vail of flesh and blood. This vail hinders them, not only as it is polluted, but as it is weak, and subject to many infirmities. We cannot see him, as yet, and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20. If he did not accommodate the discoveries of himself to the frailty of our nature, we should be overpowered. The beloved disciple had often conversed familiarly with his Lord, and reclined on his bosom, during his state of humiliation: but when he appeared in the isle of Patmos, though his majesty was attempered with mildness and love, and his design was to honour and comfort him, he says, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead," Rev. i. 17.

Further, pain, indisposition, and trouble, often distract their attention, or detain them from the opportunities in which he has promised to meet his people. They are glad when it is said unto them, "Let us go up to the house of the Lord;" (Ps. cxxii. 1 ;) but they are frequently shut up, and cannot come forth; (Ps. lxxxviii. 8;) and though he supports them under all their afflictions, yet it is no small trial to be confined from his ordinances. But when they shall meet their Lord in the air, they will be freed from every defect, defilement, and impediment. They will see him as he is, without any interposing vail or cloud. They will be out of the reach of sin, temptation, pain, and grief. They are blessed now, though often called to mourn, because they will then be comforted, Matt. v. 8.

Again, we shall be for ever with the Lord. -O that word for ever! even to be with the Lord, and to possess a happiness commensurate to the utmost grasp of our capacity; if it were only for a month, or a year, or an age, or a thousand ages-the thought that this happiness must at length have an end, however distant the termination might be, would cast a damp upon the whole enjoyment. But to know that the happiness is eternal, that they who are once with the Lord shall be with him for ever; this is, if I may so speak, the Heaven of Heaven itself. Such honour awaits all the saints: for thus hath the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, already declared: "Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the house of my God, and he shall go no more out," Rev. iii. 12. "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended," Isa. lx. 20. I hope I have not digressed from the design of this day, by attempting to lead your thoughts to the day of the Lord. I have availed myself of every occasion, which my views of the text have suggested, to impress upon your hearts and my own, a sense of the very great mercy which God, in answer to prayer, has bestowed upon us, by restoring health to the King, and enabling him to pay

his public acknowledgment to the Most High, and to revisit his affectionate people. But never are our temporal mercies so sweet, so valuable, nor so likely to be permanent, as when they are thankfully contemplated in immediate connexion with the hand of him by whom kings reign, and who doth what pleaseth him, in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, Dan. iv. 25. Nay, to us, who are soon to pass into an eternal state, the most important concerns of nations and kingdoms are in reality trivial as the sports of children, unless we can acknowledge, trace, approve, and admire, the great and ultimate designs of God, to which all the revolutions that take place in human affairs are subordinate and subservient. wise, and holy providence ruleth over all; and every movement has either a more remote or a more direct tendency to bring forward the glories of that day, when the Lord himself shall descend to receive his own people, and to execute vengeance upon his adversaries.

His

Knowing to whom I am preaching, I have not thought it necessary to offer proof, that the God who has restored health to the King, and happiness to the kingdom, is he to whom my text refers: he of whom we say, in our public Liturgy, "We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge." It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners. We rest in his own declaration, unmoved by all the cavils of those who, alas! know him not, that all things are delivered unto him, all power committed to him, in heaven and in earth, Matt. xi. 27; xxviii. 18. How else could we trust to him for the expiation of our sins, and the salvation of our souls; guilty and helpless as we are in ourselves, and conscious of the snares, difficulties, dangers, and enemies to which we are exposed? The Lord reigneth, Ps. xcix. 1. He is King of saints, King of the nations, King and Lord of the universe. The government is upon his shoulders, Isa. ix. 6. This God is the God we adore, and we now aim to imitate the songs of those with whom we shortly hope to join; "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing,” Rev. v. 12.

