The Excellency And Advantages Of The Christian Dispensation, With The Invitations And Promises Of The Gospel.

Adapted from a Sermon By

Isaac Watts

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. Hebrews 8:6

This morning, we will consider the excellency and advantages of the Christian dispensation, with the invitations and promises of the gospel adapted from a sermon by Isaac Watts.

We are told in Hebrews Chapter 8 verse 6 that the covenant Jesus mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

This better covenant, which the apostle here commends, is the Christian religion, or the dispensation of the gospel under Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and the Mediator. Now, in order to show the superior excellency of the Christian dispensation, it will be good to briefly review all those former dispensations of grace, which have been more largely described to us in the previous sermon by Samuel Price.

The first is that of Adam. No sooner was man fallen from his state of innocency, and had lost all reasonable hopes of happiness, according to that constitution and covenant in paradise which have generally been called the covenant of works, but the goodness of God was manifested in revealing to Adam the covenant or constitution of grace, as it was contained in this obscure promise: the offspring of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent; Gen. 3. 15. which in the language of the New Testament, means that the Saviour, in the fulness of time, should be born of a woman, and should destroy this work of the devil. Gal.4. 5. 1 John 3. 8.

This first promise, doubtless was more fully explained to our first parents, which encouraged sinful mankind, by the hopes of a Saviour, and of acceptance with God, to repent of their transgressions, and return to their Maker in a way of new obedience. This is that gospel which is the same in all ages, and which runs through all the Bible; that is to say that there is forgiveness for sinful men who return to God, and this is to be manifested through a Saviour. But in the several progressive revelations of this gospel to men, there were several additional duties or promises, or both, which distinguish them into what we call different dispensations.

This constitution or covenant of grace, in its dispensation to Adam, had the appointment of sacrifices added in addition, which were figures of Christ, the true sacrifice of atonement. This covenant was also confirmed to Noah and his sons after the flood, with some further precepts about the distinctions of foods, and the punishment of murder, and the promise that the earth should be no more destroyed by water, of which the rainbow was an appointed seal. This is that dispensation by which Job and Melchizedek also were saved, with many others in that early age of the world.

The same covenant was continued to Abraham, with some clearer promises of the Messiah, or Saviour. The gospel was preached to Abraham, Gal. 3. 8. together with the addition of a promised inheritance in the land of Canaan, as a type of heaven, and the peculiar precept of circumcision, which was a figure of the putting to death of sin. This is called the dispensation of Abraham.

The same gracious covenant or gospel was yet further revealed to Moses, and by him to the nation of Israel, in the wilderness of Sinai. This was called the Levitical or Mosaical, or the Jewish dispensation. Heb. 4. 2. For good news came to us just as to them. And here the law and will of God were more explicitly set before them, and their encouragements to repentance, and hope in divine mercy for eternal life grew greater by the many revelations of grace they enjoyed, and by the dwelling of God among them in the Tabernacle. Here also there were a multitude of emblems or signs and pledges, both of the blessings of God and the duties of man, which are usually called the Jewish ceremonies.

But it must be seen, that in this dispensation of Moses, there were very many precepts and promises of a carnal and temporal kind added on top of the gospel of grace, which precepts and promises, together with the ten commands considered apart from the gospel, made up that Sinai-covenant, which was really a covenant of works; it was made between God, as the political head or king of that people; and the Jews, as his subjects; and it was by the observance of this outward covenant the Jews were to enjoy the land of Canaan, and its temporal blessings.

Let it be well considered, that this Sinai-covenant which is often called the Law in Scripture, and which in this chapter is called the first covenant, (v. 6) was a distinct thing from the covenant of grace, or that gospel, which secretly ran through all the dispensations, and which was included in this dispensation also; that gospel which in some clear expressions, and many types and dark hints, was witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; Rom. 3. 21. and by which both Abraham and David, and the pious Jews, were pardoned and saved, as the Apostle Paul proves in Romans Chapter 4. Rom 4. 10-25.

