that are every where given him from his human nature, make this evident: he is called "a Man," and "the Son of man," a title in which he himself delights, and repeats every now and then; he is called frequently "the seed of the woman," "the seed of Abraham," "the seed of David," "a branch that sprung out of the root of Jesse." From all which we may conclude, with the apostle, in the words of my text, that verily he took on him the seed of Abraham.

III. The third thing was, what may be imported in the expression of the text, of his taking on him the seed of Abraham!

I cannot enlarge upon such a subject; only it imports,

1st, That the human nature was upon the point of perishing with the fallen angels, till Christ took hold of it.

2dly, It implies his pre-existence, as God, to his actual incarnation, by which the Socinian error falls, who assert, that he had no being till he was born of the virgin; for if so, how could he take to him the human nature? Sirs, let Arians and Socinians be for ever confounded: for our Immanuel was God, co-equal with his Father, from eternity; and, in the fulness of time, seventeen hundred and forty-two years ago, was "made of a woman:"" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

3dly, It implies the verity and reality of his incarnation, of which I spoke already. His human nature was no phantom, or appearance, but the real human nature, and the whole nature of man, consisting of a true body and reasonable soul; for, says the apostle, he verily took on him the seed of Abraham.

4thly, The expression implies, that it was a voluntary deed; he took on him; as a man puts on his clothes with his own hands, so the Son of God voluntarily put on the human nature; voluntarily agreed to it in the council of peace, Psal. xl. 8, and from eternity, rejoiced "in the habitable parts of the earth," and he was a volunteer when it came to the execution.

5thly, It implies, that the assumption of the human naturè terminates in the person of the Son of God. Although the other persons, Father and Spirit, had their own peculiar agency, in forming and preparing the human nature; yet it is the Son, the second person of the glorious Trinity, that wears it so that it cannot be said of the Father or Holy Ghost, but only of the Son, that he "took unto him the seed of Abraham" so that is not an essential, but a personal union, between the divine and human nature.

6thly, It implies, that though the union be personal, yet it is without any confusion of the two natures: they still remain

essentially distinct, although, indeed, through the intimacy of the union, the properties of each nature are frequently ascribed to the whole person.

7thly, It implies, that it was an act of amazing love, grace, and condescension, that he took our nature upon

him. Hence the apostle cries out with wonder, 1 Tim. iii. 16, “ Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh.” This is such a depth, that the angels desire to look into it. Hence the cherubims were made with their faces pointing towards the mercy-seat.

8thly, It implies, that the human nature did not constitute the person

of Christ : for here we see that he, as a person, took the human nature to himself, or took it into his own person. If the human nature were a person, then he would have two persons, as well as two natures: but this is an error long since condemned; and the expression in the text bears, that it was only the nature, therefore called the seed of Abraham ; agreeably to this is that, Luke i. 35: “That holy thing which shall be born of thee:” it is not that holy person, but " that holy thing," namely, the innocent nature of man, consisting in a true body and reasonable soul. So much for what is imported in the expression.

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IV. The fourth in the method was, To touch a little at the importance of this matter pointed at in the word of asseveration, Verily, Verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.

It is observed in the history of the evangelists, when our blessed Lord is to declare any doctrine that is of great consequence and moment, to arrest the attention of his audience, he ushers it in with a VERILY, and sometimes he doubles it with a “ VERILY, VERILY, I say unto you;" as in his discourse to Nicodemus, concerning the necessity of regeneration, John iii. 3: “ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God;" so, here, the apostle, after his example, when he is asserting the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son, ushers it in with a VERILY, that we may advert to it as a thing of the last moment. The importance of it will appear, if we consider that this point of the incarnation, or union of the two natures, was the main leading matter that was [under consideration,] in the council of peace, between the Father and the Son: it was the hardest thing to be determined and effected; and that without it, nothing could be done, for the redemption and salvation of lost sinners of Adam's family. There were three things that justice demanded, in order to the salvation of lost man: 1st, That the human nature be - presented to

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God, in its original purity, without spot or blemish. 2dly, That the holy law be perfectly obeyed, and the honour of it maintained. 3dly, That seeing the law is broken, the penalty of it, or its curse, be endured by one in man's nature, whose blood must be of infinite value for the satisfaction of justice. Well, in this case, the eternal Son of God looked, and “ there was none to help or uphold, and therefore his own arm brought salvation." Come,' says he to his Father, since there is no sacrifice nor offering that will please, *Lo, I come; I delight to do thy will; a body hast thou prepared for me, in the seed of Abraham ; I will put it on, and satisfy all these hard demands of justice: I, as a second Adam, a public head and representative of the seed thou hast given me, will present the human nature entire in my own person; and will, through my sanctifying Spirit in them, present them also unto thee, at the end of time, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. I also, as their Covenant-head and Surety, will, in their nature, fulfil the whole law as a covenant, and bring in an everlasting righteousness for their justification, and write it as a rule upon their hearts, and, by my Spirit put within them, will cause them to walk in my statutes. And because justice demands that the same nature that sinned should also suffer, therefore I will give my human nature a sacrifice for their sin ; I will be wounded for their transgressions, bruised for their iniquities: of my hand shalt thou require the debt that they owe to justice. In a word, (for I cannot insist,) the incarnation of the Son of God is such a material and important matter, that without it the whole business of man's salvation and redemption ceases for ever ; all the other supernatural mysteries of our holy religion turn upon it, as a hinge: take this away, and immediately the doctrine of his obedience to the law, and death upon his resurrection, ascension, and intercession; all fall to the ground together: but the apostle here, to certify us of it, tells us, Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

the cross ;

