from their high seats of felicity, to sing in strains unknown before, the praises of their Maker!

From the expression, Unto us a child is born, we learn still farther, that as Christ came into the world to be the Redeemer of man, the whole race of mankind must be considered as the object of his benevolence. If he came according to his own declaration, to seek and to save that which was lost, no one who is in a lost condition, has a right to say, he is as he is because nothing has been done on the part of God to place him in better circumstances. This is a plea which sinners often make to exculpate themselves; but it is as frivolous as it is criminal.

But to have a just view of our case, and to understand, accurately the language of the text in respect to it, we must take notice of the character of the person whose words we are considering, for he was a prophet of the Lord, and when he says, Unto us a child is born, he speaks with emphasis of himself; and of such others as are believers. There might be provision in the country, sufficient for the comfortable support of all the inhabitants, and yet if any should undertake to live without eating, and persist in their foolish purpose, they would derive no benefit from it, but must infallibly perish. In like manner the atonement of Christ is for the salvation of all, but they only will be saved, who secure to themselves an interest in it by faith.

We will now take notice of what appears next in order in our text: Unto us a son is given. Christ is here spoken of under one general term; But in other places he is represented as the Son of man; and the son of God; and this is what we are to understand in this place. He was born of a woman; possessed of a human body; sustained in the common way; and actually died: so that he was called a man by all who had opportunity to see him. He came into the world to do honor to the law which man had broken, by yielding obedience to it himself; and to make an atonement for sin by his own sufferings and death; and, of course, it was necessary, that he should assume humanity; for otherwise he would not have been in a condition to perform the work which he had undertaken to do. As Christ is called the

Son of man in the Old, and New Testament, so likewise is he in both called the Son of God.

Opinions have been various with respect to the meaning of this appellation. Some persons have supposed, that he was not the Son of God until he was born as a man into the world; and one passage of scripture seems to countenance such a supposition. The angel said to Mary, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. The Son of God however, is spoken of long before this period. Nebuchadnezzar saw one like the Son of God in the midst of the fire of the furnace into which, by his order, the three captive Jews had been cast. In the thirtieth chapter of Proverbs we find the following questions. Who hath ascended up into heaven; or descended; who hath gathered the winds in his fists; who hath bound the waters in a garment; who hath established all the ends of the earth; what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? In the second psalm are these words: Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

All these passages were penned several hundred years before the coming of Christ in the flesh; and the last more than a thousand. From all that is said of the Son of God in different parts of the bible, there appears to be the greatest propriety in calling him the eternal Son of God. It is granted, that if we have the same gross conceptions which Nicodemus had, and which all natural men have, it will appear to us absurd to speak in this way, and impossible, that the Son of God should be eternal like God the Father; for the terms, son and father, in the ordinary acceptation of them, invariably imply a difference in age. Let us however, for the present, wave fruitless objections, and suspend our curiosity; for before we get through with our subject, we shall find other particulars in connexion with this, and nearly allied to it.

This Son of man, and Son of God, is spoken of as given to us, to show us, that God was under no obligation to pro-

vide for our redemption. Beings utterly dependant as we are, can have no claim upon God, and whatever they receive, whether great, or inconsiderable, they must receive as a gift. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotton Son; and Christ was so engaged in the work, that he gave himself voluntarily to it; for he said in the fortieth psalm, by way of anticipation, Lo I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me; I delight to do thy will O my God; yea thy law is within my heart!

Of this child to be born, of this son to be given, it is said, that the government shall be upon his shoulder. As no particulars are mentioned with respect to the government to be exercised, we are to conclude it to be a government extending over all things. The church is a little community, a distinct body in the world, with Christ at the head of it, to regulate its proceedings, superintend its various. concerns, and guard it from every invading foe. With such hostility of feeling has the church ever been regarded, that had not the arm of its founder been stretched out for its protection, it would long before this time have become altogether extinct. Ever since God has had a people in the world, renewed by his grace, there has been a church, but in early days it seems to have been composed of a very few individuals. Abel, the second that was born of the first human pair, was a conspicuous, and important member, and we see under what divine guidance, and influence, he conducted his affairs. After Abel was murdered, his mother seems to have considered Seth as born and appointed to supply his place. We may trace the church, and the government exercised over it, in after periods, in the families of Noah, Abraham, Lot, and Isaac; and still more extensively when from an individual a nation was formed, and placed under laws, and regulations of God's own appointment.

