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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44119 ***
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+  JESUS, THE MESSIAH;
+
+  OR, THE
+
+  OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
+
+  FULFILLED
+
+  IN THE
+
+  NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
+
+
+  BY A LADY.
+
+
+  _The Profits will be devoted to Charitable Purposes._
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE;
+  AND SOLD BY
+  L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, FLEET-STREET.
+
+  MDCCCXXVIII.
+
+
+
+
+  MILLS, JOWETT, AND MILLS, PRINTERS,
+  BOLT-COURT, FLEET-STREET.
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION.
+
+
+TO THE
+
+RIGHT REV. CHARLES RICHARD, LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.
+
+
+MY LORD,
+
+I have been induced to solicit the honour of dedicating this little
+work to your Lordship from the conviction that its contents are not
+only consonant with the Doctrines and Articles of that Church of
+which your Lordship is so bright an ornament, but that they are in
+unison with the truths of Divine Revelation, that perfect standard
+by which all Theology and Morality must be judged. My object in
+presenting it to the Public is a wish to render the Scriptures more
+familiar to the young: and while I feel grateful for the honour of
+your Lordship's sanction, allow me to express my sincere thanks
+for the favour you have conferred on one who is, with the greatest
+respect,
+
+My Lord,
+Your Lordship's very obliged Servant,
+THE AUTHORESS.
+
+_August 18th, 1828._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Custom demands a preface; and though the public is generally
+uninterested in the reasons which influence an author to appear
+before its tribunal, yet an introductory notice is usually expected.
+
+This little work was the employment of many a retired moment. In
+turning over the pages of the sacred volume, the writer was struck
+with the exact fulfilment in the person of the Messiah, as narrated
+in the New Testament, of the numerous predictions recorded of him in
+the Old. These were collected for her personal gratification; and as
+they accumulated, it occurred, that what had been some little source
+of pleasure to her own mind, might, by the blessing of God, prove
+useful to some young persons, who from circumstances, are debarred
+access to, or are not inclined to read, works of a more extensive
+kind.
+
+While the writer has no disposition to despise that criticism which,
+if impartially administered, is the best safeguard of the press,
+neither would she timidly shrink from investigation; aware that no
+partiality of friends can long buoy up an unworthy production.
+
+This is not intended as the language of indifference, but arises
+from a consciousness of the purity of motive, and the desire to
+do good, which have actuated her; compared with which, all other
+considerations are momentary and unsatisfying.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+                                                          Page
+
+  I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between
+  thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
+  thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen. iii. 15.)                1
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
+  blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Gen.
+  xxii. 18.)                                                 4
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
+  from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him
+  shall the gathering of the people be. (Gen. xlix. 10.)     6
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
+  and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And in that
+  day, there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand
+  for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles
+  seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Is. xi. 1. 10.)     8
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  Thus saith the Lord God,--remove the diadem, and take
+  off the crown, until he come whose right it is; and I
+  will give it him. (Ezekiel xxi. 26, 27.)
+
+  For the children of Israel shall abide many days without
+  a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice,
+  and without an image, and without an ephod, and without
+  teraphim. Afterwards shall the children of Israel
+  return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their
+  king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the
+  latter days. (Hosea iii. 4, 5.)                           10
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from
+  the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto
+  him ye shall hearken. (Deut. xviii. 15-19.)               12
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye
+  the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a
+  highway for our God. (Isaiah xl. 3.)                      18
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold
+  a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his
+  name Immanuel. (Isaiah vii. 14.)                          22
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
+  among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he
+  come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
+  goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
+  (Micah v. 2.)                                             27
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah,
+  lamentation and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her
+  children, refused to be comforted for her children,
+  because they were not. (Jeremiah xxxi. 15.)               31
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
+  the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his
+  name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty
+  God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
+  (Isaiah ix. 6, 7.)                                        33
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
+  set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and
+  the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
+  shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
+  and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel ii. 44.)             45
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called
+  my son out of Egypt. (Hosea xi. 1.)                       49
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter
+  than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies,
+  their polishing was of sapphire: their visage is blacker
+  than a coal: they are not known in the streets: their
+  skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is
+  become like a stick. (Lamentations iv. 7, 8.)             51
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord
+  hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek:
+  he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim
+  liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
+  prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable
+  year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
+  God; to comfort all that mourn. (Isaiah lxi. 1, 2, 3.)    53
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep
+  thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
+  hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Psalm
+  xci. 11, 12.)                                             57
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
+  shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith
+  the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall
+  be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts:
+  and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of
+  hosts. (Haggai ii. 7. 9.)                                 58
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his
+  temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
+  delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of
+  hosts. (Mal. iii. 1.)                                     64
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIX.
+
+  Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her
+  vexation, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of
+  Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterwards did
+  more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond
+  Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that
+  walked in darkness, have seen a great light: they that
+  dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
+  hath the light shined. (Isaiah ix. 1, 2.)                 66
+
+
+  CHAPTER XX.
+
+  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter
+  of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he
+  is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an
+  ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zech. ix. 9.)   67
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXI.
+
+  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den
+  of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it,
+  saith the Lord. (Jeremiah vii. 11.)                       69
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXII.
+
+  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
+  strength because of thine enemies; that thou
+  mightest still the enemy and avenger. (Psalm viii. 2.)    72
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+  I have preached righteousness in the great congregation:
+  I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
+  (Psalm xl. 9.)                                            74
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+  I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark
+  sayings of old. (Psalm lxxviii. 2.)                       76
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXV.
+
+  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather
+  the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom,
+  and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah
+  xl. 11.)                                                  78
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of
+  the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his
+  eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
+  (Isaiah xi. 3.)                                           80
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears
+  of the deaf shall be unstopped. (Isaiah xxxv. 5.)         82
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue
+  of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters
+  break out, and streams in the desert. (Is. xxxv. 6.)      88
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+  Then said I, 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. (Psalm xl. 7, 8.)        92
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXX.
+
+  I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien
+  unto my mother's children. (Psalm lxix. 8.)               99
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+  They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and
+  they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and
+  imagine deceits all the day long. (Psalm xxxviii.)       102
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+  For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every
+  side: while they took counsel together against me, they
+  devised to take away my life. (Psalm xxxi. 13.)          104
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+  Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and
+  see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which
+  is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me
+  in the day of his fierce anger. (Lamentation i. 12.)     107
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which
+  did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against
+  me. (Psalm xli. 9.)
+
+  And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my
+  price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my
+  price, thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto
+  me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was
+  prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of
+  silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the
+  Lord. (Zechariah xi. 12, 13.)                            111
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came
+  upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
+  (Psalm xxvii. 2.)                                        115
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
+  thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the
+  rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and
+  against his anointed. (Psalm ii. 1, 2.)                  117
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+  False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge
+  things that I knew not. (Psalm xxxv. 11.)                121
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+  But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb
+  man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man
+  that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
+  (Psalm xxxviii. 13, 14.)                                 125
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+  My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and
+  my kinsmen stand afar off. (Psalm xxxviii. 11.)          127
+
+
+  CHAPTER XL.
+
+  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them
+  that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from
+  shame and spitting. (Isaiah l. 6.)                       129
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLI.
+
+  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,
+  and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our
+  faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed
+  him not. (Isaiah liii. 3.)
+
+  Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his
+  Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom
+  the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall
+  see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of
+  the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel,
+  and he shall choose thee. (Isaiah xlix. 7.)              131
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLII.
+
+  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and
+  despised of the people. (Psalm xxii. 6.)                 134
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
+  his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
+  and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
+  openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah liii. 7.)                 137
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who
+  shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out
+  of the land of the living: for the transgression of my
+  people was he stricken. (Isaiah liii. 8.)                139
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLV.
+
+  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the
+  wicked have enclosed me: they have pierced my hands
+  and my feet. (Psalm xxii. 16.)                           141
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why are
+  thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
+  roaring? (Psalm xxii. 1.)                                145
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+  Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the
+  man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite
+  the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I
+  will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah
+  xiii. 7.)                                                149
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon
+  my vesture. (Psalm xxii. 18.)                            153
+
+
+  CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst
+  they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalm lxix. 21.)         155
+
+
+  CHAPTER L.
+
+  With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon
+  me with their teeth. (Psalm xxxv. 16.)
+
+  All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out
+  the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the
+  Lord that he would deliver Him: let him deliver him,
+  seeing he delighted in him. (Psalm xxii. 7, 8.)          157
+
+
+  CHAPTER LI.
+
+  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.
+  (Isaiah liii. 12.)                                       159
+
+
+  CHAPTER LII.
+
+  He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken.
+  (Psalm xxxiv. 20.)                                       162
+
+
+  CHAPTER LIII.
+
+  And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.
+  (Zechariah xii. 10.)                                     163
+
+
+  CHAPTER LIV.
+
+  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth
+  their covering. (Isaiah 1. 3.)                           165
+
+
+  CHAPTER LV.
+
+  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the
+  rich in his death; because he hath done no violence,
+  neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah liii. 9.)   168
+
+
+  CHAPTER LVI.
+
+  The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast
+  covered him with shame. (Psalm lxxxix. 45.)              171
+
+
+  CHAPTER LVII.
+
+  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,
+  yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
+  afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
+  he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of
+  our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are
+  healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have
+  turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath
+  laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah liii. 4, 5,
+  6.)                                                      174
+
+
+  CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+  For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt
+  thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm
+  xvi. 9, 10.)                                             182
+
+
+  CHAPTER LIX.
+
+  Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity
+  captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the
+  rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell amongst
+  them. (Psalm lxviii. 18.)                                190
+
+
+  CHAPTER LX.
+
+  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour
+  out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your
+  daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
+  dreams, your young men shall see visions: and
+  also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those
+  days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel ii. 28, 29.)       195
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXI.
+
+  And I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the
+  inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
+  supplications: and they shall look upon me whom
+  they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one
+  mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
+  for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first
+  born. (Zech. xii. 10.)                                   201
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXII.
+
+  The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a
+  priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
+  (Psalm cx. 4.)                                           210
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXIII.
+
+  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon
+  thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make
+  an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
+  and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal
+  up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most
+  Holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the
+  going forth of the commandment to restore and to
+  build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall
+  be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the
+  street shall be built again, and the wall, even in
+  troublous times. (Daniel ix. 24, 25.)                    214
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXIV.
+
+  And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be
+  cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the
+  prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
+  sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
+  and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
+  (Daniel ix. 26.)                                         224
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXV.
+
+  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one
+  week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the
+  sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
+  overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
+  even until the consummation, and that determined shall
+  be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel ix. 27.)            229
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXVI.
+
+  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle;
+  and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled,
+  and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go
+  forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall
+  not be cut off from the city. (Zechariah xiv. 2.)        235
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXVII.
+
+  The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from
+  the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a
+  nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a
+  nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard
+  the person of the old, nor show favour to the young.
+  (Deut. xxviii. 49, 50.)
+
+  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and
+  wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou,
+  at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto
+  thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For
+  the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall
+  cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and
+  keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even
+  with the ground, and thy children within thee; and
+  they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
+  because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
+  (Luke xix. 41-44.)                                       240
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXVIII.
+
+  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field,
+  and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain
+  of the house as the high places of the forest.
+  (Micah iii. 12.)                                         243
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXIX.
+
+  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of
+  stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses
+  of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants
+  of Jerusalem. (Isaiah viii. 14.)                         246
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXX.
+
+  And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be
+  my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to
+  restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee
+  for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my
+  salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah xlix. 6.)   256
+
+
+  CHAPTER LXXI.
+
+  The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right
+  hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
+  (Psalm cx. 1.)                                          260
+
+
+
+
+JESUS, THE MESSIAH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy
+     seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
+     bruise his heel.--Gen. iii. 15.
+
+
+This is the first intimation we meet with of the promised Messiah,
+and within this one verse is contained, as in the bud, the embryo
+flower, that goodly plant of renown,[1] which the Lord hath planted,
+and not man; he who is the rose of Sharon and the valley's lily.[2]
+It is an epitome of the whole plan of Redemption, and contains
+truths of the first importance; we shall do well to consider them
+in reference to Jesus of Nazareth. The prophecy declares there
+shall be enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent. The
+incarnation and birth of Jesus have, by the Evangelists Matthew and
+Luke, been so fully stated, that none but a strongly prejudiced
+mind can deny that he was the son of Mary, then a virgin, and
+that Joseph was only his supposed father, because he married his
+mother.[3] The old serpent, or as he is frequently called, Satan,
+discovered his enmity towards Jesus from his birth; he stirred
+up the mind of Herod to destroy the holy child, Jesus, and thus
+originated the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem. Though
+disappointed, he personally attempted his destruction, and for forty
+days and nights did he try the force of his arts to tempt Jesus
+to sin.[4] And, though foiled, he again resumed the attack, and
+suggested to the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees, priests and
+people, to persecute the man "who spake as never man spake." It is
+said he entered into, _i.e._ took full possession of, the mind of
+Judas,[5] who betrayed Jesus, and also acted as guide to those who
+took him. Was not Satan the ringleader of those who crucified him,
+in whom his Judges declared, they could find no fault worthy of
+death? Let us now behold the opposition displayed by Jesus towards
+the serpent and his seed. A great part of his life appears to
+have been spent in casting out and dispossessing devils from the
+minds and bodies of men;[6] and in rebuking and threatening them,
+he proved that he came to destroy the power and works of darkness.
+His was an avowed and constant war, and the devils knew him as
+their greatest foe, and the destroyer of their power.[7] Although
+the heel, _i.e._ the human nature of Jesus, was bruised in the
+contest, yet, by his death, (in which Satan for the moment appeared
+triumphant,) he gave a mortal blow to his power and authority, by
+delivering the captives of the mighty, and the prey of the terrible
+one.[8] The cross, designed to display their scorn and abhorrence,
+is become the praise and glory of all the children of God, to whom,
+as unto their Lord and Master, the old serpent and his seed continue
+to manifest the same spirit of enmity and persecution.[9] Did devils
+confess Jesus to be the Son of the most high God, and shall not we
+acknowledge him to be the seed promised at the fall of man, and
+that he is, at the same time, Mary's son, and the Son of God?[10]
+The prince of the fallen spirits, the old serpent, or Satan,
+discovered his enmity to the human race in the garden of Eden; the
+woman was the first whom he deceived by his arts; but it was Jesus,
+her seed, who, in the after ages of the world, in the garden of
+Gethsemane, bruised the serpent's head, and at his resurrection, led
+captivity captive, and will eventually consign to utter darkness and
+perdition, this foe to God and man.[11]
+
+  [1] Isaiah liii. 2. Ezek. xxxiv. 29.
+
+  [2] Cant. ii. 1.
+
+  [3] Matthew i. 18-25. Luke i. 27. 30-35., ii. 5, 6, 7.
+
+  [4] Matthew iv. 1-11. Mark i. 12, 13. Luke iv. 2-13.
+
+  [5] Luke xxii. 3. John vi. 70., xiii. 2-27.
+
+  [6] Matthew iv. 24., viii. 16, 18-23., ix. 32-34., x. 1., xii.
+  24-28., xv. 22-28., xvi. 23., xvii. 14-19. Mark i. 23-27. 33, 34,
+  39., iii. 22-27., v. 2-19., vii. 25-30., viii. 33. Luke iv. 36-41.,
+  vi. 18., vii. 21., viii. 27-36., ix. 1, 38-42, 49. John xii. 31.,
+  Acts x. 38., 1 John, iii. 8.
+
+  [7] Mark iii. 11, 12., v. 6, 7. Luke iv. 33, 34, 41., viii. 28.
+
+  [8] Luke xxii. 53. John xiv. 30.
+
+  [9] 1 Peter v. 8.
+
+  [10] Gal. iv. 4. Col. i. 15., ii. 9.
+
+  [11] Matthew xxv. 41. Rom. xvi. 20. Col. ii. 15. Heb. ii. 14. 2
+  Peter ii. 4. Jude vi. 9. Rev. xii. 7-17., xx. 1, 2, 3. 10.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
+     because thou hast obeyed my voice.--Gen. xxii. 18.
+
+
+We now meet with a prophecy of the family from which Christ, after
+the flesh, should spring. The lineal descent from Abraham to Joseph,
+the husband of Mary, is given us by Matthew,[12] through forty-two
+generations; and Luke[13] gives the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam,
+through Abraham, in the whole seventy-four generations, showing at
+once that the seed promised to Adam and Abraham, is the same, even
+Jesus in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.[14] The
+reader will discover a difference between the names in the Old and
+New Testaments, which arises from the former being translated from
+the Hebrew, and the latter from the Greek language. It will also be
+observed, that the genealogies given by Matthew and Luke differ,
+but Matthew gives the pedigree of Joseph, and Luke that of Mary.
+Although the supposed father of Jesus is said by Luke to be the
+son of Heli, yet Matthew informs us Jacob begat Joseph,[15] who is
+called the son of Heli, only on account of the contract for marriage
+subsisting between Joseph and his daughter. This was a custom
+prevalent with the Jews, and these agreements were often made by
+the parents, before the parties most interested had ever seen each
+other, as was the case with Isaac and Rebecca. Although Abraham's
+posterity have been, as the sand on the sea shore, innumerable, and
+as a nation have enjoyed exceeding great and precious privileges,
+yet all the nations of the earth can never be said to be blessed in
+them, unless we take the prophecy in its true light, as pointing to
+Jesus "the promised blessing," whose day of "tabernacling" on earth,
+Abraham by faith saw afar off, "rejoiced, and was glad."
+
+  [12] Mat. i. 1-17.
+
+  [13] Luke iii. 23-38.
+
+  [14] Genesis xii. 3., xviii. 18. Psalm lxxii. 17.
+
+  [15] Matthew i. 16. Luke iii. 23.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+     The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
+     between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the
+     gathering of the people be.--Gen. xlix. 10.
+
+
+The Holy Ghost, by the mouth of the dying patriarch, Jacob, has
+pointed to the epoch when he, of whom Moses and the prophets did
+write, should appear. It is worthy our particular attention, that,
+at the period of time when Jesus came, Judea was still governed by a
+Jewish king. It is true the power of the royal Asmonean or Maccabean
+race was destroyed, and Herod the Great had ascended the throne of
+Israel, yet the sceptre was not departed from Judah. Herod was an
+Idumean, which nation had, for nearly two centuries, been proselytes
+to Judaism, and so incorporated and mingled with the Jews, as to be
+regarded as one people. Judea bowed to the Roman power, yet Herod
+exercised the regal authority, and was universally acknowledged
+as the sovereign of Jewry, when Jesus, the prince of peace, the
+king of Israel, appeared a babe at Bethlehem but no sooner was the
+Shiloh come, than the sceptre departed from Judah. On the death
+of Herod, which happened soon after the birth of Christ, Augustus
+Cæsar divided the kingdom of Judea between Archelaus, Herod, and
+Philip, the three sons of Herod. Archelaus succeeded to the half of
+his father's dominions by the title of tetrarch, but not of king;
+his tyranny and oppression were so great, that, in less than ten
+years, he was deposed and banished to France by the emperor, who
+then reduced Judea to a Roman province, and ruled it afterwards
+by procurators or governors, who were sent thither and recalled
+at pleasure; the taxes were now paid more directly to the Roman
+empire, and gathered by the publicans; the power of life and death
+was taken out of the hands of the Jews, and placed in those of the
+Roman governors. The Lord, when he is pleased, can make the wrath
+of man to praise him, and his enemies to minister to his glory.
