The first covenant made by God with Adam, was a covenant of works, of unsinning obedience; this was broken, and thence came death. The second covenant made with Adam, was that of grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, who should “come in the fulness of time;” this latter covenant was confirmed with Noah, the representative of mankind in the new world after the flood; and the covenant, thus renewed with him, was to extend to all his posterity; to generations unborn, to all that would become, as he was, “heirs of the righteousness which is by faith.” Through him, deliverance was preached to the people before the flood; through him, everlasting deliverance from sin and death was promised to believers in every future age. In the covenant, therefore, made with Noah, all mankind have an interest, an especial interest at this day; the promised deliverer, whom Noah represented, is come; we “have seen the salvation of our God;” the gospel of peace is proclaimed; and nothing is wanting but our faithful acceptance of it. Proceed we now with the history of Noah’s preservation: “The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth (a hundred and fifty days), and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered—and all flesh died that moved upon the earth, Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the ark rested in the seventh month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” {65} Thus was the divine promise literally fulfilled, and the fidelity of the patriarch signally acknowledged and rewarded. What must have been the emotions of this holy man, as he was floating, through the long eventful period, upon the surface of the raging waters! How deep and lively his conviction of the adorable goodness and the perfect truth of God! How fervent his gratitude, how sublime his joy, at escaping unhurt amid the desolation of the world! How indescribable his feelings of horror and of awe, at the sufferings of those countless multitudes, who were perishing around him; over whose lifeless bodies he was riding in peaceful security, reserved to be the father of a new-born world! Similar to these are the impressions of every sincere believer, on beholding both the providential and spiritual dispensations of the Lord. Deeply is he convinced of the “goodness and severity of God;” of His goodness to the righteous, His severity to the disobedient and evil: Every divine promise and every denunciation of divine judgment have been fully accomplished in due season; “not one jot or one tittle of the word of God has failed.” The Christian, moreover, by his own experience, can testify the truth and loving kindness of God: he has sought and found a refuge in the ark of salvation, in the gospel of peace; he has been taken out of a corrupt and troubled world, and raised above it; so that, while the billows of adversity have been rolling all around, and the overbearings of iniquity