world which he sustains, and of directing worship to idols. And though one of the leading purposes for which that patriarch was selected from the nations was, that the knowledge of the nature and character of the true God, and of the way in which he is to be worshipped, might be preserved among men, how prone were his descendants to turn to idolatry. Amid the peculiar advantages which they enjoyed, and immediately after they had witnessed the interposition of Jehovah in making a way for them through the sea, and in miraculously supplying their wants in the desert, so much were they bent on having some visible and idolatrous representation of Deity, that they gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, "Up, make us gods which shall go before us." This tendency to apostacy and idolatry continued to shew itself, and to bring down on the children of Abraham the severity of punishment, till after their return from the Babylonish captivity.

And what was the condition of the world in this respect when christianity was first promulgated? With the exception of the Jews, mankind over the whole earth were in a state of the grossest ignorance and superstition, and idolatry, dwelling in darkness and in the region and shadow of death, without God, and having no hope. Paganism was supported by the pomp and splendour that could make it imposing to the senses, shielded by the power of princes, and by the no less formidable power of the priesthood. But the Saviour, who came to destroy the works of the devil, sent forth, shielded by his own almighty power,

his apostles, to call men to repent, and to turn from dumb idols to serve the living and true God. He who gave them their commission made them successful in fulfilling it; and through their instrumentality founded his own pure and heavenly kingdom over the greater part of the world. But soon did this kingdom begin to suffer from the enmity of man to the spirituality, and unity, and perfection of God. Julian the apostate, learned, accomplished, and artful, employed his learning and accomplishments, and artifices, backed by the whole power of Rome, to subvert the kingdom of Christ, and to bring over his subjects to idolatry. And what he was unable to perform was in a great measure afterwards achieved by the professed ministers of the church. Idolatry, through their influence, was openly maintained and inculcated in the eighth century-the period from which we date the commencement of that anti-christian system which is fundamentally opposed to the doctrine of the prophets and apostles; which has assumed to itself the prerogatives of God; which has placed itself in opposition to the glorious gospel; and which enforces the worship of images by law and authority. This is that wicked whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. In the mean time, it is by the special providence of God that the knowledge of his being, and of his perfections, of his mercy, and of his salvation, is preserved among men. And were this knowledge altogether left to itself, the history of the past, and a view of the present, may convince us that

it would soon be lost by the prevalence of human depravity, by the influence of that carnal mind which is at enmity against God. I observe,

III. The necessity of divine revelation. It may seem surprising that this should be so necessary to make known to us doctrines which, because we think they are discovered to us by the light of nature, are termed the doctrines of natural religion. Yet I think it must have appeared, that revelation is as necessary to give us information of these, and to preserve the knowledge of them among men, as it is to make known to us the doctrines of grace and salvation. If the ignorance and depravity of mankind render it so difficult to preserve this knowledge pure and incorrupt, where the light of divine revelation is enjoyed, how deplorable must ever be the condition of those on whom this light does not shine! Unaided and undirected by it, reason, the most cultivated, will only lead to error, to atheism, and infidelity. Without this day-spring from on high, we should have remained in ignorance of the character, the unity, and perfections of the true God, of the duties which we owe him, and of the immortality which awaits us. If this light were suddenly withdrawn from us, the inhabitants of our favoured land would soon be in the same state with the people who dwell in the regions where once the Asiatic churches stood; or in that condition of idolatrous superstition from which our ancestors were rescued a first and a second time by christianity. "Blessed are your eyes, for they see. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound, for they shall walk,

O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted." Without this light we should have been for ever without the delight which we now feel in the knowledge of the divine character and perfections; without that comfort and peace which we now enjoy in beholding the glory of God in the person and work of Christ; and without that good hope derived from the cross, of obtaining, when this life has terminated, a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

IV. Let us rejoice to contemplate God, who is a spirit, self-existing, infinitely perfect, unchangeable, and eternal, as he is brought near us in the person, and offices, and work of Christ. Great, indeed, is the mystery of godliness, that God should be manifested in the flesh. Yet this is the mystery on which the whole truth of Christianity is founded,—a mystery essentially connected with the only ground of our acceptance and justification before God, and with our redemption from the guilt and the power of sin. For our sakes, and to accomplish our salvation, he who is God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Let us draw near, and view the character and glory of the invisible God in the person of his Son, as he unites the nature of man with that of God; and as he exhibits in his work as a Saviour, and in all the offices which he exercises as a mediator,

power, the Here we

the wisdom and the love, the grace and the truth and the faithfulness, of the Father. see in the most awful, and at the same time, in the most inviting form, the glory of God; that glory into the image of which we are changed, and which will be the object of delightful contemplation to angels and to saints for ever.