out. I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne." "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." "And there shall be no more curse; and there shall be no night there; and they shall reign for ever and ever."

These are "the things which have been reported to us by them who have preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." There is a good deal in those descriptions which is dark through excessive brightness,— imperfectly intelligible by us, because descriptive of a state more pure, and felicitous, and glorious, than our limited, obtuse, sensualised faculties can distinctly apprehend; but what is clear and what is dark equally prove, that this happiness, with the love in which it originates, has a height and a depth, a length and a breadth, that pass knowledge. And O, delightful, solemnizing thought! this is no airy dream. These are the true and faithful sayings of God. The period referred to is hastening on apace; and all this happiness must either be gained or lost by every one of us -gained or lost for ever.

III. THE FINAL HAPPINESS OF CHRISTIANS THE SUBJECT OF ANGELIC STUDY.

It only remains that I turn your attention to the last view which the Apostle gives us of the final salvation of Christians, -as the subject of angelic study: "Into these things the angels desire to look."

Into what things? Obviously into the things "of which the prophets prophesied, and into which they inquired”into the things "reported to us by them who preached the

1 Rom. ii. 6, &c.; Rom. viii. 18-25. 1 Cor. xv. 20, &c. iii. 3, 4. 1 Thess. iv. 13. 2 Thess. i. 6, &c. 2 Pet. i. 11. passim; xxi. 4; xxii. 1-5.

2 Cor. v. 2, 3. Col. Rev. ii. passim; iii.

gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” i. e., into the things respecting "the salvation prepared to be revealed in the last time"-into the things respecting "the grace to be brought to Christians at the revelation of Jesus Christ"-into those things the angels desire to look. The meaning of these words is obviously, the angels have an intense desire to understand the whole truth in reference to the final salvation of the people of God.

The angels here spoken of are, without doubt," the elect angels," those holy, happy, unembodied spirits who retain their original integrity, who, infinitely beneath God, are yet far superior to men in the scale of being, who excel in wisdom and strength, and who find their happiness in contemplating the divine excellencies and in doing the divine will.

1

These exalted spiritual beings are represented as "desirous to look" into the things which respect the final salvation of the redeemed from among men. The original expression is very beautiful. They are with earnest desire bending down, fixing their intensest gaze on these things. The peculiar mode of expression probably alludes to the figures of the cherubim above the mercy-seat, who with downcast eyes were represented as looking on the mercy-seat, as if seeking to penetrate the mystery of wisdom and kindness which the fiery law covered by the blood-sprinkled golden propitiatory, embodied.

We have no reason to think that the angels directly know any thing more about the final salvation of the redeemed among men than we do. It is "by the Church," i. e., by the dispensations of God to the Church, that "the principalities and powers in the heavenly places" become acquainted with that revelation of "the manifold wisdom of God" contained in the plan of human redemption. We have no doubt that they know all that is revealed in the Bible on this subject; and from their higher faculties, and their more diligent study, and their juster and more extended views of the

1 α επιθυμούσιν άγγελοι παρακύψαι.

2

9 Eph. iii. 10.

divine perfections, and of what constitutes the happiness of intelligent creatures, they understand what is revealed there much better than we do. But still they are not satisfied— they are desirous to understand these wondrous divine declarations more completely, and they are looking forward with intense desire to the period when fulfilment shall develope the full extent of their meaning.

Nor is it at all difficult to divine what are the principles in the minds of angels which make them thus desire to look into these things. Enlightened curiosity, piety, and benevolence, all combine in turning their attention with unwearied interest towards this subject. Enlightened curiosity, or the desire of useful knowledge, is one of the characteristic features, we have reason to believe, of angelic as well as human minds. They know far more than we do, but there is much they do not know; and it is probable their thirst for knowledge exceeds ours just in a similar proportion to their possession of knowledge. It is easy to conceive how desirous they must be of knowing what it is for "corruption to put on incorruption," what it is for "mortality to be swallowed up of life." Enlightened philosophers have great pleasure in the witnessing, and in anticipating the witnessing, of experiments tending to throw light on the processes of nature. A world in flames, the elements melting with fervent heat, and the heavens flying away like a scroll, and a new heaven and a new earth rising out of the fiery chaos, are spectacles which it is not wonderful the angels should look forward to with eager desire and almost holy impatience.

Their piety interests them still more deeply in the subject. This salvation is to be the full manifestation of the divine excellencies, as displayed in the whole of that wonderful economy which shall then be completed. Angels will then see more of the power, and wisdom, and holiness, and benignity of God than they had ever seen, than they had ever conjectured; and then, in the final pulling down of every thing which opposes his will or obscures his glory, they will obtain the fullest gratification of the strongest

wish of a loyal creature's heart-that God should be "all in all."

Their benevolence, too, keeps their minds fixed on the subject. "They are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation." They encamp round about them that fear God, and deliver them." They have a kind interest in, a tender affection for, those committed to their care. They regard their manifold trials with a benignant pity, though themselves strangers to pain; and they take a generous interest in those events which are to consummate their blessedness. They wonder at the height of glory reserved for the redeemed among men; and, completely free from envy, they desire to understand what is meant by "all things being put under their feet," and by men who have overcome through the blood of the Lamb, sitting down with him on his throne, as he, when he overcame, sat down on his Father's throne.

The practical use to be made of these truths is not difficult to discover. If these things have been reported to us by men who preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, surely we should believe them. And if we believed them-if we really believed them-O what an influence would they have on our temper and conduct! A faith of this truth would induce the man, who is yet uninterested in the Christian salvation, immediately to seek a share in its heavenly and spiritual blessings, and would make those who are interested in it very holy, very happy, very active, and perfectly contented amid all the calamities and trials of life.

What is the subject of the constant, intense contemplation of angels, surely deserves our most careful study. We are far more closely connected with, far more deeply interested in, the subject of study than they. The salvation they desire to look into will promote, but it will but indi

1 Heb. i. 14. Psal. xxxiv. 7.

rectly promote their happiness. Their happiness may be secure without reference to it. But as to us, this salvation must be ours, or we are undone for ever and ever. It is now that an interest is to be obtained in it, if obtained at all. It is only by knowing and believing the truth about this salvation, that an interest in it is to be obtained. Oh, then, let us, with intensest ardour, seek the knowledge of this salvation! If we die unacquainted with it, we die uninterested in it; and if we die uninterested in it, it never, never can become ours. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation."

NOTE A.

Ta eis Xрioтov Tаoŋμara—the till Christ sufferings.-Gal. iii. 24. Εις Χριστον=εις ἡμέραν Χριστου.—Phil. i. 10. The view we have taken of the expression т. €. X. π. к. т. μ. T. d. is substantially that taken both by Luther and Calvin. Calvin's remark savours of his ordinary exegetical sagacity: "Non tractat Petrus quid Christo sit proprium sed de universali ecclesiæ statu disserit." Le Clerc's note is good: "Ta eus Xpiσtov tabŋμata intellexerit de piorum perpessionibus, Christi causa exantlandis: quas previderant obscurius Prophetæ, et gloriam fidelium post sequuturum; sed quarum nescierunt tempora nisi quod revelatum eis est, ipsorum ævo eas non eventuras. Hæc egregie consentiunt cum serie orationis Petri qui loquitur de malis quibus religionis causa afficiebantur Christiani." Winer, though he does not adopt our exegesis, distinctly says that the expression before us is incorrectly taken for Ta Xρiσтoν пaðnμara.—Gram. Part iii. sec. 30, p. 157.