Chapter II: Part 2

I. 1. And, first, I am to consider the case of him who builds his house upon the sand. It is concerning him our Lord saith, _Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven_. And this is a decree which cannot pass: which standeth fast for ever and ever. It therefore imports us in the highest degree, throughly to understand the force of these words. Now what are we to understand by that expression, _That saith unto me, Lord, Lord_? It undoubtedly means, “that thinks of going to heaven by any other way than that which I have now described.” It therefore implies, (to begin at the lowest point) all good words, all verbal religion. It includes whatever creeds we may rehearse, whatever professions of faith we make: whatever number of prayers we may repeat, whatever thanksgivings we read or say to God. We may speak good of his name; and declare his loving-kindness to the children of men. We may be talking of all his mighty acts, and telling of his salvation from day to day. By comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we may shew the meaning of the oracles of God. We may explain the mysteries of his kingdom, which have been hid from the beginning of the world. We may speak with the tongue of angels rather than men, concerning the deep things of God. We may proclaim to sinners, _Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world_. Yea, we may do this with such a measure of the power of God, and such demonstration of his Spirit, as to save many souls from death, and hide a multitude of sins. And yet ’tis very possible, all this may be no more than _saying, Lord, Lord!_ After I have thus successfully preached to others, still I myself may be a cast away. I may in the hand of God, snatch many souls from hell, and yet drop into it, when I have done. I may bring many others to the kingdom of heaven, and yet myself never enter there. Reader, if God hath ever blest my word to _thy_ soul, pray that he may be merciful to _me_ a sinner!

2. The _saying, Lord, Lord!_ may, secondly, imply, the doing no harm. We may abstain from every presumptuous sin, from every kind of outward wickedness. We may refrain from all those ways of acting or speaking, which are forbidden in holy writ. We may be able to say to all those among whom we live, Which of you convinceth me of sin? We may have a conscience void of any external offence, towards God and towards man. We may be clear of all uncleanness, ungodliness and unrighteousness, as to the outward act: or (as the apostle testifies concerning himself,) _touching the righteousness of the law_, i. e. outward righteousness, _blameless_. But yet we are not hereby justified. Still this is no more than _saying, Lord, Lord!_ And if we go no farther than this, we shall never _enter into the kingdom of heaven_.

3. The _saying, Lord, Lord!_ may imply, thirdly, many of what are usually stiled good works. A man may attend the supper of the Lord, may hear abundance of excellent sermons, and omit no opportunity of partaking all the other ordinances of God. I may do good to my neighbour, deal my bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment. I may be so zealous of good works, as even to _give all my goods to feed the poor_. Yea, and I may do all this, with a desire to please God, and a real belief that I do please him thereby: (which is undeniably the case of those our Lord introduces, _saying unto_ him, _Lord, Lord!_) and still I may have no part, in the glory which shall be revealed.

4. If any man marvels at this, let him acknowledge he is a stranger to the whole religion of Jesus Christ: and in particular, to that perfect portraiture thereof, which he has set before us in this discourse. For how far short is all this, of that righteousness and true holiness, which he has described therein! how widely distant from that inward kingdom of heaven, which is now opened in the believing soul? Which is first sown in the heart as a grain of mustard-seed, but afterwards putteth forth great branches, on which grow all the fruits of righteousness, every good temper and word and work.

5. Yet as clearly as he had declared this, as frequently as he had repeated, That none who have not this kingdom of God within them, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: our Lord well knew, that many would not receive this saying, and therefore confirms it yet again: _Many_, (saith he; not one; not a few only; it is not a rare or an uncommon case) _shall say unto me in that day_: not only, we have said many prayers; we have spoken thy praise; we have refrained from evil; we have exercised ourselves in doing good: but what is abundantly more than this, _We have prophesied in thy name. In thy name have we cast out devils; in thy name done many wonderful works. We have prophesied_: we have declared thy will to mankind; we have shewed sinners the way to peace and glory. And we have done this, _in thy name_, according to the truth of thy gospel. Yea, and by thy authority, who didst confirm the word, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. For _in_ or _by thy name_, by the power of thy word and of thy Spirit, _have we cast out devils_; out of the souls which they had long claimed as their own, and whereof they had full and quiet possession. _And in thy name_, by thy power, not our own, _have we done many wonderful works_: insomuch that even _the dead heard the voice of the Son of God_ speaking by us, and lived. _And then will I profess_ even _unto them, I never knew you_: no, not then, when you were _casting out devils in my name_. Even then I did not know you as my own: for your heart was not right toward God. Ye were not yourselves meek and lowly, ye were not lovers of God and of all mankind: ye were not renewed in the image of God. Ye were not holy as I am holy. _Depart from me, ye_ who notwithstanding all this, are _workers of iniquity_; ἀνομία. Ye are transgressors of my law, my law of holy and perfect love.

