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Ver. 26. Ver. 27.

Reflections on the Calling of the Gentiles.

Sect. 21. the Name of the true GOD was fo long unknown, we should have the Honour of being called bis Children! Oh that we may indeed be fo, not only by an external Profeffion, but by regenerating Grace! May we be of that Remnant, that little Remnant, which fhall be faved, when Num bers, countless as the Sand of the Sea, which had only the Name of GOD'S Ifrael, fhall perish, even in the Day, when his Work fhall be cut short in Righteoufnefs!

Ver. 28.

Ver. 29.

Ver. 33.

Bleffed be God, that there is a Seed remaining. It is the Preservation of the People, among which it is found; and had in not been found among us, we had probably long fince been made a Seat of Defolation. May it increase in the rifing Age, that the Pledges of our continued Peace and Profperity may be more affured, till our Peace be like a River, and our Salvation like the Waves of the Sea.

the

It will be fo, if we be awakened feriously to inquire, how we may be juftified before GOD, and feek that invaluable Bleffing in the Way here Ver. 31, 32. pointed out; if we feek it, not as by the Works of the Law, but by Faith in Chrift, as the Lord our Righteousness. He hath, in this Respect, been to many a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of Offence. May Divine Grace teach us the Neceffity of building upon him, of refting upon whole Stress of our eternal Hopes. Then fhall they not fink into Difappointment and Ruin; then fhall we not flee away ashamed in that awful Day, when the Hail fhall fweep away the Refuge of Lies, and the Waters of that final Deluge of Divine Wrath ball overflow every Hidingplace, but that which Gop hath prepared for us in his own Son.

Sect. 22.

Rom. X. I.

SE C T. XXII.

The Apoftle fhews, that GOD hath offered Pardon and Salvation on the fame equitable, gracious, and eafy Terms to all, tho' Ifrael by a bigotted Attachment to their own Law, rejected it. Rom. X. 1,---13.

The Zeal of Ifrael for GOD not according to Knowledge; GOD for Ifrael is, that they might be faved.

2 For I bear them Record, that they have a Zeal of GOD, but not according to Knowledge.

3 For they being ignorant of GOD's Righteousness,

their

and going about to establish own Righteoufnefs have not fubmitted themfelves unto the Righteouf

nefs of GOD.

4 For Chrift is the End

nefs

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kind and unjuft an Interpretation may be put on Sect. 22.
fuch an Affertion, tho' thus fupported by the Sa-
cred Oracles themfelves; and therefore I think Rom. X. 1.
it proper to renew the Affurances I before gave,
that the most affectionate Defire of my Heart, in
the Accomplishment of which I fhould find the
greatest Complacency, and [my] Supplication,
which I am with daily Importunity repeating
before GOD concerning Ifrael, is, for its prefent
and eternal Salvation and Happiness; which I
wifh as fincerely as my own.
For I am ready 2
to teftify, from what I well know of them by my
own Obfervation and Experience, that they have
a very ardent Zeal for GOD; but I lament that
it is a Zeal not regulated according to Knowledge,
or directed into a right Channel, in Confequence
of which it leads them into the most fatal Mif-
takes and Exceffes. For they being ignorant of 3
the Righteousness of GOD, of the Purity of his
Nature, the Extent of his Law, and the Me-
thod, which in Confequence thereof he hath ef-
tablished, for the Juftification of a Sinner; and
feeking with great Diligence to establish, and fhoar
up, as it were, by the moft infufficient Props,
the ruinous Edifice of their own Righteousness,
by the Obfervation of the Precepts or Expiations
of their Law (a), have not fubmitted with due
Humility to the Righteoufnefs of GOD exhibited
in his Son, nor placed their own Attempts of
Obedience in a due Subordination to that.

This is the moft fatal Error that can be ima- 4
of the Law for Righteouf gined; for how infenfible foever Ifrael in gene-
ral may be of it, 'tis on the whole moft certain,
that Chrift [is] the End of the Law for Righteouf-
ness

(a) Obfervation of the Precepts or Expiations of their Law.] Many Writers, and efpecially the late Dr. Sherlock, in his Book of the Knowledge of Chrift, have been much mistaken in the Reprefentation they have made of the Pharifaical Righteousness, as if it confifled merely in fubftituting ceremonial Obfervances inftead of moral Duties. The Pharifees certainly inculcated the external Duties of Morality, how much foever they might themfelves fail in obferving them, or reft merely in outward Acts; but they trusted in legal Expiations to procure the Pardon of thofe Evils which might happen; and the Compofition of thefe, if I may be allowed the Expreffion, conftituted the Righteoufnefs, which they went snow, to establish, or prop up, decrepit as it was.

about

(b) The

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lieveth.

