The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-05-17

vert. cit was ordained to life, but touno q
be unto death" ''By the Law is the knOwl
edqe of sin''-but to convince of sin was no
it's power. As Paul says of those who 'hat
the work of the Law sOrStten on their hearts,
their consciences also bore witness, and theil
thoughts meanwhile accused or excused
them, so it may be said of those to whom
God revealed His wiN. Men either deGed
the Law and rebelled, or eIuded its claims
Quailing before the flashing lightning and
pealing thunder of Sinai man said, "all the
words which the Lord hath said will we do. u
But the cloud of fire dissolved, the rocks
ceased to rend and the mountain to smoke.
The people soon forgot God, and bowed to
worship the calf which Aaron had made
This melancholy record is typical of the con-
duct of the race. God 8 Law in His Word,
and in the ordinances of nature read by rea-
son, and human law, Of which it is the basis
and the germ, and the laws of social life,
the bonds of domestcsaud social affection,
above all, the law as expounded by the Sa-
vour, and enforced by His example, may,
all together, influence human cOnduct,' re-
strain and constrain, but are inefficient to
overcome the deceitfulness and depravity of
the heart; and however clearly teaching the
knowledge of sin, fail to convince man that
he is the sinner. For on one unwilling to
submit to government, it's acts serve only to
quicken the power Of inventing methods to
elude its vigilance, set aside it's penalties or
defy its authority. Conscience, stupe6ed or
blinded, ceases to demonstrate, or if awake
and observing, only interferes, on rare occa
sions of fragrant sins, or only affects the sim
ner with more concern for the consequences
of sin, than for sin itself. For mans ordi
nary, habitual, cherished and INDUCED sins
of life and of heart, the reproofs of conscience
were unheard or unheeded, till this monitor
no longer claimed or exercised it's preroga
tives. And man, unconvinced that he is a
sinner, as God beholds him, of himself is no
more convinced of Righteousness or of judg-
ment.
To say nothing of the antediluviau race,
mankind for 2,400 years before Christ be-
came idolaters by rejecting the true God
But while unconvinced of sin, they were not
ignorant of sin or irreligious. Paul, Rom.
i: 1881 has described with the graphic pen
of inspiration the process, by which those who
thought "themselves wise became fools"-
who do not like to retain God in their knowl-
edge, Qiterally acknowledge Cody were given
over to reprobats minds, to believe lying van
tiles. They constructed mythOlogies in which
not one pure and holy being was set before
the worshipper. Tneir gods were imperSon-
ations of lying, deceit, lust, rapine, malice,
revenge, hatred and every vile passion
They lost all right conceptions of sin and
righteousness. The. philosophers of the
schools, even though, perhaps, partially en-
lightened by some scattered rays of divine
revelation, never taught perfect righteous
ness. Even poets, in their fights of fancy,
never rose higher than the moral sphere in
which the heather divinities had their abode.
The painted heroes of the historian we're but
the concrete forms, which only illustrated the
wretched models of righteousness, consonant
with the degraded character of their gods
None of the teachers of Ethics conformed
their own lives to their imperfect theories
Even the bulk of those of Gods chosen peo-
pie, not seduced into the idolatries of the
heather, virtually apostatiSed from faith in
which they professedly gloried. They se-
lected some salient points of the law, suited
to their natural tastes or self-interests, in the
outward observance of which they constituted
self righteousness, became vain, conceited,
and filled with spiritual pride and all unchar-
itsbleness. COMMITTING the weightier matters
of the law, Judgment, mercy and truth" and
making of none effect the commandments of
God, by teaching and following the COM
mandments and traditions of men, they oc-
cupied themselves with the "tolerable fool
erie" of an unmeaning Journalism and the
mere mockeries of good works Gentle and
Jew alike lowered the standard of sin and
righteousness, as God had taught in His
Word, and consequently, the standard of
Judgment. The Gentle had no law under
which, (cOuld Ian effect it, a condemnation
would result, for they had lost the knowledge
of God. The selfrighteous Jew, thinking
God altogether such an one as himself, had
by reducing the strictness of the laws de-
mands, done away with those sanctions which
respected punishments for sinful nature
Thus both alike needed Teacher, and men in
their natural state have still needed one, to
instruct them as to the awful consequences of
sin, and Power to enforce these instructions
by, at once, convincing of condemnation, and
setting forth the hopes of deliverance. Jesus
Christ was such Teacher, but He was re-
iected as Noah and Lot, Moses and the Pro-
phets had been rejected. He taught with
authority and not IS the ScribeS; the Jews
cavilled at his doctrines and reviled Him as
an impostor. With word he stilled the
tempest, cleansed the leper, gave sight to the
blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the
dumb. He cast out the Devils and raised the
dead; and to crown all and exceed the mir
acle of the incarnation itself, He raised him
self from the tomb and ascended to the heav.
ems. By his sufferings and death he made
expiation for sin and by His obedience, hon.
ored the law with Righteousness, of which
men had never formed conception of them
selves. But what the manger, the menial
life, the temptation, the days of sorrow, the
nights of agonizing prayer and tears, the
toll of journeyings, the fastings, the scorr
and insults He received with meeknesS, the
awful sgonies of Gethsemane, the mockeriel
of His trial, the mingled, sublime and pathetic
tragedy of Calvary, the humiliation of thC
grave! What the triumph over Satan, sir
and death-the ascension and the glory o
the doubly crowned Priest and King, on th'
mediatorisl throne? What was all to worlt
lying in sin, bound in chains of lust, debaseC
by vile affections and enslaved to the Primo
of this worldi All availed not to waken tn
conscience, to break the power of sin and Sc
the willing captive free from the tolls of hi
tyranical captor. Well says a modern poet
"Lord, with what care hast thou begirt us round,
Parents first season US; then school-masterS'