6. It is to put this beyond all possibility of contradiction, that our Lord confirms it by that apposite comparison. _Every one_, saith he, _who heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house_: as they will surely do, sooner or later, upon every soul of man; even the floods of outward affliction, or inward temptation; the storms of pride, anger, fear or desire. _And it fell and great was the fall of it_: so that it perished for ever and ever. Such must be the portion of all, who rest in any thing short of that religion which is above described. And the _greater_ will their _fall_ be, because they _heard those sayings, and_ yet _did them not_.

II. 1. I am, secondly, to shew the wisdom of him that doth them, that _buildeth his house upon a rock_. He indeed is wise, _who doth the will of my Father which is in heaven_. He is truly wise, whose _righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees_. He is poor in spirit; knowing himself even as also he is known. He sees and feels all his sin, and all his guilt, till it is washed away by the atoning blood. He is conscious of his lost estate, of the wrath of God abiding on him, and of his utter inability to help himself, till he is filled with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. He is meek and gentle, patient toward all men, _never returning evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing_, till he overcomes evil with good. His soul is athirst for nothing on earth, but only for God, the living God. He has bowels of love for all mankind, and is ready to lay down his life for his enemies. He loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his mind and soul and strength. He alone shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, who in this spirit doth good unto all men; and who being for this cause despised and rejected of men; being hated, reproached and persecuted, _rejoices and is exceeding glad_, knowing in whom he hath believed; and being assured, these light, momentary afflictions will _work out for him an eternal weight and glory_.

2. *How truly wise is this man! He knows himself: an everlasting spirit, which came forth from God, and was sent down into an house of clay, not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him. He knows the world; the place in which he is to pass a few days or years, not as an inhabitant, but a stranger and sojourner, in his way to the everlasting habitations: and accordingly he uses the world, as not abusing it, and as knowing the fashion of it passes away. He knows God, his Father and his Friend, the parent of all good, the center of the spirits of all flesh, the sole happiness of all intelligent beings. He sees, clearer than the light of the noon-day sun, that this is the end of man, To glorify him who made him for himself, and to love and enjoy him for ever. And with equal clearness he sees the means to that end, to the enjoyment of God in glory, even now to know, to love, to imitate God, and to believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.

3. He is a wise man, even in God’s account; for _he buildeth his house upon a rock_: upon the rock of ages, the everlasting rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Fitly is he so called; for he changeth not. He is _the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever_. To him both the man of God of old, and the apostle citing his words bear witness, _Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest; they all shall wax old as doth a garment. And as a vesture shall thou fold them up and they shall be changed: but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail._ Heb. i. 10, 11, 12. Wise therefore is the man who buildeth on him; who layeth him for his only foundation; who builds only upon his blood and righteousness, upon what he hath done and suffered for us. On this corner-stone he fixes his faith, and rests the whole weight of his soul upon it. He is taught of God to say, Lord, I have sinned: I deserve the nethermost hell. But I am _justified freely by thy grace, thro’ the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And the life I now live, I live by faith in him, who loved me and gave himself for me. The life I now live_: namely, a divine, heavenly life; a life, which is _hid with Christ in God_. I now live even in the flesh, a life of love, of pure love both to God and man: a life of holiness and happiness, praising God and doing all things to his glory.

4. Yet let not such an one think, That he shall not see war any more, that he is now out of the reach of temptation. It still remains, for God to prove the grace he hath given: he shall be tried as gold in the fire. He shall be tempted not less, than they who know not God: perhaps abundantly more. For Satan will not fail to try to the uttermost, those whom he is not able to destroy. Accordingly, _the rain_ will impetuously _descend_: only at such times and in such a manner, as seems good, not to the prince of the power of the air, but to him _whose kingdom ruleth over all. The floods_, or torrents, _will come_; they will lift up their waves and rage horribly. But to them also, the Lord that sitteth above the water-floods, that remaineth a King for ever, will say, _Hitherto shall ye come and no farther: here shall your proud waves be stayed. The winds will blow and beat upon that house_, as tho’ they would tear it up from the foundation. But they cannot prevail: it falleth not: for it is founded upon a rock. He buildeth on Christ by faith and love: therefore he shall not be cast down. He _shall not fear, tho’ the earth be moved, and tho’ the hills be carried into the midst of the sea. Tho’ the waters thereof rage and swell, and the mountains shake at the tempest of the same_: still he _dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, and is safe under the shadow of the Almighty_.

