SERMON XIV.

GALATIANS iii. 19.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.

In surveying the history of the dispensations of the Almighty to man, as recorded in Holy Writ, in tracing the long series of events both in their origin and effect, we cannot but observe the close connection which subsists between every part, and the wonderful adaptation of each separate link in the chain of occurrences to the one grand end and purpose of the whole. Such an unity both of design and execution might reasonably be expected in a scheme framed by infinite wisdom, and enforced by infinite power; but when the free agency of man is taken into the consideration, when we see every purpose frustrated apparently by rebellion, every promise annulled by disobedience, how wonderful is the power of that Almighty arm, which can render even con

fusion itself the unwilling minister and instrument of order, guiding the perversity of man to the completion of the will of God!

From this consideration may be deduced the reconciliation of those seemingly contradictory principles which appear in the moral government of the Almighty, all originating in the mercies of his eternal wisdom, and working together for the same great end of our creation, the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ.

A more remarkable instance of contrariety does not occur, than in the striking distinction between the mode of worship enjoined under the Mosaic, and the Christian dispensation. Viewing the one as closely connected and preparatory to the other, considering that the same one selfexisting Being was equally the object of adoration; that his attributes were as clearly declared, and as fully understood under the former, as under the latter covenant, it may perhaps appear somewhat extraordinary, that the one should be burdened with a tedious ritual and long train of ceremonial observances, while the other proclaims the liberty of the Gospel, and the worship of God who is a spirit, " in spirit and in truth."" Wherefore then serveth the law?" It existed not under the patriarchal, it is superseded and abolished by the Christian dispensation; wherefore then should it have been imposed.

on the intermediate covenant? Wherefore should the hand-writing of ordinances stand recorded against the subjects of this second administration? and for what purpose were these observances of acknowledged imperfection ordained? To all these enquiries the Apostle replies, "it was added, because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom the promise was made." If we then consider this answer in its full extent, we shall not only obtain a clear and satisfactory solution of all our doubts, but we shall find the wisdom of the Almighty displayed in its brightest colours, as the Framer of the ceremonial law, not only "because of transgressions," but as "a shadow of good things to come."

From their long residence in Egypt, the minds of the Israelites were deeply imbued with the love of those superstitious rites, of which that nation was the inventress and nurse. In Egypt were deposited the rich stores of ancient learning, from her shores the rays of science emanated into distant regions, in her caverns were taught those awful and imposing rites, which, invested with the garb of mystery, were celebrated in after ages in the temples of Athens, the admiration and resort of the civilized world. Can it then be an object of wonder, that to the superstitions of such a nation, the de

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scendants of the patriarchs should be deeply attached? An attachment, which neither the tyranny of Pharaoh, nor the horrors of bondage, could ever weaken or remove. After their deliverance from the thraldom of their masters, after their passage through the waters of the deep, after all the signs and wonders accompanying them in their journey to the promised land, to Egypt they still looked back with anxious regret, in Egypt were all their affections buried. 66 Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt?" was the constant exclamation," Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt? when we sat by the flesh-pots, and did eat bread to the full." After their solemn acceptance of Jehovah for their God and King, and their consecration as his peculiar people, we find them recurring to their idolatry, and in conformity to their ancient superstitions, bowing themselves before the representation of the Egyptian Osiris in the image of the golden calf. So deeply engraved was this attachment on their souls, that when, in after times, that miserable remnant, who had escaped from slavery, after the taking of Jerusalem, by Nebuchadnezzar, were promised security from the Assyrian yoke, if they would stay in Judea, they said, "No: but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the

trumpet, nor have hunger of bread, and there will we dwell." Such then being the love of this infatuated people to the civil polity, the manners, and the superstitions of the land of Egypt, we cannot but admit the necessity of a law being given from on high, to guard and preserve this chosen nation from the temptation of that idolatry, to which they were most inveterately prone; and by drawing a strict line of exclusion, to separate them from the contagion of the still more detestable enormities, which disgraced those nations, in the midst of whom they were hereafter to dwell. Now this end could not better have been accomplished, than,

First, by enacting severe penal laws against the exercise of actual idolatry.

And, secondly, by framing a multifarious ritual, whose opposition to the prevailing superstitions, should, by degrees, wean the mind from its fond attachment to a forbidden object, and in the course of time induce a strong and habitual aversion to it; and which should indulge them to a very considerable degree in their love of sacrifice, and of outward splendour, and at the same time should confine them to the worship of the one true and only God. Now in this, as in his other dealings with the Jews, the Almighty, though he was their king, was not their tyrant. He gave them a free will, to choose either good