of the titles of the Psalms. I trust what has been said will be sufficient to vindicate our translators from the charges advanced against them, of incompetence and unfairness. It would be too much to expect perfection in any work in which frail man is concerned. But we have reason to be thankful to Divine Providence, that the revered volume to which we look for instruction, for guidance, for consolation, for animation in our Christian warfare, conveys to us so faithfully the sense of the divine original; that its faults are comparatively few and unimportant; that its general correctness and excellence have received the powerful sanction of our ablest Biblical critics; and that the few persons who have accused the translators of ignorance and gross mistakes, have generally proved, by the inaccuracy of their own criticisms, their incompetence to form a correct judgment on the subject.

CLERICUS CORNUBIENSIS.

FAMILY SERMONS.- -No. CLXXV. Rom. iii. 20.-By the Law is the

knowledge of sin.

THERE are, in Scripture, some things hard to be understood, and which have given rise to many controversies in the church of Christ; but all the essential doctrines and precepts of religion are plain and simple,and carry conviction to every mind that is not wilfully shut against their reception. No person who thinks seriously, with the Scriptures in his hand, can doubt, for instance, that we are dependent and accountable creatures, who must be judged at the last day, according to the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. This is a truth we all acknowledge. We know, without a shadow of doubt, that a time is coming when "God will judge the world in righteousness by that man-Christ Jesus-whom he hath ordained; of which he hath given assurance unto

all men." We may be unskilled in many other points of Christian knowledge: but none of us are so ignorant as not to know this; and oh! that none were so thoughtless as not to lay it to heart!

Now if there be a judgment to come, it is of infinite consequence that we should ascertain by what rule we are to be judged. "By the law is the knowledge of sin :" we cannot therefore tell whether we shall be condemned or acquitted, unless we understand the nature of that law under which we are placed. The heathen, who have the law of nature written in their hearts, their conscience accusing or excusing them when they break or fulfil its rules, will be judged according to that law. The Jew, who had the law of the Ten Commandments, and also the precepts of the Mosaic ceremonies, will be judged according to his clearer knowledge of God's will. We also, who have the law of God plainly laid down for us in Scripture, shall be judged by the strict but equitable rules of his revealed word; for "to whom much is given, of him shall much be required."

We

Have we then ever seriously thought what the law of God demands of us? If we have not, we are in danger of deceiving ourselves by thinking the requirements of that law less than they really are. may not, perhaps, be aware how great are our offences, for want of having measured them by the right standard. If the rules by which we are accustomed to try our own conduct are defective, or less strict than the law by which we shall hereafter be judged, our knowledge of sin is imperfect and delusive. Many things may appear trifles to us, which will not be found to be trifles when the law of God is known. Nor will our want of consideration of it make our offence the less, where the opportunity for consideration is given to us. It is as much our duty to endeavour to learn what God requires of us, as to endeavour

with regard to the second table of the Law, how innumerable are our deficiencies in the affection, the gentleness, the forbearance, the disinterested services, which we owe to our fellow-creatures! Have we uniformly given due honour to parents, and to whomsoever honour is due? Have we never committed murder in our hearts, by being angry without a cause; by unkind or revengeful wishes; or by conduct calculated to stir up ill-will and contention? Have all our thoughts, words, and actions been marked by Christian purity? If we have not been guilty of gross theft, have we never been unjust in our gains; or taken advantage of the ignorance or easy disposition of others; or injured an employer by eye-service, or by a wasteful or negligent spirit; or a friend or parent, by not conscientiously improving the advantages which they have laboured to procure for us? If we have never borne false testimony before a magistrate, yet have we never in any other way injured our neighbour's character, by unjust or overcharged representations, or by publishing his faults with a sinful satisfaction? And lastly, have we never indulged those selfish and covetous desires, which, if ripened into act, would have caused the actual transgression of those very commands which we are most ready to boast of having kept?

Thirdly, having thus broken the law of God, it follows that we are all concluded under sin; and it greatly concerns us to inquire in the next place, what is the penalty due to our disobedience? And here again God is not without a witness in our hearts. In the darkest ages of heathenism, conscience proclaimed "the judgment of God, that they who do such things" as are contrary to his law "are worthy of death." A law always supposes a penalty for the breach of its enactments; and the penalty for breaking the law of our Creator is his righteous displeasure. And what penalty can be conceived

so great as the displeasure of an infinitely wise and powerful being, who is able to cast both body and soul into hell? "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." "Who can stand in his sight when once he is angry ?" It is no trifling evil to remain under his awful frown, even in the present world; to have his fearful judgments laid upon us during our short-lived existence here. But what is this to his never-ending displeasure in the world to come; where "the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" where there is "weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth;" where "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever?” And what will doubtless be among the bitterest ingredients in that everlasting cup of displeasure will be the tormenting reflection that this unspeakable infliction was amply deserved; that it might have been avoided; that God waited to be gracious, and willed not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should repent and live.

