did not plead this very execution of God's judgments as the reason for their being averted from himself.
May we not, in the review of these things, adopt the lan- guage of the Apostle, and say, " O the depths ! " Verily this "wisdom is manifold;" and in this salvation are " hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge11."]
But my text, whilst it speaks of the wisdom con- tained in the Gospel, leads me particularly to declare,
II. The instruction which the angels themselves de- rive from the revelation of it to the Church —
The angels, from the first moment of their crea- tion, saw much of God : but of him, as exhibited in the Gospel, they could have no conception, till that fuller revelation of him was given to the Church.
Then the angels began to see,
1. The extent of his perfections —
[They had seen his wisdom, power, and goodness, in the works of creation. They themselves, indeed, were bright monuments of these perfections. The justice of God, too, they had beheld in very awful colours, in the judgments in- flicted on myriads of their fellows, who were once as holy and as happy as themselves. They had seen in what profusion love had poured its blessings on the innocent. But could it extend to the guilty ? Could it extend so far as to send his only-begotten Son to stand in the place of the guilty, and to bear their punishment ? Impossible ! Shew love to the guilty, and anger to the innocent? yea, and shew anger to the innocent, as the only way of shewing love to the guilty? It could not be : it must be abhorrent from the very soul of a holy God so to act. Yet, behold, Divine Wisdom did so ordain to act. But how could Justice concur in this? Can that be brought to execute vengeance on one that is innocent, for the sake of sparing others that were guilty? Methinks that the sword, if seized for such an end, would fall from the very hands of Justice, and refuse to do its office. Yet did Justice proceed thus far, and not suffer Mercy to prevail in behalf of any child of man, till its claims were thus satisfied by the sinner's Surety. We may conceive, that, from what they had seen of the goodness of God, they would believe him ready to exercise mercy, on a supposition it were com- patible with his honour in all other respects: but that he
h Col. ii. 3.