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notice of its coming-Yet his days shall be an hundred aud twenty years *. So when the apostacy of the Gentile Christian Church shall be compleated, and the measure of her iniquities filled up; when faith. shall scarcely be found, and charity shall be frozen at the fountain; in a word, when all flesh shall again have corrupted his way upon the earth; then shall the end of all flesh again come before God, and the earth and all the works that are therein shall be finally destroyed; as the writings of the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, read in our churches, do admonish us from day

→ Gen. vi. 3.

+ Ibid. vi. 12.

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to day. Notwithstanding which, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man, they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away. I may add, as it is with the world, sa is it also with nations and individuals, They have their times and their seasons of trial and probation, and they have their warnings; after which the ax is laid to the root of the tree, and nothing in heaven or in earth can stay, for one moment, the uplifted hand of justice from striking the fatal stroke.-Open then, blessed Lord, our eyes, that we may see the things which belong unto our peace, before they are hid for ever from our sight,

8. Noah in favour with God.

IN these worst of times Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah *. Human favour is hardly obtained, and easily lost; or, at best, like wine exposed to the sun and air, soon looses its flavour, and grows vapid in the cask while the favour of God is acquired by only seeking our own happiness; its relish improves with time; and the fruit of this vine shall be drunk new in the kingdom of heaven, to all eternity. Divine favour is better than all the

* Gen. vi. 8.

abundance a man can possess, or covet; nay, better than life itself. It makes holy, and it makes happy. The world cannot do the former; and therefore fails in the latter.

9. Just and perfect in his

ation.

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Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation *. He was, as the Apostle tells us, heir of the righteousness which is by faith †, a believer in him, who justifies the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith ‡, if through that

* Gen. vi. 9.

+ Heb. xi. 7.

Rom. iii. 30.

faith they work righteousness *, as Noah did, being perfect, or upright in his generation. Perfect, not as the holy Jesus was perfect, or as the spirits of just men are to be made perfect in heaven, but with such perfection as man can attain unto, in this his state of pilgrimage, not by sinless obedience to the law of works, but by repentance and faith, by pardon and grace, and by a service acceptable to God in Jesus Christ, who forgives us our sins, and heals our infirmities, and leads us into the paths of righteousness, and enables us to walk therein. Thus was Noah perfect in his genera

• Heb. xi. 33.

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