it, is perfect, endless, and for ever progressive. Must not candour, must not prejudice itself, confess, with the Magicians of Egypt, that here is the finger of God?

But if this is from God, the Scriptures must be acknowledged to have the same origin. In the Scriptures alone is this Law contained. Nay, the Scriptures themselves are, chiefly, this Law, expanded into more minute precepts, and more multiplied applications; enforced by happy comments, and illustrated by useful examples; especially the Example presented to us in the perfect and glorious life of the Son of God.

SERMON XCII.

THE LAW OF GOD.-THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT.
LOVE TO GOD.

MARK Xii. 28-30.-And one of the Scribes came, and, having heard them reasoning logether, and perceived that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the First Commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the First of all the Commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: This is the First Commandment.

IN the last discourse, I made a number of general observations on the Perfection of the divine law. I shall now proceed to consider, somewhat more particularly, the Nature and Import of the First and Greatest Commandment of that Law; the Command, which regulates our Piety to God.

In the text we are informed, that a Scribe, a Man learned in the Scriptures, and accustomed to expound them to others, pleased with Christ's refutation of the Sadducees, and the proofs which he had unanswerably given of a future existence, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? that is, the first in rank, obligation, and importance. Christ, quoting Deut. vi. 4, informs him, that the first command, in this sense, is, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.

In this command, it is to be observed, there is one thing only required; and that is Love. It is, however, Love in a comprehensive sense; including several exercises of the mind, easily, and customarily, distinguished from each other; as might, indeed, be naturally expected from the phraseology of the Command.

It is further to be observed, that the Love, here enjoined, is required to exist in such a degree, as to occupy the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole mind, and the whole strength. The word, here rendered soul, seems originally to have been used to denote the principle of animal life, and to have been commonly used in this sense by the Greeks; as the two corresponding words of their respective languages were by the Jews and Romans. The word, translated mind, is commonly used to denote the understanding; and seems plainly to have been used in this manner here; since the Scribe expresses this as the meaning of it in his answer. The import of this command may, then, be stated thus. Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thine understanding, and with all thy strength, throughout all thy life. In other words, we are required, under the influence of this dis

by a slight alteration in the phraseology, a Doctrine. For example, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, is easily altered into a mere Truth, only by changing the phraseology into "It is right, or it is thy duty, to love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart." A cordial faith in this declaration is here, as with respect to every other precept, the spirit, whence is derived all genuine obedience.

Truth is commonly divided into that which is practical, and that which is speculative. But moral truth cannot, in the strict sense, be justly divided in this manner. Every moral truth is of a practical nature. Its influence, I acknowledge, is in some cases indirect; while in others it is direct. But it can never be truly denied, in any case, that its influence is really of this nature.

The observations, which I intend to make on the several subjects, included in the second great division of the system of theology, I propose to preface with a general account of the Divine Law. The doctrine, which I mean to discuss in this account, is that, which the text expresses in the very best terms, which can be chosen; viz.

THE LAW OF JEHOVAH IS PERFECT.

In proof of this truth I allege the following considerations.

1st. The Law of God is the result of his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness.

It cannot be supposed, that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, would form a rule for the government of moral beings, which did not possess such attributes, as must render it a perfect directory of their moral conduct. It may easily be believed, that God may make moral beings, of many different classes: some of superior, and some of inferior, capacities: but it cannot be imagined, that he would not require of all such beings a character, and conduct, the best, of which they were naturally capable. Inferior wisdom and goodness might be unable to devise, or uninclined to require, the best conduct and character in moral creatures; or to point out the means, by which this character could be most easily and perfectly formed, or the conduct, in which it would most advantageously operate. But none of these things are attributable to infinite Wisdom and Goodness, thus employed. They, of course, must require the best character and conduct; must point out the best means of forming it, and the best modes in which it can operate. To suppose a law, which is the result of these attributes, not to be perfect, is to suppose, either that God did not know what would be the best character in his moral creatures, or did not choose to require it of them. Both parts of this alternative are too obviously absurd to need a refutation.

