ever dangers and difficulties may surround them, they may rest in the persuasion, that "neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus their Lord."

Surely then sinners may hope in the Lord, that since there is with him this plenteous redemption, he will in no wise cast them out if they come unto him, and will in no wise withhold it from them if they seek for it in faith, and repentance, and prayer. But if such redemption has no charms for them, and if the mercy which has purchased it fails to affect, and to allure, and to persuade them, what can their insensibility lead to but certain, aggravated, everlasting destruction? O let them look to God and come to him, and throw themselves upon his covenanted but rich and saving compassion, while yet his redemption is offered, and the ear of his mercy is open to the cry and the supplication of his penitent offspring.

And let those who have already fled to the divine mercy and embraced the redemption of the gospel, admire and rejoice in its plenteousness. Let this sustain their faith whenever it begins to fail; let it renovate their hope when despondency is stealing upon their minds; let it increase their

comfort when affliction visits their hearts or their abodes, let it inspire them with holy resolution when temptation offers to lead them astray,-let it be the song of their pilgrimage as they travel through the wilderness of life; and when they come to the threshold of eternity, let it tune their souls to that anthem of praise which they are to join all the redeemed from the earth in singing through the ages of eternity; "To him that loved us and washed us from cur sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God, even his Father, to him be glory and dominion, now and ever. Amen."

SERMON III.

PSALM CXXX. 7, 8.

Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy; and with him is plenteous redemption; and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

In discoursing on these words, we proposed to consider the grounds on which the Psalmist invokes Israel to hope in the Lord. There is, first, the ground that with the Lord there is mercy; there is, secondly, the ground that there is plenteous redemption with him; and there is, thirdly, the ground that "He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." To the consideration of this last particular we now call your attention, having already illustrated the two preceding ones.

It is not merely true that God is merciful, and ready to extend his mercy for the deliverance and the happiness of his apostate creatures; his mercy has led him to form a plan by which redemption

is provided for all such as are the objects of it, in perfect consistency with the other attributes of his nature, and with the honour and authority of his moral administration, and by which no blessing whatever is excluded that can contribute to the comfort and well-being of those upon whom it is to be bestowed, or that can entitle it to be held out and recommended as possessing the character of plenteousness. And not only has his mercy led him to form a plan of redemption so abundant and complete, but an assurance is given that this plenteous redemption will be actually conferred, applied in all its extent, and finally and everlastingly enjoyed.

This might have been anticipated from the mere existence of mercy as an attribute in the character of God; for we could not have supposed that while there was such a multitude of beings on whom it might appropriately operate, it would have all consisted in sympathy for their sufferings and their fate, either silently cherished in the divine mind, or verbally expressed in the divine revelation. And still more confidently might it have been anticipated from the scheme of redemption, as actually devised and unfolded in the gospel, for it could not be imagined that such a wonderful apparatus of means as that scheme presents to us, would have been contrived, that such manifestations of divinity as it exhibits would

have been made, that so much virtue and efficiency as it contains would have been wrought out, and yet that the whole was to remain as a subject of curious speculation, or adoring wonder, and to leave mankind in all their natural degeneracy and helplessness. Every rational view that could have been taken of it must have led us to expect that it would be brought into immediate contact with the circumstances of our fallen race; that it would accomplish, in some good measure, those ends which it was so admirably calculated to promote; that it would give a practical demonstration of its power to redeem, in such a measure and to such an extent, as to glorify him by whom it had been prepared and executed.

This purpose, indeed, it clearly and expressly contemplated, in its original formation, and throughout its whole process. It was designednot to give an idle display of what might be done for the salvation of sinners, and to mock with the discovery of what they were never to partake of but to effectuate the real emancipation of those who, in God's eternal councils, were chosen to be the vessels of his mercy, and ordained to eternal life. With regard to them, it has a definite and specific aim, which cannot be frustrated by any mistake on the one hand, or by any opposition on the other. It was framed for their benefit-so