another, under the influence of superstition and bigotry, than their fathers had suffered from their pagan persecutors. The woman that "sat upon the scarlet-coloured beast" is indeed "full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns;" she is still arrayed in "purple and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomination and filthiness, and fornication; and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth. And I saw," says the apostle, "the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."* And what could be less expected, what more surprising, than that christianity should occasion the discovery of so much vileness? Nay, where genuine christianity is taught, how small has been its progress; how few seem to be converted to God, compared with those who are enemies in heart to him, and to the kingdom to which they profess to belong! Instead of christians being of one heart and of one mind, they are armed with malice and envy against each other on account of some differences of sentiment and judgement; even persons of real piety give way to prejudice and party zeal, which prevent, in a great measure, the operation and effect of pure christianity. Thus this blessed system of religion seems to have been the occasion of more feuds and strifes among its professors than any

*Rev. xvii. 4-6

other interest has produced since the world began. Look at the state of the world; see nations professing the name of Christ rushing into hostilities, building all their hopes of future peace upon the success of their plans of bloodshed and carnage, breathing defiance and slaughter in their words, and displaying them in their enraged countenances. When will the end of these things be? Were it not for the sure word of prophecy, we might be ready to imagine "God had made all men in vain." A great part of the world is no better than if Christ had never come to save mankind, and the gospel had never been proclaimed. Some who hear it are even the worse for what they hear; for where it is not a savour of life unto life," it is "a savour of death unto death."

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I might expatiate still more on this portion of the text; but sufficient has been said to prove that things have not been according to expectations founded on the known character of God, but that "clouds and darkness are round about him."

We proceed, then, to the second class of remarks, suggested by the passage before us.

II. "Judgement and righteousness are the habitation of his throne."

Righteousness is the essential perfection of the Divine Being. It is his nature: if there had been no creatures for him to govern, he would have had an unchangeable and invincible love of rectitude.

Judgement is the application of the principle of righteousness in his government of his creatures and their actions; it is a developement of his

rectitude in the management of the affairs of his great empire; it is that superintendence over all, whereby the operations of all things are directed to some vast and important end. Judgement implies measure and equity, in opposition to what is done without rule and consideration. All the divine conduct is equitable, regulated by rectitude, and every thing is directed by a judgement that cannot err.

Thus "Righteousness and judgement are the habitation of his throne." The throne of God is built, and stands firm, upon these principles: they are the place, the basis, and the foundation of his throne. Though the clouds cannot be dispelled, though there is thick darkness round about, through which our eyes cannot penetrate; yet there are principles discernible through the light of revelation, and by the eye of faith, which may serve to subdue despondency, and lead us to acquiesce in all the measures of the righteous Sovereign. Though much obscurity must be attached to the government of the Infinite Mind, and great perplexities may be felt by those who attempt to scan his measures; yet some considerations may be suggested, which will serve to quell our anxieties and afford us repose under all the darkness, beneath his protecting power, his all-directing wisdom, and his paternal goodness.

1. Let us ever remember that the dispensations of God towards man are regulated by the consideration of his being a fallen and disordered creature. If we do not admit, or if we forget this, we are in great danger of falling into universal

scepticism, and shall not be able to conclude, that

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verily there is a God, that judgeth in the earth." If man is now in the state in which he was originally created, all is obscurity and gross darkness; but if we understand that man is a creature who, by his own fault, has lost that favour with God which he once enjoyed, and yet is placed under a dispensation of mercy; frowned upon, but not given up to destruction; open to receive the grace of God under the gospel, and by the mediation of Jesus Christ; there is some light shooting through the darkness, by which we see the "righteousness and judgement" which are the "habitation of his throne."

The fallen state of man must be kept in view to account for the severities in the divine dealings with him. His banishment from paradise; the curse of the ground, by which it brings forth thorns and briers, and the sweat of the brow by which he eats his bread; the labour and sorrow of the woman in child-bearing; and, finally, the sentence of death which is passed upon man, and keeps him always in bondage; and the present state of society, the fraud, rapine, cruelty, lust, and contention, are all accounted for, only by reverting to the fall of man from the image and favour of God. Yet, notwithstanding the severities of God, let it not be forgotten that there are mixtures of mercy which we have reason to admire. They that have forfeited all right to happiness, must not complain if any drops of it are found in their cup. They that have lost the inheritance, must not complain

if any of its fruits are afforded to them. They that deserve to be banished into outer darkness, must not complain if "clouds and darkness are round about Him" whom they have offended. Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?"*

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They that deny the depravity of human nature are involved in perplexity, and speak on the subject of divine government with such doubt, confusion, and perplexity, as increases scepticism in themselves, while it too often produces it in their admirers.

The doctrine of the fall of man must be considered as a fact: to a knowledge of this the Scripture conducts; it relates the circumstances of the original transgression; expressly asserts that "God made man upright, but he hath sought out many inventions;" and that "by one man, judgement passed upon all men to condemnation."

2. The Divine Being was not bound, in justice, either to prevent the disordered state of man, or to correct it when it had taken place.

All moral government has its foundation in the suitability of its laws and motives to regulate and influence a creature endued with reason, understanding, and volition. All that is necessary in the government of such a creature as man is, that the law should be equitable, and that man should be originally possessed of faculties which rendered him capable of obedience. Were we to go further, and suppose that the Governor was obliged to see *Lam. iii. 39. † Eccles. vii. 29. Rom. v. 18.