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as yet nothing else existed) 'was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. To prevent a possibility of mistake, and to confirm the eternity of this divine Word in the strongest manner, it is immediately added, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him.' And, lest this likewise should be either contested or misunderstood, it is guarded by an universal negative, without him was not any thing made that was made.' Further, to prevent, if possible, the surmise, that, in these glorious words, the Eternal Word acted with a deputed power only, the apostle subjoins, In him was life,' life essentially; and from him, as the fountain, life and light proceeded to his creatures: In him was life, and that life was the light of men.' To this agrees the declaration of St. Paul : For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him;' (by his power and wisdom, for his glory and pleasure.) 'And he is before all things, and by him all things consist,' Col. i. Elsewhere he speaks of him expressly, as, over all, God blessed for ever; who upholdeth all things by the word of his power; the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' It were easy to enlarge this way; but I shall content myself with observing this general proof of the divinity of Christ, that the Scriptures, which were given to make us wise to salvation, do ascribe to him the names of God, particularly Jehovah; the essential attributes of God, such as Eternity, Omnipresence, Omnipotence; the peculiar works of God, as Creation, Providence, Redemption, and Forgiveness of sin and, finally, commands us to pay him those divine honours, and to rely on him with that absolute dependence, which would be idolatry, if referred any where below the Supreme Majesty of heaven and earth.

Again, we learn from Scripture, that Christ is truly and properly Man. This is, indeed, wonderful! therefore styled, the great mystery of godliness;' 1 Tim. iii. But that he, of whom we have begun to speak, is the very person who came into the world to save sinners, we have abundant proof. The apostle John, whose testimony we have already cited, says, a few verses lower, John i. 14. And the word, (that glorious Word, which was God with God) was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory,' (that is, we, his disciples, whose eyes were spiritually enlightened, for the world in general saw nothing of it,) as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' In other places, it is said, Himself took our infirmities and bore our sickness, Matth. viii. 17. and was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin; Heb. iv. 15. As the

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children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also, himself, likewise took part of the same; Heb. ii. 14. In the fulness of time, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman;' Gal. iv. Many are the mistakes of mortals, and wide the extremes into which mistaken mortals run! Some have rashly ventured to deny our Lord's divinity; some have wildly and fancifully explained away his humanity but may we, through grace, abide by the Scriptural truth, and be directed in the midst of the path of judgment.

From this mystical union of the divine and human nature in one person, the Scriptures speak of him, thirdly, under the character of a Mediator, the one Mediator between God and man.' To this idea the names Jesus Christ, which are as ointment poured forth, direct us in their original import. The former, which signifies the Saviour, pointing out the success and efficacy of his undertaking; the latter, which is the same with Messiah, or the Anointed, expressing both his divine appointment thereto, and the complete supply of all grace and power, wherewith he was filled for the discharge of it. Thus much for the person spoken of.

We proceed, in the next place, to consider the design of his appearance in the world, to save sinners.' And as the idea of deliverance presupposes a state of distress, it will be necessary previously to inquire into the condition of those whom he came to save; which is, indeed, emphatically implied in the appellation given them, sinners. Man having broken that law under which he was created, and with which his happiness was closely connected, fell under accumulated ruin. The image of God, in which he was formed, was defaced, and a far different image set up in his heart, even of him who had seduced him from his allegiance; darkness in the understanding, rebellion in the will, sensuality in the affections; the justice of God threatening a penalty he could neither satisfy nor sustain: the commandments of God still challenging an obedience he had no longer any power to yield. The very gifts and bounties of God with which he was encompassed, designed not only for his comfort, but his instruction, to lead him, as by so many steps, to their gracious Author, became, eventually, the occasions of withdrawing him further from his duty, and increasing, as well as aggravating his ingratitude. Thus stood man towards his Maker. With regard to his fellow-creatures, self-love and inordinate desires having raised a variety of interfering interests in the breasts of all, peace withdrew from the earth. Every man's heart and hand was set against his neighbour; and violence, rage, envy, and confusion, overspread the world. Nor could he be easier in himself; hurried by restless desires towards things either unsatisfying or unattainable, haunted with cares, tortured with pains, tired with opposition, shocked with disappoint

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ment; conscience, like the hand that appeared in Belshazzar's feast, Daniel v. writing bitter things against him, when outward circumstances allowed a short repose; and vanity, like a worm, destroying the root of every flower that promised the fairest bloom of success. Behold a few outlines of the picture of fallen man! Miserable in his life, more miserable in the continual dread of losing such a life, miserable, most of all, that neither his fancy can feign, nor his fear conceive, the consequences of the death he dreads; which will introduce him to the immediate presence, to the tribunal of an incensed, almighty, ever-living God!

Such was the state from which Jesus Christ came to save us. He came to restore us to the favour of God; to reconcile us to ourselves, and to each other; to give us peace and joy in life, hope and triumph in death, and after death, glory, honour, and immortality. For he came, not merely to repair, and to restore, but to exalt; not only that we might have life,' the life we had forfeited, but that we might have it more abundantly,' John x. that our happiness might be more exalted, our title more firm, and our possession more secure, than the state of Adam in paradise could boast, or than his posterity could have attained unto, if he had continued unsinning upon the tenor of the first covenant.

