Sermon Book III

IX. The delivery of the law. 

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22 verse, of XX chapter. Exodus. "And the Lord said unto Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen, that I have talked with you, from heaven". Every mind that thinks rightly of the character of the law. and of the attributes of the God who gave it, must be aware, that, in considering the circumstances attendant upon its delivery on the Mont Sinai, and the general principles upon which it is founded, we are approaching a subject of the very highest importance. An erroneous opinion has sometimes been entertained, that the Gospel requires nothing more to exempt us from the punishment attendant upon the violation of the law, than submission to its ordinances, and acknowledgement of its truth, and indeed, it would at first appear, that the greatness of Christs merits, and the perfection of his atonement, are very much exalted by this view of the subject. But, we may be sure, that all homage is rejected, which confines the fulfilment of the law to a mere trust in the merits of the blood of Christ, We shall, at present place the Gospel subordinately, for the law was the first, and the highest consideration, and that is to be exalted. In the next place, let us see how far this view of the immense importance of the law, is supported by the circumstances of its delivery, for much useful information may always be gathered from a examination of particulars, which at the first glance, appear but of little consequence. The children of Israel, a multitude whose number cannot be reckoned less, than three millions, had, it should be rememebered, but just escaped from a humiliating state of slavery, corruption, and Idolatry; They were shut out and separated from the whole world, by the desert, and the sea, and in this solitude, they were left to commune visibly with God and we find that the Deity did not come to dwell among his people until he had laid down the law, which was, to be their principle of 

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action, in a manner, which should give importance both to the law itself, and to his servant Moses. who was a mediator between God and the Israelites. We find the Lord descending upon Mount Sinai, in fire, to deliver assembly, We are told that Mont Sinai was altogether on a smoke, and there were thunderings and lightenings and the whole mount quaked greatly Moses himself said that he exceedingly feared, Nature was entirely overwhelmed by this wonderful manifestation of the power of the God of glory  The invisibility of the Almighty added to the mysterious terror and grandeur of his descent  And can we suppose, that this was an introduction to anything of little moment, We must rather suppose that something of the greatest importance was connected with it, For when preparation is made in heaven, we may be sure that God intends to show something worthy of the observation of men, and of angels, This is one of the very grandest scenes that ever were witnessed upon the earth or recorded in history, and, as such, we can not expect that the subject which it introduces, should likewise have its grandeur consisting in outward appearances, For nature had already done all that she could, she had called together all her wonders, all her terrors, all her majesty and it was impossible for her to have gone beyond what she had already accomplished. and we therefore do not expect any thing of outward visible grandeur, the subject then to be introduced, must excel in its moral worth which is infinitely more impressive than any thing that the mere concentrated phenomena of nature can show, or do. God has already, gathered together his thunders and his lightnings he has arrayed himself in clouds and fire, he has caused the earth to quake from its foundations, and has shaken the stoutest heart of Israel, He then goes into the other department, and brings

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forward the world of morals, It is not my object at present to enter into all the details of the law which was introduced in such an awful manner but rather to observe the general principle, the extent of its application, and the manner of its fulfilment. 
First, the law was intended to be of universal extent, and to provide honesty. and purity of society among creatures and supreme attachment to the Creator. For, there is no being that has been formed for insulated existence, We find in all the desire to escape from solitude, and to enter into the social, pure, and honest intercourse for which we were made. for impurity tends to debasement, and dishonesty to ruin. Society would be the cause of its own annihilation, if it were impure. No shepherd was ever placed over placed over flocks, who was unable to guide and protect them, no judge was ever placed upon the bench, who was not endued with the powers to justice impartially althugh he might punish inwillingly, no sovereign has ever attained to the throne, who might not have been the protector, the governor, the Father of his people; I do not say these faculties have never been abused, I only say that The Almighty has always given them, in order to promote this pure, and honest society. But let us go still higher. The angels have these faculties, and in a much greater degree  They also are often set over us. as governors and protectors, He shall give his angels charge governing thee lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. They therefore, it is evident, must have the same faculties. We are told that it is one of the objects of Chris[t(?)] to unite all these, angels, and principalities, and powers, This is another proof of this intention of the law. Again, we are to enter into an innumerable company of angels, there are many other proofs which could be deduced from scripture, and all showing that the principles of the law[s(?)]

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are all intended to purify this fellowship, The injunction to which the whole law was reduced by Christ, is another confirmation of the same opinion Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and strength, & thy neighbour as thyself. But I sh[all(?)] say that this same law is binding. even upon the fallen angels, it is binding though it may not be obeyed, and this, and this only is the cause of the eternality of punishm[ent(?)]  because their refusal to obey this universal law is a principle coeval with their existence, with their immortality of existence, and the punishment must be coeval with their existence also. For, among those who have passed into a state where probation is at an end, in iniquity, there never can be a principle of pure and honest fellowship, they must continue there, in the same state in which they had been while upon the earth, Everything must cling to them, their sins and iniquity must be augmented tenfold. There never can be a principle of good fellowship here, and therefore the punishment must correspondingly be everlasting.
But also, this law, as well as universally binding, is eternally binding. I repeat, that there are none exempted from obedience to it, and that obedience throughout all eternity although there nevertheless, may be many who do not obey. There can be no period of impurity in heaven. for-in order to an eternity of happiness, there must be an eternity of this pure and honest obedience. It is useless to imagine that happiness would be given by a mere change into another situation, remaining there under the same circumstances. It is true that in this life, a monotonous succession of the same objects, and ideas would produce lassitude in the mind, and fatigue to the body  This is our every day experience, and we find likewise that a change will always, stir us up into action, it will give a new spring to the nerves, and call up all the energies of the mind, But this sort of excitement it should be remembered can only exist for a limited period, with a continued succession of changes, its

