of the church of Rome; as we have too much reason to remember upon this day.

But to proceed in the further explication of the text, the meaning whereof, in fhort is this; that the ritual and inftrumental parts of religion, and all laws and duties concerning them, are of lefs value and efteem with God, than those which are of a moral nature, efpecially the great duties and offices of piety and humanity, of the love of God, and of our neighbour. And if we confider the matter well, we shall fee the reafon of it to be very plain; becaufe natural and moral duties are approved of God, for themfelves, and for their own fake, upon account of their own natural and intrinfical goodness; but the ritual and inftrumental parts of religion are only pleafing to God in order to these, and fo far as they tend to beget and promote them in us; they are not naturally good in themselves, but are inftituted and appointed by God for the fake of the other; and therefore great reafon there is that they fhould be fubordinate, and give way to them, when they come in competition with one another.

For this is a known rule, which takes place in all laws, That laws of less importance should give way to thofe that are of greater; quoties leges ex circumftantia calliduntur, ita ut utraque fervari non poteft, fervanda eft lex potior: "Whenever two laws

66

happen to be in fuch circumstances as to clash with "one another, fo that both of them cannot be ob"ferved, that law which is better, and of greater "confequence is to be kept." And Tully gives much the fame rule in this matter. "In comparing "of laws (fays he) we are to confider which law is "most useful, and juft, and reasonable to be obfer"ved." From whence it will follow, that when two laws, or more, or how many foever they be, cannot be observed, becaufe they clash with one an other; ea maximè confervanda putetur, qua ad maximas res pertinere videatur: "It is reasonable that that law fhould be obferved, which is of great"eft moment and concernment."

* Preached on Nov. 5. 1688.

By

By what hath been faid, we may learn what is the meaning of this faying, which our Saviour more than once cites out of the Prophet, I will have mercy,and not facrifice.

From the words thus explained, I fhall take occafion to profecute the two propofitions which I mentioned before, namely,

First, That natural religion is the foundation of inftituted and revealed religion.

Secondly, That no inftituted religion was ever defigned to take away the obligation of natural duties; but is intended to eftablifh and confirm them. And both these are fufficiently grounded in the reason of our Saviour's difcourfe from this rule, I will have mercy, and not facrifice.

I. That natural religion is the foundation of inftituted and revealed religion; and all revealed religi on does fuppofe, and take for granted, the clear and undoubted principles and precepts of natural religi on, and builds upon them. By natural religion, I mean obedience to the natural law, and the performance of fuch duties as natural light, without any ex prefs and fupernatural revelation, doth dictate to men. Thefe ly at the bottom of all religion, and are the great and fundamental duties which God requires of all mankind; as, that we fhould love God, and behave ourselves reverently towards him; that we should believe his revelations; and teftify our dependence upon him, by imploring his aid and direction in all our neceffities and diftreffes; and acknowledge our obligations to him for all the bleffings and benefits which we receive; that we fhould moderate our ap. petites, in reference to the pleafures and enjoyments of this world, and use them temperately and chaftly; that we fhould be just and upright in all our dealings with one another; true to our word, and faithful to our trust; and in all our words and actions obferve that equity towards others, which we defire they fhould use towards us; that we fhould be kind, and charitable, merciful and compaffionate one towards another; ready to do good to all, and apt not only to pity, but to relieve them in their mifery and neceffity

ceffity. These, and fuch like, are thofe which we call moral duties; and they are of eternal and perpetual obligation, because they do naturally oblige, without any particular and exprefs revelation from God. And these are the foundation of revealed and inftituted religion, and all revealed religion does fuppole them, and build upon them; for all revelation from God, fuppofeth us to be men, and alters nothing of thofe duties to which we were naturally ob. liged before. And this will clearly appear, if we confider thefe three things;

First, That the fcripture every where fpeaks of thefe, as the main and fundamental duties of the Jewish religion.

