the law of God is eternal and relaxes not its demands; and though man is continually failing in his obedience, either in thought, word, or deed, yet that conscience, within him, which teaches him the law; Rom. ii. 14, 15. accuses him when he breaks it.

The religion of a fallen creature, according to the light of nature, requires also some additions of duty more than a state of innocence, viz. confession of our faults, sincere repentance of every sin, and addresses to God for mercy, with hope in his forgiving grace, together with a return to diligence in new obedience after every fall or transgression, and a constant zeal to subdue and mortify all sinful inclinations and perseverance therein till death, This runs through every dispensation of grace. And since none of these works are so perfect in the best of men, as to fulfil the demands of the law of God, or to Justify the man before God, therefore after all, if fallen man be ever justified, that is, pardoned and accepted of God, it must be by his trusting or depending upon divine grace, in whatsoever way it is or shall be manifested. This is the only thing, beside what I mentioned before, that remains for him to do in order to his acceptance.

Observe here, I do not say, that this is sufficient to procure certain pardon, or to obtain the justification of a sinner; for natural reason cannot assure us that an offended God will forgive all our past sins, upon this practice. But this I may boldly affirm, that reason directs to this practice, as the only way wherein we can reasonably hope for the favour of God, and acceptance before him. And, as this is the plain and obvious doctrine which the light of reason teaches, so this was practised, not only by Abraham and David, but by all the good men of old, in every nation who wrought righteousness, and were accepted of God; Acts x. 35. This is St. Paul's doctrine of justification by faith, or trust in the grace of God without the works of the law, which he insists upon in his epistles to Rome and Galatia, though it has most unhappily been perplexed and obscured by noisy controversies. In these papers, among other things, I have endeavoured to scatter those clouds, and set this divine truth in a most natural and easy light.

Since the blessed God saw the light of nature after the fall, insufficient to give the sinful creature any solid assurance of pardon and acceptance, he condescended to make some special revelations of his mercy and his will, to poor perishing mankind; and this he has done in several ages of the world, and in particular nations. Therein he has been pleased to reveal some further doctrines for men to believe, and some further duties for them to practise, which are not written in the book of nature: And they are such as these, viz. That God is ready to forgive all those sinners who return to him by sincere repentance, and who trust in his mercy, according to the different discoveries of it: That he will assist humble creatures in their return to God, and in their hearty endeavours to practise their duty: That he has appointed a Mediator, by whom sinners are to be restored to his favours. That this Mediator is the Son of God: That he was to be born of a woman, to spring from the house of Abraham, and the family of David: That he should be the great peace-maker between God and man, to reconcile sinners to God, and to restore them to the image of his holiness; that to this end he should not only fulfil the law of God, but also endure many sufferings, and die for sinners, as an atoning sacrifice, in order to free them from guilt, and deliver them from deserved de

struction.

Again, he has made known to men also, that this Jesus Christ the Mediator is raised from the dead, is ascended to heaven, and there governs all things, till he shall return to judge the world; and that the dead shall be raised by him, to receive their final sentence from him, either a sentence of eternal misery, or everlasting happiness.

It is amongst these discoveries of grace and duty, that we must rank the several sacrifices, which God has appointed men to offer, and that not only of

the flesh of sheep, and bulls, and goats, but also of corn and wine, &c. Sometimes he appointed particular places, wherein he would have worship paid to him, and sometimes particular seasons set apart for public worship: Amongst these also, he ordained various ceremonies of washing and sprinkling persons and things, to denote purification from sinful defilements, and finally that we must worship or honour God in his latest and best institution, by washing or baptizing with water, by eating bread and drinking wine, according to his special directions and appointments.

The belief of these truths, and the practice of these duties, when or wheresoever they were revealed and required, became a proper part of the religion of men in those places, and in that time: For their inward veneration to God, was to be expressed by these outward transactions in obedience to him. The chief design of these things in the various ages and places, was but to teach mankind, by degrees, in a way of emblem or figure, that God is reconciling a sinful world to himself, that he is recovering men from the sin and misery of their fall, by the mediation of Jesus Christ, his Son, and by the influences of his grace or his blessed Spirit, and to engage them to comply with, and pursue this reconciliation and recovery.

This general design of God to recover sinners, as manifested in these divine revelations, may be called the covenant of grace proposed to men. It was not published all at once, in its various and complete glory and beauty, but in many succesive ages, and that to particular persons, and by them to the rest of men, so far as the great God appointed; viz. by Adam to his posterity, by Noah to his posterity, by Abraham to his family, by Moses and the prophets to the Jews, and by Christ and his apostles both to the Jews and Gentiles. These transactions of God with men, and his appointments manifested to them, are usually distinguished into the several corresponding dispensations, which is the substance of the discourses in this book, and I think they are each of them, distinguished from the other, by one or more special sign or emblem of grace or duty.

As the discovery of this gospel, or covenant of grace, was not made all at once, but by slow degrees, to answer some evident, and some unsearchable purposes of God, so it was four thousand years, before it was fully revealed by the blessed apostles of Christ, and that under several dispensations of increasing light. Since the days of the apostles there has been no new dispensation, nor any new divine religion. Every former dispensation of the gospel, was sufficient to save all those to whom it was made or proposed; and it was that very religion by which all who were under it, were actually bound to seek their salvation, till the next dispensation was revealed to them. This is so evident that it needs no argument for the proof of it.

