1992 issue 4 - sermons of benjamin palmer: perpetuity of the divine law - counsel of chalcedon
TRANSCRIPT
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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Sermons of Benjamin Palmer: Perpetuity of the Divine Law - Counsel of Chalcedon
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ring not without law
to God but under the
law
to Christ
a
Cor. 9:21
It is of the first
. mportance
in
the
interestsbothofdoctrina1andofpramcal
religion, to detennine
precisely
the
believer's relation to
the divine
law. On
the one
hand stands the
legalist,
insisting
thatwecanbesavedonlybythecloseness
of our own
personal obedience.
When
pressed
with the testimony of
Scripture,
as, for example, therefore by the deeds
of
the
law there shall no flesh be
justified
inhissight
for
bythelawisthe
knowledge
of
sin; (Romans
3:20)
or
this
testimony:
For
by grace are
ye
saved
through
faith;
and that not
of yourselves;
it
s
the gift
of God.
(Ephesians 2: 8.)
Orthistestimony:
For
Christ
is
the
end of law for
righteousness
to
every one that
be l i e v e t h
(Romans 10:4)
when pressed
with testimonies
of
this
sort, he
retreats but a single
step, affirming
th t
the
grace,
which in
the
Scriptures
stands
opposed to
works,
consists
simply
in
bringing
in
a new and
modified IaW--il
law
so
far
retrenched and
diminished
in
its demands as to
come
within the
enfeebled
abilities of
the
sinner,
and in
which
the tenns of ac
ceptance are
a
sincere
though an
impe
r
fect
obedience.
Or,
as it is sometimes expressed, faith
and repentance, viewed simply as acts of
the
creature, are accepted
by
God in lieu
of the comprehensive
obedience
which
wasoriginallyenjoinecl-a
theory
,which,
whilst it
professes
to honor
the grace
of
the Gospel,
still
retains
the
legal principle
without
abatement.
On the other side, stands the
a
ntinomian;
contending that,
as
the
Lord
Jesus Christhas
fulfill
ed
ll
righteousness,
He
has, for those
who
are inHim by
faith,
forever
abrogated the
Divine
Iaw;-that,
upon the principle
where there is
no
law
the
re
can be no
transgression, God,
looking at
the
believer, sees
in him no
defect
-that
however his acts may
be
against the letter and
against the
spirit
of
thelaw,yet,
as
done
by him,
they
are
not
ofthenatureofsin. Thesepamdoxesmay
indeed admit of explanation, '
regarding
them
only as
exaggerated
statements of
the
believer's right relation to the
Lord
Jesus
Christ; but they
are
couched in
language singularly susceptible of
misconstruction, and, in the sense
intended by the
antinomian,
they are
absolutely
fatal
to
the
holiness and,
therefore, to
the
salvation of man.
Here are the two extremes, of
antinomianism upon the
one
hand, and
oflegalismupontheother,betweenwhich
Christianity lies exposed to a
double
assault;exactly as
the
Master himself, in
thedaysofhisflesh, wascrudfiedbetween
two thieves. Multitudes, however, who
do not fallupon either
of these extremes,
yet,
in
so far
as they
are swayed
either
way,
become
careless
and loose in their
walk,
or
else
are under
bondage of soul,
notunderstandingnorappreciatingtheir
liberty in ChristJesus,
It
is,
therefore
,of
the
first
consequence tous, bothasto our
safetyandcomfon, thatweshall
perceive
precisely the relation in which as
Christians, we
stand
to
the
Divine law;
which
Iconceive to be represented in the
text,
with the most singular
felicity
of
Ianguage- being not without law
to
God, but
under the law
to
Christ.
COnsiderable
light
will
be thrown upon
this passage,
if you consider the peculiar
drcurnstancesunderwhichitwasuttered.
The Church at COrinth, like all the
churches gathered in the Apostolic
age,
embraced proselytes both from Judaism
and Paganism . Contentions, therefore,
might be expected to arise betwixt
elements so
heterogeneous.
To
compose
these strifes, Paul, in this chapter,
expounds the doctrine of Christian
charity, and
enforces
it
by
his
own
example.
