MO THE FIRST FR-tflTS O-F THE SFPRIT; OR {DIM . of death at thy command : I venture into the regions of angels and unbodied minds at thy summons. I will be what thou wilt, I will go when thou wilt, I will dwell where thou wilt, for thou art always with me, and I am entirely thine. I both rejoice and tremble at thy sove- reignty and dominiou over all. God cannot do injury to a creature who so entirely his own property ; Godwill not deal unkindly with a creature who is so sensible of hisjust dominion and supremacy, and Which bows at the foot ofhis sovereignty with so much relishofsatisfaction." 8. Let us next take notice of the perfect security of the nature of God, his universal holiness, the rectitude of the divine nature im nifested in all his thoughts, hid works, and his words, all perfectly agreeable to the eter- nal rules of truth and righteousness, and at the furthest distance from every thing that is false and faulty, every thing that is or can be dishonourable .to so glorious a being. " Have we never seen God in this.light, in the glöry ofhis holiness, his universal rectitude, and the ever- lasting harmony of all his perfections in exact corres- pondence with all the notions we can have of truth and reason ? And has not God appeared then as a glorious and lovely being ? And have we not at the same time ,beheld ourselves as unclean, and unholy creatures, in one part or other of our natures ever ready to jar or fall out with some of the most pure and perfect rules of honour, justice ,or truth ? Have we not seen all our sins and ini- .quities in this light, with utmost abhorrence and highest hatred' of them, and looked down upon ourselves with p, .deep and overwhelming sense of shame and displicence against our depraved and corrupted natures, and abased ourselves as Job does-in dust and ashes, and not daring to .open our mouths before him?" Job xlii. 5, 6. " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth thee, and I abhor myself in dust and ashes." :the least spot or blemish of sin grows highly offensive and paiifál to the eyes of a saint in this situation. Every little warping from truth in our conversation, every degree of insincerity or fraud becommes'a smarting uneasiness to the mind in the remembrance of our past fol- lies in the present state. There is the highest abhorrence ofsire among all the heavenly inhabitants, and this sightof God in the beauties of his holiness, gild his perfect rec:-
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