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Lea diagrammas suivants illustrent la m^thoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I V^I^J 4* ■^^^mmssi^t^-* if sf-?^ !• J ¥¥IP / ^ n M ♦ ^ •i EXPLANATION. • i The following Correspondence will explain and account for the publication of the following Sermon :— Montreal, 30th Dec, 1S50. Rev. Sir, Several friends who listened to the Sermon you delivered in the Wesleyan Church, Great St. James Street, on Christmas Day, are very desirous to have it published, believing thai with the divine blessing it may be productive of much good in checking the worst form of error in Montreal at the present time. It is proposed to publish it for gratuitous distribution in the city. If you will kindly consent to its publication, please furnish nie with the Manuscript and a Tiile-page, and I will at once take the necessary steps to have it printed. An an- swer at your earliest convenience will much oblige Dear Sir, Yours sincerely, JOHN HOLLAND. To the Rev. Henry Wilkes, D.D. Beaver Hall, 3 1st December, 1850. Dear Sir, I will cheerfully comply with the request conveyed in your note of yesterday, which I received this morning The Sermon is one of a series on Our Lord's Teaching which I am delivering to my own flock. But it will bear detaching from the others, and as it was written II with aome humble desire to do good, if you and friends think that the press can aid in this design, I am happy to co- operate with you. This is done more readily, because it is asked for as preached to a congregation not of my own denomination, and by members of that congregation. I love to engage in such fraternal services, and am glad pubiicly to show, in these trying times, that the friends of the Redeemer, though divided by slight party lines, are nevertheless all one. You shall have the Manuscript and a Title-page in a day or two. Some remarks delivered extemporaneously will have to be written out. I am, Dear Sir, Yours truly, HENRY WILKES. Mr. John Holland. WHO IS ciiiusT! OR 4* OUR LORD'S TEACHING CONCERNING HIS OWN PERSON. ..The wnumn saith tint., liim, T kno^v thai Mcs/m^ cin.H,, who in saill. unto lior, I that Fpeak unto thee am he." John .v. io, -b. The devout student of the life of Jesiis Chrl«t will be more and more impressed with the conviction that He is truly a wonderful Being, far away above all comparison or parallel. He rises unot. the world as the Sun, winch .s not to be compared with the other stars of heaven,and wh.ch, while pouring a Hood of radiance on every thing else, remains tself a glorious mystery. « I am the light of the wor d, was his own assumption, an averment fully sustained hy his ministry. It is observable, that while he was the ex- c ted one'of l.rael, "the Desire of all nations," his ad- lent took mankind by surp.ise. Often had the prophets fipoken ol h.m,and sacrificial rites had cast their long sha- dows before to indicate_ his coming yet "he --^ !« ''« own, and his own receiv ed him not." The light shone, but the " darkness admitted it not." They were amazed and confounded, a.d withal the world avenged itself for this surprise, by taking up arms against h.m, and against al. his true disciples. Plainly did facts indicate f'-- ''e'^e- .inning, that '' His kingdom was not of this wn^rld. The world knew him not. ': .,ey rejected him. Jesus o Na- zareth became ''a name every where spoken against, so that he had with much justice to complain of the vvorld s hatred, " If the world hate you, ye know that it hated rne before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the vvorld would love his own : but because ye are not of the vvorld,bu Thave chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth vou * * * • He that hateth me, hateth my Father also*. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin : but novv have They both seen and hated both me and my FathcT But his cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is wrmen in ^their law. They hated me w thout a cause." There were those who at the birth ot Jesus Christ re- joiced triumphantly at the fulfilment of the promise, and the accomplishment of their long cherished hope. 1 hey hull waited for the redeinptioti of Israel, ami like good old Simeon and Anna the prophetess, ih.'v hailed vvilh jt)y the advent of the child Jesus, concerning whom the prophecy had heen recorded seven centuries hetore, " Unto us a child \s born ; unto us a son is yiven ; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall he called Won- derful, Counspllor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Fa. Iher, The Prince of Peare. Of the increase of his gov- ernment and peace there shall he fio end, \ipon the throne of David, and upon his kiii|^dom, to order it, and to eslab. lish it with jud<.'mentand with justice from henceforth even for ever." But it is more than doubtful if they had accu- rate conceptions. They believed that this one should he the Messiah, but precisely what the Messiah was to be, did not, we a|)prehend, a|)pear plain to their minds. Some great and glorious one — die Lord of Angels — the Lord of ail—God manifest in the flesh, were thoughts finmd in the Psalms and