For the law of nature in man's corrupt. ftate is very defective. For,

1. It cannot carry a man to the firft caufe of all his mifery, even Adam's first fin, and discover the evils of luft and concupifcence that lurk in his heart. Mere natural light can never teach a man to feel the weight and curfe of a fin committed fome thousands of years before he was born, or to mourn for that filthinefs which he contracted in his conception, and for thofe fproutings of fin in his nature. The apoftle tells us, that this cannot be learned without the law, Rom. vii. 7. I had not known fin but by the law : for I bad not known luft, except the law had faid, Thou shalt

not covet.

(2.) The law of nature is defective, because natural judgement is thoroughly distorted and infatuated, fo that it is ready to reckon evil good, and good evil, light darkness, and darkness light. Nature is ready to dictate unto men, that they are rich and increafed with goods, and ftand in need of nothing; while in the mean time they are wretched, and miferable, and peor, and blind, and naked.

(3.) It was defective, because it doth not drive men out of themselves for a remedy. The fublimeft philofophy that ever was did never teach a man to deny himfelf, but always taught him to build up his houte with the old ruins, and to fetch ftores and materials out of the wonted quarry. Sháme, humiliation, and confufion of face, felf-abhorrence, condemning of ourfelves, and flying to the righteoufnefs of another, are virtues known only in the book of God, and which the learned philofophers would have efteemed both irrational and pufillanimous things.

(4.) It was defective, because nature in particular men never knew nor had experience of a better ftate, and therefore muft needs be ignorant of that full image of God in which it was created. As a man born and brought up in a dungeon is unable to conceive the ftate of a palace; or as the child of a noble

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man stolen away, and brought up by fome lewd beggar, cannot conceive or fufpect the honours of his blood; fo corrupted nature is utterly unable, that has been born in a womb of ignorance, bred in a hell of uncleanness, and enthralled from the beginning to the prince of darknefs, to conceive, or convince a man of, that most holy and pure condition in which he was created.

3. To fupply what was wanting in it, being obliterated by fin. In the ages before Mofes, the Lord's extraordinary appearances and revelations were more frequent, and the lives of men were much longer, than they were afterwards. In Mofes's time they were reduced to feventy or little more. These aged patriarchs tranfmitted the knowledge of the law and mens duty to their defcendents; and by this means it was handed down from father to fon; but by degrees mens lives were fhortened, and following generations were involved in ignorance of God and his law. Therefore to fupply this defect, and to prevent the knowledge of it utterly perishing, was the law pro. mulgated at Sinai.

4. To evince and convince of the neceffity of a Mediator, the people that faw not this defect. When the law was thus given anew, and men faw their utter incapacity to fulfil it, by giving that due obedience it required, they would come, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to fee the neceflity of a Mediator for fatisfying the law, both as to its command and penalty.

III. I fhall fhew how the law is fummarily comprehended in the ten commandments. To be fummarily comprehended in a thing, is to be fummed up in it, to be abridged and compendized as it were. The commandment is exceeding broad, and runs through the whole Bible; but we have a fummary or fhort view of it in the ten commands given by the Lord on mount Sinai. The ten commandments are

the heads of all the duties of the law largely contained in the whole Bible. They are the text which Christ himself, the prophets, and apoftles expounded. They comprehend the whole duty of man, Eccl. xii. 13. There is nothing that God requires but may be reduced to one of these commandments. So faith is a duty of the firft command, as it obliges men to believe whatever God reveals. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, requiring us to know and acknowledge God to be the true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him as fuch, in heart and life. The fecond relates to the means of worship, requiring us to receive, obferve, and keep pure and entire all fuch religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his word. The third refpects the holy and reverend ufe of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, words, and works. The fourth requires us to fanctify the fabbath, that day which he hath set apart for his own worship and fervice. The fifth relates to the duties we owe to one another in our feveral places and relations, as fuperiors, inferiors, or equals. The fixth requires the preservation of our own life, and that of others. The seventh respects the prefervation of our own and our neighbour's chastity, in heart, fpeech, and behaviour. The eighth relates to the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward eftate of ourselves and others. The ninth requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, especially in witness-bearing. And the tenth requires us to be contented with our own condition, and to have a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour and all that is his. And every commandment forbids whatever is oppofite to or inconfiftent with what it requires.

