CHAPTER XXXIV. 5-7.

THE SAVING NAME.

SAVING NAME. MORAL GLORY. HOWARD AND BYRON. EACH SOLUTION OF SINNERS' DIFFICULTIES.

ATTRIBUTE.

"AND the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."

The petition of Moses was most unselfish; as if he had said, Lord, do not give me an illustrious name; do not make me to be remembered to all generations; let my name be eclipsed by the splendor and magnificence of thine. Lord, show me not my fame, my destiny, nor even my name in the Lamb's book of life; but show me thy glory, let me see it as it shines in the firmament when the heavens are telling, and all the stars are the syllables that compose it; let me see that glory on earth; in the quiet beauty of morn, in the meridian strength of noon, in the matron dignity and soft shades of evening, let me see thy glory. Let me see it in providence, overruling its most complicated events, to beneficent and glorious issues. But above all, show me thy

glory, where that glory is concentrated as in the brightest and most refulgent mirror, in Christ crucified, in whom alone I trust, and who is "the brightness of thy glory, and the express image of thy person."

Now, when Moses asked this very natural grant, "Show me Thy glory," the answer that God gave to him was a very guarded one, if such criticism ought to be ventured at all; but just the answer we should have expected, or if not expected, that we can see to be so precious; "And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD." The request is, "Show me Thy glory;" the answer is, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee." How precious is the thought suggested by this that when God is seen to be most good to his creatures, he is then seen to be most glorious in the universe; that the glory and the goodness of God are so connected together that where the one is most revealed, the other shines in its richest splendor. Not power in creating, not justice in punishing, but goodness in saving, sets forth most the glory of God. Creation is the mirror of his power; Sinai is the pedestal of his justice; but Calvary is the scéne of his goodness, and therefore of his great glory. And we all know that great genius may make us wonder, great riches may make us envy, great strength may startle us; but great goodness rises upon the soul with an influence like the sun in his shining light, making us love as well as admire, and reverence, and esteem. Lost as man is, goodness is still most impressive on the heart of the very worst. Even with all our depravity, who does not admire Howard, the philanthropist, vastly more than Byron the poet? There may have been little genius in Howard, as the world calls genius, but there was a beneficence that went into the retreats of fever, into the lairs of vice, shut its eyes to monumental remains of ancient days, and opened his heart only to the cry of them that were appointed to die. And when

one hears what he did, and what he dared under the inspiration of goodness, one is not awed, but charmed and delighted, with the character of Howard. But when we see,

on the other hand, great genius — and one cannot but admire such a genius as that gifted nobleman had- we wonder at the greatness and the versatility of intellect; but when that intellect was used only to scathe, and to wither, and to blast, we look upon it in the same way as upon the sirocco in the desert, we are rather terrified at it, or retreat from it, or would rather wish we should not see it at all. But how complete is the contrast between goodness in a Howard, and mere power in a Byron! And is there one in this assembly that would not infinitely rather take the example of Howard as his model, than wish the power of Byron to be his possession? But this is in the human, and I quote it in the human only to show you more clearly the truth I am trying to teach; that not the manifestation of power, not the manifestation of justice, but the manifestation of goodness, is the most impressive on the heart. God adds also, “I will proclaim the name of the Lord." Thus we see that God's goodness, God's glory, and God's name, are one and the same thing. How truly, then, has John summed up the whole of this beautiful revelation - "The Lord God, merciful and gracious," in one short sentence! "God is love," he might have said, "God is power," "God is justice," "God is truth," and it would have been all correct; but love, and mercy, and goodness, were what the old Puritans called the darling attributes of God. He singles out that attribute which strikes the human heart with the greatest force, and sanctifies what it strikes. "God is love;" this is his name, this is the epitome of "The Lord God, merciful and gracious." Now, every attribute in this name is just a syllable setting forth and composing together God's name. "The LORD," that is one syllable, "the LORD God" another; "merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and

truth; forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; these syllables form the complete or perfect name of God. Let us look at them, and very briefly. First of all you notice it is in capital letters. In reading the Scriptures you must have observed that wherever the word is Jehovah, there the word LORD is in capital letters; but in another instance, where the word "Lord" is not the translation of Jehovah, you will find it is printed in small letters. In the 9th verse, "And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Jehovah, let my Lord". our translators have very properly put "Lord" in the second passage in small letters. In the first, "LORD" is the rendering of Jehovah; in the second it is of Adonai. In the New Testament the first is Kupos, and the second is deσπоτηs, from which comes our word despotism, and which means "master," or 66 governor," or "ruler." The first syllable here is "the Lord," that is, Jehovah; and the meaning of Jehovah is "the everlasting," "the self-existing;" and this word to the Jews was so sacred, that in reading the Old Testament Scriptures, they do not mention it; they substitute the other Hebrew word, adonai, in its stead. If a Jew found the word Jehovah on a slip of parchment torn out of one of his sacred books, that piece of parchment was consecrated for ever, as if the very name of God upon it made it sacred. It was called the incommunicable name of God. But in order to complete it, there is added, "The Lord Jehovah God." The word here is the translation of El, the same word which Jesus said upon the cross when he said "Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and the meaning of it is strength, omnipotent power. It is very important, that this declaration of so rich goodness should be prefaced by a declaration of Almighty power; and that when you read, God is merciful, God is gracious, God is forgiving, you may know before you read, that he has power in himself to give all he offers, and apply every attribute that subsequently

occurs in his name; his greatness begins that we may not presume upon his goodness; his goodness follows that we may not be awed or terrified by his greatness. The Lord God, it is added in the next place, is merciful. Now, what is mercy? It is an attribute of God that could not be existent if I can make myself understood, unless there were sin in the world. Mercy is love through Christ in contact with sin. If you take a three-sided piece of glass, called a prism, and let the rays of the noonday sun pass through it, the pure white light will be refracted into what we commonly call seven colors, but what more scientifically are called three colors. Well, mercy is love refracted through Christ; it is love reaching us through Jesus, and in contact with our sins. But the idea of atonement is also in it plainly enough, from the fact, that "the mercy-seat " is properly "the atonement seat;" atonement by "mercy" is the best way of conveying the original meaning. And therefore, whenever you read of God's mercy, hear the undertone of sin in the creature, and of love in God reaching that sin, in order to forgive it through Christ Jesus.

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It is next declared that God is gracious. Now, the meaning of grace is, that whatever God does, he does in sovereignty; that it has not to be purchased, that his boons cannot be paid for. The prayer of Wickliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, is a very beautiful one; Lord, save me gratis; or as it is in New Testament language, "Save me by grace." A Jewish commentator says, "We call that grace which we bestow on any man to whom we owe nothing." Now, when God is gracious, it is something that he bestows upon us when he owes to us nothing. No gift of God can be purchased not intellect, not memory can be purchased; no grace of God can be purchased; neither sanctification nor peace. But how interesting, that while God's blessings are in one sense unpurchasable blessings, in another sense they are as cheap as a summer day,