carnal mind rises directly against God, and condemns him as the most unjust and cruel being in the universe; which is immediately sinning against God himself, with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. And can we conceive it possible that they should rise in criminality and guilt so fast in any other way as in this? "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" This is not only the most criminal, but the most dangerous way of sinning. It directly tends, not only to stifle conviction, but to produce despondency. For, so far as sinners can make themselves believe that the want of a good heart is the want of a talent, and a valid excuse, they will pity themselves as in a deplorable condition, and blame God for not giving them a good heart, and threatening to cast them off for ever for the want of it. A great many guilty sinners have thrown themselves into this wretched situation, by justifying themselves, and charging God foolishly. All awakened sinners are in a critical situation; and it is extremely difficult to guard them against the guilt and danger of justifying themselves and condemning God. The best way to guard them against this delusion, is to make them see, if possible, the distinction between natural and moral inability.

5. It appears from what has been said, that no awakened sinners are under genuine convictions, until they are constrained to give up all their excuses for their negligence, impenitency and unbelief. All their excuses are founded upon their false notion of being unable to do what God has required of them, because he has not given them a heart to do it. This excuse they ought to give up, and must give up, when the commandment comes home to their conscience. "For whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may become guilty before God." The sinner, under genuine conviction, has no self justifying and God condemning plea to make. His mouth is stopped, though his heart rebels. Paul owns that he was subject to such genuine convictions. "I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." And the publican had no excuse to make, when he cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner." The law, which requires a holy heart, allows of no excuse for the want of it. It is extremely dangerous for sinners to take awakenings for convictions, and a mere sense of danger for a sense of guilt. They must renounce all self righteousness and self justification, in order to accept the unpromised mercy of God.

6. It appears from what has been said, that all sinners are equally liable to conviction. The same talents which God has

given them, and required them to improve, he can turn against them, and employ as means of conviction and self condemnation. All their intellectual powers, all their acquired knowledge, all their religious advantages, and all their easy and agreeable circumstances in life, he can turn against them; and make them feel that these things have increased their obligations to improve them, and consequently their guilt in misimproving them. Though all secure sinners employ all their talents to invent plausible excuses, yet God can make them employ all their talents to discover and condemn their past stupidity, negligence and slothfulness. Though the careless and thoughtless imagine that they can successfully plead their cause before God, yet when they come in sober earnest to justify themselves, they will find that God can condemn them out of their own mouths. How many great and learned men has God laid prostrate at his footstool! It is only to take away their groundless excuses, and they fall before him.

7. This subject now calls upon all sinners, without exception, to improve their talents which God has given them. Of these talents they cannot divest themselves. They are a part of their rational and immortal existence. And they bind them to love and serve God with a pure heart. And if they are slothful and bury them, or pervert them, they will sink them, like talents of gold, in endless perdition. How many sinners have wished in vain to be deprived of their noble, rational and immortal talents, or to be completely annihilated, rather than to feel their insupportable, condemning power! You cannot turn to the right or left, with security or impunity. There is only one strait and narrow path before you to obey God from the heart, or to be condemned, and destroyed for ever. And can you hesitate a moment, as to what is your duty and interest? Are you secure? Awake! Are you alarmed? Condemn yourselves, and justify God, and accept of mercy! Stand no longer idle. You must soon give to God an account of what you have done with your talents. And if you do not make yourselves a heart to use the talents he has given you to his glory, he will say in respect to every one of you, "Čast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

SERMON VIII.

GOD MOST FULLY DISPLAYS HIS GLORY ON EARTH.

AND one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. ISAIAH, vi. 3.

