66 By the assertion, that the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Christ, is received by faith, to reign in the heart, it is intended, that he is actually trusted in, or submitted to by faith, and his influence suffered to control us. He does not guide and control us, by irresistible power or force, but faith confides the guidance of our souls to him. Faith receives and confides in him, and consents to be governed and directed by him. As his influence is moral, and not physical, it is plain that he can influence us no farther than we have confidence in him; that is, no farther than we trust or confide in him. But I must cite some passages that sustain these positions. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."-Gal. iii. 14. Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest."-Isaiah xxxii. 15. "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."-Isaiah xliv. 3. "But this shall be the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people."-Jer. xxxi. 33. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."-Jer. xxxii. 40. "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born."Zechariah xii. 10. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."Rom. viii. 1, 5, 9, 11, 13—16. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"-1 Cor. iii. 16. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"-1 Cor. vi. 19. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." -Gal. v. 22, 25. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love."-Eph. iii. 17. "For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."Eph. ii. 8. "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."-Phil. iii. 9. These passages abundantly support the position for the establishment of which they are quoted. It is only necessary to remark here, 1. That the Holy Spirit controls, directs, and sanctifies the soul, not by a physical influence, nor by impulses nor by impressions made on the sensibility, but by enlightening and convincing the intellect, and thus quickening the conscience. 7 2. The fundamentally important doctrine of an indwelling Christ, that the Spirit of Christ must be received by faith to reign in the heart, has been extensively overlooked. "Christ our sanctification!" said a minister to me a few months since, "I never heard of such a thing." Also said a Doctor of Divinity to me, "I never heard Christ spoken of as our sanctification until the Perfectionists affirmed it." Indeed, it is amazing to see how this blessed truth has been overlooked. Christ, by his Spirit, must actually dwell within and reign over us, and this is an unalterable condition of salvation. He is our king. He must be received by faith, to set up and establish his kingdom in the heart, or salvation is impossible. LECTURE XXXIII. MORAL GOVERNMENT. SANCTIONS OF MORAL LAW, NATURAL AND GOVERNMENTAL. In the discussion of this subject, I shall show I. What constitutes the sanctions of law. II. That there can be no law without sanctions. III. In what light the sanctions of law are to be regarded. IV. The end to be secured by law, and the execution of penal sanctions. V. The rule by which sanctions ought to be graduated. I. What constitutes the sanctions of law. 1. The sanctions of law are the motives to obedience, that which is to be the natural and the governmental consequence or result of obedience and of disobedience. 2. They are remuneratory, that is, they promise reward to obedience. 3. They are vindicatory, that is, they threaten the disobedient with punishment. 4. They are natural, that is— (1.) All moral law is that rule of action which is in exact accordance with the nature and relations of moral beings. (2.) Happiness is to some extent naturally connected with, and the necessary consequence of, obedience to moral law. (3.) Misery is naturally and necessarily connected with, and results from, disobedience to moral law, or from acting contrary to the nature and relations of moral beings. 5. Sanctions are governmental. By governmental sanctions are intended: (1.) The favour of the government as due to obedience. (2.) A positive reward bestowed upon the obedient by government. (3.) The displeasure of government towards the disobedient. (4.) Direct punishment inflicted by the government as due to disobedience. 6. All happiness and misery resulting from obedience or disobedience, either natural, or from the favour, or frown, of government, are to be regarded as constituting the sanctions of law. 'II. There can be no law without sanctions. 1. It has been said, in a former lecture, that precepts without sanctions are only counsel or advice, and not law. 2. Nothing is moral law, but the rule of action which is founded in the nature and relations of moral beings. It is therefore absurd to say, that there should be no natural sanctions to this rule of action. It is the same absurdity as to say, that conformity to the laws of our being would not produce happiness, and that disconformity to the laws of our being would not produce misery. What do we mean by acting in conformity to the laws of our being, but that course of conduct in which all the powers of our being will sweetly harmonize, and produce happiness? And what do we mean by disconformity to the laws of our being, but that course of action which creates mutiny among our powers themselves, which produces discord instead of harmony, misery instead of happiness? 3. A precept, to have the nature and the force of law, must be founded in reason, that is, it must have some reason for its existence. And it were unreasonable to hold out no motives to obedience, where a law is founded in a necessity of our nature. 