around by an ornament, which was called its crown. It was upon this that the propitiatory blood was sprinkled: it was to this spot that the high priest came once a year: it was over it that the supernatural symbol of the Divine presence of light and life and glory, self-sustained, did hover. This is called in Scripture, God's throne. It was from thence he dispensed his justice and favours, freely without money and without price. There was no access to him, but by the sacrificial blood; but when the priest came with the sacrificial blood in his hands there was access. It is in allusion to it that the Apostle Paul enjoins us to come boldly, "that we may find mercy, and obtain grace to help us in time of need," and we are invited to enter into the holiest of all with confidence, in the full assurance of faith. We come to God upon his throne, both of glory and of grace.

It is said to be "high and lifted up." Upon the throne, as we have represented it, the mercy-seat, was a cloud; and the human form in glory in the text is supposed to be seated upon the cloud, embosomed as it were in the cloud. When it is said to be "high and lifted up," it denotes the loftiness of the Divine nature. God is the High and the Holy One who inhabiteth eternity. It intimates also his authority, supremacy, and power. It is a power in respect to might. There can be no competition; there ought to be no contradiction or resistance. His throne is like the mountain of the Lord's house, "established upon the top of the mountains," and "made higher than the hills." He is "King of kings and Lord of lords;" and however exalted earthly potentates may be, we must remember, that there is no higher than that one who is emphatically "The Highest ;" and language can express no more. It denotes also the repose, the rest, the complacency, and the satisfaction of the Divine mind. Sitting upon a throne: there is no alarm; there is no fear; there is no agitation; there is no disturbance. God is in possession of his empire; He is King, and his prerogative is secure. God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness: His counsels shall stand: He speaks, and it is done: it is a volition, the facility and the quickness of thought, and the purpose is accomplished. « Sing ye praises unto God; God is greatly exalted.

He sitteth upon his throne. The passage describes the dominion which Jesus Christ enjoyed, and the power that he exercised, antecedently to his incarnation in his divine nature; and there is the same power, splendour, and pre-eminence now, only that it exists and is exercised in connexion with his real humanity. It is known that "at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth."

"I saw the Lord upon a throne; high and lifted up," "and his train filled the temple." This word relates to the ornamental and flowing robe of an oriental potentate, worn upon state occasions. But what shall we say of the throne of Deity? "Thou hast clothed thyself," it is said in the Psalms, "with majesty. The Lord hath clothed himself with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself. Strength and majesty are within him; glory and beauty are in his face. Thou hast clothed thyself with light as with a garment"flashes of celestial light, beams of uncreated splendour; and these filling the temple, replenishing and illuminating all its parts. These are the train of Deity, the train spoken of in the text. And so we have the Lord of Hosts in his temple, upon his throne exalted, filling the temple with his glory. It defines and describes exactly the pre-existent dignity and divine perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ, antecedent to his incarnation; and it is, as I think, the

exact meaning of the Apostle Paul, in that remarkable expression-" Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God;" "with God," who is "the image," that is, the manifestation and shewing forth, "of the invisible God."

This, then, is the view of the Divine Majesty which the passage opens. Permit me to call your attention for a moment to a few inferences which we deduce from it.

The first is the astonishing condescension and the unparalleled love of our Lord Jesus Christ, in assuming our nature and in suffering for our sins. The Apostle John says, in reference to the fact of our Lord's appearance in human flesh, “We beheld his glory," (not as Isaiah did) "the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And He who was in the form of God, and did not think it" robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Can any conception be more amazing? The death of the cross! You remember the cross; the ignominy, the cruelty and blood of it, without the gates of Jerusalem. You remember the execrations of the multitude; how even the malefactor who was crucified with him did cast the same accusation in his teeth; and how the people, who came to that sight, did smite upon their breasts, and return unto their homes. We ask, Is this He? Is this the same? Is this the identical Being whose glory Isaiah saw, and before whose dominion seraphim did bow down and worship? It is He! It is the self-same Being. But he is seen there in the fact of his substitution, in the light of his capacity as the Surety and Saviour of his people. He came voluntarily to this, for us men and for our salvation-made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. "Who," says the Apostle Paul, in another place, "being the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person, when he had by himself made expiation for our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens,” where there is the self-same principle of antecedent glory and divine dignity, and terrible humiliation; the triumphant accomplishment of his work thereby. And then the repose, and honour, and blessedness, which follow at the righthand of the majesty in the heavens. Such is our Lord Jesus, and we may well exclaim

"Oh, for this love, let rocks and hills,

Their lasting silence break,

And all harmonious human tongues
Their Saviour's praises speak."

