"ing," Psal. civ. 22, 23. So when the Sun of righteousness shineth into the heart of a sinner, Satan, who is compared to a roaring lion, that goeth about continually, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Pet. v. 8. (and greatly doeth so in the sad night of desertion) is compelled by his cheering beams, to withdraw from the poor soul, with unbelief, hard thoughts of God, and despair, which are incomparably more cruel than beasts of prey and the man goeth to work the works of God, even to " believe in Christ "Jesus whom he hath sent," John vi. 28, "whom to know is life eternal," John

29,

xvii. 3.

When the sun arises, men see clearly around them, and every object appears in its native dye. In like manner, when the Sun of righteousness ariseth on the soul of a sinner, the eyes of the understanding are enlightened to behold sin in its proper colours; that it is highly offensive to God, and that which he abhors only; truly hateful in itself, and eternally destructive in its consequences; also the justice of God, the purity of the law, and man's utter inability to keep it; his lost and undone state by

nature, and the remedy which God hath provided for him, namely, the blood and surety righteousness of Christ, who is not only a sun to enlighten, warm, and cherish, but also a shield of protection from the wrath of God, and defence against all his enemies, who will give grace and glory, "and no good thing will he withhold "from them that walk uprightly," Psal. lxxxiv. 11.

By the beams of the sun the earth is made warm, and she, like a tender mother, nourishes the infant spring; the grass and herbs grow up together; and the daisies of the field, with the rest of the early flowers, look forth with a feeble, yet pleasing countenance, declaring the winter is past. So, by the salutary beams of the Sun of righteousness, the affections are warmed with gratitude to God, and all the graces of the Spirit grow up and flourish; and faith and hope, in lively exercise, shew the sad winter of desertion is over.

It is by the light of the sun alone that man can see that glorious luminary; so it is only by the light which the Sun of righ

teousness imparteth, that the sinner can see HIM: All that reason which is so much boasted of, which even the wisest philosophers among the heathen possessed, of itself is as unavailing to discover him, and the way of salvation through him, as the light of a candle would be to discover the natural

sun.

Though I enjoy the light, and feel the warming beams of that sun, this pleasant morning, yet millions do so as well as I, and yet my enjoyment of him is nothing impaired thereby; for I have as much of his benign influence as if there were not another man on the earth but myself. In like manner, though the Sun of righteousness shine upon all true believers, yet every individual among them enjoyeth him to that degree, as if it had been for him alone he left the bosom of the Father, came to earth, obeyed the law, suffered the wrath and curse of God, died on the cross, arose again, and ascended up into heaven.

What a glorious object is the sun, and how immensely great! a body of fire sup

1

posed to be no less than eight hundred thousand times larger than the earth, must needs surpass the proud monarch of Babylon's fiery furnace inconceivably more than that furnace did the transient spark smitten from the flint by the steel. How infinitely great must that Power be who made and sustains that globe in ether! Nor is his wisdom and goodness less conspicuous in poising it at such a convenient distance from the earth, so that, instead of men and things being burnt up by it, they are only warmed and cherished thereby. But how infinitely more doth the goodness of God appear to man, in that when he had sinned and rendered himself obnoxious to divine justice, God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, John iii. 17.

The sun is the most useful and most delightful of all inanimate creatures, the best emblem (as one observeth) of his Creator which we here behold. No wonder if the poor blind heathen mistook him for his Maker, and paid that worship to this luminary which was due to him alone.

But for what do we love the sun most? Is it because of that resplendency that he is possessed of? or is it not rather on account of the benefits we derive from his cheering rays and fructifying beams? But far otherwise is it with respect to the Sun of righteousness; his people love him more on account of what he is, in and of himself, and what he hath done for them, than for all the good things he hath purchased for them, nay, than for heaven itself. I will not indeed say that this is always the case upon a person's immediately closing with Christ; for like as one, who findeth himself inevitably perishing in a mighty flood, ready every moment to be overwhelmed in the impetuous surge, will ery vehemently out for help, and, when a rope is thrown in for his delivery, self-preservation maketh him eagerly grasp the same; but no sooner doth he find himself escaped the danger, than he contemplateth with love the benevolent hand that preserved his life. So the shipwrecked sinner in Adam, when he seeth himself perishing in a sea of wrath, ready to be swallowed up in the inexorable billows of divine justice, will be apt, like a woman in pangs, to cry out