SERMON XVIII.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD REVEALED TO

THEM THAT FEAR HIM.

PSALM XXV. 14.

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant.

THE secret of the Lord means, that which cannot be known unless the Lord reveal it; and the phrase here implies, an intimate knowledge of the divine perfections, of the dealings and dispensations of God; a holy and vital communion with Him; an entire trust in His providential care and government; together with that peace, which always dwells in the bosom of a true, penitent, pious believer. All this,

including, as it does, a full acquaintance with the doctrines and duties, the privi leges and comforts of the life of faith, is called "the secret of the Lord," because it is hidden from the natural man, and cannot possibly be comprehended or discovered without divine revelation.

Such knowledge and such blessings are not the growth of earth; they are not the produce of the human intellect or the human heart; they must come by spiritual communication, from the fountain of wisdom and truth. When man was driven from the bright abode of paradise, his understanding was darkened; losing the favour, he lost the image of his Maker, and thus became naturally estranged from those holy thoughts and affections, which constitute his chief happiness and glory. Nor is it possible for him to recover this spiritual frame of mind, these heavenly views, this holy and happy acquaintance with God, unless the hand, by which the image was originally stamped, repair the

wretched ruin in which it now lies. Whoever would know the ways of God, must be taught of God; to all, who are not so taught, they are impenetrably secret. Thus spake the wisest of men; "The Lord giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity; yea, every good path."* And thus the apostle, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him;" that is, man, in his natural state, of ignorance and rebellion against God, cannot form a notion of the value of heavenly blessings; of the enlarged views, the sublimed affections, the sustaining comforts and joys, attainable by an inheritance of the divine promises, both here and hereafter. But, as the apostle proceeds, "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. For * Prov. ii. 6. 9. 1 Cor. ii. 9.

what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him ; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God;" as we exercise our thoughts and judgment upon human matters, by the help of human reason, by the natural powers of the mind, so must we attain the knowledge of divine matters, by the aid of a divine spirit; by a holy il lumination and guidance; not indeed by miraculous illapses, but still by the distinct and actual operation of heavenly grace, silently producing its effects upon the understanding and heart.

The pride of man, the disputer of this world, does not submit to this proposition and teaching; perhaps commonly regards them in the light of enthusiasm; he has no notion, that there are any secrets in religion, which his own skill and judgment are not sufficient to reveal; he disbelieves every thing, which he cannot comprehend or feel; and affects to throw a shade of discredit and contempt upon all those religious sentiments and affections, to which

he is a stranger. There are not a few such persons in the christian world; who profess to believe all the doctrines of the Bible, and to know all that need or can be known, and yet never submit themselves to, scarcely can be said to pray for or desire, the aid and direction of Almighty God; who imagine, that their liberal education and their common sense entitle them to pass a full and adequate judgment upon all spiritual subjects; and to form a correct notion of all spiritual privileges and blessings.

This is a dangerous and fatal error; a most unfounded presumption; a gross ignorance of the very element and nature of evangelical truth: such persons only judge of the word of God, of the ordinances and benefits of religion, as they would judge of any mere human history ; of any worldly occurrence or advantage : they take, what they are pleased to call, a rational view of christianity; but the only view, which deserves the name of rational, is, not that which appeals to