Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old; art thou not it, that hath cut Rahab to pieces, and wounded Pharaoh the dragon? Was it not thine arm which dried the sea, the waters of the great deep, that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?" The recollection of those splendid triumphs which as a nation they had experienced, animated their minds with a hopeful issue to their troubles, and enabled them to look forward to brighter days. They realized the period, when the Lord would turn back the captivity of Zion; break the fetters with which they were bound; emancipate their nation, and restore them to freedom and the services of the temple. After the people had suffered that degree of punishment which, in the estimation of the Almighty, was thought sufficient to wean them from the world, and to direct their views to heaven, the sacred Prophet revived their hopes with the promise of better days; he exhorted them to take down their harps from the willows, and to strike the chord of gratitude and praise. "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, the holy city; shake thyself from the dust, O captive daughter of Zion; for thus saith the Lord, ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money." Elated with the fullest confidence in the protection of heaven, they spoke of their restoration as an event which was upon the eve of its completion; "the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Enraptured with the pleasing idea, they saw in prospect, the messenger who was to proclaim liberty to the captives, leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills; "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him, that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth." As the language in which the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon is not to be confined to the temporal restoration of that people, but has an un

doubted reference to the redemption of mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall, in the subsequent discourse, direct your attention to that important event, and shall show you in the first place, what the Gospel is; secondly, prove to you, that it is a ground of the greatest joy; and then conclude with some practical inferences.

I am therefore in the first place, to show you what the Gospel is. The genius of the holy Prophet, though animated upon all occasions, appears to have been particularly so when engaged in the subject before us; he seems to have entered deeply into the view of those distresses entailed upon us by the fall; and when he speaks of the emancipation of mortals from the dominion of hell, the poetic powers of his mind were allowed the fullest range, in order that his description of our deliverance might bear a just resemblance to those blessings which formed the subject of his discourse; he considered man, with all his boasted powers, disposed to rebel against his Maker, in a state of alienation from God; obnoxious to the everlasting displeasure of heaven. He viewed the human race as having strayed from the fold, following the devices and desires of their own hearts: as it is expressed in Scripture, poor, wretched and miserable, and blind, and naked; possessed of no means by which to conciliate the divine favour; and destitute of any shield with which to ward off the stroke of God's indignation; he considered them as in a state of enmity with heaven, the slaves of folly and of vice; with no prospect before them but a certain, fearful looking for of judgment. To man in such an awful situation, the Gospel proclaim peace and salvation; it points to the blood of atonement, as it flows from the bleeding bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ, and declares to Adam's ruined race, that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. It represents sin as expiated by the sufferings of the Redeemer; it proclaims to us, that as Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, so the believer is healed by his stripes; it informs us in language as plain as it is forcible, that the Saviour was made

sin for us, that the believer might be made the righteousness of God in him.

This, brethren, is the express view which Scripture affords us of the process of redemption; this constitutes the proclamation of peace which Zion's messengers are delegated to deliver; these are the principles which Paul laid at the feet of the Corinthians, and which, as an ambassador of heaven, he entreated them to accept: "we pray you," said he," in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." Again: the salvation proclaimed in the text appears worthy of that Being from whose sacred courts it hath been issued, when we reflect upon the freedom of those terms upon which it is proposed; those tidings of mercy are worthy their divine author, and may with propriety be called good, which bring salvation to mortals without money and without price. There is no exception, remember, in the overtures of divine grace, for the offers of mercy are ingenuously made to all. Sinners are the objects which brought the Son of God from the bosom of his Father, and for whom he submitted to the death of the cross. "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." There is no situation in life, which excludes us from the privileges of pardon, provided we will confess and forsake our sins. The messengers of the cross are sent into the streets and lanes of the city, to bring in the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind. Yes! we are commanded to explore the high-ways, and to penetrate into the hedges, to sound the trumpet of Jubilee in the ears of mortals; we are enjoined not only to persuade, but to compel them, by urging the consequences of their impenitence, to fly to the arms of the Saviour. Should mortals plead their inability to repair to the standard of the cross? Should they say that they are tied and bound with the chain of their sins, and therefore unable to comply? We tell them that "Christ Jesus came to preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. "We not only point out to them their remedy, but the means by

which to avail themselves of it; we carry them in imagination to the dungeon of Philippi, and show them the deliverance which was effected in the case of the Apostle Peter; we inform them that the power of God was excited for the relief of the suffering disciples; that the poor captive was set at perfect liberty, and that Jehovah is equally disposed to assist them. With tidings so benevolent in their character we appear before you. We tell you, and Scripture warrants the declaration, that salvation is as free as the water which flows from the bosom of the earth. Impressed with these considerations, we adopt the language of the Prophet, and in his inspired words we cry aloud, "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Viewing the Gospel in this auspicious light, we shall see, in the second place, that it is a ground of the greatest joy: this is the light in which it has been viewed from its first promulgation to the present period. Cyrus was the individual who was raised up by the Almighty, and expressly sent to free the Israelites from their bondage. If the feet of the messengers who were sent with the intelligence of the liberation of the Jews appeared beautiful to that people, and excited in their bosoms a tumult of happiness, how indescribably joyful must that information be, which proclaims the deliverance of man from the prison of eternal death, and asserts his restoration to the favour of the everliving God? Abraham, pre-eminently distinguished as the father of the faithful, who lived two thousand years before the advent of the Messiah, rejoiced exceedingly to see in prospect the day of the Lord Jesus. In the solemn offering of his only son to Jehovah, he saw a type of that great sacrifice which was made for sinners; he beheld with the eye of faith," the Lamb of God who hath taken away the sin of the world;" he saw the triumphs of redeeming grace-millions plucked from the hand of the destroyer of souls, and was glad. How unspeakable was the joy with which the minds of angels were inspired, when the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing under his wings; with

what rapturous delight did they proclaim to man the tidings of his restoration! The chariots of God conveyed the inhabitants of bliss to the abodes of mortality; the choirs of heaven lent their seraphic aid, to enliven with the notes of joy the peaceful intelligence; and while Gabriel proclaimed the Saviour's nativity, a multitude of the heavenly host chaunted in fervent strains, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good-will towards men;" they saw the blessed Jesus as the mediator between God and man, spoiling the principalities and powers of hell, making a show of them openly, and triumphing over them.

Again; Wherever the Gospel has diffused its cheering influence, we perceive that joy and happiness have followed in its train. Thus we observe that the most malignant passions which ever disturbed the peace of fallen mortals, were eradicated from the minds of those who embraced the truths of Christianity, and the calm virtues of love and peace were established upon their ruins.

This was remarkably fulfilled in that change which was effected upon the hearts of those who were awakened by the preaching of St. Peter; they had but a short time before exulted at the sufferings of the Saviour, and had united their voices in scoffing at him while hanging upon the cross; their guilty hands were stained with his blood, and their bosoms were the seat of malice and revenge. But when the grace of God, like the rays of the meridian sun, illumined their minds, the preaching of the Apostle became the savor of life to their precious souls; they gladly received his words; they bowed at the feet of the cross; "they continued daily in the temple with one accord, and, breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people." See, also, the effect produced in the temper and disposition of Saul of Tarsus. While he continued the votary of Judaism, his zeal was manifested by conduct at variance with every principle of benevolence; his zeal was manifested by exciting in the bosoms of his