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mandment.

He will magnify the law and make it honourable :-he has satisfied both the curse and the command for ever.

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Again. We shall see the necessity of this purpose, covenant or counsel from a view of the perfections of God as exhibited in his Son; we must in this view take into consideration the whole work of Christ, and of the Spirit, and we shall then see in him all the perfections of God shining in full length; mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." No finite mind could have devised a scheme for thus reconciling these conflicting attributes of God towards a fallen creature; there is something very rich and instructive in this passage" the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The philosopher may contemplate the heavens or descend amid the bowels of the earth, and hold converse with the wonders of creation; but if we are truly wise, this will be the constant prayer of the truly penitent heart-let me behold thy presence-let me ever see the king in his beauty. Man is a mere child, a mere driveller whatever he possesses or whatever he knows, if he forgets this;-the science of Newton himself, without the knowledge of Jesus, was only refined sensuality.

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Again: My counsel shall stand." Let us

consider the stability of this covenant.

It is founded on the perfections of God fully displayed in Christ; this is the reason why it shall not fail it comprises all the love, the faithfulness, the mercy, the power, and wisdom of God: the covenant of the first Adam was glorious, but it vanishes when compared with the glory of this.

Again let us consider the wealth of every one who enters into this covenant with God. First, because God has given his promise, and secondly, because in it we find every thing we can desire, pardon, righteousness, and strength: the promises secure to us all we want in a spiritual and temporal point of view; he has not only promised to be with us in the midst of the severest affliction, but to carry us through it. Mark the difference in the character of the unbeliever and the believer; the former changes every blessing into a curse, for the good things of providence, though in themselves good, he abuses; but God changes the severest afflictions of the believer into blessings. Enumerate all your crosses and trials, and many and grievous as they may be, yet be patient, my brother, and you will find a blessing in every one, he causes 'everything to work together for good to them that walk uprightly." I entreat you to apply this rich truth to yourselves

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by faith in Christ. If he takes any thing from you, he takes it away because the possession of it was an evil to you. Let us pray continually,

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Lord, not our will, but thine be done; and let it be your highest ambition to be passive in the hands of God, to be as clay in the hands of the potter, sweetly submissive to his will.

But by way of improvement I would offer a few observations; some one may say, If I am not chosen it is not my fault; remember there is nothing in the covenant to drive any individual to destroy himself. I ask you one question, and can you deny, Is it not your own will to sin? Is it not your own pleasure? If it is not, you are committing sin and have no pleasure in it, a thing which was never heard of. It is God's pleasure that his covenant shall stand. I urge you to wait upon God in his appointed means, to ascertain your interest in his covenant; and if you are interested, not only you yourselves, but others will be benefited by it: Calvinism is a term of reproach, and I chose to call myself a Calvinist; but Calvinism rightly understood, will make you the most amiable men and women: the true Calvinist's motto is, "who hath made us to differ;" the covenant of mercy, in which he is interested, will be a motive to actuate him to

every act of love to the souls and bodies of his fellow-creatures; and while he lowly esteems himself and deplores the sins of others, he refers his own difference of character to the grace of God alone.

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For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.-ISAIAH LVII. 15.

MAN in deserting God, rests his all on the creature; the creature then is his blessing and his refuge. This is awful conduct; as awful, as it is indicative of the folly of him who is guilty of it. Suppose a man were to tell you he was safe in the midst of the Atlantic, surrounded by the tempests and tumult of its raging waters; and, (expecting that upon asking the reason of his safety, he should reply that he was secure in the stronghold of some lofty rock) what would be your surprise, if he were to tell you his security was in the powers

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