you ask, "But in whofe Judgment?" I answer, In your own; I appeal to the Light of your own Mind. Is there not a Faithful Witnefs in your own Breast? By this you muft ftand or fall. You cannot be judged by another Man's Confcience. Judge for yourself by the best Light you have. And the merciful GOD teach me and thee, whatsoever we know not!

Now, as I fpeak chiefly to those who believe the Scriptures, the Method I propofe is this, Firft, To obierve what Account is given therein of the Jews, the antient Church of GOD, inafmuch as all thefe Things were written for our Inftruction, who fay, we are now the Visible Church of the GOD of Ifrael. Secondly, To appeal to All who profefs to be Members thereof, to every one who is called a Chriftian, How far, in each Inftance, the Parallel holds ? And how much we are better than they?

3. First, I am to obferve what Account the Scriptures give of the Jews, the antient Church of GOD. I mean, with Regard to their Moral Character; Their Tempers and Outward Behaviour.

No fooner were they brought out of Egypt, than we find them murmuring against GOD. (Exod. xiv. 12.) Again, when he had juft brought them thro' the Red Sea with a mighty Hend and a stretch'd out Arm. (c. xv. 24.) And yet again, quickly after, in the Wildernefs of Zin, your Murmurings (faith Mofes) are not against us, but against the Lord, (c. xvi. 8.) Nay, even while he was giving them Bread from Heaven, they were ftill murmuring and tempting GOD, (c. xvii. 2, 3,) and their amazing Language at that very Seafon was, Is the Lord among us or not? (c. xvii. 4 )

The fame Spirit they fhew'd, during the whole forty Years, that he bore their Manners in the Wilderness: A folemn Teftimony whereof, Mofes fpake in the Ears of all the Congregation of Ifrael, when GOD was about to take him away from their Head; They have corrupted themselves, (faith he) their Spot is not of his Children; they are a perverse and crooked Generation. The Lord led Jacob about; he inftructed him; he kept him as the Apple of his Eye. (Deut. xxxii. 5, 10.) He made bim ride on the high Places of the Earth, that he might

eat the Increase of the Fields: Then he forfook GOD which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation, (v. 11, 13, 15:) :

In like Manner GOD complains long after this, Hear, O Heavens, and give Ear, O Earth! I have nourish'd and brought up Children, and they have rebelled against me. The Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Afs bis Mafter's Crib: But Ifrael doth not know, my People doth not confider. Ab finful Nation, a People laden with Iniquity, a Seed of evil Doers, Children that are Corrupters, they have for faken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Ifrael, (Ifa. i. 2, 3, 4) Can a Maid forget her Ornaments, and a Bride her Attire? Yet my People bave forgotten me, Days without Number, (Jer. ii. 32.)

4. And as they did not like to retain GOD in their Knowledge, fo they had fmall Regard to the Ordinances of GOD. Even from the Days of your Fathers, (faith GOD by his Prophets) ye are gone away from mine Ordinances, and have not kept them, (Mat. iii. 7.) Ye have faid, It is vain to ferve GOD; and, what Profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances? (v. 13.) Thou haft not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Ifrael: Thou haft not brought me my BurntOfferings, neither haft thou honour'd me with thy Sacrifices, (Ifa. xliv. 22, 23.) And fo the Prophet himfelf confeffes, Thou meeteft thofe that remember thee in thy Ways But there is none that calleth upon thy Name. that firreth up himself to take Hold of thee, (Ifaiah lxiv. 5, 7.)

5. But they call'd upon his Name by vain Oaths, by Perjury and Blafphemy. So Jeremiah, Because of Swearing the Land mourneth (c. xxiii, 10.) And tho' they fay, the Lord liveth, furely they fwear falfely, (c. v. ii) So Hofea. They have fpoken Words, fawearing falfely in making a Covenant: So Ezekiel, They fay the Lord feeth us not, the Lord hath forfaken the Earth. So Ifaiah, Their Tongue and their Doings are against the Lord, to provoke the Eyes of his Glory, (c. iii. 8.) They Jay, Let him make Speed and haften his Work that we may fee it, and let the Counsel of the Holy One drag nigh and come that we may know it, (c. v. 19.) to Malachi, Ye have wearied the Lord with your A 3

ye fay, every one that doeth Evil, is good in the Sight of the Lord, and be delighteth in them; And, Where is the GOD of Judgment? (c. ii. 17.)

6. And as they defpifed his Holy Things, fo they pro faned his Sabbaths, (Ezek. 22. 8.) Yea, when GOD fent unto them, faying, Take Heed unto yourselves, and bear no Burden an the Sabbath Day, neither do ye any Work, but hallow ye the Sabbath Day, as I commanded your Fathers;-Yet they obeyed not, neither inclined their Ear, but made their Neck fliff, that they might not hear nor receive Inftruction, (Jer. xvii. 21, 22, 23.)

Neither did they honour their Parents, or thofe whom GOD from Time to Time appointed to be Rulers over them. In thee (in Jerufalem, faith the Prophet) they have fet light by Father and Mother, Ezek. xxii. 7.) And from the very Day when GOD brought them up out of the Land of Egypt, their Murmurings, Chiding, Rebellion and Difobedience, against those whom he had chofen to go before them, make the moft confiderable Part of their Hiftory, So that had rot Mofes flood in the Gap, he had even then destroy'd' them from the Face of the Earth.