He tells,
in
the immediate
context, how he
accommodated
himself to
the
prejudices and to the
frailties
of
men.
UntO the Jews I
became as aJew, that
might
gain theJews;
to them thatareunder
the law
as
under the
law,
that might
gain
them
th t
re
under
the
law; to
them that are without
law, as
Without
law, that might gain them that
are without law.
To
the weak became
as
weak, that might gain the weak am
madeall
things
toallmen, that might by
aUmeans save
some. (I
Cor.
9:20-22)
n
order,
however,
that
he
may not be
misconsnuedashavingno principles
for
his
guidance,
the
Apostle
throws into a
parenthesis the words of the
text, being
not without law to God, but under the
law
to Christ. As though
He
would
say,
inallthislbynomeansforgettheeternal
and necessary
distinction be
tween
right
and wrong. am
far from
failing
to
recognize
the integrity and supremacy of
God's
law;
but, then,
as
a redeemed
April, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL ofChalcedon f 13
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sinner, I obey this law
ofGod
as it is
the
law of Jesus
Christ,
given
to
Him as a
Mediator, and approprtatedasthe law of
His empire and I render ~ n e to
it,
as
the
law of
esus Christ,
with the full
consciousness
of
that gradous
libeny
which
belongs
to
the
Lord's freeman.
The text, then, embraces two
propasitions:
nat
the believer is not
withoutlaw
to
God; andyet this lawis in
some degree:ni.odified, as the
law
of
esus
Christ.
I would delight to embrace both
in a single discourse, if
at
asinglesitting,youcould'
::
indulge
me
with the
time
necessary for their
completeexp1icati6n. But
as this is not
possible,
I
shallthismonlingrestrtct
your
attermon to
the
first
of these propositions,
leaving
the
second to be
articulately
discussed
on
lawwhichhewas thence forward bound
to obey. We are not to suppose man
created
with the intellectual and moral
powers which belong
to
him, and
afterwards, by a
second
and arbitrary
exerciseoftheDivinewill,broughtunder
the
jurisdiction
of law
.
On the
contrary,
in
the
endowment
of
reason itselfhewas
constituted a
subject
of law; and in the
very exercise of thishigh prerogative, he
cannot
but
recognize his personal
obligation to obeyit. The
law created
the
~
'iill j::'::::' ,;,,'
ETERNAL AU1HORITI )
..
OF
GOD'S
LAW OVER
BEUEV)' RS AS WELL
AS
OVER
OTHERS . No change wrought in their
chatacterbythepoweroftheHolyGhost,
in the new binh---no changewroughtin
their relations,when adopted
into
God's
family and
made the children
and
the
heirs of God through Christ no
principles ofgrace
incorporated with the
moral government of
God,
modifying it
inits practicalexercise-caneverabsolve
the Cbristl;m from
its
controL At all
times, and in
all
places, whatever
be the
extension of our
privileges,
we are
compelledtosaythatweare 'notwithout
law
to
God."
L
The
law of God, as the perfect
revelation of
the
Divine character and
attributes, can
never be
withdrawn.
The
law
was the briginal
revelation of God to
the creature. Man
when created in his
Maker's image, was created under the
moral
annosphere which JruID breathed
in his primitive holiness. In
itS
requil:ewnts,itwas indispensable
to
the
very first operation
of
conscience. The
fundamental distinction
belWixt
right
and
wrong cannot bepredicated,
without
reference to the standard by which they
are
detertnined.
The law is just as
indispensable to the moral nature
of
man,
as the air which we breathe is
necessary to the lungs. If the lungs
were
made for
the air,
and the air for the lungs,
just
as
truly
was
the
law
made
for the
intellect,
the
conscience
and the
Will bf
man;SinceWithoutitthesefacultiescould
not possibly discharge their respective
functions, nor be brought into action
of
any
kind.
Itmakesnodifferencehowwe
come
at
the
knowledge
of it; whether
through
deiailed
statements,
as
upon
Mount Sinai,
when
the
law
was given in
14 I
THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon April,
1992
WIitingtoMoses--orwhecheritbesunply
engraved
in
OUT
-
natUre
, as
upOn that
of
- . .
Adam at the
creation.
