all flesh, hear him declaring his awful purpose and assigning its cause. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And it repented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

There is yet one fact more, so demonstrative of the holiness of God, as to eclipse the destruction of the antediluvian world, the fall of man, the ruin of the apostate angels. In all these cases, the sufferers were first actual transgressors and rebels against God. But if you look to the cross of Christ, there you will see the Beloved of the Father, one infinitely more holy than the holiest of the angels in heaven, "set forth by God to be a propitiation for sin, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past, that He might be just,"-might appear to the eyes of men and angels, glorious in holiness or justice," and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus."

*

We have appealed, and we shall again and again appeal to the death of Jesus upon the cross, yet we hope without tautology; since this marvellous fact, considered in different views, affords the strongest proof of various perfections in God. At present it is urged in demonstration of God's infinite hatred of sin. And in this light it may be well illustrated by a passage of sacred history. In the book of Kings, we read that the Moabites fled before the kings of Israel and Judah, and after a great slaughter were forced with their king to retire into their city. Here the king, finding himself besieged and reduced to the last extremity, had recourse to an astonishing act to shew his distress and his indignation against Israel. He took his eldest son, the heir of his kingdom, and in the sight of his enemies offered him up for a burnt offering upon the wall. -The action succeeded to his wish; the kings of Israel and Judah were amazed and confounded at the fury which urged him to such a deed, and returned immediately with haste to their own country, as if pursued by a conqueror.

* 2 Kings iii. 26.

Now this example, taken in one point of view, may be applied to illustrate the subject before us. For the eternal Father, having used promises and threatenings, judgments and mercies, and still seeing our sins reach up to heaven, besieging as it were his almighty throne, expresses infinite indignation against sin.-He takes his only begotten Son, the heir of all things, the express image of his person, and in the hearing of heaven and earth, he cries out, "Awake, O sword! and smite my shepherd, the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." Should not we, then, always remembering the death of his only-begotten Son for our transgressions, smite upon our breasts, and go and sin no more? Should not we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; feeling, from this fact, that, to impenitent sinners, our God will be a consuming fire.

In the last chapter, we produced from scripture many declarations of the peculiar love exercised by God towards each individual that walks before him faithfully. For instances to illustrate these we may appeal to the history of his providence, from the earliest ages. Enoch, the seventh in the line of direct descent from Adam, because he was unconquerably attached to the truth and authority of God, in the midst of his rebellious kindred, is taken from them in a way which at once immortalizes his name, and proclaims the love which God bears to his saints. Before this fact could grow faint or obscure, Noah is lifted up to our observation, like the ark in which he was preserved, for an everlasting memorial, that in the most desolating judgments, the care of each individual saint is with the most High. In the case of righteous Lot, the same distinguishing love of God is again manifested. And two assertions are made by God upon this occasion, which are most expressive of his character towards his faithful people: the one is, that Sodom itself should have been spared for the sake of only ten righteous, if but so small a number had been found within its walls. The other is, that Lot is hurried away from thence with this declaration, "Haste thee, escape; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither."

And in what other light than as confirmations of the

character of God, that he approveth the way of the righteous, and hath in all ages the most tender and affectionate regard for their welfare. In what other light are we to consider the surprising history of the faithful Joseph? The favour shewed to Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and to them only of all Israel who came out of Egypt? Or the remarkable and numerous deliverances of David from the snares and persecutions of Saul? In what other way are we to improve Elijah's miraculous assumption into heaven, before the eyes of his successor in office the prophet Elisha? What other con

clusion are we to draw from the preservation of Daniel in the den of lions; and of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego in the fiery furnace? What are these but witnesses chosen of God, and held up to notice by miracles wrought in their favour, that every obedient servant of God, who copies the pattern they set before him, might know he is, as certainly as they were, the object of God's singular care and special love? And though we see not now the course of nature over-ruled for the deliverance of the faithful, still the comprehensive promise of the unchangeable God abideth sure; "He knoweth them that are his," and will "make all things work together for good to them that love him."

