XI.

LIGHT WITHIN DIFFUSES RADIANCE WITHOUT.

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."-1 THESS. V. 5.

IN reducing the rude materials of this earth from their primitive chaotic darkness and confusion, to the order and beauty of a well-constituted world, the first work of the Omnipotent was the creation of light—a fact announced by the sacred historian in the brief but sublime sentence, "God said, Let there be light; and there was light:" and, it is added, "God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness: and God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." In the progress of the creation the light was concentered in the heavenly bodies, and the sun was appointed its source by day, and the moon its secondary, deputed organ by night. These ordinances have never failed; and though the earth's position in relation to the sun in winter, and the moon's periodical wanings, leave certain portions of the globe to the partial intrusion and temporary prevalence of darkness, still the light has preserved its ascendancy, and has continued to shed its blessings on mankind.

Light is indeed an admirable production of the Creator;

the fairest, as the first of his works in the arrangement of the world; the richest and most exquisite of those material gifts which he has brought out of his treasury; the brightest effect of that wisdom and power which he exerted in the modelling of this lower world, and the harbinger, and, as it were, expositor of all his other operations. This is that which imparts their beauty to all the objects that delight the eye of man; since, in absence of light, beauty, as referring to material things, could have no existence. This gives to nature its variety of rich and lovely tints,-to the skies their morning grey, their ethereal blue, their fleecy clouds, their mellow glow when irradiated by the evening sun,-to the earth the varied mantle it derives from the green of its pastures, the brown of its forests, the crystal of its floods, the whiteness of its winter covering of snow, or the golden yellow of its harvests. This brings the eye acquainted with those forms and appearances that enable us to judge of the figure, the distance, the motions, the colour of visible objects; conveying to us all the discoveries made by the sight,-all the knowledge and all the pleasure we derive from the survey of the Divine workmanship in the heavens, in the earth, and in the seas, as well as from the inspection of the operations of art, the actions of men, and the expression of intelligence and feeling in that index of the mind, the human coun

tenance.

Is not light the joy and life of the material world, diffusing gladness over the universe? The birds welcome its dawning with their songs,-the flowers unfold their beauties at its approach,—the flocks and herds, and all the animated tribes, awake and bound for joy under its enlivening rays. Con

cealing its essence from the eye that it enlightens, and eluding the researches of art and science, it draws from all an acknowledgment of its happy and beneficial influence. Its properties are truly astonishing. So rapid is its flight, that its passage from one end of the earth to the other is instantaneous; and it is calculated that it requires only a few minutes to come to us from the immeasurable distance of the sun—whence, falling in parallel rays, it illumines the whole face of the earth in the twinkling of an eye. And how admirable its virtue and influence in conveying warmth and activity to all things, being apparently the grand medium of communicating life and active power to the whole vegetable and animal creation!

We wonder not that that which is so valuable in the natural world, should be assumed in the Word of God, which is the interpreter of his works, as the emblem of all that is excellent in the spiritual world. As revealing to the eye the figure, position, and various qualities of visible things, light is an emblem of truth, which assigns to every thing its real attributes; and of knowledge, which apprehends and forms a just estimate of all things. As preserving its own pure and simple essence, without mixing with the objects it approaches, or being contaminated by them, it is the emblem of that moral purity which refuses to mingle with the pollutions of the world, and keeps itself from all fellowship with the workers of iniquity. As conveying life and health to other things, it is the emblem of the salutary and beneficial influence of true piety. As imparting joy and gladness, it is an emblem of the happiness attendant on true goodness: in fine, it is used as the emblem of God Himself, who is emphatically

called "the Father of lights," and of whom it is said, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

Darkness is the absence of light, and in an ordinary sense its opposite. In this lower world it had precedence of light; for while the earth was unproductive of those forms of existence which require light for their development, "darkness was upon the face of the deep." And after the introduction of light, it still retained a periodical influence, intruding, as it were, into those portions of space which the active principle of light did not occupy. And in this partial extent it doubtless, like all the other Divine appointments, contributes to the well-being of the universe. Who feels not the salutary influence of the alternations of day and night? How welcome the shades of the evening, after the dazzling glare-the refreshing coolness of the night, after the oppressive heat of the day! The return of night suspends the toils of man and beast, invites all nature to repose; and in conjunction with sleep, to which it is favourable, it hushes the passions that agitate the human breast, reminds man of his weakness and dependence, and admonishes him of the approach of that night that shall terminate his earthly probation. But though useful in the physical world, darkness is in a moral sense emblematical of all that is evil. As concealing from our view the objects around us, and preluding a right apprehension of them, it is the emblem of ignorance and error; as favouring the machinations of wicked men, and shrouding them from detection, it is the emblem of sin-sin which hates the light that exposes it to observation; as associated with danger and terror, it intimates the perilous nature and final punishment of guilt in fine, the grand enemy of all

goodness, the devil, in reference to his character of the deceiver, the defiler, the destroyer of men, is called "the prince of darkness," and his kingdom, "the kingdom of darkness."

Such being the import of the terms light and darkness, I need scarcely add that the expression, "the children of light,” signifies those who are distinguished by the qualities of which light is the emblem, and describes the character of true believers, as opposed to that of unrenewed men, and even of their former selves. It presents the Christian in a striking and glorious form, as clothed with the attributes of the first and fairest product of creative power, and should certainly suggest to us a serious inquiry whether this excellent character belong to us-how it may be attained, and how preserved. We implore the Divine guidance and blessing while we call your attention to the view here given us of real believers. What are the characters which the apostle ascribes to them when he says, "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness?"

İ. The children of light are distinguished by the knowledge of the truth, in opposition to ignorance and error. As in the material world darkness preceded light, and was banished only by the Divine command, so in the present state of man, that ignorance, of which darkness is the emblem, precedes the light of saving knowledge. This had been signally exemplified in the case of those whom the apostle addressed in the epistle before us, many of whom had, doubtless, been Gentiles, like those elsewhere described by him as "having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life