hast destroyed thyself, when wilt thou receive with joy the blessed tidings of the gospel? When shall it once be? When wilt thou apply with strong confidence the appointed remedy for a soul diseased? When wilt thou look unto Jesus and be saved? When wilt thou acquaint thyself with the High Priest of our profession, and be at peace, finding the great plague of divine indignation stayed in its overwhelming course by his intercession? Shall he stand for ever at the right hand of the Father, and plead in vain as regards thy soul? Wilt thou, by the hardness of an impenitent heart, treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? And while his mediation is prevalent for others whom he is able to save to the uttermost,' shall it prove null and void in thy case, through thy own obduracy,-yea, rather tend to enhance the pressure of thy condemnation, than further thy deliverance? I do intreat thee, O misguided sinner, lay these serious truths to heart and I do pray the Divine Spirit of Almighty God to bring them with powerful conviction to thine inmost soul, and render them instrumental in turning thee to God, and making thee a partaker of the pardon and peace, the hope and joy, the grace and glory of the Lord's people.

SERMON IV.

OUR RISEN LORD.

REV. I. 17, 18.

' Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold! I am alive for evermore; Amen! and have the keys of hell and of death.'

INCOMPARABLE is the happiness of the true believer, unspeakably superior to the vain and shortlived pleasures of the world with all her charms for the world, even should she load her favourites with all her honours, and surround them here with every imaginable creature-comfort, will afford them nothing on which the soul can rest her hopes for eternity, will hold out nothing beyond the tomb, and leaves them at last to enter all alone, cheerless, comfortless, and unbefriended, into the gloomy regions of the king of terrors; while they launch forth with dismal uncertainty into the perilous depths of the unseen world.

But the true believer has hope in his end:' he possesses a solid and immoveable foundation, whereon he safely rests and enjoys undisturbed security, as to all his blessed and glorious prospects in the world to come. His hope is in Christ crucified, for the expiation of his sins;-in Christ risen again, for his justification with God. His hope is in the Lord, who once died' for the ungodly, but now is alive for evermore,' to make intercession for his people, to rebuke Satan the accuser, and prepare a dwelling in heavenly places for those who love him. This is that incarnate God, who appeared in the flesh of man before his death, and after his resurrection shewed himself still in the body to his chosen witnesses. This is that triumphant Saviour who, in the presence of his apostles, ascended on high with that body re-assumed, and having shown himself to St. Paul in that body glorified, revealed himself last of all to St. John in Patmos, giving him a full display of all his majesty, commanding him to write the vision for the comfort of his church in afterages, and delivering at the same time this plain declaration of his eternal godhead and immortal nature, for the confirmation of our hopes, to this very day,- Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore; Amen! and have the keys of hell and of death.'

This is the language of essential truth, and the authoritative testimony of God, who cannot

lie, concerning himself; consequently the subject is most solemn, to the consideration of which we should come with great diffidence, not without a lively spirit of prayer for the illuminations of divine grace, while we attempt to elucidate THE DOCTRINAL POINTS OF THE TEXT, and then offer

some PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS UPON THE USES OF THE SUBJECT.

I. With respect, then, to the DOCTRINAL POINTS which are recognized in the text, it may be observed generally, that the words of the Divine comprise all that is best calculated to give us the most exalted notions of the Saviour, and bring with them, to every believing soul, an incontestible argument for the identity of the man Christ Jesus, with him who is Lord over all, God blessed for ever.'

1. This ETERNAL GODHEAD may first claim our attention, while we proceed to enlarge on the clauses of the text, I am the First and the Last.' It should here be remarked, that the same declaration of himself is thrice attributed to our Lord in the prophet Isaiah ;- Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning, I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.' xli. 4. And again,- Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.' xliv. 6; and again,- Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel,

E

my called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.' xlviii. 12. These passages, being compared with the text, and with some other similar places in the Apocalypse, afford incontrovertible proof that Jehovah of the Old Testament, and Jesus of the New, are one and the same person. With respect, however, to the expression itself, it is equivalent to the other figure which the Lord uses in several places of this book; as for instance in the words, I was in the Spirit, on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,' &c. v. 10. 11. Alpha and Omega, being the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, in which the apostle wrote, serve appropriately for the purpose intended; and the emblem implies the same idea as that which the plain words of the text convey, that the person, who claims to himself such a title, is the first cause and the last end,-the author and finisher of all things in creation, providence, and grace; by whom all things were made, and in whom they all consist, the beginning of our faith, and the ending of our hope, the source of our existence and life, the spring of our holiness, and the fountain of all our bliss, our all in all ;-he, who is the completion of all these things, and in whom all his people are complete; who is the treasurehouse of infinite goodness and boundless grace; to whom belong wisdom and prudence; whose are justice, equity, and truth, for in him dwelleth all