III. 1. *How nearly then does it concern every child of man, practically to apply these things to himself? Diligently to examine, on what foundation he builds, whether on a rock or on the sand? How deeply are _you_ concerned to inquire, what is the foundation of _my_ hope? Whereon do I build my expectation of entring into the kingdom of heaven? Is it not built on the sand? Upon my _orthodoxy_ or right opinions, (which by a gross abuse of words I have called _faith_!) Upon my having a set of notions (suppose more rational or scriptural than others have.) Alas! what madness is this? Surely this is building on the sand: or rather on the froth of the sea! Say, I am convinced of this. Am I not again building my hope on what is equally unable to support it? Perhaps on my belonging to “so excellent a church: reformed after the true scripture-model: blest with the purest doctrine, the most primitive liturgy, the most apostolical form of government.” These are doubtless so many reasons for praising God, as they may be so many helps to holiness. But they are not holiness itself. And if they are separate from it, they will profit me nothing. Nay, they will leave me the more without excuse, and exposed to the greater damnation. Therefore if I build my hope upon this foundation, I am still building upon the sand.

2. You cannot, you dare not rest here. Upon what next will you build your hope of salvation? Upon your innocence? Upon your doing no harm? Your not wronging or hurting any one? Well; allow this plea to be true. You are just in all your dealings: you are a downright honest man. You pay every man his own: you neither cheat, nor extort: you act fairly with all mankind. And you have a conscience towards God: you do not live in any known sin. Thus far is well. But still it is not the thing. You may go thus far, and yet never come to heaven. When all this harmlessness flows from a right principle, it is the _least part_ of the religion of Christ. But in you it does not flow from a right principle, and therefore is no part at all of religion. So that in grounding your hope of salvation on this, you are still building upon the sand.

3. Do you go farther yet? Do you add to the doing no harm, the attending all the ordinances of God? Do you at all opportunities partake of the Lord’s supper? Use public and private prayer? Fast often? Hear and search the scriptures, and meditate thereon? These things likewise ought you to have done, from the time you first set your face towards heaven. Yet these things also are nothing, being alone. They are nothing without the weightier matters of the law. And those you have forgotten. At least you experience them not; faith, mercy, and the love of God: holiness of heart: heaven opened in the soul. Still therefore you build upon the sand.

4. *Over and above all this, are you zealous of good works? Do you, as you have time, do good to all men? Do you feed the hungry and cloath the naked, and visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction? Do you visit those that are sick? Relieve them that are in prison? Is any a stranger and you take him in? Friend, come up higher. Do you _prophesy in the name_ of Christ? Do you preach the truth as it is in Jesus? And does the influence of his Spirit attend your word, and make it the power of God unto salvation? Does he enable you to bring sinners from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God? Then go and learn what thou hast so often taught, _By grace ye are saved thro’ faith. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but of his own mercy he saveth us._ Learn to hang naked upon the cross of Christ, counting all thou hast done but dung and dross. Apply to him just in the spirit of the dying thief, of the harlot with her seven devils. Else thou art still on the sand, and after saving others, thou wilt lose thy own soul.

5. *Lord! increase my faith, if I now believe! else, give me faith, tho’ but as a grain of mustard-seed!――But _what doth it profit, if a man says he hath faith, and have not works? Can_ that _faith save him_? O no! That faith which hath not works, which doth not produce both inward and outward holiness, which does not stamp the whole image of God on the heart, and purify us as he is pure: that faith which does not produce the whole of the religion described in the foregoing chapters, is not the faith of the gospel, not the Christian faith, not the faith which leads to glory. O beware of this, above all other snares of the devil, of resting on unholy, unsaving faith! if thou layest stress on this, thou art lost for ever: thou still buildest thy house upon the sand. When _the rain descends and the floods come, it_ will surely _fall, and great_ will be _the fall of it_.

6. *Now therefore, build thou upon a rock. By the grace of God, know thyself. Know and feel, that thou wast shapen in wickedness, and in sin did thy mother conceive thee: and yet that thyself hast been heaping sin upon sin, ever since thou couldst discern good from evil. Own thyself guilty of eternal death: and renounce all hope of ever being able to save thyself. Be it all thy hope, to be washed in his blood, and purified by his Spirit, _who himself bore all thy sins, in his own body upon the tree_. And if thou knowest he hath taken away thy sins, so much the more abase thyself before him, in a continued sense of thy total dependance on him for every good thought and word and work, and of thy utter inability to all good, unless he _water thee every moment_.

7. Now weep for your sins, and mourn after God till he turns your heaviness into joy. And even then weep with them that weep: and for them that weep not for themselves. Mourn for the sins and miseries of mankind: and see, but just before your eyes, the immense ocean of eternity, without a bottom or a shore; which has already swallowed up millions of millions of men, and is gaping to devour them that yet remain. See here the house of God, eternal in the heavens; there, hell and destruction without a covering. And thence learn the importance of every moment, which just appears, and is gone for ever!

