image of his person." Every eye looked to him : every heart trusted in him : every soul " received out of his fulness grace for grace." He was that object which, if I may so speak, was the centre and circumference of the globe : in him all united ; and beyond him none aspired. " In him the whole body of believers, collectively and individually, were complete."]
See it at this hour —
[Who is loved ? who is honoured ? who is served ? who is glorified, wherever the Gospel prevails ? who, but that adorable Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ? Those who once saw " no beauty or comeliness in him for which he was to be desired," now behold him as " fairer than ten thousand, and altogether lovely." " He is truly precious" to their souls; and to call him " their Friend and their Beloved," is the highest object of their ambition, or, rather, the only thing about which they have any material concern. It is the same in every cpuarter of the world : it is the same amongst high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned : if " God have shined into their heart to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," they " determine to know nothing else," to " glory in nothing else :" " this is all their salvation, and all their desire."]
But who can tell what it shall be in the latter days ?
[The text informs us, that " all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Hitherto, notwithstanding all the efforts that have been used to spread the Gospel, darkness very generally pre- vails, and the obstacles to the Redeemer's kingdom are but partially removed. But the day is near at hand, when " all nations shall serve him," and " all people shall know him from the least of them to the greatest." Yes, " the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it :" and therefore it shall assuredly come to pass. Obstructions there are, no doubt, both great and nume- rous : but " before Zerubbabel the mountains shall become a plain." The extension of vital Christianity through the world is not more incredible than the establishment which it has already gained in the earth ; especially when we consider, that, what has been already done, is, under God, the work of a few unlettered fishermen. O that that day may appear ! O that God would " hasten it in his time!"]
Conclusion —
[As " a voice crying in this our wilderness," I would now say to you, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord." He has entered into the world : he has established his kingdom anions' men ; he now " stands and knocks at the door of your hearts," and desires admission into them. O think what is it that obstructs his entrance into your hearts? Is it a proud conceit of your