7. How much more did they afterwards provoke GOD, by Drunkenness, Sloth and Luxury? They have arred thro' Wine, (faith the Prophet Isaiah) and thro' Arong Drink they are out of the Way; (c. xxviii. 7.) which occafioned thofe vehement and repeated Warnings, against that reigning Sin; Woe to the Drunkards of Ephraim, them that are overcome with Wine, (v. 1.), the Drunkards of Ephraim fhall be trodden under Foot; 1. 3.) Woe unto them that rife up early that they may fol law ftrong Drink; that continue until Night till Wine inflame them.But they regard not the Work of the Lard, neither confider the Operation of his Hands, (c. v. 11, 12.) Woe unto them that are mighty to drink Wine, and Men of Strength to mingle ftrong Drink; (v. 22.) Woe to them that are at eafe in Zion,-that lie upon Beds of Ivory, and ftretch themselves upon their Couches, and eat the Lambs out of the Flock, and the Calves out of the Midst of the Stall; that chant to the Sound of the Kiol, and invent to themselves Inftruments of Mufick,that drink Wine in Bowls, and anoint themselves with.

the chief Ointments; but they are not grieved for the Affliction of Jofeph, (Amos vi. ver. 1, 4, 5, 6.) Behold this (faith Ezekiel to Jerufalem) was the Iniquity of thy Sifter Sodom; Fulness of Bread and Abundance of Idlenefs was in her and in her Daughters, (c. xvi. 49.)

8. From Sloth and Fulness of Bread, Lewdnefs næ turally follow'd. It was even while Mofes was with them, that the People began to commit Whoredom with the Daughters of Moab: Yea, of the Daughters of Zion Ifaiah complains, They walk with firetched-forth Necks and wanton Eyes, (c. iii. 16.) And of his People in general GOD complains by Jeremiah, When I had fed them to the full, they affembled themselves by Troops in the Harlot's Houfes. They were as fed Horfes in the Morning, every one neighed after his Neighbour's Wife, (c. v. 7, 8.) They be all Adulterers, an Affembly of treacherous Men, (c. ix. z.) The Land is full of Adul terers, (c. xxiii. 10.)

Yea, and fome of them were given up to unnatural Lufts. Thus we read, Judges xix. 22. The Men of Gibeah befet the House. wherein the Stranger was, and beat at the Door, and spake to the Mafter of the House, faying, Bring forth the Man that came into thine House, that we may know him. And there were also long after Sodomites in the Land, in the Days of Rehoboam and of the following Kings: The very Shew of whofe Counte nance witnefed against them, and they declared their Sin as Sodom, they hid it not, (Ifa. iii. 9)

9. This was accompanied with Injustice in all its Forms. Thus all the Prophets teftify against them, The Lord looked for Judgment, but behold Oppreffion; for Righte oufnefs, but behold a Cry, (Ifa. v. 7.) Thou hast taken Ufury and Increase; thou hast greedily gained of thy Neighbour by Extortion-Bebold, I bave fmitten my Hand, at thy dishoneft Gain which thou haft made, (Ezek. xxii. 12, 13.) The Balances of Deceit are in facob's Hand; he loveth to opprefs (Hof. xii. 7.) Are there not yet the fcant Measure that is abominable; the wicked Balances, and the Bag of deceitful Weights? (Mic. vi. 10, 11.) He that departeth from Evil, maketh bimfelf a Prey, (Ifa. lix. 15.) And the Lord faw it, and it difpleafed him, that there was no Judgment. The

Wicked

Wicked devoureth the Man, that is more righteous than he. They take up all of them with the Angle, they catch them in their Net, and gather them in their Drag, (Hab. i. 13, 14, 15.) They covet Fields and take them by Violence, and Houfes, and take them away, (Mic. ii. 2.) They pull off the Robe with the Garment, from them that pass by fecurely, (v. 8.) They have dealt by Oppression with the Stranger; they have vexed the Fatherless and the Widow: (Ezek. xxii. 7) The People of the Land have used Oppreffion and exercifed Robbery; and have vexed the Poor and Needy, yea, they have oppreffed the Stranger wrongfully, (v. 29.) Their Works are Works of Iniquity, and the Act of Violence is in their Hands, (Ifa. lix. 6.) Judgment is turned away backward, and Justice ftandeth afar off; for Truth is fallen in the Street, and Equity cannot enter, (v. 14.)

10. Truth indeed was fallen, as well as Juftice. Every Mouth, faith Ifaiah, Speaketh Folly, (c. ix. 17.) This is a rebellious People, lying Children, (c. xxx. 9.) their Lips have Spoken Lies and muttered Perverseness. None calleth for Justice, nor any pleadeth for Truth; they trust in Vanity and speak Lies, (c. lix. 3, 4) This occafioned that Caution of Jeremiah, Take ye heed every one of his Neighbour, and truft ye not in any Brother for every Brother will utterly Jupplant, and every Neighbour will walk with Slanders. And they will deceive every one his Neighbour, and will not speak the Truth; they have taught their Tongue to speak Lies, and weary themselves to commit Iniquity, (c. ix. 4, 5.)

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11. And even thofe who abftained from these grofs outward Sins, were ftill inwardly corrupt and. abominable. The whole Head was fick, and the whole Heart was faint; yea, from the Sole of the Foot even unto the Head there was no Soundness, but Wounds and Bruifes, and putrifying Sores, (Ifa. i. 5, 6) All these Nations (faith GOD) are uncircumcifed; and all the Houfe of Ifrael are uncircumcifed in Heart, (Jer. ix. 26.) Their Heart is divided, (Hof. x. 2.) They have fet up. their Idols in their Heart; they are all eftranged from me through their Idols, (Ezek. xiv. 3, 4.) Their Soul ftill clave unto the Duft. Treafures upon Earth. From the leaft

They laid up. of them, faith

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