represent the Father and the Son as if they were divided in their councils; that it was the intention of the Father that his elect people should be saved, but that a more general intention occupied the mind of the Son, in achieving and accomplishing the work of redemption. Now we conceive with reference to that work, from first to last, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are one: and that if it was the will of the Father with reference to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that not one of his little ones should perish, the same is the will of the Son in accomplishing the work of redemption, and the same is the will of the Holy Spirit in the application of that work to every believer's heart. Whatever difficulties may be supposed to be avoided in the matter, by any attempt at representing the object of redemption as more wide and general than it is, we apprehend that these difficulties are only removed and still removed forward, to be met and encountered again and again; and that the mystery will remain the same, inscrutable to any attempt of finite comprehension; save that when all might have been left to perish, multitudes by the grace and the mercy of God should be freely and of his sovereignty saved.

But we would further remark that the work of Christ was designed to accomplish that intention, and is efficacious to its accomplishment. This observation seems to us derivable from the connexion in which the language of the text stands, when it says, "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish;" these words are connected with the preceding words, which describe the Saviour as come to save that which was lost; and the account that he gives of himself, as the good shepherd going into the wilderness, and recovering these wanderers. "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." How does he prove that it is not his will? By the work that the Saviour accomplished on behalf of his people. The object of that work, then, is the restoration of the wandering and lost sheep; the bringing back of his banished ones; the redemption of his elect people; and the preventing of the perishing for ever, of those who otherwise must have been eternally lost. As in this is implied the object and work of redemption, so is it likewise implied that that work shall issue in the accomplishment of that object: otherwise in such close connexion with the assertion is the work itself, that it could not be brought forward as a proof, that the will of our Father which is in heaven, is to save us; nor could Christ if he had not accomplished that will say, with reference to himself, that the work which his heavenly Father gave him to accomplish he had accomplished.

The doctrine of the passage we have been considering is a doctrine which will illustrate the truth of the statement, that there is a fulness and an efficiency in the work of Jesus Christ to accomplish the salvation of the whole world, if the whole world would come and put their trust in that work for their salvation. It is a doctrine that will not allow us to view the design of redemption as a mere general abstract design; but we must regard it as one designed and accomplished for a particular purpose, which purpose was the will of the Father and the Son, accomplished in the salvation of Christ's believing people. Indeed we know not what is meant by considering the redemption of Christ as an atonement for sin in the abstract; for sin in the abstract we conceive is a thing that has no existence. We must consider it as exhibited in the persons and conduct of sinners; and we cannot conceive of atonement for sin as efficacious

unti you have referred it to individuals by whom sin has been committed, and it has been presented on behalf of those who have been guilty of the transgression.

While, therefore, we magnify the work of Christ, while we say there are no limits to its infinite efficacy, by applying it to the individual that believes, we rejoice in the assurance that he died the just for the unjust; that he gave his life a ransom for his people; that in the counsels of eternity, and in the accomplishment of redemption, the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are one, and that in the coming of Christ and in the Saviour's death, we read that it is not the will of our Father which is in heaven, that one of his little ones should perish.

And in applying the subject we have been considering, we ask you, my hearers, have you yet learnt that your characters are that of lost and wandering sheep? Have you yet once thought of listening to that great Shepherd? Then you must at last wander on to your own everlasting undoing. You are ever being sought after by Him who has represented himself to you in such engaging characters in the Gospel of his word. Have you ever sought this Shepherd, or have you given any evidence that you are of the number of those whom he has sought after, and whom he has graciously restored? With reference to such an important subject as this, should we be satisfied while we are still wanderers? Should we be contented while we are in such danger of being eternally lost? While we have the assurance of this good and gracious Shepherd before us that he is come to save that which is lost, shall we not lay hold of the hope set before us in the Gospel, and seek an interest in that finished work, which is so effectual for the accomplishment of the purposes of divine and everlasting mercy? If the great Shepherd rejoices over the wandering sheep that is found, as he brings it back, and if there is then joy in the presence of the angels of God, what thanks and what gratitude do we owe him for the mercy that he has displayed in seeking after us, in giving himself for the salvation of his believing people, in providing the various means of grace by which he is drawing sinners to himself, and restoring them to the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls? But if we profess to thank him for these means of grace, and to rejoice over them, have they been effectual to our restoration? Have we heard the Shepherd's voice speaking to us in his word; have we accepted the invitations of his mercy and are we safely folded in the pastures of his love, coming in and going out, finding rest and peace unto our souls in and through Jesus Christ?

