SECTION I.

The Visible Church the same under both Dispensations.

"My Dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her Mother."-CANT. vi. 9.

The relation subsisting in ancient times between the congregation of Israel and the Divine Being was very intimate and peculiar. They had entered into solemn covenant with him, and he with them. They had 'avouched the Lord to be their God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken to his voice; and the Lord had avouched them to be his peculiar people, as he had promised them.' Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Accordingly, God speaks of the Israelites throughout the Old Testament as his people, his own people; and they speak of him as in a peculiar sense their God. They were the depositaries of the true religion; had made profession of this religion; and were manifestly a church—a visible church. They are spoken of as a church in the New Testament. "This (Moses) is he who was in the (ɛnnhɛoia) church in the wilderness." Acts vii. 38.

It will be my object here to show, that the visible church, under both dispensations, has been substantially the same; or that the general, visible, Christian community is but a continuation and enlargement of 'the commonwealth of Israel.'

I do not mean, indeed, that there have been no changes: there certainly have been changes, in accommodation to the altered state of things. While the people of God were looking forward to a promised Saviour, they needed types, and rites, and bloody sacrifices which, since his appearance, have, for the best reasons, been taken out of the way. Still, the abolishing of these rites, and the

ushering in of the new dispensation, did not affect the identity of the church.*

same.

1. The identity of the visible church under both dispensations may be argued from the identity of the real church. The real church on earth comprises all the true friends of God existing in the world. It embodies all the true religion, the piety, which is to be found among men. It is admitted, that this body has been, at all periods, the The true friends of God have always sustained the same spiritual relations to him, and to one another;— they have always belonged to the same holy family, and this family is the church. But if the real church has been, in all periods, the same, so has the visible church. What is the visible church? It consists of those who, by a credible profession, appear to belong to the real church -appear to be truly sanctified persons. It is nothing more than the real church bodied forth, made visible to the apprehension of men ;-so that we can no more conceive of two distinct visible churches, while we admit the identity of the real church, than we can conceive of any thing else as visibly two, which yet appears to be one and the same.

2. Under both dispensations, the church has professed the same religion.-No one doubts that true religion has been in all periods the same.

There has been but one path from earth to heavenbut one way of salvation by a Redeemer. This religion is revealed and inculcated in the Bible; and the religion of the Bible is one. The religion of the Old Testament is not distinct from that of the New, like the religion of

* John the Baptist and our Saviour preached, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iii. 2, and iv. 17. The phrase, kingdom of heaven, is used by the Evangelists in a variety of significations. In the places referred to, it imports, not a new visible church, but the gospel dispensation, which was about to be introduced, and to displace the dispensation of the law.

Brumha or Mahomet;-in all essential points it is the same. But the Israelites were professors of this religion as truly as Christians are. The Old Testament was committed to them, and they professed to receive and follow it. Both the Old Testament and the New are committed to us, and we profess to make them the rule of our faith and practice. It follows, therefore, that the church, under both dispensations, has professed the same religion— the religion of the Bible.

This argument may be presented in a somewhat different light. The religion of the Bible consists essentially in its doctrines; and what doctrines are now professed in the church, which were not professed in the church of Israel? What important doctrines are taught in the New Testament, which are omitted in the Old? In the New Testament, to be sure, the doctrines of religion are set forth with greater clearness, particularity,.and force, but it would be difficult to show, except in matters of inferior importance, that it contains any new truths.

Another essential part of the religion of the Bible is its requisitions; and in these there is a striking uniformity. The demands of the law have been the same under both dispensations. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself."-The demands of the gospel, too, have been the same. Repentance, faith, submission, hope, all the holy affections towards God, and all the benevolence and kindness to man, which are required of Christians now, were as strictly required of Israelites under the former dispensation. Indeed, those directions which go to constitute the discipline of the church, are inculcated in the New Testament, almost precisely as in the Old. The direction of Christ now is, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault." Formerly it was, "Thou

shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. xix. 17. The direction now is, "If thy brother repent, forgive him." Formerly it was, 'When the offender shall bring his sin offering, and in token of repentance lay his hand upon its head, the victim shall be slain, and he shall be forgiven.' Lev. Chap. iv. The direction now is, 'If the offender will not hear the church, but continues obstinate, let him be cut off and become to you as an heathen.' Formerly it was, 'The soul that doeth aught presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest, nor the judge, the same hath reproached the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from his people."

Still another part of the religion of the Bible is its promises; and what better promises has the church under the present dispensation, than those which it formerly enjoyed? Indeed, are not the identical promises to the ancient Zion still relied on as valid, and as applicable to the existing church of Christ? "Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers. They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord." Is. xlix.. 16, 23.

It is plain, I trust, to every reader, that the religion of the two Testaments is the same; and that the church, under both dispensations, has actually professed the same religion. Of course, in regard to its outward religious profession-its visibility, it has been the same church.

3. Numerous declarations, which in the Old Testament were made to the ancient church, are in the New Testament applied to the Christian church: For in

*Compare Matt. xviii. 17, and Numb. xv. 30; and Deut. xvii. 12.

stance, it is said in the Psalms, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation (exxhnoias Sept.) I will praise thee." Ps. xxii. 22. But in the New Testament we learn, that this is a declaration of Christ, made in reference to his church. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he (Christ) is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church (Exxnoas) will I sing praise unto thee." Heb. ii. 11, 12. It follows, that "the congregation," spoken of in the Psalms, and "the church" spoken of in this latter passage, are the same body.

God said of his ancient church, "I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." Lev. xxvi. 12. The Apostle quotes this language, together with other expressions from the Old Testament, and applies them to the church at Corinth. "As God. hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having, therefore, these promises, let us cleanse ourselves," &c. 2 Cor. vi. 16-18. How could Paul represent the Corinthian brethren as having these promises, and as being under consequent obligations to cleanse themselves, unless he considered them as belonging to the same church to which these promises were originally made?

In the following language, God addressed his church under the former dispensation: "If ye will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." Ex. xix. 5, 6. In almost the same language, he addresses his church under the Christian dispensation: "Ye are a chosen