fidence in contemplating him, as the apostle saw him, in the character of "a Lamb as it had been slain"-feeling that the marks of his sufferings, the scars of his wounds, will offer for his people, in reference to their forgiveness, the most effectual plea. And when we reach the heavenly mansions, doubtless we shall think more of him in the same character, as a Lamb, slain for our sins, and admire. him more, in viewing him in that relation, than in any other. Others may rest on a hope of salvation which embraces no atonement. We cannot. Others may trust to their own works; we can trust only in Christ. Others may think that having done as well as selfish convenience has prompted them to do, God will overlook their deficiencies and of his mere mercy take them to heaven. We lean only on the blood of the Lamb. Others may imagine that by an act of pardon, without reason,—an act involving the violation of his immutable word, which affirms that sin shall meet its punishment, God will cast the sins of his people behind his back-that they shall be carried, like those confessed over the head of the scapegoat, into the land of forgetfulness. But we have hope, because our sins are forgiven for a reason; without a violation of God's word, but, on the contrary, in the most astonishing fulfilment of it. We know where our sins are, and wherefore they are forgiven.

"My soul looks back to see

The burdens thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree,
And hopes her guilt was there."

In view of these things, it can be no subject of wonder that we affirm that a view of Christ as the Lamb of God is calculated to eclipse the glory of every thing else. For in the first place, every thing is inferior to him in intrinsic worth. There is nothing that can compare with Christ in value-whether you regard him in his infinite character, as God, manifest in the flesh, or as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. What character, within the range of human conception, does not this surpass in interest and in value? What patriot, warrior, prince, philanthropist, parent, son, or brother, ever equalled the Lord Jesus Christ, in the interest and worth of his

character, in the nobility, the self-denial, and the results of his actions? All things that can be compared with Christ bear no more likeness to him than the human to the divine. They are finiteness lost in infinity. They are a fire-fly compared with ten thousand meridian suns. "To whom will ye liken me, or to whom shall I be equal, saith the Lord."

And, as every thing else is, in intrinsic worth, inferior to Christ, so is every thing else inferior, in its importance to ourselves. We could do without any thing else, better than without Christ, in this his peculiar character. We could submit to hunger and thirst, cold and nakednessto be, like the ancient martyrs, driven into deserts and mountains, and dens, and caves of the earth; but we could not so easily submit to be without the sin-atoning Lamb. As Christ is the whole ground of our salvation, so is he the chief object of interest to us on earth, and he will be the chief object of adoring contemplation in heaven. As the ancient Armenian captive, regardless of the splendors of the triumphal scene, the stately person and magnificent garb of Cyrus and the glory of his courtiers, was lost, as she said, "in contemplating the dear man, who generously offered his own life a ransom for mine," so in viewing Christ the Lamb of God, who not only offered, but gave himself a ransom for us, in the eye of the grateful disciple, all the splendors of earth will be forgotten; the glories of the outward creation will lose their attractiveness. Heaven itself will boast as its chief ornament, the Lamb, that sitteth on the throne. He will enlighten it; he will be its living temple; he, its sun; he, its glory. From him joy and light will be radiated. Upon him, from every part, light and joy, the emanations of his own blessedness, will be reflected back. Many Christians are anxious to know more than the Scriptures have revealed of the heavenly world. They are curious to ask what is the nature of that world, how spirits will communicate with spirits, and whether we shall recognize our friends and be conscious of their presence with us in that blissful state. But after ages of abiding in the celestial mansions, who can tell but the Christian's history of his heaven may be mainly comprised in the grateful and adoring declaration,-"I beheld, and lo, in the midst of

the throne, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain"?

