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we should find as great a diversity of gods, even in this Christian land, as the Athenians could boast of, among whom it was said to be easier to find a god than a man. We should discover, too, that they all had something human about them, that they were of the earth earthy, even when most resplendent and glorious. Now these are the gods "that guilt makes welcome;" gods that will not punish sin, or if they punish it, will do so with no special severity. They are gods who will not too strictly scrutinize the conduct, and who will make the most ample allowance for the follies and frailties of human

nature.

This transference, of our own views and feelings to the character of God, has a natural tendency to lull the soul into the slumber of utter indifference, both as to its present state and future prospects. It hides from us our own true character, and fills the future, so dark and portentous to every enlightened sinner, with unreal and visionary splendors. God being viewed as altogether such as we are, ingratitude of heart is not regarded as an evil which drags the soul to perdition; the curse of a violated law burning into the heart for ever, is neither acknowledged nor felt; hell is thought of only as a word which sounds harshly in our ears, and the fearful denunciations of the sacred oracles against every species of sin, though ringing upon the ears of men from the throne of Omnipotence, fall upon their heedless hearts like the distant echoes of the receding tempest. While the storm of vengeance is gathering in the distance, and the thunders are rolling through the sky, the sun still shines upon their heads, and they bask in its beams, as if this state would last for ever. For a moment, they may be aroused by the voice of conscience, and of God, but they relapse into a sleep still more profound.

Man is sinful, God is holy. Heaven lies far above the din of earth, and the fading vanities of the world. Whatever, therefore, brings the soul into close contact with God and eternity, is disliked, and consequently avoided. The renovation of the heart, the influence of the Divine Spirit, communion with God, abstraction from the world, death as an introduction to the presence-chamber of the Deity, and the perfect purity of glorified spirits, if not regarded altogether in the light of poetical fictions, bring

God and his claims too vividly before the mind and the conscience, not to be shunned, and sometimes even loathed.

We generally wish to regard ourselves as secure and happy. But an unconverted sinner, a man of the world, an ambitious man, a sensualist, cannot think of the holy God, of the sacred oracles, without an impression and a foreboding of "the wrath to come." Such a one, therefore, shuts out, as much as possible, the idea of God from his mind as an unwelcome intruder; or he forms in his conceptions an imaginary god, upon whose image his unsanctified thoughts may rest with complacency.

And yet it seems wonderful, that men should thus deny God, and exclude him from their minds. There is something so august, so glorious, so thrilling, in the thought of such a being, that it appears a prodigy of madness for a rational and immortal man to turn away from it with an infidel aversion, or an imbecile dread. Why is it, we naturally ask, that creatures, formed in God's own image, and destined to partake of his glory, think so little of him, or, if they permit their minds to recur to the subject, that it is done with so little reverence and awe? Why is it that they feel so unconcerned about his character and government, that they are so regardless of his favor? Why, again, is his blessed word not searched, with the ardor and assiduity of one who must understand it, or perish? Why, in one word, do multitudes go to the house of prayer, as they would go to a theatre, and hear the most solemn and startling declarations concerning God and eternity, the guilt of man, and the perdition of the soul, with so little seriousness and alarm? O, it is because they know not God, either as a Saviour or a Judge, nor reflect upon the affecting relations in which they stand to him.

For the same reason, they are ignorant of themselves. Not recognising the holiness of him who has revealed his wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man, and who will by no means clear the guilty, they feel neither their guilt nor their danger.

Why is it that, even when they admit the reality of their guilt and condemnation, they do not feel the immi