The preservation of Israel in Egypt was extraordinary; but their deliverance from that state of bondage was still more extraordinary, taken in connexion with all that followed, until they were established in the promised land. Through all their vicissitudes, in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan; while they continued one people; and after they were divided, the church had an existence.

among them, and Christ was at the head of it. Their rejection made way for the calling in of other people, and for the establishment of the church in different circumstances; and the fostering care of him who founded the church at first, has been very visible at all periods, and in every place, where it has been.

To Christ belongs, not only the government of the church, but the government of all things. Beyond the limits of this world, we cannot extend our view, so as to speak of this matter particularly; but here we have an opportunity to see, in some measure, how things have been conducted; and whoever may at any time have been king, it is very apparent who has been at all times, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Pharaoh undertook, by hard bondage, to reduce the people of Israel to such an abject state of submission, that, instead of being formidable enemies to his kingdom, they might be useful as beasts of burden, to do such drudgery as he should require of them. But was he able to carry his purpose into effect? Instead of this, did not the Israelites obtain their liberty, while he, with all his host, was drowned in the red sea? Nebuchadnezzar caused an enormous image of gold to be erected in the plain of Dura, and required all his subjects to worship it; but though the three Hebrew captives were thrown into the furnace of fire for not complying with his orders, they remained unhurt in the midst of the flames, while he, for his sins, was driven into the field with the cattle, where for a long time, his royal provision was the grass upon which the oxen fed. How different was the result of his measures from what he had anticipated! Herod, alarmed at the prophecy respecting him who was to be born king of the Jews, sent forth and slew all the children in Bethlehem, and the coasts of it, from two years old and under, that he might be sure of destroying the rival whom he so much dreaded. He failed however, of accomplishing his purpose, and died, shortly after, of excruciating, and loathsome diseases.

These instances are only specimens; for if the whole history of human affairs was before us, we should see, that the purposes of men, have invariably, been overruled, and made subservient, to the purpose of God.

The government shall be upon his shoulder, is an expres sion, which still farther, denotes the care with which Christ administers the government, of the church, and of the world, as a man would walk off unmolested by any load which he might thus lay upon himself.

The prophet next proceeds to declare by what name this child was to be called; and he mentions five things, which are rather descriptive of him, than the real appellations by which he has been ordinarily designated. We will take these things in their order, and the first that presents itself is Wonderful.

Whatever view we take of Christ, we shall find this name altogether appropriate. His introduction into the world was wonderful, for no one was ever born before, nor since, that could be called as he was, The seed of the woman. His childhood was wonderful. Had it been the object of the inspired penmen to gratify our curiosity, they would have given us a long detail of the childhood of Jesus Christ; but the simple narrative of his tarrying at Jerusalem, and taking his seat in the temple, with the Jewish doctors, to hear them, and to ask them questions, while his parents were anxiously looking for him, is all that we have, and all that we need, with respect to this affair; for this informs us, that All that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. When I say that this narrative is all that we have of the childhood of Jesus Christ, I have not forgotten the descent, and the song, of the angels, upon the day of his birth, nor have I forgotten, that the wise men from the east brought to him their presents, gold and frankincense, and myrrh, and fell down and worshipped him; nor have I forgotten, that when his parents carried him to the temple, to do for him after the custom of the law, Simeon took him in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according unto thy word, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation: and, that Anna, a prophetess, a widow, about fourscore and four years of age, spoke of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. These things however, and others connected with them, which I have omitted to mention, relate to what we should rather call his infancy than his