8. Now add to your seriousness, meekness of wisdom. Hold an even scale as to all your passions, but in particular, as to anger, sorrow and fear. Calmly acquiesce in whatsoever is the will of God. Learn in every state wherein you are, therewith to be content. Be mild to the good: be gentle toward all men; but especially toward the evil and the unthankful. Beware not only of outward expressions of anger, such as calling thy brother _Raca_, or thou fool! but of every inward emotion contrary to love, tho’ it go no farther than the heart. Be angry at sin, as an affront offered to the Majesty of heaven; but love the sinner still: like our Lord, who _looked round about upon_ the Pharisees _with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts_. He was grieved at the sinners, angry at the sin. Thus _be_ thou _angry and sin not_.

9. *Now do thou hunger and thirst, not for _the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life_. Trample under foot the world and the things of the world: all these riches, honours, pleasures. What is the world to thee? Let the dead bury their dead: but follow thou after the image of God. And beware of quenching that blessed thirst, if it is already excited in thy soul, by what is vulgarly called religion, a poor, dull farce, a religion of form, of outside show, which leaves the heart still cleaving to the dust, as earthly and sensual as ever. Let nothing satisfy thee but the power of godliness, but a religion that is spirit and life; the dwelling in God and God in thee; the being an inhabitant of eternity; the entering in by the blood of sprinkling _within the veil_, and _sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus_.

10. Now, seeing thou canst do all things thro’ Christ strengthening thee, be merciful as thy Father in heaven is merciful. Love thy neighbour as thyself. Love friends and enemies as thy own soul. And let thy love be _long-suffering_, and patient towards all men. Let it be _kind_, soft, benign: inspiring thee with the most amiable sweetness, and the most fervent and tender affection. Let it _rejoice in the truth_, wheresoever it is found, the truth that is after godliness. Enjoy whatsoever brings glory to God, and promotes peace and good-will among men. In love _cover all things_; of the dead and the absent speaking nothing but good: _believe all things_, which may any way tend to clear your neighbour’s character: _hope all things_, in his favour, and _endure all things_, triumphing over all opposition. For true _love never faileth_, in time or in eternity.

11. Now be thou _pure in heart_; purified thro’ faith from every unholy affection, _cleansing thyself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of God_. Being thro’ the power of his grace, purified from pride by deep poverty of spirit, from anger, from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and mercifulness, from every desire but to please and enjoy God, by hunger and thirst after righteousness; now love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy strength.

12. In a word. Let thy religion be the religion of the heart. Let it lie deep in thy inmost soul. Be thou little and base, and mean and vile, (beyond what words can express) in thy own eyes; amazed and humbled to the dust, by the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Be serious. Let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words and actions flow from the deepest conviction, that thou standest on the edge of the great gulph, thou and all the children of men, just ready to drop in, either into everlasting glory or everlasting burnings. Let thy soul be filled with mildness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering towards all men: at the same time that all which is in thee is athirst for God, the living God; longing to awake up after his likeness, and to be satisfied with it. Be thou a lover of God and of all mankind. In this Spirit do and suffer all things. Thus shew thy faith by thy works: thus _do the will of thy Father which is in heaven_. And as sure as thou now walkest with God on earth, thou shalt also reign with him in glory.

SERMON XXXIV.

THE ORIGINAL, NATURE, PROPERTY AND USE OF THE LAW.
ROM. vii. 12.

_Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and
good._

1. PERHAPS there are few subjects within the whole compass of religion, so little understood as this. The reader of this epistle is usually told, by _the law_, St. _Paul_ means _Jewish law_: and so apprehending himself to have no concern therewith, passes on without farther thought about it. Indeed some are not satisfied with this account: but observing the epistle is directed to the _Romans_, thence infer, that the apostle in the beginning of this chapter, alludes to the old _Roman law_. But as they have no more concern with this, than with the _ceremonial law_ of _Moses_, so they spend not much thought, on what they suppose is occasionally mentioned, barely to illustrate another thing.

