pervades the whole of what is called nature, and by the perpetual exertion of whose invisible energies this immense machine continues to perform its appointed functions. He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. Such are the unlimited extent and operation of His providence, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him; yea, the very hairs of our head are all numbered. No event, however apparently contingent, however seemingly dependent only on the volition and conduct of mankind, can ever occur, without either His direct interference, or agency, or, at least, the deliberate permission of His omnipotence. And, finally, all the work of redemption is His, from first to last. It is by Him, as to its contrivance; for nothing less than infinite wisdom and love could have designed the amazing plan. It is by Him as to its execution in the fulness of time; for God was manifest in the flesh "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness." It is by Him, as to its application to the hearts of individuals; for no man can call Him Lord, or experience the blessings of pardon and holiness which He died to purchase, but by the Holy Ghost. And, lastly, it is by Him in its consummation and completion; for it is the same almighty goodness, which at first begins the great work, that must carry it on in us unto the end, and that must hereafter gather together in one heavenly society all the children of God who now are scattered abroad. Thus "salvation is of the Lord."

And as by Him are all things, so our text teaches us that all things are likewise for Him. "The Lord," says Solomon, "hath made all things for Himself." "Of Him, and through Him, and to Him," says St. Paul, "are all things." These passages assert that God is not only the first but the ultimate Cause, not only the Author but the End of all things. As everything which is good is originally from Him, so everything truly good will tend toward Him, and terminate in Him, that God may be all in all. The manifestation of His essential

was to be "the Repairer of the breach" which sin and Satan had effected in the beauty, harmony, and order of the moral world; and to remove from the noblest part of His earthly creation a curse far more calamitous than could have resulted from the total wreck and destruction of the material universe. It was to snatch from an everlasting hell to a heaven of endless bliss, from depravity and ruin to holiness and glory, the intelligent and immortal offspring of the Most High.

""T was great to speak a world from nought;

'Twas greater to redeem."

And, if such was the end, the means, as we have already seen, were both just and efficient: they were, in truth, the only just and efficient means that could be devised. On this ground, also, it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

From this whole subject we infer,

1. The unspeakable evil of sin, which it became God thus to punish; and the awful depth of that moral ruin from which man could only thus be recovered.-God so hated sin, that He gave up our sinless Substitute to suffering and to death, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, and the severity of His displeasure against the guilty race. The demerit of sin surpasses our powers of calculation. We can, however, form some estimate of it, by the costliness of the process to which God has thought it fit to have recourse, for the removal of its curse from our consciences, and of its offensiveness from His own insulted eye. Rather than not abate such a nuisance, He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. And can you make a mock at sin? Do you count it a light matter? Do you even find a perverse and hellish pleasure and satisfaction in this abominable thing, which God thus hates and punishes? Are you at ease under its curse, and while exposed to its penal

ties? O awful infatuation! May God awaken you out of this slumber, and make sin to appear to you, as it really is, exceeding sinful! Then will you perceive your soul's danger, and cry from the brink of ruin,

"Save, Jesus, or I yield, I sink;

O save me, or I die!"

2. The tender mercy of God our Maker, who consented to abandon His own dear Son to sufferings and death for the purpose of bringing us to glory; and of our Saviour Himself, who voluntarily submitted to such a lot for us men and our salvation. This tried and demonstrated mercy is a ground of hope to every penitent, and should be matter of grateful joy to all believers.

3. The absolute necessity of yielding up ourselves to Jesus Christ as our Captain and Guide to salvation.-There can be no real trust in Him as our Propitiation, where there is not a cordial and habitual choice of Him, and submission to Him, as our Leader and Prince. The whole business of salvation is committed to Him; the work of guiding us to glory, and ruling and protecting us on our way to it, as well as meritoriously procuring it for us. "Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people." * He is the only Captain that can conduct us strongest cannot conquer, nor "There is none other name

to heaven. Without Him, the the wisest find the path of life. under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." If out of Christ, you are out of the way to heaven, and in the sure way to hell. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." O make haste to Christ! Join yourself without delay to Him, and to His people, in a perpetual covenant.

4. The safety of true believers.-Through Christ, the weakest may overcome, and the most simple find his way to glory.

* Isaiah lv. 4.

Christians, be thankful for such a Captain, and steadily confide in Him for all that belongs to your salvation. He will discharge His office with tenderness and benignity; with assiduity and unwearied care; with all the mighty energies which belong to omnipotent love. Unbelieving apprehensions and discouragements proceed from the neglect of a more careful study of His character and qualifications. Read for your comfort, and to strengthen your reliance on Him, the sublime description of the Captain of salvation, in Revelation xix. 11-16: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Surely this one passage is enough to put all your fears to flight. They that know His name will and must put their trust in Him; and faith will render them invincible.

5. The duty of preparing ourselves for suffering with Christ. -Though our sufferings are essentially different from His, in their nature and design, there is, however, a general resemblance in this point between His lot and ours. And it becomes us, as His soldiers, to stand ready to follow our Captain "whithersoever He goeth;" not merely to the mount of transfiguration, but also to that of suffering for the truth; to the field of toil and conflict, as well as to scenes of consolation and enjoyment. Be willing to be conformed, as suffering members, to your suffering Lord. Complain not of poverty, for He had not

where to lay His head; of reproach, for He had to endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself; or of pain and grief, for in all your affliction He was afflicted. Such a conformity is honourable, as well as reasonable, in itself; and will eventually be your joy and your crown.*

6. The infinite interest and importance which belong to everything connected with the work of God, and the salvation of mankind. The recovery of lost sinners to Himself,—to His family on earth, and then to the fruition of His heavenly presence, is in the text represented as God's great work. On this His heart is set; for this His wisdom plans, His mercy provides, His power is called into exercise; for this all His attributes are put in requisition; for this He made the stupendous sacrifice of His well-beloved and only Son, and instituted the grand and wonderful apparatus of the mediatorial scheme. All this is done in order to bring men to glory. What is thus emphatically the cause and work of God should be, above all things, dear to our hearts and interesting to our minds. Recovered to God ourselves, we should be solicitous for the recovery of others. No exertion of ours can be too great, no practicable expenditure too large, no sacrifice of ease and convenience too painful, for an object on which the thoughts of God are intensely fixed, and for which He has done and is doing so much. In order to bring men to holiness and heaven, Jesus became the willing instrument of Jehovah's pleasure, and said, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." That offer implied, in His case, "emptying Himself" of heavenly and Divine riches, such as no human understanding can adequately conceive; and a surrender of Himself to poverty, and shame, and sorrow, even to the death of the cross. Yet, such was His view of the value of souls, and of the tremendous curse of sin, and of the infinite necessity and worth of salvation, that He withheld not Himself from the

*The Preacher occasionally introduced, at this point, an anecdote of the Mexican emperor, who replied to the complaints of one of his tortured nobles, -"Am I lying on a bed of roses ?"