4. He was born to trouble. By the common lot of man, he was under a sentence of death at his birth. By the command of Pharaoh he was required to be killed, as soon as he was born. What evils was he born to see

in the bondage of Israel, the plagues and judgments upon Egypt, and the travels and afflictions of the wilderness!

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5. Moses by nature was a child of wrath. Had he lived and died according to his native character and condition, he would have become hardened in wickedness and been fitted for destruction. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified"! Paul says, "We are by nature children of wrath."

See then this feeble, ignorant, unholy, unhappy and wretched infant! Can you wonder the babe wept? Was he not a proper object of compassion to the daughter of the proud monarch of Egypt?

II. It is proposed to inquire what this weeping babe

became.

1. He became a man of great power. Stephen says, He "was mighty in words and deeds." He was the first of the inspired writers. What he wrote is the foundation of all the true knowledge of God and man, that ever has been in the world. Had he written only the book of Genesis, his instructions would have been of more value than the millions of uninspired volumes, of which there is yet no end. His words and deeds in Egypt, in the deliverance of Israel and the establishment of their peculiar institutions afford evidence of as great power, as ever was given to any one man on earth.

2. Moses became a man of great knowledge. Stephen says, "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." He was received into the royal family of Egypt and was instructed in every branch of knowledge then taught in that learned kingdom. But he was taught the knowledge of God; and beheld his glory in his works of judgment and mercy. He saw God face to face.

3. Moses became eminent for holiness. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; and he esteemed the re

proach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. When God offered to make of Moses a great nation, in the spirit of holiness he refused the offer for the sake of God and his glory in his people. It is probable that this weeping babe became the holiest man that ever lived in this world.

4. He became eminent for usefulness. By him God caused his name to be known in Egypt, delivered Israel from bondage and preserved his kingdom and people from destruction. He performed such services for God and man, as have continued and increased in their effects unto this day; and never will cease, nor lessen, while the earth remains, nor in the ages of eternity.

5. Moses received the highest degree of true honor. The objects and services for which God employed him; the friendship which God showed him and the success which he gave him, are honors which come from God only.

III. It is to be shown how such a babe became such a

man.

1. He became so by the purpose of God. God had a purpose and an object respecting Moses, as far above the thoughts and designs of creatures, as his greatness and goodness are above nothing and vanity.

2. Moses became what God designed him to be by his providence. The history of Moses, from his birth to his death, shows that there was an agency in respect to him above the conduct of his parents, of Pharaoh, of the Israelites and of angels, and which belongs only to Him, "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

3. Moses was not raised from a weeping babe to the greatest of prophets, without the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. God regarded Jesus Christ in his designs and conduct towards Moses. His parents were not without faith in the Divine Redeemer. Moses had the true knowledge of Emmanuel. Neither salvation, nor holiness ever exist in any human being, only through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. Moses did not become what he was without the agency of other persons. The faith of his mother, the love of his sister, the compassion of Pharaoh's daughter and the vast number of other persons, by whom he was

affected, had an influence in the formation of his character and in his wonderful achievements.

5. Moses did not arise from such a babe to such a man, without his own exertions. After Moses was able to walk, speak and act, it was by his most constant and diligent exertions, that he arose from the condition of a weeping infant in slavery to such a degree of power,knowledge, holiness, usefulness, happiness and honor, as made him more like the Lord Jesus Christ, while he was on earth, than any other man, who was ever born into the world.

From the account which has been given of Moses, we may derive the following observations.

1. We may perceive the immense value of real religion. It raises a man from nothing and from a state, that is in itself far worse than nothing, to a connection with God and his kingdom and the interests of the universe, that makes him not only a servant, a friend and a child of God, an heir of God and a joint-heir of Christ, but gives him a moral union with God. For his people the Saviour prays, "As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. And the glory, thou hast given me, I have given them." Well, then, might he say to his disciples, "For he that least among you all, the same shall be great."

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2. The condition of a man without the religion of the Bible is exceedingly sorrowful. He is born to weep, to sin, to suffer, to die, to perish. What is the state of man without hope and without God in this world! What must be the state of a man, in the woes, torments and the despair of hell!

3. The happiness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the redemption of his people will be glorious. He will raise millions and millions of such creatures, as the weeping babe in the ark, from sin and shame, from death and hell, to be with him and like him in the kingdom of glory. When their redemption shall be complete, they will become as much above what Moses was in this life, as eternal ages exceed a few moments of time. Of himself in eternity, the Saviour says, "My delights were with the sons of men." What, then, will be his happiness, when his people shall dwell and reign with him in his glory!

4. The glory of God in the salvation of his people is wonderful. His object in the gospel, the purpose, the foundation, the progress and completion of redemption, with its everlasting connections and consequences, will show the greatness of his goodness and the goodness of his greatness, more and more forever and ever.

5. The state of this world will be truly happy, when all nations shall receive the religion of the Bible. Delusion and wickedness, contention, violence and blood shall then cease to prevail. This dreary and dangerous wilderness shall be as the garden of the Lord. Let the God of Moses be honored and served on earth, as he was by that man of God, and knowledge, holiness and happiness shall bless all nations.

6. From what Moses was and from what he became, we may perceive the interesting condition of human beings in this life. Was there too great a degree of attention and affection shown to Moses in his infancy? Behold the weeping infants of the human family! How soon they advance to childhood, to youth, to manhood, to middle life, to old age and death; and then pass into heaven or hell for eternity! What evils and dangers attend us in every period of this life? What mercies we need each moment? How great the effects that arise from the treatment we receive? How important and permanent the connections and consequences of our own conduct? Who ought not to pray unto God, as Moses prayed, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants; and thy glory unto their children."

7. The state of human infants demands the tenderest affections. When the proud daughter of the haughty tyrant of Egypt saw the little Hebrew slave, and "behold, the babe wept," she had compassion on him. The Lord Jesus Christ says, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.'

ΣΙΣ.

PHARA O H.

And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous; and I and my people are wicked. EXODUS IX. 27.

THERE is not in the Scriptures a more affecting and fearful account of any person, than is given of Pharaoh. We are plainly taught and shown the conduct of God towards him and his conduct towards God. Between the Holy Sovereign of the universe and the proud monarch of Egypt, there was a most serious controversy. God has been, in this world, generally and almost universally condemned for his conduct towards Pharaoh. Yet Pharaoh was obliged by his conscience, however unwilling in his heart, to justify God and condemn himself. His judgment in favor of God and against himself is recorded in the words of our text. These words lead us,

I. To mention the conduct of God respecting Pharaoh. 1. God brought Pharaoh into existence. He is the former of human bodies and the father of human spirits. As a creature and as a man, Pharaoh was caused to exist by the purpose and will of God.

2. God gave Pharaoh such an existence as he chose to give him. In respect to the form of his body, his organs of sense, his mental endowments and his natural temperament and every other property and circumstance of his existence and formation, God caused him to be what he chose and designed he should be.

3. God appointed every event and circumstance of his existence in this state of trial. In his infancy, childhood and youth, in his manhood and every period and moment of his existence on earth, God appointed every event of his life in respect to its time, its nature, manner and every connection and consequence. In the divine purpose and