fact, the frequent theme of the praises dictated under the inspiration of the Spirit in the sacred oracles. But there is another of the dominions of God, considered in relation to his saints, an empire of knowledge and of love, whose administration is intrusted to his Son,-which is celebrated in still sublimer strains, and forms the principal theme of the New Testament. This is emphatically denominated the kingdom of heaven, or that kingdom which the God of heaven should set up, given to "the saints of the Most High," which is to be of everlasting duration, and never to be succeeded by another. Whether the Psalm before us is intended to describe this species of rule and authority, in distinction from the other, I shall not undertake to determine; but as these divine compositions are unquestionably frequently employed in portraying the kingdom of Christ, or the Messiah, it is hoped it will not be deemed improper to consider the words in that light. Let us direct our thoughts, then, for a short season, to the glory of the kingdom of Christ. With this [view], it may be proper to reflect on the following particulars : I. The glory of it is manifest in its origin and the method by which it was acquired. It had its origin in ineffable mercy, under the direction of perfect wisdom and rectitude. It occupied the thoughts, and was the object of the counsels of the Eternal, before the heavens were stretched out, or the foundation of the earth was laid. It formed the centre of the divine designs, and the ultimate point to which every other purpose of God was directed. As it was designed to be the spiritual reign of God over the mind, and at the same time to be a [unanimous, harmonious] kingdom, in which the sovereign and the subjects are always understood to be of the same nature, it was necessary in order to its establishment that God should become incarnate; it was necessary, not only for the redemption of his church, but also for the purpose of their being governed as they were intended to be governed. Ere the government could be placed "on his shoulder," it was necessary for the Messiah to be "a child born and a son given." Again, since in this kingdom the "tabernacle of God" was to be "with men," and he was to "dwell among them," and such a condescension of mercy would have been utterly unbecoming "the blessed and only Potentate," without a signal reparation to the divine honour tarnished by rebellion, it was requisite a sacrifice for sin should be made, worthy of the occasion, which could nowhere' be procured but by "the offering of the body of Christ, once for all." The inefficiency of the typical sacrifices under the law proclaimed the necessity of one of intrinsic validity and infinite value. Thus, the foundation of this empire was laid in the incarnation and atonement of the Son of God; and the solidity and extent of its foundations, great as they are, are but proportioned to the majesty and duration of the edifice. "Every battle of the warrior," says the prophet Isaiah, "is with confused noise, and with garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." The kingdom of which we speak is *Isaiah ix. 6. ↑ Rev. xxi. 3. + 1 Tim. vi. 15. acquired by conquest, but of a nature totally different from military conquest. The weapons employed in achieving it are purely spiritualthe burning of conviction, the light of truth, the fire of love. The simple testimony of Christ, the publication of the gospel by the "foolishness of preaching," have produced the most wonderful changes in the world, far beyond those which have been effected by violence or the sword. Before these simple but efficacious instruments, the powers of darkness have been overcome; "Satan has fallen like lightning from heaven;"* temples have been overturned, oracles have been struck dumb, the arm of persecuting power has been withered; and men have, in every part of the world, passed through chains, and racks, and fires into the kingdom of God. Heavenly truth, love, and wisdom have grappled with all the powers of falsehood and sophistry, combined with all the blandishments and terrors of the world, and have gained decisive victory. From the smallest beginnings, and by the most contemptible instruments, to human appearance, the gospel, by "commending itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God,"t hath triumphed over all opposition, and is still going forth "conquering, and to conquer." It is thus the Spirit of God addresses the Messiah, in portraying his success in the establishing of his empire: "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee."§ Truth, meekness, and righteousness are the weapons of his warfare, and the rod of his strength. They “shall be willing in the day of thy power;" they are a conquered, yet a willing people; they submit to his power, but cheerfully and gladly embrace his sceptre: their will itself is so changed, their hearts so touched, that they become "like the chariots of Ammi-nadib."|| Other potentates extend their empire by force, and by imposing their yoke on reluctant necks; Jesus Christ by love, and by exhibiting a matchless example of condescension and [mercy.] 2. The glory of this kingdom is conspicuous in the principles by which it is administered. Of this Prince it is truly said, "Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." sceptre of his dominion is grace: grace displayed in the gospel, grace communicated by the Spirit, is the grand instrument of maintaining his empire. He reveals his glory and imparts his benefits, and thereby attaches his subjects by ties at once the most forcible and the most engaging.. The A lovely assemblage of qualities characterizes the spirit and genius of his divine administration; an incomparable majesty, united to a most * Luke x. 18. † 2 Cor. iv. 2. || Cant. vi. 12. Rev. vi. 2. endearing condescension-a spirit of benignity, joined to impartial justice, distinguishes his conduct. Though the subjects of this kingdom are admitted to it on no other condition than a cordial approbation of the character of the Prince, they are not left lawless or uncontrolled: the revelation of the divine will is imparted; the most perfect measure of holiness and rules of conduct are enjoined on the conscience and impressed on the heart. This administration exhibits throughout a beautiful model of the moral government of God, attempered to the state of creatures who have fallen from their original rectitude, but are under a dispensation of mercy. A system of paternal justice is carried into execution throughout this empire; in consequence of which the disobedient are punished, that they may not be condemned with the world. The gradations of favours are regulated by the Sovereign with the most impartial justice; and future rewards distributed [with exquisite propriety and rectitude.] Human administrations extend only to outward actions, and are conducted entirely by external and visible instruments. Were we not united to a fleshly fabric, they would be incapable of reaching us; so that they extend more properly to the bodies than to the souls of men. The dominion of Christ is chiefly spiritual and internal: the soul is the subject of his authority, where he dwells by faith. It extends to the remotest sentiments of the mind, "casting down high imaginations, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."