Now, could we suppose it possible, that a set of innocent beings, without any default of their own, had sunk into a state of misery, we must confess it would have been great grace and favour in the Lord Jesus to save them. But let us not forget the He came to save, How, then,

stress laid in the text upon the word sinners. not the unfortunate, but the ungodly; Rom. v. should every heart glow with love to him who hath thus loved us! If any of us can hear or speak of this subject with indifference or disgust, it is to be feared we are quite strangers to the nature, or the necessity, of that salvation with which God has graciously visited his people. Let us no more usurp the sacred words of generosity, sensibility, or gratitude, if this astonishing instance of divine goodness leaves us cold and unimpressed: especially if to this we join the consideration of the third point I proposed to speak of, By what means Jesus Christ effected this salvation for sinners.

In the passage before us, it is only said, that he came into the world on this account; which teaches us, this was the sole design of his advent; and that, coming on set purpose for this, he would leave nothing undone that was necessary to accomplish it. He emptied himself of that divine glory and honour he possessed with the Father from eternity. He bowed the heavens, and came down' to our earth; and that not with an external glory, as a celestial messenger, to constrain the attention and homage of

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mankind, but was made of a woman,' Gal. iv. not of high and noble extraction in the judgment of men, but in the form of a servant;' born in a stable, laid in a manger, brought up in an obscure and contemptible place, and reputed no higher than the son of a carpenter. He was despised and rejected of men : there was no form or comeliness in him,' Isa. liii. to attract a general regard: on the contrary, he came to his own and his own received him not,' John i. Further, as he was made of a woman, 'he was made under the law;' the one in order to the other for this was the way divine wisdom had appointed, and which divine justice required, to make salvation possible to sinners. Eternal truth had pronounced tribulation, wrath, and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. All men, in every age and place, had corrupted their ways before God;' yet his mercy had designed, that where sin had abounded, grace should much more abound,' Rom. viii. Jesus Christ was the grand expedient, in whom mercy and truth met together,' Psalm, lxxxv. and the inflexible righteousness of God was brought to correspond and harmonize with the peace of sinful man. That justice might be satisfied, truth vindicated, and sinners saved, 'God so loved a lost world,' that when no inferior means could avail, when none in heaven or earth were willing, or worthy, or able, to interpose, he gave his only-begotten Son.' John iii. Jesus Christ, the brightness of the Father's glory, and express image of his person, 'so loved the world,' that he assumed our nature, undertook our cause, bore our sins, sustained our deserved punishment; and, having done and suffered all that the case required, he is now gone before, to prepare a place,' John xiv. for all that believe in him and obey him. Man lay under a double incapacity for happiness: he could neither keep the law of God in future, nor satisfy for his past breach and contempt of it. To obviate the former, Jesus Christ performed a perfect, unsinning obedience in our stead. To remove the latter, he became the propitiation of our sins;' yielded up his life as a prey into the hands of murderers, and poured forth his precious blood, in drops of sweat in the garden, in streams from his side upon the cross. For this he endured the fiercest temptations of the devil, the scorn, rage, and malice of men, and drank the bitter cup of the wrath of God, when, it pleased the Father to bruise him, and make his soul an offering for sin. His love carried him through all and when he had finally overcome the sharpness of death, he opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. In few words, he lived and died for us when upon earth; nor is he unmindful of us in heaven, but lives and intercedes on our behalf. He continually executes the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, to his people;

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instructing them by his word and Spirit; presenting their persons and prayers, acceptable to God through his merits; defending them, by his power, from all their enemies, ghostly and bodily; and ordering, by his providence, all things to work together for their good, till at length they are brought home to be with him where he is, and to behold his glory.

II. From what has been said, we may justly infer, in the first place, that this is,' as the apostle styles it, 'a faithful saying.' When man first fell, God, in the midst of judgment remembering mercy,' declared, unsought and undesired, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head,' Gen. iii. In every succeeding age he confirmed his purpose by types, promises, prophecies, and oaths. At length, in the fulness of time, Christ, 'the desire of all nations,' came into the world, fulfilled all that had been foretold, and encouraged every humble, penitent sinner to come unto him, that they might have life, pardon, and peace. To doubt or to deny his readiness to save, is, so far as in us lies, to make the word of God of none effect;' it is to charge God foolishly,' as though, like the heedless, unskilful builder in the Gospel, he had begun to build that which was not to be finished. If, after all that is set before us, it is possible for any soul to miss salvation that sincerely desires it, and seeks it in God's appointed way, it must be because the Lord Jesus Christ either cannot or will not save them. That he cannot, is flatly false; for all power is his in heaven and in earth,' Matth. xxviii. and it is particularly said, that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him,' Heb. vii. and that he will not, is as false; for he himself hath said, 'Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out,' John vi.

We may infer, secondly, that this doctrine is not only faithful, but worthy of all acceptation.' And here, methinks, I could begin anew. A point so much mistaken by some, and neglected by most, rather requires a whole, or many discourses, than to be passed over in few words. The most high and wise God has esteemed the redemption of mankind so precious, that he spared not his only Son,' Rom. viii. And are there any amongst us, in a land of Gospel light and liberty, where the words of wisdom are sounding in our ears every day, that dare make light of this message, just give it a hearing, and return to their farms, their merchandize, and their diversions, as though this unspeakable grace of God called for no return? Alas! How shall we escape, if we neglect this salvation?' Heb. ii. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy.' It was dangerous, it was destructive, to refuse him that spoke upon earth; take heed how you trifle with him that speaketh from heaven! To such as neglect this, VOL. II.

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