4. But whatever is unreasonable is no law. Therefore a precept without a sanction is not law. 5. Necessity is the fundamental condition of all rightful government. There would be, and could be, no just government, but for the necessities of the universe. But these necessities cannot be met, the great end of government cannot be secured, without motives or sanctions: therefore, that is no government, no law, that has no sanctions. III. In what light sanctions are to be regarded. 1. Sanctions are to be regarded as an expression of the benevolent regard of the lawgiver for his subjects: the motives which he exhibits to induce in the subjects the course of conduct that will secure their highest well-being. 2. They are to be regarded as an expression of his estimation of the justice, necessity, and value of the precept to the subjects of his government. 3. They are to be regarded as an expression of the amount or strength of his desire to secure the happiness of his subjects. 4. They are to be regarded as an expression of his opinion in respect to the desert of disobedience. The natural sanctions are to be regarded as a demonstration of the justice, necessity, and perfection of the precept. IV. The end to be secured by law, and the execution of penal sanctions. 1. The ultimate end of all government is blessedness. 2. This is the ultimate end of the precept, and of the sanction attached to it. 3. This can be secured only by the prevention of sin and the promotion of holiness. 4. Confidence in the government is the sine quâ non of all virtue. 5. Confidence results from a revelation of the lawgiver to his subjects. Confidence in God results from a revelation of himself to his creatures. 6. The moral law, in its precepts and sanctions, is a revelation of God. 7. The execution of penal sanctions is also a revelation of the mind, will, and character of the lawgiver. 8. The highest and most influential sanctions of government are those motives that most fully reveal the true character of God, and the true end of his government. V. By what rule sanctions ought to be graduated. 1. We have seen, in a former lecture, that moral obligation is founded in the intrinsic value of the well-being of God and of the universe, and conditionated upon the perception of its value. 2. That guilt ought always to be measured by the perceived value of the end which moral beings ought to choose. 3. The sanctions of law should be graduated by the intrinsic merit and demerit of holiness and sin. SANCTIONS OF GOD'S LAW. I. God's law has sanctions. II. What constitutes the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God. III. The perfection and duration of the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God. IV. What constitutes the vindicatory sanctions of the law of God. V. Their duration. I. God's law has sanctions. 1. That sin, or disobedience to the moral law, is attended with, and results in, misery, is a matter of consciousness. 2. That virtue or holiness is attended with, and results in happiness, is also attested by consciousness. 3. Therefore that God's law has natural sanctions, both remuneratory and vindicatory, is a matter of fact. 4. That there are governmental sanctions added to the natural, must be true, or God, in fact, has no government but that of natural consequences. 5. The Bible expressly, and in every variety of form, teaches that God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. II. What constitutes the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God. 1. The happiness that is naturally and necessarily connected with, and results from, holiness or obedience. 2. The merited favour, protection, and blessing of God. 3. All the natural and governmental rewards of virtue. III. The perfection and duration of the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God. 1. The perfection of the natural reward is, and must be, proportioned to the perfection of virtue. 2. The duration of the remuneratory sanction must be equal to the duration of obedience. This cannot possibly be otherwise. 3. If the existence and virtue of man are immortal, his happiness must be endless. 4. The Bible most unequivocally asserts the immortality, both of the existence and virtue of the righteous, and also that their happiness shall be endless. 5. The very design and end of government make it necessary that governmental rewards should be as perfect and unending as virtue. IV. What constitutes the vindicatory sanctions of the law of God. 1. The misery naturally and necessarily connected with, and resulting from, disobedience to moral law. Here again, let it be understood, that moral law is nothing else than that rule of action which accords with the nature and relations of moral beings. Therefore, the natural vindicatory sanction of the law of God is misery, resulting from a violation of man's own nature. 2. The displeasure of God, the loss of his protection and governmental favour, together with that punishment which it is his duty to inflict upon the disobedient. 3. The rewards of holiness, and the punishment of sin, are described in the Bible in figurative language. The rewards of virtue are called eternal life. The punishment of vice is called death. By life, in such a connexion, is intended, not only existence, but that happiness which makes life desirable, and without which it would be no blessing. By death is intended, not annihilation, but that misery which renders existence an evil. It is the opposite of happy existence, called eternal life, and is, therefore, denominated eternal death. V. Duration of the penal sanctions of the law of God. FIRST. Examine the question in the light of natural theology. |