in the Prophets concerning Hun, but if we may judge by the views of the disciples 30 years after- wards, their ideas were far from accurate. To our minds, upon whom the light of a full revelation hath beamed, the Mosaic economy, designed to unfold the Saviour and hia mediiiiorial ofllrss and work, ever appears admirably illus- trative and in fact essential to a full understanding of the great truths of Christianity ; but it obviously did not afi'ord the disciples a single correct presentiment con'-erning Jesus the Christ. By comparing accomplishment and prediction, antitype and type, we discover harmony and beauty, and withal learn to understand both ; but they having only pre- diction and type, the actual Christ came upon them as a new and unthought of existence, and the truths he taught as wonderful novelties. One can trace throughout their attendance upon his ministry this wondering surprise, this amazement at ever gathering mystery and glory. " What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him I" They confessed that He was "the Christ the Son of the living God ;" yet was their astonishment great when the demons were manifestly subject to him. Gradually, indeed, the truth beained upon their souls, so that a^'ter his resurrection, one said '«My Lord and My God !'' anc ano- ther exclaimed, " Lord thou knowest all things, thou know- est that I love thee !" but it was not till some days after his ascension, when the Holy Ghost came down upon them, bringing all his works and all things he had said to remem- brance," that they seem to have been fully awake to the great fact that they had been entertaining the Lord of an- gels unawares. As " the words of Christ were once more repeated in their ears, and the wonders of his life were a made to pass in ^low and alalely procession Ijefore ilieir eyes, they awoke as iVoni a trance, and pioclainjed ilmt ♦ the word' who was with God in eternity, who is God, had been mado flesh, and dwelt arnon^; us, and that tliey had • beheld his glory, the glory as of the ')nly begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.'" At the dictation of the Spirit, they jjroceeded to record ii sketch of his life ; but they labored at no encomium ; they lauded not hiinself, nor do they denounce his enemies; they left thai life to speak far itself; they folt that in simply uttering the name of Jesus they were repeating a name for all that was tranacen- dant in humanity, and all that is glorious in Deity ! More, over, now full of love and zeal they record their own mis- apprehensions, inconsistencies andsins, along with their nar- rative of his life, and in their inspired Epistles they laud and magnify his name and the unsearchable riches of his grace, determined to glory in no other, and willing to die for his sake, if such should be the result of proclaiming his worth to their fellow-men. Our Lord's teaching, concerning himself, would natu- rally, in these circumstances, have reserves, and be given in parts, so that there would be no sudden outburst of splen- dor. It had been impossible to teach them otherwise, for the subject is voc great for instant comtiiunication. There is need for the formation of preliminary ideas, and for the awakening in the mind the elements of these wondrous thoughts. After he had taught them much, we find him still saying—" I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;" and he postponed the fullness ot communication until the Holy Ghost should come in power. " Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of trjlh, is come, he will guide you into all truth. • • • -He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." Yet with all this taken into account, Christ spoke of himself almost constantly ; drawing to- wards his person and work a concentrated attention, and proposing AmseZ/ as the object of trust, of confidence, of love. The Bible is so full of Christ, that we cannot study its sacred pages without meeting him either in type and symbol, or in prophetic announcement, or as the subject of Evangelists' narrative, and Apostolic argument. But in order to simplicity and definiieness of conception, it is sometimes desirable, to confine our study of Him within some limited range, that we may have the teaching within its precincts distinctly, and with power, before our minds. The text naturally leads us to Christ's teaching concerning himself; and this I propose to restrict mainly to His eternal I 6 exiMieiice, aiul u> the citiislilution ul Hi.s i)er80M. Let ui llieii (levouily study The Teaching ov Jesus Christ, as it related to his Eternal Existence, and to the Constitution ok HIS Person. Ancient pr.)|)l»ecy, in its mystic tones, had spoken of ono « whoso goings forth hail been of oUl from everlasting. Our Loril iuenlifuul the application of it to himself, by hit- ing the veil from a past eternity, and carrying back tlieir thoughts through dateless ages ; assuring them there never was (I period svhen ho was not there ; there, as an object ol infinite complacency; there in a fellowship ol gloiyi '" an i.leniity of character, and in a unity of essence with Deity. " Before Abraham was, I am," and in the hearing of h.s discipl"s he exclaimed, '« Glorify me with die glory which I had with thfc before die world was." " Tliou lovedst me before the f.