Who can imagine a real want, which it is not able and willing to supply? How plainly then ought all those creatures, not only to wait on him, but to trust in him also, that he may give them all blessings in due season.

Particularly, when his children remember that he has created the heaven of heavens for their reception, and adorned and enriched it with every thing which can contribute to their happiness and glory; they cannot but discern and feel, that he claims from them, on the most solid grounds, all possible confidence, as well as reverence and love. In the Scriptures he has disclosed to them, that here there is made all the provision which they can need, and far more than they can ask or conceive; and that, however enlarged may be their faculties and views, they will through eternity receive all which they can ever desire. Of the power of God to fulfil these promises they are completely assured by the effects, which it has produced in the visible creation. Of his willingness to perform them, and to satisfy every reasonable wish, they are furnished with no unhappy evidence in the provision which he so bountifully makes for rebels and apostates in the present world. When they add to this the gift of his own Son, whom he did not spare, but delivered him up for us all,' they are completely assured that ⚫ he will also with him freely give them all things.'

3. How amazing and glorious a Being does God appear in the character of Creator.

Of what power, knowledge and goodness, must He be possessed, who has done all these things; who is, who lives, and who acts, through all the worlds in immensity; who contrived them, and brought them into being; who stored them with such abundant furniture, and filled them with such multitudes of inhabitants; who controuls them with an omnipotent hand, and with an omniscient eye; and who will advance them for ever in their progress towards perfection. All these things are only displays of the Godhead. In them all, Jehovah is seen in forms of beauty, wisdom, goodness, life, joy, loveliness, and greatness, which transcend both number and comprehension.

4. How ought this great and awful Being to be feared by his Intelligent creatures.

How ought we, particularly, to realize his presence, agency, character and will; the obligations which we are under to

obey and the supreme interest which we have in doing his pleasure. His right to dispose of us cannot be denied. The rectitude of his pleasure cannot be questioned. At the same time, on him our all depends. How indispensable is it therefore, that we act in all things in such a manner as to secure his favour, and in this, the only possible manner, to obtain his blessing.

On the contrary, what madness must it be to forget, disobey, and provoke him. Think what it is to be found fighting against God.' Hast thou,' says Jehovah to Job, an arm like God; or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Then I will confess unto thee, that thine own right hand can save thee.' What evil is not to be expected from his anger. What terrible proofs have been given of its dreadful efficacy, in his ancient dispensations to the Antediluvians, to Sodom and Gomorrah, to the Egyptians, and to the Israelites, both in the Wilderness, and the Land of Canaan. What awful spec mens are even now continually seen of his displeasure against this polluted world, in the ravages of the storm, the earthquake, and the volcano, and the more extensive evils of pestilence and famine!

5. How miserable must be the condition of those who have no interest in the favour of God.

God is the source of all the good which is found, or will ever be found in the universe. Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above; and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' Wherever then he refuses to give, it is certain that no enjoyment can be found. How dreadful of course, how solitary, how friendless, how forlorn must the situation of a creature be, if he were banished for ever from the presence, favour, and love of God. Were the sun, as the heathen supposed, an intelligent being, capable of being pleased and displeased, and of communicating and withholding his light and warmth at pleasure; how lonely, dark and wretched, would be the condition of men, if he should withdraw his beams from this world, and permit them never more to shine; of men consigned to everlasting night, and everlasting winter; who should yet live, in this cold and dreary solitude, and know and feel their wretched condition: while at the same time they also knew that other favoured and happy beings, in all other re

spects resembling themselves, were in full possession of the life-giving influence, and cheering splendour of this glorious luminary. God is the Sun of the intelligent and immortal world. Wherever he shines, there is light, and peace, and hope, and joy: wherever he withdraws his beams, all is darkJess and desolation for ever.

On this subject I am apprehensive, that Christians do not meditate nor converse, nor Ministers preach, so frequently and so fervently as their interest and their duty plainly require. The Apostles have dwelt often and extensively on the prospects, the joys, and the glories of heaven. In this respect they are obviously patterns to all succeeding preachers. Christians are in the Scriptures often invited to meditate on heavenly things; and presented with the most sublime, alluring and delightful objects of a heavenly nature, to engage them in such meditations. They are directed also to set their affections on things above;' commanded to have their conversation in heaven, and not on the earth;' and reminded, that in a humble and figurative sense, they are already come to the New Jerusalem,' and to the glorious beings by whom it is inhabited, by entering the Church of God in the present world. All these precepts they are bound implicitly to obey.

6

When we approach the table of Christ, we are by the strongest motives compelled to remember, that the exalted end of his Mediation was to open this happy world for the reception of his followers; an end, purchased with tears and blood. This end is the most illustrious and delightful, of which we can form a conception; and the means by which it has been accomplished are the most sublime display of infinite good-will which the universe has ever beheld.

When Christians approach the table of their communion, they approach it to commemorate their Saviour. What do they commemorate? His life, and death, and resurrection, and exaltation; a life of humiliation, suffering and sorrow; a death of shame and agony, a resurrection to endless life, an exaltation to infinite glory. Whither has he gone? To heaven. Whither are they going? To the same happy world. In my Father's house,' said this Divine Person, as he was advancing near to the are many grave, If it were not so, I mansions.

would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and re

ceive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.' Can Christians then fail to look often to that delightful world where their Saviour dwells, and where they are all finally to be assembled in his presence? Will not the remembrance of the fulness of joy, the pleasures which flow for ever in this region of immortality, awaken in the most ardent manner their admiration, their love, their gratitude and their praise to Him, who formed it in the beginning; who stored it with glory, life and joy; who ascended the cross, that he might open its everlasting doors for their admission to its infinite blessings.

To enhance all these views and affections, let them remember also, that in the same wonderful manner he redeemed them from the deplorable character of sin, and the miseries of perdition. That Divine Spirit, who renews them 'in righteousness, and true holiness, unto every good work,' entered upon this benevolent office, only in consequence of the mediation of Christ. But for this mediation, no child of Adam would ever have been renewed. Sin unmingled, unrestrained, and endless, would have prevailed throughout all the nations of men, and all the ages of time. The way to heaven would have been unknown. The only path from this world would have gone down to the chambers of death.

In how interesting a manner then is heaven now brought before our eyes, as the end of the great sacrifice of the Cross. Here Christ dies again, in a figure pre-eminently affecting; and shows us his broken body and bleeding wounds, as the price which he paid to procure for us an inheritance in the kingdom prepared for his followers before the foundation of the world. No other hand could have opened the gates of life. No other atonement could have expiated our sins. No other means could have procured the sanctification of our souls by the Spirit of grace, and thus fitted us to enjoy the blessings of heaven, and made them blessings to us. But for him, the best of men would have gone down to the world of woe. By him, every good man will be raised to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was.'

SERMON XVIII.

CREATION.

THE ANGELS.

FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, AND THAT ARE IN EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS, OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR HIM.

COL. I. 16.

IN my last Discourse, I began the examination of the Works of God, with some considerations on the Heavens. I shall now pursue the same subject, in several observations concerning those beings who were originally inhabitants of the highest heavens.

As all our knowledge concerning this subject is derived from the Scriptures, I shall confine myself in this discussion to the information which they communicate; reserving such views as Reason has been able to form of it, to the Discourse which I propose to devote to a consideration of the existence and character of Fallen Angels.

In the text it is asserted, that Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers,' names which are fairly supposed to denote different orders of the Angelic host, and to indicate, in the words of St. Paul, things in heaven;' were created by Jesus Christ, for his own use and purposes. Among other things conveyed to us by this assertion, the following Doctrine is evidently one :