272 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



he should conquer death ; and that the height 

 of human malice should but accomplish the 

 purposes of God's mercy ! 



" If you compare the whole chain of pro- 

 phecies with the history of our Lord's suf- 

 ferings, you will find that it was not until they 

 were fulfilled to the minutest point, that the 

 patient Son of God, as if then at liberty to depart, 

 said ' It is finished.' Yes, all that the wicked 

 were destined to contribute to the general de- 

 liverance was finished. 



" We cannot understand the mysteries of 

 God ; but we may easily perceive his goodness. 

 We cannot discover his motives, but we have 

 no difficulty in discovering his will. We cannot 

 comprehend the actions of Providence, or the 

 moral government of the universe ; but we 

 can have no uncertainty about the laws which 

 should govern our own actions they are clearly 

 and forcibly stated in the Gospel; all that it 

 imports a sinful being to know, to believe, or 

 to do, all that concerns our fall and our re- 

 demption, everything that involves the greatest 

 interests of the human race, is there unfolded. 

 We cannot penetrate that inscrutable decree 

 which rendered it unfit to pardon sin without 

 vicarious atonement ; but we may form some 

 faint conception of the immense sacrifice that 

 Christ made for us, in order to satisfy Eternal 