While I exhort you to rejoice, and join with you in rejoicing, for the late instance of his goodness to the King, to the nation, and to ourselves, I feel the highest pleasure in the thought, that I see many around me, (O that I could hope the same of you all!) to whom I may warrantably say, rejoice on these accounts, but rather, especially, and above all, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven," (Luke x. 20,) and that the Lord whom you love, who now guides you by his counsel, will shortly descend to receive you to his glory, Ps. lxxiii. 24.

clarations he has already put into our hands. He has likewise raised up, and perpetuated a succession of his ministers, to enforce the warnings he has given us in the scripture; to remind us of our sins, and the sure and dreadful consequences, if we persist in them. Nor are we left at an uncertainty as to the event, if we humbly confess them, and implore forgiveness, in the way which he has prescribed. The gospel, the glorious gospel of the blessed God, is preached unto us. Jesus Christ, as crucified, is set forth among us, Gal. iii. 1. His blood cleanseth from all sin; (1 John i. 7;) and they who believe in him are freed from condemnation, and completely justified, Rom. viii. 1; Acts xiii. 39. They have also free access to a throne of grace, and like Israel they have power by prayer to prevail with God and with man, Gen. xxxii. 28. And shall it be said of any of us, that the Lord gave us space to repent, and invited us to repentance, and we repented not! Rev. ii. 21. May his mercy forbid it!

He now speaks to us by his providence. His judgments are abroad in the earth; and it behoves us to learn righteousness. His hand is lifted up, and if any are so careless, or obstinate, that they will not see, yet sooner or later, they must, they shall see, Isa. xxvi. 9, 11. The great God has a controversy with the potsherds of the earth. The point to be decided between him, and many abroad, and, I fear, too many at home is, whether he be the governor of the earth or not? His own people, to whom his name and glory are dear, will hold all inferior concernments in subordination to this. If there be no other alternative, misery and havoc must spread, men must perish by millions, yea, the frame of nature must be dissolved, rather than God be dishonoured and defied with impunity. But he will surely plead and gain his own cause; and either in a way of judgment or of mercy all men shall know, that he is the Lord. I believe there is no expression in the Old Testament so frequently repeated as this, Ye, or They shall know that I am the Lord, "Hath he said it, and shall he not make it good?" Ezekiel passim.

The rivers of human blood, and all the calamities and horror which overspread a great part of the continent, the distant report of which is sufficient to make our ears tingle, are all to be ascribed to this cause. God is not acknowledged, yea, in some places, he has been formally disowned and renounced. Therefore men are left to themselves, their furious passions are unchained, and they are given up, without restraint, to the way of their own hearts. A more dreadful judgment than this cannot be inflicted on this side of hell.

And though we are still favoured with peace at home, the dreadful storm is at no great distance; it seems moving our way,

and we have reason to fear it may burst upon us. But I would be thankful for the appointment of this day; for I should think the prospect dark indeed, if I did not rely on the Lord's gracious attention to the united prayers of those who fear and trust him, and who know it is equally easy to hin either to save or to destroy, by many or by few, 1 Sam. xiv. 6. Our fleets and armies may be well appointed and well commanded; but without his blessing upon our councils and enterprises, they will be unable to defend us. He can take wisdom from the wise, and courage from the bold, in the moment when they are most needful. He can disable our forces by sickness or dissension. And by his mighty wind, he can dash our ships to pieces against the rocks, against each other, or sink them as lead in the mighty waters. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, if the Lord commandeth not? Lam. iii. 37.

Our Lord and Saviour, when speaking of the eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, said to the Jews, "Think ye that these men were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusalem, because they suffered such things! I tell you, Nay: but except you repent ye shall all likewise perish," Luke xiii. 4. May the application of these words sink deeply into our hearts! It will not become us to say, either to God or man, that we have indeed sinned, but there are greater sinners than ourselves. It is true the French Convention, and many others who are infatuated by the same spirit, have exceeded the ordinary standard of human impiety and cruelty. But I hope there are multitudes in that nation, who, though they are overawed by the oppressors, and dare not speak their sentiments, yet are mourning in secrecy and silence for the abominations which they cannot prevent. But the French have not sinned against such advantages as we possess. They were long the slaves of ar bitrary power, and the dupes of superstition, and of late they have been the dupes of madmen, assuming the name of philosophers. We, on the contrary, were born and educated in a land distinguished from all the nations of the earth by the eminent degree in which we enjoy civil and religious liberty, and the light of gospel truth. These privileges exceedingly aggravate our sins; and no just comparison, in this respect, can be formed between us and other nations, until we can find a people who have been equally favoured, and for an equal space of time, by the providence of God, and have likewise equalled us in disobedience and ingratitude.

The most dreadful enormities committed in France, are no more than specimens of what human depravity is capable, when circumstances admit of its full exertion, and when the usual boundaries and restrictions necessary to the peace and welfare of civil.