duty whatever. X X X

The