But, my friends, whilst we are under the influence of these spiritual dispositions which are only applicable to the soul of man, they are not convertable or pervertable-they are one and the same, yesterday, to day, and for ever, equally with that divine power from which they spring.

And what is the extent of these rational powers? By them is conferred the power of speech, and the power of comparing ideas. And by these we are enabled to fulfil our social, civil, and relative duties one to another. By these we are enabled to dive far into arts, sciences, and philosophy. And in the enjoyment of these, in an unconverted state, consists much of the happiness of man in this state of being. But all these advantages can never bring us to a knowledge of God; yet, under the influence of these rational faculties, we may pretend to worship God-we may meet together and have something to say;—and in many societies, they have it prepared beforehand; we may preach, pray, sing, baptize with water, and partake of bread and wine, as symbolical of good things to come, but the substance, the body is of Christ. The Saviour, the Messiah, is not that Christ which Mary conceived, and who was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem: for the Messiah is, from everlasting to everlasting. His mission among

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men commenced with their creation, and will continue until the end of time. It is that power of God which is illimitable, which pervades the whole creation, and gives life to all his works. It operates not merely on man, but it operates on all the inferior parts of his creation-it fills all place and all space. It

"Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent ;
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part,

As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart;

As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns,
As the rapt seraph that adores and burns."

Such is the nature, power, and efficacy of this divine principle, that it is not far off, that any should say, "Who shall go up into heaven to bring down Christ from above; or, who shall descend into the deep? to bring Christ up again from the dead: but what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach. David was sensible of this when he says, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in

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hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Micah was also sensible of the spirituality of this dispensation, and of the worship which was acceptable unto God, when he says, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sins of my soul?" He appears to be willing to give up all, even the life of a son; to make every sacrifice, to submit to any privation, so that he could find acceptance and favour with God. But this was not under the power of the cloudy dispensation. And what was required of him? There were three things required, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Here, then, was a rule for his conduct, and it remains to be a rule for our conduct; and throughout all ages and dispensations of God to man, this rule has continued unbroken: but be

cause of the hardness of his people's hearts he gave them, a dispensation suited to the state in which they had placed themselves by disobedience. But it was not permanent; it was not operative upon the soul: and when be brought them forth, and took them by the hand to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, he made his power manifest. "Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan." He commanded them not respecting burnt-offerings and sacrifices, "but this I commanded you, saying, Obey my voice; Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." This declaration was made when pride, folly, and oppression had brought the nations under their full influence. And there are a variety of other scripture testimonies to prove that under the cloudy dispensation, there was a higher state attainable than could be attained by the law and its observance,-when guided by the spirit itself. This spirit enabled all the prophets to testify of things yet to come: it enabled them to declare a saviour. This enabled Moses to say unto them; "A prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up unto thee, a prophet from the midst of thee,

of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken." It was also declared by almost every succeeding prophet, respecting the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and also the design of that coming. It was said unto the Jews, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers." Now let us look a little at the covenant delivered on mount Sinai, in the midst of darkness, thunderings, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words: but they desired that they should not be spoken unto them any more; but that Moses should speak, and they would hear him. But the new covenant was to be of another nature, and to have a very different effect. The old covenant came by Moses, and was written on tables of stone which Moses did hew. And when these tables of stone were inscribed by the finger of God, here was the work of man and the work of God also. Here was something which formed a combination, it was not wholly spiritual. These tables of stone carried even on the face of them a declaration that there was something natural, and that all was not spiritual. But the new covenant dispensation unto the people was of a very different nature. "I will write my law in their