There is no safety for you-no, not a shadow of hope-but in the atoning blood of Christ. O come to Christ just as you are; bring your burdened heart-your guilty conscience. Come now; come and confess your sins; come praying. O come by faith-faith that confesses all-that forsakes all sin-that casts all your burden on the blessed Saviour: faith that takes Christ at his word; that claims and lays hold on the merit of his blood; that appropriates that blessed merit to your soul, and you shall be saved. You shall be saved now—this moment, if you will believe, salvation will, shall descend upon your heart; and you may rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory-in blissful hope of immortality in heaven. Thirdly, brethren in Christ, who have tasted that the Lord is good, and rejoice in a present salvation, let the example of Paul, as a Christian, stimulate you to constant faithfulness in your holy calling. Live for perfect love, as the only way to retain your Christian faith and enjoyment: live for the image of Christ fully impressed on your heart by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: live to be useful in the church of Christ, in the salvation of precious souls: live by faith and holiness for an eternal weight of glory in heaven. And soon, very soon, all your trials on earth will terminate, and you will rest with the glorified in the church triumphant. And, finally, let the ministry be scrupulously faithful in their distinguished and holy calling; the church faithful to her glorious Head; and his salvation shall go forth as brightness, till the world shall be subdued to his authority, and his ransomed children brought home to his eternal glory. May the Holy Spirit seal instruction on all our hearts, and bring us at last to the glories of his heavenly kingdom! Amen.

SERMON XVI.

The Great Salvation by Jesus Christ.

BY REV. SAMUEL LUCKEY, D. D.,

OF THE GENESEE CONFERENCE.

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?"-Heb. ii, 1, 2.

THAT "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord," is the doctrine asserted by the apostle Paul in this text.

It may be briefly illustrated thus:-The fundamental law of an empire declares treason a crime punishable with death. This law must be rigorously maintained to sustain the dignity and supremacy of the sovereign, and preserve the empire from universal anarchy. Despite of the law, individuals array themselves in open rebellion against the sovereign and his authority, are arraigned, tried, convicted, and condemned to death. They now feel the power there is in the law to condemn; but see in it no way of escape. They are informed, however, that their gracious sovereign, in the plenitude of his goodness, has provided to grant pardon to the guilty, on certain prescribed conditions; and that he will save them from suffering the full penalty of the law in no other way. They are careless about inquiring into these conditions of pardon, or dislike, and therefore reject them; and persist in their obstinacy of trying to escape by some other means. Anxious friends warn them of their folly and their danger. They constrain them to acknowledge the law, that it is just and good. They remind them of the truth and justice of their sovereign, that he will maintain the integrity of his government. They urge upon them a consideration of his abundant goodness in providing a way of pardon for those who deseve his displeasure, on terms consistent with his dignity and the peace and happiness of his subjects, and every way suited to the

condition of the guilty. And they conclude with this forcible appeal :-"If the law by which you stand condemned be steadfast,' and, by its terms, 'every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward;' how can you 'escape' its penalty, if you neglect' the only provision your sovereign has made for pardon ?"

6

That the doctrine of the text, as applicable to the condition of fallen man, is what this simple illustration indicates, will appear evident, if we consider,

I. WHAT IS MEANT

ANGELS ?"

II. WHAT BY 66

66

BY THE WORD SPOKEN BY

SO GREAT SALVATION ?"

III. THE CONCLUSION DEDUCED FROM THE RELATION THEY SUSTAIN TO EACH OTHER IN THE TEXT.

I. What is meant by "the word spoken by angels ?"

1. The law, unquestionably, as contradistinguished from the gospel. Of the fathers, St. Stephen said, "Who have received the law by the disposition of angels ;" and St. Paul says, "It was ordained by angels in the hands of a Mediator." Whatever interpretation may be given to these forms of expression, it is evident that St. Paul employs "the word spoken by angels" to signify "the law which serveth because of transgressions," in contrast with the "great salvation:" the former as that which God "at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers" by instruments of his own choosing; the latter as that" which at the first began to be spoken" authoritatively "by the Lord himself, and was confirmed by them that heard him." "It is evident," as Mr. Benson remarks, "that not the original authoritative giving of the law, but the ministerial ordering of things in its promulgation, is that which is ascribed to angels. The apostle having just insisted (chap. i) on a comparison between Christ and the angels, his argument is greatly corroborated when it is considered, that the law was the word spoken by angels; but the gospel was delivered by the Son, who is so far exalted above them."

2. When in this connection we speak of law as contradistinguished from gospel, we mean that rule of moral conduct, of both heart and life, to which God exacts perfect obedience from all his intelligent creatures.

If God be acknowledged as a moral governor at all, we

cannot avoid the conclusion that such a rule of action was instituted by him for the government of man. "The manner in which God governs rational creatures," says Mr. Watson, "is by law, as the rule of their obedience to him, and this is what we call God's moral government of the world." Under such a rule of obedience, comprising all the attributes of law adapted to the government of man, did our first parents exist before transgression. This law harmonizes in all respects with the attributes of its Author; and under its provisions eternal life is suspended upon perfect obedience to its requirements. As law, then, it is perfect in itself, containing none of the attributes of gospelno provision for the pardon of transgressors, or salvation from that death which is its declared penalty. It is in this respect that we are to understand the apostle as contrasting "the word spoken by angels" with the "great salvation" procured and published by Jesus Christ.

3. The law has not been abrogated by the introduction of the gospel; nor has its claims been alienated, or its sanctions abolished. It continues, as a flaming sword, guarding the way of the tree of life, that none may approach it but by the new and living way opened up in the gospel-salvation through the atonement, by faith in Christ. It is with great force and solemnity that the apostle introduces the law-" the word spoken by angels -as the basis of his argument, and places before the mind those attributes which make it terrible. It is "steadfast," settled, fixed, firm, inflexible, unchanging, and unchangeable. It will not halt, nor falter, nor turn aside from its steady purpose, until its claims are answered, and its demands fulfilled. It is a perfect law of a perfect Lawgiver; and the integrity of his government requires that it should be steadfast and invincible in all its exactions. The slightest relaxation would prostrate his authority, and uproot the very foundations of his government.

No truth is more clearly set forth in the Scriptures than this. The whole universe is invoked in the name of Jehovah to hear it. "I will publish," said Moses, "the name of Jehovah; ascribe ye greatness to our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is he." His own perfections of justice and truth, and the perfection

of his law, which is "holy, just, and good," stand pledged for the steadfastness of its demands.

But what are its demands? Holiness of heart and life; love to God and man. Its language is explicit and unequivocal: "Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." How comprehensive! How deep and searching! Exacting perfect conformity to the nature and requirements of a holy God;-unvarying love to God and man!

4. To perceive the force of the apostle's argument it is necessary to notice the prominence he gives to the penal character of the law. "Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward." This is its distinguishing characteristic as law. "For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." It is "the letter which killeth,”—emphatically "the law of sin and death." Its language is the language of condemnation to the guilty: "For if there had been a law which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Not the promise of the law. It knows not the language of promise. On the contrary, "We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

By its terms, "every transgression and disobedience" subjects the offenders to the death which is its penalty, while it provides no way of escape.

5. The "just recompense of reward" is this penalty. "A recompense," says Mr. Benson, "proportionable to the crime, according to the judgment of God, which is infinitely just and equal, and implies that they who commit sin ‘are worthy of death."" Death is the penalty of the law: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

This is, plainly, a forfeiture of life-of eternal life