Judge is visible-he is a man like ourselves, and we may have access to him. We need not say, with Job, xxiii, 3, &c, "O! that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause Lefore him, and fill my mouth with arguments: I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. For he may reply, If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, s.and up. Behold I am, according to thy wish, in God's stead. I also was formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid; neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee."

"In this (says Bishop Pearson) appeareth the wisdom and goodness of God, that, making a general judgment, he will make a visible Judge, whom all may see who shall be judged. Without holiness no man shall ever see God;' and therefore it God, as God only, should pronounce sentence upon all men, the ungolly would never see their Judge. But that both the righteous and un ighteous might see and know who it is that judgeth them, Christ, who is both God and man, is appointed Judge: so, as he is man, all shall see him; and, as he is God, they only shall see him who by that vision shall enjoy him.

11. "And, secondly, whom can we desire to appear before, rather than Him, who is of the same nature wi h us? If the children of Israel could not bear the presence of God as a lawgiver, but desired to receive the law by the hand of Moses,-how should we appear before the presence of that God, judging us for the breach of that law, were it not for a better Mediator, of the same nature that Moses was, and we are of, who is our Judge?" Having dwelt in flesh, and in the days of his flesh, "having suffered, being tempted," he perfectly knows our frameknows what sore temptations mean, and is "touched with the feeling of our infirmi.ies." Beside, he is our near kinsman, our own brother, a descendant of our father Adam, of our flesh and of our bone; and, therefore, "for his affinity with our nature, for his sense of our infirmities, as well as for his appearance to our eyes, he is most fit to represent the greatest mildness and sweetness of equity, in the severity of that just and irrespective judgment.

12. "Nor is this a reason only in respect of us who are to be judged, but, thirdly, in regard of Him also who is to judge; for we must not look only upon his being the Son of man, but also what he did and suffered as Son of man. He humbled himself so far as to take upon him our nature; in that nature, so taken, he humbled himself to all the infirmities which that was capable of-to all the miseries which this life could bring to all the pains and sorrows which the sins of all the world could cause; and, therefore, in regard of his humiliation, did Gɔd exalt him; and part of the exaltation due unto him was this power of judging. The Father, therefore, who is only God, and never took upon him either the nature of men or angels, "judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg. ment unto the Son;" and the reason why he hath committed it to him is, "because he is" not only the Son of God, and truly God, but also the Son of man, and sɔ truly man; because he is the Son of man, who suffered so much for the sons of men.

13. And "certainly it is a demonstration of the justice of God, so highly to reward that Son of man as to make him Judge of all the

world, who came into the world, and was judged here; to give him absolute power of absolution and condemnation, who was by us condemned to die, and died that he might absolve us; to cause all the sons of men to bow before his throne, who did not disdain, for their sakes, to stand before the tribunal, and receive that sentence, Let him be crucified."" He, therefore, who "for the suffering of death was made a li tle lower than the angels," nay, lower than the generality of men,who was arraigned as a criminal at the bar of Pilae, and expired as a malefactor on a cross on Calvary, is now rewarded and crowned with glory and honour, comes in the clouds of heaven, sits on a throne of judgment, summons all nations to his bar, and passes an irreversible sentence on men and angels!

14. In the mean ime, fourthly, his enemies are humbled and degraded, by being placed at the bar of a man, once poor, mean, and afflicted; whom, ia former days, they despised and insulted, hated and persecuted, arres ed, tried, condemned, and crucified. "They who pierced him, now wail because of him; and they who would not have him to reign over them, are now brought forth and slain before him."

Well might Daniel say, "They shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt!" For, surely, they shall be ashamed and confounded, to bow to him whom they deemed a lunatic-to stand at the bar of him whom they arraigned at theirs and to receive their sentence, their final, irrevers.ble sentence, from the lips of one whom they formerly condemned to the most ignominious and disgraceful of all deaths.

Nor man alone; the foe of God and wan,

From his dark den, blaspheming, drags his chain,
And rears his brazen front, with thunder scared,
Receives his sentence, and begins his hell.
All vengeance past, now seems abundant grace!
Like meteors in a stormy sky, how roll

His baleful eyes! he curses whom he dreads,
And deems it the first moment of his fall.

Milton supposes that he fell through refusing allegiance to God's Messiah, to the Word and only begotten of the Father, concerning whom he says, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." If so, if he refused to acknowledge him as Lord, by whom himself and all the heavenly hierarchies had been created, though appearing in a nature superior to angels in his "form of God,"-how must it mortify that proud spirit, and all the associates of his revolt, to bow at the footstool of the same person, when united to flesh, and inhabiting a nature formed out of the clay!