Whatever1llllybe
the modeui. WhiCh itlSreC6gnized
pY$,
justinso faris ita ievelationofGod pUs.
The attributes of justice, holinesS,
~ and
truth
are
sWnpedupon
the law
as :whole,and upon
each
individual pin They are .
nipressed
upon everypieceP,t andcoin.J:haD.dment.
and just as
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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Sermons of Benjamin Palmer: Perpetuity of the Divine Law - Counsel of Chalcedon
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of the angels
in
heaven,
just
as it stands
before
the eye of men upon
the
eanh.
Exal\
man never so J;tigh in his
privileges;
lift him
up
so that he
shall
join the
J;tier.m::hy of he skies let him
sit
upon the
verystepping-stone of theetemal throne;
let
him look with a purged eye upon the
glory of God s face; yet
must
this law of
God,
unchangeable as the
Divine
nature
itself, remain the permanent and
fundamenw .
revelation
upon which all
knowledgeofGodfofeverdepends.
This,
then, is the first point
against
the
antinomian.
II.
The law,
as
the perfect
expositionofthecreatuie srelations
and responsibilities,
can never
becancelled.
ltnotonlyreveals
God, but
it
binds the creature.
Now,
no believer ever
gets
out
of
that
category. Whatever
gt.;ce
may tllIke
of
him,
he
stillremainsacreatureofGod.
On earth, struggling with
indwelling
sin, purged
from
the last defilement
of it as he
passesup to
glOry,
occupied
with
all the
enjoyments of eternal
blessednessat God srighthand,he is
stilla
creature;
and beingacreature, this
law
must
eternally
bind him in
the
expOsition of hi duties---not
merely
unfolding
them
by didactic statement,
butauthoritatively enjoining
them
upon
his conscience. Let it
be noted
too, in
its
bearing upon this issue, that the law of
God is
one and
singular. Just
because
there is one God, thereis one law.
There
can
no more be two
laws essentially
d,istinCtinthel,lniveJ;Se, than there can be
two
Gods. God, in
the very conception
that you form of
Him, excludes the
idea
ofarival.
Hestandsaloneinthesolemnity
and Stateliness
ofHis
own
grandeur. He
Iills immensj.ty with
His presence,
the
same yesterday, today and forever. You
cannOt multiply Himby two, or multiply
Him by three, without in the
multiplication,
canoellingthenotionitself
ofaGod.
i
Now my hearers, the law flows out
from the nature of God, and isthesimple
expressionofHisattributesandcharacter;
;md thus, in
its essence, this
law
is one
andsingulatthroughoutthedomain over
which
God s empire sweeps. Itisonelaw
over angels
in
heaven, one law over
man
upon
the
eanh, one law
over
devils and
apostate
angels
in hell-{)ne
law
as
to
its
substance,
howeverinitsdetailsmodified
tosuittheci.rcumstanoesofthese different
classes. Wherever
the
creature is, thereis
the creature s obligation. The law which
states the
crearurehood of man or
of
angels or of devils-and the law
which
expounds the duties which, as creatures,
they owe to God-must
be,
in thatbroad
aspect of it, one and the same law. In its
wonderful elastidty,
it
must and
may
be
adaptedtothevatyingsituationsofeach;
itwillbenarrowerorbroaderinitsscope,
and will be modified so as to express the
peculiar duties obligatory upon each.
Well,
then,
thisone law, whichisonejust
because God
is
one, and
which springs
from His very nature, the
antinomian
teUs you is
abrogated
in regard to the
believer, whilstitremainsin
force
overall
otherbeings in the universe. Why, you
might
just as well
talk
of
partitioning
off
this air which we breathe today,
appropriating as exclusively ours that
which is the common property of the
race.
We
might justas well undertake
to
run
ilp walls of separation until
they
touch the orb of
the
sun, and
cause his
rays to slant only upon that territory
which we call our own as to talk of
breaking
the unity and
destroying the
universality
of that
law
which,
as
the
exposition of God s nature, and the
statement of he creature s obligations, is
necessarily one and
the
same.
The
antinomian
may endeavor to
parry thisby
saying that the
law, though
not absolutelyabrogared,istoa
particular
class suspended in its operation. The
gloss
is easily met by the reply
that
the Mediator, according to His
Fa
thers grant, rules over all
creatures alike.