2. But a careful observer of the apostle’s discourse, will not be content with these slight explications of it. And the more he weighs the words, the more convinced he will be that St. _Paul_ by _the law_ mentioned in this chapter, does not mean either the ancient law of _Rome_, or the ceremonial law of _Moses_. This will clearly appear to all who attentively consider the tenor of his discourse. He begins the chapter, _Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law_, to them who have been instructed therein from their youth) _That the law hath dominion over a man, as long as he liveth_? ver. 1. (What the law of _Rome_ only, or the _ceremonial_ law? No surely; but the _moral_ law) _For_, to give a plain instance, _the woman that hath an husband, is bound by the_ (moral) _law to her husband as long as he liveth. But if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband_, ver. 2. _So then, if while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, tho’ she be married to another man._ ver 3. From this particular instance the apostle proceeds to draw that general conclusion. _Wherefore, my brethren_, by a plain parity of reason, _ye also are become dead to the law_, the whole _Mosaic_ institution, _by the body of Christ_ offered for you, and bringing you under a new dispensation: _that ye should_ without any blame _be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead_, and hath thereby given proof of his authority to make the change, _that ye should bring forth fruit unto God_. ver. 4. And this we can do now, whereas before we could not: _For when we were in the flesh_, under the power of the flesh, that is, of corrupt nature, (which was necessarily the case till we knew the power of Christ’s resurrection) _the motions of sin, which were by the law_, which were shewn and inflamed by the _Mosaic_ law, not conquered, _did work in our members_, broke out various ways, _to bring forth fruit unto death_. ver. 5. _But now we are delivered from the law_, from that whole moral as well as ceremonial œconomy; _that being dead whereby we were held_: that intire institution being now as it were dead, and having no more authority over us, than the husband when dead hath over his wife: _that we should serve him_ who died for us and rose again; _in newness of spirit_, in a new spiritual dispensation, _and not in the oldness of the letter_, ver. 6. with a bare outward service, according to the letter of the _Mosaic_ institution.

3. The apostle having gone thus far, in proving that the Christian had set aside the Jewish dispensation, and that the moral law itself, tho’ it could never pass away, yet stood on a different foundation from what it did before, now stops to propose and answer an objection. _What shall we say then? Is the law sin?_ So some might infer from a misapprehension of those words, _the motions of sin which were by the law. God forbid!_ saith the apostle, that we should say so. Nay, the law is an irreconcileable enemy to sin; searching it out wherever it is. _I had not known sin but by the law. I had not known lust_, evil desire to be sin, _except the law had said, thou shalt not covet_, ver. 7. After opening this farther in the four following verses, he subjoins this general conclusion, with regard more especially to the moral law, from which the preceding instance was taken: _Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good_.

4. In order to explain and inforce these deep words, so little regarded, because so little understood, I shall endeavour to shew, first, the original of this law, secondly, the nature thereof; thirdly, the properties, that it is _holy and just and good_, and fourthly, the uses of it.

I. 1. I shall, first, endeavour to shew the original of the moral law, often called _the law_, by way of eminence. Now this is not, as some may possibly have imagined, of so late an institution as the time of _Moses_. _Noah_ declared it to men long before that time, and _Enoch_ before him. But we may trace its original higher still, even beyond the foundation of the world, to that period, unknown indeed to men, but doubtless inrolled in the annals of eternity, when _the morning stars_ first _sang together_, being newly called into existence. *It pleased the great Creator to make these his first born sons, intelligent beings, that they might know him that created them. For this end he endued them with understanding, to discern truth from falshood, good from evil: and as a necessary result of this, with liberty, a capacity of chusing the one and refusing the other. By this they were likewise enabled to offer him a free and willing service: a service rewardable in itself, as well as most acceptable to their gracious Master.

2. To employ all the faculties which he had given them, particularly their understanding and liberty, he gave them a law, a compleat model of all truth, so far as is intelligible to a finite being, and of all good, so far as angelic minds were capable of embracing it. It was also the design of their beneficent governor herein, to make way for a continual increase of their happiness: seeing every instance of obedience to that law, would both add to the perfection of their nature, and intitle them to an higher reward, which the righteous judge would give in its season.

3. *In like manner, when God in his appointed time, had created a new order of intelligent beings, when he had raised man from the dust of the earth, breathed into him the breath of life, and caused him to become a living soul, endued with power to chuse good or evil: he gave to this free, intelligent creature, the same law as to his first-born children: not wrote indeed upon tables of stone, or any corruptible substance, but engraven on his heart by the finger of God, wrote in the inmost spirit both of men and of angels: to the intent it might never be far off, never hard to be understood; but always at hand, and always shining with clear light, even as the sun in the midst of heaven.

4. Such was the original of the law of God. With regard to man, it was co-eval with his nature. But with regard to the elder sons of God, it shone in its full splendor, _or ever the mountains were brought forth, on the earth and the round world were made_. But it was not long before man rebelled against God, and by breaking this glorious law, well nigh effaced it out of his heart; _the eyes of his understanding_ being _darkened_, in the same measure as his soul was _alienated from the life of_ God. And yet God did not despise the work of his own hands: but being reconciled to man thro’ the Son of his love, he in some measure re-inscribed the law, on the heart of his dark, sinful creature. _He_ again _shewed thee, O man what is good_ (altho’ not as in the beginning) _even to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy_ God.

5. And this he shewed not only to our first parents, but likewise to all their posterity, by _that true light which enlightens every man that cometh into the world_. But notwithstanding this light, all flesh had in process of time _corrupted their way before him_: till he chose out of mankind a peculiar people, to whom he gave a more perfect knowledge of his law. And the heads of this, because they were slow of understanding, he wrote on two tables of stone; which he commanded the fathers to teach their children, thro’ all succeeding generations.