Nor are the facts which attest God's utter hatred of the sin of each individual, few in number or of doubtful import. On the contrary, the record of his actions furnishes us with many awful instances of the immediate execution of justice on daring offenders. There is scarcely a sin which has not been singled out as the object of his wrathful displeasure. Thus Ham, that could mock his father, surprised by accident into intoxication, is accursed: Lot's wife, full of worldly cares, and looking back upon the loss of her property with regret and repining, is turned into a pillar of salt. Envy and aspiring pride bring down immediate destruction upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. In Achan's fate, and in Gehazi's leprosy, we see how God abhorreth the covetous. Behold, thou infamous advocate for fornication, the javelin of Phineas avenging God's quarrel upon Zimri and Cosbi his paramour: renounce thy fond conceit, that whoremongers will not be judged by God; for see, three-and-twenty thousand persons are

cut off by him for this sin in one day. Be astonished at the patience of God towards thee, thou false and lying tongue, when thou readest that Ananias and Sapphira perished with the breath of falsehood in their lips! Take notice, thou despiser of Jesus, of the doom of thy fellowcriminal Elymas the sorcerer, and of the judicial blindness with which he was smitten while he perverted the way of truth. Understand ye vain and haughty, from the ignominious death of Herod, that a proud heart is an abomination to the Lord, and that self-exaltation on account of gifts or pre-eminence of any kind, is what he cannot endure for behold, the royal deified orator, after the shout of blasphemous applause from the multitude, is immediately smitten by the angel of the Lord, " because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the Ghost.

All these instances, and many more recited in Scripture, prove with irresistible force, that wherever envy or malice, covetousness or pride, profaneness, impurity, or any temper opposite to the law of God prevails, there the wrath of God abideth; and there, unless they are vanquished before death, must it abide for ever.

Such in his natural and moral perfections, such, in his government and providence towards the whole rational creation, is the true God. And that there is only one God, who is in all, and through all, and over all, the Scripture is most express." I, even I am he, and there is no God with me. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God" But then the same Scripture teaches us, that this unity of God is not an unity of person but of essence, in which the Son and the Spirit are comprehended, in glory equal, in majesty coeternal with the Father. Without all controversy great is this mystery of godliness. It must however be received: because the Scripture ascribes those very perfections, in which the nature of God surpasses that of created beings, to the Son and the Spirit. Eternity, omnipresence, infinite knowledge, and uncontrolable power, are represented to belong to them: they therefore with the Father are to be worshipped and glorified. This God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is the God of the Christians.—

Whilst Jews abhor this mystery, whilst Mahometans persecute it as an abomination, whilst the self-conceited reject it with disdain, the Christian church, acquiescing in the plain word of God, and satisfied with his declarations, dedicates herself to the sacred Three in One. She continually concludes her public worship with professing her desire to partake of the distinct and different blessings, which are imparted to the church from each of these sacred Three, intreating that the "love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, may be with us all."

Having thus concluded our inquiries into the nature and perfections of the most High God, as they are delineated in Scripture, it remains, that we should examine and prove ourselves, whether our idea of God be a faithful copy of the Scripture pattern? Let us try whether we do not remain in gross and fatal ignorance of his real character, notwithstanding the complete manner in which he has revealed himself in his own most holy word? Take it by no means for granted, that you really possess the knowledge of God: for thousands who are utterly destitute of it, who entertain notions of his character which are abominable in his sight, thus flatter themselves to their own ruin. Search, therefore, and see whether you heartily acknowledge God to be what he has declared that he is, in those particulars in which pride, the love of sin, or unbelief, are most apt to misrepresent his real character.

For instance; do you look upon God as bearing that perfect abhorrence of iniquity, which the bible affirms he does? Is it a truth stedfastly fixed in your mind, that God is not cruel to the work of his own hands, though he doom every soul of man dying in sin to feel for ever the weight of his indignation? Do you confess from the heart, that the sanctions of his government are full of righteousness and glory, though they assure you, that, to every hypocrite and unbeliever, our God is a consuming fire?

Again: try yourself, whether you are firmly persuaded, that the God whom you worship is a support and defence to every one that believeth on the name of his Son with an obedient heart? Are you sure that the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, humbleth himself to