David enumerates the particulars which conftitute the character of the man who is moft in favour with God, he draws a picture of the most diftinguished moral virtue, " Pf. xv. 1. &c. "Lord "who fhall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall

dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh up❝rightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh "the truth in his heart, &c." Laftly, the apoftle James fays, ch. i. 13. "Let no man fay when "he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God "cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he "any man."

A thoufand paffages in the fcripture exprefs the pleasure which God takes in good men, and the happiness which he referves for them, Pf. cxlvii. II. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, "in thofe that hope in his mercy." Pf. xxxvii. 23, 24. "The fteps of a good man are ordered by "the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though "he fall, he shall not be utterly caft down: for "the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Pf. ciii. 13. Like as a "father pitieth his children: "fo the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Pf. lxxxiv. II. "For the Lord God is a fun and

fhield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no "good thing will he with-hold from them that "walk uprightly. O Lord of hofts, bleffed is the << man that trusteth in thee." On the other hand, the wicked are always reprefented as the fole objects

of

of the divine displeasure and vengeance, as If. xlviii. 22. and lvii. 21. "There is no peace, faith my "God, to the wicked." And all the judgments which the divine being is represented as interpofing to inflict, are always faid to have been on account of wickedness only, as in the cafe of our first parents, the inhabitants of the old world, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Canaanites, and many others.

Whereas the favour of the heathen gods was fuppofed to be gained by the performance of certain rites and ceremonies, while moral virtue was feldom thought to be of any ufe for that purpose; the contrary is expreffed in the ftrongeft terms, with refpect to the true God; and admonitions of this kind are repeated again and again in the books of fcripture. David, confeffing his fins before God, fays, Pf. li. 16. "Thou defireft not facrifice, "elfe would I give it: thou delighteft not in "burnt offering. The facrifices of God are a "broken fpirit: a broken and a contrite heart," "O God, thou wilt not defpife." One of the fineft paffages in the facred writings to this purpose is, If. i. 13. &c. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye "rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our "God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what pur

pofe is the multitude of your facrifices unto me? "faith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings "of rams, and the fat of fed beafts, and I delight VOL. II. I 66 not

"not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of "he goats. Whez ye come to appear before me, "who hath required this at your hand, to tread

my courts: Bring no more vain oblations, in"cenfe is an abomination unto me, the new-moons

And when ye

and fabbaths, the calling of affemblies I cannot "away with, it is iniquity, even the folemn meet"ing. Your new moons, and your appointed feafts my foul hateth; they are a trouble unto 66 me, I am weary to bear them. "fpread forth your hands, I will "from you: yea, when ye make "I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. "Wash ye, make ye clean, put away the evil of

hide mine eyes many prayers,

your doings from hence before mine eyes, ceafe ❝ to do evil, learn to do well, feek judgment, re

lieve the oppreffed, judge the fatherlefs, plead "for the widow. Come now and let us reafon "together, faith the Lord: though your fins be "as fcarlet, they fhall be as white as fnow; though "they be red like crimson, they fhall be as wool." The fame fentiment is also admirably expreffed in Micah vi. 6. &c. "Wherewith fhall I come be"fore the Lord, and bow myself before the high "God? fhall I come before him with burnt of"ferings, with calves of a year old? Will the "Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with "ten thousands of rivers of oil? fhall I give my "first-born for my tranfgreffion, the fruit of my

"body

body for the fin of my foul? He hath fhewed "thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the "Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to "love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy "God?" To the fame purpose fee alfo Pf. 1. Jer. vii. 2. Hof. vi. 6. and Amos v. 21.

In the New Teftament, we find John the Baptift expofing the vain confidence of the Jews, on account of their having Abraham for their father, Matt. iii. 9. and our Saviour also, when they made the fame boast, in his prefence, fays, John viii. 39. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the "works of Abraham. Ye are of your father the "devil, and the lufts of your father ye will do." Again, fpeaking of his natural relations, he says, Matt. xii. 50. "Whofoever fhall do the will of "my father who is heaven, the same is my brother, "and fifter and mother."

If we confider the great object and end of all the parts of the fcheme of revelation, we cannot but fee that it was intended to promote the practice of moral virtue, in order to men's attaining to the greatest degrees of perfection and happiness. The ten commandments, which God fpake from Sinai, are all of a moral, and most of them of a focial na-> ture. His earneft exhortations to the Ifraelites, through the whole of the book of Deuteronomy,' enforces the practice of virtue in the ftrongest manner; and fo do all the writings of the prophets. I 2 The

The purport of their earneft exhortations is, "Cease to do evil, learn to do well; turn ye, turn 66 ye, from your evil ways; why will ye die, O "houfe of Ifrael."

Repentance and works meet for repentance, was the chief fubject of John the Baptift's preaching, and alfo of that of our Saviour. Our Lord's admirable fermon on the mount, confifts chiefly of precepts of the moft fublime moral virtue; and he reprefents the fate of all mankind at the last day, as determined by a regard to their moral character only, and especially their benevolence.

Whenever the general defign of the gospel is mentioned, it is always spoken of as intended to reform and blefs mankind. Thus the apoftle Peter, in his address to the Jews, after the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecoft, fays, Acts iii. 26. "God, having raised up his Son Jefus, fent him "to bless you, in turning away every one of you "from his iniquities." To the fame purpose the "apostle Paul, Titus ii. 11. "The grace of God "that bringeth falvation, hath appeared to all "men; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and "worldly lufts, we fhould live foberly, righteously, "and godly in this prefent world; looking for "that bleffed hope, and the glorious appearing of "the great God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrift: "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem

us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a " peculiar