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whither he goeth;" whether in the right way or the wrong-whether to heaven or to hell.

2. Learn, from the uncertain continuance of outward means of grace, to secure the friendship of Him, who never dies.-Prophets, whether regarded or neglected, come and go, preach and are silenced. But there is One-the great Prophet of Israel—who has left this assurance to his church:

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Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." I need not tell you who he is— "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." But I beseech you, accept him as your Friend, and follow him as your Guide. Let him lay his hand upon your hand," when you" fight the good fight of faith;" and he will speed your arrow to the destruction of every spiritual foe. At his word, smite again and again, till your lusts are vanquished, till your passions are humbled, and your "high thoughts brought into subjection to the obedience of Christ." The conquest over yourself will be the happiest of all; and he who grants it, will grant you also a share in his own triumph. "He that overcometh shall sit down with me in my throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

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SERMON III.

EXODUS III. 15.

And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

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THIS emphatic title, assumed by the God of the Israelites at the time when he first commissioned Moses to deliver them out of the bondage of Egypt, is evidently intended to arrest our special attention. It is three times repeated, in the course of the solemn interview recorded in this chapter; and, in the verse which I have read, it receives a remarkable addition-which holds it up for the consideration, not of Moses only, and of the people whom he was to bring out of Egypt, but of all mankind," to whom the word of the Lord should come: 66 This," saith he, "is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."

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The design of Jehovah in insisting upon this title can scarcely be doubted. Moses had asked, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" God replies, in the first instance, "I AM THAT I AM;"-a title, which is supposed to declare his independent self-existence. But, feeling that such a title was little calculated either to inform or to encourage them, he adds, 'Let me be known by my deeds, rather than by my name. I am to them what I was to their fathers. Call me" the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob:" and let all the ends of the earth behold my character, in my dealings with those founders of the house of Israel.'

His

I purpose, my brethren, by God's assistance, to unfold to you some of the more prominent points in the Divine character, as thus illustrated. reference to the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will set him before us, 1. In the Sovereignty of his Choice; 2. In his long-suffering Forbearance; 3. In the Faithfulness of his Promises; 4. In the Variety of his Methods; and 5. In the Eternity of his Love. Oh that each and all of you might be enabled to say, on reviewing the several particulars, "This God is my God for ever and ever; he shall be my guide, even unto death!"

Almighty God is here set before us, first,

I. IN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF HIS CHOICE.

If there be one doctrine more manifestly contained in Scripture than another, it is this:- that man is by nature, universally, entirely, and willingly, far from God. And it is one essential part of this doctrine, that man has no power, because no inclination, to return to God. Physically, there is nothing to prevent his return: he has only to exercise the same affections toward him who is most worthy of them, which he prostitutes upon the "creature rather than the Creator." But such is the alienation of his heart, that no man ever did, or ever will, seek after and love that Holy Being, till his soul is renewed by a power out of himself. And what is that power? It is the spiritual, converting grace of God. Now, as the work is his alone, so is it also his alone to form the design, to choose the objects, to regulate the circumstances, and to enforce the success, of this grace. God acts throughout the whole transaction as an independent Sovereign, guided by no desert in the individual, but "working all things," with inscrutable wisdom, "after the counsel of his own will.”

Such is the Scripture doctrine. Now let us see how it is illustrated by the history of the three patriarchs.

What was Abraham, when called to go out from

Ur of the Chaldees, that he might inherit promises never before vouchsafed to man? There is every reason to believe, that he was an idolater: as ignorant, probably, and as far from God, as any of his countrymen. Yet the Lord chose him to be the object of his grace, who had no claim upon his favour; while he justly left the others in their impenitence and guilt. His family, in later times, were expressly reminded of this very circumstance: "Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him."

(Isaiah li. 2.)

name, which the Lord

If Abraham was called existence of Isaac must

Then observe the next associates with his own. 'by mere grace, the very be ascribed to the same cause. Isaac was a child of promise; born at a time when his father had no reason, in the natural course of things, to expect that he should have a son. And further, when Abraham, in his unbelief, took crooked means for securing the fulfilment of a promise which seemed incredible, his first-born was set aside; God adhering still to his own purpose, and accomplishing that purpose in his own way. "This shall not be thine heir "-neither the steward Eliezer, nor Ishmael the Egyptian; "but in Isaac shall thy

seed be called."

The two sons of Isaac, however, stood on equal ground. If there was any preference to be expected, it was in favour of Esau the elder; and

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