upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down; and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them." And after the law was given it is said, "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." This is such a storm as never appeared in this world before, nor will it ever appear again till the general doom, when the trumpet of the archangel will raise the dead, and

the voice of the law be called over again, in all its real meaning, and be enforced with fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, which must be the portion of their cup who cleave to a covenant of works, and yet break that covenant, Read Psalm xi. 6. This storm fell upon Israel; and this same storm fell upon Gentile Zion, attended with the torrents from above, and the inundations from beneath, which appeared in Noah's flood. But after this Israel had a more pleasing exhibition, and so had the poor Gentiles in my text; and, indeed, the matter of my text is taken principally from this storm, and from what succeeded it. The storm that we have seen is in the 19th and 20th chapters of Exodus; but the following calm is in chapter the 24th, which I shall transcribe, in order to make my matters clear.

"And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come [near the Lord; but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came, and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children

of Israel, which offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basons, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness." From this account is my text taken. The Gentiles begin in a tempest, and then they are founded with sapphires. And here is the first storm that Israel saw, when the heavens above them were black, the mountain trembled and smoked, the thunder rolled, and the lightning flashed, as if the whole mountain was all on fire. "God's voice," says Paul, then shook the earth." And such a sight, and such a storm, no soul ever saw before in this world. But it was to prepare them for a better and a more heavenly display of divine goodness. They first offer sacrifices; then the blood is sprinkled on the book and on the people; and then Moses, the mediator, the priests, and the elders, draw near, and see the God of Israel: "And there was under his feet as it were a paved work

of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness." In the former appearance of God darkness was his secret pavilion; in thick darkness he came to Moses; the heavens were covered with clouds, and nothing was seen or heard but the voice of words, the trumpet, the earthquake, the wind, and the fire: but in this appearance all is serene, calm, and tranquil; no storm, nor so much as even a cloud to be seen; the very body of heaven was not only clear, but it appeared in his clearness. And, if my reader will receive it, this is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. In order to make clear work of this, I will endeavour,

1. To inquire who this is that the elders saw: it was the Lord God of Israel.

2. Inquire a little into the pavement: there was under his feet as the paved work of a sapphire stone. And,

3. This is the representation of it: it was the body of heaven in his clearness. The divine person here seen by the elders and others was the Son of God in a human form, attended with the brilliant perfections of his deity shining forth, in which glorious rays the elders saw the whole heavens, clear and without a cloud. And this sight was intended to lead their faith and hope to his future incarnation; at which time that stormy and tempestuous dispensation called the law would have its fulfilling, and its eternal end. That this is the divine person here seen, I shall attempt to

prove by two visions similar to this sight, and both in the Old Testament, previous to the coming of Christ in the flesh: "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it; from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake,” Ezek. i. 26-28. In this account there is a clear firmament over this glorious appearance. Here is the rainbow, which secures the world from a second deluge, and the saint from being drowned in destruction and perdition. Here is the representation of a throne. The glorious perfections of deity are the throne, upon which is the appearance of a man, which is our Immanuel, God with us. From his loins upward and downward he appeared as fire; for wherever he goes he is to the elect a refiner; and therefore he appears like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap, Mal. iii. 2. And if my reader will read this whole chapter he will