Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

David enumerates the particulars which constitute the character of the man who is most in favour with God, he draws a picture of the most diftinguished moral virtue, " Pf. xv. 1. &c. " Lord " who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall " dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh up"rightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh "the truth in his heart, &c." Lastly, the apostle James says, ch. i. 13. "Let no man say when " he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God "cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he " any man."

A thoufand passages in the scripture express the pleasure which God takes in good men, and the happiness which he referves for them, Pf. cxlvii. II. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, "in those that hope in his mercy." Pf. xxxvii. 23, 24. "Thesteps of a good man are ordered by "the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though " he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for "the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Pr. ciii. 13. Like as a "father pitieth his children: " so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Pf. Ixxxiv. 11. "For the Lord God is a fun and "shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no "good thing will he with-hold from them that "walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the " man that trusteth in thee." On the other hand, the wicked are always represented as the fole objects

of

of the divine displeasure and vengeance, as If. xlviii. 22. and lvii. 21. "There is no peace, faith my " God, to the wicked." And all the judgments which the divine being is represented as interpofing to inflict, are always faid to have been on account of wickedness only, as in the case of our first parents, the inhabitants of the old world, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Canaanites, and many others.

Whereas the favour of the heathen gods was supposed to be gained by the performance of certain rites and ceremonies, while moral virtue was seldom thought to be of any use for that purpose; the contrary is expressed in the strongest terms, with respect to the true God; and admonitions of this kind are repeated again and again in the books of fcripture. David, confeffing his fins before God, fays, Pf. li. 16. "Thou defirest not facrifice, " else would I give it: thou delightest not in " burnt offering. The facrifices of God are a " broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, "O God, thou wilt not despise." One of the finest passages in the facred writings to this purpose is, If. i. 13. &c. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye "rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our "God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what pur

pose is the multitude of your facrifices unto me? "faith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings " of rams, and the fat of fed beafts, and I delight VOL. II.

I

" not

[ocr errors]

"not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of "he goats. When ye come to appear before me, "who hath required this at your hand, to tread

66

my courts: Bring no more vain oblations, in"cense is an abomination unto me, the new-moons " and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with, it is iniquity, even the folemn meet"ing. Your new moons, and your appointed "feasts my foul hateth; they are a trouble unto

66

[ocr errors]

me, I am weary to bear them. And when ye " spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes " from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, " I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. "Wash ye, make ye clean, put away the evil of

[ocr errors]

2

your doings from hence before mine eyes, cease " to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, re"lieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead "for the widow. Come now and let us reafon " together, faith the Lord: though your fins be "as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though "they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” The same sentiment is also admirably expressed in Micah vi. 6. &c. "Wherewith shall I come be"fore the Lord, and bow myself before the high "God? shall I come before him with burnt of"ferings, with calves of a year old? Will the " Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with " ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my " first-born for my tranfgreffion, the fruit of my "body " body for the fin of my foul? He hath shewed "thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the " Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to " love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy "God?" To the fame purpose see also Pf. 1. Jer. vii. 2. Hof. vi. 6. and Amos v. 21.

In the New Testament, we find John the Baptist expofing the vain confidence of the Jews, on account of their having Abraham for their father, Matt. iii. 9. and our Saviour also, when they made the same boast, in his presence, says, John viii. 39. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the " works of Abraham. Ye are of your father the " devil, and the lufts of your father ye will do." Again, speaking of his natural relations, he says, Matt. xii. 50. "Whosoever shall do the will of

66

my father who is heaven, the same is my brother, "and fifter and mother."

If we confider the great object and end of all the parts of the scheme of revelation, we cannot but see that it was intended to promote the practice of moral virtue, in order to men's attaining to the greatest degrees of perfection and happiness. The ten commandments, which God spake from Sinai, are all of a moral, and most of them of a focial nature. His earnest exhortations to the Ifraelites, through the whole of the book of Deuteronomy, enforces the practice of virtue in the strongest manner; and fo do all the writings of the prophets. The

i

I 2

The purport of their earnest exhortations is, "Cease to do evil, learn to do well; turn ye, turn "ye, from your evil ways; why will ye die, O "house of Ifrael."

Repentance and works meet for repentance, was the chief subject of John the Baptist's preaching, and alfo of that of our Saviour. Our Lord's admirable fermon on the mount, consists chiefly of precepts of the most sublime moral virtue; and he represents the fate of all mankind at the last day, as determined by a regard to their moral character only, and especially their benevolence.

Whenever the general design of the gospel is mentioned, it is always spoken of as intended to reform and bless mankind. Thus the apostle Peter, in his address to the Jews, after the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, says, Acts iii. 26. " God, having raised up his Son Jesus, fent him " to bless you, in turning away every one of you " from his iniquities." To the same purpose the "apostle Paul, Titus ii. 11. "The grace of God " that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all " men; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and " worldly lufts, we should live soberly, righteously, " and godly in this present world; looking for " that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of "the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Chrift: " who gave himself for us, that he might redeem " us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a " peculiar

« ForrigeFortsæt »