Wesley Corpus

hered to all the outward ordinances of the law ; and hence may Christians learn the great veneration and esteem which are due to the institutions of the New Testament. The ordinances of the Jewish church were but types and figures of those of the Christian ; and therefore are we more immediately con cerned not to be exceeded by the Jews in the reverence they paid to sacred things. The scribes and pharisees may in this re« spect be admitted as examples to us, for they were scrupulous in adhering to every the least jot or ceremony of the law ; and so far their zeal is laudable and recommended to us by our blessed Lord himself, who, speaking of their tithing mint, anise, and cummin, is pleased to say that these things ought to be done, but at the same time the other weightier matters were not to be left undone. True it is that the inward spirit of Chris tianity is principally to be regarded, and the greatest danger is that men will trust too much to external duties, even so far as to neglect the religion of the heart, as if we could deceive that Omnipotent Being who dis cerneth all the secret springs and motives, the subterfuges and foldings, the thoughts and in tentions, of every child of man ! We have seen that, strict as the lives and conversation of the scribes and pharisees appeared, they were not accepted for want of sincerity ; from which we may learn the great value of uprightness, and should incessantly implore the Almighty God to bestow this grace upon us. The strictest ritual obedience becomes of no effect without it ; nay, it is said to be abomination ia the sight of God. Hypocrisy is of all others the most odious sin ; its baleful influence extends the farthest, and its poison is noxious enough to blast our best performances. The scribes and pharisees were careful and vigilant in their duty; they forced themselves through the labour and dif ficulties of heartless religion, and endured the toil and danger of servants yet were rejected by their Lord and Master, because their ser vices were all performed and undertaken for sinister views. And let it instruct us carefully to try our ways, and accurately examine the recesses of our own hearts, that we may not