you should suppose that this threatening related only to those to whom the Apostles were personally sent, and not to yourselves, attend to the following most striking passage from St. Paul: "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Surely it is impossible to hear these aweful texts without being convinced of the dreadful guilt and danger of rejecting the Gospel. Did God so certainly bring upon the Jews the judgements which He had foretold by the Prophets, and will He not as certainly bring upon us the judgements which He has foretold by Christ and his Apostles? The very term by which He characterizes those who are chargeable with this sin, strongly marks its malignity and guilt." Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." Ye despisers! God looks on those who will not embrace His Gospel as despising Him; despising His power and authority; despising His wrath and vengeance; despising His loving-kindness, mercy, and forbearance; despising His Son, and pouring

contempt upon His Spirit. Oh! my Brethren, how great a sin must this be? Are any of you chargeable with it? Is there one present of whom the Almighty is saying, He despises me. I have offered him mercy; but he will not accept it. I have given him my Son; but he will not receive Him. I have declared my readiness to forgive him all his transgressions; but he casts my words behind him. I have counselled and reproved him; but he sets at nought all my counsel, and despiseth all my reproof?'. I ask, is there one present of whom the Almighty is saying these things? O beware, lest that come upon thee which is written in Scrip-ture, "Behold, thou despiser, and wonder, and

perish."-Wonder at the long-suffering of God, which has spared thee so long, and has not already assigned thee to the place of endless torment. Wonder at the riches of that Grace which still invites thee to return; which still preaches to thee the Foregiveness of Sins, still offers to justify thee from all things. O lie not down this night on thy bed till thou hast repented of thy great and horrible wickedness in having despised for so long a time thy God and Saviour: till thou hast implored his forgiveness, and laid hold of his covenant: till thou hast believed in his Son, and with the heart embraced his Salva

tion. Know to thy comfort "that through this man this day is preached unto thee," even unto thee, "the Forgiveness of Sins, and that by Him Thou, even Thou, if thou wilt believe in Him, shalt be justified from all things."

SERMON IV.

THE LORD'S FAVOUR TO THOSE WHO TRUST
IN HIM.

NAHUM, i. 7.

The Lord is good, a strong-hold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him.

ONE design of the Bible is, to teach us the knowledge of the true God, that God who made us, and on whom our being and our happiness depend. Accordingly, the Bible abounds with the most sublime descriptions of God, and represents in a variety of passages his aweful character and glorious perfections. Among these passages is the one connected with the text. If we study with attention the ten first verses of this chapter, we shall then see what that Great and Almighty Being is, with whom we have to do.

On reading this description, indeed, it may appear to us to contain a contradiction. It may seem to represent the Almighty under two different characters; and we may be ready to think it impossible, that He can at

the same time be, according to the Prophet's representation, "a jealous and a furious God," yet "good, and slow to anger." We may be disposed to ask, how can these things be? But, my Brethren, there is no real difficulty in the case. God is in Himself the same infinitely glorious in all perfections. The seeming differences in his character, and the opposite views which He gives of Himself, arise from the different characters of those with whom He has to deal, and consequently from the opposite relation in which He stands to them. In this respect His character, like the cloud which accompanied Israel, has a dark side, and a bright one: a dark side to his enemies, to Pharaoh and the Egyptians; but a bright one to his people Israel. To his adversaries He is "a jealous God," "a consuming Fire;" but to his people He is rich in mercy, and abundant in goodness. In fact, the different views given of God in this passage, as well as in other places of scripture, refer to Him as being either"in Christ," or not "in Christ" in covenant, or not in covenant. God "in Christ" is a God all mercy; God not " in Christ” is a God all wrath. To those who lay hold of his salvation and embrace his covenant, He is "gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth;" but to those who reject his grace and despise his