I infer again that there is a mental vision which we have of him; that there is an intellectual apprehension which we enjoy. We see him in his word and in his ordinances; and so clear and so luminous is the manifestation, that in reference to some points it could not be more satisfactory if we beheld it with the naked and the bodily eye. I see Christ in the Bible every where, and in his ordinances every where, filling all in all. There are some who seem to see him no where you will bear witness, at the least, that my ministry among you is a sweet odour of Christ Jesus, a perpetual exhibition of the Lord Christ, in his glory and in his grace, in his offices and in his work, as he is Prophet, Priest, and King of the universal Church. We see Jesus, and expect to see him soon in a distinct and literal sense; for how many steps are there between

me and death? How far are you from your departure out of this world into another? It is his will that we should see his glory: we do not know what we shall be, but we know that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure.

I ask, are you ready? Could you ascend? Are you prepared? Is your eye familiarized with the intellectual vision, first as qualifying you for the opening cloud, and then for the full exhibition afterwards? Are you in a state of concord with God-of harmony with Jesus Christ? Are you baptized with the Spirit that pervades all heaven, so that, transferred to its occupations and employments, you could take your harp, seize your lyre, engage in the song, join in the anthem and hallelujah, with the jubilating myriads that are on high? Or are you in a state of darkness and wretchedness, of distance and alienation from him? If it be this latter, I do beseech you to acquaint yourselves with him now and be at peace, to wash in the fountain which is still open for sin and for uncleanness; that, being clothed with the white vesture, you may appear at last among those who shout aloud, "Salvation to our God, and to the Lamb for ever." You must see him, whether you will or no: every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him: and upon his great white throne will he appear, in more majesty than even that which Isaiah saw. "Before him," says St. John, "the earth and the heavens did flee away, and there was found for them no place. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God; and the judgment was set, and the books were opened, and they were judged out of those books." There I must stand to give an account of my doctrine, and my ministry; and you must stand to give an account of the manner in which you have heard and received it. Oh, that I may deliver it in with joy, and not with grief; not on my own account only, but on your's also! And then we shall see him for ever more, without a veil between. The loftiest and the loveliest conceptions which we have of the final and everlasting felicity is, that we are to walk in the light of the Father, and of the Lamb. The nations of the Saviour shall behold him as he is, and be with him in perfect freedom, in consummate liberty and joy, in all that splendour and honour, and illumination. This is the vision of the glory of God as made

manifest in Christ.

And now the second thing is, THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SERAPHIM WITNESSED HIS GLORY. It is said that "above it," that is, the throne, "stood the seraphim." It may mean "by the side of it," or "round about it."

But who and what are the seraphim, and how many of them are we to conceive present on this occasion? I take it that there was a company-that there was a considerable number of them; as in all remarkable and extraordinary discoveries of himself, his plans, and his glory in this world, God has had his ministers and his attendants along with him. God, it is said, 66 came down at Sinai; from his right-hand went a fiery-law;" and he was attended by myriads of his holy ones. When the ark was led up to Zion, it was said again, "God is among them as in the holy-place, as at Sinai: the chariots of God are twenty thousand," (that is a certain number for an uncertain) "even thousands of angels." When Christ was incarnate, a multitude of the heavenly hosts carolled him into the world. When he went up, having finished his undertaking, they attended him in his ascension, and exclaimed, "Lift up your heads everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in." When the final judg

ye

ment is executed upon the Papacy, and the Ancient of Days is revealed, there are said to be around his throne thousands and tens of thousands of the holy ones. At the last judgment, it is said, God will come with all his holy angels. And it is most true, that when Deity is in the house, the angels are at the door; and when God is made manifest in his glory in his temple, the seraphim are present with their wings, veiling their faces and their feet, that they may bow down to adore him.

But who are the seraphim? I take it that they are not angels in the strict sense of that word; nor arch-angels, if there be any such creatures, the chiefs and rulers in the eternal empire; nor cherubim, though the cherubim are represented in Ezekiel's vision in a way very similar to these; nor the four and twenty elders, nor the immortalities, of whom we read in the book of the Revelations but I take them to be a distinct order of celestial beings, bearing a distinct name, and which I think occurs not any where else in the Holy Scriptures. And it opens to my mind a vast and most delightful view of the intelligent and glorified beings who populate the divine empire. God has praises ascending to his throne besides those which are uttered by human lips; his kingdom is full of light, and every where is he adored and loved and magnified, except in one dark distant corner of his universe, and upon this small, contemptible, and rebel orb.