Angels
and
principalities
and
powers have
beenrnadesubjecttoHim. Holy
beings throughout the
universe
have been recapitulated into
one
spiritual body, with redeemed
sinners here upon the
earth,
of
which
Jesus Chtist s the
head.
Even the apostate
angels, and
those
of our race who are shut up n the
devil s prison house, are placed under
the mediatotial
authotity and
dominion
of
this Lord
and
Saviour
.
So
that
if
as
mediator,
He
has
all
beings
n all worlds
under His jurisdiction, it is idle to talk
aboutcancelling this law of the Mediator
in
reference to one
class
whilst
it shall
be
in
practical
and incessant operation
over
all other classes throughout His
dominion.
UI.
Idraw within narrower limits the
lines of
this
discussion,
bysayingthatthe
law
existed
as a
rule, before
it
existed as
a
covenant;
and
the
abrogation
of
t
undertheoneaspect,isfurfrominferring
its
abrogation
under
the
other.
Those
of
you
who
are well read
upon
religious
subjects, perceive
that Iam
touching,
as
with
the
point of a needle,
the
fallacy
upon which the whole Antinomian
system rests. They found their
doctrine
April, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL
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uportsuch passagesasthese: Weare not
. under law, but imdet grace.
Romans
6:14) Wherefore, my brethren, yealso
are become dead to the laW
by the
body
of Christ; that
ye
should
be married to
another, even to
him
who
is raised
from
the dead, h a ~
we
should
bring
fonh fruit
unto God. (Romans
7:4)
And those
difficult
verses n
the
Epistle of]
obn:
little children, let no man deceive
you;
he that doeth righteousness is
righteous,
evenas heisrighteous. Hethatconunitteh
sin is of the
devil; for the devil
sintteth
from
the beginning. For
this
destroys
myriads of our race; so does
man with a
subtle chemistry separate
truth from truth, tummg it into a lie
by
whicli
the
soul
is effectually
destroyed.
The law, as God originally ordained
it,
sustairis
a
two-fold relation
to
man
.
It
was given
to him as the
rule of his
conduct, and then it
was made the
covenant
of life.
In
its
covenant
form,
GodconstitutedAdam therepresentative
of his race,
made
his probation limited,
and gave
the promise
oflife everlasting to
him and
to
his posterity upon
the
relationas
the rule
of
conduct? The tWo
are perfectly distinct in the order of
thought, and in the order of
You
can conceive of man
existing
WithOnt
that covenant; you cannot conceive of
him iving
without a.
rule
givento himfqr
his direction, Yqu cannotseparate man
havinginrelligence,
conso;:ience,affections
and
will,
from
the
la ,under which
he
was
placed-under which he
was
not
simply
placed, but uncterwhich he was
in the beginning created. Blot out the
law,l\Ild
you
.Cl\Ilcel his moral
narure
along
with it. There
is
purpose
the
son of
o was
manifested, that He might
d e s t r o y t h e w o r ~ o f t h e
devil.
Whosoever
is
born of G04
doth not commit sin; for His
seed remaineth in him; and
he cannot sin because he is
born of
God.
(l]ohn
3:7-9)
There it is, says the
antinomian, in plainEnglish.
The believer
is
no longer
under law, but under
grace.
He
carmot sin because God's
seed remaineth in him.
We
l Just
as God brings
the various
nothing for his consdence
torecognize;
thereisnothing
for
his
hean
to
embrace;
.
here is
nothing for his
will
to achie
ve:
ih
the
p e r a t i ~
of
aU
these faculties, he
recoghlzes the law
which
brings
him ll elation
to
God
as Creator, whom he must
obey, whom he must love,
Whomhemustserve,whom
he must
constantlyworship
and adore. In the
spontaneous obedience
elements
together to compose
the food we eat, fromwhich,by
secret
distillation,
we
extr ct
the
poison th t destroys myriadsof
our race;
so
does
man
with
subtle chemistryseparate truth
from truth, turning it
into
.cannot
have
a more striking
illustration of the serious
errorsinto which
we
plWlge,
t h e m o m e n t w e i s r e g ~ t h e
correspondendes and relations of truth.
