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

was not pleased with these sacrifices: but a body was prepared for the Lord Jesus, in which he should suffer for the sin of the world; hence it is said, "the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all;" "he bare our sins in his own body on the tree." That he is "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Whoever, then, confesses his sins with contrition of heart, forsakes his evil ways, and prays to God to pardon his sins for the sake of Christ, will experience that he is merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Do you understand this?

E. I think I do. Is it not thus the justice of God is satisfied in what Christ has suffered for sinners, and that all who confess their sins to God, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be forgiven?

F. You are right.

M. I must just add, that by confession of sin is not merely saying that we have sinned, but it is also being grieved for it; the forsaking of sin is the best proof that we have repented of it, and the Scriptures say, "he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy."

E. The name of the Lord was not only declared to Moses, but all his dealings with his people Israel strictly corresponded with the discovery which he then gave of his glory. Yet they had but faint displays of

the divine character compared with what are made manifest by the coming of the Lord Jesus. In his doctrine, example, works, and sufferings, he has fully displayed the mercy, grace, long-suffering, goodness, truth, justice, and holiness of God. He is himself "the image of the invisible God;" for when one of the disciples said, "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us, Jesus said to him, have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then show us the Father?"

E. From what you have now said, I suppose that a right knowledge of the divine character is to be gained by studying the character of Jesus Christ.

F. Yes, Eliza, we are informed that "he is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person."

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E. But is it essential to our peace and happiness that we have a scriptural knowledge of the character of God?

F. It certainly is. Our Lord said, in prayer to his Father, "This is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Besides, unless we know God as he has revealed himself to us, we cannot worship him aright, we would worship we know not what. He has revealed himself, that under the influence of the eternal Spirit, in the love and contem

plation of his character, we may be assimilated to him, and be partaker of his happiness. He says unto all his people, “Be ye holy for I am holy Whatever real or imaginary excellences we may possess, we are solemnly assured, that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." You may often think in what the happiness of heaven shall consist. Be assured, that without likeness to God we can enjoy no happiness. The happiness of heaven is begun in the soul when we begin to love holiness; our progressive happiness in this world will correspond with our increasing conformity to the image of God's dear Son; and the consummation of happiness will be when we shall be like him, seeing him as he is.

ི་ས

CONVERSATION II.

ON THE ORIGINAL INNOCENCE OF MAN-HIS FALL, &c.

F. Our last conversation was on the discovery which the Scriptures give us of the divine character. We shall this evening converse on what they testify respecting the original innocence and happiness of man, and of his subsequent guilt and wretchedness.