ment. His hand also lighted up the flame of the sun, and kindled the stars. He upholds the Universe by the word of his power; and preserves order and regularity throughout all the parts of this amazing system.

In the Heavens he shines with inexpressible splendour. On the earth he lives, and works, provides and sustains, and satisfies the wants of every living thing. Throughout immensity, He quickens into life, action, and enjoyment, the innumerable multitudes of Intelligent beings. The universe, which he made, he also governs. The worlds, of which it is composed, he rolls through the infinite expanse with an Almighty and unwearied hand; and preserves them in their respective places and motions with unerring harmony. From the vast storehouse of his bounty he feeds and clothes the endless millions whom his hand has made; and from the riches of his own unchangeable Mind informs the innumerable host of Intelligent creatures with ever-improving virtue, dignity, and glory. these he allots the respective parts, which they are qualified to act in the boundless system of good, which his wisdom contrived, and his power has begun to execute; furnishes them with the means of being useful in his eternal kingdom; and thus prepares them to be amiable and excellent in his sight, and instruments of perpetually increasing good to each other.

To all

At the head of this great kingdom he sits upon a throne high and lifted up, far exalted above all heavens; surveys with an intuitive view, and with divine complacency, the amazing work which his voice has called into being; and beholds it increasing without intermission in happiness, wisdom, and virtue, and advancing, with a regular progress, towards consummate glory and perfection.

Although he is not worshipped as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth unto all life, and breath, and all things; Yet before him Angels bow and veil their faces. The four Living ones rest not day nor night, crying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who wast, and who art, and who art to come. And the whole multitude of the heavenly host, the number of whom is ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, unite in the everlasting song, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and

ever.

From this stupendous height of greatness and enjoyment, this Divine Person, passing all the bounds between GoD and Man, between the Infinite Mind and lifeless matter, united himself to man who is but a worm; assumed to himself a human soul, and a human body; and in a manner, incomprehensible by us, and not improbably by all other creatures, became thenceforth God-Man, inseparably united in one most wonderful and mysterious Person.

Of this singular act the end was not less glorious, than the act itself was amazing. It was to save a race of rebellious creatures,

whom he needed not, from misery and ruin; of creatures, whom with a word he could have returned to their original nothing, and whose places with another word he could have filled with equal or greater numbers, at his pleasure; all obedient, faithful, and happy. I shall not, however, dwell on this subject at the present time. Occasions still more appropriate will hereafter bring it up to view. The single point on which I would now insist, is the infinite condescension of Christ. This glorious person humbled himself, to behold the things which are done under the sun.

How much more when he came from his high and holy place to dwell beneath that sun, and take up his residence on his foot-stool! All this, however, he was pleased to do. He emptied himself, took upon himself the form of a servant, and was born in the likeness of men.

What were the views which Angels formed of this new and astonishing event? Easily may we imagine, that all heaven was lost in wonder, and buried in silence, to behold this transition from infinite glory to supreme humiliation, from the throne of the universe to a tenement of clay. How instinctively ought we, uniting with Angels in the same views and the same emotions, to behold, wonder, and adore!

2dly. What a pattern of condescension is here set before us for our imitation! St. Paul makes this practical use of the doctrine under consideration: Let the same mind be in you, says he to the Philippians, which was also in Christ.

Condescension is here enforced on the race of man with an authority, and example, literally infinite. The Divine Wisdom dictated the condescension of Christ; and the Divine Goodness carried it into execution. In it we see the manner, in which the Infinite Mind is pleased to act; and which boundless Excellence approves, and loves. This, then, is a character and conduct, to which we are urged by the highest of all considerations, the approbation, and example of God. Would we, then, be like God; would we be perfect as He is perfect; would we obtain his approbation; would we inherit the blessings, which he confers on those who are approved by him; would we become really excellent and lovely; we shall give all diligence, that the same mind may be in us, which was also in Christ. We shall condescend to men of low degree; be meek and lowly of heart; be satisfied with humble stations, offices, and employments; and feel, that no human interest is beneath our notice, and no human business unfit for us to perform, when we are called to perform it, and when others by the performance can be relieved, disposed to virtue, or made happy.

But how different is the usual conduct, and the prevailing character of Man! All men sigh to be rich; and none are contented with humble circumstances. All men pant to be great; and none are satisfied with a lowly condition. The rich despise the poor;

the great trample on the small. When we become rich, we sigh for additional riches. When we become great, we toil, and watch, and weary ourselves through life, to become greater. All, beneath us in these mere accidents, we overlook, contemn, insult, and style the dirt and scum of the earth.

