GOSPET, - The Gospel Magazine

528 THE GOSPTL }IAGIAZINE.
it is so, Said one of old, " 0 Lord, thou lrast rcnrched me and known me (Ps.
cxxxix. 1:6). e.[Ie knorveth our frarne," says the same rvriter, .. lre remembereth
that we are (lust." Yes, srvee[ consideratiou for the sensibly r,veak, the
faint, the burdened, the alflicted; the great Potter,.in whose hanris suchare,
knorvs ihem better than they do themselves; and when he took them into his
fingers, knew what was needful, what lhev rvould cost him, hence he " atternpers
the rvind to the shorn lamb," and savs, I rvill correct thee i,nmeaatre, and not
leave thee altogether unpunished." Yes, this " in rneasure," regulates all the
tnovements of the pottelrs hands, he rnay seeln sometitoes to pull his materials
about rather rouglrly, but rvait until the rvork is finished, and then it will be
seen, tlrat he knerv the nature of his rnaterials too well to rnould tlre nr at
random, to bend them too trastily, or'place two fingers upon them if onc.
would do.
Seconrlly, his materials. Hath not the potter pouer ouer the clay ? Whntever
difference'ive may oltserve ailrong our fell'orv-cr6atures in mind, bidy, or estate,
all nray lre compared to clay. l. In reference to their oliginal; from rvhence
"o,o. ,i-,on I " fr'om the dusl bf tbe ground," Yes, artd hrirvever great he may
lle in lris own estimation, and however exalted iris position in the rvorld, horror
suulptuous his apparel, he,is still hut a piece of clay-curiously rvlought
it is tiue-trut still a pi,rce of clay and destiued in a short time horv
ever great his wealth, his parts, natural or'acqnired, hotvever great his fame
to be -blended witb the clods af the vallev. Strip man therefore cf lltat
rvhicb is adventltious and extrinsic, and in reference to orig'in, and what they
are, and rvhat is to lle their nltimate position upon !he earth, they are all upon
a level, sorne filled with tlre pride of origin, aneestry, wealth, position, and the
like, treat their I'ellow-creatures as though there were notiring in common
between them, rvhile Truth rvriting descriptively would rvrite cr,ev upon both,
and farhet Time so blends all the pieces toEether, tliat the keenest eye looking
upon the qround rvhere they lie mixed, cannot pelceive any difference' Oh, ye
pioud pieces of clay, consider ye this, notrvitlrstauding your position, your
honouri, your silver and your qold, vour beauty and your parts, your.house is
built-of clay, and see on your esctncheon is rvritten, " dust thou art and to dust
thou shalt return."
9, Clav, to set forth man's unconteliness as defiled and polluted by sin.
Tlrere is no form, no beauty in a piece of clay, nothing attractive, it is a mere
chaos; and thtre is no rhoral fottn, no spirilual beauty in man now, sin has
completelv sponged the irnage of God frorn the soul, reduced him to a completd
rnoral chabs; he may be compared to a rude heap of clay covered with
the weeds of lust and pride, emblematical of the curse rvhiclreste upon hirn
for sin. Gorl cannot lo-ok upon him rvith p'leacure, and the larv declares there
is notlrinE it