sence ?

Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy preIf I ascend into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day, the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."

M. You must commit this passage to memory, Catharine, and you too, Henry, and recite it next Sabbath evening.

C. and H. Yes, mother.

H. You said, father, that God is unchangeable, will there never be any alteration in him?

F. No, Henry. "He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." All things in this world shall be changed and come to an end, but there is no change in God. "Of old hast thou,” said David, "laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea they shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end." What is here said of his being, is equally true of his perfections, and also of his gra

cious purposes, similar language to that which I have quoted from the 102d Psalm, is used in the 51st chapter of Isaiah: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."

E. What are we to understand by God being infinite?

F. Infinite signifies boundless, or without limits; whatever excellence may be in any creature it is finite or limited; but God's perfections are infinite. He has given us in his works and in his word a discovery of his perfections, and we may form just conceptions of them, still they are past comprehension, for creatures that are finite or limited in their powers can never grasp what is infinite or unbounded. You may form proper ideas of divine wisdom by examining the construction of any of his creatures minutely, you will find every thing wonderfully contrived and arranged to accomplish certain proposed ends, but while you are satisfied that here his wisdom shines conspicuously, you are not to imagine that here his wisdom is limited, for it is manifested in his vastly diversified creatures, and can be still wonderfully displayed in others whenever he is

pleased to exert his creative energy. In his providential government of the world, however perplexing and mysterious events appear to us, yet he rules the world by his wisdom, and the ends which he purposes shall certainly be accomplished; and were there myriads of worlds, as it is believed there are, infinite wisdom can with the utmost ease arrange and govern all their concerns.

E. Are we to understand that all God's perfections are infinite like his wisdom?

F. Most assuredly. His power, holiness, justice, mercy, goodness, and truth, are each of them infinite. There are unhappily persons who, in their imaginations, exalt some of the divine attributes above others; they comfort themselves with the idea, that God is infinite in mercy, and that though they continue in the love and practice of sin, he will not punish them for their sins and transgressions; but, my dear children, let me impress it upon your minds, that God is infinite in holiness, and necessarily has an infinite abhorrence of all iniquity: and he is infinite in justice, and that while he will have mercy on the penitent, he will execute righteous judg. ment upon impenitent transgressors.

E. But, father, we read much in the Scriptures of the mercy and love of God, and I think there are whole psalms devoted to the praise of mercy.

F. We certainly do read much of those

B

perfections, and taking the scriptures in the whole, they are the revelation of love and mercy; but by no means unconnected with holiness, justice, and truth.

E. I think there is in Exodus a passage where God gave a description of himself in which no mention is made of his justice.

M. You are certainly mistaken, Eliza; read the passage.

E. It is the xxxivth chapter of Exodus, at the 6th verse: "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.'

F. You are right so far, Eliza, the word justice is certainly not in the description; but when he says he will not clear the guilty, this is as much as to say he will punish the guilty; and you know that when God punishes any, it must be in righteousness or in justice. The interesting passage which you have read gives us a most encouraging view of the glory of God, and is at the same time fitted to humble us before him. When Moses heard this name proclaimed, "he made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and

worshipped;" and then he prayed for the pardon of the iniquity and sin of his people.

E. I acknowledge that God in not clearing the guilty implies, that he will punish the guilty; but how does he forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin, and yet not clear the guilty? I do not rightly comprehend this.

F. I shall endeavour to give you a short explanation of the passage. The Scriptures inform us that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and are consequently guilty before him; but he is merciful and gracious, and forgives sin; he is also just, and must punish it either in the person who committed it, or in one who his able to sustain the punishment for him. From the time that Adam sinned till Christ came, God commanded those who were desirous of obtaining his forgiveness to take an animal, such as a lamb, a kid, or a calf, and bring it to an appointed place, and confess with sorrow of heart the evils they had committed: the creature was then killed, and its blood sprinkled upon the altar of God; an atonement was thus supposed to be made, and the person had his sins forgiven him. Thus God showed himself merciful and gracious in his forgiveness, and just in punishing sin in his substituted victim; but all this was only figurative, or a shadow of what was to be done by the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of a beast could not make atonement for the sin of a soul. God.