SERMON I THE RAINBOW A TYPE OF THE COVENANT. GENESIS ix. 13, 14, 15. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. Ir is the prerogative of God to bring light out of darkness, good out of evil, grace out of nature, and glory out of misery. Human depravity had occasioned an awful manifestation of Divine justice: it had compelled the Creator to become the Destroyer of His creatures, and to sweep them from the face of the earth with the waters of the Flood. Mercy, however, tempered the severity of justice; and the truth of JEHOVAH, in respect to the promise of a SAVIOUR to Adam, was apparent in the preservation of Noah, amidst the universal wreck, to be the second father B of mankind, and the favoured progenitor of Him, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. Therefore it was, that Noah found favour in His sight, and was instructed to prepare the Ark, for the saving of himself, his family, and a portion of the animal creation. This Divinely-appointed refuge had weathered the storm, and outlived the fury of the Deluge. Within the Ark, the servant of God had been sheltered from the universal ruin which had overwhelmed "the world of the ungodly." At the command of JEHOVAH, Noah had left the vessel of safety, and offered burnt-offerings of expiation and gratitude unto the LORD. The sacrifices of the Patriarch were accepted. Promises of Divine blessings and forbearance were given. "The LORD said "in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; though the imagination "of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I 66 66 again smite any more every thing living, as I have "done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and har"vest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and "day and night, shall not cease:" Gen. viii. 21-22. Moreover, to afford the fullest assurance to Noah, and to succeeding generations, of His gracious determination no more to bring a flood of waters upon the earth, God was pleased to institute and appoint a visible token and pledge of the covenant of security. The Rainbow was spread across the cloud, to be the everlasting sign of exemption from a second deluge. This cheering token of mercy would appear, when the heavens grew black, and the stormy rain descended. The occasion of fear would bring with it the warrant of hope. In the gloom of the tempest would be seen the radiant Bow of Peace, the bright messenger of promised salvation. Whether the Rainbow appeared before the Flood, it is impossible to say; but if it did, it had not that sacramental use, and that significant design and intention, which were appropriated to it, when the LORD uttered the words of our text. Then it became the appointed evidence of mercy to mankind. Its instituted use and intention are declared in the words before us: 'I do set my Bow, &c." 66 But we should lose the most important instruction of this part of Scripture, if we confine the emblematic signification of the Rainbow to the covenant of security from a second deluge of water. It has a far more important meaning. It was constituted to be a token and evidence of the Covenant of Grace, and of the spiritual deliverance which results to man from that covenant. It has a typical reference to CHRIST, the Divine Mediator. And hence, in that vision of the Incarnate GOD, sitting upon the throne of glory, which Ezekiel describes in the first chapter of his prophecy, we read that the prophet saw "brightness round about" the Divine Person whom he beheld. "And as the appearance of the Bow, that is "in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear"ance of the brightness round about. This was 66 "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the "LORD," i.e." the brightness of the FATHER'S glory, and "the express image of his person," even JESUS CHRIST, our adorable REDEEMER. St. John likewise declares, in the Revelation, that he saw sitting upon the throne, One who " was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine-stone; and there was a Rainbow round about "the throne, like unto an emerald: Rev. iv. 3. These passages lead our minds to the contemplation of spiritual and eternal benefits, intimated by that token which the LORD gave to Noah.-In dependence on the aid of the HOLY SPIRIT, let us consider, 1st, the origin of this appointment; 2dly, its typical signification; and, 3dly, the extensiveness of the typified blessing. I. Observe, first, the ORIGIN of this appointment. "I," says GOD, "do set, or constitute, my Bow in the "cloud." It was the dictate of His sovereign purpose and good pleasure. There was nothing of human contrivance, suggestion, or solicitation, in this matter: it emanated from the spontaneous grace and goodness of the LORD. Man could neither imagine nor produce that bright token of Heavenly love, which shines across the stormy cloud, and cheers the darkness of the tempest. Thus it is in Divine things: every hope afforded to man-every promise of salvation-every hallowed ray of spiritual consolation that cheers the trembling penitent, and enlightens the dark path of |