bly necessary too for every child of man. I would therefore adopt the language of the Angel, who flew in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, even to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people; and like him I would say with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:"* it is come already in the divine purpose; and it will speedily come to every individual amongst us, and will fix us in an eternity of bliss or woe. The next disposition which God would have us cultivate, is, A love to Jesus as our Mediator. In proportion as we fear God, we shall love the Lord Jesus Christ, who has condescended to mediate between God Were it only that he, like Moses, had revealed to us the will of God in a less and us. terrific way, we ought to love him but he has done infinitely more for us than Moses could possibly do: he has not only stood between God and us, but has placed him* Rev. xiv. 6, 7. self in our stead, and borne the wrath of God for us. He has not only silenced the thunders of Mount Sinai, but "has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being himself made a curse for us."* In a word, “ he has madè reconciliation for us by the blood of his cross;" so that we may now come to God as our Father and our Friend ; and may expect at his hands all the blessings of Grace and glory. "Through him we have access to God," even to his throne; and by faith in him we may even -now receive the remission of our sins, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Shall we not then love him? Shall we not honour him? Shall we not employ him in his high office as our Advocate and Mediator? Shall we not glory in him, "and cleave unto him with full purpose of heart?" It was said by the prophet Isaiah, "Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come : and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed * Gal. iii. 13. Mount, for instance; Study with care and diligence the full import of every precept in it. Do not endeavour to bring down those precepts to your practice, or to the practice of the world around you; but rather strive to elevate your practice to the standard which he has given you. In like manner, take all the precepts contained in the Epistles, and all the holy dispositions which were exercised by the Apostles; and endeavour to emulate the examples of the most distinguished saints. You are cautioned not to be righteous over-much; but remember that you have at least equal need of caution to be righteous enough. If only you walk in the steps of our Lord and his Apostles, you need not be afraid of excess; it is an erroneous kind of righteousness, against which Solomon would guard you, and not against an excessive degree of true holiness; for in true holiness there can be no excess. In this we may vie with each other, and strive with all our might. St. Paul, says, "This is a faithful saying; and these things I will that thou affirm con stantly; that they who have believed in God might be careful to maintain (or as the word imports) to excel in good works." By these we shall evince the sincerity of our love to Christ; and by these we shall be judged in the last day. I would there. fore recommend to every one to ask himself, What is there which I have left undone? What is there which I have done defectively? What is there which I have. done amiss? What is there that I may do more earnestly for the honour of God, for the good of mankind, and for the benefit of my own soul? O that such a pious zeal pervaded this whole assembly; and "that there were in all of us such an heart!" To those amongst us in whom any good measure of this grace is found, we would say in the language of St. Paul, "We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more."* * 1 Thess. iv, 1. |