of his person;" insomuch, that "whoso hath seen him, hath seen the Father'." In truth, this was the mystery, which Moses probably did not understand at the time; the mystery, I mean, of his being put into the clift of the rock. For, "that rock was Christm:" and it is in Christ only that God's perfections can find scope for exercise towards sinful man, and be all displayed in united splendour. But in Christ, "mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other"." Come then, Beloved, come to the Gospel, even to "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God!" come there, and "behold in it, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, that you may be changed by it, even as Moses was, into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord!" You are privileged beyond all the prophets, not excepting even the Baptist himself: for St. Paul says, that "what no eye had seen, nor ear heard, neither had it entered into the heart of man to conceive, (no, not even the eye, or ear, or heart of Moses himself,) God had revealed unto the Christian Church by his Spirit." And by that same Spirit, working in and by the word, will God reveal it unto you also, even all "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."] 2. The power of faith [Faith is justly called "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." It penetrates into the highest heavens, and "beholds Him that is invisibles." It " sees God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God'," able to succour, and ready to reward, his faithful people. Yes; "though now we see not our adorable Saviour with our bodily eyes, yet, believing in him, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." We need not envy Moses: for, great as his privilege was, it was not to be compared with ours. His eyes were gratified with a glorious sight, no doubt; and his mind was instructed with audible sounds: but he saw not the truths realized; nor did he fully comprehend the things revealed to him*. But we have seen our God incarnate; and have "beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Fathery." We have seen in his atonement all the perfections of God harmonizing and glorified: and we understand clearly, how God can be "just, and yet the justifier of sinful men"." We know him to be "a just God, and yet a Savioura:" and live in the sweet assurance, that he is not only merciful, k Heb. i. 3. q 2 Cor. iv. 6. t Acts vii. 55. y John i. 14. 1 John xiv. 9. • 2 Cor. iii. 18. r Heb. xi. 1. u 1 Pet. i. 8. z Rom. iii. 26. m 1 Cor. x. 4. but "faithful also, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness b. The world at large, indeed, and multitudes even of the Christian world, have no experimental sense of these things: and the reason of their blindness is, they have not faith (for "all men have not faith"): but to believers, "Christ manifests himself as he does not unto the world";" and so enables them to "behold his glory, that they are changed by it into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Blush, then, ye who " see in Christ no beauty nor comeliness for which he is to be desired:" know, that it is the result of "unbelief, by which the devil has blinded yous:" and that, "if ye will believe, ye shall see the glory of God";" ye shall see it, not only in the exercise of his power, but also in the display of "all his goodness."] 3. The efficacy of prayer [Wonderfully is this illustrated in the passage before us. But shall we suppose that God is less condescending now than in the days of Moses, or that he will not answer prayer at this time as well as then? Know ye, that God is the same gracious God as ever: "with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turningi:" "The prayer of the upright is still his delight," as much as at any period of the world: and that "those who come to him in his Son's name, he will in no wise cast out." On the contrary, he tells us, that " we may ask what we will; and it shall be done unto us." There is no limit to his answers to believing prayer, except such as his own glory, or our capacity, have imposed. "It is not in him that we are straitened, but in our own bowelsm." How, then, should we urge the petition of Moses, and say, “O Lord, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory!" Let us have but one thing to desire of the Lord;" and let that be, that we may behold his glory": let us go into his presence: and say, with David, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory:" and God will draw aside the veil that intercepts our views of him; yea, "he will come down from the habitation of his holiness and his glory?," and present himself before us, saying, "Here I am." He would even fulfil to us his promise," hearing us before we ask, and answering whilst yet we 66 d John xiv. 22. * 2 Cor. iv. 4. k Prov. xv. 8. n Ps. xxvii. 4. q Isai. lviii. 9. : are speaking to him." O that we would plead with him as he has commanded us to do, and "give him no rest," till he answer us in the desire of our hearts! And let us not imagine, that he will be offended at the largeness of our petitions for he is as willing, as he is "able, to do exceeding abundantly for us above all that we can ask or think "." Let us 66 open our mouths ever so wide, he will most surely fill them."] 4. The blessedness of heaven [When Peter beheld his Lord transfigured upon Mount Tabor, he said, "It is good to be here." And if such a view of Christ's glory, with his bodily eyes, was so delightful, what must it be for our disembodied spirits to be introduced into his immediate presence, and to 66 see him as he is!!" What views shall we then have of the perfections of the Godhead all uniting and glorified in the work which he accomplished on the cross! Truly that heavenly city, where he abides, "has no