that THAT prayer only comes up before God as incense, which is connected with and dependent on the merits of the Great Atonement. In the view of this atonement it is that David says, Let my prayer come before thee as incense, and the liftingup of my hands be as the evening sacrifice.

How animating is the view here presented to us! These Heathens, who now know not God, shall offer up Prayer to Him-prayer founded upon the Great Mediation. The whole Gentile World shall know the force of those words of St. Paul-Having, therefore, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, and having a High Priest over the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. The whole Gentile World shall know, that, after having offered up Himself as the sacrifice for us, He is gone to plead the merit of that sacrifice in his Father's presence; and that we may, therefore, come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The Heathen shall then pray to the Eternal God! They are now praying to those that cannot hear— to blocks of wood and stone! But they shall pray to that Lord of Sabaoth, whose ears are open to their cry. They are now praying to those, that, as they cannot hear, neither can they help

repeating vain words, from morning till evening, like the Priests of Baal, and often staining their altars with their blood. These wretched men, guilty and corrupt like ourselves, exposed to the changes and afflictions of a world of sorrow, and now addressing stocks and stones, shall know the God of Truth, and shall be heard, accepted, and answered by him. Why?-because they shall put up their petitions in the Name of the Saviour of Sinners-they shall present them in dependence on the efficacy of His atoning death, and His prevailing intercession.

Thus, in every place incense shall be offered unto his Name.

(2) It is added-and a Pure Offering: for my Name shall be great among the Heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts.

The Apostle Peter describes Christians as a holy Priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. ii. 5.) Such a holy Priesthood shall the Heathen become, under the powerful influences of the grace of the Holy Spirit; and such sacrifices shall they offer!

But what are these offerings? David says, The sacrifices of God are, a broken spirit: a broken and a

contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Ps. li. 17.) Through the knowledge of the Gospel, the Heathen shall be broken down under a sense of their guilt, corruption, and misery. They shall come to God, not to plead their own merits; but, smiting on their breasts, like the Publican in the Temple, they shall offer the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

St. Paul speaks of another offering:-I beseech you, therefore, Brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies-yourselves: not the bodies of animals-a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. xii. 1.) This sacrifice also shall the Heathen present : they shall “offer unto the Lord, themselves, their souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Him:" believing in Christ, as the Saviour who redeemed them to God by his blood (Rev. v. 9), and knowing themselves to be part of his purchased possession (Eph. i. 14), they shall feel that they are not their own, but bought with a price, and shall therefore glorify God in their bodies and spirits, which are God's. (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) The Christian, in the very same degree in which he feels the force and virtue of the purchase of the Redeemer's blood, feels that he is not his ownthat his thoughts and faculties are not his own

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that his energies are not his own-that he has been bought, in body, soul, and spirit, unto God, by the atonement of His Son; and he desires, therefore, in the strength of Divine Grace, to present himself-body, soul, and spirit-an acceptable sacrifice to the Most High.

Finally Praise and Thanksgiving to God, and every exercise of Christian Benevolence toward Man, are parts of that pure offering which shall be presented to the Eternal God. In the last Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle dwells on this subject. Speaking of Jesus, he says, By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name: but, he adds, to do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased: the sacrifice of a devoted heart, the sacrifice of a grateful tongue expressing itself in praise and thanksgiving, and the sacrifice of a benevolent soul consecrated to the service of God and of human kind-these are well-pleasing sacrifices; these are the blessed offerings, which the now perishing Heathen shall be enabled to present to the Most High God!

There is one other word, connected with these offerings, which requires attention. The offering

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is said to be a pure offering. In what manner the offering is rendered thus pure is strikingly illustrated in the Third Chapter of this Prophecy, and in immediate connection with the promise of a Saviour -the Messenger of the Covenant. But who, it is asked, may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. Then follow the words to which I wish particularly to call your attention: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. In this way only it is, that any of us, fallen sinners, can offer to the Eternal God a pure offering. His own grace and Spirit must cleanse and purify

our hearts!

How bright the scene, which these words present to the Christian Mind! On that world, which is now lying in darkness and in the shadow of death, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. These Heathens, who now know not God, shall know Him as the self-existing Jehovah, the Holy God, a Gracious God, and the Saviour: and, knowing Him in these characters, his Name shall be exalted among them: to Him shall their prayers be presented, in dependence on the efficacious