field-how should we marvel at the mighty power by which the order of nature had been changed, and all things been made new! Or, suppose that our atmosphere were cleared from all vapours, and that clouds were for ever banished from our sky-suppose the sun were to shine upon us perpetually without a setting eve or a rising morn-suppose the whole visible creation, around, beneath, above us, were to assume an entirely new aspect, and leave not one vestige behind of its former condition-we should then be astonished at the mighty power which had wrought a transformation so marvellous. But when we leave such illustrations, drawn from changes in the physical world, and come back and look at God's work of grace in the moral world, what do we behold? We see not creation changed, or its visible scenes annihilated; but we see the Spirit of God taking possession of the regenerated mind-the mind which no human power could change, no human philosophy or legislation could control the mind which, for four thousand years, had been setting God at defiance, and which, after all the experiments of forty centuries, still remained unchanged

-the mind which, amid all the improvements of art, all the progress of science, all the advance of civilisation and refinement, continued the same as ever in its relations, and feelings, and conduct towards its Maker. We find this very being, man, when brought under the influence of the truth and Spirit of God, changed in his whole spiritual condition and moral character. We find him contemplating every thing around him with a new vision, pursuing new objects, following a new course, and persevering therein, unmoved by difficulties, undismayed by death. We find him eman

cipated from his former bondage to sin, and enjoying God's service as his most perfect freedom. We find him casting his eyes by faith upwards to the holiest of all, and now anticipating with desire and delight that futurity, the very thought of which had formerly made him tremble. The night which hung over him has fled; the sun has arisen; the impediments have been cleared away. The objects which are now before him appear in all their loveliness and grandeur. He has become a beauteous and living stone in that holy temple which God honours with his presence, and fills with his peace.

We have thus seen what are some of the blessed effects of the gospel remedy when applied by the Holy Ghost. It removes man's guilt; it purifies his corruption; it rectifies his alienation; it strengthens his weakness. And if it be then thus beneficent in reference to the case of a single individual, oh, how surpassingly glorious shall be the results when this remedy shall be extended and applied to the whole race of Adam upon the earth!

You have seen the state of man by nature; you have heard of some of the experiments he, in his wisdom, made for his relief; you have marked their total failure; you have contemplated the remedy which the wisdom of God devised, and you have observed some of its blessed effects upon an individual of the human race. Look now finally at the effects it will produce upon the whole world. Let this word of the cross— let this Spirit of the crucified one go forth among the nations of the earth, and then the day when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, would be deemed, in comparison, but as the

darkness of the dawn when contrasted with the splendour of the full meridian. Then, indeed, a globe was created most fair and beauteous to behold, as it rolled along in its majestic course. Still it was but a mass of inert matter. But with what joy and triumph shall these sons of God look upon that same globe when filled with rational, purified, and immortal minds, influenced by God's grace, devoted to his glory!

Let us think only of what will be the character of the world's institutions when this gospel shall have pervaded the great family of mankind. Despotism will cease, oppression and cruelty will be unknown; all human laws will be tinctured with the mild, liberal, beneficent spirit of the gospel. The dwellings of rich and poor will be scenes of harmony and joy. The church will throw its sacred character over the world; both will present the same proofs of renown, and angels will rejoice to behold in both the manifold wisdom of their God. Men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. No sword shall be wielded but the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. No threat shall be held out but the denunciations of God against sin. No sound of artillery shall be heard but the artillery of heaven, proclaiming by the mighty angel the everlasting gospel to all nations and tribes on earth. The various denominations of the saints shall then be lost in the common name of Christian; and the feelings which now divide, and sub-divide, and estrange, shall then, united, send up the language of united prayer to one Father. No party Shibboleth shall then distract or confuse the simple-minded worshipper; but all shall acknowledge one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Then the nations that have never heard of his fame shall be made to experience his grace, and shall send up common praises with those who have long known his salvation; and then the ambition of power, and the grasping of gain, and the struggling for distinction, shall all be swallowed up in love to the only and all-wise God our Saviour.

The Lord hasten it in his time. Amen.

SERMON XII.

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”—ISAIAH, i. 18.

THERE are certain representations of the divine nature which are apt to overawe and overwhelm our minds. We cannot steadily contemplate, or vividly realise, what are termed the incommunicable attributes of Jehovah, without feeling on our spirits an inexpressible solemnity. When we hear that, go where we will, from his Spirit we cannot go, from his presence we cannot flee; that in all places of his dominion, in earth, and air, and sea, above us and beneath, in heaven, and in hell, He ever exists the universal Lord: when we know that, while we are creatures of clay, and but of yesterday, He is the Great Spirit, from eternity to everlasting, God; when we remember that we are all marked by imperfection, and stained with sin, but that He is the perfect one of Israel; when we contrast our meanness with his majesty, our pollution with his purity, our weakness with his power, we may well prostrate ourselves in the dust, and exclaim, "Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah ? Who is like unto thee? glorious in holiness, venerable