all his character. He has been made free from guilt, that he may be a servant to holiness. He has been delivered by the grace and righteousness of the gospel, from the condemnation of the law, that he may obey and honour this very law in all its precepts, in a new and eternally holy life. And while he is accepted solely for the righteousness' sake of God his Saviour, and glories only in him, his whole life is an unceasing exertion to be holy as he is holy,-meet to be a partaker of his inheritance with his saints.

Under these four aspects of the work of the Saviour for the sinner, and of the Spirit in the sinner, we see how perfectly united, are these two holy dispensations from God, and how completely the one has established and honoured the other previously revealed. These considerations may form a just conclusion to the instructions which, under the blessing of God, I have attempted to give you upon the great subjects of divine truth which have been successively brought before us. The importance of these views cannot be overstated. The more you study the communications of the Holy Scriptures upon these subjects, and reflect upon their instructions, will you become convinced that the views which have been thus set before you, are the revelations of the truth of God. I trust you will also find them to be, more deeply and permanently, instruments of divine power in your own souls.

These are the truths which the apostles preached in the demonstration of the Spirit, casting down all man's native pride and wisdom, and exalting the Lord alone, as the sinner's righteousness and salvation. These are the truths for which the venerable reformers of the Church in the sixteenth century willingly offered their lives as a testimony under the cruelty and hatred of anti-christian bigotry. These blessed truths were embodied by them, in all the formularies of the whole Protestant Church, as the doctrine of the oracles of God. In every land in which the power of the Reformation

was felt, this same system of doctrine was simultaneously drawn from the divine word, as the faith of God's elect. These are the truths which all real and faithful preachers of the gospel in every Christian Church now proclaim. They are the truths, by the proclamation of which alone, the gospel of Christ can triumph among men, and sinners be saved in a real conversion to God. They are the truths which our Church teaches, in all her standards of doctrine, and in teaching of which she shews her peculiar worth to us, and the honour which she gives to God. These are the truths, by which alone, and a faithful adhering to which, we are to stem the torrent of popery in all its varying shapes, as it is flowing down upon us in these last days. Prize them as your treasure. Cling to them as your hope. Proclaim them as the word of God. And may God, even your own God, cause them to bring forth for you, the everlasting fruits of holiness and peace. And all the glory be to the Ever Blessed TriNITY, the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY GHOST, ONE GOD, world without end. Amen.

EE

LECTURE XII.

THE GUILT AND DANGER OF REJECTING THE LAST REVELATION FROM GOD.

He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God; and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing; and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?-HEBREWS X. 28, 29.

No principle of government can appear more just and reasonable, than that every increase of privileges should be attended with a corresponding increase of responsibility. From those, who in the wise arrangements of the divine Providence, have been placed in a state of comparative ignorance and darkness, more will not be demanded than is in due proportion to their means of information and improvement. God will undoubtedly be found, to make, in his final dealings with mankind, whatever distinctions shall be proper and just, between the heathen and the nominal Christian,-between the idiot, and the man of intelligence and reason,—and between all involuntary ignorance, and despised and neglected means of knowledge. This just principle of proportioned responsibility is repeatedly acknowledged, and dwelt upon, in the sacred Scriptures. Our Lord declares that the men of Nineveh, and the Queen of the South, shall rise up in the judgment. for the condemnation of those who had listened without

effect, to the invitations of the gospel as proclaimed by him; and that even the dreadful punishment of the inhabitants of Sodom should be found more tolerable, than that of those who rejected his gracious invitations and offers. Upon this principle, he assures us, that "to whom much is given, from them also shall much be required." A high attainment of holiness, an ardent thankfulness for divine blessings, and an eager endeavour to do the will of God, must be expected from those who have received the amazing privileges of the gospel. And a fearful aggravation of guilt, and an exposure to extreme danger and punishment will attend a continued disregard of the truths which it proclaims, and the offers of mercy which it makes.

The application of this important principle to ourselves will be readily perceived. Our privileges are great and peculiar, beyond even the most of those to whom the gospel has been preached. The glory of divine truth shines around us. The provisions of the kingdom of grace invite our universal participation. No one of those who have listened even to the discourses which I am now concluding, can be necessarily ignorant of the way of life. If in the case of any one in such circumstances, transgression results in the final wages which are threatened against it, the condemnation must be altogether wilful, and the aggravation of the guilt will fearfully increase the terror of its recompense.

This principle of comparative responsibility is now brought before your view, and forms an appropriate practical conclusion to the lectures which you have heard. The text presented to you, assumes the point, that it is the same Divine Being who speaks both in the Law and the Gospel; and that he will manifest himself in each, the same inflexibly holy and just being; and that so far from mitigating the strictness and purity of his demands upon men, under the latter dispensation, he will visit their voluntary disobedience with a far sorer

punishment. It will be impossible for those to escape, who neglect so great salvation. The apostle in this text illustrates the fearful condition of those who reject the gospel, by a comparison of it with the condition of men under the law. The parts of this comparison, and the conclusion which he derives from it, it will be our purpose to consider, as an illustration of the guilt and danger of rejecting the gospel.

I. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses." The law as revealed by Moses contained a great variety of precepts, of different importance and influence. Under its provisions some transgressions might be pardoned through the offering of an appointed sacrifice. For others the prescribed and inevitable punishment was death. If a soul had sinned through ignorance, or inadvertence, there was a way opened, by which the evil results of this involuntary deviation might be avoided. But if a man wilfully disobeyed a high and important moral command, there was no provided means of expiation. The life of the transgressor was to be certainly forfeited to the violated majesty of the law. It is probably with particular reference to this distinction, that the apostle employs the term " despised." There was a pardon for unintentional transgressions. But no contempt of the divine authority, no wilful disregard of a known prohibition, no voluntary rebellion against the majesty of the lawgiver, could be passed over with impunity. For such offences the immediate retribution was death without mercy. The law had been given in the clearest and most positive terms. It could not be misunderstood. When man was accused of its intentional violation, the plainest evidence of guilt was required. By the concurrent testimony of two or three eye-witnesses at the least, every word must be established. But after the fact of the crime was thus satisfactorily and clearly established, there was no remission; no one had authority to interfere; none could sue for pardon, or for