it addresses you: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

God wished, moreover, to impress on the minds of Israel an idea of his almighty power. He wished them to know that they had to do with a Being who, unlike the gods of Egypt, could as easily punish as command; a Being who could employ heaven and earth, fire and air, the vivid lightning and the rolling thunder to revenge the breach of his law. From the manner in which the law was delivered, not only the Jews might, but we also may, derive much instruction. To show us that God can discover our most secret sins, the law was delivered in fire; emblematical of the light in which he covereth "himself as with a garment," and by reason of which all things are "naked and open before" Him. To show us what our sins deserve, the law was delivered amid fire and smoke; emblematical of the fire of hell which can never be extinguished, and the smoke of the torment which "ascendeth up for ever and ever." To show us what we ought as sinners to do, the mountain trembles while the law is spoken; emblematical of the effect which the hearing of

the law should have on our hearts. To show us what we need, and ought to desire, Israel, amid the thunders of Sinai, seek a mediator; emblematical to us that, without a deliverer from the law's tremendous curse, we perish. O thou great and terrible God! who can stand in thy sight if once thou art angry? who can resist thy power? who dares provoke thy wrath?

The tremendous scenes of Sinai may serve to remind us of the more tremendous scenes of the last day. Between the coming of God to deliver his law, and his coming to judge the world, there are certain striking points of resemblance. As the giving of the law was, so the final judgment will be, preceded by the trumpet of the archangel and the voice of God. To Sinai the Deity came with ten thousand of his saints; but to judge the world He will come with "a thousand thousand ministering to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him." When God delivered his law, Mount Sinai was in a blaze; but when He comes to judgment, the universe will be on fire. We look to Sinai and behold fire and smoke, earthquake and storm; but when God comes to judge the world, we shall see "a fiery stream issuing from Him, and the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the

earth and all things that are therein shall be burned up." In the presence of the Deity, when He came to speak his law, the mountain shook, and Israel were dismayed; but before Him, at his coming to judge the world, “every mountain and island shall be moved out of their places." "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, shall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" O sinners, sinners! "what will ye do in the solemn day?" what will become of you who are transgressors of the fiery law? The fire of Sinai was terrifying, but that of the last day will be consuming. 66 For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

The terrible manner in which the law was delivered, produced on the minds of the Jews

the twofold feeling of reverence and conviction. Stupid as their hearts had hitherto been, obstinate and stiffnecked as they in general were, "when they saw the thunderings and lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they removed and stood afar off." It appears from the language of the Lord to Moses, "Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish," that, in the first instance, they were rushing forward to gaze: but by what they saw, and by what they heard, they were effectually cured of their curiosity and presumption, and removed to a respectful distance, filled "with reverence and godly fear." Awed, humbled, and trembling, they were ready to sink into nothing before the Eternal All. Such ought to be our feelings. Though we have not with Israel seen the solemnities of Sinai, yet God has spoken to us his will. Reader, you have it in the Scriptures; attend to it, or you are undone. O tremble at the thought of falling into the hands of an angry God! Did He deliver his will with such solemn awe? did He in delivering it turn the glory of heaven into terror? did his appearance convulse the elements, strike the mount with trembling, and Israel with the paleness of death? See then the danger of neglecting his

will, the awful consequence of provoking his wrath. Do you now disregard his authority, reject his claims on you, and defy his power? Think, "Can thine hands be strong, can thine heart endure, in the day when He shall deal with thee?"

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Together with a feeling of reverential awe, Israel felt a conviction of their need of a mediator. They said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Here we perceive the use of the law to them. It served to teach them their sinfulness and insufficiency, and thus to show them their need of some one to stand between them and a holy God. Such is the use of the law to us. "The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." We never dis cover the purity of the Divine character, the depravity of our own nature, and our need of Jesus as a mediator, till we have seen the lightning, heard the thunder, and felt the terrors of Sinai.

Let my reader now direct his view to Sinai. See the solemn way in which the law was given. Think, have you not transgressed the law? You cannot, you will not deny this. Now direct your view forward to the final judgment, “when our God shall come and will not keep silence;