Christ, on the contrary, became, voluntarily, not only a man, but a poor man; a lowly man; the son of a carpenter; humble in his station; without place, or power, or wealth; and perfectly satisfied to be without them all. His friends, his disciples, his Apostles, were selected from the poor and lowly; and he alleged it as one unanswerable proof of his Messiahship, that by him the poor had the Gospel preached unto them. This was the character of Him, whom Angels worship, and whom the Universe obeys.

Christ descended to these lowly men, and to these humble circumstances, from the throne of the heavens. Shall not we, then, be willing to let ourselves down from the side, or even the summit, of our mole-hill, to visit our fellow-emmets at the bottom? How small the descent at the utmost! How silly, how base, how contradictory to common sense, the pride, which refuses to make it!

Often, very often, the men, whom we despise as greatly beneath us, are better, wiser, and more excellent in the sight of God, than ourselves. Always we are odious to him, and contemptible in the eye of Reason, for this very pride. Let every proud man, then, feel, that for this very character, which he so fondly cherishes, he is hateful in the sight of God, and justly contemptible in that of men; that the character, which he despises, is the very character in which Christ chose to appear; and that the men, whom he treats with abuse and insolence, are of that very class, out of which Christ selected his friends and Apostles.

SERMON XLIII.

COVENANT OF REDEMPTION.

ISAIAH liii. 10-12.-When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

"If his soul shall make a propitiatory sacrifice, he shall see a seed, which shall prolong their days; and the gracious purpose of JEHOVAH shall prosper in his hands. Of the travail of his soul he shall see (the fruit) and be satisfied: by the knowledge of him shall my Servant justify many; for the punishment of their iniquities he shall bear. Therefore will I distribute to him the many for his portion; and the mighty people shall he share for his spoil: because he poured out his soul unte death, and was numbered with the transgressors: and he bare the sin of many; and made intercession for the transgressors."

LOWTH.

IN the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul declares, that God hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world; having predestinated us to the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to himself; according to the good pleasure of his will; to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.

The manner, in which this transaction took place, and in which the purposes of it were accomplished, is recorded in the text. The Person, who speaks in the text, is unquestionably God the Father; as is evident from the fact, that he calls Christ in the 11th verse my Servant. The Context, as you well know, is an eminent and remarkable prophecy concerning the birth, life, and sufferings of Christ; and has been acknowledged as such, so far as my information extends, by both the Jewish and Christian churches universally, in every age, since it was written. Almost the whole of it is occupied by an account of his humiliation and sufferings, described with such a degree of minuteness, and exactness, as to wear the appearance rather of a history, than of a prophecy.

In the text, a covenant is made, on the part of the Speaker, with the Person of whom he speaks; or, on the part of GOD the Father, with the Son. In the tenth verse, the first of the text, it is proposed, conditionally, in the following terms: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed; he shall

prolong his days; and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. In the translation of Bishop Lowth, which differs from the common one only by being more correct and explicit, it is, "If his soul shall make a propitiatory sacrifice, he shall see a seed which shall prolong their days; and the gracious purpose of Jehovah shall prosper in his hands." The difference lies, principally, in the second clause, "He shall see a seed, which shall prolong their days." It could not, I think, with propriety be promised, as a reward to Christ for his sufferings, that, in any sense, he should prolong his own days; but with the most perfect propriety, that he should see a seed, which, in a sense hereafter to be explained, should prolong THEIR days. The days of Him, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, could not in any sense be prolonged in consequence of his sufferings, or of any other possible event. The word his, supplied by the Translators, is supplied erroneously since in the present translation it presents a meaning, which plainly cannot be admitted. The justice of these remarks will be further evident from the repetition of the same covenant in the eleventh verse. He shall see of the travail of his Soul; that is, as explained by Lowth, "Of the travail of his Soul he shall see the fruit and be satisfied;" By his knowledge, or as Lowth more correctly renders it, "By the knowledge of him, shall my Servant justify many." The justification of the many, here spoken of, connected with its consequences, is the very reward, promised in the preceding verse, in the words, He shall see a seed, which shall prolong their days and here the reward, promised, is no other, than the justification and consequent eternal life of those, who should become interested in his death.

:

Still further is this interpretation evinced to be just by the repetition of the promise in the twelfth verse; or third of the text; Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; or, as more happily rendered by Bishop Lowth, Therefore I will distribute to him the many for his portion; and the mighty people shall he share for his spoil, because he poured out his soul unto death. It is not true, that Christ has a portion divided to him with the great, or a spoil divided to him with the strong. He trod the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with him. Nor is there any one to share with him the reward of his sufferings; but he was alone in the sufferings, and the reward, alike. Accordingly, in the Septuagint this passage is rendered, "For this cause shall he receive many for his inheritance, and shall share spoils of the strong."

Finally, the same thing is abundantly evinced in Psalm lxxxix; where, also, the same covenant is recorded. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. And again, His