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SERMON
THE
PERPETUAL OBLIGATION
,OF
TIIE
MORAL
LAw;
THE
EVIL
OF SIN, AND
ITS
DESERT OF PUNISHMENT.
1
Jonrg
iii.
4.
Sin
is
the
transgression
of the
law.
And Ross. vi. 53.
The
wages
of
sin
is
death.
THE
blessed
God
has
an
undoubted right
to command
and govern
his
creatures,
and
when he makes
known his
will,
or
lays the
knowledge
of
it
within
their
reach, this
becomes
a
law
to them, this determines
what
is
their
duty;
and a transgression
of
this
law,
or disobedience to
it,
is
sin;
and
sin
carries
in
it
the
notion
of
moral
evil,
which deserves some
penalty
to
be inflicted
on the
sinner.
Now
that
the
.moral
law
is
such
a
law
as
I
have
de-
scribed,
and
has such
consequences attending
the
trans-
gression
of
it;
I
shall
endeavour
to shew in
the following
method
:
I.
I
shall
consider what
we
mean
by the
moral
law,
and
where this law
is
to be
found.
II.
I
shall
prove
that
it reaches
to all
mankind, and
is
of
perpetual
obligation.
III.
That
sin,
or
the transgression
of
it, is
a
Very
great
and heinous
evil.
IV. That
it
justly
deserves
punishment
from
the
hands
of
God.
I
shall
pursue
each
of
these
in
their
order.
The
first
enquiry
is,
What
we
mean
by
the
móral
law
?
To
which
I
answer
:
--
Answer.
The moral
law signifies
that
rule
which
is
gi-
ven
to
all
mankind
to
direct their
manners or
.behaviour;
considered merely
as
they are
intelligent and
social
crea-
tures, as
creatures
who
have an
understanding
to know
God
and themselves, a
capacity to
judge
what
is
right and
wrong,
and
a
will
to chuse
and
refuse good and
evil.
This
law,
I
think, does
not arise merely from the
ab-
stracted nature
of
things,
but
also
includes in
it
the
exist-
ence
of
God, and
his will
manifested
some way or
other,
or
at
least
put
within the
reach
of
our
knowledge
:
it
in-