^un.lalion of the world." He describes the Son of man as seated on the throne of judgment, who shall invite die justified to enter into the kingdom prepared (or them teforc /he foundation of the world; and il it be asked Nvho then prepared it, lie replies—"! prepare a place (or you." \ncient prophecy led them to expect a duality of na- tures in one person. Distinct was its utterance on this point, hoNve -er imperfecUy it was understood. In Davul the Messiah osciaims-" A body hast thou prepared me— In the volume of the book— it is written of me." ^f}^^^ lyre accompanies the sacred song— "Unto us a chid is born—unto us a Son is given • * , ' . , .^"V ",^, name shall ue called • • ' Tl'e mighty God. In one person, the frailty of a mortal child, and the incom- municable attributes of the mighty God. But what ima- mpation was prepared, even by this exciting prediction, tor The grea'. reality? The mystery lay in the unwonted greatness and glory of the thing; inoxpticablo, l)ecaiu3 lar Iboveour range of thought; so ineniibly grand, that our minds, in the struggle to reach it, are baflled and bewil- dered. Most natural, therefore, and in accordance with the exigencies of our case, was the Lord's reserve. He was not careful to expound the complexity of his nature- He presented no theory. His design was not to gratify cu- riosity, but to pour into the heart of the world the entire advantage which that complexity was capable of produc- ing there is no jealous tenacity in asserting his higher nature— it is not obtruded upon the attention ; that is ra- ther left for Apostolic teaching ; but having stooped to the humble conrlitiori of humanity, lie eganled his humiliation as consisting, partly, in dwelling on the low position to which he had stooped. Yet, though he frequently waived the suhject, there were often occasions when he deemed it well to put forth no mean asmimptions— no common claims ! The trumpet placed at i»is lips gave no uncertain sound. He shrank not from the very highest of all pretensions ; hut with uiiaiYected dignity and simplicity, owned himself Di- vine ! His perfect manhood was tmiglit— no mystery or doubt was allowed to gather about that. " He grew in wisdom and in favor with God and with men." He was baptized of John at Jordan. He was sorely tempted forty days by the Devil ; and having in this, his human nature, utterly routed the enemy, angela came and ministered unto him. Ho ate and drank with his disciples, journeying from place to place, and proclaiming the kingdom with a human voice, expressive of human feelings. He sat, wearied with his journey, near Jacob's well, and sent his disciples I..10 the neighboring city to purchase food. He groaned in spirit, nnd wept, and "sweat, as it were great drops ol blood falling down to the ground." The disciples knew hinri well, as "the son of man," as" the man Christ Jesus." That voice was the utterance of humanity in its sweetest tones. That aspect of grief was the una llected expression of " the man of sorrows." The eye which met theirs, as they gazed upon him, expressed the love of a human heart —the most tender and loving of any that ever throbbed in human bosom. He laid him down and sweetly slept, hav- ing no fear, for he had done n > wrong. He was faint and hungry, and once and again distressed. He worships, and depends and obeys as a man. We afiirm his perfect man- hood: humanity, body nnd soul, without defect. He un- folded this, and his disciples ever realized this. With whatever of mystery or of glory he was surrounded, he was, unmistakeably the man Christ Jesus. " What manner of man is this?" « Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works'? Is not this the Car- penter's son ? His mother and his brethren are they not with usi" « Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without calling thee !" It is not often placed in modern controversy, and it is sino'ularly forgotten by some theorists ; but it is a matter of no trivial importance to understand that Jesus Christ was a man, and in his teaching always indicated that the evidence of their senses who saw and heard him, testified truly. One ofthem afterwards declared —" He who was frorn the beginning, whom we have heard, whom we have seen wi:h our eyes, whom we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word ot life." When, however, he is compared with other human teachers, whatever may be their high qualifications, every one is sensible of a total incompatibility, an entire op- position. There is an essential difference in kind— the parties belong not to the same category. However you may account for it, there is an absolute and inherent diversity. They call themselves the servants of bod— so does He. They declare that they were sent of God- so does He. They urge men to listen to and to obey God— so does He. But they hide themselves in their message ; whereas Christ is the burden of his own mea. sage. They direct attention to Deity. He does so, but it is by concentrating attention upon himself. They un- told Jehovah as the object of faith, of