perpetual discordance obtains, and guilt results; yet hear, that GoD intended this spiritual inmate for an eternal residence in His own bright and holy presence; hereafter, to be entirely spiritualized.

And

behold, also, the standard of God's righteousness, of the righteousness indispensably requisite to fit a being for admission into the courts of heaven; and hear the denunciations against all unrighteousness, and the expressions of God's abhorrence of it. What apparent inconsistency! That a being should be formed, by Eternal Wisdom and Power, and be intended for a residence in those mansions in which no unrighteousness can dwell; and, yet, should be (without any act of volition or consent on the part of that being) placed in a mode of existence which, necessarily, entailed guilt; that he should be formed for those courts in which righteousness, alone, can dwell; and, yet should of necessity, be unrighteous.-That unrighteousness should be denounced, as meriting severe punishment, and, yet, that man should, as it were (for, such would be the plain and true state of the case, if divested of all the web in which sophistry would involve it) be made to sin. That man should be so formed,

should, thus be made liable to punishment; and, yet, that the creation of man should be an act of God's boundless goodness and benevolence. Here, indeed, would be a picture replete with contradictions and inconsistencies. Take an isolated view of the other part of the scheme. See the beloved heir of all things; the Being, by, and for, whom Jehovah created whatsoever He did create; whom all the angels of GOD worshipped; who, Himself, was God, a partaker of the ineffable and inconceivable glories of the GODHEAD; see Him, degraded from His exceeding majesty and high estate, and become an embryo, a babe, a boy, a man-a poor, and lowly, and despised, man; brought up among humble artizans, without estimation, without possession; see Him, subjected to privations, and temptations, and sufferings; treated as the vilest of malefactors, although proved to be spotless; and nailed to the cross, amidst the coarse jeerings, and scornful mockings, of His executioners. hear, that this inconceivable degradation, and humiliation, of the Lord of glory, was, not only consistent with all His glorious attributes; but was, eminently, calculated to exalt (as far as such glory could be exalted)

Yet,

the glory of Himself and of the GODHEAD; and to excite, in the host of the heavenly worshippers, intense joy, and to augment their reverence for the GODHEAD. Is not this a picture full of seeming inconsistencies? But, couple together these two portions of the one eternal scheme; and see, how ineffably grand, and majestic, and beautiful, and harmonious, and benevolent, is the scheme! See, how it upholds, and maintains inviolate, the holiness of God, the righteousness of His celestial mansions! How it gives to God and Christ, exclusively, all the glory, all the goodness, all the merit (thus, humanly, to speak) of introducing into the heavenly abodes, a countless host of new beings, framed for an immortality of glory and of happiness, in those blessed regions! How, entirely, it makes man debtor to the Divine goodness and bounty for this exalted glory that awaits him! How the sense of that vast debt, must, when man is thoroughly spiritualized, when he becomes the companion of saints in light, bind him, in unceasing love and homage, to the glorious Ransomer; and kindle, and keep alive, the most devoted gratitude; and call forth his continual praise! How must the conviction,

E

that every spirit of man, thus, thoroughly, spiritualized and made a son of God, an heir of glory, a co-heir with Christ, owes its justification before God, its seat in heaven, its immortal glory and imperishable happiness, wholly, and solely, to the benevolence and goodness of Christ the universal Redeemer ;—how must that conviction tend to produce harmony among the spirits of just men thus made perfect! How must it entirely preclude the existence of pride, of jealousy, of contention and rivalry, of all those feelings and passions which now disturb and deform mankind! And, to descend to earth, to our present condition: how admirably is such a view of God's eternal scheme calculated, to awaken and cherish profound reverence, and exalted love towards GOD-to make us love Him, with all our heart, and with all our might, and with all our soul, and with all our strength! How must it kindle and foster, the warmest and purest feelings of gratitude and love towards Christ our Redeemer! How must it tend, to make us His devoted servants! How to raise our estimate of the dignity, and value, of righteousness! How must it cause us, to regard our bodies as tenements of sin; and

how must it tend, to render their bondage irksome; their appetites contemptible! How must it tend, to uphold us in our conflicts with our bodies; to make us bear with patience the temporary sufferings due to those bodies; how to make us aspire after spiritual things, and an existence purely spiritual! How is it calculated, to subdue conceit, and pride, and self-sufficiency, and self-esteem; to level us with all our fellow-men; to silence censure, and reproach; to annihilate all feelings of envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness; to promote "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

f

23.

meekness, temperance." How grand, how Gal. v 22, lovely, is this view of boundless Wisdom, boundless Power, exerting, as it were, all its energies, to establish a scheme of universal goodness, of all-embracing benevolence! How beautiful is the view which represents the whole human race but as one united family! How sublime that exposition of God's scheme, which points to the countless host of the heavens, and tells us, that all things, throughout that vast expanse, are bound up, with ourselves, in one common scheme of glorious benevolence and Almighty love; that all are, with ourselves, members of Christ's