nent danger of such a condition, nor make the slightest effort to free themselves from it? It is because they know nothing of God as they ought to know, and scarcely consider that he exists. Though they know him not, they assure themselves that all is well, because, forsooth, they have heard that he is gracious and merciful, slow to wrath, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. But how he is such, in what circumstances, and under what conditions, they neither know nor care. Yes, our God is a God of mercy, ready to forgive, and willing to save; but he is also holy and just, and will by no means justify the unrepenting, unbelieving sinner. God must be true to himself, and act in consistency with the great and immutable principles of his government, must maintain the dignity of his throne, and the claims of his law; and, although he hath formed a plan of mercy for the benefit of apostate man, yet he hath formed it upon principles of justice. He intends the gospel for the promotion of holiness, and, unless it conduces to that end, it will only secure our deeper ruin. "We are a sweet savor to God," says the apostle, "in them that are saved and in them that perish; to the one, we are a savor of life unto life, to the other, of death unto death." Sin is just as hateful in the sight of God now, as it was when he appeared in thunder upon Sinai, or when his only begotten Son, bearing its curse upon Calvary, cried out, "My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" But now, vain, foolish, infatuated man, unmindful of this, congratulates himself on his state of fancied security, lays himself down to rest on the lap of indolent repose, and dreams of nothing but endless joy, while the thunders of divine justice are gathering over his devoted head, and hell itself, ay hell itself, we cannot mince the matter, is ready to receive him. O the utter infatuation of the human heart! Looking for light, when there is nothing but midnight darkness; for joy, where despair clanks her chains and weeps tears of blood; slumbering upon the very precipice, smiling upon ruin, and making a covenant with death and the grave. Wrapt in triple delusion, he glides in fatal tranquillity down that stream which is sweeping onward to perdition.

It is only "in Christ," that a true and saving knowledge of the character of God can be obtained. Here all

the moral perfections of the Deity are most gloriously and distinctly reflected. Here mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Here, all that is tremendous in justice, all that is cheering in mercy, blend together, and present a more beautiful and attractive aspect than when they are viewed singly and apart, just as the clouds of the evening sky mingle with the rays of the descending sun, and blend in beauty. Christ is the representative of God to man, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person. In him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily, somewhat shadowed and subdued, it is true, by humanity, but still resplendent with the uncreated brightness of the Godhead. "He that hath seen the Son, hath seen also the Father; he that knoweth the Son, knoweth also the Father." They are one, and yet Jesus Christ is a man, and united by special ties to humanity. He unites heaven and earth, brings God to man, and man to God. Thus, he is the only medium through which God can be known, so as to furnish hope and joy to the sin-burdened spirit. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." It is in Christ, and Christ alone, that God is felt to be just, and yet the Saviour of man. Here only will he meet the sinner with pardon and peace, with fellowship and love. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." Hence, there is no other name given under heaven, among men, whereby we can be saved, but that of Christ. He is the way to the Father,- -"the way, the truth, and the life." In him is light, or the true knowledge and enjoyment of God, and this light is the life of men. "This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

If God could at any time have forgiven one sinner, and admitted him into favor, without satisfaction to his justice, he could do this at any other time, and to any other sinner. If righteousness, or justification, "come by the law," if it is, in any case, a reward of good conduct, or an act of mere justice, then "is Christ dead in vain;" then all that he has done and suffered, as the great High Priest of our profession, glorious as we may have deemed it, is only a dream of the distempered imagination; the

work of redemption, with its stupendous provision of mercy, a mere pageant; the glowing language of prophets and apostles, with regard to the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, is hyperbole and extravagance. But "in Christ," God is reconciling the world to himself; proffering to the guilty and the lost, through the great atoning sacrifice, pardon and everlasting life. If, then, in the matter of human salvation, Christ is all in all to God, he ought certainly to be all in all to us. If he is the great animating spirit, ay, and the very substance of the gospel; if he is the Alpha and Omega of divine Revelation; if he is the foundation of the church, and the very centre and glory of the spiritual world; if he is at once the victim on the cross, and the king on the throne; we cannot regard him with a love too ardent, a confidence too full, a veneration too profound. He who knows not Christ, knows not God; he who rejects Christ, rejects God.

We have said, that Christ is God,-the perfections of God embodied. "Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Reposing in his bosom, and gazing on his divine countenance, we are in no danger of forgetting God. Once admitted into union. with him, we bask in the beams of an all-pervading Deity. Jehovah reveals himself to man, only by means of Christ. Here, alone, we obtain a practical knowledge of God. Here, alone, we are admitted into his privacy, and behold

him face to face.

How inadequate and tame are the conceptions we form of a beautiful landscape, or a distinguished character, from the descriptions of others, in comparison with those which we acquire by personal observation, and intimate acquaintance! How, then, can we adequately know God, but in Christ, through whom we are admitted to personal intimacy and fellowship with him? Where else can we recognise him as a father and a friend, and hold communion with him in these endearing relations? "No man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." But here, "the whole Deity is known."

Indeed, the glory of Christ's sufferings, and the whole interest and value of his mediatorial work, are derived

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