The great apostle in his Epistles to the Romans, and Galatians, and also the writer of Hebrews, are often teaching them, that this Sinai-covenant, this law of Moses, with all its ceremonies, could not give them life; Gal. 3. 21. that is, pardon of sin, and eternal salvation, when it is considered as a distinct thing from the constitution or covenant of grace, which was shadowed out by it: And it is mainly in this sense that the apostle, in the verses following our text, tells them, The first covenant was not faultless, that is, was not sufficient to save sinful men, or make them holy and happy; and therefore he often warns them against trusting in it for salvation, and assures them, that it was growing old in his day, and was vanishing away, verses 7, and 13. and that a new covenant is now introduced, that is, the Christian dispensation, or the gospel itself, in the most spiritual manifestation of it.

Now as Moses was the Mediator of this covenant of Sinai, and Aaron the priest obtained the ministry of it, as in the foregoing chapters, so in our text the Son of God, being manifest in the flesh, is that High-Priest who has obtained a more excellent ministry than Aaron, and is the Mediator of this covenant, which is better than that of Moses, and which is established upon better promises.

Here let it be observed also, that this Christian dispensation of the covenant of grace, which is called the second or new covenant, is not only better than the mere outward covenant of Sinai, or Jewish law of works, by the observance of which the Jews were to obtain temporal blessings; but it is better than the whole dispensation of Moses, even as including in it the spiritual constitution or covenant of grace; it is better than all the former dispensations of this covenant of grace that God ever gave to men; and that will appear in the following particulars:

I. The Christian dispensation, or the New Testament, though it is a rich revelation of grace, yet it contains the fullest and best representation of the moral law. That law which is eternally binding on all mankind, is more particularly explained here, than in any of the former dispensations.

The beauties of holiness which run through this law, shine with a brighter light under the gospel of Christ. The duties of worship, obedience and submission, which we owe to God; the duties of justice, truth, and love, which we owe to our neighbour; and the duty of sobriety and temperance, which we owe to ourselves, are set forth far more extensively in the New Testament by the apostles; Jesus Christ having begun this work, in his excellent sermon on the mount, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew. Here the commands of the law of God are represented in their full extent, as they require the obedience of the heart as well as of the life, as they relate to our inward thoughts and affections, as well as outward actions.

As for the doctrine and duty of Christian love, forbearance, and forgiveness of enemies, and a readiness to return good for evil, it is either raised to higher degrees than before, or at least it is explained in a more spiritual and sublimer sense than the Jews were ever acquainted with, and enforced by superior motives, and through the aids of divine grace thousands of Christians have lived honourably in the practice of it.

II. In the Christian dispensation, the gospel or covenant of grace is revealed more perfectly and plainly than ever before; not in obscure expressions, in types and earthly metaphors, but in its own proper form and language, that is, as a covenant relating to things spiritual and eternal.

Every covenant between God and man, in the most complete sense of the word, implies some engagements on our side, which are appointed duties, and some engagements on God's side, which are promised blessings.

Now in both these respects, the covenant of grace is revealed in the New Testament in a much more plain and clear manner than in previous dispensations. The blessings of the covenant of grace, are regeneration or a change of heart, pardon of sin, justification, and acceptance with God, adoption into his family, by which we are made his children, sanctification of our natures, or being renewed after the image of God, assistance to perform duties, and support under troubles, comfort in life and death, and everlasting joy in another world, in the presence of God and our blessed Saviour. These are most plainly described in the New Testament.

The duties of this covenant are faith or trust in a Messiah, who is much better known now having actually appeared in the flesh, heartfelt repentance toward God, confession of sin, conversation with God in secret prayer, love to God as a Father, delight in him, joyful hope in his promised mercy, zeal for his honour, and sincere obedience arising from a principle of faith and love. All these are more expressly required in our gospel.