confidence, of love ; so does He, but it is by presenting Hmsc// as that object, and claiming the faith, the trust, the homage, the service of universal man. We urge special attention to this di- versity. What olher prophet or teacher ever spake or put forth pretensions like this man ? What mere creature, however exalted, could, without intolerable presumption, place himself in parallelism with the Lord Almighty, as Christ does in the complaint already quoted? "They have both seen and hated both me and my Father." And, then, who else but this great one could, without wickedness, place his own commandments alongside the Divine, indeed, make them the Divine will, and peremp- torily demand obedience ? » A new commandment I GIVE unto you." " Ye are my friends, if ye do whatso- ever I COMMAND you." We are so familiar from our youth up with the sayings of Jesus Christ, that we find it difficult to realize their extraordinary novelty and grandeur. I have noted the disadvantage under which, during his personal ministry, his disciples labored, a disadvantage from which we are freed, as we are favored with a perfect unfolding. They did not write the Gospels until filled with the Holy Spirit, all things were brought to their remembrance, and they fullv understood their bearing. We have the advantage supplied by that extraordinary narrative ; a narrative illus- trated by the Epistles, unfolded and confirmed by subse- quent triumphs of grace. We may, therefore, with all propriety, place ourselves as beholders and listeners, as the Evangelists' story causes to pass beiore us, m singu- larly beautiful proce*«inn, thn "«vexal facts '-'' teachings A of that wonderful life and ministry. As they do so, we behold a man breathing, walking, sitting, sleeping, eat- ing, drinking, talking like ourselves. There is, mdeed, mysterious grandeur in the circumstances of his birth, and in the unhesitating proclamation of his forerunner and herald. His pretensions and assumptions are of no com- mon order, and withal they bear direct and continued re- ference to ancient prophecies with which we are familiar, and which have created expectation of a Messiah ; still he is a man — unmistakeably a man ! This wonderful man looks upon us ;— and, speaking to us as one commissioned to teach, says, « No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heavan. 'Be- fore Abraham was, I am." " The glory which I had with the Father before the world was." " I am not of the world." "I know whence I came, and whither 1 go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go. " Ye neither know me nor my Father." " He that hath known me hath known the Father." » He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." " I and my Father are one " " No one knoweth the Son but the Father, re. quiring, then, a being of infinite intuition to know him to perfection. We listen again,— the sentiments are re- peated in diverse forms of expression, but without any affectation of greatness, in calm, seltlconscious, simple dignity. Now, what are we to think ? Why, assuredly, either that we are listening to outrageous blasphemy, or else to the only being incapable of blasphemy, because he alone can be the object of it. What are we to think? Why, that, regarding these as the utterance.^ of obvious humanity, a principle of interpretation hitherto unknown to the world, must be found and applied to his self-descriptions ; a principle which may well be sacred to that purpose alone, since the language of no otlier be- ing will need its application. The principle is, that while these are the utterances of a human voice and be- ing, they are also the authoritative declarations of the Infinite God: this mysterious personage being of the seed of David according to the -flesh, but according to the Spirit of holiness, i. e., his Divine nature, povvertully evinced to be » the Son of God ;"— or, to use the in- flpired words of the same Apostle, " who, concerning the flesh, came of the fathers," but "who is over all, God blessed for ever." The tones of that voice, accompanied with the glance 10 of that benignant eye, reach us again, saying \o a pros- trate paralyiic, "thy sins are forgiven thee," and to those who surround, « That ye naay know that the Son of naan hath power on earth to forgive sins,-then sauh he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed and walk. He summons the world to yield up its heart to h.rn, comp a.n- ine « Ye will not come unto me that ye might have lite. He makes its homage to the Father, z pattern of its ho- mage to him. « As the Father raiseth up the dead, and nuickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will, for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg- ment to the Son, Mai5 «// men should honor ihe Son even Zihey honor the Father^ He calls himself emphatically the Son of man, and solemnly announces that there is a sense in which the Father is greater than he, a statenrjent which no mere creature could ever have thought it nece - Tary to make. Addressing the Infinite God, he calmly says " Father, I will that they, also, whom thou hast olven me may l:e with me where I am, that they may be- hold my glory." Nathanael