15. As to Christ's loyal subjec's, fifthly, whether men that have been restored, or angels that never fell-how must they applaud the wisdom, revere the justice, and rejoice in the mercy and grace of this dispensa. tion! The holy angels must rejoice to see one so exalted and honoured, toward whom they had maintained their allegiance, when millions of their companions revolted and rebelled;-one, whose amazing condescension and love to mankind, when immersed in sin and ruin, they had adm red and glorified; of whose wonderful birth they had brought tidings to our world; whom they had constantly attended, and to whom they had ministered in the days of his humiliation, when he was a man

of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and of whose agony in the garden, and tragical death upon Mount Calvary, they had been witnesses,-and whom, therefore, they now rejoice to see upon a throne of glory, judging his judges, and passing sentence upon all the enemies of his government.

For lo! now, twice ten thousand gates thrown wide,
Pour forth their myriads, potentates, and powers,
Of light, of darkness; in a middle field,
Wide as creation! populous as wide!

A neutral region! there to mark th' event
Of that grand drama, whose preceding scenes
Detain'd them close spectators, through a length
Of ages, ripening to this grand result;
Ages as yet unnumber'd but by God;

Who now, pronouncing sentence, vindicates
The rights of virtue, and his own renown.

As for his own brethren of mankind, as he condescended to call them, they acknowledge the reasonableness, and praise the wisdom of the ap. pointment, whereby he who bore their sins, acquits their persons, who preserved them from falling, presents them faultless before the presence of his glory, and who purchased heaven for them with its various mansions, determines their happiness, and assigns each individual his proper and proportionate reward. They were under his government on earth, and he was always present with them, searching their hearts, observing their works, affording them aid, and exactly marking all their advantages and disadvantages, their helps and hinderances: they own, therefore, that he is perfectly qualified to be their judge, and applaud the righteous and equitable appointment, acknowledging that God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works! Indeed, assembled worlds will see and confess the equity of his proceedings, and men and angels unite in one great burst of universal praise!

O! how sublime the chorus of the skies!

O! how sublime these shouts of joy that shake
The whole ethereal! how the concave rings!

To see creation's god-like aim and end

So well accomplish'd! so Divinely closed!
To see the mighty dramatist's last act
(As meet) in glory rising o'er the rest.
No fancied God, a God, indeed, descends,

To solve all knots-to strike the moral home-
To throw full day on darkest scenes of time-
To clear, commend, exalt, and crown the whole.
Hence, in one peal of loud, eternal praise,

The charm'd spectators thunder their applause;
And the vast void beyond applause resounds!

16. “And I heard a voice of much people in heaven, saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory, and honour and power unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the earth, and avenged the blood of his servants; and again they said, Hallelujah! and the four and twenty elders, and the four living creatures, fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah! And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as

it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipoteth reigneth! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her it was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: now the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto me, write, Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship; and he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God," Rev. xix, 1–10.

17. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people : and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new: and he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh, shall inherit all things: I will be his God, and he shall be my son."

18. "And he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God, and of the Lamb, shall be in it, [the city,] and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads: and there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And I John saw these things, and heard them, and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. Then he saith unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant; worship God. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches. I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen! even so. Come Lord Jesus!"

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CHAPTER XI.

That Divine worship has been, is, and must be paid to him.

1. In two passages quoted from the 19th and 22d chapter of the Revelation by St. John, at the conclusion of the last chapter, we saw a

glorious angel absolutely refusing to be worshipped. "I fell down at his feet to worship him, and he said to me, See thou do it not, I am thy fellow servant." And again: "I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, and he said, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant; worship God." Instances of a similar kind occur in divers parts of Scripture. Thus, Acts x, 25, 26, "As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him: but Peter took him up, saying, Stand up, I myself also am a man." And again, chap. xiv, when the inhabitants of Lystra were about to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, "they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Sirs, why do ye those things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein."

2. Well did these holy men and holy angels understand that Jehovah alone is the proper object of religious worship, according to what is repeatedly commanded in the Holy Scriptures. As, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," Exod. xx, 3. "Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord," Deut. vi, 4. "Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you,) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and des.roy thee from off the face of the earth," ver. 13. Again: "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God," chap. x, 20. To these and such like passages, the Lord Jesus undoubtedly referred, when he said, "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," Matt. iv, 10.

3. Now, notwithstanding this, it is certain, first, that the same God who gave the above precepts concerning the proper objec's of Divine worship, hath commanded his Son to be worshipped: secondly, that he hath accordingly been worshipped, and that both before and after his incarnation, both while he was on ear h, and after his ascensión into heaven; and, thirdly, that not one instance can be produced in which he hath ever refused the worship addressed to him.

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First, God hath commanded him to be worshipped': as by David in the 45th Psalm: "He is thy Lord, and worship thou him." "Worship him all ye gods," Psalm xcvii: or as it is expressed, when he bringeth his first begotten into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him," Heb. i, 6. But this is still more clearly and fully declared by our Lord himself, John v, 19, in a passage which is the more remarkable, as it contai.s an answer to the Jews, who, the historian tells us, "sought the more to kill our Lord, because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his own (1510", proper) Father, making himself equal with God." Even to them upon such an occasion as this, among other things, Jesus said, "What things soever the Father do:h, these doth the Son likewise. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickene h them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father: he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father who