It has to be granted that the essentials of these things were also contained in the former dispensations, particularly the Jewish; but many of them were veiled there under types and figures, and dark shadows; so that the Jews were ready to focus on these shadows, instead of the substance. And besides, these spiritual promises and precepts of the gospel were then mixed with so many carnal commandments, and temporal promises of the Sinai covenant, that the Jews had difficulty distinguishing between them: They were too often ready to neglect the inward and spiritual constitution or covenant of grace, that ran through all the dispensations of God, as well as the more spiritual duties of the moral law; they were ever mistaking their covenant of Sinai, which consisted of so many political and ceremonial, as well as moral precepts and temporal promises, for the very covenant of grace and salvation itself: And accordingly, by an outward observance of these precepts, they hoped for the pardon of all their sins, and eternal life. This was the mistake into which they were always running, and which kept them from receiving the gospel of Christ.

But now the Christian dispensation sets the covenant of grace and salvation before us, in its own spiritual language, in a clear and distinct light, and without a veil; so that we plainly behold the free and rich grace of God in this covenant, how it has worked in every age towards the recovery of mankind from the ruins of our fall, how it moves from step to step in its own glorious way, how it works to restore us to the favour of God and his image, and becomes more abundantly effectual to turn the hearts of sinful men to God, and bring them to blessedness.

The vision of grace and glory in the New Testament is written so plain, that a young child may grasp it; the highway of repentance, faith and holiness, which leads to eternal life, is laid so open that the stranger and he who walks on the way, though a fool, shall not go astray, as the prophet Isaiah has foretold; Isaiah 35. 8. And it may be observed, that when the ancient prophets speak of these evangelical duties and blessings in the clearest language, it is generally in some prediction of the Christian age, and the happiness of this last dispensation.

III. The rites and ceremonies which are added on top of to the covenant of grace, in the Christian dispensation of it, are much preferable to those in former times, and that in three respects; they are fewer, they are clearer, and they are much more easy.

They are much fewer than the ceremonies of the Jewish state. What a multitude of ceremonies were they encumbered with! What a great succession of actions and abstinences are required in the law of Moses! What washings and sprinklings, what numerous purifications by water and blood, what continual danger of new defilements at home and abroad, by night and by day, so that man, woman and child were forced to be perpetually vigilant lest they should be polluted in their food, in their clothing, in their dwelling place, or in the common actions of life! And what innumerable ceremonies of worship belonged to the service of the tabernacle and temple! What frequent journeys from one end of the land to the other, and multiplied forms of religion at the tabernacle? Whereas in the Christian state there are only two ceremonies appointed, which are those of baptism and the Lord's supper. There is no danger that the spiritual part of it should be overwhelmed, buried and lost in the multitude of rites and physical ordinances, which was often the case under the Jewish state. Again,

These ordinances of the New Testament are much more easy, and less burthensome and expensive than those of the former dispensations. To wash with water, to break a little bread, to pour out a little wine, and to eat or drink in a small quantity, are no such heavy burdens as those who went before us in every age have followed. As for the Mosaic rites, they were exceedingly expensive and burthensome; and even the dispensations of Adam and Noah, with their continual sacrifices, and the rite of circumcision, which was added in Abraham's days, had something in them much more costly, bloody, and painful than these two easy ceremonies of the New Testament.

And as the ceremonies of Christianity are fewer and easier, so they are much clearer in their design and in what they represent, than most of the rites annexed to the former dispensations: They have a more natural and direct tendency to explain and illustrate the covenant of grace, and to assist the observance of it.

When the body is washed with water in baptism, it very clearly represents, that our souls must pass through the laver of regeneration, or that we must have the Spirit of God shed down upon us, to cleanse us from our defilements.