+This sentiment we have most strikingly illustrated in the conduct
+of Caiaphas, who, in the moment he was plotting the destruction of
+Jesus, and thirsting for his blood, delivered a very remarkable
+prophecy,[16] the exact counterpart of the one we are now
+considering, in which he declared Jesus to be the promised Shiloh,
+who should gather together in one, all the children of God which
+are scattered abroad, not the nations of the Jews only, but the
+Gentiles also. Yes, Jesus will seek out and bring his people from
+the mountains whence they are scattered; in the cloudy and dark day
+he will bring his sons from afar, and his daughters from the ends of
+the earth, and there shall be one fold under one shepherd, even the
+glorious Shiloh.
+
+  [16] John xi. 49-52.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
+     a branch shall grow out of his roots. And in that day, there
+     shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
+     people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
+     glorious.--Isaiah xi. 1. 10.
+
+
+The Jews, from these prophecies, expected the Messiah would spring
+from the family of David, the son of Jesse; and this led them to
+preserve, with unusual attention, the genealogy of his descendants.
+We have abundant testimony that Jesus is of "the house and
+lineage of David."[17] By comparing scripture with scripture,[18]
+we may venture to affirm, Jesus is the "glorious branch" Jehovah
+hath made strong for himself. With regard to his human and divine
+nature, he is both "David's son and David's Lord." He is the "root
+and offspring of David," and the "bright and morning star." The
+Gentiles shall come to "his light," and kings to the "brightness
+of his rising." He is not only a "rod out of the stem of Jesse,"
+but he is the "tree of life" whose "leaves are for the healing of
+the nations," whose top shall "reach unto heaven," and his branches
+"cover the earth." He is Jehovah's ensign of mercy displayed to a
+rebel world, and both the Jewish and Gentile nations are invited to
+enlist under the banners of the cross. Those who seek an inheritance
+in the kingdom of the true David, if it be agreeable to the charter
+of Immanuel's land, shall find his rest to be glorious.
+
+  [17] Since the destruction of Jerusalem, the genealogy of the Jews
+  is lost; the tribe or family of David cannot be distinguished from
+  that of Benjamin.
+
+  [18] Psalm cxxxii. 11. Isaiah ix. 6, 7., lv. 3, 4, 5. Jerem. xxiii.
+  5, 6., xxxiii. 15. Zech. iii. 8., vi. 12, 13.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     Thus saith the Lord, remove the diadem and take off the
+     crown, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it
+     him.--Ezekiel xxi. 26, 27.
+
+     For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king,
+     and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an
+     image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterwards
+     shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their
+     God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his
+     goodness in the latter days.--Hosea iii. 4, 5.
+
+
+The Jews themselves must confess this prophecy to be in part
+fulfilled. They are wanderers from their beloved Canaan, strangers
+in a strange land, scattered over all parts of the globe, and
+destitute of all the local privileges which constitute a nation,
+although they still retain a distinction of character; but it only
+tends to make them a reproach, and their name a by-word amongst all
+classes. They dwell alone, and are not now reckoned amongst the
+nations of the earth. The insignia of royal dignity are useless
+to them, having no king or prince on whom to bestow the crown or
+diadem. They are deprived of their temple and its services, and of
+all the glorious distinctions which marked it from those dedicated
+to false or unknown Gods. The latter clause of this prophecy shall
+as assuredly be fulfilled, for heaven and earth shall pass away,
+sooner than one of the promises of God fail to be accomplished.
+Yes, the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their
+God, and him of whom David was only a type, even King Jesus,[19]
+who is of David's royal line, "and the government shall be upon
+his shoulders," for he is the "wonderful counsellor, the mighty
+God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace." Hasten, Lord! we
+would say, the time "when the deliverer shall arise out of Zion,
+and turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Assume the sceptre of thy
+power, Jesus, thou king of Zion, thou "Son of the Highest! for the
+Lord God has given unto thee the throne of thy father, David; thou
+shalt reign over the house of Jacob for ever." "Of the increase of
+thy government and peace there shall be no end; upon the throne of
+David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
+judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal
+of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
+
+  [19] Ezek. xxi. 26, 27.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the
+     midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall
+     hearken.--Deut. xviii. 15-19.
+
+
+This is one of the many precious promises given by God to Israel.
+Moses is a character justly deserving our regard and veneration.
+The Jewish nation held him in high estimation, and almost idolized
+his memory. Perhaps our time may not be misemployed in searching
+for proofs of the fulfilment of this prophecy, and in examining the
+character of one (even Jesus) who declares himself to be not only a
+prophet like unto Moses, but in every respect his superior; which,
+if proved, will clearly warrant their giving unto Jesus far greater
+honour than was even due to Moses. In drawing a comparison between
+these illustrious personages, we observe; they both sprang from the
+family of Jacob or Israel; Moses, when a child, was, for a time,
+concealed by his parents from the persecuting Pharoah; the child
+Jesus also, was, by command of God the Father, taken into Egypt,
+to avoid the tyranny of Herod: thus both escaped the destruction
+executed on all the other male children. Moses was raised up from
+the midst of the people, from amongst his brethren the children
+of Israel; Jesus having taken on him our nature, is not ashamed to
+call us brethren. Moses was a prophet, called and taught of God;
+Jesus is the sent, the sealed, the anointed of God, at whose call
+he came forth. Moses saw God face to face; Jesus lay in the bosom
+of the Father. Moses wrought miracles by the command and aid of
+God; Jesus wrought many miracles in the days of his flesh, but
+all in his own name and by his own power. Moses was an honoured
+instrument in bringing Israel from the bondage of Egypt; but Jesus
+delivers his people Israel from worse than Egyptian taskmasters,
+even the bondage of sin and Satan. Moses fasted forty days before he
+gave the law to Israel. Jesus fasted forty days before he entered
+on his public ministry. When Moses wrought miracles in Egypt, the
+magicians were obliged to confess the divine power by which he
+acted. Jesus expelled the evil spirits, and they acknowledged his
+almighty power. Moses commanded the sea to retire, and it obeyed
+his voice. Jesus said to the tempestuous winds and sea, "Peace,
+be still!" and instantly there was a great calm. Moses cured one
+leper.[20] Jesus cured many. Moses chose and appointed seventy
+elders over the people, on whom God bestowed the spirit of prophecy.
+Jesus chose seventy apostles, whom he endowed with miraculous
+powers, and sent forth to teach in the villages. Moses chose twelve
+men, whom he sent to spy out the land the Israelites were about
+to conquer. Jesus chose twelve apostles, and commanded them to go
+forth and preach the gospel to all the world, and subject it to
+his allegiance, by a more glorious power than that of arms. Moses
+was in danger of being stoned by the rebellious and ungrateful
+people, whom he had constantly laboured to benefit. The Jews also
+took up stones to stone Jesus in return for his numerous favours.
+The relations of Moses were greatly offended with him for marrying
+an Ethiopian woman.[21] Jesus has espoused the Gentile church, to
+the no small displeasure of the Jews. When Moses was the prophet of
+Israel, they were fed with manna from heaven. Jesus miraculously
+fed five thousand and seven thousand persons; he could say "I am
+the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of
+this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will
+give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
+When Moses, by God's command, stretched forth his hand, darkness
+covered the land of Egypt, which was shortly followed by the awful
+destruction of its first-born; when Jesus was crucified, darkness
+covered the land, which, not many years after, was the scene of the
+most dire calamities. Was Moses a prophet? and did he not speak
+of the calamities that would befall the Jews? as such, see Jesus
+teaching the people, and foretelling the time and circumstances of
+his own decease, and also the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.
+Was Moses as king in Jeshurun? Jesus is not only king in Zion, but
+King of kings, and Lord of lords; by him kings rule, and princes
+decree justice. Moses is described as an almost perfect character;
+Jesus as wholly free from the least spot or stain of sin. Moses was
+remarkable for meekness; Jesus, when led as a lamb to the slaughter,
+opened not his mouth; when reviled, he reviled not again; when
+persecuted, he blessed. Moses, by command of God, gave laws and
+statutes, and instituted ordinances in Israel; Jesus instituted the
+ordinance of the Lord's Supper, and gave laws and commandments to
+his people. The law given by Moses tends only to condemnation, but
+Jesus "has brought light and immortality to light by his gospel."
+The law of Moses was designed "as a schoolmaster to bring us to
+Christ;" the doctrine of Jesus is, "I am the way, the truth, and
+the life." Moses acted as a mediator between God and Israel, at
+the giving of the covenant on Sinai; Jesus is the great day's-man,
+and the almighty mediator of the new covenant. Did Moses plead
+for the rebellious Israelites? we also hear Jesus interceding for
+transgressors, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not
+what they do." Moses read the law in the ears of all Israel; Jesus
+writes his laws upon the hearts of his people, and his truths in
+their inward parts. When Moses descended from Mount Sinai, after
+holding converse with God, his face shone exceeding bright; we are
+told when Jesus was transfigured on Mount Tabor, his face shone as
+the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Did Moses choose
+rather "to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy
+the pleasures of sin for a season?" Jesus preferred suffering
+misery and woe for a time, rather than his people should endure
+the everlasting punishment which their sins deserved. Did Moses
+esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
+Egypt? Jesus considers the odium affixed to his cross, as a more
+honourable distinction than the possession of thousands of gold
+and silver. Moses, as a servant, was faithful in all his house;
+Jesus could say "Father, I have finished the work thou hast given
+me to do," "I have glorified thee on the earth," and "those thou
+gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost." (See John xvii.
+12) Moses was permitted, from the heights of Pisgah, to view the
+goodly land of promise; which was but a type of the heavenly rest
+Jesus has prepared for those who love him. Moses, as a prophet, was
+great in Israel; Jesus is the Lord God of the prophets, and unto him
+shall the people hearken; he will give them the hearing ear and the
+understanding heart, and make them willing in the day of his power.
+"Every soul that will not hearken unto this prophet, shall be cut
+off," for be it known to all people, "that there is none other name
+under heaven given amongst men, whereby we can be saved," but that
+of Jesus, who is of a truth "the prophet that was for to come." It
+was said, by way of reproach, thou art this man's disciple, but we
+are Moses' disciples. Let us not consider it a disgrace to own our
+attachment to him, who is in every point of view far superior to
+Moses, who was but his servant, and the creature of his power. Where
+shall we find a person who so closely resembles Moses, as Christ?
+Surely he was the prophet foretold! Yet the Jews rejected him, and
+by that rejection prove that Jesus was he of whom Moses wrote--for
+the Lord has executed the punishment he threatened should befall
+them, if they refused to hearken unto this prophet; thus the Jews
+are living monuments of the truth as it is in Jesus. Oh, may we take
+warning from their calamities, and receive the sent, the sealed, the
+anointed of the Father, as our prophet, priest, and king; even Jesus
+the Messiah, the Christ of God!
+
+  [20] Numbers xii. 15.
+
+  [21] Numbers xii. 1.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
+     way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our
+     God.--Isaiah xl. 3.
+
+
+The Prophets Isaiah and Malachi[22] were commissioned to inform the
+church, that when the period should arrive for the coming of the
+Messiah, a messenger would be sent to announce his near approach.
+This promise was most strictly fulfilled: Jesus, the Son of the Most
+High God, did not visit this our world, without first directing an
+herald to proclaim his coming; even John, who was sent to prepare
+the way before him.[23] This harbinger deserves our attention;
+he was no ordinary character. An angel, even Gabriel, posted from
+heaven to speak of his birth, and declare he should be filled with
+the Holy Ghost from the first dawn of life. If such distinguishing
+honour was paid to the messenger, how great that due to the master!
+John demands our respect, on account of the sanctity of his life,
+the simplicity of his manners, and the active zeal and ardent love
+he manifested in the cause, and towards the person, of his Lord,
+and for the integrity and faithfulness exhibited in every part of
+his conduct towards man. He feared not to reprove sin in whatever
+class of persons he beheld it, from the common soldier even to the
+monarch on the throne. To a character so exemplary as John's, the
+highest respect and veneration are due; and the testimony of such a
+man deserves not to be lightly regarded. John's birth was six months
+prior to his Lord's,[24] and being the first who used water-baptism
+as a divine ordinance, he was surnamed the Baptist. He abode "in
+the deserts" of Judea "until the day of his showing unto Israel,"
+and had never seen his Lord (who resided at Nazareth, in Galilee),
+until he came to Jordan for baptism. The testimony he then gave to
+the person of Jesus merits observation. He publicly acknowledged him
+to be the person whose way he was sent to prepare, and spoke of him
+as one whose shoe's latchet he was not worthy to unloose. We see
+John, when surrounded by his own disciples, point to Jesus, and say
+"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and
+"this is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred
+before me; for he was before me." John gave the most decided
+testimony to the Godhead of Jesus, for he said he would "baptise
+with the Holy Ghost," which is the prerogative only of God. What
+man can, by any means, redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom
+for his soul? but John spake of his Lord as "the Lamb of God, which
+taketh away the sin of the world." Yes, he is the "Lamb slain from
+the foundation of the world." Under the Mosaic dispensation, the
+lamb slain, as a morning and evening sacrifice, and on the great day
+of atonement, was only a type of this Lamb of God's own providing,
+who offered himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of many. When
+the disciples of John appeared displeased at the growing popularity
+of Jesus, their master instantly checked them by saying "he must
+increase, but I must decrease; he that cometh from heaven is above
+all." After John was cast into prison, we find him sending two of
+his disciples to Jesus, to inquire if he were the Christ or not.[25]
+Having heard the testimony John had before given to the person of
+Jesus, we cannot suppose he had any doubts in his own mind as to his
+being the Messiah, but rather that he was fully convinced of the
+fact himself; and wishing his disciples to be firmly established
+in the same faith, he, as the most effectual method, sent them to
+Jesus for satisfactory proofs of a truth which he (John) had been
+continually teaching through the whole course of his ministry. John
+was a faithful witness in his master's cause, and to him we are much
+indebted. But let us not bestow on him the honours due to Jesus, who
+is deservedly preferred before him; for, as John justly observed, he
+was before him. This is strictly true, for although Jesus did not
+take on him our nature until six months after the birth of John,
+yet, being God as well as man, his existence is from everlasting to
+everlasting.
+
+  [22] Mal. iii. 1., iv. 5.
+
+  [23] Matt. iii. 3., xi. 2-15. Mark i. 2-8. Luke i. 5-26.
+
+  [24] Luke i. 39-44.
+
+  [25] Luke vii. 18-28.
+
+Josephus, in his history of the Jews, speaks of John the Baptist
+in the highest terms of respect and veneration: he says he had
+acquired such credit and authority amongst the people by the
+holiness of his life, and his disciples were so numerous, that
+Herod, dreading a revolt, confined John in the castle of Macharas,
+and afterwards beheaded him, for no other crime than his honest
+faithfulness.[26] Herod's army was soon after totally routed by the
+troops of Aretas, and the Jews considered it as a mark of Divine
+vengeance for his cruel treatment of the Holy Baptist.
+
+  [26] Matt. xiv. 3-10.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold a
+     virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
+     Immanuel.--Isaiah vii. 14.
+
+
+The portion of scripture now before us is highly interesting, and
+demands serious attention. About seven hundred and eight years
+before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah was commissioned
+to tell the church, a virgin should conceive and bear a son, and
+should call his name Immanuel. For proofs of the fulfilment of
+this prophecy, we would refer to Matthew and Luke,[27] and request
+their testimony may be read with the serious attention the
+subject demands. The unblushing infidel may treat it with scorn
+and ridicule; but let not one bearing the name of Christ, venture
+to speak with lightness, on this so highly momentous an article of
+the christian faith. We cannot suppose the Lord, after giving this
+promise, would be unmindful of its accomplishment: if the birth
+of Christ had been the result of natural causes, there would have
+been nothing to excite surprise, nor would it have been a sign, as
+the Lord himself declared it should be. If he had been born after
+the manner of the children of men, no doubt he must have partaken
+of their evil nature. Or if his body had been formed of the dust,
+as was Adam's, how could the promise given at the fall of man,
+have been fulfilled? And what relationship would there then have
+existed between Christ and his church? But now he is "bone of our
+bone, and flesh of our flesh." For in the fulness of time, "God
+sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he
+might redeem them which are under the law." "Lo! in the volume of
+the book, it is written of him," "sacrifice and offerings for sin,
+thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared for him." A body
+subject to all the infirmities of our nature, yet wholly free from
+the sinful principles, and evil propensities of the human race. His
+name shall be called "Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God
+with us," God in our nature.[28] Yes, the uncreated word was "made
+flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld his glory, the glory as
+of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." "In
+him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." The Socinian may
+smile with contempt when the Deity of Jesus is attested, but is it
+not written? "Behold ye despisers, and wonder and perish!" Shall
+not "he that sitteth upon the circle of the heavens, laugh?--the
+Lord shall have them in utter derision." We would candidly confess,
+there are mysteries in this doctrine above the powers of a finite
+mind fully to comprehend. But are we, for that cause, to refuse
+our belief of its truth? We should indeed be reduced to a most
+distressing dilemma, if we were to disbelieve every thing we cannot
+fully comprehend. Who can discover or fully explain the nature,
+order, and beauteous economy, displayed in the animate and inanimate
+creation? They are so many problems unsolvable by man, although
+by the dint of study, many of the causes and effects by which we
+are encircled, have been traced up to their mighty Author, and
+eagle-eyed genius has let in a world of wonders to our view; yet
+much, very much, both in the heavens, the earth, and mighty deep,
+remains enwrapt in clouds, or thick darkness. Even in the formation
+of a blade of grass, there are operations which man cannot define.
