The same Providence of God may be present at every moment, and in every place, at the last great day, to accomplish all over the world, the universal resurrection of the dead. And therefore all the generations of the dead may, and shall, in one hour rise again. No matter whether their bodies may have mingled with the elements-no matter whether they have been consigned to the ocean, or shrouded in the grave, the earth shall cast forth its dead-the sea shall give up its dead -the air shall resign the invisible, once human atoms, which may have mingled with its purer substance and from the north to the south, from the east to the west-over all climates-in all countries-through all latitudes the dead shall awake, and spring forth to new life, as the plants, and the herbs, and the flowers burst forth at the creation, over all the surface of the earth. They shall wake-they shall arise in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump-for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised, to live, and to die no more for ever. They who have gone before us, with our kindred, our parents, and our friends shall break from the prison of the grave-and the dead, small and great of the whole family of man, shall be gathered together from the surface of the rolling globe, to meet their Lord in the air. Then the judgment day shall come. Then shall we all experience, through the countless ages of an endless eternity, the justice or the mercy of our Father, our Redeemer, and our God. Are we

prepared for that day? Are we yet ready to meet our Judge? Then, and then only, the object for which the world was created shall have been finally and fully accomplished-then the elements shall melt with fervent heat-the earth and all that is therein shall be burnt up-its existence is no longer necessary to the happiness of the man for whom it was created-and it shall perish-it shall perishas the old, and broken, and useless scaffolding of a mansion, when the building, which it served, is completed.

Thus have we been led to survey the whole system of the dispensations of God in the creation, the preservation, and destruction of the world. We have surveyed the past, the present, and the future. The past (not only as the former generations of men, but) as the greater portion perhaps of our own lives is concerned, has given up its account to God. Let your hearts tell you what that account has been.-The present is still continued. It is the hour for repentance, and faith, and hope. Let not another day pass without fresh prayers to God, that we may conquer the evil within us; and that we encrease in our gratitude and love to the holy and blessed Saviour, by whose mercy and atonement our salvation may be perfected in the great day of God.-The future, the future is unknown to us. Clouds and darkness are round about it; but some gigantic objects appear through its shadows, in the forms of sickness, and death, and judgment, and eternity. Our time will

not permit us to say more upon these solemn matters. Return to your homes, and think upon them-commune with your own hearts, and in your chambers, and be still.

SERMON IX.

THE GREATNESS OF GOD NO ARGUMENT AGAINST HIS PROVIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD IN THE LESSER AFFAIRS OF LIFE.

PSALM cxlvii. part of the four first verses.

Praise ye the Lord.

The Lord doth build up Jerusalem.

He healeth the broken in heart. He telleth the number of the stars. He calleth them all by their names.

I AM about to speak to you respecting the Almighty God. I wish to endeavour to develope one part of the character of Him, who created the heavens and the earth at the first, and who has continued to preserve them till the present moment-and because I shall be guided by the Scriptures alone in this attempt, I think I shall be able to lay before you such a representation of the nature of the Supreme Being, that you shall be willing to follow the example of the writer of this Psalm, and declare, with him, that it is good to praise God, for He is worthy of the veneration and

of the worship of all created beings. I think you will come to the conclusion, that the doctrines and the duties, the precepts and the sanctions, of the Christian Religion, will more deeply impress the heart, and more certainly influence the conduct,-if we sometimes take a more general view of their origin and design, by elevating our thoughts to that great God, the Father Almighty, by whom the Christian Religion was imparted, for the happiness of immortal beings.

In order that I may bring this great subject more fully before you, I have selected a passage which appeared to unite, in the most perfect manner, the three principal characteristics under which the Almighty is pleased to reveal Himself to man. We never can thoroughly comprehend God. Even when this life is over, and when our faculties are enlarged and purified, and directed to the contemplation of God alone, in another stage of our undying existence, we shall never entirely comprehend the Almighty. Such knowledge will for ever be too great and wonderful for us; it will be high above our reason, and we can never attain to itbut some parts of His ways, of His character, of His glory, we may even now begin to understand; and the principal things, which we may comprehend, are mentioned in this passage of the Psalm before us; they are these-the GREATNESS of God, the PROVIDENCE of God, and the MERCY of God. These are the three principal attributes by which the Almighty can be known, either by angels or by men,