6. And thus it is, that the law of God is now made known to them that know not God. They hear, with the hearing of the ear, the things that were written aforetime for our instruction. But this does not suffice. They cannot by this means comprehend the height and depth and length and breadth thereof. God alone can reveal this by his Spirit. And so he does to all that truly believe, in consequence of that gracious promise, made to all the Israel of God: _Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. And this shall be the covenant that I will make, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their_ God, _and they shall be my people_. Jer. xxxi. 31, &c.

II. 1. The nature of that law which was originally given to angels in heaven and man in paradise, and which God has so mercifully promised to write afresh, in the hearts of all true believers, was the second thing I proposed to shew. In order to which I would first observe, that altho’ _the law_ and _the commandment_ are sometimes differently taken, (the commandment meaning but a part of the law) yet in the text they are used as equivalent terms, implying one and the same thing. But we cannot understand here, either by one or the other, the ceremonial law. ’Tis not the ceremonial law, whereof the apostle says, in the words above recited, _I had not known sin but by the law_: this is too plain to need a proof. Neither is it the ceremonial law which saith, in the words immediately subjoined, _Thou shalt not covet_. Therefore the ceremonial law, has no place in the present question.

2. Neither can we understand by the law mentioned in the text, the _Mosaic_ dispensation. ’Tis true, the word is sometimes so understood: as when the apostle says, speaking to the _Galatians_, (c. iii. v. 17.) _The covenant which was confirmed before_ (namely with _Abraham_ the father of the faithful) _the law_, i. e. the _Mosaic_ dispensation, _which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul_. But it cannot be understood so in the text; for the apostle never bestows, so high commendations as these upon that imperfect and shadowy dispensation. He no where affirms, the _Mosaic_ to be a _spiritual_ law: or, that it is _holy and just and good_. Neither is it true, that God will _write_ that law _in the_ hearts of them whose _iniquities he remembers no more_. It remains, that _the law_, eminently so termed, is no other than the moral law.

3. Now this law is an incorruptible picture of the high and holy one that inhabiteth eternity. It is he whom in his essence no man hath seen or can see, made visible to men and angels. It is the face of God unveiled: God manifested to his creatures as they are able to bear it: manifested to give and not to destroy life; that they may see God and live. It is the heart of God disclosed to man. Yea, in some sense we may apply to this law, what the apostle says of his Son, it is ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης, καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ· _The streaming forth_ or out-beaming _of his glory, the express image of his person_.

4. *“If virtue, said the antient Heathen, could assume such a shape as that we could behold her with our eyes, what wonderful love would she excite in us!” If virtue could do this! It is done already. The law of God is all virtues in one, in such a shape, as to be beheld with open face, by all those whose eyes God hath enlightened. What is the law, but divine virtue and wisdom, assuming a visible form? What is it, but the original ideas of truth and good, which were lodged in the uncreated mind from eternity, now drawn forth and cloathed with such a vehicle, as to appear even to human understanding?

5. *If we survey the law of God in another point of view, it is supreme, unchangeable reason: it is unalterable rectitude: it is the everlasting fitness of all things that are or ever were created. I am sensible, what a shortness, and even impropriety there is, in these and all other human expressions, when we endeavour by these faint pictures, to shadow out the deep things of God. Nevertheless we have no better, indeed no other way, during this our infant state of existence. As _we_ now _know_ but _in part_, so _we_ are constrained to _prophesy_, i. e. speak of the things of God, _in part_ also. _We cannot order our speech by reason of darkness_, while we are in this house of clay. While I am _a child I_ must _speak as a child_. But I shall soon _put away childish things_. For _when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away_.

6. *But to return. The law of God, (speaking after the manner of men) is a copy of the eternal mind, a transcript of the divine nature: yea it is the fairest offspring of the everlasting Father, the brightest efflux of his essential wisdom, the visible beauty of the Most High. It is the delight and wonder of Cherubim and Seraphim and all the company of heaven, and the glory and joy of every wise believer, every well-instructed child of God upon earth.

III. 1. Such is the nature of the ever blessed law of God. I am, in the third place, to shew the properties of it: not all; for that would exceed the wisdom of an angel. But those only which are mentioned in the text. These are three: _It is holy, just and good_. And first, _The law is holy_.

2. In this expression the apostle does not appear to speak of its effects; but rather of its nature: as St. _James_ speaking of the same thing under another name, says, _The wisdom from above_ (which is no other than this law, written on our heart) _is first pure_, chap. iii. 17. ἁγνὴ, chaste, spotless, internally, and essentially holy. And consequently, when it is transcribed into the life, as well as the soul, it is (as the same apostle terms it,) chap. i. 27. θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος. _Pure religion and undefiled_; or, the pure, clean, unpolluted worship of God.