May we be enabled to examine ourselves upon these important points! However much we may have hitherto neglected these plain and obvious principles of the Bible, and been disposed to trifle with them, may every individual here present be henceforth a living and practical illustration of what we have now been considering. To God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be endless praises. Amen,

THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE GOSPEL.

REV. V. WARD,

GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL, JULY 27, 1834.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is goed; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"—MICAH, vi. &.

In a preceding verse the Prophet introduces a person inquiring, "Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? -how he may worship him so as to be accepted of him: an inquiry most rational, proper, and important. But to those persons who have God's revelation, the inquiry, as proposed especially to any fellow-creature, or as made to God himself, is superseded.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good." Those who are blessed with the privilege of possessing the Jewish Scriptures, know how they may approach God with acceptance; but much more those who are blessed with the privilege of possessing the Christian Scriptures, the whole counsel of God, his entire revelation. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;" and if thou art not in possession of what is good, it is not for want of the means of knowing what is good if thou art walking in error, thine error is awful. The way of truth is open and plain before thee.

There have been, as many of you know, considerable disputes in those countries where the Scriptures were unknown, with regard to man's chief or sovereign good. God hath decided the controversy in regard to those who receive the Scriptures. Religion is man's chief good. It is good in its origin ; it cometh down from the Father of lights: it is good in its nature; it is good In its tendency, and in its end. It is man's chief good. It possesses those properties which are essential to any thing claiming such a distinction.

There is nothing in it but what is most fit, and proper, and suitable to man, whether considered in himself, or in his relation to God or to his fellowcreatures. In many of the things pointed out by the ancients as man's chief good, there was much that was unsuitable, improper, and wicked. Religion possesses another quality which was not possessed by the various objects presented by the persons alluded to, to their fellow-creatures: it is a satisfying good. It is a good which possesses the power of healing all the various disorders of the human mind and heart: it possesses the power to console, comfort, exhilarate, and delight the redeemed spirit of man, in all the circumnstances through which, in the providence of God, he may be called to pass in this world. It is a universal good; not a good restricted to any class of persons, to the persons of any one age, or country, or locality. It is a good as

well suited to the wants of the prince as of the peasant, and of the peasant as of the prince. It is a good needed by the learned and the illiterate, the rich and the poor. It is a good which our God hath mercifully provided for all, and which he waits to bestow upon all. It is an everlasting good; not a good which terminates with our present existence, but as vast as the necessities and capacities of the human spirit; a good lasting as the duration of that spirit; a good to be enjoyed in another world under circumstances far more delightful, and blessed, and glorious, than we can at present imagine.

"What doth the Lord require of thee?" That is, What is the substance of those duties which are incumbent upon thee, in seeking and in holding fast this chief good? You remember that God wrote the law, often called “the Law of Moses," upon two tables of stone. Upon the first table God wrote those duties which man owes immediately to his God, and on the second table, those duties which we owe to one another. You remember that when Moses came down from the mount, having these tables of the law in his hand, and found the children of Israel revelling in an idolatrous feast, he broke the tables of the law. Now we find many people breaking the tables of the law one against another. Here is one person cries up what he calls piety, but he is exceedingly indifferent to the claims of morality. Walking with God" is the subject which occupies all his conversation (so far as religion is the subject of it), while he forgets justice and mercy. Another man piques himself upon his honour, his integrity, the correctness of his dealings with his fellowcreatures, and his benevolence of heart and of conduct; while he neglects, if he does not despise piety. But He who requires that we "walk humbly with God," requires that we "do justly and love mercy;" and He who requires that man should "do justly and love mercy," requires that he should "walk humbly with God."