+We enjoy the genial rays of heaven's bright luminary, but who can
+prove to demonstration, the sources from whence he has derived such
+a constant supply of matter, as to furnish our system of worlds,
+with light and heat for nearly six thousand years? In short who
+can discover or fully explain the mysterious link which unites
+mind to matter? But surely we do not allow ourselves to disbelieve
+the reality of their existence, because we cannot enter into the
+minutiæ of their nature. If there was nothing revealed, in the New
+Testament, of the nature and person of Christ, but what we could
+fully comprehend, we should then have some cause to refuse our
+assent to its truth, and might confess it to be a cunningly devised
+fable. But while great is the mystery of godliness, remember it is
+God manifest in the flesh; not God putting off his Deity to take the
+human nature, but it is the second person in the revealed order
+of the triune Jehovah, who takes our nature into union with his
+divine person, and veils his Godhead beneath the human flesh. Thus
+is God and man united in the person of our glorious Immanuel; and
+as if no proof should be wanting of his Deity, the angel Gabriel
+when directing Mary to call his name Jesus, added: "for he shall
+save his people from their sins." Thus did he give the most decided
+testimony to his Godhead, for who but God, strictly speaking, can
+claim a people as his own? and none but God can save them from their
+sins. In regard to the Virgin Mary, we would cheerfully join in
+Gabriel's salutation, "Hail! thou highly favoured of the Lord;" but,
+at the same time, we would beg to observe a nice distinction with
+reference to Mary, who was only one of Eve's daughters, and, though
+highly honoured of the Lord in this particular instance, an honour
+which never was or can be conferred on another; yet Mary's salvation
+depended on the same foundation as the rest of God's children,
+and it is plain Mary viewed it in the same light, for we hear her
+saying, "My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit doth rejoice
+in God my Saviour." Mary was only a creature, and consequently it
+is sinful to offer her adoration, for it is written "thou shalt
+worship the Lord thy God, and none other." As to her having any
+particular interest at the court of heaven, Jesus has determined
+that point, by saying, "Woman what have I to do with thee, mine hour
+is not yet come." It is worthy observation, that whenever Jesus
+spoke of Mary, he invariably called her "woman," as if at once to
+silence all who he knew would in after ages bestow improper honours
+on the virgin. When one said "Behold thy mother and thy brethren
+stand without desiring to speak with thee," Jesus pointed to his
+disciples, and said, "behold my mother and my brethren;" and added,
+"whosoever shall do the will of my father who is in heaven, the
+same is my mother, and sister, and brother." Whether Mary had, or
+had not children, after the birth of Jesus, is to us a matter of no
+importance; all it concerns us is to know she had none before.
+
+  [27] Matt. i. 18-25. Luke i. 26-38.
+
+  [28] Col. ii. 9. 1 Cor. xv. 47. Rom. ix. 5. 1 Tim. iii. 16. John i.
+  1., i. 14.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
+     thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me,
+     that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from
+     of old, from everlasting.--Micah v. 2.
+
+
+We find Boaz (the husband of Ruth) was of Bethlehem, a small city
+belonging to the tribe of Judah, situate about five or six miles
+from Jerusalem, and his posterity continued to possess it for some
+time, for it was the birth-place of David, the son of Jesse the
+Bethlehemite, great grandson to Boaz. This was the city from which,
+according to prophecy, the Messiah should come. If we examine the
+records left by the Evangelists, we shall find a decree was issued
+by Augustus Cæsar, to tax all the people of the Jews, and every
+family was ordered to repair to the cities belonging to their
+respective tribes. This it was, which brought the Virgin Mary from
+Nazareth to Bethlehem, she being of the house and lineage of David.
+It is probable the whole family of David were cited to assemble for
+the purpose of being taxed; it might be with a design to humble and
+mortify them, for they had a rightful claim to the throne of Judah.
+If this had not been the case, it is more than probable Mary, from
+her situation, would have been permitted to remain at Nazareth.
+Whatever were the motives of the civil authorities, we have cause
+to bless our God for thus overruling events, which distinctively
+considered were oppressive, but now tend to establish the truth as
+it is in Jesus. What else, humanly speaking, could have brought
+Mary, a female in the humblest walk of life, to Bethlehem?--If it
+were not for this circumstance, we should have wanted this proof
+of Jesus being the Messiah; for we are told, he should be born at
+Bethlehem, a city little among the thousands of Judah.[29] Although
+a manger was the best accommodation offered for the royal babe, yet
+his birth was not altogether unnoticed, or passed by, as an event
+of little importance; for lo! amidst the stillness of the night,
+an angelic messenger is sent to announce to Jewish shepherds, the
+arrival of the chief Shepherd. No sooner are the glad tidings of
+great joy communicated, but a multitude of the heavenly hosts, who
+had followed with joyful haste, make the air re-echo with sounds,
+sweet as the music of heaven. While charmed with the delightful
+melody, and breathless to catch the strain, we distinctly hear,
+"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards
+men." The next object which arrests our attention, is a company of
+Eastern philosophers, who are come to pay their adorations to the
+sovereign stranger, and to welcome his arrival. But who could have
+directed them to this obscure retreat, to find the infant King?
+They were led thither, by a star of peculiar motion, appointed
+to direct these eastern sages (probably Chaldeans), to Israel's
+King. But how ill did his appearance accord with the dignity of
+his character; yet notwithstanding the poverty with which he
+was surrounded, they worshipped him. For he who was a babe at
+Bethlehem, by the mysterious union of the human nature with the
+divine person, is the same "whose goings forth have been from of
+old, from everlasting." We are told that when he went forth in the
+acts of creation, "the morning stars sang together, and all the
+sons of God shouted for joy." What wonder then if they tuned their
+golden harps afresh, when he went forth to accomplish redemption's
+work, which mystery the angels are represented as desiring to look
+into. He is also described as a Ruler not only in the armies of
+heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of earth; but, in a more near
+and interesting sense, does he reign and rule in the hearts of his
+redeemed. The symbol of his authority is not an iron rod; no, he
+rules them with the sceptre of his love. We would say "Gird on thy
+sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty; and go forth, conquering
+and to conquer; until every land shall own thy power, and all the
+nations of the earth shall call the Redeemer blessed." May we
+imitate these eastern sages, and not feel ashamed to confess our
+attachment to him, who once appeared as an infant at Bethlehem; for
+it became him, in taking our nature, to assume it from its earliest
+state, and in all things to be made like unto his brethren, sin only
+excepted.
+
+  [29] It will be observed the chief priests and scribes, in quoting
+  this passage (see Matt. ii. 6.) have not given it correctly, but
+  have made it bend as much as possible to their ideas of a temporal
+  prince.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation
+     and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to
+     be comforted for her children, because they were not.--Jeremiah
+     xxxi. 15.
+
+
+It will not be difficult to discover the mourning prophet referred
+to the murder of the infants of Bethlehem, when it is remembered
+that Rachel the beloved wife of Jacob, was the mother of Benjamin,
+which tribe, with that of Judah and the family of Levi, after the
+revolt of the ten tribes, formed the kingdom of Judah. We are told
+the wise men came to Jerusalem, to inquire from the Jews themselves,
+at what place their long promised King should be born; and when told
+Bethlehem was the honoured spot, they departed with a charge from
+Herod, then king of Judah, to return and bring him tidings, that he
+also might go and worship the infant King. But his hypocrisy was
+soon discovered. Under pretence, that the wise men had offered him
+an insult in not returning to Jerusalem, he issued an order, to
+destroy all the children in Bethlehem, from two years old and under.
+An order in every point of view, most cruel, unjust, and cowardly,
+and which the most hardened wretch must have shuddered to execute.
+The mind cannot conceive an act of greater barbarity, than the
+murder of so many innocent babes, in order to be sure of one, even
+the holy child Jesus. It does not appear that any of their parents
+had offended the cowardly tyrant, whose heart was harder than the
+nether mill-stone. What wonder if the voice of lamentation and wo
+was heard, when the murderer's sword was (to use the prophet's
+language) made drunk with blood, with the blood of helpless infants,
+who were torn from the arms of those who would gladly have shed
+their own blood in the rescue of their babes; but the armed ruffian
+band, like their master, were insensible to pity, and deaf to the
+cry of mercy. Well might Rachel, a mother in Israel, have wept, had
+she witnessed this cruel order executed on the infants of her race!
+How enviable the lot of those youthful martyrs for the cause of
+Christ, compared to his, who, though seated on a throne, trembled at
+the name of Jesus, even when an infant at Bethlehem.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+     For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
+     government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
+     called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting
+     Father, The Prince of Peace.--Isaiah ix. 6, 7.
+
+
+These words, like numerous other passages in the word of God, are
+far too sublime to be attached to a mere creature; at the same time,
+they certainly express ideas which cannot be attributed to Deity.
+"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," is language
+improper to be applied to Godhead, while the Mighty God, the
+Everlasting Father, are titles too Godlike to belong to humanity. In
+what light are we to view them, if not as descriptive of the person
+of the God-man, Christ Jesus? To whom but the Messiah, are we to
+apply this, and the many expressions of a similar kind, which we
+find so profusely scattered through the sacred volume? It is to the
+wonderful person of the Messiah, God united to the man Christ Jesus,
+that we direct our thoughts, as the glorious object presented to the
+faith of the patriarchs and ancient Israel of God. To him give all
+the prophets witness. All the types prefigure him. All the shadows
+are designed to represent him, the substance. He is exhibited to
+our view in a variety of characters, relations, and offices; and is
+not God and man, united in one complex person, clearly revealed in
+this prophecy? Let us apply it to Jesus:--Unto us a child is born,
+unto us a son is given. Behold him! a babe at Bethlehem, subject
+to all the wants, weakness and helplessness connected with a state
+of infancy and childhood; such was the holy child Jesus. Unto us
+a son is given, who is acknowledged to be of David's royal line;
+yet this son of humanity, is also declared to be the only begotten
+Son of God, a Son who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and
+the express image of his person. But this Son is not given as a
+Saviour to fallen angels, they are passed by, although possessed of
+faculties and powers, far superior to the sons of earth; "God so
+loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever
+believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."
+Yes, Christ is the gift of God, and the richest, God could bestow;
+he parted with the choicest jewel in the treasury of heaven; and
+God has not such another son to give, even if the redemption of ten
+thousand worlds required it. How amazing the love that could prompt
+even God, to deliver up such a son; a son, in whom he declared
+himself always well pleased; a son whom all the angels of God
+are commanded to worship; yet he was given up to shame, reproach,
+and sufferings; yea, his Father became the chief executioner. "It
+pleased the Father to bruise him, and put him to shame." Well might
+the prophet exclaim, "Wonder O heaven and be astonished O earth!"
+Jesus declared that, as the son of man, all power in heaven and
+earth was given to him; and surely the government ought to be on
+his shoulders, for who so fit to manage all, as he who is the
+Wonderful Counsellor; he who, from all eternity, knew the plans and
+counsels of Jehovah, and with whom he concerted and contrived the
+creation and redemption of man; and was it not between the Father
+and this Son, that the council of peace was settled and established,
+and is it not "a covenant well ordered in all things[30] and
+sure," and does not that part of it published to us in the written
+word, proclaim it the work of a Wonderful Counsellor? He indeed
+is wonderful, both in his person and work: the wonders of his
+love are here past finding out; the wonders of his grace are now
+unsearchable, and it is reserved for an eternity to discover all
+the mysteries in the Wonderful Person of the God-man, Christ Jesus,
+which are here incomprehensible.
+
+  [30] Zech. vi. 13
+
+Are we not told that the child born, the son given, is the mighty
+God? which must surely mean, that the same divine essence dwells in
+the Father and the Son; that it is one true and essential Godhead,
+dwelling in the person of the Father, Son, and Spirit; not that
+they are three Gods, but three distinct persons, constituting one
+Godhead?--(Does not the body and spirit form one man?) Is not the
+Son declared equal to the Father as touching his Godhead? Are not
+their names more descriptive of the relations they sustain in
+the scheme of Redemption, than indicative of any superiority or
+inferiority in their essence, or Godhead? Is it not the second
+person in the glorious Trinity, who has taken the human nature
+into union with his divine person? And are not God and man united
+in the complex person of Jesus of Nazareth, Israel's long promised
+and expected Messiah? His humanity is fully proved by his birth,
+life, and death; and his Deity is fully attested in the strongest
+language, for to whom the names, titles, attributes, works and
+prerogatives of God are ascribed, and declared to belong, surely,
+He must be the true God; and we have only to search the record of
+truth, and we shall find ascribed to him, all the distinguishing
+names and titles of God, as:--
+
+     Jehovah, or the Lord,--Isaiah vi. 1. 9, 10. John xii. 37-41.
+     Isaiah xlv. 24, 25. Rom. v. 18. 2 Cor. v. 21. Psalm lxxxiii. 18.
+     Isaiah xlii. 8., xlv. 5, 6. Jeremiah xxiii. 6. 1 Cor. i. 30.
+     Zech. xi. 12, 13. Math. xxvii. 9, 10.
+
+     The true God,--John i. 2., xvii. 3. 1 John v. 20, 21.
+
+     The Great and Mighty God,--Deut. x. 17. Jer. xxxii. 18, 19.
+     Isaiah ix. 6. Titus ii. 13.
+
+     The only God,--Rom. xiv. 9, 10, 11, 12. Deut. iv. 35. 39. Isaiah
+     xlv. 5. 15. 18. 21-25.
+
+     The only wise God,--Eph. iii. 25, 26, 27. Jude 24, 25. Rom. xvi.
+     27. 1 Tim i. 17.
+
+     God blessed for ever,--Rom. i. 25. 2 Cor. xi. 31. Rom. ix. 5.
+
+     King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,--1 Tim. vi. 14, 15, 16. Rev.
+     xvii. 14., xix. 13. 16. Deut. x. 17.
+
+     The Lord of Hosts,--2 Sam. vi. 2., vii. 26. Psalm xxiv. 10.
+     Isaiah i. 24., vi. 3., viii. 13, 14., xliv. 6. Hosea xii. 4, 5.
+     Isaiah viii. 13, 14., xxviii. 16. Psalm cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi.
+     42. 44. Luke xx. 17, 18. 1 Peter ii. 6, 7, 8. Hosea xii. 4, 5.
+     Isaiah liv. 5. Rom. ix. 33., x. 11.
+
+     The First and the Last,--Isaiah xli. 4., xliv. 6., xlviii. 11,
+     12. Rev. i. 8. 11. 17, 18., ii. 8.
+
+_All the attributes of God ascribed to Christ._
+
+     Omniscience,--1 Kings viii. 39. Isaiah xli. 21, 22, 23. Jer.
+     xvii. 9, 10. Matt. xii. 25. John ii. 24, 25., xxi. 17. Rev. ii.
+     23.
+
+     Omnipresence,--Psalm xxiii. 4., cxxxix. 7-10. Isaiah xli. 10.,
+     xliii. 5. Jer. xxiii. 24. Matt. xviii. 20., xxviii. 20. Eph. i.
+     23.
+
+     Omnipotence,--Gen. xvii. 1., xxxv. 11., xlviii. 3. Phil. iii.
+     21. Rev. i. 8.
+
+     Eternity,--Psalm xlv. 6., xc. 2. Isaiah xliv. 6. Heb. i. 8.,
+     vii. 3. Rev. i. 18., ii. 8.
+
+     Immutability,--Mal. iii. 6. Heb. i. 12., xiii. 8., i. 8.
+
+_Divine works ascribed to Christ._
+
+     Creation of the world,--Gen. i. 1. Psalm cii. 25, 26, 27. Isaiah
+     xliv. 24. John i. 1, 2, 3. 10. Col. i. 16, 17. Heb. i. 3. 10.,
+     iii. 4.
+
+     Final Judgment of the world,--Psalm 1. 6. Matt. xxv. 31-46. John
+     v. 21, 22. 25. 27. Rom. iii. 6., xiv. 10. 2 Tim. iv. 1. 2 Cor.
+     v. 10.
+
+_The Prerogatives of God ascribed to Christ._
+
+     To forgive sin,--Isaiah xliii. 25. Matt. ii. 5. 10. Acts vii.
+     59, 60. Col. iii. 13.
+
+     To Baptise with the Holy Ghost,--Joel ii. 28, 29. Neh. ix. 20.
+     Zech. xii. 10. Matt. iii. 11. Acts i. 5., ii. 33. John vii. 39.,
+     xvi. 7. Eph. iv. 8.
+
+_The Kingdom and Honours of God ascribed to Christ_.
+
+     An everlasting Kingdom--Psalm xxix. 10., xlv. 6, 7. Heb. i. 8.
+
+     An universal Kingdom,--Psalm ciii. 19. John xvii. 10. Acts x.
+     36. Rom. x. 12.
+
+     Divine Worship,--Deut. vi. 13, 14, 15., x. 20. Exod. xxxiv. 14.
+     Psalm xlv. 11. Matt. iv. 10. John v. 23., xiv. 1., xx. 28. Acts
+     vii. 59. Rom x. 13., xiv. 11., xv. 12. Rev. v. 13.
+
+Is not God represented in his word, as highly jealous of his honour,
+and has he not solemnly declared, that he will not give his glory
+to another? Then, if Christ is not equal to the Lord of Hosts,
+whence is it, that the great God does allow, and sanction, his
+distinguishing names, titles, attributes and works, to be ascribed
+to Jesus? Can we imagine God to be unmindful of his own honour, or
+so unkind to his creatures, as to permit those names so descriptive
+of Deity, to be applied to any mere creature, however superior,
+or exalted? Has he not pronounced an awful curse on those who
+worship any but the true God? Can we suppose the blessed God so
+inattentive to the happiness of his creatures, as to suffer in his
+revealed word, language so strikingly calculated to lead men into
+a belief of the Deity of Jesus, if in fact he was not God? No, the
+God of Truth does not trifle thus with the children of men. He has
+set all the great and fundamental doctrines of the gospel in the
+fore-ground; all truths that are essential to be known in order
+to salvation, are written as with a sunbeam; the Deity of Jesus,
+foremost of the whole, is so plain, "that he who runs may read,"
+and the "wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot err therein." It does
+not require superior intellectual powers or attainments, to learn
+that Jesus is the Christ of God; but it does require art and skill
+in criticism, to give any other sense to the word of God. There are
+persons, who deny the Godhead of Jesus, and yet acknowledge him
+a being of exalted virtue, and a model of perfection, worthy of
+imitation. But do they not, in robbing him of Deity, destroy all his
+claim to our attention? in fact do they not make him an impostor and
+deceiver? Do they not, with the Jews, raise the cry of blasphemy
+against him? and bring him under the curse and punishment pronounced
+by the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, against every blasphemer?