And yet we must add also, that almost every following dispensation of the covenant of grace does, in some measure, help to explain the scriptural account of those which went before. As for instance, the dispensation of Abraham added some light to the patriarchal darkness: The dispensation of Christ casts numerous rays of illumination on the types and shadows of Judaism, and St. Paul, in his epistles, has taught us to understand many of them, by pointing to those graces and blessings of the Messiah and the gospel, which were signified by them.

Nor can we have a complete view of this covenant of grace, as it is held forth in scripture, if we confine our thought merely to the short representation of the sacred writers, in their first discoveries of each dispensation. It is only a full survey of all the successive editions of this covenant, which can give us the most comprehensive, and the justest idea of it, in any one edition, or under any one dispensation. Each of them casts a signal and sensible light upon the other, and whatsoever was truly glorious in the whole of them, is, as it were, summed up and united in the last dispensation, that is, christianity, which answers the predictions and emblems of former ages, and reveals and unfolds many things, that seemed then to be veiled in darkness.

It should be remembered here, this short scheme of the dispensations of God, or the various religions of men, does not pretend to argue or debate much on any point, nor to trace out, and answer the objections that might be raised against these several religions; that would have required a large volume; these arguments are therefore to be sought in other writings. This is only a compendious arrangement of the discoveries of the grace of God and the duty of man, in such an order as God has prescribed them, and such as may best shew their consistence, their reasonableness and equity; and this may go a great way towards the evidence and proof of these representations, without long argument and dispute; for there is nothing but truth, which, in every part and view of it, is constantly consistent with itself, whether we consider it as contained in scripture or represented by right reason.

THE HARMONY OF ALL THE RELIGIONS

Which God ever prescribed to Men, and all his Dispensations towards them.

INTRODUCTION.

I. THE public dispensations of God towards men, are those wise and holy constitutions of his will and government, revealed or some way manifested to them, in the several successive periods or ages of the world, wherein are contained the duties which he expects from men, and the blessings which he promises, or encourages them to expect from him, here or hereafter; together with the sins which he forbids, and the punishments which he threatens to inflict on such sinners: Or, the dispensations of God may be described more briefly, as the appointed moral rules of God's dealing with mankind, considered as reasonable creatures, and as accountable to him for their behaviour, both in this world and that which is to come. Each of these dispensations of God may be represented as different religions, or, at least, as different forms of religion, appointed for men in the several successive ages of the world.

II. Hence it comes to pass, that in describing the several religions of men, or the public dispensations of God, we do not so much enter into his eternal designs, or the secret and inward transactions of his grace, either with, or concerning the children of men, in order to bring them into his covenant of grace, nor do we search into his early and divine transactions with Christ Jesus, his Son, in the covenant of redemption, in order to the salvation of men: But it is sufficient, here, to set forth the outward discoveries of God's mind and will to men, in his public government of the universe, or those several constitutions by which he will either justify and reward, or condemn and punish mankind, as he is their supreme Lord and Judge. These are the things most properly signified by his dispensations towards men, and which I propose as my present theme.

III. We must here take notice, in the first place, that natural religion, or that religion which arises from the nature of God and men, and from their relations to God and one another, runs through every one of these dispensations, whether in a state of innocency, or after the fall. And wheresoever divine revelation or the scripture hath not given man positive, express and particular notice of his duty, there the light of nature or reason must be supposed to come in both before and after the fall of man,

to clear up what is doubtful, and to supply what iswanting; even as revelation is to supply us, where the light of reason is defective or dubious.

Therefore, though our natural duties to God, viz. fear and love, trust and obedience, prayer and praise, together with the duties of justice, truth and love to our neighbour, must be supposed to belong to every dispensation; yet there was no necessity of repeating them continually under every dispensation, since the law and light of nature plainly dictate and require them; I desire this may be always kept in view.

IV. And under every dispensation, whether in innocency, or since the fall, there has been some further revelation of the mind, and will of God to men, some new doctrine or duty, precept or prohibition given for men to believe or obey, beside or beyond the mere dictates of the light of reason, or mere natural religion; and these are called positive laws or commands, as the others are called natural or moral. Among these I am ready to suppose, the observation of the sabbath, that is, some appointed day for rest from labour, and for public worship, holds a considerable place, for it seems to me to have been instituted in paradise during the state of man's innocency; Gen. ii. 3. and I think it has run through all the dispensations of God to man, though not with equal evidence. And perhaps this appointment may have always carried in it some type or figurative promise of a state of rest and glorious worship, after all the labours of our state of trial are finished.

V. In each of these constitutions or dispensations, there is also generally some outward visible emblem appointed of God, to be a sign, seal or pledge of these blessings to be bestowed on man by God himself; and there is some visible ceremony, some outward action or abstinence enjoined on men, as a seal or pledge of their acceptance of, and compliance with this constitution of God.

VI. These two things have been often joined in one and the same emblem, when it is considered on one side as appointed by God, and on the other as to be performed by man. Such a dou ble use had all the sacrifices of atonement in the dispensations of grace before Christ. The divine appointment of them sufficiently denotes the mercy of God, and the actual performance of them, testifies that those men accepted of God's covenant, and consented to it, that is in a way of outward profession.

Now let us proceed to describe the several particular dipensations of God and the religions which have been prescribed to men. CHAP. I.-The Dispensation of Innocency, or, the Religion of Adam at first.

I. As soon as God had created man upon the earth, he