Finally, the divine authority of the Scriptures is confirmed by the excellency of the moral precepts they contain; and by the moral influence of their doctrines in the salvation of mankind. They embrace all that was really excellent in the ethics of heathen sages, and in the dictates of natural religion; and re-enact them with greater clearness, force, and authority. The scattered fragments of moral truth, which original revelation, or the responsible nature of man, or the labor and study of philosophers, have dispersed over the world, are found to be comprehended in the Christian code. Truth, justice, fortitude, integrity, faithfulness, chastity, benevolence, friendship, obedience to parents, love of our country, and whatever else is praiseworthy, have all their place; only cleared of base admixtures, directed to their proper ends, and clothed with necessary authority for swaying the conscience. Christianity is admirably adapted to promote the glory of God and the good of mankind, the cause of virtue and righteousness in the world; and to prepare men, by a life of faith and holy obedience upon the earth, for the eternal enjoyment of God in heaven. "Other books may afford us much entertainment and instruction, may improve our understandings, may calm our passions, may exalt our sentiments, may even improve our hearts; but they have not, they cannot have, that authority in what they affirm, in what they require, in what they promise and threaten, which the Scriptures have; there is a peculiar weight and energy in them, which is not to be found in any other writings; their denunciations are more awful, their convictions stronger, their consolations more powerful, their counsels more authentic, their warnings more alarming, their expostulations more penetrating. There are passages in them, throughout so sublime, so pathetic, full of such energy and force upon the heart and conscience, yet without the least appearance of labor and study for that purpose; indeed, the design of the whole is so noble, so well suited to the sad condition of human kind; the morals have in them such purity and dignity; the doctrines, so many of them above reason, yet so perfectly reconcilable with it; the expression is so majestic, yet familiarized with such easy simplicity, that the more we read and study these writings, with pious dispositions and judicious attention, the more we shall see and feel of the hand of God in them. But, that which stamps upon them the highest value, that which renders them. strictly speaking, inestimable, and distinguishes them from all other books in the world, is this, that they, and they only, contain the words of eternal life. In this respect, every other book, even the noblest compositions of man, must fail; they cannot give us that which we most want; and what is of infinitely more importance to us, than all other things put together--eternal life. This, we must look for nowhere but in the Scriptures." Thus, they are clearly and fully demonstrated to be the Book of the Lord.

2. The Scriptures are called the Book of the Lord, because they abound with the most correct and sublime descriptions of his nature

and perfections. One of the ancients, said, "the Bible is the history of God." It is here we learn that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. It is here we learn that in the beginning he created the heavens and the earth. He said, let there be light, and there was light. He laid the foundations of the earth-he bound up the water in the thick clouds-he gave the sea a decree, that it should not pass its bounds—he set a compass upon the great deep-he stretched out the north over the empty place, and hung the earth upon nothing. He made the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of the air, and every living creature that moveth upon the earth, or in the waters. And last, he created man in his own image, after his own likeness; and gave him dominion over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. He gives us the rain in due season, and sends grass into our fields-he shuts up the heavens that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit. The whole Pentateuch is a history of God's providential dispensations; his love and care for his faithful servants, and his constant superintendence over them; and ascribes all events, as well natural as miraculous, to God's providence. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, called upon the Lord, and he heard them and he was with them in all places whither they went. The history of Joseph sets before us a beautiful and instructive example of God's providential designs, brought about by natural causes. The Lord is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath. He will not justify the wicked, and by no means clear the guilty: but he is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Heaven is his throne, and earth his footstool. I am a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off. Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord: Do I not fill heaven and earth. His eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. The Scriptures describe the incomprehensible majesty of God, as softened by benevolence, which is liberal and unwearied, in diffusing good throughout the universe: his tender mercies are over all his works, embracing at once the interests of our bodies and our souls; and while he bestows in abundance the blessings and consolations of the present life, he has provided for us perfect and exalted felicity in the life to come. Of all the views of God which are recorded in the Sacred Oracles, none are so calculated to endear him to us, to inspire our hearts with confidence, as this short but interesting description, of which the scheme of redemption affords a sublime illustration-God is love. In fine, the Scriptures record the terrible acts of his justice -the grand displays of his mercy-his inviolable faithfulness, immaculate purity, and immutable goodness. There is scarcely a question which a serious mind may be disposed to urge, relative to the divine Being, that cannot be solved by the Book of the Lord.

3. The Scriptures are denominated the Book of the Lord, because he has sanctified them, and has set his broad seal to their truth and divinity. He has declared by the mouth of the prophet, As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth_not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that thing which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I shall send it. The Apostle Paul declares, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; and that it effectually worketh in them that believe. We have many striking examples in the illustration of this declaration. What divine energy has been displayed by the power of a preached gospel? What wonderful success attended the administration of the word in the first ages of the Christian religion? Before the second century was completed, the gospel was propagated through the Roman empire, which then comprised almost all the known world. It prevailed without the assistance of any temporal power. "Destitute of all temporal advantages, protected by no authority, assisted by no art, nor recommended by the reputation of its author, nor enforced by eloquence in its advocates, the word of God grew mightily and prevailed. We behold twelve men, poor, artless, and uneducated, triumphing over the fiercest and most determined opposition; over the tyranny of the magistrate, and the subtleties of the philosopher; over the prejudices of the Gentile, and the bigotry of the Jew." And, notwithstanding the truths of Christianity are repugnant to every bad passion of the human heart, and require from those who profess it the most exalted piety, together with the strictest possible regard to every civil, moral, and relative duty, as well as the purest and most diffusive benevolence-still Christianity has continued to spread in every part of the known world, and to pour its bright effulgence upon the dark corners of the earth, to cheer the desolate habitation of man. Wherever the earth has been blessed with the light of the gospel, the effects of its divine power have been visible in softening the asperities of the human heart; in transforming it into the image of Christ, and in forming the character to piety and virtue. It has cheered the desolate path of man, by pouring upon it the light of immortality, and elevating his affections and hopes to a heavenly country. In the wonderful displays of its divine operation, how many blinded eyes it has opened-how many hard hearts it has softened-how many inveterate prejudices it has subdued-how many wanderers it has reclaimed-how many penitents it has cheered-and how many mortals it has made 'wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus.

