subjects slain. What further proof can any man desire of God's irreconcileable abhorrence of all sin ?]
2. In a way of mercy —
[When the whole human race were involved in Adam's guilt and misery, God could no more look upon them with the smallest measure of complacency. Before he could cast an eye of love upon so much as one single soul, its sins must all be expiated ; and a perfect righteousness must be given to it ; and its every desire must be renewed. But how could all this be effected? It could be effected only through the mediation of God's only dear Son, and by the operation of his own Almighty and eternal Spirit. To exercise mercy, was God's desire : and that he might exercise it in consistency with his own immaculate holiness, he determined to give his only- begotten Son, that through him, and in his sacred person, his hatred of sin might be made manifest ; and to give his Holy Spirit also, that, through his effectual agency, his love of holi- ness might be displayed. Tell me, then, whether this does not confirm the declaration in my text ? To all eternity, God will not look upon any sinner that is not washed in the blood of Christ, and clothed in his unspotted righteousness : nor will he ever look on one who is not " renewed in the spirit of his mind," and transformed by the Holy Ghost into that very image of the Deity which sin has effaced.
Verily, let these things be considered ; and you will say, that " God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity:" for when sin was found upon his only dear Son, and that only by imputation, the cup of God's in- dignation must be drunk by him, even to the very dregs : nor, till that was done, should any soul of man find mercy at his hands.]
This truth being so clear, let us consider,
II. What lessons it inculcates on every one of us —
Of the admiration which this sublime character of the Deity demands, I shall forbear to speak. I will notice only those more plain and obvious duties, which are of prime importance to every child of man. This view, then, of God's holiness, may teach us all,
1. To repent of our former sins —
[Who is there that has not, in instances without number,
grieved and offended this holy God ? Look back, my
brethren, upon your lives, from the earliest childhood even to the present hour, and consult the records of conscience ; and then say, whether God can ever look on you but with just and holy indignation ? O that all of us were duly