V. The fifth thing was to make some improvement of this doctrine. It would admit of a large application; but I must needs cut short, because of the work that we have before

Use first shall be of information, in the few particulars following. Is it so, that when God passed by the nature of angels, he took on him the seed of Abraham? Then,

Ist, See hence the wondrous love of God to mankind-sinners, that he preferred our nature to the nature of angels; he passed them by, and pitched upon the human nature, and

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joined it to himself, in the person of his eternal Son. There is such an amazing and astonishing love here, as would fill our hearts with wonder, and our tongues with hallelujabs of praise, if we but saw it in the light of the Lord, and had it 56 shed abroad upon our hearts;" surely God is love; “ for he so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

2dly, See hence how unjust and unreasonable the enmity of the heart of man against God is. Shall we hate that God who passed by the nature of angels, and took on him the seed of Abraham? It cannot be supposed that the fallen angels would have treated him so, if he had passed by our nature, and pitched upon their nature, and become a God-angel, instead of a God-man; yet this folly is in the heart of every sinner by nature; " the carnal mind is enmity against God.”

3dly, See hence the monstrous ingratitude of Arians, Socinians, and others, who take occasion from his assumption of the human nature, and becoming his Father's servant in the great business of man's redemption, to disparage him, as if he were but an inferior deity, not one and the same God, in essence and substance with the Father. Oh! - Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon," that such blasphemies have been vented against the great God our Saviour, and so little resentment discovered against the blasphemer, in the

supreme ecclesiastical court of this national church, constituted in his name and authority. But whatever others do, let us this day acknowledge, that Jesus Christ is the Lord Jehovah, to the praise and glory of his eternal Father, who sent him, not to take on him the nature of angels, but the human nature, in the seed of Abraham.

4thly, See hence to what a pitch of honour the human nature is raised, by its standing in a personal union with the infinite Jehovah, in the person of the Son of God. When we take a view of our nature as it stood in the first Adam, even in innocence, why, the Spirit of God declares by the psalmist, that even in its best estate it was altogether vanity, being but a fallible creature: but view the nature of man in his fallen state, we see him lying in a “horrible pit, and miry clay,” an object of abhorrence to God and all his holy angels; he is wholly "corrupt and filthy,” fit for nothing but to become fuel for the fire of divine wrath : and yet for an infinitely holy and righteous God to take that nature out of the dunghill, and join it into a personal union with his eternal and only begotten Son, why, this is a brighter crown of glory by far set upon the human nature, than ever Adam wore in innocency; yea, a greater honour than ever was conferred upon the na

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ture of angels. Oh! how may this make every one of us to cry, “ What hath God wrought? O what is man, that thou art so mindful of him ? and what the son of man, that thou art so kind unto him."

5thly, See hence the excellency of the person of our glorious Redeemer, whose death we are this day called to commemorate. I remember the daughters of Jerusalem put a question to the spouse, Cant. v.: “What is thy beloved more than another beloved ?” Why, sirs, there is something in the person of Christ, that is not to be seen in any person in heaven or in earth. What is that? say you: Why, in his person is to be seen God and man linked in a personal union; “God manifested in the flesh, is the great mystery” of the Christian religion. Look to God in the person of the Father, look to God in the person of the Holy Ghost, and you see indeed the great God, who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, &c. But then, look to God in the person of the Son, who is the same God with both, and you see the human nature; there you see " Immanuel, Godman, God with us, God reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, but pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin." Osirs, a God in Christ will be the admiration of saints and angels through eternity; and it is a view of this person that fills the mouths of all the saints with praise, saying, “Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips; he is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand," &c.

6thly, See hence the criminal nature of the sin of unbelief, which rejects him who took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. Unbelief upon the matter denies this glorious truth, and says, "No thanks to God for taking hold of the seed of Abraham; he might as well have taken on the nature of angels, for I will not be obliged to him for salvation. The unbeliever chooses rather to go to hell with his lusts, than to go to heaven with Christ: he crucifies “the Son of God afresh, and puts him to an open shame:" he tramples the blood of Christ under his feet; for which reason Christ declares, that he "that believeth not is condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on him," John iii. 18, 36.

7thly, See, from this doctrine, the great difference between the first and the second Adam; the head of the covenant of works, and the head of the new covenant. Why, the first Adam, as the apostle tells us, was but a made creature, and he “was made a living soul; but the last Adam is a quickening spirit: the first Adam was of the earth, earthy; but the second Adam is the Lord from heaven;" who took not on him the nature of angels, but took on him the human nature, in the

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