had retired under the tig-tree, wher"he\new no human eye had seen h.m. This Great One afterwards beheld him approach, and in reply to the question "Whence knowest thou me," answered, 'Be- fore Philip called thee, whon thou wast under the hg-tree, J saw thee '" To the vvoman at the well of Samaria he disclosed an intimate knowledge of her entire life and her chtncter He replied once and again to the unuttered Pharisees who mentally murmured, just as any olhe would feply to W. / h/ pledged his presence in all places and at all future time, to two or three gathered together .n h^s name « If two of vou shall agree on earth, [no mat- te -m wh'at part of it, nor in how many places at the same tfme 1 as touching anything that they shall a.k, ■ .hal! be dc me fo them of my father u ho is in heaven, For where two cu- three are gathered together in my name tukre TA N THE MiD?T OF THEM." And having heard all this what can we say other than that the speaker assumes te prerogatives of Jehovah ; and not only so, but mani- fest his "possession of them ? He forgives s-ns, and n fie iog rtiat Goo p,es.„t in ,he ,«.•.„„ o l>e mys- :-'::LpeaUer. .ha. .l.e .Krone .;f Dog n,;.t o . sense, remove,! IVom l-uw., .0 o», ,^ £=> , ■ J „ ia N una vol dahle inipie^rsion and conclusion, that he who 11 before us in mysterious combination, with a nature like our own, was at the same moment present, and would be ever present in his superior nature, in regions immeasura- bly remote from earth ? the sovereign and uncircumscribed energy of the Universe '.—And when we listen to his de- fence from the charge of violating the Sabbalh-law, in which he declares, "My Fatlier worketh hithen., and / work," indicating that as the God of providence had no Sabbath in his upholding and sustaining all beings and things in the Universe, so had He none ; but secured the repose of that Universe as the result of his unintermitting activity con- iointly with the Father :— when his words come as sweet music to our ears, in the promise made in the Father s name to every Christian, " We will come unto him, and make our abode with him,"— When he so graciously in- vites us to commit our highest interests to his keeping, to become vitally united to him as branches of a vine, to yield our conscience, our heart, our entire hein- to his contro in such a manner and to such an extent as that it would be absurd in a creature to demand, and madness in us to think of, were he only a creature, we are left to the con- elusion, which we feel it almost protane to mention, that this speaker is the most assuming and arrant impostor the world ever saw, or else that he is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, worthy of, and rightly claiming the homage of the intelligent creation. r ,, • i The same form of argument is presented by our Lord s trial, sentence and execution as a malefactor. Let us draw near and study that terrible scene in order to learn what he leaches therein on the subject before us. The charge brought against him by the Jewish rulers was clearly defin- ed. They tried him upon it and found him guilty. This they reported to Pilate in the memorable words " We have a law, and by our law he ought to die ; because he made himself the Son of God." This law was that of blasphe- my, which was expressed with the utmost precision.— Sennacherib was guilty of this crime, in ascribing to him- self powers, and a command over success and victory, such as belong to none but an Omnipotent Being. No one was to be esteemed a blasphemer, according to the Jewish un- derstanding of this law, unless they had expressly uttered THE NAME, Or in somc direct manner assumed the prero- gatives of God. Jnsephus mentions various impostors who rose up, about the time of the seige of Jonisalom, who called themselves prophets, and doubtless, ai ording to our Lord's prediction, Messiahs orChrists ; but, though he de- siribes their atrocities in strong terms, he never charges them with blasphemy. 13 When they brought Christ before their own court on this charge, they found a difficulty in proving it by two wit- nesses, who could agree on any specific phrase. At lengih the High Priest appealed to himself, " I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus directly answered in the affirmative ; solemnly adding, « Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man, sitting on the right hand of Power, and com- ing in the clouds of heaven." Then the High Priest rent his clothes, saying, " He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have we of witnessRS? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemv. What think ye ? They answered and said, He is guilty of death." Now, it is quite plain that if they understood the assunnption of the name and dignity of the Son of God, to be no more than an expros- sion of his royal dignity, or pre-eminent sanctity, or his prophetic mission, this charge of blasphemy would not lie. Such meaning of the appellation "Son of God," however high you may choose to carry it in your supposition, would not, in any sense, involve blasphemy. Absolute and un- questionable assumption of divinity, or reviling Jehovah, or some act having direct relation to the Incommunicable Deity, was essential to the crime. The point in hand, be it remembered, is not what Christ meant by this appellation, but what the Jews un- derstood him to mean. Oi'ce'and again, do we observe, as towards the close of his ministry he became more ex- plicit on this point, that they understood him to claim equality with God. Such claim did the Sanhedrim un- derstand him to put forth at his trial,— and equally do they so consider him as assuming, when they mock him on the cross. I apprehend that no candid roader of the Evangelists, can doubt that the Jewish people and rulers understood our l.oid as making himself the Son of God, by which they understood the assumption of Supreme Divinity — the authority and power of the Infinite God. They may have been mistaken, but this was their under, standing. Now, at this crisis of the history of Jesus Christ, when the rulers of his nation had him before them, when all eyes were upon him, and when Pilate's attention was so emphatically called to him,— it was his bounden duty ev- plicitly and solemnly to tell them that the} mistook his meaning, if such were the case. On the point of his actual meaning no vestige, of dnnbt or of error must lie, ii he is to be faithful to his mission. Are they deceived? 13 mistaken ? Does he not mean to assume perfect equality with the Father in his essential nature? Then is he under tiie utmost conceivable obligation to tell them so. He has constant opportunity of answering for himself. O how earnest should be his disavowals ! He must ob- trude the denial upon them ; must enter his protest against their misapprehensions ; and adopt every prac- ticable method to set himself right with them in this im. portant particular. Do you ask for the grounds of this obligation? We reply, first ; — A regard for his own lije. No man has a right to throw away his life, be- cause he will not rebut a falsehood, or remove a misap- prehension. Secondly ; — A regard to his own character. Such a slander as this may not be tolerated. His influ- ence is forever ruined, if people suppose him guilty of the odious crime of blasphemy. No one has a right to allow Much a stain to rest upon him if he can remove it. Third- ly ; — His duty to his country. The charge involved treason and rebellion against the Theocratic Head of the Jewish nation. Should he, this remarkable leacher, die as a traitor ? Should he endorse by his assumptions and his death, this fearful evil ? Should he do all he could to injure his country? Every consideration of patriotism protested against his silence under the charge, if they misunderstood him in making it. Fourthly; — Regard for the honor of God. Unless he disabuses their minds, he »vill tacitly give countenance to idolatry, for already he has followers who worship him, and he may have more. K he does not undo these mistaken impretisions, he will virtually set up that vast system of creature-wor- ship called Christianity, by which, throughout, the unity, the perfections, the glory of the Infinite God will be per- petually insulted. Who does not feel constrained in this view of it, to appeal to him with impassioned earnest- ness? "O Jesus of iNazareth, if these rulers and people mistake thy meaning, we pray thee, tell them so : urge their mistake on their attention : answer them with all the precision that words can convey : yea, lift up thy voice above the storm of their wrath, and declare thyself falsely accused — because misunderstood ! We tremble at the consequences, shouldest thou die under this charge without rebutting it. We would not have thee martyr to a misapprehension — to un untruth !" Fifthly ; — Regard to the present and eternal welfare oj mankind. No greater curse could come upon man than the setting up of a false God, especially such an one as this! Such a design would involve the ruin of the world, drawing over it the pall ofsjiirifufil death, and quenching in endless darkness 14 ■M its hon.>s. This consideration, in connectu.n with the lb eloini .-.MKleied it imperative upon Je'^"^ .^^r // v et fhem rioht, and to disavow the assumption */ he rea y t^V^ it forth. Shall we now ^tand b-,de^nm and listen 1 His answer to the High P"«f^„''' ^^ """ W r I do profess to be as thou sayest." No h, t does h give to them or to Pilate, of their mistake ,m- 'Z it was : and he seals this g-at assumpUoiyv th . \.^r.r.A What then, shavve think S Why, eiuitr umi he Is the mos unaccountable as well as the worst of me r who wdl deserved his doom, or else we must come Tthe condu ion which, in our judgment, is .he only 'Sl^ eru: rerigna.io„ -in o.he,- and apo..ol,c word«, " God manifest in the flesh. And d,«n 10 turn roond upon >„ ond .„ talk of ij<««. mty in ti,i. "-|-^,:7: ;;:: rr'ci;:adt,r;;.t 'l. ZCrnotrrt.ir.;in W.,.in^ Immortal, Invisible, ="'"''.,"=.''=' ^°„„,,'e „,. temple. It is ''•P''ru;ra"dli,"\r atatSn'noT'tnly n„ InAingl, Zt^ith Tallied dellgl-t, '|[-|;i»,,t— ,'.! i^ °S „ii^i Tl.Pip is nothuig vvi h wlncn to compaio u. .■•<. ^C's;:rw!J.dKecn'Udi,,mjdi,.^^^^^^ '=^'''T:f:ts:brr'iie;":™ there wa^ " '' It deDa-lmg from all usual modes, and rearing up !;Te7r"senrof !he universe of intelligent beings, an faitl, as atinrSld wives' fables, in these modern days e.