into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."s

Since, therefore, "judgment had come upon all men to condemnation," what the world required, and what God in his mercy had provided, was a DELIVERER from that judgment. Jesus came to be such a DELIVERER :-not in the sense in which Moses or Joshua were deliverers: but in a sense as different as his birth was different from theirs: he came "to give his life a ransom for many;" to "suffer once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."

All this is expressed in the name assigned to the Messiah "by the angel before he was conceived in the womb," Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

22. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.6

God with us: "not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God." "God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the substance of his mother, born in the world. Perfect God, and perfect man: of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting equal to the Father as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his manhood." "This is the catholic faith" the doc

3 Rom. v. 12.

41 Pet. iii. 10.

5 Luke ii. 21.

6 Is. vii. 14.

7 Athanasian Creed.

trine of Scripture concerning that wonderful event, the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; whom "God hath sent to be a prince and a saviour, for to give repentance" to his people, "and forgiveness of sins." 8 And he is able to save unto the uttermost:" for though "he was made flesh, and dwelt among us," in form and fashion as a man, he is still "the mighty God;"1 God with us: "all things are delivered unto him of the Father."2

He was called Jesus, that in his name all who trust in him might have a pledge of their security. He shall save his people. But they have more. They have also the test of their own share and interest in the redemption which he wrought for man: the sign by which to know, whether they are his people. He shall save his people from their sins. Not only from the guilt, but from the power of their sins: so that "sin shall not have dominion over them." 3 Though the corruption of nature adheres to the sincerest Christian, so that "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us:"+ still he is not under the power of sin as others are; he does not yield to it, but strives against it; he does not indulge it, but mortifies it; he does not love it, but abhors it; he does not desire it, but aspires after more and more holiness, and a more complete renewal of his heart in the image of God.

If, then, this is our case: if we have so believed the Scriptures, as to be convinced that sin, unless we forsake it, must destroy us; and if, in reliance upon

the Spirit of God, we have renounced it, and are resolved to give it no place in our hearts, and are daily contending against it: then he has fulfilled that promise for us, of which his name is the pledge:-he was called Jesus, for he should save his people from their sins.

On the other hand, the same title which brings comfort to the disciples of Christ, speaks the sentence of condemnation to the unrepenting transgressor. For it describes his people, as those who are saved from their sins. If any who profess and call themselves Christians are still yielding to those sins which so easily beset them in a corrupt world, they have the witness in themselves that they are not the people of Christ, whose characteristic it is that they are redeemed from all iniquity, and zealous of good works." From sin he is ready to save; even He cannot save those who "continue in sin." He has himself declared, that at the last day he will reply to all such, "I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

66

24. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife;

25. And knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name JESUS.

5 Ch. vii. 23.

LECTURE III.

THE WISE MEN WORSHIP CHRIST.

MATT. ii. 1—12.

1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem1 of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2. Saying, Where is he who is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

These wise men were so called, because they observed the appearances of nature and the heavenly bodies: subjects much studied in the eastern countries to which they belonged. The sight of some unusual meteor in the sky attracted their attention; and, perhaps, the general expectation which prevailed of some mighty king or deliverer, in consequence of the Hebrew prophecies, led them to suppose that this star was connected with his coming. God, however, must have communicated to them, by his Spirit, some surer intimation. So we are told after

This town lay six miles to the south of Jerusalem.

2 Commonly called Herod the Great, to distinguish him from others his descendants, subsequently mentioned in the New Tes

tament.

wards (v. 12) that he revealed his will to them in a dream.

3. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod was troubled, expecting some rival to his power: and Jerusalem, knowing his character, and fearing some new cruelty; not without too good reason, as soon appeared.

4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet,

6. And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least amongst the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.3

The sense of this prophecy seems to have been well understood by the Jews. We find them arguing, "Hath not the Scripture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was ?" They did not, however, understand the nature of his kingdom, or the object of his government. Had they known that he was to be a spiritual and not a temporal ruler, that "his kingdom was not of this world," Herod would not nave been troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go, and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have 4 John vii. 42.

3 Micah v. 2.