the Prophets, did write, JESUS the Son of God. I propose, by the blessing of Gon, to lay before you, in a few words, the doctrine of the Scripture and of our Church concerning CHRIST our Saviour; and to consider the blessings which we and all mankind enjoy at present, and hope to receive after death, through his merits and mediation.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was God."* "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."+ From this sublime description, compared with many other parts of scripture, we learn that the Word was GOD and was man. We are told that our Saviour JESUS CHRIST, called by St. John the Word, was the Son of GOD; that all things were made by him; that he is King of kings, and Lord of lords; that to him every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; that he is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. But we are also told that he was made man; that he took our nature upon him, and humbled himself even to the death ↑ John i. 14.

* John i. 1.

upon the cross. We must not ask, with Nicodemus, how can these things be? We must not be surprised, if poor, weak, ignorant creatures, as we are, cannot comprehend the nature of the great GoD of Heaven. We are equally ignorant how our own soul and body make one man; and if we were never to believe what we do not perfectly understand, we should believe nothing, know nothing, and do nothing. It is sufficient for us to know what we are told in the Bible, that our Saviour was GOD, and for our sakes was made man; that he and the Father are one; and that all men are to honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. We are told that he suffered for our salvation, rose again the third day, ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God; that according to his promise, he sent to his disciples another Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost, who will abide with his faithful servants for ever, and guide them into all truth; and that by the direction of our LORD himself, every Christian is to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Let us not presume to enquire further than God has been pleased to reveal to us, or be wise above what is written; but let us give glory

to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

But though the secret things belong to GOD, the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children; and though our eyes cannot see the glory of God, yet since our blessed Saviour for our sakes was pleased to appear on earth as man, and to suffer for us, we are allowed, and commanded, to look upon him with the eye of faith, to trust in his merits, to observe his instructions, and to imitate his example. We cannot see him as the Apostles did, for he is again ascended to his Father; but we must attentively read and consider what is told us in the New Testament. There we find a full account of the life and death of our blessed LORD, which should be the constant study of every Christian; and from thence we may collect the following particulars, among many others.

Our Saviour JESUS CHRIST was pleased to be born, and to live, in a state of poverty. His youth was spent in submission to his parents; and during the first thirty years of his life, he appears to us only as a pattern of humility and obedience. When he afterwards appeared as a teacher sent

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from GOD, he instructed the ignorant, he re proved the guilty, he comforted the afflicted. He bore all the insults of his enemies with pa. tience and meekness. He went about doing good. He was kind even to the unthankful, and prayed for his murderers. His bitterest enemies, Jews and Gentiles, joined to attest his uprightness. "Have thou nothing to do with that just man," said the wife of Pilate. Pilate himself declared, "I find no fault in this man.' Judas, who had every possible opportunity of knowing the character of his Master, cried out in the agony of despair, "I have betrayed the innocent blood." And the Roman centurion who watched at the cross gave in his evidence, "Certainly this was a righteous man."* delight was to do the will of his Father. He spent whole nights in prayer. He observed the sabbathday, and the public service of the Church; and in the performance of every duty, to GoD and to man, he has left us an example that we should follow his steps.

His

But he was not only the best of men, he was much more. He spake as never man spake; and he performed miracles which no man could per

* Bishop Horne's Sermons.

form, except God were with him. He restored sight to the blind; he raised the dead; he said to the storm, "Peace, be still." "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"+ Even the devils were forced to confess that he was the Son of the Most High GOD. In him were fulfilled all the ancient prophecies. We may read these prophecies in the Old Testament, and their wonderful accomplishment in the New; and we shall see that they can be applied to no other person whoever appeared in the world. JESUS CHRIST was himself the greatest of prophets. He foretold that Judas should betray, and that Peter should deny, him. He foretold the time and the manner of his death, and his glorious resurrection. foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and pointed out the time, by circumstances which enabled all the Christians to escape from the punishment prepared for them who uttered at his crucifixion those dreadful words, "His blood be on us and on our children."* These and many other prophecies, extending even to the end of the world, have, in every age, proved the divinity of CHRIST; and they will continue to do so, till the last shall + Matt. xxvii. 25.

*Matt. viii. 27.

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