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ACTS 2: 33.-Therefore, being by the right hand of God cxalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see

and hear.

On the memorable day when this text was uttered, the church experienced a revival of religion. The multitude had listened to him, who spake as never man spake; yet they were unmoved. An eventful stilness had succeeded the eventful scenes of the crucifixion. The disciples were first scattered and perplexed, then assembled with one accord in one place, and engaged in prayer,-"that prayer which opens heaven." So it proved. Eminent displays of God's power soon appeared among the disciples. This was noised abroad, and soon brought together a great multitude, to whom Peter preached the Gospel.

Then it was the Gospel was attended with "the demonstration of the Spirit and of power." The multitude, who just now mocked, were pricked in the heart, and called on Peter and the other apostles to guide them. That was a great day for the church, a day when sinners were made to feel, when the stupidity, by which the heart is usually kept from the free and full access of the Gospel, had fled, and all was eye, all ear, all anxiety. The Apostle, in his preaching, ascribes these wonderful displays of power in the physical, intellectual, and moral revolutions there effected, to Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews had crucified, but whom the apostles now declared to be the Son of God, the true Messiah, the maker of worlds, the only hope and Savior of men. These positions he proved to the Jews by the most unequivocal evidences, drawn from their own Scriptures, and finally from his resurrection, of which the apostles themselves, and a great many others, were witnesses.

"Therefore," said he, "being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."

Much of the plan of redemption is distinctly comprised in this single sentence. We are led to consider in this text the HUMILIATION of Christ, his EXALTATION, and the TRINITY EMPLOYED in the work of man's salvation.

THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST, distinctly set forth in the discourse of Peter, is more than implied in the text itself; for when it is said, he is exalted, we cannot comprehend the term except as we contrast it with humiliation, or a state inferior to that he now is declared to occupy. VOL. X.-No. 6.

The humiliation of Christ, which we propose to consider in this discourse, may be embraced under three inquiries.

I. In what does it consist?
II. What was its object?

III. What is its influence?

I. What was the humiliation of Christ? Not the act of humility, which becomes a sinner; for he knew no sin, and therefore could never have that sense of guilt, which prompts to humility. But it was a descent from greatness, a stooping from dignity, which may consist with the greatest purity, as it is often the exhibition of the most disinterested benevolence.

From what, then, did the Savior stoop? Here we are brought directly to inquire what he is. Who and what is Christ? In answer to this question let the Scriptures speak; for the voice of inspiration alone is competent. Isaiah, in prophetic vision, calls him "the mighty God, the everlasting Father." The same prophet also said, "his name shall be called Immanuel," which is, being interpreted, God with us. John says, "the Word was God," and Christ was the Word. Paul says, "Christ is over all, God blessed for ever." And in another place, "he thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Again, "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And again, "God was manifest in the flesh." "Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." In John's Gospel, it is said, "all things were made by Him." And in Hebrews, "he that made all things is God." In John's Epistle it is said, "hereby perceive we the love of Gon, because He laid down his life for us."

On this point it is not now my design to multiply all possible proof, but merely to assert the supreme claims of Christ to divine honors, in order to illustrate another point-the humiliation of Christ in executing his office of Mediator. It is this Being, thus exalted, and clothed with supreme majesty, "who was found in fashion as a man, and took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Yes, it is the same Being, who made the worlds; who said, "Let there be light, and there was light;" who fashioned man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; who created the human soul. It is the same who, eighteen hundred years ago, in our assumed nature, suffered under Pontius Pilate the ignominious death of the cross, who "gave his back to the smiter, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, and hid not his face from shame and spitting."

Here is humiliation indeed, decent from dignity, and submission to unmerited pains. Oh, that we might estimate it more fully, and be more suitably affected by the truth as it is in Jesus. But it is impossible for us to see what Christ has done, until we have a correct view of his character. We can never perceive his true humiliation, until we measure the distance he has stooped-till we go up to heaven and down to hell. Yet standing where we do, with the inspired Scriptures to help our survey, we may see wonders, which philosophy never taught, which the light of nature never revealed, what no unassisted eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived. On the cross, where Jesus of Nazareth was nailed, and poured out his life-blood, we behold the Maker of worlds, the Sovereign of the universe, the Former of our bodies, the Author of our spirits. Do you know of any deeper humiliation than this? Can you conceive of any greater disparity of circumstances?

Here is a place, to which we should tread softly and frequently. Here

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