+Do we not hear Jesus saying--I and my Father are one, the Father
+dwelleth in me, and I in him, he that hath seen me, hath seen the
+Father also? And did he not demand all men, to honour the Son, even
+as they honour the Father? Did he not declare himself equal to the
+Father, and did not the Jews so understand him, when they took up
+stones to stone him, because he being man, made himself equal with
+God? Yes, Jesus proclaimed his Godhead; he allowed and encouraged
+religious worship to be paid him; in truth, he claimed all the
+belief and honours due to Deity. Surely then, if he is not God, he
+has forfeited all claim to our regard and veneration, and appears
+as a false prophet and teacher; but the mind shudders at imputing
+deception there. Blessed Jesus! may I, with Thomas, acknowledge
+thee, from a full conviction of thy Divinity, to be my Lord and my
+God. Thou hast declared thyself to be the Son of God with power, by
+thy resurrection from the dead. Hail! thou Wonderful Counsellor,
+thou Mighty God, thou Everlasting Father; thou who didst from
+eternity engage to be the Father and head of thy Church; thou who
+art the second Adam, the Lord from heaven; thou who watchest over
+thy Church with more than fatherly care; who suppliest all their
+wants, healest all their diseases, and who, in love, dost "chasten
+every son whom thou receivest," and wilt at the last great day,
+present thyself with them to the Father, saying, "Behold I and the
+children whom thou hast given me." Yes, thou art the everlasting
+Father, the Prince of Peace; and who so calculated to make peace
+between God and man, as he in whose person they are both united? He
+has peace to make between heaven and earth. He can know and satisfy
+the honour of God, for he is God; he can feel the wants and sorrows
+of man, for he is "bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh." When
+he entered our world, was there not a proclamation of peace on
+earth, and good will to man? Yes, for the Prince of Peace was come,
+to make peace and reconciliation, by the blood of his cross. He is
+a successful Peace-maker; he is, in fact, the only Mediator between
+God and man; nor is he yet weary of his office, but ever liveth to
+make intercession for us. Hail! thou Prince of Peace. Did not this
+glorious Mediator love to manifest himself in that character to the
+Church, from the earliest ages of the world? Did he not honour many
+of the patriarchs and prophets with a display of his person? Was it
+not the Messiah, who appeared to the Old Testament saints? Has he
+not ever been the only visible image of the invisible God? Are we
+not told that no man hath seen the Father, save the only begotten
+of the Father, who came down from heaven? Do we not find an opinion
+generally prevalent amongst the ancient Jews, that no man could see
+the face of God, and live? Moses, and the assembled multitude at
+mount Sinai, were of this opinion. Isaiah exclaimed, "Wo is me, I
+am undone, for I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Manoah,
+Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, and the other ancient worthies to whom God
+appeared, were filled with the same awful apprehensions. Is it not
+more than probable, that God, in the person of the Father, has ever
+been invisible to the inhabitants of earth? Would not the true
+majesty, and splendour of Godhead be more than man in his present
+state could bear? Might not the sight of unclouded Deity destroy a
+body of flesh? Are not all those passages where the great God is
+said to appear and converse with his creatures, more applicable to
+the God-man, Christ Jesus, than to the first person of the sacred
+Trinity? Is it not more becoming him, who, in after ages, was to
+take on him a body of flesh and blood, to appear as man, than that
+God the Father, should do so? Were not the three men who appeared
+to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, as he sat at his tent door, in
+the heat of the day, this Messiah God-man, attended by two angels;
+and were not the two angels sent forward to destroy Sodom, while
+the Lord tarried behind to hear the intercession of Abraham, for
+that devoted city? Was not the same glorious personage the man with
+whom Jacob wrestled, when he is said to have had power with God
+and to have prevailed? Was he not _that_ Angel of God's presence,
+who led the children of Israel into Canaan, of whom God said,
+"beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not, for he will
+not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him?" Did he not
+also appear to Joshua, as Captain of the Lord's hosts? Did he not
+in vision appear in the same form to Ezekiel and Daniel, as he
+afterwards did to John, in the Isle of Patmos? And are not all the
+other passages, of a similar kind, equally applicable to the Christ
+of God? Can we not enter into the prophet's meaning, and set our
+seal to the glorious truth, that "unto us a Child is born, unto us
+a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and
+his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the
+Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
+     kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall
+     not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and
+     consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.--Daniel
+     ii. 44.
+
+
+The book of Daniel contains some very striking prophecies. The
+chapter from which this is selected, is not amongst the least
+interesting. The interpretation given by him to the king of
+Babylon's dream, demands our particular attention. He speaks of
+four kingdoms, as represented by the image.[31] The first, or
+head of gold, is the Chaldean monarchy; which gives way to that
+figured by the arms of silver, the kingdoms of Media and Persia.
+This is succeeded by the Grecian, represented by the brass. Then
+follows the fourth or iron, which is the Roman power, "in the days
+of whose kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which
+shall never be destroyed," &c. &c. We will search for proofs of its
+accomplishment. Daniel was an Israelitish captive at Babylon, and
+when he wrote the first part of his prophetical book, the kingdom
+of Chaldea was first in the scale of nations. In earthly pomp and
+grandeur it surpassed all other states. The land of Judea was then
+in its possession, and her people, its captives. Its capital, the
+mighty Babylon, was, from the solidity of its walls, the strength of
+its fortifications, and its gates of brass, considered impregnable;
+but, agreeably to scripture prophecy,[32] the city was taken by
+Cyrus: he entered it by the channel of the river Euphrates, whose
+waters he had directed into another course; and during a night of
+riotous festivity, in which the Babylonians had forgotten to shut
+their brasen gates, the city was taken by Cyrus, whom the Lord, at
+least one hundred and seventy years before, named as his servant
+to destroy the kingdom of Chaldea for their cruel treatment of
+his captive Israel. Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon (who issued
+a proclamation for the Jews to return to their beloved Jerusalem
+after seventy years captivity) was heir to the throne of Persia;
+and succeeded to that of Media, by virtue of his marriage with the
+daughter of Cyaxares (otherwise Darius) his uncle. The kingdoms of
+Media and Persia thus united under Cyrus (after the overthrow of
+Babylon) obtained the supremacy of the world, and preserved that
+pre-eminence two hundred and six years, when it was subdued by
+Alexander, styled the great, whose dissatisfaction amidst the shouts
+of victory, and the dazzling accompaniments of power, strikingly
+show the fallacy of seeking true happiness from sublunary objects.
+Alexander founded the Grecian empire, which continued one hundred
+and seventy seven years, when it was compelled to submit to Rome's
+conquering legions, to whom all nations bowed, and, by tribute,
+acknowledged as their superior. In the days of these kings, did the
+God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: yes,
+in the reign of Augustus, did the mighty King Jesus first openly
+declare and set up his great spiritual kingdom. Its beginning,
+to human appearance, was small and unpromising. Yet, this stone
+which was cut out without hands, (i. e.) without human power or
+worldly policy, shall become a great mountain, and fill the whole
+earth. It is true, the Jewish nation expected the Messiah to come,
+surrounded by all the splendours of eastern magnificence; that he
+would deliver them from the Roman power, and, after a reign more
+glorious than Solomon's, establish a kingdom which should remain
+unshaken till time shall be no more. But, shall the unchangeable
+Jehovah alter his purposes or mould his plans, to meet the idle
+fancies or short-sighted schemes of the children of men? No, the
+Messiah has appeared, not in the style they had anticipated, but
+in the manner most agreeable to the mind of infinite Wisdom. Yet,
+because he did not assume the gaudy trappings of earthly state,
+the Jews reject him, and vainly look for another, although he
+appeared at the time predicted. The Roman power is now laid low,
+and according to all their prophecies, the period is passed when
+he, of whom Moses and the prophets did write, should appear. Jesus
+far exceeds in real excellence, even their own highly coloured
+portrait, for the blessings of his reign extend to ages yet unborn.
+They expected a temporal king, but no; the land of Canaan, although
+the glory of all lands, was far too insignificant for him to accept
+as the sphere of his government. He shall sway his kingly sceptre,
+not only over Judea's fruitful land; but his dominions extend from
+sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. The
+mightiest monarchies are often swept away, as by the besom of
+destruction, and all are compelled to submit to the iron hand of
+time; yet his, is an everlasting kingdom, which cannot be moved by
+the revolutions of nations, but shall continue firm and unshaken
+even amidst the crash of worlds. It was expected the Messiah would
+deliver them from the Roman power; but mark, it was said, his name
+_shall_ be called Jesus, for he shall _save_ his people (not from
+their temporal oppressor but) from their sins.[33] Surely it must
+be confessed, that earth's greatest conqueror, is far below him who
+delivers from the bondage of sin and satan, which is the worst of
+slavery. Yes, Jesus saves his people, the true Israel of God, from
+the consequences and power of sin; from the former, by bearing the
+punishment himself, and from the latter, by his Spirit implanted in
+their hearts. The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but he
+will constantly direct and order all its affairs, and he shall reign
+and rule for ever.
+
+  [31] Dan. ii. 31-45., vii. 1-27.
+
+  [32] Isaiah xlv. 1-4.
+
+  [33] Matt. i. 21.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out
+     of Egypt.--Hosea xi. 1.
+
+
+We cannot entertain a doubt that this verse alludes to the call
+of the children of Israel from Egypt, yet we are not to suppose
+it refers exclusively to that event, but we are to behold it
+pointing to Israel's Lord. Christ is said to be the husband of his
+Church, and they are both called by the name of Israel;[34] and
+this verse is only one amongst the many instances which occur in
+the Old Testament. The patriarch Jacob, or (as he was surnamed by
+God) Israel, went with his descendants into Egypt, for shelter and
+sustenance in the days of famine, but they were afterwards cruelly
+entreated four hundred years; from which state of oppression and
+bondage, the Lord called and delivered them. In after ages Jesus,
+God's beloved son, our Israel, was taken into Egypt, to avoid the
+persecution of Herod; and when that tyrant was dead, God called the
+holy child Jesus from that land of heathens, by the ministration
+of an angel. In Egypt, Israel was first formed into a church; and
+thither did the great head of the Church also go; and the Holy
+Ghost, by the evangelist Matthew, has stated, that it was on purpose
+to fulfil this prediction. That Jesus was as much the beloved of
+the Father, when tabernacling here below, as when he lay in the
+Father's bosom, cannot be doubted;[35] indeed, all the honours of
+his mediatorial kingdom, are the fruits of his humiliation and
+suffering. We hear him saying, "for this cause doth my Father love
+me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again."
+
+  [34] Isaiah xliv. 21., xlix. 3.
+
+  [35] Matt. iii. 17. xvii. 5. Mark i. 11., ix. 7.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+     Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk,
+     they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was
+     of sapphire: Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not
+     known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is
+     withered, it is become like a stick.--Lamentations iv. 7, 8.
+
+
+In the Old Testament we find a description of the order of the
+Nazarites and their laws; we discover a Nazarite to be one set
+apart or separated for the Lord, either for a given time, as in the
+case of a vow, or for life, as Sampson, who was a Nazarite from his
+birth.[36] The order was one of Israel's glories; for the Lord when
+enumerating some of the many honours conferred by him on the nation,
+adds; "and I raised up of your young men to be Nazarites." They were
+all so many types, pointing to the one great Nazarite, even Jesus;
+whom it will not be difficult to recognise, under this description.
+Jesus is the true Nazarite unto God, in the eternal council of
+peace; he was set apart to accomplish the Lord's great work of
+redemption.[37] Of him it can truly be said, he is purer than snow,
+and whiter than milk: he, and he alone, is free from the least spot
+or stain of sin: being "holy, harmless, undefiled, and _separate_
+from sinners. The Church describes her Lord, "as white and ruddy;"
+as the "altogether lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand." Yet
+when tabernacling here below "his visage was so marred more than
+any man's," and his "form more than the sons of men:" when seen in
+our streets he had "no form, comeliness, nor beauty, that those who
+saw him should desire him." This lamentation of the prophet was
+called forth, by the state of misery and wretchedness, to which the
+Chaldeans had reduced the nation; yet it had a peculiar reference to
+him, who in after ages was known by the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
+No doubt his having resided in a town of that name, was _one_ cause
+of his having so universally obtained the appellation. We find it
+used by the band of armed men when they came to apprehend him, and
+by the maid-servant in the hall; Pilate affixed it to the cross;
+the devils used it. It was also used by blind Bartimeus; by the
+apostles, both before, and after their Lord's resurrection; by the
+angels at the tomb, and by Jesus himself. And by the power of the
+name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was one lame from his birth made
+to leap, arise, and walk.[38] We are told the word is derived from
+Natzar, which signifies a branch; and is not Jesus described as the
+man whose name is "the Branch?" yes, he is the branch out of Jesse's
+root, whom the Lord has made strong for himself.
+
+  [36] Numbers vi. 2, 3. 13. 18-21. Judges xiii. 5 7., xvi. 17.
+
+  [37] Hebrews ix. 14. 2 Tim. i. 9.
+
+  [38] The first who appears to have called our Lord, Jesus of
+  Nazareth, was the Devil in the person of the poor maniac, and is
+  it not probable that Satan influenced the minds of men to give him
+  that distinction with a view to deceive them as to the place of his
+  birth; which was not at Nazareth, but at Bethlehem?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath
+     anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent
+     me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
+     captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
+     to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
+     vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.--Isaiah lxi. 1,
+     2, 3.
+
+
+This is one of the many descriptions we meet with of the Messiah,
+who is represented as being especially anointed to his office.[39]
+We cannot be at a loss for a satisfactory proof of the fulfilment of
+this prophecy, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He did not come
+forth unsent or unanointed. When he publicly entered on the great
+work of his mission, he was anointed to the office by the visible
+outpouring of the Spirit. We are told, that immediately after his
+baptism in the waters of Jordan, the heavens were opened, and the
+Spirit of God, as a dove, descended and lighted upon him; and a
+voice was heard from heaven, saying, "this is my beloved Son, in
+whom I am well pleased." Thus we hear the Father bearing testimony
+to the person of the Son, and we see the Holy Spirit descending
+and resting on Jesus. Thus, did the three persons of the glorious
+Trinity, at one time, distinctly manifest themselves, and that at
+the entrance of Jesus on his great work. It may be proper to observe
+that, as God, he needed not the anointing of the Spirit, for in
+him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It was the human
+nature of the God-man, Christ Jesus, that was anointed to the great
+office of mediator, which work he had before, by covenant, engaged
+to perform. To him, the Spirit was not given in a limited measure;
+he is the "Wonderful Counsellor;" in "him are hid all the treasures
+of wisdom and knowledge." It would be a recapitulation of a great
+part of the New Testament, to shew the exact method in which this
+prophecy was fulfilled. When the disciples of John came to Jesus,
+to inquire if he really was the Messiah, he, as one confirmation
+of the fact, told them that to the poor he preached the gospel.
+Yes, we find Jesus, when on earth, spending a great part of the
+three years and a half of his public ministry in journeying to the
+towns and villages, publishing the "glad tidings of great joy," of
+which angels were once the honoured messengers, namely, "Glory to
+God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."
+The common people, we are told, heard him gladly. Jesus can, with
+much propriety and justice, proclaim "liberty to the captive, and
+the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" he can say, with
+authority, "deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a
+ransom." Jesus is also King in Zion, whose mourners he will never
+fail to comfort; they can celebrate their Lord's mercies in the
+language of the Church of old, "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
+O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord
+hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."
+We cannot find an instance on record of any persons who in their
+trouble fled to Jesus when on earth, but whatever was the nature of
+their distress, he always removed it. We also hear him proclaiming
+the "acceptable year of the Lord," saying, Come now; even to-day,
+if ye will hear my voice; "now is the accepted time, now is the
+day of salvation." While he proclaims "the year of his redeemed,"
+he does not neglect to publish "the day of vengeance of our God."
+Though he delight in words of mercy and of comfort, he does not
+shun to declare the whole counsel of God. As a faithful monitor, we
+repeatedly hear him urging sinners to flee from the wrath to come,
+and solemnly warning them of the fearful punishment awaiting those,
+who reject the counsel of God against their own souls.[40] Nor did
+he fail to speak in the strongest language of the miseries which
+will be the portion of those, in another world, who, in this, reject
+and disobey him. When Jesus read aloud this prophecy in the Jewish
+synagogue, and declared it was that day fulfilled; we are told "all
+the people bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that
+proceeded out of his mouth." Every one who reads the history of
+Jesus with a candid mind, must be constrained to acknowledge that
+through every part of his active and eventful life, his conduct
+manifested, that the "Spirit of the Lord rested upon him;" that his
+was "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel
+and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
+
+  [39] Psalm xlv. 7.
+
+  [40] Hebrews x. 28.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+     For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in
+     all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou
+     dash thy foot against a stone.--Psalm xci. 11, 12.
+
+
+The psalm from which this is taken, describes, in glowing language,
+the blessed state of those who have God for their refuge; but we
+are not to limit the entire application of these verses to the sons
+of men. We find they have a reference to the God-Man, Christ Jesus.
+At his first entrance on the great work of his mission, he was for
+forty days and nights tempted by Satan, during which time the devil
+made use of every artifice to tempt and destroy him. Amongst other
+schemes, he set Jesus on a pinnacle of the temple, and desired him
+to prove his Godhead, by casting himself down from the height; for
+he said, it was written that the angels of God had charge concerning
+him, and in their hands they were to bear him up, lest at any time
+he dash his foot against a stone. Jesus gave other proof of his
+Deity than Satan desired: he told him he should not tempt the
+Lord his God, and he also added "Get thee hence Satan, for it is
+written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
+thou serve." It is an undeniable fact that when Jesus was on earth,
+the devils knew his person and publicly acknowledged his Godhead.
+Yes, angels and devils own his power; and shall the sons of earth
+whom he formed from the dust, be the last to confess a truth which
+is acknowledged by all in heaven and hell--by the wisest and best
+created intelligences, and by the fallen angels, who were expelled
+the heavenly mansions, and consigned to the lake of fire and
+brimstone, for rebelling against the authority of the great Mediator
+between God and man,[41] who was, in after ages, known by the name
+of Jesus of Nazareth.
+
+  [41] Daniel xii. 1. Revelations xii. 7.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+     And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
+     shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the
+     Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater
+     than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place
+     will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.--Haggai ii. 7, 9.
+
+
+Haggai prophesied at that period of the Church's history, when,
+after the return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews built the
+second temple: on which occasion, we are told the young men shouted
+for joy; but the old men wept,[42] for they had seen the glory of
+the former house, in comparison with which, the second was nothing.
+But the Lord commissioned Haggai to inform them, for their comfort,
+that the glory of the latter house should be greater than of the
+former. It appears by the descriptions given us of the temple
+built by Solomon, that it surpassed in grandeur and magnificence
+all other buildings, which in any age have appeared to astonish
+and delight the world. It has never been equalled, either as it
+respects the grandeur of the design, or the richness of its internal
+decorations; a great part was overlaid with pure gold. But these
+were not the most glorious distinctions of the former house. It
+contained the Ark, with the mercy seat and cherubim;[43] the Urim
+and Thummim,[44] the spirit of prophecy,[45] the holy fire,[46] and
+the Shechinah, or Divine Presence.[47] The Jews themselves must
+confess that the second temple was destitute of these five signs,
+which so eminently distinguished the first house. We hear nothing
+of them after the Babylonish captivity. Well might the old men weep,
+for Ichabod (the glory is departed) might with much propriety, have
+been written on the walls of their newly erected temple. It was
+afterwards considerably injured during the wars, but was repaired
+and beautified by Herod; yet none, when speaking of the splendour of
+the temple, can allow it to bear any comparison with the one built
+by Solomon: yet the Lord hath said, "the glory of the latter house
+should be greater than of the former;" and God is not unmindful of
+his promises, nor has he ever neglected to fulfil them. We will
+therefore endeavour to discover if this has not been accomplished.
+We observe, that the Lord would first "shake all nations; and the
+desire of all nations should come;" and then "would he fill the
+house with glory." This promise was made shortly after the return of
+the Jews from Babylon; which kingdom had been shaken to its centre,
+as were also in succession the kingdoms of Persia and Greece. The
+thrones and power of their kings had been subverted, the nations
+almost annihilated; and Rome was the mistress of the world, when
+Jesus, the "desire of all nations," appeared. Perhaps it may be
+said, that few nations had even heard of the promised Messiah,
+and still fewer desired his coming. But do not the guilty sigh for
+pardon, the captives for liberty, the oppressed for a deliverer?
