blessed angels are exhibited as round about his throne, in number ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, and saying; "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." This is the song, which angels and archangels sing. But no voice, save that of God, can show forth all the Redeemer's praise. Hear, then, the language of the eternal Father to his co-equal Son. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." Compare, I say, these wonderful expressions, from the mouth of God himself, with the bitter and contemptuous scorn to which the blessed Jesus was accustomed, in the days of his flesh. Compare them with such specimens as these: "As for this fellow, we know not whence he is:" "Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" Compare them with the loud voices, which cried, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" or with the unfeeling insults, which mingled with the dying groans, and parting ago

nies, of the Lamb of God: "Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself; if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." It is, I say, in the view of these extremes, as far as our limited capacities can combine them-it is in the contemplation of the glory of God, veiled in the ignominies of a malefactor's death, that we can best comprehend the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, of that love which passeth knowledge. And if jealousy be as I have stated-if it be always in proportion to the sense, that we have highly benefited, and deeply loved, the object of that passion,-how may the divine jealousy burn like fire for ever, against those, for whom a Saviour has, in vain, endured the cross, and despised the shame!

There is an additional consideration here, which I cannot avoid suggesting, though, I trust, I do so with reverential awe. We know that men of generous minds, often feel a keener resentment of the injuries done to those they love, than of the injuries inflicted on themselves. And may not such be the case, in that adorable Trinity, who formed us in their own image?

In the parable, where the Almighty is said to make a marriage for his Son, he is awfully described, as "sending forth his armies, to destroy" the rejecters of that invitation, "and to burn up

their city." And in that other parable, where the Jews are represented, as casting the heir, the wellbeloved, out of the vineyard, and slaying him, they, unconsciously, pass this tremendous sentence upon themselves: "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and let out his vineyard to others." In like manner, that Being, who is to judge both quick and dead, has declared, that whoso speaketh against him, shall be forgiven; but "he that shall blaspheme," saith he, "against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." On this principle, then, as well as every other, let us take care, how we provoke the Lord to jealousy. It is true, that God so loved the world, that he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. But it is equally true, that every soul which will not hear that Son, shall be destroyed from among the people; that he shall not see life, but that the wrath of God abideth on him. In a word, to become the objects of that infinite jealousy, which God may feel for the honour of his Son-to be marked by the eternal Father, as those whom the sufferings of his Son could neither win nor soften,-may involve consequences, and lead to a ruin, greater than our finite imaginations can conceive.

But the Gospel was revealed, not for our destruction, but for our salvation. Its joyful sound

proclaims free pardon to the guilty; forgiveness of all that is past; oblivion so entire, that no more mention is to be made, of goodness slighted, omnipotence insulted, the sanctuary of God's presence violated, a Saviour's blood and cross trampled beneath our feet. These are the offers which are made, without money, and without price, to every sinner, who will repent, and believe the Gospel. But, more than this; the Son of God was manifested-his pure and spotless life, and all the endearing motives of his painful death, have been set before us-to bring back our alienated hearts to God; to make a powerful appeal to our affections; to gain our friendship to Christ's human nature; and, by its mysterious union with the divine nature, to identify that deep attachment, with the fulfilment of the first and great commandment, the love of God with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. This latter is, in a word, the sum and substance of religion. Without this, or at least without the desire of this, all that is called religion, is childish vanity, and senseless superstition. It is a total misconception of the meaning, and the very essence, of the thing. The truth is, that it appears almost trifling with so serious a subject, to explain the nature of this delusion, by comparisons which alone can suit such gross fatuity. It is as if a man were to

mistake his purse, for his gold-were to throw away his treasure, and then to boast of his riches, when he had not wherewithal to buy his daily bread. Or, as if he were to fancy that he had mastered all the intricacies of science, because he had reckoned all the letters, and could spell back all the syllables, in the works of the philosophers. Or, lastly, it is as if a man mistook the restoratives of health, for health itself; and, while disease was preying upon his vital organs, boasted of the soundness of his constitution, because he had collected an exhaustless store of medicines and prescriptions.

If I have been obliged to use comparisons, which appear, as I almost fear they may do, ludicrous to some, it is because folly in one shape, is the best comparison we can use, for folly in another shape and nothing, assuredly, can surpass the folly, nay, nothing can be comparable to the more than madness of that man, who, in the one great and paramount concern, where his all is at stake, and where an eternity of weal or woe is trembling - on the balance, mistakes the remedy for the cure, the means for the end, the signs for the allimportant realities which they signify.

And, yet, into this deep delirium we have fallen, if we do not, by an intuitive perception, by a felt experience, know that religion is love; and that