thy justice will be alike displayed. Every shadow of misrepresentation and of pretence for rebellion will be done. away forever. My heralds will proclaim thy clemency to the guilty, through my death in their stead. Those who believe my dying love, will return to Thee in allegiance. Those who believe it not, will continue in their rebellion. The one will prove themselves to be devoted friends: let them be regarded with favor as thy children for my sake. The others will prove themselves to be irreconcilable enemies; let them be given over to condign punishment."

This counsel was followed. The Prince died to maintain the law, and yet to spare the guilty. Heralds were sent forth to the inhabitants of that rebellious province with this gracious proclamation-" The King against whom you have rebelled, has given his own son to die on your behalf. Your forfeited lives are now spared through his death in your stead. The last entreaty--the dying command which he left -is this, that you return to his Father. Your rebellion shall be no hinderance to your acceptance. The King is not now imputing it to you as a cause of exclusion from his presence. Believe in his mercy. Lay down your arms. Let the dying love of the Prince prevail with you all to return to your allegiance. Whosoever continues in rebellion, shall assuredly be condemned."

The message of the Prince was variously received in various parts of the rebellious province. Some denied that any rebellion had existed, and maintained that their province was as loyal as any other in the empire. Some declared that the slight rebellion which had arisen, did not deserve so

severe a sentence as had been decreed against it, and that consequently, the death of the Prince was uncalled for, and altogether unnecessary. Others doubted whether the Prince had really died on their behalf, and refused to credit the fact that they were indebted to him for their deliverance from immediate destruction. Others professed delight at the in telligence of their Sovereign's clemency, but yet retained a secret wish for the success of the rebellion. Some listened eagerly to each successive herald, but questioned whether they would be accepted if they laid down their arms, and passed their time amid doubts and fears, that perhaps, after all, they should be condemned. Others again there were, who heard the proclamation with deep emotion. They were pierced to the heart by the goodness of their Sovereign. The death of his Son displayed to them at once the greatness of his clemency, and the foulness of their own rebellion. Self-condemned, they knew not how to forgive themselves. for having taken up arms against so good a King; and when they thought of his Son's sufferings and death in their stead, they wept, they cast away every weapon of opposition, they renounced all association with their rebellious companions, and in the face of every risk and peril, they openly espoused their sovereign's cause.

It is obvious that the Prince is immediately the preserver of the life of all the rebels, and particularly and finally of those who return to their allegiance. In like manner, it is said of Jesus, that "He is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe." 1 Tim. iv. 10. Every human being that has ever lived, or that now breathes, or that shall here

after exist upon the earth, owes his life to the death of Jesus. He is the immediate Saviour of all men, otherwise every man in the first day that he sinned must have surely suffered death. But He is particularly and finally the Saviour of those who believe in His dying love, and return to His Father through Him. The past sin and rebellion of men, is at present, no hinderance to their acceptance. Whenever a rebel presents himself before God, acknowledging his guilt, and supplicating forgiveness in the name of Jesus, he is admitted to favor. The death of the Son of God, our own present existence in consequence of that death, and all the mercies and benefits with which our spared lives are crowned, are conclusive arguments to assure us that as certainly as we confess and renounce each act of rebellion, so certainly does the Lord forgive it. To doubt the clemency of the Sovereign, to regard the death of the Prince as of no avail to their benefit, and to entertain the opinion, that though they confessed their guilt, laid down their arms, and supplicated pardon, they should yet, after all, be condemned, would be a grievous aggravation of the original sin of our rebellious province,

It can never be sufficiently impressed upon our minds that every sin forfeits the life of the sinner. The law of sacrifice affirmed this solemn truth. For every sin, bloodwhich is the life-was commanded to be shed. Innocent, but representative, blood, was accepted for the blood of the guilty. The life of a surety was taken for the life of the principal. To the sacrifice of that surety, the sinner ascribed his redemption from destruction. So likewise to the re

demption in Christ's blood, every human being should attribute his daily, and hourly, preservation. Every sin, but for the Lord Jesus, the Redeemer, would be visited on the spot with immediate condemnation. The continuance, therefore, of our race upon the earth, and the prolongation of each individual's natural life, though a sinner, is entirely owing to this gracious Daysman between us and God. Ever since the fall, the world has been given into His hands as the Mediator. God the Son is the Conservator and the Governor of our rebellious province. Therefore free Mercy, by reason of satisfied Justice, now sways the sceptre over this sin-laden world. Therefore is it that our every sin meets not with instant vengeance, because Jesus is the Saviour of all men, and especially of them that believe. In this sense we are all "redeemed from destruction," as were the children of Israel from Egypt, and the Red Sea, and yet, because of unbelief, we are not all brought into the promised land. In this sense we are all being continually "redeemed from" deserved "destruction," every day we live; and therefore, our daily preservation, notwithstanding our daily sins, should awaken within us the grateful emotions of the Psalmist when he said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, who redeemeth thy life from destruction.”

Do we really believe that our natural life is forfeited, that our body is legally dead because of sin-that in the eye of God, and of the original law of our world, our soul is actually dead, having by nature no union with God, who is our spiritual life? And do we realize that being thus dead in law, all our works are dead works?" Heb. ix. 14. We

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stand before God, as an outlawed man stands before society. He is dead in the eye of the law. He can, therefore, occupy no office, he can hold no trust, he can perform no act, he can execute no deed, recognizable and commendable by the body politic from which he is outlawed; so are we before God. All our natural amiableness and good deeds, one to another, are "dead works" before God; they are the works of men under sentence of outlawry, who are dead in the eye of the law. The vivid and continual remembrance that we have by nature, the sentence of death in and upon our persons, will make us prize highly that Suretyship, by the grace of which our life is prolonged, our sins pardoned, our prayers and our persons accepted. Thus gratitude will be kindled deep and strong within our breasts. We shall increase in thankfulness at every fresh advance we make in the knowledge of our great deliverance. We will look back with more intense wonder to the rock whence we were hewn, and more horror-stricken to the hole of the pit whence we were digged; and we will praise, and bless, with increasing and unceasing fervency, the name of our gracious Surety and Deliverer.

The omnipresence, the omnipotence, and the benevolence of our God, are often strikingly displayed in the sudden averting of impending dangers. Those marvellous escapes, which we occasionally experience, plainly testify that the Lord is nearer to us than the nearest calamity, and that His power is stronger than the strongest enemy.

It is not only in rare and remarkable occurrences that we observe the providential care of God. Our daily life is en