With him is terrible majesty. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say to him, what doest thou? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grass-hoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing;-he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. O! What majesty, power, and glory belong to the Lord.Let us tremble at his word,-stand in awe of him, and sin not.

But, O! what insignificancy, and nothingness belong to the other party mentioned in the text, men—the crea tures of the great God, taken from the earth, earthy; their being is but of yesterday, and their foundation is in the dust. Lord, what is man that thou shouldest be mindful of him, or the son of man that thou shouldst visit him! Man, is sinful dust and ashes-mortal as a sinner; and constantly depending on God, for life, health, food, and raiment, and all the necessaries and comforts of life. What is man? a fool professing to be wise, is become, blind in divine things, deaf to the sweetest charms, and

to men.

lifeless to every thing that is good, and a living monument of every thing that is evil. His understanding is gross darkness, his will perverse, and his affections are carnal. His throat is an open sepulchre, where the glory of God, his good name, and the peace of men are bu ried, and this open grave emits the pestilential vapour which withers with its blast every green herb, sweet flower, and delicious fruit, of honor to God and happiness The poison of asps is under his tongue, and it is an inflaming poison, which inflames the whole body; and setteth on fire the course of nature; [and is set on fire of hell. The same fire in its nature, that originated in the nature of devils; and is diametrically opposed to seraphic fires and the fire of the love of God. I heard a voice saying cut it down, cease from man, his heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. What is man? an enemy to his creator, a blank in creationnot answering the end for which he was made, to do good; but what is still worse, he is bent, and determined to do evil. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Man is said to be a dry tree and stubble ready to be burned up. Let him alone, is the language of reason; cut him down, is the language of justice, and let him die the death; and truth says, that he ought to be punished according to his crime. Spare him, cried mercy, for he is the object of love and the price of blood; and wisdom came forward and said, here is the Mediator, the elect of God, in the nature of man.

It was the duty and interest of man, as the offending Į party, to seek for the means of reconciliation to God, the offended party. But alas! man had neither the means, nor the inclination to be reconciled to his offended Sovereign. Be astonished, O! heavens! and let the earth

wonder, and adore! while man is far removed from God, L with a full determination never to return, but to live in a perpetual course of opposition to the divine government; behold! Jehovah looks to himself for the means

adequate to accomplish the great end, of removing the { just obstacle to reconciliation between the parties at variance. God looked to himself for the Lamb of the burnt offering, he found him in his own bosom, and exhibited him in the prophecies of the old testament, the promises, the birth, the miracles, the death, and the resurrection of Christ before all the Gentiles. Why did God provide a Mediator? Did he think that justice would be dethroned, and the crown taken off his head, if all men were destroyed? No. The government of heaven, the law and divine justice, would shine in as much splendor and glory, as they did when the fallen angels were locked up in the prison of eternal darkness. In order to save the rebellious, and justify the ungodly, agreeably to the demands of justice, and the requirements of the laws and the government of heaven, the Mediator was necessary, that there should be an end-a full and clear settlement: of all demands of the law, that we might have a free sal vation. Love to man is the Alpha, the first letter that you can read, in the journey of the Mediator from heaven to earth; through the land of temptation, poverty, pain, and the death of the cross. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. Herein is love. It is the love of God to man, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Behold, the blood and water, gushing from his side! Hearken to the sound of the water-spouts passing over his head, and then ask the reason why? The answer is ready, God so loved the world. So it seemed good in

his sight. Most wonderfully great must be the qualifications of that person, that could fill up such a gap that was between two worlds. He took hold upon man on the earth, and united him to the Deity, and filled up the distance that was between them with merit. The naturé of God and man, the law and its enemy, life and death, were united in his person. England and Wales could not be united together, until the son of the King of England was born in Wales; who became the Prince of the Principality. That infant was looked upon as the heir of the throne of England by the English Government; and he was viewed by the citizens of the Principality as their Brother-a native of Wales-born in the Castle of Carnarvon. Behold the Prince of Peace, the son of God, Heir of all things, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, born in Bethlehem, the land of Judea, in whom the natures of the two parties are met. He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; yet our brother-bone of our bone, and ficsh of our flesh. Our near kinsman-our brother, is the only mediator between God and men; and by the virtue and efficacy of his reconciling blood, heaven and earth were unitedGod and man reconciled. In him, heaven can see the image of its Creator; and in him the human race recognize their nature. The Mediator could exclaim on Calvary, I AM; yes, I am he who brought Israel out of Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea, and that vast howling wilderness by day in a pillar of smoke, and by night in a pillar of fire, when the mountains leaped like rams, and the little hills skipped like lambs; when the depths roared, and mine arrows were flying. I am today opening a road through the depth of the sea of my sufferings, to take my people home to the heavenly Canaan. I am he who gave the law on Sinai, from the great fire; I am here to-day on Calvary dying under ite

curse, and offering my soul and body as a sacrifice of sweet savour made by fire unto the Lord, and the saered flames I feel so as to make me cry out, Eloi, Eloi Lamasabacthani. And there is no other God besides me. Let all the ends of the earth turn unto me that they may be saved. Every knee must bow before me and every tongue must confess my power and glory ;— notwithstanding that I hang on a tree to-day. I am elothed in the nature of man, to-day on the cross. Behold my body all red, covered with blood, my hands and my feet nailed to the tree, Our nature was united to God when the eternal word was made flesh and dwelt among us. It was through Moses as a typical mediator the Lord gave the law to the children of Israel and heard their requests; and it is through the true media. tor that he speaks unto us, and hears our prayers. Again-the work of Christ as move the obstacles that were in for our reconciliation to God-to make an atonement for sin, and on the ground of that atonement to make intercession for us. In order to understand this we must have a right view of God, of man, and of sin.

a mediator was to re

the way on both sides

We must consider God as our chief Governor and Lawgiver who must according to the nature and requiréments of his law defend his government, by manifesting his hatred to sin.

We must consider man as a guilty creature before God, a prisoner under the sentence of condemnation, deserving eternal punishment,—and we must consider sin as both an omission, and transgression of the law; for we have not done the things which we ought to have done, and we have done the things which we ought not to have done.

The atonement made by Jesus Christ the Mediator therefore is that which gives such an honor to the law,