his subjects as he chooses to save. "Shak the prey be taken from the mighty, or the law. ful captive be delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob." In writing to his Christian brethren, the apostle says, that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us, who believe; according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right-hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." Through the redemption of his chosen people, God shows his power as fully and clearly as it can be shown, by raising sinful and guilty creatures from the lowest hell to the highest heaven, against the most violent enmity and the most powerful opposition. For earth and hell are armed against God, and oppose every exertion which he makes for the salvation of his people, It is by the main strength of the Almighty, that the elect are rescued from Satan, subdued and prepared for heaven. By fitting his people for the holy and blessed society of heaven, God manifests his power in a very instructing

and glorious manner. And in a manner, that is no less instructing and glorious, he manifests his power by hardening and punishing the rep robate. Though they hate his holy name, he governs their enmity to his own glory. Tho' they hate his decrees, he effects his decrees by their very hatred. Though they desire to flee from his hand, yet he hardens their hearts, and forms their characters according to his holy and sovereign pleasure. Though they labor and strive to obtain happiness, and to avoid misery, yet he fits their souls for the endless torments of hell. Though their enmity against God will for ever continue and increase, and though they will for ever blaspheme his great and dreadful name, yet he will cause their wrath to praise him. As the strength of the reprobate, and the fury of their wrath against God shall increase, with the greater glory will his power be seen in laying upon their guilty heads the weight of his vengeance. But if no persons should be for ever filled with hatred and wrath against God, how could his power appear so great and glorious as it will now be shown upon the vessels of wrath fitted o destruction? When God declares that he vill punish the wicked, then it is that he so ften repeats that fearful saying, "And they hall know that I am the Lord." Having denounced the destruction of his enemies, God says, "Thus will I magnify myself, and sancify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I

am the Lord." If by destroying wicked men and wicked nations from the face of the earth, God magnifies his great name, with what glory will his power appear in the great day of his wrath, when he shall show his wrath, and make his power known upon the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction! By raising the elect to the highest glory of the highest heaven, and by casting the reprobate into the bottomless pit, where they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever, God will manifest the exceeding greatness of his mighty power, in the fullest and clearest manner.

2. By saving the elect and by destroying the reprobate, God most fully and clearly manifests his goodness. Goodness constitutes the moral perfection of God. It is the beauty and glory of the divine character. All the natural perfections of God are under the influence of infinite and immutable benevolence. As God is love in his own nature, all his desires and designs and conduct are the exercise and expression of holy love. The goodness of God decrees and effects whatsoever comes to pass.-Every object and every event, when seen in its proper connections and consequences, manifests the divine glory, which is the divine goodness. The seraphim cried, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Though in all things God is good, and doeth good, and tho' his tender mercies are over all his works; yet he displays his goodness most fully and clearly

in his conduct towards sinful and guilty creatures. When Moses desired to see the glory of God, and God promised to make all his goodness pass before him, God declared his feelings and his conduct towards sinful and guilty creatures, as affording the brightest evidence and the fullest expression of his goodness. "The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."

The

goodness of God, as it appears in his conduct towards sinful creatures, must be displayed either in their forgiveness, or in their punishment. When God proclaimed his name he mentioned his goodness in punishing, as well as in pardoning sinners. Since an atonement for sin has been made by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, God can be true, just and holy, as well as gracious; although he forgives sinners, whom he hates and who deserve his wrath and to whom he threatens endless woe. But in the forgiveness of sinners, God is moved by his goodness to regard his own character and government and the interests of the universe. It is for the glory of his

name, which is his goodness, that God pardons his chosen people. As there is nothing but sin and guilt in his people, before they are renewed, it is of his sovereign mercy that they are called and forgiven, sanctified and glorified. The redeemed are by nature wholly sinful and very hateful. They are by nature children of wrath, and they will for ever deserve the wrath of God. Yet they receive from God the endless joys and glories of heaven. As these joys and glories will continue and increase for ever, the goodness of God to pardoned sinners will for ever and ever appear with greater beauty and glory. For ever and ever to his redeemed people will Jehovah be giving greater blessings, and be displaying, in a fuller and clearer manner, his benevolence and loving kindness. O can they, "be able to comprehend what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge!" They shall indeed be filled with all the fulness of God. And God will make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory. In the ages to come he will show the exceeding riches of his grace, in the salvation of the elect, through Christ Jesus. But how can the saints in glory see the greatness of the divine goodness in their salvation, unless they see the sin and the woe from which they are saved? And how can they see the sin and the woe from which they are saved, unless they behold the enmity and blasphemy, the anguish and despair