Of this grand event, Isaiah, ch. ii. 2, 3, speaks in nearly similar language: "And it shall come to pass, ipin ninka be-acharith ha-yamim, in the LAST DAYS, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the LAW, and the WORD of the Lord from Jerusalem."

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The prophet Micah, ch. iv. 1, &c. about fifty years after this, quotes this place of Isaiah at length, manifestly referring to the same times; and most likely the prophet Ezekiel has the same event in view, in ch. xvii. 22-24, and xxxviii.Hosea, ch. iii. 1-5, manifestly refers to the gospel times, with a similar phraseology; see ver. 5;—“ AFTERWARD, TIN achar, shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and His Goodness, 'n 'n be-acharith ha-yamim, IN THOSE LATTER DAYS. And all these have a reference to, and seem founded upon the prophecy which Jacob, Gen. xlix. 1, &c. delivered to his sons: "And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befal you, on nns be-acharith ha-yamim, IN THOSE LATTER DAYS :"-and in the tenth verse, we have that remarkable prediction of the Messiah, and the glorious spread of His kingdom: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall be the gathering of the people."

St. Paul seems to have had all the above places in view, Heb. i. 1, 2-" God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath IN THESE LAST DAYS, επ' εσχατων των ἡμερων τουτων, spoken unto us by His Son."

The beloved disciple, also, uses the same phraseology, speaking of the same things, 1 John ii. 18, "Little children, it is the last time, εσχατη ώρα εστι, and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists; whereby we know, ότι εσχατη ώρα εστιν, that it is the last time." St. Paul calls these times, the ends of the world, 1 Cor. x. 11.

Now the glory of the latter days, is evidently the revelation of Christ, and the universal pouring out of His Spirit: for, as He by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, Heb. ii. 9;—and His grace, which brings salvation to all men, hath appeared, Tit. ii. 11;- so the HOLY SPIRIT was "to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement," John xvi. 8;-to bear witness in the conscience, of what Christ delivered in His discourses;-to purify the hearts of men, and make them habitations of God, Eph. ii. 22. As the disgrace of man in all times, was SIN and rebellion against God, so the glory of these latter times is the redemption of man from its power, its guilt, and its pollution; so that faith working by love, should fill the whole life with a cheerful obedience. Nor are we in any times, to expect a greater or more efficacious Saviour than JESUS CHRIST; nor a more powerful and energetic Agent, than the HOLY GHOST, the Spirit of judgement, and the Spirit of burning. Nor do I find in any part of the Divine Oracles, that there is any reserve of this Spirit in His gifts and graces for some future times; nor do I find from these Sacred Records, that there is one ray of His light, or spark of His influence, that may not be had now, for all the purposes of salvation from sin here, and glorification hereafter, in as abundant a manner as can be expected, between this present hour, and that in which the angel shall swear by Him who liveth for ever and ever, that time shall be no longer,

I hold also, that those who are absurdly putting off the day of salvation, in expectation of any outpouring of God's Spirit that may not now be had through Christ, by faith and prayer, are rejecting their own mercies, are encompassing themselves with sparks of their own kindling, and shall lie down in sorrow in consequence.

It is truly an astonishing thing that men will prefer hope to enjoyment; and rather content themselves with blessings in prospect than in possession! Thousands in their affections, conversation, and conduct, are wandering after an undefined and undefinable period, commonly called a millennial glory, while expectation is paralized, and prayer and faith restrained in reference to present salvation; and yet none of these can tell what even a day may bring forth;—for now we stand

on the verge of eternity, and because it is so, now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation!

These are the times in which Christ offers to dwell in the hearts of all true believers by faith, that they may be rooted and grounded in love, and prove with all saints, what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, and know the love of God that passeth knowledge, and be filled with ALL the FULNESS of GOD! Is there any thing greater than this to be expected or obtained on this side eternity? Can our hearts be more than filled? Can our souls be filled with more than all the fulness of God? These are the days of the Son of man—now is the Holy Spirit given in His plenitude-never were there times more favourable-never were spiritual advantages more numerous-never was the light more abundant —never were the Holy Scriptures more extensively dispersed -and never were their contents better understood. We have not that time which is looked for under the misapprehended title of millennial glory; and yet the whole earth is in the way of being filled with the knowledge of God! Reader, lay these things to heart: now, arise and shake thyself from the dust :—we have seen the land, and behold it is very good;— and are ye still? Be not slothful to go and to enter to possess the land! Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the Holy City; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Death is at the door; but the power of the Lord is present to heal. O Thou, who dwellest between the Cherubim, shine forth! Amen.

SERMON XXIX.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEING AND PROVIDENCE OF A GOD.

HEBREWS, Chap. xi. ver. 6.

He that cometh unto God must believe that he is: and that he is the rewarder of them who diligently seek him.

I. METAPHYSICIANS and philosophers, in order to prove the existence of God, have used two modes of argumentation:

A priori, proofs drawn from the necessity that such a Being as God is, must exist: arguments of this kind do not produce any thing in evidence which is derived from His works.

A posteriori, proofs of the being and perfections of God drawn from His own works.

PROPOSITIONS à PRIORI.

Prop. I. If there be no one being in the universe but such as might possibly not have existed, it would follow, that there might possibly have been no existence at all: and if that could be so, it would be also possible that the present existence might have arisen from total non-existence, which is absurd. Therefore, it is not possible that there might have been no existence at all. Consequently, an impossibility of not ex

isting must be found somewhere; there must have been a Being whose non-existence is impossible.

II. The whole nature of an unoriginated Being, or aggregate of His attributes, must be unoriginated, and necessarily what it is. A being cannot produce its own attributes; for this would suppose it acted before it existed. There is nothing in the nature of this Being that is contingent, or could have been otherwise than it is; for whatever is contingent must have a cause to determine its mode of existence.

III. The attributes of an unoriginated Being must be possessed by it unlimitedly; for, to possess an attribute imperfectly, or only in a certain degree, must suppose some cause to have modified this Being so as to make Him incapable of having that attribute in any other than an imperfect degree. But no cause can be admitted in this case, because this is the First of all beings, and the cause of all things. Farther, an imperfect attribute, or any.one that is not in its highest degree; must be capable of improvement by exercise and experience; which would imply that the unoriginated Being must be originally imperfect; and that He was deriving farther degrees of perfection from the exercise of His own powers, and acquaintance with His own works.

IV. The unoriginated Being must exist every where, in the same manner, He does any where; for if He did not, it would suppose some cause by which His presence was limited; but there can be no cause to limit that presence. See

before.

V. This unoriginated Being must be a simple uncompounded substance, identically the same every where; not consisting of parts, for these must be distinct and independent; nor of whole, for this is the aggregate of parts; nor of magnitude or quantity, for these signify a composition of parts. This being must be as truly one and omnipresent as the present moment of time is indivisibly one in all places at once; and can no more be limited or measured by time, than the present moment can by duration.

Hence, this Being cannot be matter or body, because to these belong extension, divisibility, figurability, and mobility, which imply limitation. God and matter have essentially contrary properties.

God is not material. It has already been shewn, that