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very nature is sufficient confirmation of this, and it therefore is not a mere change from one state to another, or one situation to another, still retaining our native depravity, that can, or will. constitute the happiness of heaven. No, there must not only be a new scene, but also a new eye to behold it, there must not only be new pleasure, but new power of enjoyment. a power which must be eternal, that is, eternal purity, is what must constitute the everlasting happiness of heaven. And this is sufficient proof, I think, that the law is constantly binding, inasmuch as we cannot enjoy such happiness, as we are told we shall enjoy, without a constant obedience to it. 
Again, I think the perpetuity of the obligation must appear, if we only consider the character of God the law giver. For men continually change  Those who legislate on earth, even the wisest of them cannot foresee every thing, not even imagine every accidental circumstance, which might at some future period, render an alteration necessary even of the best laws of men and, even of the best laws of men and, even if they could do this, they are also limited in power and if they could make such laws, have not always power or opportunity to enforce them, even through a limited period, much less to everlasting. But if we take the Law of God in connection with its character, all these obstacles, and numerous others, are at once done away with God is omniscient and therefore knows every thing that can or will occur in heaven, or in earth through the whole duration of eternity, He knows the present circumstances of every individual in existence, or who will exist in future, and he likewise knows all the different combinations of these circumstances, and the effect which they will produce upon the community  He is intimately acquainted with the power, and the weakness, [(?)] thought[s(?)] of every being in existence, In short he exceeds us in everything, We cannot suppose any event which he would not know, and besides all this, his wisdom also is unerring, he knows how to do every thing, as well as what is to be 

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done, he knows either how to turn away or how to bring good out of, all evil, and, knowing all this, his power is also, unlimited, and there can, therefore, be no short coming. The one single fact of the formation of an atom out of nothing is sufficient proof of this. There was never any man furnished with all the advantages that earthly wisdom, power and science could give him, who could do this  Again God has perfect purity and, as we can find nothing in the whole nature of God that would, in the lightest degree, contribute to form a change, we have the eternal duration of that law which perfect purity and unerring wisdom designed, and which power will in future most certainly and fearfully enforce. 
Having thus ascertained these two manners in which the law is binding, that is, it is universally binding and it is eternally binding; the fact which now remains to be considered, is, that this law had been violated by the whole world. Now, this is not a mere matter of intellectual speculation, we know that this is a fact, by our own daily experience. and this is a most tenfoldly appalling though  We have violated that law which is binding upon angels, and upon men, which is binding throughout all eternity not only on the good angels, but upon those who have fallen though their wickedness, from their high estate. We have sinned against the God who gave it among the thunders of Mount Sinai  That God who made the stoutest heart in Israel to tremble at his presence, have we not wounded the social principle of the law by our selfishness, and its chief command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and might," by our worldly mindedness; We think it a most wonderful thing, that Israel, after having witnessed the descent of God and all the wonders and terrors of that descent, which made them fear to such a degree that they prayed, that God might now speak with 

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them lest they should die, we think it most astonishing, that after all this, they should so soon have again polluted themselves with Idols, and worshipped the golden calf, &c. and so it was, but yet when we condemn them, we are ourselves involved in the same judgment. We have sinned as much, if not more. We here find the law clothed in all its majesty, we told that it was delivered by God on the Mount Sinai, The truth of the record which tells us so, cannot be disputed, and we do not dispute it. If therefore we violate it, the violation is equally capable in us as it was in the Israelites. But we have violated it At this moment precisely, the same deviations are found in us, which were before detected in the Israelites, and they it should be remembered were at this period in a disjointed and ignorant condition, knowing nothing perhaps of God but his terrors, and scarcely yet entirely convinced of the weakness of their own Gods. Condsidering all these circumstances, and remembering how much more favourable the condition in which we find ourselves at present is, there will, I think be found enough to convist us  We may take each individual separately, and ask how dar his selfishness or his worldly mindedness, may have offended the principles of the law, and made him subject to the punishment denouced by the law. Certain conviction must always follow such candid examination, and the individual will find himself wholly guilty before God. 
Lastly. What is the result of our conviction of such a fatal crime. We cannot indulge ourselves with the hope that we shall be forgiven. The majesty and the truth of God himself, and the principles of that law which we have been considering, entirely forbid this  The pomp and the terror of Sinai did not introduce a law which could be broken with impunity  We are told that one Jot, or one tittle shall not pass away till all be fulfilled  Nothing can help us  The angels cannot  The good angels have turned away from us and the bad are waiting, and seeking for us. We cannot have recourse to annihilation, the sentence pronounced on earth is ratified after death, and all our corruption and sin must go with us  The element in which our spirit was shut up must meet us there, and we must abide all the wrath of God if he has made no provision for us to take hold of, but we must have his warrant for it. Now every thing concurs in pointing out the son as the way to the Father, He presents himself to fulfil the law and we find God acknowledging him in circumstances the same as those under which the law was delivered on Mont Sinai, on Mount Tabor. We then have the same authority for accepting Christ as a Mediator, and He has enabled us to meet the demand of eternal purity, universally, and entirely, and to find ourselves spotless before God. We thus see the law is of vast importance, for a perfect compliance with it, would lay aside the Gospel, but still without the Gospel there is no possibility of our fulfilling the law. and escaping from the punishment attendant on its violation. Let us therefore receive the Gospel that we may escape from the terrors of the law, and may we at last be found among those mansions the which Christ has gone before us to prepare.