Him; but in the latter case the believer is bound to go beyond his own community for objects of fellowship who present as strong claims to him on his principles as any included within his own pale, but thither the mere churchman cannot follow him, for his object is not unity but uniformity, and that only on his own terms. Let the most devoted servant of Jesus exchange from the community of which he is now a member to another equally orthodox in creed, but differing in ecclesiastical constitution, and thither not the love but the hatred of his professing brother will most probably follow him, proving that he saw and valued in him formerly, not the image of Christ which remains, but the image of his own church prejudices, which has vanished away, and he can no longer recognise him as a brother, because "he followeth not with him," Lu. ix. 49. Are the true disciples of Him who has broken down the middle wall of partition between party and party, Eph. ii. 14, quite clear in this matter?

(4.) We may add that the bow appears without a dart and with its convex side against the heavens, as if it had shot its arrow not downward against the earth and its inhabitants, but upward against Him that sits upon the throne; and that having wounded and slain Him its work was accomplished for ever, and it now appears suspended between the two worlds only as the trophy of a conflict now over, and a victory won for eternity. The spotless bosom of the Son of God received the missile aimed by stern justice against us, and having willingly submitted to the blow, that bosom has become for ever the refuge of every self-convicted transgressor of God's law, who, washed in the blood which has issued from it, is no more exposed to wrath, or disturbed by apprehension, for "by one offering Jesus hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,” Heb. x. 14.

Lastly. We rejoice to reflect that the bow is looked upon, not only by us, but by Him who appointed it, a pledge of the covenant between us. He says, "I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth," v. 16. He requires no such token to supply the defects of memory, but

for ourselves this is written, that in the darkest hour of spiritual fear and conflict we may have a strong consolation" in the reflection that the bow is still in the cloud-that the eyes of our Ruler and Judge still rest upon it, and though in a little wrath, He hides His face from us for a moment, yet with everlasting kindness, will He have mercy upon us. "For this,' says the Lord our Redeemer, "is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee; for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed," Is. liv. 8-10. This language is primarily addressed to the children of Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace is renewed, but is more especially addressed to all the children of God in Christ Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, who are "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise," Gal. iii. 29. The same God who made a promise of the earth's continued exemption from the waters of a deluge, has entered into a most solemn engagement to deliver His people from everlasting wrath. As a father indeed chastises his children whom he loves, so the Father of spirits will visit our backslidings from Him with the rod of affliction, and with the hidings of His countenance; but while justly incensed with us, He "looks upon the face of his anointed," Ps. lxxxiv. 9, whom he has set at His own right hand, that he might remember His covenant with His chosen ones, and 66 correct them, but with judgment, not in His anger, lest He bring them to nothing," Jer. x. 24; and as He contemplates Him "in the midst of the throne" under the appearance of a Lamb, as it had been slain," Rev. v. 6, whatever clouds of wrath are gathering around that seat of judgment, "He remembers His holy promise and Abraham his servant," Ps. cv. 42, and instantly the darkness is dispelled, and the Jehovah becomes again the light and the salvation of His people, Ps. xxvii. 1.

Although the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, it is determined in the councils of the eternal that "the mountains shall depart, and the hills

be removed." The whole present constitution of this earth shall be dissolved, 2 Peter iii. 11, to make way for the "new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness," v. 13, and to provide a new Eden state for the second Adam and his spiritual posterity. Of these great facts, or of the time hastening on to their accomplishment, the people of the "heavens and the earth which are now" take no account, and shall take none as long as "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation," v. 4. They will continue "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage," Mat. xxiv. 38, until "the day when the Son of Man is revealed;" but it behoves those who have come to Jesus on the waters of spiritual baptism, see 1 Peter iii. 21, to enquire anxiously "what manner of persons they ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat," 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12. My friends, ye "yourselves know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night," 1 Thes. v. 1, and if we are to be guided in our calculations by the signs of the times, surely we cannot believe that the end of all things is far off. We have urgent need, therefore, to determine in what frame of mind and heart we should desire the Bridegroom to find us at his coming, and through the grace of our God, faithfully to cultivate that. In the day of his return, as in the day of the flood, there will be only two parties: those who are in the ark, and those who are in the world, which, with all that it contains, is devoted to destruction.

LECTURE X.

NOAH.

DRUNKENNESS.

"And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken: and he was uncovered within his tent". Gen. ix. 20, 21.

OUR first impulse, perhaps, upon reading this disgraceful account of Noah's conduct, is to exclaim, Is this the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord? who is described as a "just man and perfect in his generations, and who walked with God?" Gen. vi. 8, 9. Reader, this is the same man, betrayed into grievous sin against that gracious Being who had rescued him and his family from the tremendous judgment which engulfed a whole world beside. Then after all, you will be disposed to say, he did not deserve to be saved-he was unworthy of the Divine benevolence which he so richly enjoyed. Truly, my friends, he was unworthy-utterly unworthy of the love which had been employed in his preservation, and lest you and I should suppose the contrary, this chosen object of Almighty favour is allowed to fall, and we are invited to contemplate the materials out of which the children of God are made, lest we should ascribe to them and not to their Creator the glory of their salvation from sin, and exemption from the wrath to come. It was Jehovah who had made Noah to differ from those who perished in the day of His righteous visitation. By the grace of God he was what he was, and the grace which was bestowed upon him was not in vain," 1 Cor. xv. 10; for we learn that he laboured abundantly to commend the loving-kindness and long-suffering mercy of the Lord to the antediluvian

world, and to induce them to repent and turn to Him. He was a preacher of righteousness to that generation; but now he is left alone, and what an exhibition have we in him of human imperfection and infirmity! But the Father, who loved and chose him for Himself, was as well aware that he was subject to sin when He shut him up in the ark as we are now. In His sight he was never more perfect than on the day that witnessed his shame and humiliation. To that he was always subject; but he appears to have been hitherto divinely upheld. Perhaps he sinned so grossly but once, that the constraining grace of Jehovah might be magnified in him-he sinned that once, that the necessity for such constraining grace at all times might appear. If Noah sinned grievously and yet found pardon and acceptance, we may be sure of a provision of mercy, by which God can be just, yet the justifier of the guilty. If Noah, though a just man and perfect, was permitted to fall into heinous wickedness, the most mature Christians amongst us have reason to tremble lest in one short hour of spiritual pride or forgetfulness, we make shipwreck of the faith which it has taken many years of humiliation and watchfulness to build up.

But this disgraceful act of carnality and crime on the part of one so loved and favoured, is to be viewed under another aspect, that is-first, in reference to its origin; and, secondly, in connexion with its effects upon the condition of the human race, of which Noah was now the second earthly head and progenitor.

I. The origin of Drunkenness. Who can doubt that this God-defying, debasing, and destructive sin, owes its birth to the indefatigable and ingenious enmity of the old serpent? He had already brought man very low in the scale of being; but by unwearied diligence in hatred to God and man, he had discovered a still lower stage of moral depravity-a deeper pit of sin and humiliation for the monuments of Jehovah's creative skill, and the objects of his fatherly affection. He saw that, although he had succeeded in procuring man's exclusion from paradise, a hope was still held out to him of returning thither, by the exercise of repentance and faith in a coming Redeemer; the hope