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God has made with his soul? Will he not admire its beauteous aspect of mercy towards himself, its rich provisions, its extensive benefits, and unchangeable perpetuity? He will remember how David described it when he said, "Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; this is all my salvation, and all my desire." So will it be all his salvation, and all his desire. He will rest on it for the acceptance of his soul; he will desire it as his sufficient and satisfying portion. Although his temporal affairs and the circumstances of his family, may not be so with God as he could wish them to be, yet, contemplating the character of the covenant made with him as everlasting, well ordered in all things, and suré, he will experience a holy and heavenly peace, and feel the most strengthening and invigorating emotions. The sight of the Rainbow will bring these reflections into his mind, and with infinite delight may he go home from contemplating its beauty, and opening his bible may read that passage which I lately

quoted from the 54th chapter of Isaiah, or this of King David which I have now been repeating from the 23rd chapter of the second book of Samuel, or the description of the new covenant and its spiritual blessings given by the Apostle in the 8th chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews, wherein he says, "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Happy the man who can go from contemplating this interesting object of nature to meditate on the infinite grace of God to his soul.

And will not his thoughts be led to the Mediator of this covenant, even the blessed Jesus, the eternal Son, who "being the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high ?" Will he not think that that throne on which he is seated, had round about

it, as it was seen by the Apostle John, a rainbow in sight like unto an emerald? And will not this dispose him to think of that mercy and compassion, which appear conspicuously in every part of his undertaking for the redemption and final glory of his believing people? Will not mercy Will not mercy shine more brightly in the face of Jesus Christ, than in either the bow that appears in the cloud, or that which surrounds the throne? Yes truly he will know, that He is the only medium through which divine forbearance and mercy and love are received; and in every scriptural record of the Redeemer's character, as in every line of the covenant of which he is the mediator, he will read his own security from the final pouring out of the vials of the wrath of God upon the impenitent and unbelieving. With what admiring and adoring emotions will he contemplate the Saviour's mercy, power, and grace! With what fulness of gratitude and love will he cry, "whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee."

This happy art, my Christian brethren,

of improving every suitable object that is visible in nature to the raising of spiritual and devout affections in our hearts, we should all desire to learn. And well shall we be repaid for learning it for while it induces a spiritual mindedness, and forms a meetness for heaven, it produces the happiest sensations which the human heart can feel. We rise by it from earth to heaven; step after step we mount upwards, as on Jacob's ladder, till in spirit we meet the angels descending to commune with us, till in spirit we enter into the presence of God, and behold the glory of his Son. It is thus, my Christian brethren, that we not only render all earthly objects subservient to our highest interests, but extract from them the richest sweets which they contain. May the Holy Spirit of grace, the effectual teacher of every thing good, enable you to read many lessons from other objects similar to those which are taught by the rainbow, and as you read them may he shed abroad the love of God on your hearts, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, in the most abundant measure,

Alas that any, with every proof of divine power, mercy, and goodness, daily before their eyes, and with the Bible, that heavenly book of spiritual instruction, in their hands, should be little better than the beasts of the field, as if they had no God to love and worship, nor souls of their own to be saved! Alas that any should be negligent of the mercy proposed to them in the Gospel, and shew no desire for a part in the covenant of peace which it sets before them! Except these shall repent and be converted, and come to a better mind, a more terrible judgment awaits them than that from the fear of which they are delivered by the appearance of the Rainbow. They may die a natural death in their beds, with every attention and comfort which their families and friends can give, but their souls will perish eternally. I pray for you also. May God give you grace to seek a personal interest in that covenant, of which Christ is the mediator, that you may obtain the salvation which it conveys to every true believer.

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