3. It is indeed, in the highest degree, pure, chaste, clean, holy. Otherwise it could not be the immediate offspring, and much less the express resemblance of God, who is essential holiness. It is pure from all sin, clean and unspotted from any touch of evil. It is a chaste virgin, incapable of any defilement, of any mixture with that which is unclean or unholy. It has no fellowship with sin of any kind. For _what communion hath light with darkness_? As sin is in its very nature enmity to God, so his law is enmity to sin.

Therefore it is, that the apostle rejects with such abhorrence, that blasphemous supposition, that _the law_ of God _is_ either _sin_ itself, or the cause of sin. God _forbid_, that we should suppose, it is the cause of sin, because it is the discoverer of it: because it detects the hidden things of darkness, and drags them out into open day. ’Tis true, by this means, (as the apostle observes, ver. 13.) _sin appears to be sin_. All its disguises are torn away, and it appears in its native deformity. ’Tis true likewise, that _sin by the commandment becomes exceeding sinful_. Being now committed against light and knowledge, being stript even of the poor plea of ignorance, it loses its excuse as well as disguise, and becomes far more odious both to God and man. Yea, and it is true, that _sin worketh death by that which is good_, which in itself is pure and holy. When it is dragged out to light, it rages the more: when it is restrained, it bursts out with greater violence. Thus the apostle, (speaking in the person of one, who was convinced of sin, but not yet delivered from it) _sin taking occasion by the commandment_, detecting and endeavouring to restrain it, disdained the restraint, and so much the more _wrought in me all manner of concupiscence_, ver. 8. All manner of foolish and hurtful desire, which that commandment sought to restrain. Thus _when the commandment came, sin revived_, ver. 9. It fretted and raged the more. But this is no stain on the commandment. Though it is abused it cannot be defiled. This only proves, that _the heart_ of man _is desperately wicked_. But _the law_ of God is _holy_ still.

5. And it is, secondly, _just_. It renders to all their due. It prescribes exactly what is right, precisely what ought to be done, said or thought both with regard to the author of our being, with regard to ourselves, and with regard to every creature which he has made. It is adapted in all respects to the nature of things, of the whole universe and every individual. It is suited to all the circumstances of each, and to all their mutual relations, whether such as have existed from the beginning, or such as commenced in any following period. It is exactly agreeable to the fitnesses of things, whether essential or accidental. It clashes with none of these in any degree; nor is ever unconnected with them. If the word be taken in that sense, there is nothing _arbitrary_ in the law of God. Altho’ still the whole and every part thereof, is totally dependent upon his will: so that _thy will be done_, is the supreme, universal law both in earth and heaven.

6. “But is the will of God the cause of his law? Is his will the original of right and wrong? Is a thing therefore right, because God wills it? Or does he will it, because it is right?”

I fear, this celebrated question is more curious than useful. And perhaps, in the manner it is usually treated of, it does not so well consist with the regard that is due from a creature, to the Creator and governor of all things. ’Tis hardly decent for man, to call the supreme God, to give an account to him! Nevertheless, with awe and reverence we may speak a little. The Lord pardon us, if we speak amiss!

7. It seems then, that the whole difficulty arises, from considering God’s will as distinct from God. Otherwise it vanishes away. For none can doubt, but God is the cause of the law of God. But the will of God is God himself. It is God considered as willing thus or thus. Consequently, to say, That the will of God, or that God himself is the cause of the law, is one and the same thing.

8. *Again; if the law, the immutable rule of right and wrong, depends on the nature and fitnesses of things, and on their essential relations to each other: (I do not say, their eternal relations; because the eternal relation of things existing in time, is little less than a contradiction:) if, I say, this depends on the nature and relations of things, then it must depend on God, or the will of God: because those things themselves, with all their relations, are the works of his hands. By his will, _for his pleasure_ alone, _they_ all _are and were created_.

9. And yet it may be granted (which is probably all that a considerate person would contend for) that in every particular case, God wills this or this (suppose that men should honour their parents) because it is right, agreeable to the fitness of things, to the relation wherein they stand.