+does not the debtor need a surety; the weary and heavy laden rest;
+the diseased a physician; the young a guide; the aged a support;
+the distressed a comforter; the hungry food; the thirsty water; the
+ignorant an instructor; and the wanderer shelter? That these things
+are desired by all people and nations, none can deny; but it is in
+Christ alone we can find a supply for all our spiritual wants, and
+a remedy for these, and a long list of unmentioned ills. In Jesus
+there is a fulness to supply all our need. He has pardon for the
+guilty, "liberty for the captive;" he is the "surety" of the debtor,
+and the "physician" of the sin-sick soul; he will be a guide to
+youth, and "even to hoar hairs he will be with them;" he is the
+"water of life," and the "bread that cometh down from heaven;" his
+"flesh is meat indeed," and his "blood drink indeed:" he will teach
+the ignorant wisdom, and "deliver the oppressed;" he calls to him
+the "weary and heavy laden," promising to "give them rest;" he bids
+the mourner be of good comfort, for he will give "the oil of joy for
+mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;"
+and truly he is the refuge of the destitute. In short, it is only
+in him, and from him, we can find supplies for all our spiritual
+wants; with him is "life," "light," "liberty," and "joy." Surely if
+all nations did but know him, all nations would love him too; for
+he is justly described by the Church as "the altogether lovely, and
+the chiefest amongst ten thousand." The fulfilment of the latter
+clause of the prophecy, was literally accomplished when Jesus (the
+second person in the revealed order of the Trinity), in our nature,
+entered the temple. Surely that must be acknowledged a far more
+glorious distinction, than the ten thousands of gold and silver
+which ornamented the former house. Yea, it was a greater honour
+to have the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, personally teaching
+in the temple, than the five signs which constituted the greatest
+glory of the former house. They were only intended to exhibit to our
+view a God in Christ. The temple and its contents were but figures
+of the things signified, even the Messiah. The second temple was
+honoured not with types, but the person; not with the shadows of the
+good things to come, but the substance, even Jesus, the Son of the
+most High. At twelve years of age, Jesus was found in the temple,
+in the midst of the Doctors of the Law, both hearing and asking
+them questions. Often, in the days of his flesh, did he visit the
+temple, and from within its walls, did he instruct the people, and
+declare his divine mission. To those who deny that Jesus was the
+Messiah, this promise must for ever remain unfulfilled; for the
+second temple never did, either in its buildings, or decorations,
+surpass, or even equal the glory of the former. It is now seventeen
+hundred years since the second temple was destroyed, and all its
+stones laid level with the dust. Thus are they reduced to the
+alternative of representing God as failing to fulfil his promises; a
+sentiment, it might be supposed, any man would shudder to advance,
+and much less maintain. To those who receive "the truth as it is in
+Jesus," there appears a beautiful harmony between the promise, and
+the accomplishment; they can exclaim, truly did "the glory of the
+latter house exceed that of the former," for it was honoured with
+the personal presence of Jesus, the "Christ of God," "the Lord of
+life and glory," "the prince of peace." Of whom, it may be justly
+observed, that he is the only source from which true and lasting
+peace can be expected without the fear of a disappointment; and this
+"peace is made through the blood of his cross."
+
+  [42] Ezra iii. 12.
+
+  [43] Exod. xxv. 19. 20. 21.
+
+  [44] Exod. xxviii. 30. Deut. xxxiii. 8.
+
+  [45] 2 Kings xix. 14-37.
+
+  [46] 2 Chron. vii. 1. 3.
+
+  [47] 2 Chron. vii. 2.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+     And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
+     even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold,
+     he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts.--Mal. iii. 1.
+
+
+The coming of the Messiah was anticipated with much impatience
+and pleasure by the Jewish nation, and particularly about the
+time Augustus Cæsar was Emperor of Rome, in whose reign, it will
+be remembered, Jesus was born. The period according to Daniel's
+Prophecy being arrived, the attention of all classes of the people
+was so excited by his expected advent, that when John came, "all
+men mused in their hearts, if he were the Christ or not." But he
+disclaimed all pretensions to being the Messiah, and pointed to
+Jesus as the illustrious person, whose coming had been so long
+foretold. We find many instances recorded, which prove the Jews
+to have been on the look out for their long promised deliverer.
+Aged "Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel:" it had been
+revealed to him, by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death,
+before he had "seen the Lord's Christ:" when the child Jesus was
+brought into the temple, the aged prophet took him up in his arms,
+and exclaimed, with holy joy, "Lord, now let thy servant depart in
+peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation &c., &c." Anna the
+prophetess, also, "spake of him to all that looked for redemption in
+Israel." Frequently during the life of Jesus do we hear the people
+exclaim,--surely this is "the prophet that was for to come." We
+find the Priests and Levites, persons, it must be supposed, best
+acquainted with the writings of the Old Testament, requesting Jesus
+to tell them plainly, if "he were the Christ or not." The Lord whom
+they "sought, suddenly came to his temple;" yet when "he came to his
+own" nation, "they received him not," for their minds were darkened
+by their false notions of a temporal king. This prophecy loudly
+proclaims the Godhead of Jesus, for to ascribe a temple to any but
+God is idolatry; a sin most strictly forbidden throughout every part
+of the word of God. Jesus is also the Messenger of the covenant.
+He publicly proclaimed the nature of the covenant ratified in the
+Court of Heaven, between the persons of the glorious Trinity, even
+the covenant of redemption, which is "well ordered in all things and
+sure," and was concluded ere the hills were made, or the mountains
+brought forth; when this "earth was without form, and void, and
+darkness was upon the face of the deep."[48]
+
+  [48] Prov. viii. 22-31.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+     Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her
+     vexation, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of
+     Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more
+     grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in
+     Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness, have
+     seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of
+     death, upon them hath the light shined.--Isaiah ix. 1. 2.
+
+
+From the days of Malachi, the last of the prophets, until the
+coming of John the Baptist, a period of four hundred and thirty-six
+years, the Church was in a state of great darkness and apparent
+desertion. This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus resided, or
+personally preached in the towns of Galilee; then, "the land of
+Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond
+Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness
+saw a great light; and of them which sat in the region and shadow of
+death light sprung up." Jesus is "the true light, that lighteneth
+every man that cometh into the world." He is given to be "a light to
+lighten the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel." To whom we
+would say, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of
+the Lord is risen upon thee." For through the tender mercy of our
+God, Jesus, the day-spring from on high, hath visited us, to give
+light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and
+to guide our feet in the way of peace. "Light and immortality are
+brought to light by the gospel" of Jesus, who is himself the divine
+fountain, or source from whence must emanate all spiritual light. He
+is the light and the life of man; he came a light into this world,
+that whosoever believeth in him should not abide in "darkness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+     Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
+     Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
+     having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt
+     the foal of an ass.--Zechariah ix. 9.
+
+
+We have so striking an accomplishment of this prophecy, that it is
+scarcely possible to imagine one can be found, who is unwilling to
+point to Jesus and exclaim, Zion behold your King.
+
+Was it ever known that any other king, except Jesus, made such an
+humble entry into the city of Jerusalem, or indeed any city. No,
+his was altogether the reverse of such processions. Here was no
+herald to proclaim his approach, no charger highly caparisoned
+to convey the Monarch, no royal purple or glittering attire to
+distinguish him from the throng, or dazzle the unthinking crowds.
+In himself and attendants, all was, to outward appearance, mean and
+contemptible. Yet the minds of this vast multitude, were for the
+moment so struck with the truth of his Messiah-ship, that with one
+simultaneous shout, they make the air resound with Hosannas to the
+Son of David; "blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;
+Hosanna in the highest." This is not the only instance of their
+wishing to make him their king.[49] His disciples were impressed
+with the common error, that he would establish a temporal kingdom.
+After his resurrection we hear them saying, "Lord wilt thou at this
+time restore the kingdom to Israel?" But no, his kingdom is not of
+this world, else would his servants have been called on to fight for
+it. The weapons of their warfare, are "not carnal but spiritual,
+and mighty, through God, to pulling down the strong holds of sin
+and satan." We do not hear that Jesus made one visit to the court
+of monarchy, but many to the temple. The Roman authorities viewed
+him with a jealous eye, and passed sentence on him for avouching his
+kingly authority. It is worthy of remark, that the superscription
+affixed to his cross, instead of declaring him an usurper, did,
+in four languages, proclaim his innocence, and acknowledge his
+authority--"Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews." Yes, the meek
+and lowly Jesus--Jehovah has set as king upon his holy hill of Zion;
+he is "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." He is just, for "behold a
+King shall reign in righteousness." He not only has salvation, but
+he is Jehovah's salvation, to the ends of the earth. To him "every
+knee shall bow, and every tongue confess," that "he is Lord, to the
+glory of God the Father." It was a striking display of his Godhead,
+in directing his disciples where to find the colt, and in overruling
+the mind of the owner, to let the animal go only on their saying,
+"the Lord hath need of him." Yes, he is the Lord of the whole earth;
+"the beasts of the forests are his, and so are the cattle on a
+thousand hills."
+
+  [49] John vi. 15.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+     Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of
+     robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the
+     Lord.--Jeremiah vii. 11.
+
+
+An attentive reader of the New Testament, will easily discover
+the correspondence between these words, and the circumstance of
+Jesus driving the buyers and sellers from the temple; which action
+deserves to be carefully considered. It may appear extraordinary,
+that persons should have dared to make the temple of God the seat
+of commerce, for it was still used as the high place for offering
+the daily sacrifice. But it is probable that, at the first, persons
+were allowed to bring for sale, into some of the outer courts or
+inclosures of the temple, doves, and those animals the Jews used for
+sacrifices; that persons who resided at a distance, and could not,
+without considerable inconvenience, bring their sacrifices with them
+to Jerusalem, might always be able to purchase such animals as they
+wished to offer.[50] In after years, this privilege was abused, and
+instead of a sale of animals exclusively for sacrifice, it became
+the busy scene of commerce; and buyers and sellers, merchants and
+money-changers, used it as the great mart for business. Thus a place
+set apart for the worship of the Most High God, was made the general
+rendezvous of men, whose only aim, was to get money, even though
+it were at the expense of their religion. Such was the disgraceful
+scene exhibited at the temple in the days of Jesus, who, indignant
+at the sight, would not suffer it to pass unreproved. Having made a
+scourge of small cords, he went into the temple, and drove before
+him, not only, the herds of cattle, but the buyers and sellers
+themselves; and even overthrew the tables of the money-changers,
+and poured out their money. One would imagine the Man who was able
+to drive so numerous an assemblage of persons from their long
+accustomed (and to many of them lucrative) seat of trade, must have
+been supported by the weight of the civil and military authorities
+of the state; but it was quite the contrary: yea, even the Priests
+who ought to have been most anxious to preserve the sanctity of
+the place, were the first to oppose this cleansing of the temple.
+Surely it must be matter of wonder, how this Man of Nazareth could,
+unaided by human power, so easily accomplish a change fraught with
+danger and difficulty: but such was the fact, and there appears
+but one way to account for the prompt submission of those buyers
+and sellers; which is, that, Jesus being both God and Man in one
+person, his Deity was not on this occasion so much concealed beneath
+the manhood, but shone forth with such majestic dignity, that none
+dared to resist or dispute his authority. All were awed into quiet
+submission to the command of the God-man Christ Jesus; when he said,
+"take these things hence, and make not my Father's house, an house
+of merchandise;" it is written, "my house, shall be called the house
+of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." Not only his acts,
+but his words, proclaim his Deity. Jesus can with propriety call
+God, Father, for he is his first begotten, well beloved Son, and,
+as such, he has rule over his Father's house.[51] The disciples who
+were observers of the event, struck at the display of his Godhead,
+applied to him the words of the psalmist; "The zeal of thine house
+hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee,
+are fallen upon me." If we except the miracle recorded by John, of
+the armed men falling to the ground on the reply of Jesus, this
+certainly is one of the greatest miracles he performed in the days
+of his flesh.
+
+  [50] Deut. xiv. 23-26.
+
+  [51] John v. 22, 23.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+     Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
+     strength, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest still the
+     enemy and avenger.--Psalm viii. 2.
+
+
+The manner in which this prophecy was fulfilled is very
+interesting. When Jesus drave out the buyers and sellers from the
+temple, we are told the children shouted hosannas to the Son of
+David. The Chief Priests and Scribes were filled with indignation
+to hear even children confess a truth they wished buried in eternal
+silence; and, coming to Jesus, they said, dost thou not hear what
+these say? But he mildly answered, "Yea, have ye never read, Out of
+the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" It is
+more than probable that amongst the persons he had just expelled
+from the temple, were the parents of some of these children; it
+would not therefore have excited our astonishment so much, to have
+found them mocking and reviling the man of Nazareth, as it does to
+hear them shouting hosannas to the Son of David. There were none
+of those gay distinctions in the person of Jesus, which so usually
+please and delight children; all was as to outward appearance mean
+and unattractive; yet their youthful hearts were filled with love
+and admiration for the person of the Man, so generally treated with
+contempt; and they as with one voice shout the praises of this Son
+of David. Ought it not for ever to have put to silence the Priests
+and Scribes, and all those bitter enemies of Jesus, when he gave
+such clear proofs of his being the Messiah, that even these Jewish
+children, could discover him to be the very person their parents,
+from the first dawn of reason, had taught them to expect, as the
+long promised deliverer of Israel, who should spring from David's
+royal line.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+     I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; I have
+     not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.--Psalm xl. 9.
+
+
+It is said, to the immortal honour of Noah, that he was a preacher
+of righteousness to the Old World:[52] but as the glory of the
+latter dispensation far exceeds that of the former,[53] so is its
+founder greatly distinguished from all the prophets and teachers
+under the Jewish economy. We find Jesus actively engaged in
+preaching his own gospel, whenever opportunity offered, free from
+the trammels of form, and the circumscribed rules of human order.
+We see him in the temple, and the field; in the synagogue, and on
+a mountain; in the crowded street, and the wilderness; in the
+house, and by the sea shore: at one time to the crowded throng, and
+then to the little troop of disciples; now to learned rabbies and
+rulers, and then to a few fishermen of Galilee; but in every place
+and company he was a preacher of righteousness. He did not refrain
+his lips from fear of man. He did not hesitate to publish doctrines
+necessary to be known, because they were of a kind likely to be
+ungraciously received. He shunned not to proclaim the whole truth;
+whether men would hear, or whether they would forbear. Again, look
+at him as a preacher of righteousness. All he taught was pure and
+undefiled as the light of heaven. He did not flatter one vice, or
+countenance one folly. He described sin as hateful to God, whether
+in the priest or people, the ruler or the ruled. He taught the Jews,
+who rested in the mere letter of the law, that it is of a spiritual
+nature, "extending not only to the outward actions," but to the
+"thoughts and intents of the heart." He inculcated obedience, not on
+the narrow principle of self love, or to gain the praise of man; but
+he insisted, that it can only be acceptable to God when springing
+from a principle of love to God and man. He did not instruct his
+hearers to keep a fair exterior only, but he went at once to the
+seat of iniquity, the human heart; and declared that the fountain
+must be first cleansed before the streams can be made pure. Again,
+we behold him as a preacher of righteousness, declaring that "except
+our righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we
+cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." He taught that we must be
+clothed with a better righteousness than our tattered rags, ere we
+can be allowed to sit down at the "marriage supper of the Lamb,"
+where all the guests are arrayed in "fine linen, clean and white,"
+which fine linen is the "righteousness of the saints." This wedding
+garment is provided by the Lord of the feast, and is the spotless
+robe of Jesus's perfect and complete righteousness.
+
+  [52] 2 Peter ii. 5.
+
+  [53] Heb. xii. 18-24.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+     I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of
+     old.--Psalm lxxviii. 2.
+
+
+We hear Balaam, the son of Beor, from the heights of Moab, attended
+by an idolatrous king and prince, taking up his parable on the
+multitudes of Israel. We also find many of the prophets of the Lord
+in the different ages of the Church, presenting their Master's
+message in the dress of parable. The sweet singer of Israel is here
+said to open his mouth in a parable, and utter dark sayings, which
+have been kept secret since the foundation of the world. But we are
+compelled to pass by this son of Jesse, to direct our attention to
+one who may not unaptly be styled 'the man of parables.' Jesus so
+frequently used them in his discourse to the multitude, that it is
+said "that without a parable spake he not unto them;" and who can
+read his parables without exclaiming, "surely never man spake like
+this man." His discourses are adorned with the striking force and
+luxuriant imagery of the East. He made use of the most beautiful
+language and elegant ideas, to impress on the mind a knowledge of
+things which are not seen and spiritual, by similies drawn from
+things which are seen and temporal. Who can read the affecting
+representation of the pity and forgiveness God manifests towards
+the ungrateful, rebellious, but afterwards penitent sinner, so
+forcibly displayed in the parable of the Prodigal Son, without being
+charmed at the happy simplicity that pervades the whole. Unlike the
+productions of men, the words of Jesus, like the works of creation,
+display new beauties on every attentive examination. They lose
+nothing by a minute inspection--they are not mere empty words: at
+every perusal they are increasingly attractive, and we discover that
+the most sublime truths are taught, where, perhaps, at the first
+reading, we beheld nothing particularly instructive or engaging.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+     He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the
+     lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall
+     gently lead those that are with young.--Isaiah xl. 11.
+
+
+The Messiah is here, and in several other parts of the old
+Testament, held forth to our view under the character of a shepherd.
+He is called, "Jehovah's shepherd," and to his care is committed
+the safeguard of God's flock. He is described as "seeking out and
+delivering his sheep from all places where they have been scattered,
+in the cloudy and dark day." He is said to "seek that which was
+lost," and to "bring again that which was driven away;" "to bind up
+that which was broken; to strengthen that which was sick; to gather
+the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom;" "to make them
+lie down in green pastures, and lead them forth beside the still
+waters;" in short, to him are attributed all the kind offices of a
+"good shepherd." It will not be difficult to recognise Jesus under
+this description. On examining the New Testament, we find in it an
+exact counterpart of this character. We hear Jesus describe himself
+as "the true shepherd," who "calleth his sheep by name, and leadeth
+them out, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice; but
+a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of
+strangers;" "he knoweth his sheep, and is known of them, and they go
+in and out, and find pasture." His watchfulness and power are such,
+that he will not suffer any, either by surprise or force, to pluck
+them out of his hands;[54] nor will he forsake them in the hour of
+danger; "he fleeth not, because he is not an hireling;" and he will
+eventually collect both the Gentile and Jewish flocks together, that
+there may "be one fold,[55] under one shepherd." Nor shall one of
+the least of the flock be missing; all "his sheep must pass again
+under the hands of him that telleth them;" even the "good shepherd
+who has laid down his life for the sheep;" and now liveth to watch
+over, defend, guide, and supply the wants of his flock, from whom he
+will withhold no "manner of thing that is good."
+
+  [54] John x. 28, 29.
+
+  [55] John x. 16.
