rigorous but most righteous exactions of God's broken law. The price of our deliverance was indeed of infinite value; and to be in a capacity for paying that price, the Lord of glory must come down from his lofty throne, and take upon Him, not the nature of angels-that would have been great humility-but all too little for the work before Him; not the grandeur of an earthly deliverer, attended by numerous hosts, the collected army of his boundless dominion: but He must take upon Him (0 the mystery of grace!) the form of a ser vant, the downcast condition of the very slaves He comes to deliver, the very likeness and express image of our sinful flesh. And by this same method, so unlikely as it might seem to human judgment, that saving work has been wrought in the person and the sufferings of the Son of God, which gives Him a name above every name; the name of Jesus Christ, the anointed Saviour of mankind. O excellent and incomparable name, abounding in richest promise and blessed encouragement to every sin-weary captive, to every exile sinner hastening that he may be loosed!

I pray God, my dear readers, that we may so understand our need of Christ, that there may arise within a corresponding admiration of his amazing love, which offered the price of our deliverance and paid our ransom. Thus then by purchase Christ Jesus is our great pro prietor. The Lord is his name. Accordingly, who but He shall have dominion over us? Shall we be partakers of the grace, and not render the glory? Shall we be brought out of Egypt, and bring along with us the idols of the land, to worship and serve them? Shall we seek to reconcile light with darkness, and while professing to rejoice in the Gospel liberty, shall we use that liberty for a cloak of licentiousness? Let us not approach the holy ground of Gospel promise with such a design as this. Consider, chiefly, that the Saviour came to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify us unto Himself, a pecu liar people, zealous of good works. This is the claim of Christ our Redeemer, as the Lord of all; in all things He will have the pre-eminence. Heaven, earth, and hell itself are under his control, but He has reserved his

dearest claims for the devoted affections and obedience of a ransomed world.

Having thus alluded to the name of the Lord in the sense of its immediate relation to our fallen race, I proceed to regard,-II. "The Lord as a man of war. But first, I would ask is not the Lord the Prince of Peace? Who, then, shall stir Him up to wash his footsteps in the blood of the slain? what strong necessity shall gird upon his thigh the strange sword of wrath and contention? Surely He delighteth in mercy-very gracious is He, full of compassion and most tender lovingkindness. This is all true, and more than we can even say concerning his boundless love. And yet the hostility and stubborn rebellion of sin have so assaulted his throne of light, that the Lord must ease Him of his adversaries, and avenge Him of his enemies, and, therefore, "the Lord is a man of war," fighting his own battles, and also expressly undertaking to defend the cause of his people. The angels, who kept not their first estate, rising up into mad ambitious rebellion against the universal King, felt the keen temper of his glittering sword, and are now lying in chains and darkness, reserved for the judgment of eternal fire. And who has ever carried on a prosperous warfare with God for his enemy? what weapons are found to be sufficient against Him? what hope can live in a contest so unequal as this? "who could set the briars and thorns against Him in battle? thus saith the Lord, I would go through them, I would burn them together." But consider this subject with an especial reference to the Lord's controversy against sin in the world. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." The ungodly impenitent sinner is directly the enemy of God. He may say, when charged as such, "God forbid," but such is the fact. Instead therefore of denying this fact, it were better far for him to make a full and frank confession, and to turn his resentment upon those fatal corruptions, which, whenever indulged, place him in arms against the authority of heaven's High King. But however we may think, the sword of the Lord is ever drawn forth against sin throughout his dominions, against sin alone, if only the sinner will