The bread broken, and the wine poured out in the Lord's supper, distinctly represent the body of Christ broken on the cross for our sins, and his blood poured out as an atoning sacrifice; and the actions of eating and drinking do as evidently hold forth our partaking of the blessings purchased by the blood and death of the Son of God. This rite also solemnizes and confirms the covenant of grace, which God has made with us through his Son Jesus Christ, by our heartfelt consent to it, which is expressed by eating and drinking in his presence, and at his table.

IV. The Son of God, who was the real Mediator of the covenant of grace, through all former dispensations, has condescended to become the visible Mediator of this dispensation.

So says our text, he is the Mediator of this better covenant. He indeed began his office of mediation between God and man in those early counsels and transactions with God the Father, before the world was made, which are called the covenant of redemption, and of which we heard of in a previous sermon:

He appeared in the Old Testament in the form of God; and though he was sometimes called the angel of the Lord, and the angel of his presence, yet he often appeared as God himself, as Jehovah dwelling in a cloud of glory, in light or flame: And as he was one with the Father, so in his visible appearances he represented God, even the Father, both to the patriarchs and to the Jews, in his grandeur and majesty, as well as his mercy.

But in this last dispensation, he appears visibly and plainly as the one Mediator between God and man, when he reveals himself as the Son of God, and as the man Christ Jesus; John 3. 16. And so the Apostle Paul more expressly speaks in 1 Tim. 2. 5. There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The Lord Jesus in the course of his ministry, and especially at the end of it, gave some notices that he was our Mediator with God, and that he came to give his life as a ransom for sinners, and to make peace with his blood: Before he died and rose again, and ascended, he gave us a pattern of his pleading with the Father in the seventeenth chapter of the gospel of John; and he appears now as the writer of Hebrews represents him, as our Mediator and Intercessor in his human nature, before the throne of God.

Moses the Mediator of the Jewish covenant, with all his virtues and graces, with all the sacred intimacy to which God admitted him, and with all the shining honours with which God invested and surrounded him, was not comparable to the Mediator of the new covenant, the Son of God himself, the brightness of his Fathers glory, the express image of his person, who was at the Father’s side before the foundation of the world, but two thousand years ago, was made flesh and dwelt among us; John 1. 14, 18.

And let it be further observed here, that everything which we have to do with God by a Mediator, is much more clearly and expressly set before us in the New Testament, than in all former dispensations. Though Jesus was always the Mediator of the covenant of grace, yet the ancients knew so little of him under this particular character, that you find neither Abraham, nor David, nor Isaiah, nor those which were most enlightened in divine things, make much use of his name in their addresses to the Father, nor make plain mention of drawing near to God by a Mediator.

But if we Christians call upon God, and draw near to him, we have the prevailing name of Christ, given us to plead at the throne; if we apply to the mercy of God, it is by Jesus Christ, the great Reconciler; if we offer our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, they will be well received through Christ, his first beloved Son. We must do all and everything in the Christian life through Jesus Christ, and there we are sure of finding acceptance with God; Col. 3. 17. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

V. This dispensation of the gospel is not confined to one family or to one nation, or to a few ages of men, but it spreads through all the nations of the earth, and reaches to the end of time.

That of Moses was confined to one nation only; that of Abraham to one family, and mainly limited to his son Isaac. The dispensations of Adam and Noah are certainly more general, and may be represented as given to all mankind; because these were the two great fathers of all, one before the flood, and the other after it: But then each of these revelations was left to the care of one family to publish it to all mankind, who were to be their posterity.

But the Christian dispensation is and will be conveyed through the world, to all the heathen nations, as well as to the Jews, and that by a multitude of messengers, by apostles, and evangelists, prophets and teachers, endowed with the gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit, and sent out for this purpose. And it has been preserved and conveyed even to our nation, and to our day, by the writings of the apostles, and the ministrations of the preachers of the gospel through every age, and it spreads the rich grace of God, and the salvation of Christ, to the very ends of the earth; nor will any other dispensation come after it. Other religions of God's own appointment are worn out, and vanished away, but this being once introduced, must remain forever.

