great day rejoice in it. The awful grandeur of justice will be illustrated in it; and this is matter of joy. The punishment of irreclaimable impenitents will be an effectual warning to all reasonable beings, and to all future creations, as has been observed; and by it they will be deterred from disobedience; and this is the cause of joy. These criminals will then be beyond repentance and reformation, and therefore it is impossible in the nature of things they should be happy; and why then should Heaven be encumbered with them? Is it not cause of joy that they should be confined in prison who have made themselves unfit for society? In the present state sinners are objects of our compassion and sorrow, and the whole creation mourns for them. Rom. viii. 22. But God will then rejoice in their ruin, and laugh at their calamity, Prov. i. 26; and all dutiful creatures will join in his joy. Thus you see that the Lord reigneth. And who, poor feeble saints, who is this that sustains this universal gov ernment, and rules the whole creation according to his pleasure? It is your Father, your Savior, your Friend! It is he that entertains a tenderer regard for you than ever glowed in a human breast. And can you be so foolish as to regard the surmises of unbelief? Can you force yourselves to fear that he will ever leave or forsake you? Can you suspect that he will suffer you to fall a helpless prey to your enemies? No, your Lord reigneth, therefore rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say rejoice. While he keeps the throne of the universe, you shall be safe and happy. Your Father is greater than all, and none can pluck you out of his hands. Remember, he sits upon a throne of grace, therefore come to him with boldness. You may smile at calamity and confusion, and rejoice amid the ruins of the world; you may borrow the language of David, Psalm xlv.; or of Habakkuk, chap. iii. ver. 17, 18. Remember also, that, as he is a king, he demands your cheerful obedience, and therefore make his service the business of your life. And, unhappy sinners! let me ask you, Who is this that reigns King of the universe? Why, it is he whom you have rejected from being King over you; it is he against whom you have rebelled, and who is therefore your just enemy. And are you able to make good your cause against him who has universal nature at his nod? How dreadful is your situation! That which may make the earth rejoice, may make you fear and tremble. The Lord reigneth, let sinners tremble. You must fall before him, if you will not cheerfully submit to his government. Let me therefore renew the usual neglected declaration, "He sits upon a throne of grace." Let me once more in his name proclaim reconciliation! reconciliation!! in your ears, and invite you to return to your allegiance. Lay down your arms, forsake your sins. Hasten, hasten to him. The sword of his justice now hangs over your heads, while I am managing the treaty with you; and therefore delay not. Yield; yield, or die; surrender, or perish; for you have no other alternative. Submit, and you may join the general joy at his government. You upon earth, and devils and damned ghosts in hell, are the only beings that are sorry for it; but upon your submission your sorrow shall be turned into joy, and you shall exult "when the Lord of all comes to judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Psalm xcvi. 13. SERMON XVII. THE NAME OF GOD PROCLAIMED BY HIMSELF. EXOD. XXXIII. 18, 19.-And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. WITH CHAP. XXXIV. 6, 7.-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, or giving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. It is a very natural and proper inquiry for a creature, "Where is God my Maker ?" And a heart that loves PROCLAIMED BY HIMSELF. 297 able to make good your versal nature at his nod? a! That which may make you fear and tremble. The tremble. You must fall beneerfully submit to his governrenew the usual neglected den a throne of grace." Let me once aim reconciliation! reconciliation!! ite you to return to your allegiance. ns, forsake your sins. Hasten, hasten ord of his justice now hangs over your am managing the treaty with you; and ay not. Yield; yield, or die; surrender, or you have no other alternative. Submit, nay join the general joy at his government. on earth, and devils and damned ghosts in hell, only beings that are sorry for it; but upon submission your sorrow shall be turned into joy, you shall exult "when the Lord of all comes to ige the world with righteousness, and the people with is truth." Psalm xcvi. 13. SERMON XVII. THE NAME OF GOD PROCLAIMED BY HIMSELF. EXOD. XXXIII. 18, 19. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. WITH CHAP. XXXIV. 6, 7.-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, or giving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. Ir is a very natural and proper inquiry for a creature, "Where is God my Maker ?" And a heart that loves him must long to know more of him, and is ever ready to join with Moses in his petition, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory; or, "Reveal thyself to me." That thou art, I infer from my own existence, and from thy numerous works all around me; and that thou art glorious, I learn from the display of thy perfections in thy vast creation, and in the government of the world thou hast made. But, alas! how small a portion of God is known in the earth! How faintly does thy glory shine in the feeble eyes of mortals. My knowledge of things in the present state of flesh and blood depends in a great measure upon the senses; but God is a spirit invisible to eyes of flesh, and imperceptible through the gross medium of sensation. How and when shall I know thee as thou art, thou great, thou dear unknown? In what a strange situation am 1! I am surrounded with thy omnipresence, yet I cannot perceive thee: thou art as near me as I am to myself; "thou knowest my rising up and my sitting down; thou understandest my thoughts afar off; thou penetratest my very essence, and knowest me altogether." Psalm cxxxix. 2, &c. But to me thou dwellest in impervious darkness, or which is the same, in light inaccessible. "O that I knew where I might find him! Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him." Job xxiii. 3. 8, 9. I see his perfections beaming upon me from all his works, and his providence ever-active, ruling the vast universe, and diffusing life, motion, and vigor through the whole the virtue of his wisdom, power and goodness, Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze; Inspires our soul, informs our vital part.-POPE. But where is the great Agent himself? These are his works, and they are glorious: "in wisdom has he made them all," but where is the divine Artificer? From these displays of his glory, which strike my senses, I derive some ideas of him; but O! how faint and glimmering! how unlike to the all-perfect Arche |