and never does he withdraw himself from the world. He is omnipresent, and the effects of his love are to be seen throughout the wide spreadings of the human race; the sacred history unfolds his wondrous works, the voice of nature, the storm and the calm, in short, "the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."

Now, brethren, what can we derive from coming to this conclusion? Surely if God's power and glory are manifested before us, if they are about our paths, and about our ways, and if that power and glory are marked by God's richest mercy and all the attributes of the Deity, some effect must be left upon the human heart, and that effect is the object of all our preaching. For what avails the delivery of the Gospel, unless the good tidings affect our lives and produce a practical line of conduct? If the wondrous works of God are presented before you, that you may enjoy their grandeur and be transported by the divine glory that rests upon them; if the Gospel be unfolded to you, and the natural state of man with all his wretchedness and in

firmity be pointed out, and then the Divinity leaving his Father's bosom, taking upon him humanity and effecting the salvation of a lost race, be brought before your mental contemplations; if the Holy Comforter be described, as being sent after the Son had made captivity captive, and if we certify you of his gifts ordinarily assisting us in our passage to heaven; it is with a view only to impress your hearts, and to turn their affections from earthly to heavenly things. We know of no preaching more likely to convert men, than that which exhibits the eternal love of the Father; for that exhibition contains a full development of the heavenly, of the fall of Adam, and the severe curse that he handed down to his posterity, and of the redemption by Jesus Christ, that saved man from an eternal death. An exhibition containing such sacred truths, and evidencing "the wondrous works of God," cannot, we should think, fail to impress the heart of man; yet the Holy Spirit is necessary to sanctify it, and being sanctified, man must be justified, before he can obtain

complete salvation. So that you observe the three persons in the Trinity have a work in the salvation of man, and man is dependent upon their operations; the mystery becomes the greater, the deeper we examine into the great process of man's redemption; but the deeper we examine it, the greater will appear the works of God.

But there are other purposes yet to be accomplished. Although the vision of prophecy be sealed, it is not yet fulfilled; every age unfolds a prediction, and there is one especially which will evidence more fully "the wondrous works of God." We speak now of the second coming of the Son of Man, not as he before appeared in humbleness and simplicity-in the form of a servant, of no reputation, but as a great Conqueror, coming in majesty and radiant with the clouds of glory. Oh! what wondrous works will then appear before those, who are redeemed of the Lord! The heavens shall pass away-the earth shall be burnt up, but corruption shall receive the principles of vitality, and the tenants of the grave, after the repose of centuries, shall

come forth and meet the Lord in the air: then shall the faithful be gathered into one mighty throng, and enter into the glory of their Lord. Then shall there be a display of God's power, then shall all join in praising and magnifying his holy name.

Yea! the joys of heaven will evidence God's love in a superior degree, because by the change of the creature into his spiritual form, he will be enabled to partake largely in the glories that are above. We press upon you "the wondrous works of God," because we feel assured, that the more you admire them, the more you will glory in their Author; and the more you glory in him, the nearer will you arrive at heaven. That we may all meet there in the full enjoyment of those holy blessings, may God of his infinite mercy grant through Jesus Christ our Lord!

SERMON XVI.

66

HEB. iii. 15.

To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

In looking at the history of the rebellious Israelites, we find that they not only did evil occasionally on their journey in the wilderness, but that God for forty years was grieved with those whom he had selected to be his peculiar people. "Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said: It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways." It is truly astonishing, that after the mighty miracles displayed in Egypt, and that stupendous passage of the Red