minister unto him. Little do we think how much we are indebted to their friendly aid ; from how many snares they deliver vis ; in how many conflicts they succour us ; and Avith what transport they bear our triumphant spirits into the world of bliss. As once they waited with impatience to see the prophecies accomplished, and the work of Redemption exe- cuted in the person of Christ ; so do they now wait with ardent desire to see the consummation of the Church's happiness, and the completion of the Redeemer's glory. And at that great and solemn day will whole myriads of them attend, to perform their last kind offices to God's elect ; to assemble them in one collective body ; and to unite with them in ascribing everlasting praises to God and to the Lamb. They cannot indeed say, "He has loved vs and washed tis ;" but they will most heartily join in singing, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."]
Their solicitude about things that relate to us, however strange it may appear at first sight, will not be thought strange, if we consider,
II. The reasons of it —
If we were unable to assign any reasons for their conduct, we might be well assured that their actions were regulated by wisdom and prudence.
But it is not difficult to account for their anxiety respecting these things : they look into them, not to gratify a vain curiosity, but,
1. Because of the glory of God displayed in them —
[The angels have been blessed with many bright dis- coveries of the Divine glory, both in the works of creation and of providence. But these have all been eclipsed by the brighter displays of it in the works of Redemption. Every thing in the universe bespeaks the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God : and the punishment inflicted on the fallen angels declares hisjustice and holiness. But the plan of sal- vation revealed in the Gospel is repi'esented as being eminently, and beyond all comparison, " the wisdom of God, and the power of God." Terrible as the justice of God appears in the miseries of the danmed, it appears incomparably more tremendous in the suftcrings of the Son of God, which were inflicted on him for our sins, and which were indispensably necessary to satisfy its inexorable demands. But what shall we say of mercy ? There was not a single trace of that to be
found