glorious Being. The question pending on your probation is nothing less than this, whether you are to secure or forfeit an inheritance in these infinite attributes. To bring yourself by sin into the relation of confirmed hostility to God, must be the consummation of wo. His favor can be nothing less than an infinite blessing, his frown nothing less than an infinite calamity. Forfeit his favor, and you are surely undone forever! Who can bless, when he has ceased to bless you? Where can you find a friend, if you have not one in him? You see also the folly of resisting his will-of setting up an interest and plan in opposition to him. "Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth."* Submit yourself to him, fall cordially in with his plans, and secure his favor, identify all your interests and hopes with his glory, and you are made for eternity. All things are yours. Nothing can ever harm you. By the sure and mighty operation of these divine attributes, all things shall be made to work together for your good. Having God for your portion, earthly losses are nothing, pain is nothing, death is nothing;-even a martyr's flames are a bed of down. Amid the severest afflictions of life and conflicts with death, your heart shall sweetly sing, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."-"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth ; BUT GOD IS THE STRENGTH OF MY HEART, AND MY PORTION FOREVER." *Isaiah xlv. 9. † Ps. xxiii. 1. Ps. lxxiii. 25, 26. CHAPTER III. MORAL ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. WE are next to consider the moral attributes of God. The distinction between his natural and moral attributes is this, the former are involuntary, the latter voluntary. The former are necessary, the latter dependent on the divine will. The former pertain to the nature of God, the latter to his character. But when we speak of the character of God, we are not to suppose that it is, like human character, acquired. The character of God is as eternal and immutable as his nature. In this view we might apply the term nature or natural, indiscriminately, to all the divine attributes; and this is frequently done. But strict philosophical accuracy, and indeed popular convenience, requires us to distinguish them into natural and moral. God made a full developement of his moral attributes to Moses, in answer to his prayer-“I beseech thee shew me thy glory." The reply to him was, "I will make ALL MY GOODNESS pass before thee.”* The word here translated goodness, signifies * Exodus xxxiii. 18, 19. in the original Hebrew, riches-all the riches of the divine character. "And the Lord passed by 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 and transgression and sin; and that will in no wise clear the guilty."* Here the elements of the divine character-God's moral attributes-are declared to be mercy, grace, long-suffering, goodness, truth, forgiveness, and justice. The word here translated goodness is not in the original the same as the one thus translated above ;—it has a specific meaning, and signifies benignity. HOLINESS and BENEVOLENCE, as applied to God, are GENERIC terms. His very being itself, and all his attributes, both natural and moral, are holy. As predicated of his natural perfections, the term holiness designates venerableness, awfulness, majesty. It indicates Jehovah as a Being too exalted and glorious to be profanely spoken of, or rudely approached. As that is holy which is distinguished from whatever is secular and common, and is consecrated to religion, so God, eternally distinguished from and infinitely exalted above all other objects, himself at once the source and object of all religion, is eternally and infinitely holy. As applied to his moral perfections, holiness indicates the perception of right, the entire rectitude of volition, and the activity of all his powers in a righteous manner. It was in this view of his character that the * Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7. prophet said, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity ;"* that the psalmist said, "Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee;"+-that Jesus Christ said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;"-that the apostle said, “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and Godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire ;-and that God himself said, "Ye shall be holy, for I the LORD your GOD AM HOLY." It is in reference to the unequalled majesty and excellence of all his attributes, both natural and moral, as displayed in his works and in his government, that the heavenly hosts sing, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for THOU ONLY ART HOLY; for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest ;"¶—and that they sing again, " HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, which was, and is, and is to come.”** The benevolence of God, as well as his holiness, pervades and comprehends all his specific attributes. His mercy is benevolent mercy, his grace benevolent grace, his long-suffering benevolent long-suffering, his goodness benevolent goodness, his truth benevolent truth, his forgiveness benevolent forgiveness, and his justice benevolent justice. All these attributes may, in a creature, spring from sinful and selfish motives; but in God they originate in motives of infinite holiness and benevolence. Hence the same Scriptures which * Hab. i. 13. † Ps. v. 4. Matt. v. 8. || Heb. xii. 28-29, ¶ Rev. xv. 4. ** Rev. iv. 8, predicate holiness of his entire being and attributes, declare also that "God is LOVE;"* thus making benevolence, as it exists in the holy God of heaven, not a specific and individual attribute, but an all-comprehending perfection of his being. The benevolence of God is manifested in his having so constituted all the faculties of our natures, physical, intellectual, social, and moral, that when rightly used they yield us unmingled happiness. Whatever pain attends them results solely from their abuse, for which of course, creatures themselves are responsible. Another proof of the benevolence of God is in his moral law. The very essence of this law, is benevolence; the sum of its requirements is love ;t-this proves that God delights in love, and would have the moral universe, like himself, perfectly benevolent. But the greatest of all actual or even conceivable proofs of the benevolence of God, is in the gift of his Son for our redemption. Here is benevolence not only willing and doing, in the operations of nature and of law, but benevolence sacrificing, and that too in the greatest imaginable degree, for the welfare of others. This is the highest possible style of benevolence ;nothing can excel it, even in thought. Hence the Scriptures say, "HEREIN is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”‡ "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."|| * John iv. 16. ↑ Matt. v. 43; xxii. 37. 1 John iv. 10. || John iii. 16. |