best estate. "made."*

"We are fearfully and wonderfully The texture of the human frame is admirable. The natural capacities of the mind of man, the powers of his understanding, will, and affections, the rapidity of imagination, the comprehension of memory, especially in some in-. stances, are so many proofs, that, considered as a creature of God, he is a noble creature; and, though he is debased and degraded by sin, there are traces of his original excellence remaining, sufficient to denominate him, in the words of the poet, "majestic though in ruins." But if you suppose him rich, powerful, wise, in the common sense of the words, he is brittle as "a potter's "vessel;" and, while possessed of every possible advantage, he is but like the grass or the flower of the field, which, in its most flourishing state, falls in a moment at the stroke of the scythe, and withers and dies. A fever, a fall, a tile, a grain of sand, or the air that finds its way through a crevice, may be an over-match for the strongest man, and bring him down hastily to the grave. By a small change in the brain, or some part of the nervous system, he who now prides himself in his intellectual abilities, may soon become a lunatic or an idiot. Disease may quickly render the beauty loathsome, and the robust weak as infancy. There are earthen or china vessels which might possibly endure for many ages, if carefully preserved from violence. But the seeds of decay and death are sown in our very frame. We are crushed before the moth, and moulder away untouched, under the weight of time. How surely and inevitably then must they whom the Lord strikes with his iron rod, be shattered with the blow!

*Psal. cxxxix. 14.

Communities and collective bodies of men are in his hand, no less frail than individuals. The first-born throughout Egypt, and the vast army of Sennacherib, perished in a night. The Romans were the iron rod in his hand, wherewith he dashed the Jewish nation to pieces. Their fragments are scattered far and wide to this day, and who can gather them up? The Roman empire was likewise dashed to pieces in its turn; and such has been the end successively of many powers, and of many persons, who have presumed to oppose his designs. For a while they were permitted to rage, and plot, and strive; but at length they stumbled and fell, and their memory is perished.

But it is proper to bring the consideration nearer home. I have been informed, that the music to which this passage is set, is so well adapted to the idea it expresses, as in a manner to startle those who hear it. They who live in sinful habits, regardless of the Gospel, would be startled, indeed, if they were duly sensible how directly the words apply to their own situation, and that the Psalmist describes the manner in which God will treat them, if they continue impenitent. If we could see all that passes upon dying beds, we should often see the false peace and vain hopes of sinners dashed to pieces when eternity is opening upon their view. We shall certainly see the solemnity of the great day: "For we must all appear," not only as spectators, but as parties nearly interested in the proceedings, "before the judgement-seat of "Christ." Behold, he cometh in the clouds, " and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him!" He will" descend with a shout, "with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God," and "before him shall be ga"thered all nations." Where then shall the sinner

66

66

and the ungodly appear? What will then become of those who despise, and those who abuse, the Gospel of the grace of God? The libertine, the infidel, the apostate, the hypocrite, the profane scoffer, and the false professor, how will they stand, or whither will they flee, when the great Judge shall sit upon his awful throne, and the books shall be opened, and every secret thing shall be disclosed? Alas! for them that" are full,” and that laugh now, for then they shall pine and "mourn."* Then their cavils will be silenced, their guilt, with all its aggravations, be charged home upon them, and no plea, no advocate, be found. Can their hearts endure, or their hands be strong, when he shall speak to them in his wrath, and say,

Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, "prepared for the devil and his angels."

But let them who love his name rejoice. You have fled for refuge to the hope set before you. To you his appearance will be delightful, and his voice welcome. You shall not be ashamed. This awful God is yours. He will then own and accept you before assembled worlds, and will say," "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 'kingdom prepared for you." Then "the days "of your mourning shall be ended, and your sun "shall go down no more."t

66

帶 Luke, vi. 25.

+ Matt. xxv. 34.; Isa. lx. 20.

400

SERMON XXXVI.

THE LORD REIGNETH,

REVELATION, xix. 6.

Hallelujah; for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! THE book of the Revelation, being chiefly prophetical, will not perhaps be fully understood, till the final accomplishment of the events shall draw near, and throw a stronger light upon the whole series. But, while the learned commentators have been hitherto divided and perplexed in their attempts to illustrate many parts of it, there are other parts well adapted for the instruction and refreshment of plain Christians; particularly those passages in which the scenery and images seemed designed to give us some representation of the happiness and worship of the heavenly state. Thus a plain unlettered believer, when reading with attention the fourth and fifth chapters, though he cannot give a reason why the elders are four-andtwenty, the living creatures four, and the number of their wings neither more nor less than six; yet, from the whole description of the Lamb upon the throne, the songs of the redeemed, and the chorus of the angels, he receives such an impression of glory, as awakens his gratitude, desire, and joy, and excites him likewise to take up the same song of praise "to him who has loved him, and "washed him from his sins in his own blood." He is content to leave the discussion of hard questions to learned men, while he feeds by faith upon those simple truths which can be relished only by a spiritual taste; and which, where there

is such a taste, make their way to the heart, without the assistance of critical disquisition.

The subject of the preceding chapter, is the destruction of mystical Babylon, the head of the opposition against the kingdom of the Lord Christ: But Babylon sinks like a millstone in the mighty ocean, and is no more found. So must all his enemies perish. The catastrophe of Babylon, like that of Pharaoh at the Red Sea, is beheld by the saints and servants of the Lord with admiration, and furnishes them with a theme for a song of triumph to his praise. This may be properly styled sacred music indeed. It is commanded, inspired, and regulated by the Lord himself. The performers are all interested in the subject, "they "who fear God," and are devoted to his service and glory. And though persons of this character are comparatively few upon earth, hidden, and in a manner lost, among the crowd of mankind; they will be, when brought together at last, a very large company. Their united voices are here compared to the voice of many waters, and of mighty thunders, and this is the solemn close, the chorus of Hallelujah, for the Lord God omini'potent reigneth."

their song,

The impression which the performance of this passage in the Oratorio usually makes upon the audience is well known. But however great the power of music may be, should we even allow the flights of poetry to be truth, that it can "soften "rocks, and bend the knotted oak," one thing we are sure it cannot do; it cannot soften and change the hard heart, it cannot bend the obdurate will of man. If all the people who successively hear the Messiah, who are struck and astonished, for the moment, by this chorus in particular, were to bring away with them an abiding sense of the im