in any person, it is necessary that we first ascertain his real character. It is not enough that we obtain proof of his ability to afford us aid; we must further be assured that he is willing to exercise his ability in our behalf, not to our detriment. A being of known power but unknown purpose is naturally an object of our dread. You will observe frequently in a child the apprehension with which he eyes the approach of a strange personage. The child is conscious of the presence of a superior power, but, being ignorant of the character which sways that power, he will shrink back and shriek in dismay. Or, again, let the stately vessel be seen riding on the face of the billows, and, as she approaches some savage land, let her ruffle her plumes and send forth her thunder-peals; immediately will the amazed natives hide in thickets and caves their diminished heads; and not until assured that the designs of the strangers are thoughts of peace, and not of evil, will they issue forth from their retreat. It is then, it seems, by a principle innate in his heart, that man regards with suspicion the being whose power stands in visible exhibition before his eyes, but of whose good will he has as yet obtained no satisfactory demonstration.

2 This fact is illustrated and applied by Dr. Chalmers, vol. x. p. 176, &c.

This instinctive dread of a superior, natural to man even with reference to a creature, is, with reference to the unseen Deity, more deeply implanted within his heart. We cannot doubt the omnipotence of our God; but a conviction of this power,— how can it fail to harrow up the soul of a conscious sinner? Let him listen to the surmises of conscience, and she will whisper that the omnipotent attributes of a holy God are all marshalled in array against his peace. In the Lord, regarded as a Creator only and a lawgiver, we dare not repose our confidence. Viewed in this aspect, he is an object of awe to the sin-stricken soul. Our transgressions have exposed us to his righteous condemnation. Before we can again yield him our confidence and our love, it is necessary that we obtain some adequate assurance that our reception into his favour will be consistent with his character; that the admission of our sinful race into communion with himself will involve him in no self-contradiction; will maintain unsullied his holiness, his justice, and his truth.

Now the revelation of himself, which God has made in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, is calculated to dispel our fears and remove our suspicions. It may be regarded in two points of view. By his dealings with our Redeemer he has revealed the good pleasure of his will with re

ference to ourselves, the objects of that redemption; and in the person also of Jesus he has manifested himself in so full a revelation, that he that has seen the Son has seen the Father who is in heaven.

First then, we observe, that, by his dealings with our Redeemer, God has testified the good will which exists in him towards our fallen race. In the sovereignty of his grace he sent his only begotten Son to make reconciliation for our transgression, that so the insulted majesty of the Most High might, without any compromise of his own character, or violence offered to his nature, receive again into his favour the apostate children of men. In the cross of Christ, sin, that barrier of separation which interposed between the creature and the Creator, was effectually removed; reparation was there made for iniquity; our curse endured by our Head and Representative. To his acceptance of the satisfaction offered, the Father set his seal by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He sent his angel to roll away the stone from the prison-door, and to set the prisoner free. By the liberation of their surety he testified to the debtors that the debt was annulled, the bond cancelled. And by afterwards receiving at his own right hand the Redeemer of fallen man, he gave assurance to all who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, that

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there is reconciliation in Christ for our outcast race; that whosoever will draw near by the mediation of Christ, shall find in him a God and a Father. God, saith St. Peter,3 raised up Jesus from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Here then we find provision made for the repose of our confidence in the Lord. He, of whom conscience bears witness that he is a consuming fire, invites the exercise of our faith on himself through Christ: "I,” said Jesus," am the way, the truth, and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by

me.'

But, viewed in another aspect, in Jesus we behold God manifest in the flesh. The manhood of Christ becomes now the prism through which the rays of Deity are broken and exhibited to our eyes. He who dwells in the light inaccessible, who is himself light, expresses to our apprehension in Christ the manifold attributes of his essence. Through the humanity of Jesus, the radiance of the enshrined Deity beams forth with softened lustre. Herein we may gaze on the Being who otherwise baffles the conceptions of our finite reason, and blinds the too curious mind of the rash speculator. When Jesus healed the diseases which were incurable by human art, he expressed 3 1 Pet. i. 21.

to us the omnipotence of the Deity. When he beheld Nathanael under the fig-tree, and raised from the bed of sickness the absent invalid, the centurion's servant, the nobleman's son, the Syro-phenician's daughter, here we behold the divine attribute of omnipresence. In replying to the secret thoughts of the by-standers Jesus evinced his omniscience. In his subjugation of winds and waves, in the conversion and multiplication of inanimate substances, he proved himself Lord of nature. When he raised others from the grave, he appeared as the Lord of life. When he raised his own body from the dead, he proved himself self-existent. But the point to which I desire now to call your attention is the fact, that in the gracious words which fell from the Redeemer's lips, and in the gracious deeds which he performed, he unfolded to man the heart of God. By the manifestation of himself to the very senses of mankind, he designed to conciliate afresh their affections. He proved that, despite all the provocations which he daily endured, there was yet in our God good will towards men. The promise," Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," was fulfilled in the relief of each applicant. Whatever the request, however strange or exorbitant, the petitioner was never sent empty away. The sole demand made on the part of the giver was a demand of faith: "believest thou that