+
+Certain it is, this "Chief Shepherd" will punish[56] the unfaithful
+hirelings "who feed themselves, but not their flocks;" "who have not
+strengthened the diseased, healed the sick, neither have bound up
+that which was broken, neither brought again that which was driven
+away, nor sought that which was lost; but with force and cruelty
+have ruled them." Therefore, O ye shepherds! hear the word of the
+Lord; thus saith the Lord God, "Behold I am against the shepherds,
+and will require my flock at their hands, and cause them to cease
+from feeding the flock; neither shall they feed themselves any more."
+
+  [56] Ezek. xxxiv. 10.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+     And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the
+     Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
+     neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.--Isaiah xi. 3.
+
+
+The deceptions practised by the human race are many and various.
+With no other clue to discover the real character of individuals
+than their professions and conduct, men are often led to form the
+most unjust opinions; and frequent and lamentable are the mistakes
+that arise. Falsehood often lurks beneath the warmest professions;
+the guise of friendship is made to conceal the perfidious spirit,
+the mask of sincerity is worn by the consummate deceiver, and man
+becomes the dread and fear of man. Who can look at Jesus, without
+being struck at the nice discrimination of character he discovered
+in his opinions of the men by whom he was surrounded. He could
+espy in Nathaniel "an Israelite in whom there was no guile." He
+discovered that the ardent zeal and warmth of Peter's attachment
+would induce him boldly to suffer death in his Master's cause,
+although the denial of that Master loudly proclaimed him a faithless
+coward. He could point out the perfidious Judas, fostered by the
+eleven disciples as a bosom friend. He could detect the hypocrisy
+and deceit that lay hid beneath the fair profession of the Scribes
+and Pharisees; he knew their public conduct was not in unison with
+the hidden man of the heart. He was not blinded by the semblance
+of virtue; nothing false passed with him for genuine; he instantly
+discovered the counterfeit, however well executed. Nor did the
+sterling pass by unknown to him, though its exterior was defaced and
+unattractive. He could look into the inmost recesses of the human
+heart, and discover there the seat of iniquity, he could behold the
+monster in his den, however ingeniously its exterior was adorned
+by art, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness. In his
+opinions there was no error; in his censures, no unjust severity--he
+always judged righteous judgment; "for he judged not after the sight
+of his eyes, neither reproved after the hearing of his ears." With
+righteousness did he "judge the poor, and reprove with equity for
+the meek of the earth; righteousness was the girdle of his loins,
+and faithfulness the girdle of his reins;" and why? "Because my
+thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are my ways as your ways,
+saith the Lord of Hosts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+     Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the
+     deaf shall be unstopped.--Isaiah xxxv. 5.
+
+
+Is it not highly proper, that those who profess to be intrusted with
+offices of authority, should be able to exhibit the credentials of
+their appointment, in order to be accredited? The prophet Isaiah was
+commissioned to proclaim many of the marks by which the Messiah
+should be distinguished. Amongst other signs "the eyes of the blind
+were to be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped." Jesus of
+Nazareth not only declared himself to be that long-promised Messiah,
+but constantly exhibited, in the most public and open manner, the
+credentials of his high official character, and confirmed his
+claim to our belief by his numerous miracles. Could we inquire of
+Bartimeus, who, of old, sat by Israel's way-side begging, who was
+the skilful oculist that restored to his long sightless eyeballs the
+power of vision; joyfully would he point to Jesus the Son of David,
+as the gracious benefactor whose almighty word had again caused him
+to behold the gladsome light of day. Might we hold converse with
+him who had never beheld the cheerful face of man, whose eyes had
+rolled in gloom and darkness, deprived of the sight of nature's
+beauteous works; no doubt he would, with the same undaunted courage
+he displayed before the Jewish Pharisees, declare that Jesus of
+Nazareth had opened the eyes of one born blind. Nor were these the
+only recipients of his Divine bounty. By his almighty voice the
+deaf were made to hear: the 'ephphatha' of Jesus could "clear the
+obstructed paths of sound, and bid new music charm the unfolded
+ear," for it was the voice of one whose biddings were enablings.
+When the disciples of John came to inquire of Jesus if he were the
+illustrious personage so long promised, or if they were to look for
+another, we are told, "in the same hour Jesus cured many of their
+infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits, and unto many that
+were blind he gave sight," and requested the disciples of John "to
+return, and tell the things which they had seen and heard;" how
+that "the blind saw, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the
+deaf heard, the dead were raised, and to the poor the gospel was
+preached." To one so well instructed, as we may presume John to have
+been in the writings of the Old Testament, he could not wish for
+more satisfactory evidence to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. John
+bore witness unto the truth, but Jesus "had greater witness than
+that of John, the works which the Father had given him to finish,
+the same works which he did, bore witness of him that the Father had
+sent him."
+
+That Jesus wrought miracles his enemies could not deny; but how
+absurd they should attribute them to satanic influence. The Devil
+is not wont to be a benefactor to our race; we should not expect
+to find him lending his power to destroy his own kingdom, or to
+benefit the children of men. The miracles of Jesus were not an
+useless display of power, wrought to gratify idle curiosity, or
+for sordid or ambitious motives; they were all designed to promote
+some honourable or useful purpose, and were of the most benevolent
+character, not unworthy the incarnate Deity whose pity for his
+creatures is commensurate with his power. His miracles were numerous
+and diversified; they were wrought openly, and proclaimed publicly;
+not confined to one place: Jesus went about healing all manner of
+sickness and disease among the people. The disciples were not the
+only witnesses to these extraordinary events. Jesus was surrounded
+by great multitudes when he healed the leper. Jairus's daughter was
+raised to life in the presence of her friends and the mourners.
+The Pharisees beheld the devil cast out of the dumb man--the whole
+congregation in the synagogue witnessed the instantaneous cure of
+the withered hand--four thousand, and five thousand men not only
+beheld the miraculous increase of twelve loaves and a few small
+fishes, but their bodies were refreshed by the plentiful repast. All
+the people of Gennesaret sent to collect the diseased, so convinced
+were they of the wondrous cures effected by a touch of the hem of
+his garment. When in Galilee, great multitudes came unto Jesus,
+bringing the lame, blind, dumb, and maimed, and he healed them all.
+When the poor father's lunatic son was cured, multitudes witnessed
+the fact. Jesus was surrounded by crowds when he gave sight to the
+two blind men. The Chief Priest and Scribes saw the wonderful things
+he did in the temple--driving out the merchants, and healing the
+lame and blind. In the synagogue he cast out an unclean spirit. When
+the widow of Nain's son was raised from the dead, much people of the
+city were with her. The lawyers and Pharisees watched Jesus when he
+cured the man of the dropsy. Many Jews were present when he called
+Lazarus from the grave. Jesus was surrounded by his persecutors
+when he healed the ear of Malchus. The enemies of Jesus witnessed
+his miracles; they possessed every opportunity that incredulity
+itself could desire, of examining the several objects on whom he had
+displayed his omnipotent power: this circumstance, together with the
+diversity of time and place, precluded all possibility of deception.
+Peter boldly declared to the "men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
+Jerusalem," that "Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God among
+them, by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him, in the
+midst of them, as they themselves also knew." The intrepid disciple
+feared no contradiction, it was a fact too clearly established for
+any of that age to deny; and what madness is it for any in a later
+period to cavil against a truth they possess not a single fact to
+disprove. The more minutely the New Testament of our Lord Jesus
+Christ is examined, the clearer do its marks of divine authenticity
+appear. The exalted character of the Man of Nazareth requires only
+to be known to ensure admiration. Who, that attentively considers
+the sketch given of that model of all perfection, can imagine the
+history of the Evangelist to be only a cunningly devised fable? The
+schools of philosophy, with all their boasted learning and virtue,
+could not conceive any thing half so refined, or so far exalted
+above the most elevated of the human race. From whence, then, did
+the beloved physician, the tax-gatherer, and the two fishermen,
+obtain that beautiful model of holiness, presented to us in their
+writings? They must have copied from life--they must have witnessed
+the living character--those unlearned Jews could not have invented
+so correct a likeness of incarnate Deity. Even if they had taken
+the united virtues of the most eminent saints in the Old Testament
+for their pattern, it would not bear a comparison with the artless
+grandeur and majestic simplicity discoverable in this history of
+the life of Jesus of Nazareth; which, it should be remembered, was
+written at a time when the religion of the Jews was little more
+than superstition; for the law of God was made void by the absurd
+tradition of the fathers.[57] Yet no trait of false Judaism is
+discoverable in the character of Christ. In short, the history of
+the four evangelists is the very reverse of what might reasonably be
+expected from ignorant men, who had strongly imbibed their nation's
+bigotry and superstition. The gospels carry their own evidence,
+and prove the men who wrote them not only had the example of Jesus
+for their guide, but that they were divinely inspired.[58] They
+have mixed up none of their own corrupt notions or false ideas, but
+presented us with a book which is not unfitting the God of Truth to
+acknowledge as his own.
+
+  [57] Mark vii. 9. 13.
+
+  [58] 2 Tim. iii. 16.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+     Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the
+     dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and
+     streams in the desert.--Isaiah xxxv. 6.
+
+
+Blessed Jesus, we behold thee surrounded by the diseased and
+wretched. We see thee attend that seat of misery, the pool of
+Bethesda, whose cloisters oft resounded the plaintive voice of
+sorrow; for within its porches were assembled many of the sons
+and daughters of affliction. Amidst the group was one, who, for
+thirty-eight long years, had sighed over his poor enfeebled limbs,
+and who oft had heard the joyful sound of Bethesda's agitated
+waters. But, alas! this Angel of Mercy brought no healing balm for
+his diseased limbs. Oft had he seen a companion in misery hastily
+rush into the troubled pool; and beheld their diseased bodies
+healed by one plunge into those sacred waters. Yet his slow, though
+anxious steps, never reached its brink, until some happier object
+had possessed its healing properties. His case attracted the kind
+attention of Jesus, to whom, when questioned, he tells his tale of
+wo. But hark! a voice is heard, "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk."
+The astonished cripple no longer needs the friendly crutch, but
+treads with ease and joy his gladsome path. Yes, beneath the porches
+of Bethesda's pool, the Godhead of Jesus darts forth its clear
+and splendid rays. Well might the fame of this wondrous Physician
+spread, and multitudes of the afflicted press to share his favours.
+Behold, amidst the numbers who throng his door, a poor paralytic
+cripple, borne by four. Every effort to force a passage through
+the dense crowd is fruitless. Faith does not easily relinquish its
+subject, and the roof is even bared to admit this subject of misery
+into the immediate presence of the Healer of diseases. Nor were
+their efforts unsuccessful. One word from him does more than the
+united skill of all earth's physicians; and he, who, a few moments
+before, required a couch to support his palsied frame, is now seen
+forcing his passage through the astonished multitude, triumphantly
+carrying his own bed. Surely "it was never so seen before," even "in
+Israel," that land so famed for miracles. Jesus not only wrought
+miracles himself, but when he sent forth his disciples to preach
+the everlasting Gospel, he gave them authority to work miracles,
+in order to prove their commission to be from Heaven. We behold
+these fishermen of Galilee, in the name[59] of their divine Lord
+and Master, Jesus of Nazareth, healing all manner of sicknesses,
+diseases, and infirmities; testifying both to the friends and
+enemies of the crucified Jesus, that God was with them, indeed
+and of a truth, so mightily did the word of the Lord prosper. The
+blessings of the Messiah's reign are frequently exhibited to our
+view under the simile of water. Jehovah promises, "when the poor
+and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth
+for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not
+forsake them; but will open rivers in high places, and fountains
+in the midst of the valleys." He will make the wilderness a pool
+of water, and the dry land springs of water. Rivers of water in a
+thirsty wild, are not more acceptable to the fainting traveller,
+than the salvation of Jesus is welcome to the convinced sinner; to
+such who believe he is precious. The conditions of obtaining it are
+inscribed by the finger of God; we behold them written in legible
+characters: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
+and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy
+wine and milk without money and without price." Ezekiel, in vision,
+beheld this holy water issuing from the temple of God. Its sovereign
+efficacy was such, that whithersoever it flowed, healing and life
+attended its course. John in the Apocalypse, describes it as the
+"pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
+the throne of God and of the Lamb;" its banks adorned with continual
+fruitfulness, and never-fading verdure. The salvation of Jesus is
+also described as a "fountain which is opened to the house of
+David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness."
+May _we_ know its purifying and refreshing qualities: may _we_ drink
+deep of the living waters, which are "a well of water springing up
+unto everlasting life." Jesus himself personally invites "all that
+are athirst, to come unto him and drink."
+
+  [59] Acts iii. 6.
+
+This fountain of life, is not of recent discovery; the antedeluvian
+world beheld it as a small rivulet, which continued to increase
+as it flowed down the patriarchal age, widened under the Mosaic
+dispensation, and became broader and clearer, as it warbled along
+the prophetic course, and now displays itself as the grand and
+majestic fountain of living waters, whose streams make glad the city
+of our God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+     Then said I, 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.--Psalm xl. 7, 8.
+
+
+The psalm from which these words are selected, was written by David,
+king of Israel, but never can they with justice be applied to him.
+We dare not venture to imagine he acted agreeably to the will
+of his God, in the matter of Uriah the Hittite; nor was the law
+of his God ruling in his heart, when his pride led him to number
+the children of Israel. But let us no longer dwell on the crimes
+and failings of this (in one sense of the word) great man; let us
+endeavour to discover some other, to whom it can, with more justice,
+be applied. But, alas! if we search to earth's remotest bounds,
+we cannot find, on this our globe, one to whom it may be applied
+without deserving the charge of flattery. If permitted to extend
+our search to the upper and brighter world, and allowed to inquire
+of the inhabitants of those realms of bliss, if they had ever known
+one of Adam's race, when sojourning here below, of whom it could
+with truth be said, his delight was to do the will of his God, yea
+that the law of his God was the constant ruling principle of his
+heart;[60] struck at our want of discernment, they would exclaim
+with holy indignation, was He so long an inhabitant of your world,
+and do ye not know him? Have ye not read of his life, of his acts,
+of his words, and ways; but above all, have ye not heard the oft
+told tale of his death? Do ye now need to be reminded that the
+words are a true description of the man ye call Jesus of Nazareth?
+Yes, angels know him, and glory in their knowledge; with joy would
+they tell us, that, with all their opportunities of observing his
+conduct, they could never discover in him the least imperfection
+or tendency to sin.[61] Yes, it is Jesus the son of David, and not
+David the son of Jesse; who is here speaking, as other parts of the
+psalm clearly prove. He alone could say, without presumption, "I
+delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart."
+Jesus came from heaven to earth, to do the will of his Father who
+sent him; even to accomplish the work of redemption, which is as
+much the will and pleasure of the Father, as it is the delight of
+the Son. His zeal was discoverable at twelve years of age, when
+he was found in the temple, and, to the gentle reproof of Mary,
+answered, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business;"
+which he preferred before the refreshments of the body; yea, his
+meat was to do the will of him that sent him, and to finish the
+work. What devotedness marked his life! days of toil in travelling
+and preaching were often succeeded by whole nights spent in prayer:
+the returning sun found him again employed with the same unwearied
+diligence in the work he had undertaken. We should do well to bear
+in mind, that all Jesus did was voluntary. There was nothing, but
+his love to God and man, which led him to engage in the work. There
+was no compulsion, no obligation, it was entirely an act of his
+own free will; nor did he enter on the covenant, ignorant of the
+difficulties and sufferings connected with the work. He was well
+acquainted with their nature, and extent; he had counted the cost
+and weighed the price; and with a clear view of the immense load
+of sufferings before him, did he, with cheerful promptitude, go
+forth to the work. We cannot have a more striking exhibition of his
+zeal, than in the reply he made to Peter; Jesus had been warning
+his disciples of the circumstances of the death which awaited him;
+but Peter could not bear the idea of his beloved Master's exposing
+himself to so much suffering, and in the warmth of his attachment,
+he exclaimed, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto
+thee:" But Jesus said unto Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou
+art an offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of
+God, but those that be of men." Is this the language of the man,
+who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, and when persecuted,
+he blessed? Can this be the answer of the meek and lowly Jesus to a
+beloved follower, who only spoke with an intention to prevent his
+Lord from suffering? Yes, it is; but Peter was little aware of the
+momentous consequences connected with that death. The advice he
+gave would, if followed, have been a more dire calamity than the
+world had ever known, yea, even worse than the ruin brought upon
+our race, when our first parents followed the counsel of that false
+reasoner Satan. Jesus, well aware of the immense benefits resulting
+from his expiatory death,[62] would not allow even a beloved
+disciple to use one argument against his voluntary sufferings. How
+different the conduct of Jesus, when Peter denied him! there was no
+reproof, no upbraidings; but all was love and pity for the weeping
+servant, to whom, after his resurrection, he gave many kind tokens
+of his forgiveness. We are told, when the time approached that
+Jesus should be offered up, he steadfastly set his face to go up
+to Jerusalem, well known as the destined place of his sorrows. We
+hear him saying, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I
+straitened until it be accomplished." When Judas was about to betray
+him, Jesus said, "what thou doest do quickly." His delight to do the
+will of his God, was most conspicuous when the band of armed men
+came to apprehend him, in the garden. He did not attempt to flee, or
+endeavour to conceal himself from their pursuit. He did not shrink
+from the danger even when so near; for it is said, Jesus knowing
+all things that should come upon him, went forth to meet them; and
+said, "whom seek ye," and when told Jesus of Nazareth, he said, "I
+am _he_." There was no evasion, no reluctance, but he cheerfully and
+freely delivered himself into their hands, and met with promptitude
+the adversaries he had to encounter. When Peter, indignant at the
+insults offered his Master, and anxious for his rescue, drew his
+sword in the garden, and wounded the High Priest's servant, Jesus
+mildly reproved him, adding, "the cup which my Father hath given me,
+shall I not drink it?" Jesus could have commanded twelve legions of
+angels to his rescue, yet he allowed himself to be bound, scourged,
+and crucified as a malefactor. Not all the powers of earth and hell
+combined, could have destroyed the body of Jesus, had he not given
+himself up a voluntary sacrifice.[63] He had power to lay down his
+life, but no man had power to take it from him. The human nature
+of Jesus, when united to his divine person, became in a manner
+omnipotent: unless he had freely consented, he could not have been
+made the subject of their cruelty, but for that "cause came he into
+this world." The active and passive obedience of Jesus has reflected
+more honour upon God, than the unsinning obedience of men and angels
+could have done to all eternity. The free and voluntary nature of
+that obedience adds a beauty and lustre to the whole. "Then said I,
+lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." Moses
+wrote of Christ: the whole of the Old Testament (if we except some
+of the prophetical parts which relate to the then kingdoms of the
+earth,) have a reference to the person, work, or church of Christ.
+The ceremonies, institutions, and many of the characters, of the Old
+Testament, are shadows, types, and figures of Jesus the Messiah.
