was found worthy to open it. But, when he took it into his hand with a view to open it, then all the Re- deemed burst forth into this song of praise ; expressly founding their acknowledgements on this as their proper ground. Now this they might well do ; because,
1. The events themselves recorded in that book, all arise out of his work of Redemption —
[Had not the Lord Jesus Christ given himself a sacrifice for the sins of men, there would have been no difference be- tween our fallen race and the fallen angels : all having alike transgressed, they would all have paid the penalty of trans- gression, and been consigned over, the one as well as the other, to irremediable and everlasting misery. But the Lord Jesus Christ having purchased to himself a peculiar people, the purposes of God respecting them are infinitely diversified, every one of them being destined to experience trials and de- liverances peculiar to himself, in order to fit him for that pre- cise measure of glory ordained for him from all eternity. Who then should open this book but He from whom it has derived its existence, and to whom all the blessings contained in it must be traced as their proper source ?]
2. They will all issue in the felicity of his Re- deemed—
[Much indeed is spoken in that book respecting the per- secutions of the saints, all of whom are said to come out of great tribulation : and can it be said that such dispensations minister to their happiness ? I answer. Yes : even in this present life, the trials, to which they are subjected by their enemies, work for their good, inasmuch as they tend to the perfecting of their graces, and lead to a more abundant sup- ply of heavenly consolations. And, in the world to come, the weight of glory assigned to each, is proportioned to what every individual sustained for his Lord, and to the fidelity with which he executed his Lord's commands. The book, like the cloud at the Red Sea, was dark on the one side, even darkness itself; whilst on the other side it was luminous as the noon-day sun : and in both respects it subserved the interests of Israel : so, whether the dispensations contained in that book be dark or light, they shall all tend to the security of the saints, and the completion of the deliverance ordained for them.]
3. They will all reflect glory on him as the Re- deemer—
[We may easily conceive of this as far as tlie mercies are VOL. XI. A A concerned :