VI. And in addition we might here consider some other characters of the Christian dispensation, which the apostle gives it in 2 Cor. 3. 6-18. whereby he exalts it above all the religion of the Jews, and especially far above the Sinai-covenant.

That was, he writes there, the ministry of the letter, a dispensation which consisted much in outward forms and figures, and types: This is the ministry of the Spirit, that is, either of the substance and the thing pictured in these types, or in which the Spirit of grace is more eminently poured out on mankind, for conversion and salvation: Either of these senses may give it this name. That was written only in tables of stone: This in fleshly tables of the heart, by the Spirit of the living God. That was a ministry of terror and condemnation and death, in terrible outward appearances of God on Sinai, and it kept the people under a spirit of bondage and fear: This is the ministry of righteousness and life, inasmuch as all the springs of pardon and life, hope and happiness, are set open in the gospel of Christ. But we go on to the

VII. and last particular. The encouragements and persuasive helps which Christianity gives us to fulfil the duties of the covenant, are much superior to those which were enjoyed under any of the former dispensations.

Now these consist mainly in examples and motives.

Do examples invite us to our duty, and by a soft and secret influence encourage and lead us on to the performance of it? Such indeed were the names of Abraham and David, each in their day a happy pattern to their several ages: But we may say that all the praises which are due to David, and Abraham, fall far short of the labours and sufferings, the zeal and patience, the holiness and the love of that divine man, the apostle Paul, whose life is recommended as an example to the Christian world: And neither David nor Abraham, nor any of the ancient saints, who had each of them their blemishes, are to be compared with the more excellent and perfect pattern of Jesus the Son of God, who was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners; who was without the least blemish in heart and life: He has given us a glorious example of piety, virtue, and goodness, incomparably superior to all former ages; it is most alluring indeed, and yet unequalled by all that follow.

Let us next consider our various motives to duty under the New Testament.

Are the motives of love and gratitude powerful principles to encourage and persuade us to every active service? Such indeed were the blessings and gifts which God bestowed on men under former dispensations. But what were all those gifts and blessings in comparison of the unspeakable gift of his own Son, to die as a sacrifice in our place, which is one of the chief themes and glories of the Christian revelation? The love of God to us, made visible in the sufferings of the Son of God for our sins, carries with it a more abundant force of persuasion to work upon our gratitude and our love, than all the revelations of grace from the days of Adam to this day. How can we sin against such astonishing goodness? Against such a sublime instance of divine compassion?

Are the promises and threatenings of God another set of motives to duty? Do the awful glories and terrors of a future and eternal world work upon all the source of our activity and diligence, by hope and fear? Yes certainly, very much so. But the former dispensations had but few of these eternal terrors and glories, these threatenings and promises relating to an invisible state. All beyond death and the grave was surrounded by gloom and darkness in former times, except where here and there a glimpse of light that was shot in between the clouds. A few bright sentences collected from David, Isaiah, and Daniel, were some of the most wonderful revelations that we know of in those ancient ages.

But in the New Testament the gates of the other world are thrown open; a heaven of happiness, and a hell of misery are revealed there, and set before us in a divine light. The blessedness of departed saints, who see the face of God, and the agonies and outcries of the sinner, who lifts up his eyes in the place of torment, are revealed to us and described in the speeches of Christ, and the writings of his apostles. The awful and glorious scene of the day of judgment is spread out at large in the Christian dispensation, together with the decision of the eternal states of the righteous and the wicked according to their works, when everlasting joy, or everlasting sorrow will be the portion of every son and daughter of Adam. If hope and fear have any power in mankind, to awaken them to an abhorrence of sin, and the practice of holiness, surely these motives of the New Testament, which have so transcendent an influence on our hope and fear, are of the most effectual and constraining kind.