They being ignorant of the only Way to obtain Righteousness, Sect. 22. nefs to every one that believeth (b), that is, it is the nefs to every one that begreat Scope and Defign of the Law to bring Rom. X. 4. Men to believe in Chrift for Righteousness and Life, and its ceremonial and moral Precepts and Constitutions most harmoniously center in this. 5 For Mofes most exactly defcribeth the only Way of Righteonfnefs, which is attainable by the Law, [when he faith] again and again, (Lev. xviii. 5. compared with Deut. xxvii. 26.) the Man who doth them fhall live in and by them (c); that is, the Man who perfectly observes these Precepts in eve

5 For Mofes defcribeth of the Law, That the Man the Righteousness which is which doeth thofe Things, fhall live by them.

which is of Faith, fpeaketh on this wife, Say not in thine Heart, who fhall afto bring Chrift down from above)

cend into Heaven? (that is,

'ry Particular, and in every Punctilio, he and he alone, if fuch a Perfon there be, may claim Life and Salvation by them. Now this is a Way of Juftification, which, when the Law has once been broken, becomes abfolutely impoffible to - 6 But the Righteoufnefs 6 the Tranfgreffor. But the Righteousness, which is by Faith, fpeaketh a very different Language, and may be confidered as expreffing itself thus, (if I may be allowed to borrow the Words of the great Jewish Legislator, when reprefenting the Plainnefs and Perfpicuity of his Law; Deut. XXX. 11,-14.) " Say not in thine Heart who fall afcend into Heaven, that is, as I may in "this View accommodate the Paffage, to conduct Chrift down with him [from thence,] to teach "and inftruct us, or to atone for our Offences: 7" Or who shall defcend into the deep Abyss, that "is, to bring Chrift again from his Abode among the Dead, in the Bowels of the Earth" No; bleffed be GOD, Chrift hath already defcended from Heaven to bring down the Gospel, and he hath in a triumphant Manner arisen from the Dead to fet an everlasting Seal to its Divine Au

ર

66

thority;

7 Or, who fhall descend

into the Deep? (that is, to bring up Chrift again from the Dead)

(b) The End of the Law.] The Scope of it; as Elfner fhews on this Place, that los fig nifies, he paraphrafes the Words, no one can fulfil the Law till he believes in Chrift. But that, how true foever, (Compare Chap. viii. 2,—4.) feems not the chief View of the Apostle

here.

(c) The Man that doth them, shall live by them.] The Sinai-Covenant made no express Provifion for the Pardon of any Sin, deliberately and wickedly committed against it; and fo was indeed a Covenant of Works: Tho' the Difpenfation of Mofes contained fome further Intimation of the Covenant of Grace, which was made with Abraham, and was quite a dif tinct Thing from the Law. And the Apostle builds fo much on thefe Thoughts here, and elsewhere, that it will be of Importance to render them familiar to the Mind, and to trace the Evidence and Illuftration of them in the Mofaick Writings.

Which may be obtained by Jew and Greek, thro' Faith in Chrift.

129

thority; fo that there is no more Room to puzzle Sect. 22. ourfelves about Difficulties, or to with for a Pow