* It is not the object of our outward senses; it is within us, consisting not in "meats and drinks, but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."+ The benefits which human governments impart are principally of a negative kind, consisting in the removal of those checks and restraints which the unreasonable passions of men urge them to impose on each other's enjoyments. The utmost that the wisest earthly government can for the most part effect, is to overawe the mischievous, to II. It is glorious with respect to the manner in which it is administered: "The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light when the sun ariseth, even as a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by the clear shining after rain."‡ The most essential quality in a virtuous administration is justice. This property is most conspicuous in the government of Christ over his people. He confers no benefit upon them but what is compatible with the strictest rectitude, having previously made a sufficient atonement for their transgressions. And in every part of his administration, "righteousness is the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." With perfect equity he apportions the degrees of his favour to the respective measures of their attachment and obedience. § Isa. xi. 5. * 2 Cor. x. 5. † Rom. xiv. 17. + 2 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4.. He will render to such of his subjects rewards, not properly on account of their works, but "according to their works."* He employs the pure and holy law of God as the invariable rule of their conduct, and shows how to make such a use of its terrors and sanctions as is subservient to his gracious designs; restraining by fear those who are not susceptible of more liberal and generous motives. As it first convinced them of sin, so it is, in his hands, the instrument of such convictions as the measure of their offence may require; and, by alarming and awakening the conscience, it excites to repentance, vigilance, and prayer: "As many as I love I rebuke," is his language; "be zealous, therefore, and repent," "for I have not found thy works perfect before God." His dominion is at the same time most gentle, gracious, and benign. Grace, as I have said, is the sceptre of his empire; and that grace is imparted by the Spirit. His reign is indeed "the reign of grace."{ He reveals his glory, he manifests ineffable majesty and beauty, whereby he captivates the hearts of his subjects, and "draws them with the cords of a man, and the bands of love."|| With the most tender compassion he "delivers the needy when he crieth, the poor, and him that hath no helper. He spares the poor and the needy, and saves the souls of the needy:"P "When the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." In earthly kingdoms the subjects are governed merely by general laws, which are of necessity very imperfectly adapted to the infinite variety of cases that occur. The combinations of human action are too numerous and diversified to be adequately included in any general regulation or enactment; whence has arisen the maxim, "Summum jus summa injuria,"-that a strict adherence to the letter of the law would often be the greatest injustice. But this divine dominion subsists under no such imperfections; for the Prince is intimately acquainted with the secrets of the heart. He also pervades every part of his empire by his presence, and can consequently make a specific and personal application to each individual; can impart his smiles and his favours, the expression of his kindness or of his displeasure, to each individual soul, as distinctly as though it were the only subject of his empire. In human government the law extends to outward actions only, but the good and the evil which are produced by it are almost entirely confined to sensible objects-to such objects as bear a relation to our corporeal state. *Matt. xvi. 27. ↑ Rev. iii. 19. + Rev. iii. 2. § Rom. v. 21. XVII. ON SPIRITUAL LEPROSY.* LEV. xiii. 45.—And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. By superficial thinkers it has been objected to several parts of the Mosaic law, that its injunctions are frivolous and minute, and of a nature that ill comports with the majesty and wisdom of the Supreme Being. The exact specification of the different sorts of sacrifice, the enumeration of the different sorts of creatures, clean and unclean, and the various species of ceremonial defilement, have been adduced as examples of this kind. To this it may be replied, that, at this distance of time, we know too little of the superstitions among pagan nations, and consequently of the peculiar temptations to which the ancient Israelites were exposed, to enable us to form an accurate judgment respecting the expediency or necessity of those provisions. Many legal enactments which appear unseasonable and unnecessary to a distant observer and a remote age, on close investigation of the actual circumstances in which they were, are discovered to be replete with propriety, and to be founded on the highest reason. But the most satisfactory answer to this, and to most other objections raised against the law of Moses, is derived from a consideration of the peculiar nature of that institute, which was throughout figurative and typical. In the infancy of revealed religion, and when the minds of men were but little accustomed to refined reflection, it became necessary to communicate moral and religious instruction by actions and observances, and to address their reason through the medium of their senses. The people of Israel, at the time they came out of the land of Egypt, having been long surrounded by idolatry, and in a state of depression and slavery, were a people, we have the utmost reason to believe, of very gross conceptions, deeply sunk in carnality and ignorance; a nation peculiarly disqualified to receive any lasting impression from didactic discourses, or from any sublime system of instruction. Their minds were in an infantine state; and divine wisdom was imparted to them, -not in that form which was best in itself, but in that in which they were best able to bear it: and being very much the creatures of sense, religious principles were communicated through the medium of sensible images. Thus they were reminded of the eternal difference between right and wrong, between actions innocent and criminal, by the distinction of animals and meats into clean and unclean. Their attention was called to a reflection on their guilt, on their just desert of destruction, and of the necessity of a real expiation of sin hereafter to be *Preached at Leicester, December, 1810. |
