self-existence of God is atheism. To doubt it is to tremble over the darkest gulf that ever yawned. Yet who can understand its nature? But the fact is beyond a question. So the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is clearly revealed in every possible form of speech. He is repeatedly called God and Jehovah. He is said to do divine works, to receive, by God's command, divine. honors, and to exercise divine prerogatives. He created all things. He upholds all things. He forgives sins. He made the worlds. He is worshipped by all holy angels and redeemed men. He shall judge the world. These things are so clearly revealed of him that it is perverseness to deny them. Let no man be offended in Christ because of his glory, or the mystery that surrounds him. Were there nothing incomprehensible about him, he would not be able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. If God teaches this doctrine, it is true, whether you comprehend it or not. We know not how the grass grows. It is all mystery to us how soil, and air, and water, are converted into vegetable substances. It is all mystery to us how bread, and honey, and milk, and meat, are converted into blood, and made to nourish our frames. It is indeed a mystery to us how Christ may be both God and man. But, unless we honor the Son as we honor the Father, we shall be found in open rebellion against God. Jesus himself said: "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."

Nor is the glorious mystery of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead offensive to pious minds. It is for a rejoicing that He, who made us, He, who redeemed us, and He, who sanctifies us, is the one eternal, unchangeable, indivisible Jehovah, subsisting in three persons. The favorite objection urged against this doctrine, from the days of Celsus and Lucian, down to this hour is, its mysteriousness. Lucian's "One three, three one" is repeated in our day by persons who would be very unwilling to enrol their names with his, though they take up the ribaldry, and sit in the seat of that ancient scorner. That everything pertaining to God is, in some points, inscrutable, is not denied. Were it otherwise, who could adore him? When I perfectly understand all about a being, I know that he is either my inferior, or my equal, and so I cannot pay him religious worship. The pious Hervey well says: "I am no more surprised that some revealed truths should amaze my understanding, than that the blazing sun should dazzle my eyes." Robert Hall, speaking of inscru table things in religion, says: "We rejoice that they are mysterious, so far from being ashamed of them on that account; since the principal reason why they are, and must ever continue such, is derived from their elevation, from their unsearchable riches and undefinable grandeur." Dr. Leonard Woods, of Andover, says: "The end of our being does not require that we should. completely comprehend either the Creator, or the creation. Were we called to exercise dominion over the universe, it would indeed be necessary that we should be omniscient. But for those, whose business it is to obey and submit, omniscience is not necessary. On inquiry, it will appear that all the most

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momentous and useful truths relate to objects which are preeminently incomprehensible." Bishop Waterland says: "No just objection can be made against the importance of any doctrine, from its mysterious nature. The most mysterious of all are, in reality, the most important; not because they are mysterious, but because they relate to things divine, which must, of course, be mysterious to weak mortals, and, perhaps, to all creatures whatever. But even mysterious doctrines have a bright side, as well as a dark one; and they are clear to look upon, though too deep to be seen through." Richard Baxter says: "The mystery of the incarnation alone may find you work to search and admire many ages." John Newton says: "If I did not find many things in the Bible proposed rather to my faith than to my reason, I could not receive it as a revelation from God, because it would want the grand characteristic of his majesty." Dr. Scott says: "The mystery of godliness continued a great mystery after the fullest revelation of it. The revelation and belief of it have always been, and are, the beginning and spring of all pious dispositions and affections in the hearts of fallen men, and of all the spiritual worship of God in the world." Bishop Sherlock, no less pertinently observes, that "So far is it from being an objection against the Gospel of Christ, that it contains many wonderful mysteries of the hidden wisdom of God, that, as our case stands, without a mystery, it is impossible for us to be saved: for, since reason and nature cannot find the means of rescuing sinners from punishment, and of making atonement to the justice of God; since they cannot prescribe a proper satisfaction for sin, in which the honor of God and the salvation of men shall be at once consulted; since they cannot remedy the corruption that has spread through the race of mankind, or infuse new principles of virtue and holiness into the souls already subdued to the lust and power of sin; since, if they could procure our pardon for what is past, they cannot secure us for the future from the same temptations, which by fatal experience we know we cannot withstand: since, I say, these things cannot be done by the means of reason and nature, they must be done by such means as reason and nature know nothing of; that is, in other words, they must be done by mysterious means, of the propriety of which we can have no adequate notion or conception.

"If you stand in need of no new favor, if you aim not so high as eternal life, religion without mysteries may well serve your turn. The principles of natural religion tend to procure the peace and tranquillity of this life; and the not distinguishing between religion as a rule of life for our present use and wellbeing here, and as the means of obtaining pardon for sin and eternal life hereafter, may have in some measure occasioned the great complaint against the mysteries of the gospel: for mysteries are not indeed the necessary parts of religion, considered only as a rule of action; but most necessary they are to it, when considered as a means of obtaining pardon and eternal glory.

