intervention of a Mediator; and the time will come when the Son having put all enemies under his feet, will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all. But till that day shall arrive we live under a dispensation in which the Son is exhibited to us as the great object of love and adoration. He is our Creator-our Redeemer-our Sanctifierour Governor—and our Judge; and to rebel against his authority, even under pretence of honouring the Father, may be considered as rebellion against the Father himself; for the only mode in which man can honour God, must be his obedience to his will; and when that will is plainly revealed, we must obey it, whatever it may be, without hesitation, dispute, or murmuring. The Jews had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; arising from partial views and unwarranted conceptions of the Divine nature and character. This zeal dictated their opposition to Christ. They put him to death, because "being a man," he said "that God was his Father;" thus "making himself equal with God." But they are held up as an awful example of the danger of rejecting the counsel of God, even through zeal for his attributes; and their house is left unto them desolate, till the day when they shall bow to the authority of Christ, and say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord."

This, my brethren, is not a subject of merely speculative theology: it is calculated to promote feelings the most essential both to our encouragement and to our progress in holiness.

1. It should lead us to adore that God who, with such unspeakable love, has provided for us a full, perfect, and sufficient atonement; not withholding his only Son, but giving him up for us all. Herein, indeed, was love-infinite love, such as could only have dwelt in the Divine nature, that in order to save us from destruction God "spared not his own Son." Let none think that in our view of this plan of redemption the Father is represented as stern and unforgiving, and the Son alone as mild and gracious; the Father as rig

orously just, while the Son yearns over us with compassion; the Father full of wrath, which the Son dies to appease: for the Scriptures every where represent each of these Divine Persons as concurring in the grand scheme of our redemption; as having devised and carried it on, from first to last, in concert with each other. As there is unity of nature, so is there an unity of will and disposition. In both, the love, the mercy, the compassion are equal. It was the Father who gave us so great and glorious a Saviour: it was his "will" which Christ came "to do" when, the inefficacy of all other expiation being declared, he laid aside his glory, and quitted the right hand of Majesty in the heavens, to shroud his Godhead in a veil of flesh, to dwell with rebels in a world of sin and misery; and at length to die by their hands, that he might remove the heavy curse which lay upon them, and redeem them to God by his blood. Then said he, "Lo, 1 come: in the volume of the Book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God.”

Let us then adore him, when we contemplate the greatness and glory of our Redeemer, and the various offices which he fulfils, and the innumerable benefits which are derived to us from this unspeakable gift. We know comparatively little of God, but as we behold him in Christ: here his character shines forth most conspicuously. Angels strive to improve their knowledge of Jehovah by the contemplation of his love in our redemption; and shall not we adore him, who have all the benefit of this his inestimable love? While. we enjoy the cheering influences of the sun, should we forget who fixed his orb in the firmament, and clothed him with light and glory, and bade his bright and vivifying rays shine forth on every planet within his system? And shall we be insensible to the goodness of him who bade the Sun of righteousness arise on this benighted world, with healing in his beams? No! let our praises continually ascend through Jesus Christ to the Throne of the Most High; and while we daily advance in our knowledge of the blessings contained in the Covenant.

of Grace, let us adore the wisdom which contrived it, and the love which gave us a Saviour so entirely suited to our necessities, and so "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him."

2. Nor let the tribute of gratitude, of holy praise, and love be withheld from him who assumed so many offices in our behalf. What tongue of men or of angels can fully tell, what imagination can justly conceive, what heart can worthily feel the extent of our obligations to that Gracious Being, who, though by him all things were created, and though he was our natural Sovereign and Lord, yet, for our sakes, emptied himself of all his glory, assumed our nature, dwelt among us, became our instructor and example, and suffered an ignominious death on the cross for our sins; and who, rising from the dead, ascended into his native heavens in the character of our Intercessor and Advocate; that having atoned for our offences he might plead that atonement for us with the Father, and be the Agent from first to last in bringing his redeemed to glory.

