LECTURE I.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE LAW.

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.-PSALM CXIX. 18.

By the law of God, the sacred writer here means the whole revelation of the Divine will to man. He designates this divine revelation, in this psalm, by the various words, "Statutes, commandments, testimonies, judgments, precepts and law." They are all employed, to describe that connected and perfect system of instruction, which is contained in the "Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of God." In dwelling upon these communications of the will of God, the psalmist speaks the language of a heart that fervently loved his holy commands, and rejoiced to contemplate the excellence and purity of his character. In the extent of spiritual application which he perceived in these commands,—in the ardour of his prayers that they might be engraven upon his own heart; in the sorrow which he felt at witnessing the transgressions of them by others; in the eagerness of his desire to understand more clearly their excellence and perfection;-he has displayed his view of their importance, and the mind of the Spirit, in reference to the worth of a full understanding of them, to man. And we must unite with the same affectionate and earnest spirit, in the petition which he has set before us, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

In our natural ignorance of the things of the Spirit of God, and in the sinful aversion of our affections from them, there is a veil of thick darkness concealing from us the blessed truths which God alone reveals. We discern them neither in their meaning, nor in the extent of their influence. We confine our views of the Divine precepts, to their application in the letter to our outward conduct, and do not perceive the extent of their demands upon the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And neither as the standard of required obedience, nor as the measure of actual guilt, are we willing to consider, or able to comprehend, that the divine commandment is exceeding broad. This veil of spiritual ignorance, the Holy Ghost alone can remove. He must enlighten our blindness, and unfold to us, the secret and unsearchable truths of his own word. And to him, therefore, we direct our prayer for illumination and guidance, in the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, that we may be led, on the one hand, to obtain a full knowledge of our sin, and on the other, of the sufficiency, and application to ourselves, of the glorious, appointed Saviour; discerning the things which are freely given to us of God.

The law, of which I purpose, by the divine help, to speak, is that one great moral law of God, all the commandments of which, are "holy, just, and good ;" an obedience to which, "is more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold;" the purity of which is, to a holy mind, "sweeter than honey, and the honey comb;" by the guidance of which, the "servant of God is warned ;" and in the "keeping of which, there is great reward." This law is a revelation to man of the will of God. It is a transcript and publication of his holy and perfect mind. It is the rule of angelic obedience. It was the guide given to man at his creation. It is the law, obedience to which, would have given him eternal life; the violation of which, subjected him to condemnation. It is the law, which has been fulfilled for the sinner's justification, by

the Lord Jesus Christ, the constituted Mediator of the new covenant;-which is written again upon the heart of the justified and restored man, according to the provisions of this covenant, by the Holy Spirit;-and in cheerful and permanent obedience to which, he is to glorify and honour his redeeming Lord, in his eternal and heavenly kingdom. This is the law of which I speak; the law which requires in every intelligent creature, supreme love to God, and unqualified submission in the spirit of love, to all his commandments.

An accurate knowledge and understanding of this divine law, lies at the very foundation of true religion, and of all instruction in the things of God. By this alone, can we be taught to appreciate and accept, the gracious provisions of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; in whom, God has been pleased to do for us, what the law required, but could not do; and by whom, he has laid open for us unsearchable riches of grace, meeting all the demands of the law, "magnifying it, and making it honorable," so that he is revealed, as "the end (or perfection) of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth." The importance to us, of a clear and distinct intelligence of this subject, cannot be overstated; and we may well take upon our lips, and utter from our hearts, the psalmist's prayer, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold the wondrous things of thy law."

I. Here we gain all just conceptions of the character of God. His divine perfections are shining here. By his own revelation of himself alone, do we know any thing of him. "In his light, we see light." His holy law is a description of himself; the utterance in words, of his perfect, but previously concealed mind and will. Whatever be the character of our views of his law, will therefore be the description of our views of himself. The nature of his mind will be estimated by us, by our impressions of the nature of his commands.

1. Our apprehension of the purity and extent of the law of

God is the measure of our conception of the holiness of his own character. If we perceive this, reaching to every thought, as well as to every word and act of our being; requiring in us a perfect purity of mind and heart; demanding the spotless preservation of God's perfect image upon our souls; allowing no deviation, even inadvertently or in ignorance; accepting only an unfailing adherence to every precept, from the beginning, to the end of life; passing over no stain of sin without immediate condemnation; we shall look upon the Being from whom it has proceeded, and of whose mind it is the copy, as a Being of infinite purity and holiness; one who cannot regard iniquity but with abhorrence. But if we are satisfied with any inferior, or more limited view of the law, than this, we shall find ourselves detracting in the same degree, from the holiness of its author, and necessarily conceive of him, as a Being less opposed to sin. If we imagine that he will relax in the strict application of his commands, that he will suffer man to depart from the standard of absolutely perfect obedience, with impunity, we certainly impute to him a connivance at transgressions, and lay a serious stain upon the excellence of his character. In the same proportion, our reverence for him becomes diminished; our fear of his inspection is destroyed; our dread of his judgment passes away. He has become, in our view, in this uncertainty of his annunciations, or in this feebleness of his authority, altogether such an one as ourselves. And in reducing our conceptions of the extent of his law, we have destroyed our ability to appreciate, or to reverence the holiness of his character.

2. Our apprehension of the certainty and solemnity of the law of God, will be the measure of our conceptions of his justice. It is here that we are taught what is the justice of God. If we realize how strong and awful are the sanctions which he has appended to his law, and by which its obligations are enforced; if we see that they involve nothing less

than the everlasting happiness or misery of every child of man; that they are dependant upon a single defect of whatever kind in the obedience of man; that they can never be withdrawn, or satisfied by man, or mitigated in their power, or cease to operate, throughout eternity; that they can never qualify or yield in a single point, the fearful testimony, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die;" we see how fixed and unerring is the justice of that Being who has given and established this law. We behold him here, "a just judge;" "a judge who doeth right," "a great and dreadful king." But any lower view of the fixed sanctions of the law, will necessarily lead to a lower estimate of the divine justice which has been manifested in them. If we suppose that God will arrest or mitigate the operation of his law; that he will overlook the imperfections and wanderings of those whom he has placed under it; or that he will punish them only in some limited degree, which man may be able to bear; that everlasting death will not be the wages of sin; that the threatenings of divine anger against the unrighteousness of men, will not be executed in the fulness of their denunciation;-we become accustomed to low and derogatory ideas of the divine justice, and reduce the king of heaven, from the throne of unapproachable excellence, and unchanging truth, to some inferior position, both in government and character. Being ignorant of the stability and strictness of his law, we form no honorable conceptions of his justice in himself.

3. Our accurate knowledge of the demands of the law, is the source of all proper conceptions of the divine mercy and love. Here only, do we see the depths of the compassion of God for fallen men. When our guilt in transgression, appears to us, great beyond all our ability to measure or calculate; when we feel ourselves exposed to a judgment and condemnation commensurate with our innumerable offences; when we see our sins to be more in number than the sands

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