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A serab ichuvue qui jote cvic-roone yd, no paiga ravqeib yumibro MALACHII, 11.ou to ydnow di ti For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going -down of the same, my name shall be great among *** the gentiles. ng alt at vole drum and hig souls teit?! nitromeneo la dati ot ti asenovo Ir is the ordinary arrangement of Jehovah to accomplish his purposes by the instrumentality of secondary causes; it is also his usual arrangement to accomplish these purposes by slow degrees. Rarely does any object in the physical, or intellectual, or spiritual world, reach the full perfection of its nature without the lapse of considerable time. The natural. seed, the particle of wheat, or of corn, does not attain to maturity immediately after being deposited in the earth, but is making gradual progress for days, and weeks, and months. It presents to the eye first the blade, then the car, as an earnest in due season of the full corn in the ear. The intellectual principle in man, like the members of his body, ordinarily attains its utmost vigour through a long continued progress. As much cultivation is requisite, much time must also elapse, before his powers evolve, and the faculties of the infant arrive at the perfect maturity of manhood. The full-orbed day does not burst upon the world

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with the earliest perceptible dawn of the morning. A few solitary rays of light first appear, afterwards' a brighter radiance becomes visible, and these in due season are succeeded by the full splendours of noon. The Creator of the world did not execute his great work of creation in an instant, or an hour. That vast edifice, which he could have completed in a moment, with as much facility as in an age, he was carrying on, by successive steps, for several days: And it is worthy of notice that, in his ordinary dispensa-) tions, the more interesting and magnificent the scheme, which a sovereign God designs to accomplish, the more slow is the progress, by which he advances it to its final consummation." What a long o succession of ages, for instance, intervened between! the disclosure of the promise in paradise relative to Messiah, and its actual completion in his birth, and sufferings, and death, and resurrection. Such has eminently been the divine procedure, with respect to the diffusion of the Gospel among the nations of the earth. Nearly six thousand years have revolved, since the standard of Jesus the Saviour was erected, and the foundation of his spiritual kingdom commenced, in our world; and yet how comparatively limited is the sphere, over which it has extended; how often has its progress been impeded, and, to human appearance, its very existence endangered. But amidst all the intrigue of false friends, and the opposition of the unmasked enemies of the cross, this kingdom is gradually enlarging its boundaries: It shall ultimately become co-extensive with the limits of the earth, and comprehend, as its voluntary subjects, all the nations of men;-"for," saith the Lord

God, "from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the gentiles."

The imagery employed by the inspired prophet, is sublime and interesting beyond conception. We paint in our imaginations the sun, the Prince of day, rising in the east, advancing irresistibly in the path prescribed for him, and visiting, in his majestic march, the remotest boundaries of the earth; so shall that Gospel, which brings to light immortality and life, diffuse its radiance over all the kindreds of mankind; it shall, like the natural sun, its illustrious emblem, illumine and gladden, in its career, the inhabitants of every region under heaven. There is another truth probably suggested by the prophet, that as the spiritual light, like the natural, shall be universally dif fused, so the course of the one shall correspond to the course of the other.

It is no novel remark that the progress of the Gospel, this great moral luminary, has been usually toward the west. In the east, the first ray of hope beamed upon our world, in the annunciation of a Saviour; and since that period, the knowledge of his salvation has been gradually spreading to the west, in the increase and dispersion of the human family. In the east the true light again burst forth in the call of Abraham, the father of the faithful, and afterward extended towards the west, in the journeyings of Isaac, and Jacob, and their numerous offspring. And it is comparatively but a few years since the light of life shone upon this western hemisphere, in the migration of our venerable ancestors from England, and Scotland, and Holland, and other countries of Europe.

Without making any formal division of this subject, I would respectfully invite your attention to the import of the name of Jehovah; to the assurances afforded us that this name shall become great over the whole earth; and to the principal means, by which the knowledge of the divine name will probably be propagated among the nations.

Names, in their usual acceptation, are terms of distinction. By the application of these, man is distinguished from man. The name of God may, therefore, with propriety be considered as comprehending every thing, by which he is made known; every outward, visible display, by which his being, and perfections, and glory, are brought more clearly to the view of his rational creatures.

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This material world which we occupy, is his name; it affords an obvious and luminous exhibition of the existence and attributes of its Creator. What wisdom, what munificence, what might, what majesty shine forth in all his works; in their measureless inmensity, and almost infinite variety. What various forms and properties characterize matter merely inanimate; and what various propensities and capacities appear in all that is animated or rational. What difference of dimension between the little atom, which floats almost invisible in the air, and that sun, which marches majestic in the heavens, enlightening and enlivening the whole system. How immensely different is the physical strength of the insect, which moves unseen upon the earth, and that of the ox or the elephant; and how far inferior are the intellectual capacities of some of the human family, who still rank in the order of rational beings, to those of the seraph