er of doing, what to human Skill or Strength is Rom. X. 8.
impoffible. But what faith be afterwards?
even thefe Words, fo remarkably applicable to
the Subject before us; "the Word is nigh to thee
[even] in thy Mouth, and in thine Heart; caly
"to be understood, eafy to be remembered, and
"if thine Heart be rightly difpofed, eafy to be
"practifed too." And that is eminently the
Cafe with Relation to the Word of Chriftian Faith,
which we preach. For GOD hath given a very 9
plain and intelligible Revelation in his Gofpel;
and the Subftance of it is this, that if thou dost
courageously confefs with thy Mouth, that Jefus is
the Lord, and at the fame Time believe in thy
Heart, with a vital and influential Faith, that
GOD hath raifed him from the Dead, in Proof
of his Divine Miffion; thou shalt affuredly be fa-
ved, whoever thou art, and how heinous and
aggravated foever thy paft Sins may have been.
For 'tis with the Heart that a Man believeth to 10
Righteousness, or fo as to obtain Juftification, nor
can any Thing but a cordial Affent fecure that;
and with the Mouth Confeffion is made to Salvation,
and that publick Profeffion of Christianity is
maintained, without which a fecret Conviction
of its Truth would only condemn. Let there-
fore the Heart and the Tongue do their respective
Parts on this Occafion, and your Salvation and
Happiness will be fecure; tho' your Obedience
to the Law of GoD may have been very defec-
tive, and you could have no Claim to Reward,
or Forgiveness from thence. For the Scripture 11
in Reference to Chrift, as in the forecited Text,
(Ifai. xxviii. 16.) faith, "Every one that believ-

eth in him fhall not be in Danger of being
"afhamed, and put to Confufion, in any imagi-
"nable Circumstance :" Every one without 12
Distinction, for, you fee, there is no Difference be-
tween Jew and Greek.
tween Jew and Greek. For the fame Lord of all,
the Creator, Governor, Preferver, and Benefac-
tor of the whole human Species, difplays his
Riches, and magnifies his Bounty, to all that call

R

upon

130

Reflections on the clear Knowledge we have in the Gofpel."

Sect. 22. upon him, imparting to them all the fame Blef

fings of his Providence and Graceods For who

13 For whofoever shall Lord, fhall be faved.

pong ngin e bio 77 boY7 och et iseT HI

Rom. X. 13. foever shall invoke the Name of the Lord fhall be call upon the Name of the Javed (d), as the Prophet Joel teftifies, (Joel ii. 32.) when he had been speaking of those great Events, which have in Part, been fo wonderfully accomplished in the Effufion of the Spirit, and fhall ang um abaha mia be farther fulfilled in thofe Scenes of Providence, which are shortly to open on the Jewish Nation.

Ver. 1.

Ver. 2.

Ver. 3.

Ver. 4.

Ver. 6, 7.

Ver. 8.

L

IMPROVEMENT

ET our Hearts, after the Example of St. Paul here before us, be overflowing with Love and Compaffion to our Brethren; and let us be earnestly interceding with GOD for their Salvation. Where we fee a Zeal for GOD, let us pay all due Regard to it, and compaffionate that Ignorance, which may fometimes bé mingled with it; efpecially if it affect fo important an Article, as that of our becoming righteous before GOD by a better Righteousness than our own. Let us pray that GoD would teach us, and would enable us, according to our refpective Situations, in a proper Manner to teach others, that Chrift is indeed the End of the Law, of all the Laws which God ever gave to fallen Man, fer Righteoufnefs; all were intended to convince Men of their Need of coming to him, that Righteoufnefs and Life may be obtained.

Great Reafon have we to adore the Divine Goodness, and to congratulate ourselves, and one another, upon our great Happiness in this Refpect, that God has given us a Revelation, fo obvious and intelligible in all the grand Points of it. We have indeed no Neceffity, no Temptation, to fay, who fhall go up into Heaven? Or who shall defcend into the Deep? Or who, like the induftrious, but bewilder'd, Sages of Antiquity, fhall cross the Seas, to bring that Knowledge from diftant Countries, which is wanting in our own? The Word is nigh to us. It is indeed in our Mouth: Oh that it may be in our Heart too. We know a defcend

ing, a rifen Redeemer. He still vifits us in his Gofpel, ftill preaches in our Affemblies, and stretches out a gentle and compaffionate Hand, to lead us in the Way to Happiness. May our Profeffion of Faith in him be cordial; and then it will be open and couragious, whatever Sacrifices Ver. 9, 10. we may be called to make. Believing on him we shall not be ashamed; calling on his Name we shall be faved; tho' we can meet with nothing but Defpair from a Difpenfation, that faith, the Man, who perfectly dotb thefe Precepts, fhall live by them,

Ver. 5.

(d) Invoke the Name of che Lord, &c.] Bishop Pearfon argues at large from hence, that if Chrift be not here called Jehovah, the Apostle's Argument is quite inconclufive. Pearfon on the Creed, pag. 149.

SECT.