some distinct truth in the scheme of the Gospel, our edification will be marred. In the latter case, the mind is so much occupied with minute investigations of the letter, that the spirit is forgotten; whereas, in the other, the parable is used only as a guide to its moral, and as a means of illustrating its bearings and impressing a sense of them more deeply on the heart.

The view which has been given of the Levitical system serves to answer the objection, that in not a few of the Psalms there is no express reference to the sufferings and work of Christ, while much is said of the mercy, the goodness, and the loving-kindness of God. When we consider that the Psalms were sung in the temple, where every thing spoke of Christ, we can easily see that the enlightened and devout worshippers, when they sung of the divine mercy and goodness, would turn their eyes toward the altar and the sacrificial services of the priest. And thus what is said in the Psalms of the Divine righteousness, would be reconciled with what is there also said of the Divine mercy and loving-kindness. thoughts of the worshippers would be carried forward to Him whose sacrificial character and work were shadowed forth by the ritual solemnities of the typical sanctuary.

The

CHAPTER IV.

A GENERAL VIEW OF THE LAWS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY.

SECTION I.

OF THE LAWS OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY.

THE economy of which Christ is the head, is denominated "The kingdom of Heaven," and, which signifies the same thing, "the kingdom of God." This appellation most frequently signifies the reign or government of heaven, and is given it, because it is the reign of the Messiah, God in our nature. It decidedly evinces, that the christian dispensation includes a system of moral government, as well as of sovereign goodness; for it is expressive of the exercise of rule, and distinctly supposes, that the design of the Gospel is not merely to deliver men from the curse of the law, but also and chiefly to save them from sin itself, by establishing in their hearts the dominion of truth and of righteousness. On no other principle could the phrase, "the kingdom of heaven," be the appropriate designation of the economy in question. It seems strange that any who profess to believe the Gospel, should question

the obligation of Christians to observe the precepts of the law. If sin be the transgression of the law, it obviously follows, that there can be no rule that is not in some way comprehended in the law. It is a blessed fact, indeed, that christian obedience is felt to be a privilege as well as a duty, and that holiness is itself happiness; but there is a way of speaking of the christian life, as simply one of privileges, which is opposed to every thing like selfdenial, holy vigilance and progressive purity. The Saviour, while he appeals to our love, interposes his authority. "Ye are my friends," says he, "if ye do whatsoever I command you." In fact, to dispense with obedience, were to dispense with our happiness, for in holy likeness to God lies the true blessedness of man.

The appellation, "the kingdom of heaven," represents the mediator as ruling by means of laws. As the redemption of Israel was followed by the giving of the law; so the redemption effected by Christ, was accompanied or followed by a revelation of laws adapted to the christian economy. And this revelation includes all those moral precepts which necessarily arise from the relation between God and his creatures. By the law of God, in any given case, must certainly be understood that system of laws which is established for the time being. But though each dispensation has peculiar institutions and laws, there are moral precepts which have formed a part of the law of heaven under every dispensation. The particular character of the precepts given to regulate the principles of love, which forms

the essence of morality, must, of course, correspond with the state of its subjects. The same precepts cannot in all respects be given to angels, that are given to men. There must be a difference also, so far, in the structure of the precepts given to innocent creatures, from that of those given to such as are depraved. But yet the great principle of morality is in every case that of love.

When Christians are said to be freed from the law, the reference is either to their being freed from the Mosaic law, or from the condemning sentence of the law in general, and from the law itself, as the condition of life. The latter of these is included in the former; for we have seen, that the Mosaic economy, considered in one view, exhibited the nature of the law as the condition of life, and had for its most prominent feature, the sentence "of death and condemnation." And what, then, more natural than to express our deliverance from the curse and from the law, as the condition of life, or as the procuring cause of justification, by declaring us free from the yoke of that system? But as the Mosaic economy included not only what was peculiar to Israel; but also that law which is common to all men, the deliverance in question is also expressed by our being declared free from the law in general. So far as sinners are concerned, the condemning sentence of the law is its most prominent feature; and therefore, that sentence is sometimes itself denominated the law, in opposition to that grace which provides for the exercise of pardon. Thus, addressing believers, the Apostle says: "Sin

shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace," Rom. vi. 14. As sin derives its power to inflict death from the law, which is hence said to be "the strength of sin," either it or the law may be said to inflict the penalty; and therefore, either it or the law, or both of them together, may be said to have dominion over an unpardoned sinner, in the sense of having a right to punish him. In this view, the law as a system under which sinners are dealt with according to their own deserts, and are therefore doomed to punishment, is opposed to the system of grace under which provision is made for the extension of pardoning mercy to transgressors, which the law, as such, cannot make.

But we have also seen that, considered in another view, the law of Moses was given as a rule for the guidance of the Israelites, as a people redeemed and separated to God. And in this view it embraced those moral injunctions which necessarily arise from the relation between God and his creatures, as well as peculiar and typical appointments. And these moral precepts, together with the spirit, though not the letter, of the other commandments, are embodied in the christian law. And the peculiar appointments of the christian economy hold a similar relation to the Church of Christ, that the peculiar appointments of the former dispensation held in relation to the people of Israel.

Though the sacred writers do not in so many words make a formal distinction between the ceremonial and the moral part of the Mosaic law, yet it