Why, my hearers, truth is one one as
the light is one, one
as
the air is
one, one
as]ehovah, the author ofit, is one: and it
is only because
we, in
our finiteness
as
creatures,
are
unable to
see
truth in that
perfect
circle
whichit
fills,
that we
fail to
seeitinitsunity. Itisbecause
we
see
only
a small segment of this drcle
that
we are
thrown into
cot}fusion, taking
up
one
pan oftruth and hrowing it
against
another pan of truth, running
off
with a
little portion of it here and a little
there,
andconveningit,
by
its
separation from
the
rest into
fulsehood
and
making
it
the
poison of he soul. JustasGodbringsthe
various elements together to compose
the food we eat, from which, by
secret
distillation, we extract
the poison
that
lie by which the
soul
is
e f f e c t u ~ / l y dl $troyed."
condition of
perfect
obedience
to its
requirements: We know that Adam
failed in
this
. rust In consequence of
this, the
lawin'its
covenant fonn ismade
void,
it
prorni.>es
are vaCated, and
aU
the
descendant$.,of
Adam
by ordinary
g e n e r t i o ~
lie imder
the penalty
ofdeath
threatertedagainst
the transgressor. In
thismenadngsituation,
Godwaspleased,
in infinite rnrcy, to introduce another
co
venant,
which
we
call the covenant of
redemption OF
the
covenant of
grace,
of
which
the Lord Jesus is the head. He
r e n d e r s a n o ~ e n c e i n t h e i t s t e a d which
isreckonedtothem
fortheirjustification;
embradng which by
faith,
they
stand
complet
ein
their
acceptance beforeGod.
But
;does
the abrogation
of
he
law, in
its
covenant
fonn, cancel the
law in
its
16 THE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon
;.
April, 1992
which floWs from him with
all
the
regularity of hought,
and
in
the solemn wotship
which
tOils
up
as
incense
acceptable
unto
God
he
is
recognizing
the neceSsaiy, eternal relation in
which
he
stands, as
a
moral
and inteUigem
being
,underthe
law
ofhis
Creator. But
Godcouldhave
createdAdam
withthese
faculties and uhder these obligations,
making
no
promise
'If eternal life
as the
gradousrewardofobedience,norlimiting
the
period during
which this
probation
.shouldcontinue . ItwasanaCtofsovereign
goodness
to reduce this
law
from
its
first
form as a
simple
rule
oflife,
and
to
make
itthepOSitivecovenantuponwhichman
's
eternal
happiness should
tum.
The fact,
therefore, that
these
two
exist apan in
ourthought;
he fact that
theyexistapan
n he
order
of
time;
the fact
that we
are
able to conceive of
the
one without
the
existence
01
the other;
and above
aU, the
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remains
of that
law still
engraved upon
our nature
after the full,
show that
these
two are entirely sepaiate,
the
one from
the other. When, therefore, the
antinomian arrays
the passages which
affirm
the
abrogation
of
the
law as
a
covenam,
it
isgmssiUogicai reasoning to
inferitsabrogationalsoasarule.
Thelaw
existed
as
a
rule, before
it
existed
as
a
covenam. Thus,
you
perceive ,
the whole
ground upon which the antinomian
srandsisstruck
from beneathhis
feet
The
law
existed
as
a
rule, before
it
existed as
covenant; and the
abrogation of
the one is
by
no means equivalent to
the
destruction of
the other.
N
The law
is always
necessary
as
the guide
of
our nature.
We take
a
very
partial
and, I think,
low
view
of the
law,
when
we
look upon it
simply as
a
scheduleof
duties, directing
how
we
shall
act
in this and
that and
the
otherparticuJar
oflife. It is
aU
this,
and
it s
inuneasurably
more
. It was
the standard of
character,
beforeit becamethe
director
ofconduct;andthis
function
will
be required just
as
much in
heaven
hereafter,
as
now
onearth. That
perfect
law
which flows
from
the nature
of
God,
which
is the
revelation
of
his attributes,
. and the delineation of
the
creature's
obligations, after
it
has
been
fulfilled
by
our
Lord Jesus Christ
in
His glorious
obedience,ishungupforeveragainstthe
walls
of
heaven as
the etemalstandal'dto
which all moral and religious character
is to be referred ,ofallcJassesofintelligent
creatures throughout the
eternity that is
to
come.
