Whether men believe it or not, that is true which Christ spake—­Heaven and earth shall pass away; but My words shall not pass away; at least till He has put down all rule and all authority and power, and delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all.

“That one far-off divine event, toward which the whole creation moves,” will be, not the resumption, but the triumph, of Christ’s rule; of a rule which began before the world, which has endured through all the ages, which endures now, punishing or rewarding each and every one of us, and of our children’s children, as long as there shall be a man upon the earth.  For by Christ’s will alone the world of man consists; in Christ’s laws alone is true life, health, wealth, possible for any man, family or nation; out of His kingdom He casts, sooner or later, all things which offend, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.  He said of Himself—­Whosoever falleth on this rock shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.

SERMON X. THE LAW OF THE LORD.

PSALM I. 1,2.

Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the path of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.

The first and second Psalms, taken together, are the key to all the Psalms; I may almost say to the whole Bible.  I will say a few words on them this morning, especially to those who are coming to the Holy Communion, to shew their allegiance to that Lord, in whose law alone is life, and who sits on the throne of the universe, King of kings, and Lord of lords:  but I say it to the whole congregation likewise; nay, if there were an infidel or a heathen in the Church, I should say it to them.  For in this case what is true of one man is true of every man, whether he knows it or not.

We all should like to be blessed.  We all should like to be, as the Psalm says, like trees planted by the waterside, whose leaves never wither, and who bring forth their fruit in due season.  We should all wish to have it said of us—­Whatsoever he doeth it shall prosper.  Then here is the way to inherit that blessing—­“Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who exercises himself in His law day and night.”  The Psalmist is not speaking of Moses’ Law, nor of any other law of forms and ceremonies.  He says expressly “The law of the Lord”—­that is, the law according to which the Lord has made him and all the world; and according to which the Lord rules him and all the world.  The Psalms—­you must remember—­say very little about Moses’ law; and when they do, speak of it almost slightingly, as if to draw men’s minds away from it to a deeper, nobler, more eternal law.  In one Psalm God asks, “Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls’