ways ; and now they attend upon him through the houndless expanse of heaven, all vyinjr, as it were, with each other in testifying their love and gratitude to their adorable Redeemer. As in the days of old, at the time of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, " the whole multitude followed him, crying, Hosanna to the Son of David ; blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest ^" so now in heaven they follow him with similar acclamations, and rest not day nor night from this glorious employment-.
Such are the circumstances related by the Apostle : but, to form any idea of the bliss enjoyed by the heavenly hosts, we must ourselves be partakers of it : the language of mortality cannot paint it ; nor, if an angel were to come from heaven to describe it, could our feeble apprehensions grasp the mighty theme.]
In relation to this blessedness, the point which more particularly demands our attention is, II. The character of those that are admitted to it — This is minutely marked,
1. In its source — [" They have been redeemed from among men." Once they were in bondage even as other men : but God in his mercy delivered them " by a mighty hand and with an out- stretched arm." Israel when in Egypt were an exact picture of them in their unregenerate state. Their subjection to sin and Satan was entire : nor could they by any means cast off the yoke with which they were bound. But God, in his ten- der mercy, pitied them ; and sent his only dear Son to redeem them ; to redeem them, by oftering his own soul a ransom for them, and by enabling every one of them for himself to burst his bonds. Thus to God's sovereign love and mercy must their emancipation be traced in the first instance, and then to the efficacy of the Redeemer's blood, and the almighty power of his grace. As Israel were " a nation taken out from the midst of another nation for the praise of the glory of his grace," so are all that either are, or shall be, transferred to the heavenly Canaan, " a chosen generation, a royal priest- liood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that they may shew forth the praises of him that hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light ''."]
2. In its progress — [" They are a willing people, though made so in the day of God's power':" and the very instant that they begin to taste redeeming love, and to ex|)erience the mighty working
of ' Matt. xxi. g. " Rev. iv. 8. '' 1 Pet. ii. 9. ' Ps. ex. 3.