four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which followeth the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." It is true, brethren, that this also is a characteristic of that future, that happy, that eternal state which shall succeed the period spoken of in the text, which in fact regards eternity. But is there nothing in this description of the persons that shall sing the new song, that may enable us to determine those persons during time? Is there nothing in the nature of that song itself which will help us in arriving at this determination? Let us examine both shortly by the light of God's revealed and written word.

This is the song as we find it written in the fifth chapter of this remarkable vision. "They sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to GOD, by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our GOD kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." And this is the one great peculiarity of the people which sung that song "They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." True it is, that when this song shall be sung the present state of existence shall be over. True it is, that when the Lamb shall gather around him his glorious company, who shall for ever follow his train, time shall have filled up its limits and sunk into the ocean of eternity. But, can we doubt that, in the same manner as the new name to be written in heaven must be preceded by the new name and the new nature to be communicated here on earthso also must the new song to be sung in heaven be preceded by the new song to be learned on earth. While those who sing it there are to be known by being in the train of the Lamb above, so surely must they,

while in the flesh, have been among the followers of the Lamb here below.

Here then, brethren, is sufficient, amply sufficient, to answer every enquiry which the fainting heart of the true child of God can desire to make. Shall I be one of the followers? is your anxious enquiry. I would reply, are you striving to be one of the holy, humbly, confiding followers of the Lamb here below? Are you daily, by God's grace, separating yourself more and more from an ungodly world? Have you cast in your portion with the children of GOD? Is it all your desire to be found clothed with the Saviour's righteousness, sanctified by the Saviour's spirit, and daily and hourly living to the honor of the Saviour now? If, through God's mercy, you can reply, "It is; there is no wish so near my heart, no desire so strongly imprinted on my soul," then take courage, He whom you now are following will not overlook or forget you in the day when he makes up his jewels. You shall not be absent when all are set at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

But you enquire, shall I sing the new song in the kingdom of my father? We must again reply, are you able to sing it here? If your ear were now open to catch the enchanting sounds which are filling the courts of heaven; if one note of those sounds could be heard on earth; if one line of that song could reach your ears at this moment, that song which says, "Thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed us to GOD by thy blood:" would your whole soul, and heart, and mind, and strength, resound, Yes, thou art worthy-thou alone, O Christ, art worthy? If you feel assured you would, brethren, be at peace, be happy, be thankful, unceasingly thankful. The year which has this morning opened upon you, however it may come to others, comes laden with joy

OUR apprehension of the dealings of GOD to his creatures, may oftentimes be assisted by comparison with the dealings between man and man. We are thoroughly aware, that there must lay always an untravelled separation between the doings of the Creator, and the doings of the creature; but we see not that this at all hinders our fetching from the inferior illustration, that which shall tell greatly of the excellence of the superior. We may, for example, suppose that, on the earth which we inhabit, a distinct province of some wide-spread empire had thrown off allegiance to its anointed sovereign. We may further suppose that, as a consequence of rebellion, misery the most grievous had fastened on the traitors, so that there had reigned among them nothing but poverty and wretchedness; and then, in place of sending out his armies to lay waste the alienated state, and to hew down the ranks through which the treason had passed, we may just suppose the monarch, moved with compassion towards his offending but suffering subjects, arranging a scheme for their forgive

VOL. V.

ness, and dispatching to them the message of life.

Now in this, which is a case of the most possible occurrence, we have, as you all know, a feeble and faint image of what has been done by GoD towards our fallen creation. The rebellion of man brought him into a condition of the most abject wretchedness; and the Almighty, instead of sweeping him away, and overwhelming him with wrath, devised and executed a scheme for his restoration to favor and happiness.

But we wish to carry yet a little further our supposition of the human transaction, in order that we may illustrate some points in the divine. We may still imagine that the earthly king should substitute, in the place of the rebels who had forfeited their lives, some being, who might be his own son, or his own kinsman, and cause him to suffer death in their stead; and he might then send a message to the rebels, that out of his wonderful and undeserved compassion he had made this mysterious arrangement on their behalf, and that there was now no objection on his

part to their entrance again into all the privileges of the loyal and beloved. But, at the same time, he might so limit his forgiveness, that it should not be altogether unconditional. He might say, I have made this amazing sacrifice, this stupendous arrangement, but you must lay down your arms, you must cease from those acts of daring aggression, by which my authority is set at nought. You will admit that he was demanding nothing but what was reasonable; and that he would not one jot overtask the power of the traitors, if he should require, as a preliminary to his applying the worth of the substitute, that they should abstain from deeds of violence and insult. It might be asking too much, if he should require that they should make themselves loyal; this would be demanding a condition which would be more likely to follow from the possession than the promise of forgiveness. But to demand that they should cease from the work of disloyalty; this would evidently come within the power of the traitors, and might, therefore, most fairly be prescribed as the condition on which their pardon should be granted.

Now, we think that in the plan, or rather in the application of redemption, there is something strictly analogous to what has thus been supposed. GOD does not demand of a man, when he sends to him the gracious announcement of the Gospel, that he should change his heart, in order to his having a share in his proffered mercy. He does not say to him, You are now a disloyal subject, and before you can have an interest in the blood of my Son, I require you to become loyal. But while God requires not of the rebel that he should win to himself a disposition of loyalty, he may, and he does require of him, that he should set himself to

the giving up the overt acts of disloyalty. He deals with man as with a being who is destitute of all power of renewing his nature, but not destitute of all power of improving his conduct. He, therefore, couples with his offers of assistance and mercy, the demand that there should be a ceasing from evil and a breaking loose from iniquity. He gives no hint of the possibility of man's procuring forgiveness for himself; but he gives an intimation, the very broadest, of some capacity on man's part to prepare himself for forgiveness.

Thus his course of proceeding is nearly akin to that which we supposed of an earthly king, and pronounced to be reasonable. He sends the tidings of a free pardon to his alienated subjects, but he bids them, as it were, get ready for its reception. There will be nothing in this preparation which will deserve a pardon, yet he demands the preparation ; the attitude of open defiance being not that which befits the recipient of forgiveness, and being that, moreover, which may, to a certain extent, be laid aside. So that the message of GOD to man, like that of the supposed king of the rebel provinces of his empire, is simply this of our text,

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Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed."

Now you cannot avoid perceiving that these words, which though addressed originally to the Jewish church, must be applicable in every generation. GOD makes his intention to do much for man, a reason why man should do something for himself. He announces the near approach of his salvation, and the ushering in of the day when his righteousness, made the free justifying of the sinner, shall be revealed; but in place of leading man to imagine that because rescue is at hand, he might re