a "light to your feet"-the spirit of Christ as the director of your steps-is indeed utter madness and utter ruin. Your way" may seem right" to yourself, but soon you will "stumble on the dark mountains," and the end thereof, will be "the of death." Hearken then to him who says "I am the Lord thy God, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.".

ways

2. Yet again, is the wilderness the right way to the city of habitation? Then how easy should it make us under all the discouragements, weariness, temptations, dangers of the journey! If it be indeed true, that " through much tribulation " we must enter the kingdom, then let us regard much tribulation as the beaten highway to glory, and be thankful to have our way hedged up with thorns," so that we are but kept in it.

3. Lastly, remember that none reach that city but the redeemed of the Lord. Is this your character? Are you brought out of the prison-house of your sins, and the bondage of your corruptions? If not, hasten, before it is to late, to Christ. Take with you words and say "turn thou me, and I shall be "turned. Draw me, and I will run after thee. "Shew me the way wherein I should go. Make me a plain way because of mine enemies. Hold "thou me up, that my footsteps slip not." Thus call upon him, and you shall find, that from first to last, he will lead you by "the right way."

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SERMON XXIII.

REVELATION IV. 3.

AND THERE WAS A RAINBOW ROUND ABOUT THE THRONE."

THERE is one feature in the word of God which, far from being appreciated, is very seldom taken into consideration. I mean, its condescension to our finite capacities. Instead of ridiculing this statement as unintelligible, or rejecting that doctrine as mysterious, we ought to be lost in grateful astonishment that the eternal and incomprehensible Jehovah should have so revealed himself to man that is a worm," and "the son of man that is a worm,' as to furnish the materials for knowing Him "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." This was only to be effected by an amazing stoop on the part of the Most High. The finite could not attain to the Infinite; and therefore the Infinite "bows his heavens and comes down" to the level of the finite. The Lord of Hosts deigns to employ

the dialect of earth, and "speak as a man." Human relations are employed to convey his interest in us, and our duty towards him. Human passions are attributed to him, to illustrate the principles of his dispensations towards us. Human transactions are constantly cited as the types of his intercourse with us. In a word, there is scarcely an object amongst the things which are seen and temporal, which is not made the symbol of things that are unseen and eternal. We have an apt illustration of these remarks in the passage before us. It presents to our view two objects, glorious indeed, and both of them beautiful, but still natural or material-objects, therefore, which cannot be understood as having any actual existence under the circumstances to which they are referred, but only as representing in a figurative manner, things which really did exist. It will be the scope of this discourse to explain, illustrate, and apply these emblems by considering them as typical,

I. OF THE DIVINE POWER.

II. OF THE DIVINE MERCY.

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I. The obvious idea connected with a "throne" is that of power or dominion. It is constantly employed as the symbol of royalty. Thus Pharaoh says to Joseph, Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." It is the known public seat of legislation, government and judgment, surrounded with all the pomp and circumstance of stateceremony and outward splendour. Access to it is

obtained only through the mediation of some tried and honoured servant of the prince; and those only whom their Lord "delighteth to honour" are allowed to stand in the presence of him that sits thereon. Before it, the loyal are proud to bow in token of their homage. At its footstool, the rebel is eager to fall prostrate, that he may sue for mercy. And from it, the traitor hastens to flee lest his sentence of condemnation should be pronounced by the sovereign.

Now let us carry these simple ideas to the interpretation of the prophetic symbol which is employed in the text. As an introduction to the revelation of " things which must be hereafter," the favoured Apostle is rapt up in vision by the Spirit through the opened door into heaven itself. The first object that meets his awe-struck gaze is " a throne set in heaven," and occupied by the infinite Jehovah himself. Then follows a sublime description of this supreme and celestial court. Not merely the universal Church, as represented by "the four-and-twenty elders," are denoted as doing reverence to "Him that sitteth on the throne," but the highest order of angelic beings, who are signified by "the four beasts," or living creatures, were seen engaged in one unceasing proclamation of his eternal holiness. It is from their peculiar style of adoration, involving a three-fold ascription of holiness, and so indicating a plurality of persons addressed, that this portion of sacred Scripture has been selected as the epistle for Trinity Sunday.

Now then, brethren, conceive for a moment that the vision vouchsafed to the Apostle were granted to you, and that you were at this moment standing before the throne of the most excellent Majesty. How inconceivably exalted would your views of the Divine glory become! How just, and yet how feeble, would all the inspired descriptions of that glory appear; and how sensibly would you feel that power belongeth unto God! This, perhaps, is the very simplest and most elementary idea respecting Him. The most thoughtless and the most wicked have this conception of his nature, that he is "great, and of great power." But then their imagination is confined to the notion of a being ruling, (if I may venture on the expression,) by brute force, with an iron, arbitrary, and despotic sway.

We shall hereafter have occasion to notice how the Divine power is tempered by mercy. Let us now consider how it is exalted by his other perfections. Omnipotence alone, if it were not guided by Omniscience, would only be the source of unmeasured and inconceivable confusion and misery. But "blessed," says the prophet, "be the name of our God for ever and ever, for wisdom and might are his." "He is wise in heart as well as mighty in strength." Again, even this combination of attributes would not afford sufficient security for the happiness of his subjects, unless it were hallowed by the most perfect purity. But he is emphatically" the Holy One of Israel ;" and