vanity of the distinctions and affluence which mankind generally admire and envy, in the most striking and humiliating light. Such likewise was and will be the effect of his Gospel. When faithfully preached, it is found mighty, through God, to the pulling down strong holds, high thoughts, and every species of self-exaltation. When the convincing word touches the heart, it has an effect like the hand-writing which Belshazzar saw upon the wall*. In that day the lofty looks of man are humbled, and his haughtiness bowed downt; he dares no longer plead the goodness of his heart, or trust to the work of his hands. A sense of forgiveness and acceptance through the Beloved, received by faith in his atonement, lays him still lower: he now renounces as loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, all that he once esteemed his gain, and is glad that he has nothing to trust or glory in but the crosst. Further, every mountain that opposes the kingdom of MESSIAH, in due time must sink into a plain§, though the nations rage, and the rulers take counsel together, he who sitteth in the heavens will support and maintain his own work, and all their power and policy shall fall before it.

"The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth." He came to rectify the perverse disposition of the hearts of men, to soften and subdue their obstinate spirits, and to form to himself a willing people in the day of his power. The Jewish teachers, by their traditions and will-worship, had given an apparent obliquity to the straight and perfect rule of the law of God, and deforined the beauties of holiness, binding heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, upon the conscience;

* Dan. v. 6. † Isa. ii. 11.

Phil iii. 7, 8. § Zech. iv. 7.

but he vindicated the law from their corrupt glosses, and made the path of obedience plain, practicable, and pleasant.

"Thus the glory of the Lord was revealed." Not to every eye; many prejudiced by his outward appearance, and by the low mistaken views the Jews indulged of the office and kingdom of MESSIAH, whom they expected, could see no form or excellence in him, that they should desire him; but his disciples could say, "We beheld his "glory*." He spake with authority. His word was with power. He controlled the elements, he raised the dead. He knew, and revealed, and judged the thoughts of men's hearts. He forgave sin, and thus exercised the rights, and displayed the perfections of divine sovereignty in his own person. But the prophecy looks forward to future times. After his ascension he filled his apostles and disciples with light and power, and sent them forth in all directions to proclaim his love and grace to a sinful world. Then the glory of the Lord was revealed, and spread from one kingdom to another people. We still wait for the full accomplishment of this promise, and expect a time when the whole earth shall be filled with his glory; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. It is to the power of his word that we owe the continuance of day and night, and the regular return of the seasons of the year. But these appointments are only for a limited term; the hour is coming, when the frame of nature shall be dissolved. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but not a jot or tittle of what he hath declared concerning his kingdom of grace shall fail, till the whole be fulfilled.

Those of you who have heard the Messiah, will do

* John i. 14.

well to recollect, whether you were affected by such thoughts as these while this passage was performed; or whether you were only captivated by the music, and paid no more regard to the words than if they had no meaning. They are, however, the great truths of God. May they engage your serious attention, now they are thus set before you!

SERMON III.

THE SHAKING OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

HAGGAI ii. 6, 7.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

GOD

shook the earth when he proclaimed his law to Israel from Sinai. The description, though very simple, presents to our thoughts a scene unspeakably majestic, grand, and awful. The mountain was in flames at the top, and trembled to its basis*. Dark clouds, thunderings, and lightnings, filled the air. The hearts of the people, of the whole people, trembled likewise; and even Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Then, as the apostle, referring to this passage, observes, The voice of the Lord shook the earthf. But the prophet here speaks of another, a greater, a more import

Exod. xix. 16-19.

† Heb. xii. 26.

ant, and extensive concussion. Yet, once a little while, and I will shake not the earth only, but the heavens.

If we really believe that the Scriptures are true, that the prophecies were delivered by holy men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and that they shall all be certainly fulfilled; how studious should we be to attain a right understanding of passages and events, in which we are so nearly interested, that our hearts may be duly affected by them? But, alas! experience and observation strongly confirm the remark of the poet,

Men are but children of a larger growth.

If you put a telescope into the hands of a child, he will probably admire the outside, especially if it be finely ornamented. But the use of it, in giving a more distinct view of distant objects, is what the child has no conception of. The music of the Messiah is but an ornament of the words, which have a very weighty sense. This sense no music can explain, and when rightly understood, will have such an effect as no music can produce. That the music of the Messiah has a great effect in its own kind, I can easily believe. The ancients, to describe the power of the music of Orpheus, pretend, that when he played upon his harp, the wild beasts thronged around him to listen, and seemed to forget their natural fierceness. Such expressions are figurative, and designed to intimate, that by his address and instructions, he civilized men of fierce and savage dispositions. But if we were to allow the account to be true in the literal sense, I should still suppose, that the wild beasts were affected by his music only while they heard it, and that it did not actually change their

natures, and render lions and tigers gentle as lambs, from that time forward. Thus I can allow, that they who heard the Messiah might be greatly impressed during the performance; but when it was ended, I suppose they would retain the very same dispositions they had before it began. And many, I fear, were no more affected by this sublime declaration of the Lord's design to shake the heavens and the earth, than they would have been, if the same music had been set to the words of a common ballad.

The Jews, when they returned from captivity, and undertook to rebuild the temple of the Lord, met with many discouragements. They were disturbed by the opposition and arts of their enemies, who at one time so far prevailed, as to compel them, for a season, to intermit the work. And when the foundation of the temple was laid, the joy of those who hoped soon to see the solemn worship of God restored, was damped by the grief of others, who remembered the magnificence of the first temple, and wept to think how far the second temple would come short of it*. In these circumstances, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were sent to animate the people by a promise, that inferior as the second temple might appear, compared with that which Solomon built, the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the formert. Had this depended upon a profusion of silver and gold, the Lord could have provided it; for "The silver is mine, " and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." But the glory spoken of was of a different kind. The presence of MESSIAH in the second temple, would render it far more honourable and glorious, though less pompous,

*Hag. ii. 3; Ezra iii. 12.

+ Hag. ii. 9.