ying, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Im that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the LAMB, for er and ever."

So great is the honour paid to the Redeemer, in heaven, and so much is his praise the occupation of all those who surround the eternal throne, that no one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ above all persons and things, is fit to enter the New Jerusalem, or to participate in the exercises of the place. All the dishonour which has been heaped upon him, is confined to this world. Here, indeed, he was despised and rejected of men-wounded, bruised, scourged, spitted on, mocked, and crucified. And here, he is still cru

cified afresh, and put to an open shame, by many who deny his divine mission, or the reality and efficacy of his atoning sacrifice. But, in heaven, no dishonour reaches this divine person: no unworthy thought ever enters any mind in that high and holy place. One such thought would hurl from his exalted seat the noblest of the creatures of God-like Lucifer, son of the morning, he would sink to rise no more. But there is no danger that one of the heavenly hosts will ever be guilty of such an offence. They are all confirmed in a state of holiness and felicity; and none more so, than those who were redeemed from among men. All are emulous to love and serve the Redeemer with all their powers. The angels received a commandment to worship him, when he appeared among men, in obscurity and humility; and, now, when he occupies the highest seat of majesty, at the right hand of God, they will not refuse to do him honour. He has now received, as Mediator, "a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The heavenly city, which the apostle beheld in vision, and the walls of which were of jasper and pure gold, and the foundations twelve different precious stones, and the gates twelve pearls, and whose streets were pure gold, as it were transparent glass, is represented, as having no temple in it; and

why? "For the Lord God Almighty and the LAMB are the temple of it." And as having neither sun nor moon, "For the glory of God did lighten it, and the LAMB is the light thereof." And the indelible record of that glorious city, which contains the names of all the living, is THE "LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE."

There may be, for aught we know, glorious exhibitions of God's character in other worlds, of an entirely different nature from any with which we are now acquainted; and as the inhabitants of other worlds are permitted to enjoy the advantage of contemplating the glorious works of God, of which our globe has been the theatre; so we may, hereafter, be privileged with the opportunity of learning much respecting the glory of the divine attributes, from exhibitions of which other creatures are the object. It would be a low and unreasonable conception of the Eternal God, to suppose, that his whole character is already revealed. In him there is an infinite variety and plenitude of divine perfections; of many of which, probably, no creature has yet formed any idea, and for the contemplation of which, man in his present state of existence, has no faculties. In the future progress of our being, new capacities may be developed, for which we have now no occasion; and we may, hereafter, possess means of knowledge, as remote from all our present conceptions, as is the faculty of vision from the ideas of one born blind; or the higher demonstrations of mathematics, from the thoughts of a mere child. At present, we are entirely ignorant of the specific nature of the powers of superior intelligences. We judge of their mental operations by a reference to the laws which govern the human mind; but this may be no more than a mere approximation to the truth; and yet it is the only way in which we can form any conception of them, whatever. We have reason to think, from what we read in the Bible, that those species of intelligent creatures which occupy a higher place than man in the scale of being, know a great deal more of us than we do of them; and while we are able to manifest no acts of kindness towards them, nor to be of service to them, in any way;

they are much occupied in assisting and guarding us. "Are they not all," says the apostle Paul, speaking of the angels, "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" "For he shall give his angels charge over thee," says the Psalmist, "to keep' thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy feet against a stone." "The angel of the Lord encampeth round them that fear him, and delivereth them."

There is no reason to apprehend any danger of forming conceptions too exalted of the Redeemer, and the work of redemption: but there is much reason to believe that the damning sin of the world, is, the neglecting, or making light of this wonderful exhibition of divine love. On this account, whole regions, once illumined with the light of the gospel, and planted with Christian churches, have been abandoned to darkness and desolation. "This is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." The greatest love when slighted and provoked, is converted into the most tremendous wrath; and accordingly, no wrath is spoken of as more terrible, than "THE Wrath of the LamB.”

In the work of creation, the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator, are gloriously displayed. "He hath," says Jeremiah, "made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." "The heavens," saith David, “declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handywork, day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night teacheth knowledge." And Paul testifies, "That the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead." So also in the work of redemption, God has gloriously manifested his holiness, wisdom, power, and love. The direct end of this work, however, was the manifestation of the grace of God; or, as Paul expresses it, "To THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE." Among all the wonderful things which belong to the character of Jehovah, there is nothing more marvellous or myste

rious, than his love to vile, miserable sinners. When creatures exercise love, there must be something amiable apprehended in the object, which is suited to call forth this affection: but in the love of God, it is not so. "But God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." If, unworthy and miserable as we were, we had first loved him, the thing would not be so entirely unaccountable; but there was nothing of this, "Not that we loved God, but that he loved us." "We love him because he first loved us." It was while we were "enemies," that he so loved us, as to send his only begotten and well-beloved Son to die for us.

"He spared "Herein is us, and sent

The degree of

And the intensity of the love of God, is as incomprehensible as its origin. To illustrate this subject, every analogy is inadequate, and every comparison fails. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." not his own Son, but gave him up for us all." love, not that we loved God, but that he loved his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." love must be measured by the value of the sacrifice which it is willing to make for the benefit of its object; and according to this scale, it is absolutely infinite. God gave his own Son, and Christ gave HIMSELF; not only to become a man, but to die on a cross. The fruits or effects of this love correspond with the intensity of its degree. It bestows on its objects the highest and most permanent good of which they are capable. The full value of the blessings purchased by this love can only be appreciated in eternity: they are far above what it hath entered into the mind of any one to conceive. There is a kingdom which is immoveable; a crown of righteousness and life; an inheritance "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" and a participation in the throne of the King of kings. There is a glory which shall be revealed to the sons of God, compared with which, all earthly glory is fading and worthless;-Even, "AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY." Now it is by the plan of redemption that this marvellous, mysterious love is displayed. Here then, from the gospel, the brightest rays

B

of divinity radiate. This is the most luminous point of all the revelations which God has made of his character.

GOD

IS LOVE. Paul, therefore, prays, that the Ephesian Christians, "might be able with all saints to comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." Many have attempted to render this wonderful love less incomprehensible, by the supposition, that God foresaw something good in those whom he chose for himself; but this explanation is diametrically repugnant to the uniform declarations of the word of God, which constantly ascribe all the blessings which are bestowed on sinners to the free, sovereign grace of God- TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL"-" Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." This method of explaining the subject may indeed remove the mystery which hangs over it, but it obscures the rich grace of the gospel. Let us then acquiesce in the plain and repeated testimonies of the word of God, and leave him to explain his own mysteries hereafter.

At first view, there might seem to be some danger that such an exhibition of love to sinners, as is given in the gospel, would have a tendency to obscure the justice and holiness of the divine character; and that the promulgation of such a doctrine would have the effect of relaxing the obligations to obedience, and encouraging men to sin that grace might abound. And, indeed, from the first publication of the doctrine of free grace and pardon for the chief of sinners, this objection has been made; but there is no foundation for it in the nature of the case, nor in the facts which have a bearing on it. God has so wisely contrived the plan of redemption, that the holiness and justice of God are more illustriously displayed in the cross, than they could have been in all the glorious rewards of obedience in heaven, and in all the tremendous punishments of the wicked in hell. The love of Christ has been made to flow to sinners, through such a channel as furnishes the most convincing evidence of the infinite purity of God. Here justice also receives an illustrious display by the sufferings of the Son of God, in the