As
the chronometer at
Greenwich, or
at
Washington,
is the
measure of time upon
all the degrees
of
longitude east or
west,
and to
which
must
be referred
all
instruments
that
measure
time over
the
earth; so God's
law is
the
only
unelTing standard of
obligation and
of right the
moral
chronometerwhichmeasuresthebeatof condescension, He p sses through all
the
human
conscience
and
of
the
human the
grades of
imellectual
being,
down to
hean
by
the
will
of
the Supreme Ruler,
man
at
the bottom ofthe
scale,
that they
and
times the obligations of the
creature all might be recapitulated in Him their
by the
claims
of the
Creator. There
this
blessed
Head forever . Therefore the
law
remains upon
the walls of
heaven, significance of the declaration, that
He
through the ages
which in
their
ceaseless
must render an obedience which is umo
flow swell
imo
eternity,
the
standard of death. I
wish
that I could take the time
right,
the
guide
of
character,
the test
of
to
show the completeness of this
what the creature's nature
ought to be.
obedience of our blessed
Head how it
Under this aspect, it is simply swept overthe
whole
areaofthe law and
inconceivable
that
the la
wofGod should gathered up imo itself every command
ever be cancelled.
and every precept-how tfathomed the
.. ". uttennost depths of this law
......
ofHis Father, and rendered
J
an obedience notonly
to
the
. precepts, but also
to
the
).; penalty and
obedience
Y:
which,
offered to all
pans of
:)'. the law
alike
, exhausted its
coments.
Ah my hearers, here
is
. an argumem which crowns
the discussion; that
i
Jesus
..
... Christ must
obey
the law to
the
l st
iota
of
it if he must
obey
the
law, feeling
the
pressure of its curse;
i
he
..
.... must
exclaim,
in the hour of
. .
..
' ... His anguish, "My God, my
God,
whyhast thou forsaken
V.
The crowning proof of the
me;"
and
die at
l st
of a hean broken
perpetual
obligation
ofthe
Divine law is
under the desertion of His Father;
this
found
in the exact obedience
which was
shuts out the hope that any creature, in
required of Jesus Christ, in
achieving all
the universe ofGod, shallever
escape
human redemption.
"He
was
made
of a
from the
jurisdiction of
the
Jaw. If there
woman, made
under
the
law, to
redeem was
an
instance in which that lawmight
them
that
were
under the
law, that we have
been ahated, and
in
which the
might
receive
the adoption ofsons." Oh sufferer might have been spared the
that
we
shouldbecome so familialized to inflictionofthe curse,
it
was when God's
this stupendous
fact as
to
cease to be own
Sonundenook
for
our redemption
moved by
its
grandeur God's
only
toobeyHisFather'swill. ButHeexclaims
begotten, who had
always
been the upon the threshold of his
great
agony:
Father's
delight, "the
brightness
of
that "Nowismysoultroubled,andwhatshall
Father's
glory,
and the
express image
of I
say?
but
for
this
cause
came
I unto this
his
person,"
rejoicing
with
Him in the hour." Press the fact upon your
intimate and blessed
fellowship
of
the
understanding until its impon is
fully
threewithinthepavilionoflight-amidst felt, that Christ
is the
only being of our
the silence
of
angels He
responds to
th t race
who
was
born expressly to
die;
that
Father'sappeal, "who shall go forus, and
He
alone, in that death, experienced all
whom shall I
send."
In
the
sweep of His
the pangsofDivine justice; that
He
alone
April, 1992
t
' HE COUNSEL of Chalcedon
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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Sermons of Benjamin Palmer: Perpetuity of the Divine Law - Counsel of Chalcedon
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took the cup from His
Father's
band,
drinking it to itsdregs, and
exclaimingin
the sorrow that broke
His hean,
"It is
finished." f
his
was demapded of Him
who .was Himself "holy, harmless;
undelUed and
separate
from
sinners."
howmuchmoreofus? Ifthis"obedience
unto death was indispensable in order
that
the law
should
be satisfied
as a
covenant,
is
not.persOnal obedience as
much required ofus norder that the law
may
be fulfilled
as a
rule?