And this farther shows, how unreasonably men object against the mysterious wisdom of the gospel, since all that the gospel prescribes to us as our duty is plain and evident; all that is mysterious is on God's part, and relates entirely to the surprising acts of divine wisdom and mercy in the redemption of the world. Consider the gospel then as a rule of action, no religion was ever so plain, so calculated upon the principles of reason and nature; so that natural religion itself had never more natural religion in it. If we consider the end proposed to us, and the means used to entitle us to the benefit of it, it grows mysterious, and soars above the reach of human reason; for God has done more for us than reason could teach us to expect, or can now teach us to comprehend. Let us then do our part, which we plainly understand, and let us trust in God that he will do his; though it exceeds the strength of human wisdom to comprehend the length and depth and breadth of that wisdom and mercy, which God has manifested to the world through his Son Christ Jesus our Lord." Nor does God's word teach any different doctrine. In fact, it fully supports these views. Paul said: "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Let us love all that God has spoken. If it fills us with reverence and godly fear, if it humbles us in the dust, if it awakens pious wonder, if it stirs us up to diligence in looking into these things, it must be of excellent use. But to carp at God's word, or any portion thereof, is both criminal and dangerLet every man beware, lest Christ and his salvation, be to him for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence; for a gin and for a snare; for many among men shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

6. What madness it is for any creature to be found fighting against God. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. He hides himself, and all nature stands aghast. He passes by, and a great and strong wind rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces the rocks. He utters his voice, and the earth melts. He wills it, and a world arises. He frowns, and the pillars of heaven tremble. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. All nations are before him as nothing." "He bringeth princes to nothing." "He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity." Before him, the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers. can resist such a God? Some have fought against him, but who ever conquered him or escaped a certain overthrow? Was there ever a company of more consummate fools than Pharaoh and his great men, although they thought to "deal wisely." Behold the horse and his rider, the warrior and the chariot, sunk like lead in the mighty waters. "The Lord is a man of war. *** He hath triumphed gloriously. * * * Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Let every

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man know that the Lord, he is God, and that to put one's self in array against him is to advertise the whole universe that he is a fool, bent on his own eternal undoing. A feather can never resist the fires of a furnace, the elements cannot withstand the intense heat of the last day; neither can a worm of the dust stand out against God. Sin is as foolish as it is criminal. If, in temporal affairs, any man violated the laws of his existence, as in spiritual affairs every wicked man does, any court would pronounce him a madman, and subject him to the restraints of a lunatic asylum. Wisdom says: "Whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death." To think of God's wrath is fearful. To taste it is worse than a potion of wormwood and gall. To endure it is intolerable. A drop of it fell into the conscience of Belshazzar, and his knees smote together; of Herod, and he gave up the ghost; of Judas, and he turned suicide. A few drops of it have sent the voice of wailing along every valley and over every mountain in a great nation. A sprinkle of it fell on sinning angels, and, in a moment, they shrivelled into devils. A vial of it broken on our globe will yet send it blazing through the universe. The fierceness of that wrath will cow the spirit of devils, and make sinners of our race wish they had never been born. "Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath."

7. With so great a God, great sinners may hope to find great mercy. He punishes, but He also pardons, like a God. He shows compassion to the chief of sinners. His loving-kindness reaches to the heavens. If any of us shall not be saved, it will not be because God is not merciful; but because we are proud, rebellious, and self-righteous. Sometimes we think our sins too great to be pardoned by the Lord. But this is because of our wicked unbelief. Hear his own words of love; "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Such offers ought to silence all our cavils, and put to shame all our unbelief. If we knew more of God, we should be less apt to distrust him. He, who has spent all his days among the mountains which lift their brows above the clouds, and has never seen any body of water greater than the mountain torrent, may naturally doubt whether there is water enough on earth to cover the peaks of his native land. But let him once cross the Atlantic, let him put down his lead thousands of fathoms, let him find that it is three thousand miles wide and yet greater in length, and he will see how all his native mountains could be buried in the sea. So our sins are great, truly as great as we ever thought them to be. But God's mercy is greater than we have ever imagined. Let us explore it and meditate upon it, till we see how He can pardon iniquity, pass by transgression, delight in mercy, have compassion on us, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

8. The true glory of churches is the presence and blessing of

Jehovah. The great difference between the two houses that Solomon built was, that one was his own domicil, while the other was an habitation for the Lord. The great difference between a saint and a sinner is, that one is the temple of Belial, and the other the temple of the Lord. In monarchical governments, it is esteemed a great honor to live or to worship in the same house with the king. But wherever churches are animated with real love to God, the King of kings blesses the place of their meeting with his presence. This is honor indeed. What a glorious promise is that, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The fulfilment is

as certain as the blessing promised is inestimable. How foolish are we when we put our confidence in means and men, in singers and preachers, to make the sanctuary a delight. They may provide for the proprieties of things. Even a corpse may be decently arrayed. But if the place of meeting is to be made to our souls the house of God, and the gate of heaven, if we, who are naturally dead in trespasses and sins, are to be made alive unto God, it must be by the gracious presence of Him whose we are, and whom we serve. Let God's people never weary of looking to Him, who is the glory of his people Israel. Let them never vainly imagine that they are anything, or can do anything as of themselves. Without him they can do nothing. That was a wise prayer of Moses, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." If God go before us, our enemies shall be scattered. If he be our rereward, our enemies shall not overtake us. If he be our portion, we shall not want. If he be our glory, we shall be eternally illustrious.

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9. What a capital error is that which teaches that God can be fitly represented or worshipped by images. To bow down to the sun, moon, and stars, and worship all the host of heaven, or to "change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible men, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things," ought to be by all people held and declared idolatry. In his being, perfections, works, and ways, God is incomparable. "Among the gods, there is none like thee, O LORD; neither are there any works like unto thy works." Who in the heavens can be compared unto the LORD; who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?" "To whom will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" The greatness of the sin of worshipping images, or of worshipping God by images, arises from these facts: It is positively forbidden in many portions of Scripture; it is contrary to God's spirituality; it degrades all our conceptions of Jehovah to a depth of debasement intolerable to God. "We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." The spirit of the first and the letter of the second commandment forbid such worship. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the ini