+Even the preceptive parts are not exempt. The great apostle of
+the Gentiles speaking of the law, says it is a "schoolmaster, to
+bring us to Christ." When from comparing our heart and conduct by
+the perfect standard of God's law, we discover our short comings,
+the law thus becomes a teacher, and shows us the necessity of an
+interest in the salvation of Jesus. He could truly say, "I delight
+to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart: How I
+love thy law, it is my meditation all the day;" in fact, the law,
+which is holy, just, and true, is merely a transcript of his divine
+mind.
+
+  [60] Psalm xiv. 1. Eccles. vii. 20. Rom. iii. 12.
+
+  [61] John xiv. 30.
+
+  [62] John xiv. 5.
+
+  [63] John x. 18.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+     I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my
+     mother's children.--Psalm lxix. 8.
+
+
+Ah, my Lord, I know this to be thy voice of lamentation, at the
+unfeeling conduct of those, from whom thou oughtest to have received
+the kindest attentions. Thou wast as "a stranger unto thy brethren,
+and as an alien unto thy mother's children;" "for even thy brethren,
+and the house of thy father, even they dealt treacherously with
+thee." They cried "depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy
+disciples also may see the works that thou doest, for there is no
+man that doest any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be
+known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world."
+"For neither did his brethren believe in him." No sooner did he
+show himself unto the world, and multitudes thronged to behold his
+miracles, but they cry, thou art beside thyself. From his chosen
+friends, the disciples, he also experienced much unkindness and
+ingratitude. During his unparalleled agony in the Garden, instead
+of endeavouring to mitigate, and sooth his sorrows, they slept, as
+if careless of his woes. He marked their conduct, and exclaimed,
+"What! could ye not watch with me one hour?" In the time of danger,
+"all the disciples forsook him and fled." When in Pilate's hall,
+and surrounded by men who thirsted for his blood, Peter, with oaths
+and curses, thrice denied his Lord and Master, who heard, and
+cast a look of reproof, mingled with love, towards his faithless
+disciple. Blessed Jesus, how few of the tender charities of life
+were exercised towards thee, though thy heart, cast in nature's
+purest mould, was not insensible to the kindlier feelings of that
+nature. Jesus particularly testified his affection towards John,
+that beloved disciple, who laid in his bosom. He also discovered the
+tenderness of his regard towards the three highly favoured subjects
+of his friendship at Bethany. The sight of the sorrowing sisters
+at the tomb of their only and dearly beloved brother, his friend
+Lazarus, excited the tenderest sympathies of his soul, and drew
+tears from the eyes, and groans from the heart of Jesus. "Behold
+how he loved him," exclaimed the by-standers. Let us not think it
+beneath the dignity of the eternal Son of God, to have shared in the
+sorrows of such a scene; rather let us rejoice, that we have an High
+Priest, "who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and
+that in all our afflictions he was afflicted." Was not this event
+recorded to encourage us to present all our cares and trials before
+him. The cry, "Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick;" will not, cannot,
+be unnoticed by him who wept at the grave of Lazarus; for, though
+he has changed his place, he has not changed his nature. As Man,
+he can still sympathise with his people in all their sorrows and
+afflictions. As God, he is ever able to extend his all-powerful arm,
+and give the wished-for aid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+     They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they
+     that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits
+     all the day long.--Psalm xxxviii. 12.
+
+
+Where shall we find the person to whom these words are so
+applicable, as to Jesus. From the manger to the cross, he was
+constantly encircled by men who were plotting his destruction. If we
+trace the line from Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, to Pilate, the
+Governor of Judea, we find that the enemies of Jesus were neither
+few nor weak. We see marshalled against him, kings, priests, and
+governors; Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees; the learned and the
+wealthy; the noble and the peasant; the Jewish nation and the Roman
+soldiery. No scheme that malice, iniquity, or falsehood could devise
+or suggest, was suffered to escape; all were pressed into their
+service, and made to bear against him. Every stratagem was resorted
+to, that they might entangle him in his discourse, to form an excuse
+for seizing his person. At one time, the Herodians are sent with
+the question, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not?" and
+though they preface their inquiry with "Master, we know that thou
+art true, and carest for no man, for thou regardest not the person
+of men, but teachest the way of God in truth," yet he discovered
+their hypocrisy; and who but must admire the Godlike wisdom that
+sparkles in his bold reply? We next behold the Pharisees approach
+with cautious step and flattering tongue, to ask his opinion of
+the laws enacted by Moses for divorcement. On the other side, the
+Sadducees appear to present their queries touching the resurrection
+of the dead. However artfully their plans were laid, they could
+not surprise or deceive Infinite Wisdom. Their next scheme is to
+present before him a woman guilty of adultery, hoping, from the
+known kindness of his character, that he would pronounce her pardon,
+and then they could accuse him as a violator of the commands of
+their great lawgiver, Moses, who ordered all persons guilty of
+such offences to be stoned to death; but he, who knew what was in
+man, could foil his adversaries, whilst he pardoned the trembling
+penitent. "Let him that is without sin, first cast a stone at her,"
+sent home to their conscience, proved the wisdom and Almighty power
+of him with whom they were contending. Yet still his enemies spake
+against him, and they that laid wait for his soul, took counsel
+together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+     For I have heard the slander of many; fear was on every side;
+     while they took counsel together against me, they devised to
+     take away my life.--Psalm xxxi. 13.
+
+
+It is not infrequent that the envious and the profligate are found
+speaking in terms of reproach of characters whose public and
+domestic conduct are a beautiful portrait of all that is honourable,
+amiable, and truly worthy of commendation. Yet persons will never be
+wanting who can truly appreciate and highly esteem the fair edifice
+of moral excellence, and bestow the just tribute of respect it
+deserves. It is possible for men to be so far deceived by personal
+prejudice, or swayed by the false opinions of others, that they
+not only view with indifference, but even treat with contempt and
+scorn, persons, to whom the Searcher of hearts will one day say,
+"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy
+of thy Lord." Examples of these facts are not wanting, but we no
+where behold so striking an illustration of this truth as in the
+reception the Holy Jesus met with from the men amongst whom he
+tabernacled. It must be confessed, that in the most perfect of the
+human race there are defects and blemishes, to which even the eye
+of friendship cannot be blind, yet in Jesus there was a freedom
+from all evil either in principle or practice. He could be weighed
+"in the balance of the sanctuary," and not found wanting either
+to God or man. His actions, when measured by the just standard of
+God's law, are pronounced perfect. Yet he, who was purity itself,
+was not exempt from slander, but was called a gluttonous man, and
+a wine bibber; a friend of publicans and sinners, an hypocrite, a
+man of sedition and strife, a Sabbath breaker, and a violator of
+all the laws of Moses. In scorn, they say, this fellow, and that
+deceiver, thou art a Samaritan; a race of men held by the Jews in
+the most sovereign contempt and hatred. By some, he is accused of
+disloyal and traitorous conduct toward the rulers of Jewry; others
+pronounced him guilty of blasphemy; and, to crown the whole, they
+declare him to be a devil; yea, Belzebub, the chief of devils.
+Blessed Jesus, thou didst, indeed, hear the slander of many. Every
+action was viewed through a false medium. Thy acts of mercy became
+an occasion of offence, and called forth the hatred of these
+self-deceived men, and thy whole conduct was vilified and spoken of
+in the harshest terms of disapprobation and scorn. Yet those ancient
+slanderers and persecutors of Jesus, were not without their fears.
+At one time, lest, from his growing popularity, the Romans should
+take away their place and nation; at another time, the purity of
+his doctrine becomes the source of disquietude. They all secretly
+dreaded his power. Fear was on every side, while they took counsel
+and devised to take away the life of Jesus. Pilate's wife could not
+forbear expressing her fears; and Pilate himself illy concealed the
+perturbation of his troubled conscience. How insufficient was water
+to cleanse the polluted hands of that wretched governor, so deeply
+stained with the blood of an innocent victim, sacrificed to his tame
+compliance; and, to seal his awful doom, he soon after impiously
+dared imbrue his hands in his own blood, and rush uncalled into the
+presence of his offended Judge. How tremendous the situation of
+Pilate when standing before the Judge of all the earth, even _that_
+Jesus, he had unjustly condemned and crucified. How different the
+scene from that when Jesus appeared as the despised Nazarene in
+Pilate's hall. The mind shudders at contemplating the awful fate of
+those who dare to lift their puny arms in rebellion against Zion's
+King, and the language of whose hearts till death is, "we will not
+have this man to reign over us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+     Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if
+     there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me,
+     wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the days of his fierce
+     anger.--Lamentation i. 12.
+
+
+These words are in some degree applicable to the mournful prophet
+Jeremiah, but it will do no violence to consider them as referring
+to Jesus, and to him they apply with tenfold force. Let us not
+pass him by unnoticed, but let us "behold, and see if there be
+any sorrow like unto his sorrow," who, by way of distinction, is
+called "the Man of Sorrows." We see Jesus, attended by three of his
+disciples, enter the garden of Gethsemane; we behold him withdraw
+from them about a stone's-throw, and, kneeling down, pour out his
+soul in prayer to God. Let us draw nigh to witness the scene, but
+let us approach with awe and reverence, for methinks we are about
+to tread on hallowed ground. Let the frame of our minds be solemn
+and attentive, whilst we view a scene so mysterious and sublime. We
+observe Jesus on his knees, begin to be sore amazed and very heavy:
+yea, his soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; and in the
+bitterness of his spirit, we hear him cry out, "Father, if thou be
+willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but
+thine, be done." Being in an agony, he prays the more earnestly.
+Thrice we hear him present the same petition. His agony becomes so
+extreme, that he sweats great drops of blood, and so profusely,
+that it even falls upon the ground. Struck at a sight so mysterious
+and solemn, we turn towards the disciples for an explanation; but
+lo, they are fallen into a deep sleep, although requested by their
+Master to watch and pray. Desirous to ascertain the cause, we survey
+the wondrous scene, but find no external marks of punishment. True,
+the sufferings of the cross he viewed as near, but they were not
+yet commenced; nor can we discover any one afflicting him. The
+only visible object we perceive is an angel from heaven; but his
+was an errand of love, for he strengthened him. It is therefore
+quite clear, that it was from sorrow of soul, and not pains of
+body, Jesus then suffered. We eagerly inquire what powers could
+have had such influence over him, as to occasion so great anguish
+of spirit? We are told, the powers of heaven and hell;[64] and we
+immediately request to be informed, why the holy, harmless, and
+undefiled Jesus, is thus the object of God's displeasure, and the
+sport of Satan. We are directed to consult the records of truth for
+an explanation of the scene. We examine, and find that Jesus had
+voluntarily come forth, and offered himself as the surety of his
+people, having placed himself in their room, and the curses of the
+law taken hold upon him, his soul endured all the horrors of the
+tremendous load of our guilt imputed to him. Would you behold the
+awful consequences of sin; then go, visit Gethsemane, and see Jesus
+prostrate in the garden. Mark the extreme anguish of his spirit.
+What language is sufficiently strong to express the agonies of
+his soul in that awful hour, when the conflict of his mind forced
+through all the pores of his sacred body a bloody sweat; not merely
+a drop or two, but so copiously as to fall upon the ground, and
+that in the open air, in a night of such extreme cold, that, in the
+crowded hall of the High Priest's palace, the servants found it
+necessary to make a fire to warm themselves. We may well tremble and
+stand amazed at a sight so awful and mysterious as the soul-agonies
+of the God-Man Christ Jesus. "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass
+by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow,
+which was done unto him, wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the
+day of his fierce anger." Yes, the hand of Jehovah was in it, he
+then stood up to punish the sins of his people, in the person of
+their surety. It was also the hour and power of darkness, and
+Satan then poured forth all his malice, and exerted all his fury,
+to worry and destroy this Lamb of God; although Jesus declared,
+the prince of this world had nothing in him, (_i. e._) no corrupt
+principles or evil passions as materials on which to work; yet was
+the soul of Jesus assaulted by all the malicious artifices of hell.
+It is more than probable, that the great adversary overpowered the
+three disciples with drowsiness, and caused them to fall into a
+deep sleep, in order to keep every source of creature-comfort from
+Jesus during this season of conflict and sorrow. In the garden of
+Eden, did Satan gain his first triumph over apostate man; but in
+Gethsemane's garden, did Jesus, as the representative and surety of
+man, give that decisive overthrow to the power of sin and Satan,
+which shook to its centre the throne of that arch-fiend.
+
+  [64] Luke xxii. 53.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+     Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat
+     of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.--Psalm xli. 9.
+
+     And I said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price; and
+     if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price, thirty pieces of
+     silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter: a
+     goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty
+     pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the House of
+     the Lord.--Zechariah xi. 12, 13.
+
+
+Surely every one acquainted with the history of Jesus, as connected
+with that of Judas, must acknowledge these remarkable verses to be
+prophetical of the traitorous conduct of that betrayer of Christ.
+They describe the base deeds of one of his followers. It was his own
+familiar friend, which did eat of his bread, that lifted up his heel
+against him. It was not an open enemy that did him this dishonour;
+it was one with whom, for near three years and a half, he had daily
+intercourse; during which period he had constant opportunities of
+witnessing the miracles of Jesus. He heard his divine discourses, he
+saw him display his power, and, in common with the other disciples,
+did he receive the kindest treatment from his Master, to whose
+person Judas publicly professed himself faithfully attached: yea,
+"he was numbered with the apostles, and obtained a part in their
+ministry;" but such was his hypocrisy, that the disciples were not
+conscious of his real character. To his care they intrusted the
+slender stock of money--Judas kept the bag. Though under the mask
+of friendship he artfully concealed his perfidious spirit from the
+eye of man, yet he could not deceive his Lord and Master. Jesus well
+knew, amongst the twelve whom he had chosen to be his apostles, one
+was a devil.[65] He knew this serpent, fostered in his bosom, would
+betray him. Yet we behold the meek and lowly Jesus condescending to
+wash those feet which were so shortly to run on an errand of the
+basest ingratitude. Judas was unmoved by this act of unparalleled
+humility; no kindness could soften his heart, by sin made hard as
+adamant; for it appears he instantly arose and, though night (a
+time best suited for such deeds of darkness), went to the Chief
+Priests, and said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price;
+so they weighed him thirty pieces of silver. For that paltry sum
+did this perfidious monster sell his Lord and Master, and engage
+to deliver him into the hands of his bitterest enemies; and then,
+to conceal his base and treacherous conduct, he mingled with his
+Master's family, and even dared to partake with them, not only of
+the paschal feast, but of the Lord's Supper, which was instituted
+immediately after the celebration of the feast of the passover. So
+callous was the wretch to every feeling of remorse and pity, that
+he could, unmoved and unrelentingly, even receive from the hands
+of the innocent victim of his treachery, the symbols of the Lord's
+bruised body, and blood-shedding. When Jesus mildly declared that
+one of them would betray him, the faithful disciples, filled with
+astonishment and grief at the bare intimation of such an act of
+perfidy, each eagerly exclaimed, "Lord, is it I? is it I?" The
+hardened Judas could join in the cry, and with all the effrontery
+of a child of satan, appeal for a confirmation of his innocence;
+but Jesus knew his treachery, though hid beneath the garb of
+friendship. Alas, wretched Judas! how little didst thou enjoy thy
+ill-gotten wealth! Thou hadst scarcely grasped the price of blood,
+ere thou didst cast it from thee; before even the victim of thy
+treachery was crucified, thou didst cut short thy race on earth, and
+madly rush on the thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler; thou didst
+terminate thy wretched course of sin here, to enter on thine awful
+state of everlasting wo. Matthew the Evangelist informs us that
+Judas hung himself, but in the Acts of the Apostles we read, that
+he fell head-long, and all his bowels gushed out. These seeming
+contradictions are easily reconciled, if we suppose, which is not
+improbable, that he fell from the place whence he hung himself;
+and thus a double mark of infamy was affixed to his body. What a
+remarkable fulfilment of prophecy, in the purchase of Aceldama, that
+potter's field of blood. Indeed, these verses of Zechariah look more
+like the descriptions of a contemporary, than the predictions of one
+who lived at least five hundred and eighty years before the events
+narrated actually took place.
+
+  [65] John vi. 70.
+
+By the Mosaic law, if a servant was goaded by an ox, the owner
+of the ox was to pay the master of that servant thirty pieces of
+silver:[66] and for that trifling sum it was the blessed Jesus was
+basely sold; he, whose price is far above rubies, and to whom all
+the good things thou canst desire are not to be compared. But,
+while we detest the treachery of Judas, let us be careful that
+we do not commit the like act. Let us not salute Jesus with the
+kiss of profession, while we are secretly in league with his worst
+enemy, sin: which, of old, nailed Jesus to the cross. No wounds are
+considered by him so severe, as those wherewith he is wounded in the
+house of his friends.[67]
+
+  [66] Exodus xxi. 34.
+
+  [67] Psalm lv. 12.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+     When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to
+     eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.--Psalm xxvii. 2.
+
+
+The Psalm from which this verse is selected, was written by David
+king of Israel, when under the teachings of the Holy Spirit.
+David unquestionably proved himself a mighty man of valour; and
+by the help of his God did he overcome troops of foes; indeed, as
+a warrior, he is surpassed by none. But still these words are not
+strictly applicable to David; though he slew many by the sword; yet
+we never hear that any of his unwounded enemies fell before him:
+and we find but one solitary instance on record, of a body of armed
+men falling to the ground, only on a single word spoken by their
+adversary. The instance to which we allude, was an event which
+occurred in the garden of Gethsemane, when a company of men went
+to apprehend Jesus. We find a band of Roman soldiers, armed as for
+war, (sent by the Chief Priest,) attended by their officers, and a
+large concourse of persons, who were also provided with weapons,
+lanterns, and torches, that they might secure Jesus, whom we see
+coming forth to meet them, unarmed, and accompanied only by the
+disciples. With all the dignity of conscious innocence, we hear
+him inquiring whom they seek; when told, Jesus of Nazareth, he
+mildly answered, _I am_;[68] but instead of instantly seizing their
+prey, they go backwards, and fall prostrate on the ground. Is this
+the conduct of Roman warriors? What was it which so soon relaxed
+the nerves, and damped the bravery of a soldiery, famed for their
+discipline and valour? It was not threats nor menaces; it was not
+promises nor bribes; nor was it the sight of a company more numerous
+than themselves. It was none of those causes which usually paralyze
+the exertions of soldiers. Surely then there was an almighty power
+accompanying the word spoken, for we find all this dismay and
+consternation was occasioned only at the simple word of Jesus. Then
+was that prophecy of Isaiah accomplished, who, when speaking of the
+Branch out of Jesse's Root, said, "He should smite the earth with
+the Rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips should he
+slay the wicked." Truly they had cause for dismay; for they were
+contending with none other than the glorious personage, the Great
+I AM, who appeared to Moses at the bush; and the same power which
+smote them to the earth, could, if he had pleased, deprive them of
+life. Surely this must be acknowledged to be one of the greatest
+miracles performed by Jesus in the days of his flesh, as it was
+produced by apparently the slightest exertion of his power.