need of the sun or moon to lighten it; for he will be the light thereof," and with his glory shall every soul be filled. If we account Moses happy when favoured with his transient visions of God, what shall we be, when around his throne we behold him in all his glory, and look forward to a never-ending duration of our bliss! O that we could contemplate more the blessedness of that state; and live more in an habitual paration for it! Lift up your hearts, Brethren; for the blessed period is nigh at hand. Be "looking for it, and hasting to ita:" and let "nothing short of that have any glory in your eyes, by reason of the glory that excelleth." Take now already the golden harps into your hands; and begin "the blissful song." Emulate to the utmost of your power those who are gone before you: and soon you shall join the countless choir in singing "the song of Moses and the Lamb."] Isai. lxv. 24. pre u Exod. xxxiv. 5—7. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 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 by no means clear the guilty. THE voice of inspiration says to every one of us, "Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace." An acquaintance with ourselves (which indeed is equally necessary to our salvation) will only lead us to despair, unless its effects be counteracted with a proportionable knowledge of our God. The more we discern of our own depravity, the more must we see of our guilt, our danger, and our helplessness: nor can any thing pacify our consciences, and allay our fears, but a view of the divine perfections, as united and harmonizing in the work of redemption. But that once obtained, our minds will be serene and happy: and the more complete our view of God is, the more firm will be our confidence in him, and the more sublime our joy. Moses, well aware of this, prayed to God to shew him his glory. To this request God graciously condescended, and appointed him a place where he would meet him, and make this discovery unto him. In discoursing upon this marvellous event, we shall notice, I. The situation in which Moses was placed We are told that "God stood with him THERE: but this not being a prominent feature in the text, we shall premise some observations as introductory to our remarks upon it— [In the first place, we would observe that, in interpreting the Holy Scriptures, we are not at liberty to indulge our own fancy; we must approach them with sacred awe and reverence; and give such explanations of them only, as we verily believe to be agreeable to the mind of that blessed Spirit, through whose inspiration they were written. Next, we observe, that the whole of the Mosaic economy was of a typical and mysterious nature; and that, though it is sometimes difficult to ascertain the precise import of some events, yet the meaning of those which are more striking is clear and obvious, and may be stated without any fear of deviating from the truth. Further, there are many events, of which we should have made only a general improvement, which God himself has marked as conveying very minute and particular instruction. For instance, the miracle wrought by Moses, when he struck the rock, and thereby gave the whole nation a supply of water, which followed them all through the wilderness, might be supposed to teach us only, that God will supply the wants of his people who put themselves under his guidance: but St. Paul teaches us to look deeper into that miracle, and to find in it the great mysteries of redemption. He tells us that "that rock was Christ;" and, that the water which they drank of was "spiritual drink;" or, in other words, that the miracle denoted, that Christ, being struck with the rod of the law, becomes unto us a never-failing source of all spiritual blessings. We only observe further, that there was no occasion whatever, in which we might more certainly expect to find something typical and mysterious, than in that before us. God was about to reveal himself to Moses in a manner that he never did, either before or since, to any mortal man: and the directions which he gave previous to this discovery of himself, and which were necessary for the safety of his favoured servant, were so minute and significant, that we cannot doubt, but that the whole transaction was replete with mysterious import, and most valuable information.] We come now to notice the situation in which Moses was placed [God commanded Moses to go up to Mount Sinai, and stand upon a rock; and promised that he would there pass by him in a visible manner: but, because it was not possible for him to behold the splendour of the divine glory, God told him, that he would put him into a clift of the rock, and discover to him such a view of his glory as his frail nature could sustain. Accordingly, having put him into the clift of the rock, and covered him with his hand, to prevent him from getting any sight of his face (which he could not have seen consistently with the preservation of his life), he passed by, and then, withdrawing his hand, he permitted him to see his "back parts," that is, to have such an indistinct view of him as we have of a person who has passed by us. Now Sinai and Horeb, it appears, were two tops of the same mountain. We are told in the context, that God called Moses to come up unto Mount Sinai: yet the preceding chapter informs us that the Israelites were at that time encamped by the Mount of Horeb". The whole nineteenth chapter of Exodus informs us that the intercourse which Moses had with God at the time of the giving of the law, was on Mount Sinai: whereas Moses elsewhere informs us, that he stood before the Lord in Horebe; and that the Lord made a covenant with them in Horeb'; and that the people provoked the Lord to wrath in Horebs. Hence it is manifest, that the terms Horeb and Sinai |