sumptuous sins, ver. 13; and sins done in secret might be done presumptuously, as well as evils which were done in public. He must of course mean, evils which were done by him in the heart, while he was not at the time fully aware of the sinful workings of his mind. In a word, the nature and administration of that economy were such, as to be a remarkable touchstone of character. It served to lay open the whole likings and dislikings of the heart. But was the law therefore evil? Far be it. It only discovered the evil tendencies which already existed, and the abuse of it was the crime of the people. For as has already been stated, one design of that extraordinary and immediate providence which was exercised over Israel, was to convince mankind, that he who thus visibly dispensed both good and evil in the present world, would in a future state, bring into judgment, every secret thing. And hence, it was connected with the previous revelations which had been given of a Saviour and a judge, who should appear to the salvation of all who believed in him, and to the condemnation of all who rejected him.

The true character of man, however, has thus been developed. For the same principles which appeared in the Jews, are common to all,-men still trust to external observances and to mere social morality; and their hearts are still set upon the world. And nothing but the power of the Gospel of peace, can bring mankind to the love of God in his holy and spiritual character, to delight in giving him the whole affections of the heart, and to

place their happiness in his favour and fellowship. Where this spiritual taste does not exist, there may be the semblance of obedience, but it will be viewed as a task, it will be a dreaded penance; or if there be any pleasure in it, it will be but a selfrighteous complacency. But when the guilty conscience has been calmed and purified by the blood of atonement, when the heart is renovated by the powerful energy of the love of God, and when happiness is found in the favour and fellowship of God, then obedience becomes the very element of the soul. The state of the heart becomes the great object of attention, and not the mere letter of the law. The question is not, how little may I do and yet get to heaven at last; the inquiry is, "what shall I render to the Lord for all his mercies towards me?" And how much of heaven may I enjoy, even in the present world, in acts of obedience, and in holy fellowship with God?

SECTION II.

OF THE NEW COVENANT RATIFIED BY CHRIST.

Israel was, in

THE Covenant established with many respects, a figure of that which has now been confirmed by the sacrificial blood of Emmanuel, and was designed to illustrate it. These are called the two covenants by way of eminence, and they are also denominated the first and the second, the old and the new covenants. The latter is called the

new covenant; because, whenever it was ratified by the death of Christ, the former as its type waxed old; and it is called the everlasting covenant, because it shall never, like the former, vanish away. It is true, that the promises which constitute this covenant were, in substance, given immediately after the entrance of sin, and were included in the covenant established with Abraham; and also, that they are expressive of an eternal purpose, for every thing respecting the salvation of man was fixed from eternity in the counsel of Heaven. But let it be considered, that it is not promises simply that form a covenant; it is promises confirmed by sacrifice. Hence, as has already been stated, the promises to Abraham were not called a covenant, till they had thus been typically confirmed, Gen. xv. 9, 10, 18; and the very phrase which signifies to establish a covenant, denotes the act of cutting off a purifying victim. Though, therefore, the promises in question existed as promises long before the Sinai covenant was established; yet as they were not fully ratified till the death of Christ, so till then, they had not, properly speaking, a covenant form. Accordingly the making of the covenant was the subject of promise, even in the days of Jeremiah, chap. xxxi. 31-34. These promises are indeed spoken of as a covenant before; but this is because the prophets, in predicting their complete ratification by Christ, naturally give them the appellation to which they should then be entitled; and also, because they were typically ratified by the Patriarchal and Levitical sacrifices. Nothing is more common,

than to give to the type the name of the antitype, and also that of the thing which it represents as done by the latter. Since, therefore, Christ was by the sacrifice of himself to confirm the everlasting covenant, it was quite natural to give the name covenant (berith) to the typical victim itself, and to that which represents the confirmation of the covenant of peace. And moreover, the promises are so called, because God, to whom the future is the same as the present and the past, and "who calleth things that be not, as though they were," speaks of them as if they had already been ratified; it being as certain, that they should in due time be confirmed, as though they had actually been so already. The everlasting covenant, then, was not properly established as such, till the Redeemer appeared in our nature, and confirmed it by his sacrifice; for it was made "in his blood;" and hence, his language at the institution of his supper: 66 This cup is the New Testament, or covenant, in my blood, which is shed for you," Luke xxii. 20.

Since, however, it was the subject of promise before the actual advent of the Saviour, believers in every age, before and under the Levitical law, as well as since the actual accomplishment of his work, have all been saved in the same way. The blood of the great atonement had a retrospective efficacy, as the procuring cause of redemption to believers who lived before it was made; for, in pardoning sin, and communicating, the blessings of eternal life, there was then a prospective regard had to the death

of Emmanuel, as to a predetermined event, Rom. iii. 25, 26; Heb. ix. 15.

The word which is rendered covenant in the New Testament Scriptures, signifies either a covenant or testament; but is most frequently rendered covenant by our translators, though in some instances they have followed the vulgate in rendering it testament. It is used in the septuagint, wherever the Hebrew word, which properly denotes a covenant, occurs, with but two exceptions, and in neither of these is the idea of a testament introduced. The term (mesites), rendered mediator in Heb. viii. 6, and ix. 15, is used as synonymous with that rendered testator, Heb. ix. 16, 17, and both are applied to Christ. The latter term, therefore, must respect his character as the appointed victim by which the promises of the covenant were to be ratified. Though, in classical use, the term rendered covenant in the New Testament Scriptures is employed to denote a testament, yet in scripture it must include the sense which is peculiar to the divine covenant of promise or of sovereign grace, which is to dispose, appoint, or promise, with the solemnities of an oath and a sacrifice, for such certainly is the import of the various passages of the Old Testament to which the Apostle refers. Without entering minutely into this subject, suffice it to observe, that the economy of redemption, considered as proceeding from Jehovah, the offended lawgiver and judge, and as consisting of gracious promises in behalf of the rebellious, made to Christ, as a public head, and made to Him on the ground