A true apprehension of Christ, as the Lamb of our atonement, will make every thing appear to us subordinate, as inferior parts of a system of which Christ is the chief and head. We are, with our usual views, apt to exalt unduly the various objects of our earthly interest. One man worships the mammon of the world in one shape, and another in another. Even the Christian, still dim in his apprehensions of spiritual truth and divine doctrine, is often inordinately attached to the temporary and the perishing, instead of yielding himself to the full influence of the eternal. But, let him discover the character of Christ as he ought, let him fix his wavering spirit upon the Lamb as his importance merits, let him be penetrated with the views of his own deep necessity and of God's mercy, in saving him from the verge of destruction, and, in the language of the captive, "the contemplation of that dear man" will overtop all other contemplations,—and make every thing appear little and weak and vain, when compared with that theme of themes, Christ, "the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world." Too much are we accustomed to think of him as a part, and a lesser part of the system of the universe. We magnify our worldly concerns, our personal welfare and the condition of our friends, even in thinking of Christ in connection with them; as if they I were the first and he the last. We have too little of the spirit which would lead us to regard him as the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the all and in all. He is such in the creation. He is such in our redemption. He is such in meeting our necessities. He is such both on earth and in heaven. What would be our condition, if, oppressed by our sins, we had no Redeemer to flee to-no pitying Saviour to shield us from the sword of justice-no glorious Refuge, one with the Father in spirit and temper, in feeling and purpose, in wrath and in love, who had received the penalty due to our sins, in his own body, and now offers us for his own sake everlasting life? What would earth be, with a God all justice, on one hand, a heart all sin, on the other, the curse of the law muttering its harsh thunder above, the rebel deserving it beneath, the wo

which it threatens in the pit below, and no Ransom, no Redeemer, no Intercessor, for our hiding place? What would heaven be, if there were no "Lamb, as it had been slain," to grace its mansions? Should we be satisfied with its harps, its voices, its songs, its echoes? Who would be its light, its temple, its joy? To whom from its varied scenes, should we turn our restless eyes, and what satisfying vision would it afford? A heaven without Christ! A heaven without the Lamb! Can we conceive or desire it? Then let us deem Christ as necessary to the enjoyment of earth, as of heaven. Let us confess that there is as little, real pleasure in the one without him, as in the other. Let us regard him as necessary to our daily peace, and to the right ordering of all our concerns, as he is to the enjoyment of an ordinance. And let us rejoice in the glorious hope, set before us through the Lamb that was slain-the hope, that from heirs of wrath we shall be heirs of glory-from the willing slaves of sin, we shall become partakers of the divine nature, and inhabitants of the heavenly mansions-that our corruptions will yet be conquered, and that with these eyes we shall behold "in the midst of the throne and in the midst of the elders, the Lamb as it had been slain," and that we shall know that he was slain for us.

ARTICLE IV.

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S AGENCY IN REGENERATION.

THE chief end contemplated in regeneration, so far as man himself is concerned, is holiness. That the moral change implied in this is necessary, that the Holy Spirit is employed as an agent, and the truth as an instrument in effecting this change, may be assumed as the plain. teaching of revelation. It is in reference to the process of regeneration that the chief diversity of opinion exists.

Is man himself active in this process? it is inquired. We will proceed to consider this inquiry.

It is generally conceded that, in regeneration man cannot be the subject of a physical change, i. e. a change in the substance of the soul, or in any of its essential properties. The change must be a moral one-taking place without any violence done to the soul, or to any of the laws of its essence. The idea of a physical change is now so far discarded as to be generally considered destructive of any theory involving it.

In endeavoring to trace the process of regeneration, in order to determine the question of man's activity in it, we will begin with man in his unregenerate state-entirely destitute of holiness. While in this state, revealed truth, as the instrument of regeneration, is brought to bear upon him. Now the object of this is, unquestionably, to lead to the performance of holy actions-as, repentance, faith, love to God; for we assume that these actions are alike holy in their character. Objects the most worthy of choice are set forth by revealed truth, and motives, in themselves the most powerful that can be adduced, are presented, to determine the choice;-but with what effect? What is there, in the unregenerate man, to which these simple appeals of the truth can be effectually made, so far as the performance of holy action is concerned?

Here it may be well to determine, what is the proper test of moral action. That action of man which may be called holy, always implies a supreme regard to God-a regard which is both intelligent and affectionate. Moreover, considering the relation existing between God as a moral governor, and his creatures as subjects of moral government, we do not see how a single voluntary act on the part of the latter, can be overlooked. It would be difficult, with our views of holiness, to conceive of a holy being,―an angel, for instance-as performing an act with no regard to God-out of supreme regard to himself, or a fellow-creature, even of the highest order. But what difference is there to be made between angels and men, when considered as subjects of God's moral government? How, we would inquire, can a single voluntary act of man be excepted from the requirement" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength,"—and again,-" Whatsoever