be content to dissolve so guilty an alliance; but if not, then, of necessity, sin and the sinner must perish toge ther. The jealousy of the Lord is very great, and surely with good reason. His claims are supreme, his love is so free, his benefits are so vast and infinite, his providence so careful and so constant, the supplies of his grace so rich and complete, his promises so sure, his Holy Spirit so gracious, and his heaven so glorious, as amply to justify the challenge of Holy Writ, "Who is God but the Lord, or who hath any strength like our God!" O then, let us at once choose to join in this holy war on the Lord's side! Far better would it be to meet death itself as the soldier of Christ, than to live on in seeming prosperity fighting against God. "The Lord is a man of war," not only fighting his own battles against sin in the world, but also as expressly undertaking to defend and maintain the cause of his faithful people. And here we must indeed behold the man-the man Christ Jesus. The expression of the text is too peculiar to be a mere figure of speech; it must surely be considered as referring to the human nature of our Lord. And from this view of the declaration what consolation arises to every true-hearted believer of Christ! The Lord Jesus, at once for the suffering and conquest of death, exposes Himself in our nature to every liability of sorrow and temptation that could ever assault our fallen state. He came down, not by the deputed ministry of angels, not in the pillar of cloud or fire, but Himself in human form, in human flesh, to occupy, on behalf of s defeated world, the field of conflict against the utmost strength, malice, and cunning of the boasting tempter. We dwell not now at large upon the well-contested progress of the mighty conqueror, we know Him to be victorious, we read his triumphs, we have seen Him rise, the King of grace, the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle! And as the Lord conquered on earth for the Christian, so now by the word and Spirit of his grace He follows up victory in the direct experience of every one taking up arms in his blessed service. "This," says an Apostle, "is the victory that overcometh the world,

the

a

even our faith." And by that faith the believer occupies high ground on which to carry on the conflict against every besetting foe. The indwelling grace of Jesus Christ is the strong nerve, the spirit, the courage,—yea, it supplies the armour, the sword, the victory of every Christian soldier. And as the victory of Christ was won and perfected through sufferings, so also the triumph of faith must be sought and found amidst scenes of conflict and hard encounter.

Then let all the members of the Church militant here on earth look to the grace and sufficiency of their Lord and Leader. He verily fighteth for them-He makes their cause his own-He sends down upon them his Spirit of might in answer to their continual prayers; by this Spirit they are strengthened in the inner man, weak and incapable as they are in themselves; yet by the power of a Divine faith they stretch forth the withered hand, the Rea sea of difficulty divides into a passage before them, they arise, they stand upon their feet, they march onward according to the commandment, their faces are towards Canaan, their backs upon Egypt; and soon shall their last enemy be destroyed, and they themselves shall at length stand still upon the shore of eternity, and see the salvation of their God. Only in the meanwhile let them expect enemies and prepare accordingly; let them take to themselves the whole armour of God; let them learn to fight manfully under the banner of their victorious Saviour, without compromise or desertion, without any secret alliance with the enemies of their faith, and then they may be of good cheer, they may mingle much heavenly confidence with their hardest encounters, and even now, on the very field of battle yet unfought, may tune their hearts in readiness for the everlasting song of triumph, "Salvation unto our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Well then may the warring Christian say, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Well may his Israel say, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength!" And by virtue of such a confidence, and in the employment of every appointed means of grace, the Christian soldier may march onwards with. prayer and watchfulness, in faith and hope, in love

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and obedience. Satan, like another Pharaoh, hardened and reprobate, will still pursue after him, to overtake and overthrow him; but only let him go forward, and his escape is certain, and his triumph shall be complete and glorious. As Christians then we may say, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" But now let us reverse the question, and say, "If God be against us, who can be for us?" Suppose the distinction were even now to be made in sight of an assembled world, and the ranks of the armies of the living God, by a process similar to that of the last judgment, were now to be drawn out, not according to probability and fair profession, but according to real character; where, I would ask, with all due solemnity, where would you, my readers, each one appear? Is the God of the armies of Israel your God and Lord? Are you following Him fully? And in respect of his enemies, do you count them as your enemies! And are you fighting with all those inward hostile corruptions which still struggle for mastery in your soul? Can you, before that God who knoweth the heart, declare yourself to be now the resolved soldier and servant of the Lord Christ? being under a vow to live henceforth, and to die at length true and faithful to your Saviour's cause! O, happy Christian, if such indeed thou art! but if not such, then thy present Christianity is but an empty name. To be a Christian, is to live a Christian as well as to die a Christian. Christianity is far more than baptism: it is a real and active faith, carried out with a ruling and a vigorous influence in a man's whole life and character. Even in the very intercourse which it is needful to hold in the world, the Christian rises superior to the common motives of worldly dealing; he will beware of covetousness, he will ever be withstanding the encroachments of self-seeking and self-indulgence, and his greatest purpose at the risk of all beside, is to be found in Christ, ready for his last account and appearance before God. Alas! what a sweeping condemnation must such a statement as this bring upon the ranks of professing Christians! For where are these soldiers of Christ, sincere at heart, and staunch in their high resolve of fidelity? Where is the valiant band who, through Divine grace and with holy