- I 15 ploded, it vviiuld not be impertinent to ask, wliat they think of Christ? We conl'oss to an impatience of the merely negative. We are unable to feed upon denials. We need the positive. Who tlien is Cluist according to our opponents. They ridicule the declaration that he is a being having in one person tv:o distinct natures, saying that the theory of the two natures in Christ is but a logical subterfug.^ where- with to escape difliculty. Now we can understand the theory of the Socinian who regards Jesus of Nazareth as simply and only a man, one of earth's heroes. That this view is utterly inconsistent with his own account of him- self, there can be no doubt. Still the statement is perfectly clear and unmistakeable. But there are many who con- .tend for a higher form of existence than is supposed by the Socinian, and who yet refuse to recognise the supreme God in Jesus Christ. And these scornfully repel the idea f'f two natures in Jesus. Ourquestion then remains, What is he? If he be man and highest angel or archangel, then he has two natures. If he be only a high and glorious created being, standing far above all other creatures in dig- nity and glory, but yet infinitely removed from Deity as every creature must be, then, who was the being that ap- ppcired in Palestine eighteen hundred and more years ago, whose teachings we have now been listening to? Was he not a man ? Must we set about to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was n human being ? Is the ancient heresy re- vived referred to by the apostle John ? "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." We repeat the query, " What is Christ ? ' On the whole, looking at the entire aspect of our Lord's teach- ing, one is not surprised at the remark of a German infidel, scornful as was its tone, '-If Jesus Christ of the New Testament be not God, then all I can say is, that he did ail he could to make people believe that he was God.'' Finally, prophecy had created the expectation of an il- lustrious deliverer, for whom certain descriptive titles had been set apart, and, as it were, consecrated to his sole use ; so that no other might think of appropriating them. The Messiah or Christ — the Son of man — the Son of God — were names as incommunicable, if not as awful, as the solemn Jehovah of the Supreme Being ; for they described a person and an oifice, unique in splendor and maje.^ty. Jesus of Nazareth came — he appropriated these titles to himself, and he wore them with a naturalness and ease, indicative of his right to them. If that right were chal- lenged, instant was the vindication, both by word and deed. If he had not come and spoken unto them, uiibe- I 16 lieverB would not have had sin. If he had not done amoug ihem works which none other did, they had not had bin. But having done both, they had no cloak for their sin. Men and brethren, whatever may be our speculative reasonings concerning him, or whatever our neglects, we must have to do with Jesus Christ as the God-man ; m the very nature and character in which he describes him- self. Your doubts ...d quibbles, if you have them, cannot alter his nature, nor prejudice his claims, nor limit his pov er, nor remove you from his regal control. You must have to do with him whether you will or not— must meet him— must feel his glance upon your inmost heart— must have your soul in its thoughts, its habits, its character laid open before his omniscience. To this one great, all-impor- tanl matter, be entreated now to give earnest heed. He invites you to commit all your interests into his hands. As criminals you need justification— his precious blood cleans- eth from all sin. As polluted, you need renovation and danctification.— " If any man be in Christ he is a new crea- ture." As dissatisfied and unhappy, you need peace and rest. He says to you-" Come unto me all ye that are wearv and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. As afflicted, you need the sustaining power of an arm stronger far than one of flesh. H-, sweet voice is heard above the roar of the billows, saying-" Be of good cheer-it is 1, be not afraid." " My grace is sufficient for thee. As dying, you need the spiritual victory over the last enemy. He teaches you to exclaim — " O grave wiiere is thy victory 1 O deaili where, is thy stinp:'." and triumphantly to praise him "Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Chn.t Alter death you need a fitting home for the immortal spirit; he says-" In my Father's house are many mansions • • • I go to prepare a place for you." I would not urge you thus to commit yourself and your interests for time and eternity, to a mere creature however exalted. I feel the force of the difficulty suggested in the lines — , „ , . , " Can I trust a fellow being T Can 1 trust an Angel's care ? O thou merciful all-seeing '. Beam around my spirit there." But I do most earnestly urge you to commit yourself, wholly, to a Saviour, Almighty and all sufficient, who is, at once, the infinite God, and the elder brother-the advocate and friend ot all those who believe on him to hfe_«;^erlastmg.^ * J. C. Becket, Printer.