As to the rules neceffary to be observed for the right understanding of the ten commandments, the following things are to be noticed.

1. They refpect not only the outward actions, but VOL. II.

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the inward motions of the heart. The law is fpiritual, and fo reaches the inward as well as the outward inan. It reaches the understanding, will, and affections, and all the other powers and faculties of the foul, as well as our words, works, and geftures. The law is fpiritual, Rom. vii. 14. reaching the heart as well as the life; and therefore we ought to ftudy confcrmity to it in both. The Lawgiver is a fpirit, and beholds all the motions and inclinations of the foul, as well as the actions of the body; and is grieved and offended with the impurities of the heart, as well as with the enormities of the life; and therefore he requires an internal obedience, as well as an outward conformity to his will. The law extends to the ima gination, that moft roving and unftable faculty in man, and to dreams that are bred there.

But fome may fay, What is to be thought of mens dreaming that they are breaking God's commandments, e. g. profaning the fabbath day, fwearing, lying, . while really they are faft afleep, are not doing fo, nor opening their mouths, &c.?

Anf. No doubt it is fin, and will damn thee if it be not pardoned, and washed away by the blood of Chrift. For, (1.) The fcripture condemus it. Hence the apoftle, Jude 8. fpeaks of filthy dreams that defile the flesh. (2.) The confent of the heart unto fin, the delectation that it finds in it, makes a man guilty; and the foul is always a rational agent, and this confent is given to these temptations in fleep. (3) A man when awake thinking what he doth is finful, though upon the matter it be not, yet it is fin to him; e. g. a man taking his own goods, which yet he thinks are another man's, is guilty of theft before God: for whatfoever is not of faith is fin. So is it in this cafe. (4.) As these things arife from corrupt nature, fo readily they follow on fome fuch motions that people have been taken up with when awake, or from a loose, carnal, and fecure frame. They are looked on as fin ful by tender confciences. (5.) As men may do fom:

thing pleafing to God in a dream, fo may they do fomething to displease him, 2 Kings iii. 5. (6.) The law impreffed upon the heart is defigned to keep it even in fleep, Prov. vi. 22. 23. When thou Sleepest, it shall keep thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light. But ye may fay, What if a man has been watching against thefe things, praying against them, &c. and yet in fleep falls into them? I anfwer, It is ftill finful, in fo far as the heart complies with the diabolic fuggeftion; and the truth is, by grace temptation is fonetimes refifted in fleep, as well as when we are awake.

2. The commandments require perfection. No partial obedience can be admitted or fuftained. The leaft defect is fatal, and expofes to the curfe. This ought to be moft ferioufly confidered, that we may fee our need of Chrift's blood and righteousness, to cover and atone for our obedience, and all its defects.

3. Whatever fin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded; and where any duty is commanded, the contrary vice is forbidden. For inftance, when God forbids us to have any other gods before him, he at the fame time commands us to worship and adore him, the only living and true God. When he forbids the profanation of his name, he requires that efteem and reverence fhould be given to it. When he forbids to fteal, he commands the prefervation of our neighbour's goods, by all the means that are lawful and proper for us to ufe, When he forbids us to kill, he commands love to our neighbour, and the prefervation of his life by all lawful means. On the other hand, when God requires us to remember the fabbath day, to keep it holy, he forbids the forgetting and profanation of it. When he commands us to honour our parents, he forbids us to be undutiful or injurious to them. And indeed the nature of the thing itself requires this for the duties enjoined by the law cannot be performed without fhunning the vices which it for bids, and the fins forbidden by the law cannot be as