Secondly, That no inftituted fervice of God, no pofitive part of religion, was ever acceptable to him, when these were neglected.

Thirdly, That the great defign of the Chriftian religion, was to reftore and reinforce the practice of the natural law.

1. That the fcripture every where fpeaks of thefe as the main and fundamental duties of the Jewish religion. When our Saviour was asked, which was the first and great commandment of the law; he anfwered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy ftrength; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. One would have expected he would have given quite another answer, and have pitched upon fome of those things which were fo much magnified among the Jews, and which they laid fo much weight upon that he fhould have instanced in facrifice, or circumcifion, or the law of the fabbath: but he overlooks all these as inconfiderable in comparison, and inftan ces only in thofe two great heads of moral duty, the love of God, and our neighbour ; which are of na-tural and perpetual obligation, and comprehend under them all other moral duties.

And thefe are thofe which our Saviour calls the law and the Prophets, and which he fays he came not to deftroy, but to fulfil, Matth. v. 17, 18, 19, 20. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the

Prophets

Prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil for verily I fay unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall in no wife pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of thefe leaft commandments, and shall teach men fo, he shall be called the leaft in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the fame fhall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I fay unto you, that except your righteousness hall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Fharifees, ye shall in no cafe enter into the kingdom of heaven.

That our Saviour doth not here fpeak of the judicial or ceremonial law of the Jews, but of the duties of the moral law, will, I think, be very plain, from thefe following confiderations.

First, That the judicial or ceremonial laws of the Jews were to pafs away, and did fo not long after; but this law, which our Saviour fpeaks of, was to be perpetual and immutable; for he tells us, that heaven and earth hould pass away, but one jot or one tittle of this law fhould not pass.

Secondly, The obfervation of the law which our Saviour speaks of, confitted in fuch things as the Scribes and Pharifees neglected; for he tells his difciples, upon this occafion, that except their righteoufnefs did exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharifees, they should in no cafe enter into the kingdom of hea ven. But now the Scribes and Pharifees were the moft accurate and punctual people in the world, in obferving the precepts of the judicial and ceremonial law; they were fo far from taking away any thing from thefe obfervances, that they had added to them, and enlarged them, by innumerable traditions of their own; fo exact were they, that they would pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, as our Saviour obferves; but then they were extremely defective in moral duties; they were unnatural to their parents, and would pretend that their eftates were confecrated to God, that under this pretence of pofitive religion, they might excufe themfelves from a natural duty, and let their parents

ftarve for God's fake; they were covetous, and unjuft, and devoured widows houfes; in a word, our Saviour tells us, they neglected the weightier matters of the law, mercy, judgment, and the love of God, and keeping faith with men; so that it is in, these things, that our Saviour means, that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharifees, viz. in the practice of moral duties, which were neglected by them; and confequently it is the moral law which our Saviour came to confirm and establish.

Thirdly, If we confider the inftances which our Saviour gives in his following difcourfe, by which we may beft judge what he means. He inftances in murder, and adultery, and perjury, which are undoubtedly forbidden by the natural law; and then he inftances in feveral permiffions which were indulged to them for the hardness of their hearts, but yet did intrench upon the dictates of right reason, and the first and original conftitution of things; as the permiffion of divorce upon every flight occafion, and of revenge, and retaliation of injuries.

1

Fourthly, If we confider, that by the law and the Prophets, our Saviour means that which was prin cipally defigned and ultimately intended by them; which was the obfervation of moral duties; which as they were written in the two tables, by the immediate finger of God himself, fo are chiefly incul cated by the Prophets. And fo we find this phrafe of the law and the Prophets elfewhere ufed by our Saviour, when he mentions that great rule of equity, that we should do to others as we would have them do to us, Matth. vii. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the Prophets. But how was this the law and the Prophets, when this rule was never fo much as men. tioned in either? our Saviour means, that this is the foundation of all thofe duties of juftice and mercy, which are fo much inculcated in the law and the Prophets.

So