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SERIES OF DISCOURSES.

DISCOURSE I.

On the Book of the Lord.

"Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read.”—Isaiah xxxiv., 16.

THE words which we have selected for our present meditation and improvement, occur nearly at the close of one of the most awful and sublime chapters that the language of man ever uttered, or the pen of inspiration ever wrote-a chapter in which Jehovah is represented as clothing himself in the garment of vengeance, and coming out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness-a chapter in which we not only see the indignation of God displayed against sinners, so as utterly to destroy them, but where the very land that nourished them in their transgressions, is made a standing monument of divine vengeance. Can anything in the whole compass of human language be more alarming, appalling, and awful, than the following denunciations: The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation for dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screechowl shall also rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with his mate. It is not now necessary to say when these

prophecies were fulfilled, or to what particular country they referred: what we propose to consider, at the present time, is, the advice given in the text-Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read.

I. In the discussion of this subject, we shall, in the first place, notice the object to which our attention is directed-The Book of the Lord. This phrase, in its original import, means the prophetic writings; but, since the canon of Scripture has been filled up, we may understand by the Book of the Lord, the whole Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments.

1. These are called the Book of the Lord, because they were inspired by him. All Scripture, says the apostle, is given by the inspiration of God. The truth of this declaration is confirmed by their wonderful preservation. The miraculous preservation of the Sacred Oracles is a strong instance of God's providential care, a constant sanction of the truth and excellency of the doctrines and precepts contained in them, continued by him, without interruption, in all ages of the church. Whence comes it, that while the histories of mighty empires and populous kingdoms are lost in the waste of time, the very names of their founders, conquerors, and legislators, are consigned, with their bodies, to the silence and oblivion of the grave? Whence comes it, that the history of a mean and insignificant people, and the settlement of God's church, should, from its very beginning, which is coeval with the world itself, to this very day remain full and complete? Whence comes it, that nothing is left of the innumerable volumes of philosophy and polite literature, in the preservation of which the admiration and care of all mankind seemed to conspire; and that the Scriptures, in spite of all opposition, come down to our time entire and genuine? During the captivity, the Urim and Thummim, the ark itself, and every glory of the Jewish worship, were lost; during the profanation of Antiochus, whosoever was found with the book of the law, was put to death, and every copy that could be found, burned with fire. The same impious artifice was put in practice by several Roman emperors, during the persecutions of the Christians; especially by Dioclesian, who triumphed in his supposed success against them. After the most barbarous havoc of them, he issued an edict commanding them, on pain of death, under the most cruel forms, to deliver up their Bibles. Though many complied with this most sanguinary edict, the greater part disregarded it; and notwithstanding these and numberless other calamities, the Sacred Scriptures have survived, pure and uncorrupted, to the present day. It is scarcely necessary to mention that more than Egyptian darkness which overwhelmed religion for several centuries, during which any falsification was secure, especially in the Old Testament, the Hebrew language being entirely unknown to all but the Jews, and yet they have, in spite of their prejudices, preserved with scrupulous care even those passages which most confirm the Chris

tian religion-the providence of God having been graciously pleased to make their blindness a standing monument of the truth of the Scriptures, and their obstinacy an instrument to maintain and promote his doctrine and kingdom. To this may be added, the present low state of many churches, and the total annihilation of others, of which nothing now remains but the Scriptures translated for their use; happy in this respect, that their particular misfortune is of different languages, preserved under so many untoward circumstances, and differing from each other in no essential point, are a wonderful proof of their authenticity, authority, and divinity. All the designs of the enemies of the Scriptures, whether ancient or modern, have been baffled. The Bible still exists, and is triumphant; and, doubtless, will exist as long as there is a church in the world-till the end of time, and the consummation of all things.

The divinity of the Sacred Oracles is also confirmed by the exact fulfilment of the prophecies with which they abound. These prophecies were delivered through a long succession of ages, by persons who lived at different and distinct times; they are so numerous, so particular, both with respect to nations and individuals, so opposite, and apparently so irreconcileable, that no human wisdom could have devised them, no human power could accomplish them. Many of the predictions which are recorded in the Old Testament, foretold unexpected changes in the distribution of earthly power. And whether they announced the fall of flourishing cities, or the ruin of mighty empires, the event has minutely corresponded with the prediction. To mention a few instances: Egypt is a base kingdom, the basest of kingdoms, and still tributary and subject to strangers; Tyre, all voyagers and travellers concur in stating, is become like the top of a rock, a place for fishers to spread their nets upon; Babylon is made a desolation forever, a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; Nineveh is so completely destroyed, that its site is not and cannot be known. But the great object of the prophecies in the Old Testament is, the redemption of mankind. This was announced to the world by the Spirit of prophecy, soon after the transgression of our first parents. And, as the time of its accomplishment drew near, the predictions concerning it gradually became so clear, that almost every circumstance in the life and character of the most extraordinary personage that ever appeared among men, was distinctly foretold. The connexion of the predictions belonging to the Messiah, with those which are confined to the Jews, give additional force to the argument from prophecy; affording a strong proof of the intimate union which subsists between the two dispensations of Moses and Jesus Christ, and equally precluding the artful pretensions of human imposture, and the daring opposition of human power. The plan of prophecy was so widely constituted, that the passions and prejudices of the Jews, instead of frustrating, fulfilled it, and rendered the person whom they rejected, the suffering and crucified Saviour who had been

promised. It is worthy of remark, that the most of these predictions were delivered nearly, and some of them more than three thousand years ago. Any one of them is sufficient to indicate a knowledge of future events, more than human; but the collective force of all taken together is such, that nothing more can be necessary to prove the interposition of Omniscience, than the establishment of their authenticity; and this, even at so remote a period as the present, is placed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

The stupendous and indisputable miracles recorded in the Scriptures, are a further confirmation of their divinity. These most illustrious attestations carry with them the most clear and convincing proof of a divine interposition. It cannot reasonably be supposed that the Almighty ever would give, or permit these attestations to be given to a falsehood. The miracles were instantaneously and publicly wrought in the presence of great multitudes. both friendly and hostile to the persons by whom they were performed; they were sensible, and easy to be observed. Memorials of these miracles were instituted at the time they were performed, which continue to be observed to the present day. The bitterest enemies of the Christian religion, who witnessed these miracles, could neither gainsay nor deny their reality, though they vainly attempted to evade them.

Once more, the divine authority of the Scriptures is confirmed by the grand and elevated subjects on which they treat. It is from the Scriptures, and the Scriptures only, that we are informed, from authority, of the perfections of God-of the creation of the worldof the immortality of the soul-of a general resurrection from the dead-of a future judgment-of a state of eternal happiness to the good-and of everlasting misery to the bad. It is in the book of the Lord, that we are made acquainted with the transgression of our first parents-their expulsion from the garden of Eden-and the corruption and misery which this sad event brought upon their posterity. But, to our inexpressible comfort, we are further told in this divine Book, that God is full of mercy, compassion, and goodness-that he is not extreme to mark what is done amiss-that he willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. In pity, therefore, to mankind, he was pleased to send his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to teach us a most holy, pure, and benevolent religion-to reform us, both by precept and example; and, finally, to die for our sins, and rise again for our justification. By him, and his evangelists and apostles, we are assured, that if we sincerely repent of our sins, and firmly believe in him and his gospel, we shall, through his death and righteousness, have all our sins blotted out-shall be justified in the sight of God-shall have the assistance of the Holy Spirit for our future conduct--and, if we persevere to the end, in a uniform course of obedience to all the laws of Christ, we shall, through his grace and mercy, be rewarded with everlasting glory in the life to come.