10. The law then is right and just concerning all things. And it is _good_ as well as _just_. This we may easily infer from the fountain whence it flowed. For what was this, but the goodness of God? What but goodness alone inclined him to impart that divine copy of himself to the holy angels? To what else can we impute his bestowing upon man the same transcript of his own nature? And what but tender love constrained him afresh to manifest his will to fallen man? Either to _Adam_, or any of his seed, who like him were _come short of the glory of God_? Was it not mere love that moved him to publish his law, after the understandings of men were darkened? And to send his prophets to declare that law, to the blind, thoughtless children of men? Doubtless his goodness it was which raised up _Enoch_ and _Noah_, to be preachers of righteousness; which caused _Abraham_, his friend, and _Isaac_ and _Jacob_, to bear witness to his truth. It was his goodness alone, which when _darkness_ had _covered the earth, and thick darkness the people_, gave a written law to _Moses_, and through him, to the nation whom he had chosen. It was his love which explained these living oracles by _David_ and all the prophets that followed: until, when the fulness of time was come, he sent his only-begotten Son, _not to destroy the law but to fulfil_, to confirm every jot and tittle thereof, till having wrote it in the hearts of all his children, and put all his enemies under his feet, _he shall deliver up_ his mediatorial _kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all_.

11. And this law which the goodness of God gave at first and has preserved through all ages, is, like the fountain from whence it springs, full of goodness and benignity: It is mild and kind; it is (as the Psalmist expresses it) _sweeter than honey and the honey-comb_. It is winning and amiable. It includes _whatsoever things are lovely or of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise_ before God and his holy angels, they are all comprized in this: wherein are hid all the treasures of the divine wisdom and knowledge and love.

12. And it is _good_ in its effects, as well as in its nature. As the tree is, so are its fruits. The fruits of the law of God written in the heart, are _righteousness and peace and assurance for ever_. Or rather, the law itself is righteousness, filling the soul with a peace which passeth all understanding, and causing us to rejoice evermore, in the testimony of a good conscience toward God. It is not so properly a pledge, as _an earnest of our inheritance_, being a part of the purchased possession. It is God made manifest in our flesh, and bringing with him eternal life: assuring us by that pure and perfect love, that we are _sealed unto the day of redemption_: that he will _spare us as a man spareth his own son that serveth him, in the day when he maketh up his jewels_, and that there remaineth for us _a crown of glory which fadeth not away_.

IV. 1. It remains only, to shew, in the fourth and last place, the uses of the law. And the first use of it without question is, to convince the world of sin. This is indeed the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost: who can work it without any means at all, or by whatever means it pleaseth him, however insufficient in themselves, or even improper to produce such an effect. And accordingly some there are whose hearts have been broken in pieces in a moment, either in sickness or in health, without any visible cause, or any outward means whatever. And others (one in an age) have been awakened to a sense of the _wrath of God abiding on_ them, by hearing, that _God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself_. But it is the ordinary method of the Spirit of God, to convict sinners by the law. It is this, which being set home on the conscience, generally breaketh the rocks in pieces. It is more especially this part of _the word of God_, which is ζῶν καὶ ἐνεργής, _quick and powerful_, full of life and energy, _and sharper than any two-edged sword_. This in the hand of God and of those whom he hath sent, _pierces_ through all the folds of a deceitful heart, and _divides asunder even the soul and spirit_, yea, as it were, the very _joints and marrow_. By this is the sinner discovered to himself. All his fig-leaves are torn away, and he sees that he is _wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked_. The law flashes conviction on every side. He feels himself a mere sinner. He has nothing to pay. His _mouth is stopt_, and he stands _guilty before God_.

2. To slay the sinner is then the first use of the law; to destroy the life and strength wherein he trusts, and convince him that he is dead while he liveth; not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead unto God, void of all spiritual life, _dead in trespasses and sins_. The second use of it is, to bring him unto life, unto Christ, that he may live. ’Tis true, in performing both these offices, it acts the part of a severe school-master. It drives us by force, rather than draws us by love. And yet love is the spring of all. It is the spirit of love, which by this painful means, tears away our confidence in the flesh, which leaves us no broken reed whereon to trust, and so constrains the sinner stript of all, to cry out in the bitterness of his soul, or groan in the depth of his heart,

“I give up every plea beside
Lord, I am damn’d――but thou hast died.”

3. The third use of the law is, to keep us alive. It is the grand means whereby the blessed Spirit prepares the believer for larger communications of the life of God.

I am afraid this great and important truth is little understood, not only by the world, but even by many whom God hath taken out of the world, who are real children of God by faith. Many of these lay it down as an unquestioned truth, that when we come to Christ, we have done with the law; and that in _this_ sense, _Christ is the end of the law, to every one that believeth. The end of the law._ So he is, _for righteousness_, for justification _to every one that believeth_. Herein the law is at an end. It justifies none; but only brings them to Christ. Who is also in another respect, _the end_ or scope _of the_ law, the point at which it continually aims. But when it has brought us to him, it has yet a farther office, namely, to keep us with him. For it is continually exciting all believers, the more they see of its height and depth and length and breadth, to exhort one another so much the more,

“Closer and closer let us cleave
To his belov’d embrace:
Expect his fulness to receive,
And grace to answer grace.”