torted nothing, he claimed no right to dispose of the peoples' property. God ordered him to speak unto the children of Israel, that they should bring an offering unto the Lord, it might be gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, goats' hair, oil, spiccs, or precious stones, God commanded him to take these offerings, provided every man gave them willingly with his heart. When these rough materials were to be wrought up by divers patterns for public use, the order was issued again to those only, both men and women, who were of willing heart, this is repeated five or six times in one chapter, When the service was first performed, whole waggon loads of rich utensils were voluntarily presented by the princes of the tribes. When a tribute was levied for the future support of the service, it was levied by contract, and the Lord of the universe engaged, as long as they should continue to support the dignity of his ritual, to open unto them his good treasure, the heaven to give them rain unto their land in the season, and the earth to produce its increase. He promised to avert sicknesses from their families, and blasting and mildew from their fields. He engaged to make them plenteous in goods, in sheep and beeves, and corn, and wine, and oil, he said Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. All the history of this people proves how punctually God fulfilled his engagement.

The Levites, too, who officiated in divine service, were provided for in a manner equally just. It was necessary, it seems, for the display of di

vine justice in Egypt, that the eldest child of each family should die suddenly. Pharaoh had formerly doomed the male children of the Israelites to be put to death. The Israelites were excepted in both these dreadful decrees. In commemoration of this distinguishing mercy, God claimed the whole service of the eldest child of each family in Israel; and in lieu of them, he consented to take the whole tribe of Levi. When the land of promise was divided among the tribes, the share of the tribe of Levi, to which they had an equal claim with the rest, was distributed among the other tribes, and the Levites had no inheritance, on condition, however, that they who possessed the lands of Levi, should support the Levites wholly to serve in the temple, All this was done with universal consent; and after the death of Moses, when Joshua finished dividing the land, he engaged the whole nation to renew the contract, and (as one of our old divines expresses it) took a receipt in full by a general acknowledgement that there failed not ought of any good thing, which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel.

A ritual thus supported by fruits of the industrious labour of the worshippers, by voluntary subscriptions of individuals, by reserved rents of lands, the property of those who parted with them on this condition, by extraordinary effusions of divine goodness, and by the free consent of a whole nation, has every thing in it to render it respectable but where the Supreme Being gives no such

orders, and makes no such provision, expence is an article of great consideration, particularly to such as derive no benefit from the ritual, and especially in times of public penury and distress.

There is only one plausible pretence for the performance of Jewish rites in Christian worship, and this vanishes on examination. They are said to help the devotion of the common people. Our text suggests the contrary, and tells us that rites of divine appointment were capable of abusethat they were actually abused by the Jews-that the god of this world by them blinded the minds of unbelievers-and, if this were true of divine institutes, it is much more likely to happen in rites of mere human appointment,

Consider the condition of sensual Jews in the times of the prophets. He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol. There is a case in which sacrifice and murder, offering incense to the true God, and adoring a dumb statue are the same. This case always occurs, when ceremonies are performed without moral virtue. There is no moral virtue where there is no obedience to God in a ceremony, and there is no homage paid to God by performing either what he hath not appointed at all, or what he hath appointed, when we perform it for purposes different from those for which he appointed it. Ceremonies among the Jews were appointed to signify religious truths to the worshippers; but sensual worshippers rested

in the signs, and left the things signified unexamined, unfelt, unknown. By ceremonies the god of this world blinded the minds of unbelieving Jeros.

Remark the condition of the common people in the church of Rome. In that church no expence hath been spared. All that architects, sculptors, painters, musicians, embroiderers can do, have been done to lead the populace, they say, to devotion: but have these evangelists succeeded? Alas! by the works of their hands the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the common people, so that they cannot distinguish the wisdom of God, from a cunningly devised fable.

Compare the primitive worship of our churches with the modern glory of Rome. Our public service consists of prayer, praise, and instruction, A person, who does not enter into the spirit of our service, presently discovers his state. Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ. The careless, who do not attend to, the ignorant, who do not understand, the obstinate, who do not pratise the doctrine taught, these have nothing in our worship to serve to conceal their real state from themselves; and this self exposure is their mercy, it is the first step toward wisdom and virtue. In the Papal church, people of the same description, who, if they knew themselves could not bear themselves, find in ceremonies a vail to cover the horrid void. Exercised in various gestures, elevated by music, dazzled and delighted with surrounding gaudy shews, they take these sensations for devotion; but

is this christian devotion, is it faith, is it repentance, is it humility, is it benevolence to man, is it mental improvement of ourselves, is it piety to God, by what name shall I call it? By such animal sensations the god of this world blinds the minds of unbelievers.

Judge within yourselves, brethren, whether that religion which is most simple and least compounded, be not most easy to perform, and best fitted to the frail and fallen state of mankind. Let your own experience speak: when you sing the praises of God with an instrument of music, have you not two things to do, to listen to the instrument, and to maintain in yourself a spirit of devotion; and is not a spirit of devotion easier maintained when you have nothing but that one work to do? Why should you multiply the difficulties of devotion; devotion, alas! is too difficult already to frail imperfect man.

In brief, Jewish cremonies are odious in christian worship-because God hath not appointed them-because they were appointed without the public consent--because they are not fitted to answer any valuable purpose--because they are a heavy, needless charge-and because they blind the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

To conclude. Let us study religion in the oracles of God, and the Christian religion in the New Testament: there lies all our divine œconomy; there are all the doctrines which we are bound to