But this brings us to the second part of our text, which corresponds with the appointed theme of the discourse; and that is, "The excellency of the promises of the new covenant," as the writer of Hebrews tells us, this new covenant is established, appointed or constituted, upon a set of better promises.

The promises of the New Testament will appear to be much superior to those of the Old, if we consider what was hinted before, that they contain in them such blessings as were scarcely known under the former dispensations, or at least were so expressed, that it was hard to read them: But in the gospel these future scenes of solemn glory are set before our eyes in the clearest language.

We hear the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God; we see the dead rising out from their graves, a glorious army of saints and martyrs springing at once out of the dust, and their bodies all bright and active, vigorous and immortal. We behold Jesus the Saviour and the Judge upon the throne, and his faithful followers at his right-hand, invested with public honours. We hear the happy sentence pronounced upon them, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom. Matt 25. 34. We behold them, as it were, reigning with Christ, upon his throne, and ascending with their Lord, to dwell forever in his presence.

Again, the apostle has taught us to look upon all the promises, as sealed to believers by the blood of the Son of God, and secured to Christians by the resurrection and exaltation of their Mediator; for the Father has put all power into his hand, and he has taken possession of the heavenly inheritance in our name; Because I live, you also will live; John 14. 19.

Yet further, the New Testament confirms all the best promises of the Old, and claims them for itself; for they were eminently made with respect to the days of the Messiah, as many of them expressly inform us. New hearts and new spirits, taking away iniquity, and remembering sins no more, writing the law in the heart, and the dwelling of God amongst them, and their assurance of not departing from God, are such promises as the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel more directly pronounced on the subjects of the kingdom of the Messiah.

And there is a new light cast upon them in the gospel, which teaches plain Christians to make use of them, and apply them to their own consolation and joy. They were all written for our learning, that through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope; Rom. 15. 4. And so we Christians become much richer in divine promises, than all the ancients, having a common interest in all the most valuable ones of the Old Testament, as well as a peculiar property in those of the New.

What an invaluable and everlasting treasure are these exceeding great and precious promises which God has given us in Christ Jesus! It is by these we are made partakers of the divine nature, that is, the image of God, and by these we are enabled to escape the corruption that is come into this degenerate world because of evil desires; 2 Peter 1. 4. It is by these we are revived when we are slothful, we are supported when we are sinking, we are encouraged to run the race of duty, and to combat with every opposition. It is from these that Christians derive courage in their dying moments, and they triumph over death itself, the last enemy, when a promise sets the prize of eternal life, and the crown of glory just before them. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life; Rev. 2. 10.

And how are all the invitations of grace in the Old Testament enlivened by the Son of God come in the flesh? How many new ones are added? And how much is their force of persuasion increased, when the power and success of them has appeared in such wonderful instances as the New Testament sets before our eyes? How are the worst of sinners encouraged to lay hold of a promise of mercy, and to rest upon it, when our blessed Saviour received tax collectors and other notorious criminals, when Levi and Zaccheus were so favoured by him, when Paul the persecutor and blasphemer obtained mercy, and was made a favourite and an apostle, and when he assures us that his conversion was designed to this blessed purpose, as a pattern of abounding grace? 1 Tim. 1. 16.

How powerfully are humble and despairing Christians supported, and backsliders encouraged to return to God in a way of dutiful obedience, when Peter, who fell in the hour of temptation and denied his Lord, was recovered to repentance by a compassionate look of Christ, and not only received to forgiveness, but advanced to such prominence in the kingdom of Christ, and did glorious service for him?

But this brings us to the close of this sermon, and it will be concluded with a few inferences.

Inference I.—Though every part of our Bible is sacred and divine, yet the latter part of it is much more valuable to us than the former:

The New Testament far exceeds the Old, because it reveals to us this better covenant, and makes us possessors of these better promises. The books of Moses and the prophets, and the psalms of David, contain admirable revelations of the majesty and mercy of God, but where the beams of Jesus the Sun of Righteousness shine, there is not only a more glorious light to direct our steps, and to enliven our spirits, but there is a new lustre shed all over the Psalms and the ancient prophets, and the typical ceremonies and promises of Moses.

