phecy lifts off the veil which covers futurity but partially, or, to speak more correctly, it throws over those objects which it reveals a veil which, while it prevents us from seeing them clearly, admonishes us to check our curiosity by a believing and humble patience.

The neglect of this rule has introduced into this department of study a rashness and presumption, productive of great injury to the minds of individuals, and to the cause of religion in general. By attempting to fix the exact period at which certain predictions shall receive their accomplishment, and by putting arbitrary and fanciful interpretations on the language of prophecy, the Scriptures have been exposed to the derision of infidels, the confidence of professing Christians in the certainty of the Word of God has been shaken, and the minds of many have been withdrawn from the great truths of the gospel, and the active discharge of the duties of their station. Almost all the extravagant opinions and practices of the present day may be traced to this origin. Hence it is that some, from being interpreters of prophecy, have set up for prophets themselves, or have encouraged others in the delusive notion that they possessed the prophetic spirit, or other gifts connected with it; and hence it is that, notwithstanding the express premonition of our Lord, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;" and "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ! or lo, there! believe it not"-the minds of not a few are directed to an imaginary appearance and visible reign of the Son of man on earth, to the exclusion of all due regard to his first coming, when he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and his second coming at the end of the world, without sin, unto the salvation of them that look for him.

6. We may only advert farther on this head, to the wonder that the friends of truth and reformation should be so divided in sentiment and communion. Considering that these are so feeble in point of numbers, and that the force of their public testimony depends so much on their united exertions, it is truly surprising that so little of a spirit of enlightened and scriptural union should exist among them; and that so generally they should be on the watch to increase their own little parties, by

fishing in disturbed waters, and picking up treasures from the wreck of ruined establishments.

II. I proceed now to consider the exercise and conduct which become us in contemplating and enquiring into these wonders. Cold speculations about the mystery of Providence, how clear and correct soever they may be, are as unprofitable, I should say pernicious, as when they have for their object the mystery of redemption. In both cases, the speculatist perishes like the philosopher who was frozen to death, while making observations on the weather and the heavenly bodies within the frigid zone. The men of Issachar are praised for their "understanding of the times;" but it is added, "they knew what Israel ought to do;" and what their hands found to do, they did it with all their might.

1. Our enquiries into the wonders of Providence in our time should be conducted with holy adoration of the doings of God. This is a feeling which the student of Providence needs always to preserve and cherish in his breast. He may expect to meet at every turn with something which is strange and startling, and to him unaccountable. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" It is peculiarly necessary to keep this feeling alive in the time of affliction, personal or public. To justify God when he is measuring out hard things to us to entertain favourable thoughts of him—to celebrate his holiness, righteousness, and sovereignty, when we are smarting under his rod—is no easy task. O'tis difficult in such circumstances (and that the best of his saints have found it) to avoid misconstructing his conduct, by drawing rash and hasty conclusions from it-to keep from murmuring and repining, and charging God foolishly ; and still more difficult is it to glorify him in the fires, and to say, "He hath done all things well!"

Yet this is our duty-our high duty, and if we fail here, no part of our exercise can be right-all is marred. Holy Jeremiah was deeply sensible of this; and, therefore, before pouring out his complaint to God, and enquiring into the causes

*

of the great anger which had gone forth against the cities of Judah, he reminds himself of the divine rectitude, and protests that nothing which he might utter in the agony of grief, or in the ardour of expostulation, should be understood as insinuating the slightest reflection on that immaculate and bright attribute. "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments." Of the same import are the words of another prophet:-" Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity-wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he ?" And hence the enlightened conclusion to which he came (for it is when we are in the attitude of adoration that we see farthest into the mystery of Providence): "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.Ӡ

To maintain this becoming frame of spirit, let us meditate on the infinite distance between God and us-his majesty and our meanness, his sovereign propriety and our absolute dependence, his uncontrollable authority and our unconditional subjection, his wisdom and our ignorance, his purity and our vileness, the eternity of his plans and the yesterday conception of ours. And let us call in to our aid the recollection of his dealings with his church in former times, and the wonderful manner in which he has made the darkest dispensations to produce the happiest and most glorious results.

2. The contemplation of these wonders calls for deep humiliation. No man will ever give glory to God by owning the righteousness of his judgments, until he is brought to a due sense of his own sinfulness, and humbled on account of it; nor will the Holy One remove the tokens of his displeasure from an individual or a people, so long as they remain proud and impenitent. This is the ordinary rule of his procedure, as solemnly announced from ancient times :-" If they shall con

fess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them; if their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant-and I will remember the land." This was the exercise to which they were brought, when God turned again the captivity of Zion. In this way was Daniel employed, when the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem came forth. "I set my face," says he, "unto the Lord my God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession." Such was the exercise to which the captives were brought collectively, as we see in the fast which they proclaimed at the river Ahava, “to afflict themselves before their God and to seek of Him a right way."t Such was their exercise repeatedly after their return, when involved in transgression; they solemnly confessed their sin, and renewed the covenant of their fathers. In this manner was fulfilled the prediction :-" In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."||

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And thus it was eminently in our own land in times of reformation, and particularly after seasons of defection. Those who are acquainted with the history of our church, know that on these occasions her breaches were repaired, and her lost privileges recovered, amidst deep acknowledgments of sin, and the renewal of early-plighted but violated vows. Our land exhibited the picture of a Bochim, before she put on the appearance of a Hephzibah. The absence of this exercise on the deliverance wrought by God at the Revolution, was deplored by some of the best friends of the Church of Scotland. To this neglect of duty, among other things, we must

* Lev. xxvi, 40-42. † Dan. ix. 3-8, 13, 14.

Ezra, viii, 21.

Jer. 1. 4.

trace those evils which have wasted that church for a long century; and it were little less than belying God's word to expect that we shall escape from these, so long as we remain unhumbled. The Lord of hosts is calling to weeping and mourning and fasting; but behold, joy and gladness, eating flesh and drinking wine.

There is nothing more offensive to the Holy One than pride and self-confidence; and yet how generally do these prevail! The Secession Church has waxed vain of its numbers, and engaged in an attempt which is calculated to rob the King of kings of the homage due to him from the nations of the world, and to injure the best interests of society both civil and religious. On the other hand the Established Church seems little less disposed to boast of her numbers, her endowments, her legal securities, and her exclusive possession of royal countenance. The latter charges the former with entering into an unholy alliance with infidels, heretics, and profane persons, for overthrowing establishments; the former retorts that the latter retains persons of such characters within her pale. I enter not into an examination of the justice of these mutual criminations; but I say, that between them there is an almost total want of that spirit which our conduct and our circumstances equally demand; and that a proud and haughty tone to our fellow-creature covers a spirit of rebellion against the Almighty.

All parties and denominations have great reason for humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God, and deprecating his just and heavy displeasure. Those who may retain a profession and communion in some due degree of conformity to Scripture, have ground to mourn over their departure from first love, in the want of that spirit which animates, and that deportment which adorns, a confession of the name of Christ. "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen; and repent, and do the first works."

3. These wonders ought to be contemplated and enquired into in the exercise of fervent prayer. This is the language of the text, for every question put to God is a prayer.