4. The Scriptures are called the Book of the Lord, because they lead all to him who follow their directions. They find us out in a state of alienation and estrangement from God; with a heart full of

vile affection and worldly lusts-with an appetite hungering and thirsting after the vanities and pleasures of this present evil world— they teach us the way of access to God by Jesus Christ-they mark the steps by which the prodigal returns to his heavenly Father-they encourage him by promises, and urge him by threatenings and their most obvious tendency and designs are, to lead us to the rock that is higher than ourselves. There is no book in the world that is so well adapted to raise our minds, refine our judgments, spiritualize our affections, and advance our hearts to the imitation of God, as the Bible. It may, therefore, with the greatest propriety, be significantly and emphatically styled, the Book of the Lord. II. Having considered the reasons for calling the Scriptures the Book of the Lord, we shall now proceed to inquire into the purposes for which we are to seek out of the Book of the Lord, and read. We should read the Sacred Oracles to gain instruction. The Bible is a book of knowledge. All the streams of divine and sacred truth, which for ages have been flowing in every possible direction through all the Christian world, fertilizing the waste and desolate places of the earth, have taken their rise from this source. The Oracles of God are the living fountain, which, from the beginning of time, has been sending forth the pure stream of divine and saving knowledge. All who have approached this fountain for themselves, and partaken of this water of life, have ever found it to be invigorating and refreshing. And, do any thirst for divine and saving knowledge? here she spreads her ample store,—

""Tis revelation satisfies all doubts,

And solves all mysteries except its own,

And so illuminates the path of life,

That fools discover it, and stray no more."

The Christian, with the Bible in his hand, resembles a man standing on the summit of a mountain, "where ether pure surrounds him, and Elysian prospects rise." The dark clouds that hung over the past, are all dispersed; and he views the birth of time, the formation of the globe, the creation of man, the origin of evil, and the long train of miracles, prophecies, and wonders, with which the Old Testament abounds. Nor is he less favored in looking through the bright vista of future years. He beholds the accomplishment of all the prophecies, and the fulfilment of all the divine purposes. Then shall the mystery of God be finished-then shall the earth be dissolved, and everlasting close up the scene,-

"Thick clouds of darkness shall arise on day,
In sudden night, all earth's dominions lay;
Impetuous winds the scatter'd forest rend,
Eternal mountains, like their cedars, bend.
The vallies yawn, the troubled ocean roar,
And break the bondage of his wonted shore;
From inmost heaven incessant thunders roll,
And the strong echo bound from pole to pole."

1. In the book of the Lord there is not only a profound treasure of the most useful and excellent knowledge, but the holy and heavenly truths which the Oracles of God contain are also delivered in the most majestic strain of oratory, and with all the ornaments of the most exalted rhetoric. Words are nowhere arranged in a more comprehensive and attractive order, nor do the triumphs of sacred eloquence shine in any author with greater splendor, or flow with an evener stream. How wonderful and surprising are the descriptions which Job gives us of the divine power and providence! In how many fine and poetic strains are the songs of Moses and Deborah composed; and with how much beauty of style, as well as elevated strains of devotion, is the book of the Psalms replenished! How lofty and intricate are some of the prophets-how pathetic and terrible are others and some, again, how mild and gentle! What refined wisdom, what deep experience, what admirable observations of human policy, are scattered through the writings of Solomon-what noble characters, and lively images of things, are dispersed in those instructive pages! How inimitable is the passion of grief set forth in the lamentations of Jeremiah. "One would think that every letter was wrote with a tear, every word was the sad accent of a broken heart; that the penman was a man compacted of sorrows, and disciplined to mourning; that he never breathed but in sighs, nor spoke but in groans." How awful and dreadful is the account which Moses gives of the publication of the law. God descended in fire and smoke, and the people were not only filled with fear, but the hill shook, and the mountain did exceedingly quake and tremble. Nothing can give us a more clear and just idea of Omnipotent power, than the expression of Moses, when God says, Let there be light, and there was light. He spake the word, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

2. We should read the Book of the Lord to gain examples, after which to model our lives. The Bible is a book of models; here we see not only the theory of religion, but we behold it embodied and enlivened in living examples. The precepts of the gospel describe what men ought to be, but in the living characters we see what they were; and there is not a single virtue that can adorn human nature, there is not a single grace that can embellish the human heart, but what has been exemplified in some of the living characters, recorded in the Book of the Lord-such as faith in Abraham, meekness in Moses, wisdom in Solomon, patience in Job, zeal in Peter, and perseverance in Paul. But, in the life of Jesus Christ are embodied and exemplified all the graces and all the virtues of the Christian religion, without one single defect to stain his unspotted purity. He is a model of perfection. What sweetness, purity, simplicity, and dignity in his manners; what an effecting gracefulness in his delivery; what sublimity in his max'ms; what profound wisdom in his discourses; what presence of