I submit the case
now
to your
judgment. 1constimte
you the
panel
beforewhomthecauseshallbettied,and
who
;shall render a true verdict. Is it
possiblethatGod-remainingtheperfed:
being that
He
is, and man possessing,
througP.,
God
's gift, those
faculties
by
which
he
can
recognize, admire
and
adore his Creator is it possible
that
there .can be an aboli ion of that first .
revelation,
through, .,vhich the
creamre
apprehends the Creator and
renders
obedience and worship to
his blessed
.
name? Onthecontrary,letuslaydeepin
our hearts the conviction that this
law
can never
e
cancelled; arid let it
be
a
comfort as
well
as a
conviqtion
with us;
that its $Upremacy ever abides. Iwould
not reProsluce,lestthe uttell\llGe should
seem
trit.e
to
you,
those
splendid
words
o'praise w:hich Richard ,Hooker
pronounced upon law;dwhen he
represented.
1t as
. reSj.c'jing in. the very
boSom of
the Deity, and as pejpg the
h;irqlonyo( the llniverse, spreading its
broadshield,
n d e ~ w h o s e p r o t e c t i o n
all
beings
in
all .worlds live n
sec;:u e
depenckpce uponhim h o ~ r s
it.
w o u l d b ~ a s s a d t o
bewithoutaGod,
;lS \Vithout a Iaw:,and fearfully it.may
thunderits anathemas
agajpst
the
guilty,
when the
conscience
ispadfied through
thesprin 9.iiigofChrist'spredOusblood,
we can rejoice
ev:ifI
in its terrors. ~ is
love,
thoughGod
be
dreadful--dreadful
inHis attnbutes, dreadful in
His
power,
dreadful jp His solemn
rule
OVer all
b e i n ~ a n d in wOI:
lds;
y e ~ is He none
l h e l e s s ~ o b j e c t o f d e l g h t a n d o f a f f e c t i o n
- , , .
;
to
the
believer.
Recondled
to Him
exactions at the day
of
udgment. Isayit
through
the atoning sacrifice
of
His
Son
, for God's redeemed, in all the ages upon
adopted into His
famlly
as
His
sons .and this guiltyearth, that if here bea cause of
His
daughters,
we
can look
even
into the
congramlation to
them it
is
the coming
terrors of His
holiness,
and rejoice in
judgment
;
when
the throne shall be place
Himwho is our
salvation
and our desire .
upon
the
clouds
and the books shall be
"Oouds and darkness may
be
round
opened,
andall the
deeds
which haveever
about Him," yet we know that beendoneshallbearraignedfortrial.
The
"
righteousness
and
judgrnern
are
the oppressedandbruisedupontheearthcan
habitation
of His
throne,"
and "meocy .maketheirappea\tothathourandtothat
and truthshall go
before
His
face.
In
all throne:
and
no man is weak, who
is
able
the darkness of that
cloud
inwhich
God to
place hirnself against the solemn and
hides Hismajesty,
westilliove
and adore cenainjusticewhichshall
be
administered
Him. Inallthedarknessofthatprovidenoe inthatday. Let us
uphold
this perfect and
.with which
He
shrouds our earthly blessed
law of
the
great Goc\ and.comfort
histoty, ~ d o f t e n t i m e s bunhen.s the ourheartswiththeassurancethat,through
affecrions ofoUr heart;we still love and His
infinite
grace,
we
do not
quaU
before
adore
Him.
Inlikemannerareweableto its terrors, but rejoice in
its
protection
rejotcein
the
tertorsofthe
law,
evenin its both
here
and hereafter.Q
byJoe Morecraft.
Husbands ives
Free with your
35
gift toThe
Counsel
of
Chalcedon. Please
mention this ad
with
your
gift.
The
Counsel
0 Chllicedon
P,O. Box 888 22
Dunwoody
Gil 30356
404-396-0965
6
nrn COUNSEL of Chalced
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1 April,
992