So that in our age, we can understand those ancient divine writings much better than the Israelites in the land of Canaan could understand them, even better than Moses and the prophets understood what they themselves were inspired to write. John the Baptist was greater than all the prophets, because he could point to Jesus the Messiah, Behold the Lamb of God; John 1. 29, 36. And since the death and resurrection of Christ, and pouring down of the Spirit, the least minister, or perhaps the least member in the kingdom of Christ, knows much more of the Messiah and his kingdom than John did, and than all the former ages, and the writers that lived in them; Matt. 11. 11.

II. What abundant thanks and praises are due to the blessed God, who brought us into the world under this last and best dispensation, and who has trained us up in the Christian doctrine.

We are not called to that troublesome, and expensive kind of worship, which consists in the killing and burning of bulls and goats, and the choicest lambs of the flock. The bleeding flesh of animals, and fire and smoke make no part of our religious ceremonies. Jesus the Lamb of God is already offered as an all-sufficient sacrifice; there is no need of another atonement: By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified; Heb. 10. 14.

We are not required to travel three times a year to distant parts of the nation where we dwell, in order to adore our Maker, at one single tabernacle or a temple, for in every place, that God who is a Spirit is worshipped now, even by public assemblies, in spirit and in truth; John 4. 23.

We are not required to spell out the mercies of God, by types and dark figures; but we see his overflowing goodness, in the person and offices of his beloved Son Jesus; we read the pardon of our sins in his blood, and our sanctification by his Holy Spirit. There is no such veil spread over the invisible world, as covered the ancient dispensation. Heaven and hell, and all the awful and eternal things that belong to them, are revealed in a clear and surprising light.

We are not left to live upon the promises of temporal good things, and to search out the spiritual blessings that are covered and wrapped up in them; but the spiritual and everlasting mercies which are provided for the saints, stand in plain sight, in the promises of the New Testament: They seem to court our embraces, and invite us to rejoice in hope. We need no longer be subject to a bondage of spirit through fear of death, for death is conquered by the Son of God; life and immortality to light through the gospel, and God has not given us the spirit of bondage and terror under the Christian dispensation; but the spirit of courage, and faith, and love, and joy unspeakable; 2 Tim. 1. 7-10. For ever blessed be the Lord, who has called us to be Christians.

III. Do we enjoy the privilege of knowing this better covenant, and will any of us content ourselves without a certain interest in the blessings of it?

Do we hear of these better promises, and will we be satisfied without a title to them? Will we belong to that wretched tribe of despisers, who behold this great salvation, and wonder, and perish? Acts 13. 41. What double anguish will seize our consciences, when the Judge will pronounce at the last day, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; Matt. 25. 41. you had all the glories and joys of heaven brought nearest of all to you in this better covenant, and offered to you in these better promises, and yet you refused to accept them?

IV. If we Christians live under a better covenant, and enjoy better promises, we should reproach ourselves if we find our faith and obedience fall below that of the Jews.

Have we nobler assistances in our holy race to heaven, and yet will we move on slower than they, and lag behind them? Have we brighter encouragements, and yet will our zeal be colder? Are our duties set before us in a far clearer light, and will our obedience be more defective? Does divine mercy reign in the promises of the gospel with a greater glory, and will our faith in these promises be more feeble and wavering? Then let us set the pattern of Abraham and David, and other ancient saints before us, and shame ourselves out of our earthiness of spirit, our lazy attitude, our cold affection to divine things, and our languishing hope of immortality.

Let the name, and pattern, and Spirit of the blessed Jesus inspire us with new vigour to follow him, who is the Mediator of this new and better covenant, until he will have brought us to the accomplishment of all these better promises.