Fourthly. This last consideration leads us to the remaining point proposed for our present inquiry; namely, the way of pardon and deliverance revealed to us in the Gospel. We have seen the strict and holy character of God's law: we have further considered our numerous transgressions of it; and the awful penalty annexed to our disobedience. Upon none of these points can there be any room for doubt or hesitation. We may not indeed approve of the Divine proceeding; but our disapprobation will not reverse it. The law and the penalty are plainly declared in God's word; and though heaven and earth shall pass away not one jot or tittle of that word shall fail. The great question then which it behoves us to ask is "What must I do to be saved;" how may a guilty, perishing transgressor escape the judgment of his Creator? And here, blessed be God, Christianity has not left us in the dark. It is the record of God to a sinful world,

teaching us how He can be "just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus," and this notwithstanding innumerable past sins and remaining imperfections. "By the deeds of the law," whether moral or ceremonial, for in this respect both stand on the same footing, "there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested; even the righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe; (for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;) being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins." Such is the Apostle Paul's description of the way of salvation, in the verses which follow the text. We have seen that we cannot be justified before God, on the condition of human merit; but "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us." "He hath taken away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hence "there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus;" and the instrument by which we are engrafted into him is faith. "It is of faith, that it might be by grace;" that is by free favour; "not of works lest any man should boast."

The way, then, of pardon and acceptance with God is open to us through the blood of a Mediator. But have we availed ourselves of this inestimable privilege? God, on his part, has promised forgiveness of sin, and adoption into his family, and peace with himself; and the gift of his Holy Spirit; and his love shed abroad in the heart; and his renewing and sanctifying grace; and an eternal inheritance in heaven? But have we resorted to him for these blessings? Are we even sensible of their importance, or anxCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 259.

ious to obtain them? Do we feel our need of them? Have we that knowledge of our sinfulness which a right view of God's law is intended to unfold? Do we acknowledge our guilt and wretchedness; and are we seriously inquiring the way of salvation? If so, how seasonable, how applicable to our case, are the promises of God made to the believing penitent in Christ Jesus! The injunctions of the Divine law are not lowered; but an atonement has been made for our breach of them; and, what is of great importance for us ever to remember, the Holy Spirit is promised to give us a new heart to love and obey them— not indeed perfectly in this state of sin and imperfection, but with a constantly growing desire and endeavour. Now here is the great point for strict personal inquiry. Are we thus made "the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them?" Let us not deceive ourselves by supposing that a mere barren belief in the atonement of Christ will justify us. No: we must have a new heart; a heart purified by the Holy Spirit, and made the temple of God. "Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil :" in vain therefore do we call ourselves the disciples of Christ, if we do those works, or delight in them. Christ "redeemed us, that we might serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life;" useless and deceptive therefore is our professed trust in him, if our character does not attest that we are his servants. It is as much the effect of the Gospel, wherever rightly received, to produce a hatred to sin, as of the Law to give the knowledge of it. The Law teaches us what is our duty: the Gospel engrafted in our hearts by faith teaches us to love it. There is therefore no opening made for an unholy life, by the free offer of grace and pardon in Christ Jesus; for with this gift is inseparably connected a

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renewal of heart. The faith that justifies us, also purifies us. No sooner are we engrafted into Christ Jesus, than we derive strength and vigour from him to bring forth fruit to his glory. So long as we continue opposed to God's law, we have no authority to take to our selves the privileges of his Gospel. The very test of our being dead to the Law, as a covenant of works, is our earnest desire and endeavour to live according to it as a rule of life. The Christian's exception from its penalty, does not disincline him to obey its precepts: on the contrary, the more he "grows in grace and in the knowledge of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," the more does he love the way of God's commandments, and endeavour to walk worthy of the high vocation to which he is called. And unless such be our character, vain are our hopes, and worthless all our professions.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. AMONG the methods which the opposers of religion have employed to disparage the sacred Scriptures, one of the most painful to a truly Christian mind has been the insidious and overcharged exhibition of the sinful actions of otherwise eminently holy men. With this disingenuous object in view, narratives are at the present moment in baneful circulation, detailing, with most unfair and injurious comments, the awful lapses of David and other Scripture characters; and it is to be feared that this artful mode of attacking all that is sacred and venerable has not been without its effect. To every serious and considerate reader sufficient reasons will readily present themselves, to shew the wisdom of God in causing the occasionally evil deeds of otherwise good men to be left on record. In the first place, they are mentioned with strong disapprobation expressed or implied. Again; they were necessary to be recorded for the

sake of the impartiality of the narrative; and the mention of them thus becomes a collateral witness for the authenticity and truth of the sacred writings. In some cases also the record has been highly useful to deeply dejected penitents, as a preservative against despair; and, above all, the sufferings which arose from these delinquencies, and the subsequent bitter remorse and humble exemplary life of the repenting offenders (which the objectors usually forget to notice), are of the strongest and most direct moral utility. One of our Homilies very strikingly mentions the following instructions to be derived from these humbling narratives.

"These, and such like, in God's book, are not written that we should or may do the like, following their examples; or that we ought to think that God did allow every of these things in those men; but we ought rather to believe and to judge that Noah, in his drunkenness, offended God highly; Lot committed horrible incest. We ought, then, to learn by them this profitable lesson; that, if so godly men as they were, which otherwise felt inwardly God's Holy Spirit inflaming their hearts with the fear and love of God, could not by their own strength keep themselves from committing horrible sin, but did so grievously fall, that without God's great mercy they had perished everlastingly, how much more ought we then, miserable wretches, which have no feeling of God within us at all, continually to fear, not only that we may fall as they did, but also be overcome and drowned in sin, which they were not; and so, by considering their fall, take the better occasion to acknowledge our own infirmity and weakness, and therefore more earnestly to call unto Almighty God, with hearty prayer incessantly, for his grace to strengthen us and to defend us from all evil? And though, through infirmity, we chance at any time to fall, yet we may, by hearty repentance and true faith, speedily rise again, and not