b Ps. xix. 1. c Rom. i. 20. d Ps. xix. 3, 4.
e Isai. liii. 10. with Ps. xl. 6—8. f Ps. Ixxxv. 10.
e 2 Cor. iii. 18. h Eph. iii. 10.
2. As a standard, to which every thing may be referred —
[Of God's will we know nothing, but from the word: " we know neither good nor evil from all that is before us." What God requires of us, nothing in creation or providence can inform us : what he will do for us, we cannot ascertain : how he will deal with us in the eternal world, we cannot learn. But, in the sacred volume, all is written as with a sun-beam. There is nothing which God expects us to do for him, which is not there most explicitly declared : nothing which he engages to do for us, that does not form the subject of a distinct pro- mise. The whole of his procedure in the day of judgment is there laid open : the laws by which we shall be judged ; the manner in which the testimony, whether against us or in our favour, shall be produced ; the grounds on which the sentence of condemnation or acquittal shall be passed ; yea, the very state to which every person, either as acquitted or condemned, shall be consigned ; all is so clearly made known, that every person, who will judge himself with candour now, may as- suredly anticipate his fate. There is nothing left to conjec- ture. Every man has a standard to which he may refer, for the rectifying of his judgment in every particular : so that nothing can be added, for the instruction of our minds, or the regulation of our future expectations.]
3. As a fountain, from whence all his blessings emanate —
[Great blessings, beyond all doubt, flow down to us through the works of creation and providence : in fact, they are incessantly administering to our welfare ; for " God opens his hands, and fills all things living with plenteousness." Still, however, the benefits derived from them are only temporal ; whereas those which the inspired volume imparts are spiritual and eternal : from thence we derive all our knowledge of divine truth, and all our hopes of everlasting salvation. Nor is it the knowledge only of truth that we obtain, but the operation and efficacy of it on our souls. There is in divine truth, when applied by the Holy Spirit, a power to wound, to heal, to sanctify, to save'. When it comes to the soul with power, the stoutest heart in the universe is made to tremble : when it is poured out as balm, the most afflicted creature under heaven is made to leap for joy. Look over the face of the globe, and see how many, who were once under the unrestrained dominion of sin, are now transformed into the image of their God. And then ascend to heaven, and behold the myriads of the redeemed around the throne of God, uniting their hallelujahs to God and
1 Ps. xix. 7—11.
729.] god's word magnified. 439
to the Lamb : to this state were they all brought by that blessed word, which alone could ever prevail for so great a work. Thus it is that God has magnified his word; and thus it is that he will magnify it to the end of time ; yea, through eternity will it be acknowledged as the one source of all the blessings that shall ever be enjoyed.]
Does God so honour his word ? Surely, then, we may see,
II. What honour we should put upon it —
I will here content myself with specifying only two particulars :
1. We should regulate ourselves altogether by it — [We should know no other rule, either for our faith or practice. Whatever that speaks, we should receive with the most implicit confidence. Reason must judge whether there be sufficient evidence of its divine origin : but, that once ad- mitted, the whole must be received by faith. We are not to be sitting in judgment on God's word, and saying, I cannot understand how there should be three persons in the God- head ; or how the Son should become incarnate ; or how the Holy Spirit should dwell in the heart of a believer ; or how we should be ultimately saved by a righteousness not our own. I say, we are not called to sit in judgment upon these things, but to receive them on the authority of God himself, who alone knows the manner of his own subsistence, or what is that mode of imparting salvation which is most suited to his own divine character.