The Jewish church, in the time of Joshua, in the time of Josiah, and after their return from captivity in the time of Nehemiah, publicly and solemnly renewed covenant with God; professing true love, and promising sincere obedience.

!

(3.) False professors in the Jewish church were accused of flattering God with their mouth, and lying unto him with their tongue.

When he afflicted them, "then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God and they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God, their Redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues: for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant."* Their hearts' not being right with God was a violation of his covenant, because his covenant required a right heart, and they professed to have hearts right with him; otherwise how were they guilty of flattery and falsehood? God's covenant with the Jewish church manifestly required them to love and glorify him. Hence he said "to the wicked," "what hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou

*Psa. lxxxviii. 34-37.

shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth."* He declared his abhorrence of the service of the hypocritical nation; that their sacrifices and solemn meetings were an abomination in his sight. Most pointedly did Christ reprove the leading and influential members of the Jewish church, for their omitting the more weighty matters of the law, judgment, mercy, faith and the love of God, for their hypocrisy and wickedness. He said, "Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye make clean the outside of the cup, and of the platter, but within ye are full of extortion and excess.”‡

(4.) The same blessings, essentially, were promised to the Jewish church, as are promised to the Christian church.

The promise of blessings was not made to hypocrites; but to true saints, who entered into covenant with all their hearts. To such Jehovah promised forgiveness of sin, righteousness, strength, and peace ;'he promised to continue his loving kindness to them; to give them grace and glory, and to withhold no good thing from those, who walk uprightly.

(5.) The Israel of God was to continue for

ever.

* Psa. 1. 16, †Is. i. 2-15.

Matt. xxiii. 25.

"As for me, this is my covenant with them, Saith the LORD. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and forever."*" For, as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, SO shall seed and your name remain."t

so

your

Though these promises were given, when the church was under the Sinai covenant, yet they were given in pursuance of the everlasting covenant, which God made "with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." In remembrance of this covenant, he delivered his church from Egypt, and gave them the law at Sinai, for their instruction, until the coming of Christ. But all the instruction communicated to them, in the law and by the prophets, was for the purpose of accomplishing the great design of the Abrahamic covenant, and continuing the church.

The continuance of the ancient church, is evidently implied, in a number of figurative representations in the Holy Scriptures. That church is called Zion, the Zion of the holy One.

*Is. lix. 21. + Is. Ixvi. 22.

of Israel."* "Of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her."+ The Zion of the holy One of Israel was not to be destroyed with the Jewish ritual. For it is written, "The LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it." "I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations." The Christian church is called mount Sion," "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”||

God called his ancient church his holy mountain, in allusion to mount Zion, on which Jerusalem was built. He says, "The LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain."** But under the Christian dispensation, this mountain was not to be demolished, but to be highly exalted, and to be a place, to which all nations should repair. "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be

Is. Ix. 14. jks. lx. 15.

+Psa. Ixxxvii. 5.

|| Heb. xii. 22.

Psa. cxxxii. 13—15. **Joel iii. 16, 17.

Y

exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."*

God compared the Jewish church to a “vine in a very fruitful hill," which brought forth wild grapes."+ But it appears by the words of Christ, that God's ancient vineyard was not to be utterly destroyed. The Jews, who wickedly withheld the fruit from the right owner, were destroyed; and the vineyard was let out to others." Gentiles are now employed as la

bourers in God's vineyard.

By what Paul says of the good olive tree, it appears evident, that believing Gentiles belong to the same church from which the unbelieving Jews were excluded. Though the "fatness" of the good olive tree has been greatly increased by the Christian dispensation, it is the same olive tree. Believing Gentiles were "cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree."§ It is contrary to nature, or different. from the usual method in grafting, to take branches out of a bad tree, and graft them into a good tree. It is also contrary to nature for ingrafted branches to bear the same kind of fruit as the tree into which they are grafted. *Is. ii. 2. † Is. v. 1-4. Matt. xxi. 33-41. Rom. xi. 24.