Do we not owe to him, my brethren, our dearest hopes, our every enjoyment, the very life of our souls? Can any sacrifice for his sake be too great; any obedience be more than his due? Christ demands and deserves our hearts. Infinite have been his favours; unparalleled his love: and since all we possess has proceeded from him, he expects that in return we should devote it to him. He will not be satisfied with a cold form of worship. He requires our best affections and our highest confidence. "He that loveth father or mother, more than me is not worthy of me." If a a man prefer even his own life, so as to renounce Him and his Gospel for the sake of it, he is not a true disciple: for the deliberate preference of any earthly object is in fact a dishonour to him. We are, indeed, seldom required to prove our attachment to Christ by the actual voluntary surrender of any beloved relative; but we are most justly expected to testify our love by a conscientious obedience to all his precepts. We are to attend

his ordinances, to read his word, to unite ourselves to his servants, and to regulate our whole lives by his example. Oh, my brethren, see that ye are not deficient in these evidences of regard to Christ! The hour is coming in which his favour will be of more worth to you than a thousand worlds. Let it not be discovered in that day that ye have been strangers to him, and have undervalued, or neglected, his salvation.

3. The preceding considerations may strengthen your dependence on the death of Christ for the pardon of your sins and the redemption of your souls.

We call upon you to rely on Christ as making a full atonement for your sins, and to commit your souls with entire confidence into his hands; and therefore we call upon you to contemplate him in all the various offices which he bears. He is our Creator and Benefactor, the Giver and the Preserver of our lives: by Him we shall one day rise again from the dead, and He shall be our final Judge. If we are delivered from any evil, our deliverance is effected by his power; whatever good is conferred upon us is the result of his bounty. He has all power in heaven and earth to accomplish every thing for our benefit, and possesses every Divine attribute necessary for our security and welfare. He is with us upon earth to defend us with his loving kindness as with a shield; he is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, there to intercede in our behalf. He once became man for our sakes; yet, even in that state of humiliation, he performed works which clearly manifested his Divinity: though men rejected, angels adored him; though his body suffered from toil and hunger, yet that frail tabernacle was the residence of the Godhead. Even then he knew the secret thoughts of men's hearts-the devils were subject to him-he touched the eye of the blind, and it saw-he bade the deaf ear be opened, and it heard-he called, and the dead came forth to him from the graves-he commanded even the winds and sea, and they obeyed him. Whatever view we take of Christ, he exhibits

the same character of essential greatness and glory. In his humiliation he was still "God manifest in the flesh;" as Mediator he has all power for the salvation of his people; and as Judge, shall have authority to pass the final sentence and fix the doom both of his disciples and his enemies.

Each view affords some new display of his power and dignity. Each presents him to us as deserving of our highest confidence; each shews the efficacy and greatness of his redemption. He is thus proclaimed to be the Son of God, infinite in dignity, qualified to be our Advocate, as having power to prevail with the Father, worthy to receive from man, as he does from the blessed spirits above, all honour, and glory, and dominion, and majesty for ever!

In confiding our souls, therefore, to Jesus Christ, we trust in One who is almighty and all-sufficient and able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by him. Fear not, therefore, thou penitent sinner, who art justly sensible of the number and guilt of thy sins; fear not, but apply in faith to this omnipotent Saviour; and with all humility, and yet with exulting hope and joy, say "In the Lord put I my trust." "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." "In the Lord shall" I "be justified, and will glory."

O blessed security, which is thus afforded to all who, with repentance and faith, trust in the Redeemer of sinners! The sense of that security will continually enlarge, as the knowledge of the glorious plan of salvation becomes distinct, and as the power and dignity of the Redeemer are better understood. Hasten, then, ye penitent sinners, to Him: "under the shadow of his wings make" your "refuge, till the calamities” of life "be overpast." Behold, he waits to be your Saviour! And having been both ordained and accepted by the Father, as the Atonement for sin, he offers you a free and complete salvation. Oh, perish not in your sins, while this Deliverer stands near, and is able and ready to communicate life and salvation!