Further; A law is always the expression of the will of the lawgiver; and is, of course, an expression of his own character. This is pre-eminently applicable to the Law of God. In forming it, he was under no necessity, and could have no motive, beside

what is involved in his own pleasure, to induce him to form it in any given manner. The things, which it requires, are the things which he approves, and is seen to approve; the things, in which he delights, and is seen to delight; the things, therefore, which entirely show his real character. But the things, actually required, include all, which are due from his moral creatures to Him, to each other, and to themselves; or, in other words, all their internal and external moral conduct. But it cannot be supposed, that God would exhibit his own perfect character imperfectly, in a case of this magnitude. That, in a law, expressing thus his own charac ter, and seen to express it; a law, from which they must of necessity learn his character more certainly, than from any thing else; a law, which regulated, and required, all the moral conduct ever required of them; he should not prescribe a perfect collection of rules; a collection absolutely perfect; is a supposition, amounting to nothing less than this: that in exhibiting his character to the Intelligent Universe he would present it in a false light; and lead them by a solemn act of his own, necessarily, to consider him either as a weak, or as an immoral, being.

2dly. The Law of God is perfectly fitted to the State, and Capacity. of Intelligent Creatures.

The divine Law is wholly included in two precepts: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and thy neighbour as thyself. These are so short, as to be necessarily included in a single very short sentence; so intelligible, as to be understood by every moral being, who is capable of comprehending the meaning of the words, God and Neighbour: so easily remembered, as to render it impossible for them to escape from our memory, unless by wanton, criminal negligence of ours: and so easily applicable to every case of moral action, as not to be mistaken, unless through indisposition to obey. At the same time, obedience to them is rendered perfectly obvious, and perfectly easy, to every mind, which is not indisposed to obey them. The very disposition itself, if sincere and entire, is either entire obedience, or the unfailing means of that external conduct, by which the obedience is, in some cases, completed. The disposition to obey, is also confined to a single affection of the heart, easily distinguishable from all other affections: viz. Love. Love, saith St. Paul, is the fulfilling of the Law. The humblest and most ignorant moral creatures, therefore, are in this manner efficaciously preserved from mistaking their duty.

In the mean time, these two precepts, notwithstanding their brevity, are so comprehensive, as to include every possible moral action. The Archangel is not raised above their control; nor can any action of his exceed that bound which they prescribe. The Child, who has passed the verge of moral agency, is not placed beneath their regulation; and whatever virtue he may exercise is no other than a fulfilment of their requisitions. All the duties, which we immediately owe to God, to our fellow-creatures, and to

ourselves, are by these precepts alike comprehended, and required. In a word, endlessly various as moral action may be, it exists in no form, or instance, in which he who perfectly obeys these precepts, will not have done his duty, and will not find himself justified and accepted by God.

3dly. The Law of God requires the best possible Moral Char

acter.

To require and accomplish this great object, an object in its importance literally immense, is supremely worthy of the wisdom and goodness of this glorious Being. To make his moral creatures virtuous is unquestionably the only method of rendering them really and extensively useful, and laying the only solid foundation for their enduring happiness. But all virtue is summed up in the fulfilment of these two Commands: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and thy neighbour as thyself. In doing this, every individual becomes as amiable, excellent, dignified, and useful, as with his own capacity he can be. Should he advance in his capacity through endless duration, all the good, which he will ever do; all the honour, which he will ever render to his Creator; all the excellence, amiableness, and dignity, which he will ever acquire; will be nothing but obedience to these two commands. The beauty and glory of the Evangelical character; the rapturous flame which glows in the breast of a Seraph; the transcendent exaltation of an Archangel; is completely included in loving God with all the heart, and his neighbour as himself. Nay, the infinite loveliness, the supreme glory, of the Godhead, is no other than this disposition, boundlessly exerted in the Uncreated Mind, and producing, in an unlimited extent, and an eternal succession, its proper and divine effects on the Intelligent Universe. God, saith St. John, is Love.

4thly. The Law of God proposes, and accomplishes, the best possible End.

The only ultimate good is Happiness: by which I intend Enjoyment; whether springing from the mind itself, or flowing into it from external sources. Perfect happiness is perfect good; or, in other words, includes whatever is desirable: and this is the good, which the divine law proposes, as its own proper and supreme End.

This end is with exact propriety divisible, and is customarily divided, into two great parts: the first usually termed the Glory of God: the second, the Happiness of the Intelligent Creation.

The original, and essential, Glory of God is his Ability, and Disposition, to accomplish perfect happiness. This is his inherent, unchangeable, and eternal perfection. But the glory of God, to which I refer, is what is often called his declarative glory; and is no other than this very perfection, manifested in his conduct, immediately by himself, and, mediately in their conduct, by the Intelligent Creation. In this sense, the glory of God is proposed, and ac