"Seraphim." We are asking still after their name. The word "seraph" means "a burning one:" the expression means "they are like unto fire." This, then, denotes the subtilty and purity of their nature, or the ardour of their zeal, the intensity of that affection which they bear to God; as if they were almost consumed with the ravishment and the love, the light and the knowledge of Deity. I take this to be the exact import of the expression, first, as denoting the glory of their nature, and secondly, the strength of their affection; the intensity of their love being proportioned to the plenitude of their knowledge. "Seraphim." They are said to have six wings. "And with twain he did cover his face." "His face." There is amazing intelligence oft-times in the countenance of a man, something celestial and superhuman in the face of a man. It was so with Moses: it was so with Stephen; they saw his countenance as it had been the countenance of an angel. And I was told by a friend of mine, who heard the late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, that there were seasons at which he ascended the pulpit, when he looked more like an angel than like a man; a kind of divine lustre beamed on his countenance, on account of the glory of the message he was to deliver, and the unction of God that was upon him. I recently heard of a clergyman, in a consumption, and supposed to be near to death, who yet in the reading of the liturgy, with a solemn tone of devotion, and in, as it appeared, consummate abstraction of mind, had a celestial, an unearthly aspect. There is something, as I have said, divine, oft-times in the countenance of a man; but then the countenance is mortal: that lustre fades that beauty goes away. The face of a seraphim, if we could see it, is immortal: the lustre of it is never eclipsed, never fades away.

Yet, whatever the countenance may be, it is said, that he covers his face with his wings. That might be for two reasons; either as being unable to look steadfastly upon God-for even of them, in its strictest sense, it is true that they cannot see God, and live: they cannot sustain the plenitude of his essential being poured in upon their faculties; from them there is something held back, and necessarily concealed; to them the light is in some sense inaccessible; there

is a splendour and a majesty, in the midst of which only Jesus Christ, the son of God, can be embosomed; they could not look fully upon God, and live. Or the second reason is, they were unworthy to do so; for we must not forget, that the heavens are said to be impure in the sight of God; that he charges his holy ones with defectibility: as created beings they are necessarily defectible-they are liable to transgression, and to sin. He looketh upon the moon, and it shineth not he sealeth up the stars. How feeble are our conceptions of the transcendant purity of God. The seraphim, who had brighter views of it, veiled their faces with their wings. We are told of Abraham, that he bowed with his face to the earth. We are told of Elijah, that he hid his face in his mantle of Daniel that he kneeled upon his knees: of the Apostle John, that he fell down as one dead: of the seraphim, that they veil their countenances. And, one may say, if these are scarcely accepted, if these illustrious men were scarcely saved, where shall we and our devotion appear?

"With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet." That is, as having not performed any work or service which is worthy of divine regard. The fact here stated is the sign and symbol of their services and their operations; they felt that they had done nothing meritorious in the divine sight. What shall we say of ourselves? Our righteousnesses are defiled, our very breath is contaminated, more or less, not figuratively, but really and absolutely by sin. And yet God did accept their services, and through Christ he will also accept ours. A cup of cold water: "I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; thirsty, and ye gave me drink," at the day of judgment Christ will say: and the answer is, When? where?

They cover their feet with their wings. It is very remarkable, that in the vision of Christ to the Apostle John, his feet are uncovered, they are revealed; and they are said to shine like fine gold, as if burning in a furnace. The great work of Jesus Christ in its spotless perfection cast the services and the labours of the seraphim into the shade; it is that great work of his by which we are to be justified, and we abandon alike our sins and our services together, that we may confide in it in the matter of our justification. His feet were refulgent and revealed, and, like gold in a great crucible, the brighter and the more splendid, the more fully it was tried.

"With twain he did cover his feet, and with twain he did fly;" ready on all occasions promptly to execute the will of God; to be swifter than the wind; to go with a velocity greater than the light. "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, hearkening to the voice of his word." It is their glory that "with twain they did fly," and let it be ours also promptly to execute the will of God. If, as Mr. Henry says, they were so ready to come down on their missions and services to us, shall we not also be ready, whenever God shall call, to go up and enjoy glory, and splendour, and blessedness with them?

"And one cried unto another." One cried, and but one: they spake but one at a time. The text defines what we call a solo. "One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." There is something delightful in one voice, in one lark rising in the heavens; or, when the shades of evening come down, one bird, a nightingale, warbling in the woods. One human voice has been known to replicate miraculously, and to fill the ears of a vast and death-silent audience; the audience being enchanted by it, held in the most exquisite captivation. What shall it be to hear a seraphim sing? I exaggerate nothing; I come not up to the real import of the text: for it is said, that when he