THE death of a great and good ruler is often ominous, and forebodes great public calamities. The death of Uzziah, king of Judah, seems to be represented in this light. He had reigned fifty and two years, and had done much to promote the glory of God and the good of his subjects. But they were unthankful for this rich and extensive blessing; and God determined to punish them for their ingratitude under the smiles of his providence. Just before, or just after the king died, he sent his prophet Isaiah to admonish them of the danger to which they were exposed. And to prepare him to deliver this solemn message to his people, he favored him with a clear and lively vision of heaven and of its holy inhabitants. This vision he relates, before he predicts the tokens of the divine displeasure. The representation of what he saw is extremely solemn." In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Some have supposed, and perhaps justly, that the heavenly host meant, by thrice saying holy, holy, holy, to pay distinct homage to each of the divine Persons in the sacred Trinity, who are all concerned in the dispensations of providence. But, however this may be, it is certain from the language of these holy beings, that they delightfully contem

plate the glory of God; and especially in this world, where it is most clearly displayed. Hence there is reason to conclude,

That the angels of heaven have always discovered more of the glory of God in this world, than in any part of the universe. I shall show,

I. That the angels of heaven have always been well acquainted with this world.

And,

II. That they have always discovered more of the glory of God here, than any where else.

I. Let us consider that the angels of heaven have always been well acquainted with this world. All we know about these invisible spirits, we derive from divine revelation. The Bible assures us that they are the first, the greatest and the best of created beings. God created them before he created this lower world. He endued them with superior power, wisdom and goodness. He has, from the beginning, preserved them in holiness and happiness, and given them great opportunities of surveying and exploring all parts of his vast dominions. And there is reason to conclude that they have made constant and rapid advances in intellectual and moral excellence, ever since their creation. Though these noble and exalted spirits have always been invisible to mankind except on particular occasions, yet we have abundant evidence from scripture that they have always been acquainted with the objects and events of this world. When God laid the foundation of the earth, they sang together and shouted for joy. And from that day to this, they have been more or less concerned in executing the purposes of God respecting mankind. It has always been their proper business to serve the church of God in this world. We are expressly told that they are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." We are not to suppose, however, that they are all here at the same time; but only that certain numbers come and go according to the divine directions. And this seems to be more than intimated in the vision of Jacob's ladder. "He dreamed, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it." This representation naturally leads us to suppose that many, if not all of the angels in heaven, have actually been in this world, at different times and on different occasions; and that there is no time when they are all absent from this place of their destination. It is natural to conjecture that many of them continually reside here, while others are alternately employed on great and extraordinary occasions. We find several instances of this mentioned in the scripture. There were innumerable angels present when God gave the law at Mount Sinai. To this great occasion the Psalmist refers, when he

says, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." The great and interesting event of the birth of Christ called together a vast collection of the heavenly hosts. The Evangelist tells us that when Christ was born, "There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men." We read that an angel destroyed more than one hundred and fourscore thousand men in one night, in the camp of the Assyrians. We read that an angel appeared with a drawn sword over Jerusalem to destroy it. Christ told those who came to apprehend him, that he could command more than twelve legions of angels to rescue him. God sent an angel to strengthen him in the garden, and he sent another to roll away the stone from his sepulchre at his resurrection. An angel also was sent to awake Peter in prison, and release him from his confinement. But it is needless to multiply instances of this kind. It clearly appears from scripture, that the angels of heaven have always been conversant in this world; and of course they have always had peculiar opportunities of being thoroughly acquainted with the conduct of God towards mankind, and with their conduct towards God and towards one another. They have been acquainted not only with individuals, but with all the nations and kingdoms of the earth, from the creation of the world to the present day. They have traced the connections between causes and effects, and between events and events, and they know a vast many links in the chain of divine providence. They know ten thousand times more about this world than any, or all the men who have lived in it. These messengers of divine love, and of divine vengeance, have maintained a constant communication between heaven and earth; and felt themselves deeply interested in all the natural and moral good, and in all the natural and moral evil, which have fallen to the lot of mankind in all ages. They have rejoiced and mourned, in the view of the great, complicated and solemn scenes which have taken place in this important part of the intelligent creation. And, therefore,

II. They have discovered more of the glory of God in this world, than in any other part of the universe. It may be pre