without exception, shall he smitten with the second death, and his friends be exalted to eternal glory and felicity. What terror will he seen in that day ! what weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth among the objects of his displeasure! and what exultation and triumph amongst those who shall be the monuments of his distinguishing favour ! That deliverance will be indeed wonderful ; and eternity will be too short to explore the unsearchable riches of grace and love contained in it.]
The maimer in which it was effected also deserves particular attention —
[There was not one agent only in this transaction, but two : a destroying angel, that went forth to execute judgment indiscriminately on one in every house ; and God, who attended him, as it were, to intercept his stroke, and ward off the blow wherever the blood was sprinkled on the houses. This is clearly intimated in the text ; and it is as clearly referred to by the Prophet Isaiah, who combines this image with that of a bird darting between her offspring and the bird of prey, in order to protect them from their voracious enemy". Indeed the very name given to the ordinance which was appointed to commemorate this event, was taken from the circumstance of God's leaping forward, and thus obliging the angel to pass over every house where the blood appeared.
In reflecting on this, we take comfort from the thought, that, whoever may menace the Lord's people, God himself is their protector ; and that, " while he is for them, none can be effectually against them." If all the angels in heaven, yea and all the devils in hell too, were employed to execute vengeance on the earth, we need not fear ; since God is omniscient to discern, and ahnighty to protect, the least and meanest of his believing people.]
We may learn from hence,
1. The use and excellence of faith —
[It was " by faith that Moses kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them0." It is by faith also, and by faith alone, that we can obtain an interest in the Lord Jesus. In what other way can we present to God his sacrifice ? In what other way can we sprinkle our hearts with his atoning blood ? In what other way can we " abide in him till the morning" of the resurrec- tion ? This is not done by repentance, or love, or any other grace, but by faith only. Other graces are good, and neces- sary in their place ; but it is faith only that apprehends Christ, and obtains for us all the benefits of his passion. Let us then
n lsai. xxxi. 5. ° Heb. xi. 28.