The table of the law which instructs us in our duty to God, is generally the first presented to our notice in the Scriptures: in the text the order is reversed. It is required that every man do justly to his fellow-man. This commandment is exceedingly broad. Those persons who have not studied it, nor made it the subject of their meditation, as the "blessed" man is described in the first Psalm as doing, and of whom it is said that he "meditates thereon day and night," and that "his delight is in it"-those who have not so studied it are perhaps not aware how extensive are the claims of justice. We are required to act with the exactest integrity and uprightness towards our fellowcreatures in all respects, and towards every one of our fellow-creatures; to "do justly"—to act with integrity, uprightness, and correctness, in reference to the person of our neighbour, the property of our neighbour, the family of our neighbour, the reputation of our neighbour, the opinions and the feelings of our neighbour. And there is one rule of justice which we should wear— not upon our garments; not merely as frontlets between our eyes; not as bracelets on our arms-a rule not merely to be written in our parlours, and kitchens, and shops, and counting-houses-but which should be written upon our hearts: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them for this is the law and the prophets." This is the grand rule of justice and righteousness, of conduct and speech, yea, and of thinking also, to be observed towards our fellow-creatures.

But this is not all. We are not to do justice strictly. Every man, whatever

his character, however degraded in society, however wicked, however unjust himself, however false—every man has a right to expect justice at our hand. And this cannot be dispensed with with impunity. We are not to think that we have done all that is required of us towards our fellow-creature when we have done him strict justice: he hath other claims upon us; God hath given him those claims. We are to "do justly, and to love mercy:" mercy which is ever ready to listen to complaints-ever ready, according to the ability of the person in whose heart mercy lives, to relieve the wants, to pardon the offences, to cover the faults; mercy which delights to imitate the Father of mercies; to do good according to its power to all mankind, under all circumstances, but "especially to them who are of the household of faith." We must act impartially as to the objects of our attention when we are shewing mercy. We must remember there is an object which we are most likely to overlook, but which is particularly presented before us by the God of our life and our salvation it is our enemy. We would rather shew kindness to those who shew kindness to us; we would rather dispense favours where we have received favours; we would rather invite to partake of our bounty, if we have any thing to bestow, those who have conducted themselves in like manner towards us. But to look askance at our enemy, to think of him with displeasure, if not with wrath, sometimes with malignity, and ready to inquire how we can be revenged, is forbidden by Him who hath said, " Avenge not yourselves : vengeance is mine: I will repay." "If thine enemy hunger, feed hím; if he thirst, give him drink; if he be naked, clothe him: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head :" as the artists are in the habit of doing: when they wish to extract the precious metal from the ore, they heap upon it large quantities of fire that they may soften and melt it.

But the text does not say "Be merciful:" no, that is not enough: there must not only be merciful conduct and language, but a merciful heart within us : "Do justly and love mercy." It must be our delight to shew mercy. I remember a scene which took place at Bristol nearly thirty years ago. The venerable Mr. Dawson, a Methodist preacher, (known I dare say to some of the elder persons in this congregation) had had some unpleasant correspondence with a younger minister, now also I believe in the heavenly world. They met together, and mutually explained. "O sir," said the young man, "I was not aware of that; if that be the state of the case, I beg your pardon, sir." The good old man took him by his arms and saluted him, and said, "Pardon! it is the easiest thing in this world with me to forgive." The scene made an impression on my heart which still remains, and will remain. And if we possess the good things of religion which come down from heaven, it will be the easiest, or one of the easiest, things in the world for us to forgive. The man who goes to his closet, and comes out again with a sour, malignant temper, and who cannot think or speak of a person who has offended him but with deep malignity and sourness of heart, may have the form of religion, but to the power of it he must be a stranger. We should feel that we are in our very element when we have an opportunity of shewing mercy either to the bodies or the sonls of our fellow-creatures, and particularly those who have made themselves

our enemies.

"And walk humbly with thy God." This means at least three things reconciliation, affection, and intercourse.