+
+  [68] _I am._ The reader will observe the word _He_ is written in
+  italics, to denote that it was not in the original, but added by the
+  translators.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+     Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
+     thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers
+     take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his
+     anointed.--Psalm ii. 1, 2.
+
+
+The whole of this Psalm is descriptive of the Messiah, and we are
+not destitute of strong proofs to warrant our applying it to Jesus.
+We find persons of different denominations and rank in society,
+even kings, priests, scribes and pharisees, Jews and Gentiles, in
+league to persecute and destroy an innocent individual. Of the Jews
+we see Caiaphas the High Priest, at the head of the Sanhedrim, from
+day to day in consultation on the best and most effectual methods
+to secure and destroy the victim of their displeasure. Of the
+Gentile party are Herod and Pilate, deputy kings or governors under
+Cæsar, assisted by the Roman soldiers, seconding and consenting to
+the plans of the Jewish rulers and people. We see these men forget
+their national and personal animosities, to join in the scheme.
+Yea Herod and Pilate, although at enmity before, on this occasion
+lay aside their resentments, become friends, and act in unison.
+But why "do these heathens rage, and against whom do these kings
+of the earth set themselves," and wherefore all this consultation
+and contrivance? Is it to secure a powerful tyrant, the scourge of
+an oppressed nation? Is it to subdue an usurper who has arisen to
+trample on and overthrow the existing authorities of the state;
+or is it to bring to justice a wretch who has violated her laws,
+and by his crimes and enormities become the dread and fear of his
+race? No--but it is against the meek and lowly Jesus, who had never
+refused to pay tribute to whom tribute was due, who had never
+attempted to establish a kingdom amongst the princes of the earth;
+but when solicited to do so, had ever checked the proposition, as
+his kingdom was not of this world; he could challenge his bitterest
+enemies to prove against him any violation of the laws, either of
+Moses or Cæsar; nor did Jesus attempt to escape from them, but
+was daily to be found either in the temple, or about the city or
+its suburbs, attended by a handful of unarmed followers. There is
+one circumstance which deserves particular attention, as it tends
+to show the extreme warmth and rage of his persecutors. The night
+Jesus was apprehended, was the very night the Jews celebrated the
+passover: after which ordinance, the whole of the people were
+forbidden to go abroad, or leave their houses until the morning.[69]
+But so eager were these infuriated people to accomplish their plans,
+that in opposition to this Jewish command, they go out to seize
+Jesus, whom they take to the palace of the High Priest, where the
+scribes and the elders of the people also assemble, to contrive
+measures to get Jesus crucified. It appears more than probable that
+they sat in council the whole night, as we leave them late in the
+evening thus employed, and very early in the morning we find them
+still engaged on the same subject. So soon as it is day, they lead
+Jesus to the hall of Pilate. "But why do the heathen rage, and the
+people imagine a vain thing? Against whom do the kings of the earth
+set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together?" How sad their
+mistake, if they imagined they were only planning the destruction
+of a poor Jewish carpenter's son, when, in fact, their schemes were
+against the Lord, and against his anointed. It was not from any
+lack of evidence, that they denied Jesus to be the Christ of God.
+The language he used on another occasion, is strictly applicable
+to them, and to all those who do not acknowledge Jesus as the God
+Messiah. "Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for
+which of those works do you stone me? if I do not the works of my
+Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ye believe not me,
+believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is
+in me, and I in him." The plea of ignorance when the means of better
+information are in our power, will only increase our condemnation.
+We may all peruse the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us
+wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus, for
+"all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
+for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
+righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
+furnished unto all good works."
+
+  [69] Exodus xii. 22.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+     False witnesses did rise up: they laid to my charge things that
+     I knew not.--Psalm xxxv. 11.
+
+
+Where shall we find one more unjustly accused, than Jesus. They
+falsely declare him to be a blasphemer and seducer of the people.
+His enemies, in order to give an appearance of justice to their
+proceedings, (for they were determined to destroy him) proceeded
+to call witnesses against him; a mock trial ensues before Caiaphas
+the High Priest; but, though the witnesses are perjured, their
+testimony agrees not together. They indeed _accuse_ him of having
+threatened to destroy their temple and build it again in three
+days; but they can _prove_ nothing. It is true, that Jesus, when
+speaking of his death and resurrection, said, destroy _this_ temple,
+and after three days I will raise it up again. But this he spake
+of his body, of which their temple was a type.[70] It was the
+honoured spot, in which the Lord met with and blessed his people,
+and the body of Jesus was honoured as the dwelling place or temple
+of the Lord of Glory. God did indeed dwell in an house of clay
+which, agreeably to his own prediction, was laid low, even to the
+ground, and, after three days, he raised it up again, without human
+aid or art. These words are made the subject of their accusation;
+but, the charge is so childish and ridiculous, that it deserves to
+be treated with contempt. It is a little extraordinary, that they
+did not bring against him the prophecy he had delivered of the
+utter ruin which, before that generation should have passed away,
+he had declared the Romans would bring upon their devoted city and
+temple. But they cautiously refrain from speaking on that subject,
+and proceed to accuse him of blasphemy, but here again they can
+prove nothing. Caiaphas artfully enough, adjures the condemned, by
+the living God, to tell him plainly, if he were the Christ, the Son
+of God. To which question Jesus replies, by boldly declaring his
+Godhead,[71] and saying, that hereafter they should see him coming
+in the clouds of Heaven, as their Judge. The High Priest then rent
+his mantle, and they pronounced him worthy of death. By the law of
+Moses, persons guilty of blasphemy, were to be stoned to death.
+The Jews being a conquered people, had not the power to inflict so
+severe a punishment, they, therefore, take Jesus before the Roman
+Governor, and vehemently accuse him of perverting the nation,
+forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying, that, he himself was
+Christ a King, and that he stirred up the people, beginning from
+Galilee to Jerusalem. But how false and unjust the accusation.
+Cæsar, throughout his vast dominions, had not a more honourable or
+obedient subject, nor one who by example or precept, better taught
+the true interest of the king and nation. He, indeed, preached from
+Galilee to Jerusalem, but not with words of sedition and strife,
+for he stirred up the people to practise such a refined and exalted
+system of ethics, that those of the far-famed heathen moralists
+sink into insignificance and contempt, when their sentiments are
+compared with the doctrines of morality as taught by Jesus and his
+Apostles.--"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good
+to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you
+and persecute you, and whatsoever ye would that men should do unto
+you, do ye even so to them." He taught the people throughout all
+Jewry, to "render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto
+God the things that are God's." He even wrought a miracle to furnish
+the means of paying his own and disciples' tribute money. But we
+cannot find an instance of his working a miracle to supply his own
+necessities, although so poor that he had not where to lay his head.
+He ever taught the Jewish nation and his Apostles, and through them
+the world, to render unto all men their due, whether of tribute,
+custom, or honour. He enjoined them to submit themselves to the
+Powers that be, and, to obey the laws of their Sovereigns and civil
+Magistrates so far as they might be in unison with the commands
+of God. Although he spoke so freely of the duties of the subject,
+he treated the great ones of the earth as men accountable to God,
+for the talents entrusted to their charge. His Apostles, taught
+by their divine Lord and Master, neither flattered the vices, nor
+courted the favours of kings or nobles, for they were no sycophants.
+Although the doctrine of Jesus was so pure and Godlike, and his life
+displayed every virtue, (for in his spirit there was no guile) and,
+is the only one amongst Adam's race, who was free from sin, yet
+against him was the tongue of the slanderer busy, and calumny dared
+to raise her voice. Yea "false witnesses did rise up and lay to his
+charge things that he knew not."
+
+  [70] John ii. 19-21.
+
+  [71] Col. ii. 9.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+     But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that
+     openeth not his mouth. Thus, I was as a man that heareth not,
+     and in whose mouth are no reproofs. Psalm xxxviii. 13, 14.
+
+
+Does not the perusal of these words lead the mind back to the palace
+of Caiaphas, and the hall of Pilate, when Jesus appeared there,
+surrounded by his blood-thirsty persecutors, who, in the bitterness
+of their malice, vehemently and unjustly accuse him of crimes his
+soul abhorred. But, the meek and lowly Jesus heard their falsehoods
+with silent composure. Their calumnies aroused no angry passions
+in his spotless soul. Though conscious of the injustice of their
+proceedings, he made no remonstrance. Even Pilate marvelled at his
+silence, and exclaimed, hearest thou not how many things these
+witness against thee? But Jesus answered not a word. He was "as a
+deaf man who heard not, or as one that is dumb so he opened not his
+mouth." Yet his silence was not the effect of sullenness, and,
+though innocent of crimes alleged against him, he deigned not to
+vindicate his character, nor did his noble spirit stoop to load with
+reproach even his bitterest enemies. "Though reviled, he reviled not
+again; in his mouth there were no reproofs." Jesus, aware of the
+situation in which he stood as the sinner's surety, looked beyond
+the bar of Pilate, to the Tribunal of God's Justice: for though no
+sin was _in_ him, yet, by imputation, he was loaded _with_ sin.[72]
+Though he was unjustly condemned to death by the Roman Governor, he
+viewed the sentence gone forth against him in the Court of Heaven,
+and, seeing the hand of the Lord in this matter, he was dumb, and
+opened not his mouth, "because thou, O God, didst it." This is
+discovered in the reply he made to Pilate's imperious question,
+"Knowest thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and have power
+to release thee?" Jesus answered, "thou couldest have no power at
+all against me, except it were given thee from above." Although
+innocent of the crimes preferred against him, at Pilate's bar, yet,
+Jesus knew that he stood charged before God, with the imputed mass
+of his people's sins for which he had made himself responsible.
+Is it not to this, we must attribute the otherwise extraordinary
+silence Jesus manifested at the injustice of Pilate's sentence?
+
+  [72] Isaiah liii. 6.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+     My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my
+     kinsmen stand afar off.--Psalm xxxviii. 11.
+
+
+How forcible and just the remark of the wisest of men, "that every
+man is a friend to him that giveth gifts." But, in the day of
+adversity, how few are treated with kindness and attention by their
+former acquaintance and professed friends. At one time we see five
+thousand, and at another four thousand persons, partaking of the
+bounty of Jesus. Afterwards we behold a multitude following him;
+but, he who knew their motives declared it was "for the sake of the
+loaves and fishes." When he was so actively engaged in healing the
+sick and diseased, from all parts they crowd around, and call him
+Lord and Master; but, no sooner does the black cloud of adversity
+lower over the head of this Benefactor of our race, than the
+cringing throng depart; even his immediate disciples, who had shared
+his friendship, forsook him, and fled at the very first appearance
+of danger. So precipitate were they that they stayed not to inquire
+or consider if mischief was likely to befal them, by their adherence
+to their Master. Only anxious for their own safety, they leave him
+alone and unprotected, to struggle with dangers and difficulties.
+But one disciple is found in the hall of Judgment, and even he, with
+oaths and curses, denies any knowledge of the despised Nazarene.
+But, were none found to espouse his cause? Did not the recipients
+of his bounty appear for his rescue? Were not those tongues whose
+powers of articulation Jesus had restored, heard to plead for mercy?
+Did not those eyes he had blessed with vision, with tears supplicate
+compassion for their benefactor? Were not those withered arms he had
+healed, upraised to shield from insult the giver of their strength?
+Did not those he had delivered from the power of the grave, boldly
+shed their hearts' blood to rescue, from the arm of cruelty and
+oppression, the restorer of their life? No! Silent as the grave was
+every tongue in his defence; no advocate was heard to plead his
+cause; no friendly arm was outstretched to succour or support the
+oppressed Saviour; "Lover and friends stood aloof from his sore, and
+his kinsmen stood afar off."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+     I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
+     plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and
+     spitting.--Isaiah l. 6.
+
+
+For the fulfilment of this prophecy, we have only to go back to
+the hall Prætorium, where we behold the blessed Jesus surrounded
+by a band of Roman soldiers, who treat him with every species of
+indignity. Not content with having scourged him, (a punishment
+considered too ignoble to be inflicted on a free born Roman)[73]
+they proceed to insult his Kingly Office. The purple robe, the reedy
+sceptre, the crown of thorns, the bended knee, and the salutation,
+"Hail, King of the Jews," are all used in mockery. What cruelty,
+mixed with insult, was here; had sport only been intended, a crown
+of reeds had sufficed. But no, it must be a crown of thorns, and
+that not gently placed on his head, but its sharp points were
+forcibly struck in. His Prophetical Office is next profaned, by
+blindfolding and smiting him on the face, crying, prophesy who it
+was that smote thee. They even dare to spit in his face, which by
+every people is considered the greatest indignity that can be
+offered, but especially so by the Jewish nation, amongst whom, if
+a father did but spit in his daughter's face, she was treated as
+unclean seven days.[74] The Romans were accustomed to present a
+civic crown, composed of oak leaves, to him who had saved the life
+of a fellow citizen, but when Jesus literally laid down his life to
+save from everlasting death a countless multitude, whom no man can
+number, of the citizens of earth, no such civic honours were awarded
+him. When our first parents apostatized from God, the earth was
+cursed for their sake, and made to bring forth briars and thorns,
+but Jesus only, of Adam's race, was ever crowned with thorns. What
+a spectacle for the angels of light to witness! The God of glory
+insulted and mocked by worms of the earth! To behold that sacred
+face, before which they were wont to bow with adoration and love,
+covered with shame and spitting. But the season of sorrow and of
+suffering is now past, and Jesus, the Son of the Most High, is
+receiving the just reward of his sufferings and humiliation.[75]
+That head, torn and lacerated by the rugged thorn, is now adorned
+with many crowns, and that face, once obscured by shame and
+spitting, now shines with refulgent brightness.
+
+  [73] Romans xvi. 37.
+
+  [74] Numbers xii. 14.
+
+  [75] Isaiah xl. 10.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+     He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
+     acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from
+     him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.--Isaiah liii. 3.
+
+     Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One,
+     to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to
+     a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also
+     shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the
+     Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.--Isaiah xlix. 7.
+
+
+Here again, we are called upon, to behold Jesus, exposed to shame,
+reproach, and sorrow. "He was in the world, and the world was made
+by him, yet the world knew him not." "He came unto his own, and his
+own received him not." Though his visit was an errand of mercy, yet
+he was treated as the offscouring of all things. "He was despised
+and rejected of men, himself a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
+grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised,
+and we esteemed him not." "Away with him; crucify him," was the
+public cry. And to Pilate's question, whether of the twain will ye
+that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus? they all, as with one
+voice, instantly exclaim, "not this man, but Barabbas." Thus, he who
+had been cast into prison for sedition and murder, was released,
+and Jesus rejected. Yet it was "Jehovah's Holy One, the Redeemer
+of Israel, the Mighty God of Jacob, whom man despised, whom the
+nation abhorred, who was as a servant to Rulers." We may shudder at
+the indignities offered to the Son of God when he tabernacled on
+earth, and the thought may cross the mind, had I been present, I
+would not have joined in opposing and insulting the meek and lowly
+Jesus. Good, my friend, but allow me affectionately to remind you,
+that if you are still at enmity to God by wicked works; if you have
+not submitted your heart unreservedly to the Lord, nor accepted his
+free offers of pardon and reconciliation, through the blood and
+righteousness of Jesus; if you are not simply resting by faith on
+the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, as the only propitiation for sin,
+and trusting solely to his perfect, yet imputed, righteousness, as
+the ground of your acceptance with God, you are, to all intents and
+purposes, acting the like part, or even worse, than did the ancient
+rejecters of Jesus, for you despise and reject the Redeemer of
+Israel, amidst the full blaze of gospel light. "If he that despised
+Moses' law, died without mercy, of how much sorer punishment,
+suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under
+foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
+wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite
+unto the Spirit of grace?" We know him that hath said, "Vengeance
+belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord."[76]
+
+  [76] Heb. x. 28-30.
+
+But let us not forsake our own mercies, nor longer despise and
+reject the Christ of God, nor lightly esteem that salvation, to
+purchase which, he was content to suffer ignominy and sorrow. Let us
+bow with humility and reverence "before the Redeemer of Israel." Let
+us bend the willing knee in adoration and gratitude before Jehovah's
+Holy One, of whom thus saith the Lord, "Kings shall see and arise;
+Princes also shall worship before him; the Gentiles shall come to
+his light, and Kings to the brightness of his rising." "Nations, the
+learned and the rude," shall bow before the Mighty One of Jacob,
+fall prostrate to his all conquering grace, and call the Redeemer
+blessed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+     But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of
+     the people.--Psalm xxii. 6.
+
+
+Do we not here instantly recognise the language of the despised
+Nazarene? And is not the whole Psalm a striking description of
+his unparalleled sufferings, of his unprecedented degradation
+and humility? He whose will formed the universal law of nature;
+he who marshalled the stars, and called them all by name; who
+bid the planets roll, and the sun to shine; who gave the orb of
+day his splendid rays, and lent the moon her silvery light; he
+whose word the congregated waters of the ocean felt and owned,
+when he said, "hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here
+shall thy proud waves be stayed"--he who shared the throne of
+Deity,[77] and received the adorations of glorified saints, of
+Cherubim and Seraphim, and before whose footstool even Gabriel
+bowed and worshipped.[78] He whose right it was to reign in Heaven,
+condescended to visit this, his distant kingdom, and tabernacle
+here for a season in the garb of humanity. Surely, if the Lord of
+Heaven and Earth deigned, for great and wise purposes, to enter this
+lower world, it was undoubtedly his just right to have appeared in
+all the majesty and splendour becoming his rank, and thus to have
+displayed himself as the glorious God. Was it not a condescension in
+the second person of the glorious Trinity to assume the character
+and office of Mediator? But, how unspeakably great his condescension
+in taking our nature into union with his Divine Person, even if it
+had always retained the splendours exhibited to the three disciples
+on the mount of transfiguration. Is there not just reason to believe
+the human nature to which Deity was united, as far exceeded in its
+native powers and faculties the rest of mankind[79]; as that the
+intellectual powers of the justly celebrated Newton exceeded the
+mental capacities of an idiot? We behold the God-man, Christ Jesus,
+voluntarily waiving his just claim to glory, and appearing, as the
+Prophet described, "without form or comeliness;" for in the eyes
+of those who saw him "there was no beauty that they should desire
+him." He was exposed to every species of scorn and contempt, his
+name a reproach, himself an outcast, the sport and ridicule of the
+Jewish nation. We discover Jesus, as the surety of man, cheerfully
+lay aside for a season all his visible and personal glory[80], to
+recompense the injury God's manifested glory had sustained by the
+creature's sin. And as Adam the creature, sinned in aspiring to
+be as God[81], so Christ, the Son of God, in making restitution,
+condescended to assume the creature. The satisfaction of Jesus did
+not consist merely in his obedience and sufferings, but also in his
+abasement and humiliation. He emptied himself, as it were, of all
+personal glory[82] to honour God, who, in the person of God the
+Father, covenanted to maintain and demand the honour and dignity due
+to Godhead.[83] The apostasy and disobedience of man had reflected
+dishonour on God, therefore Jesus submitted to shame and reproach,
+and to have his personal glory debased to make reparation. The lower
+he humbled himself, the greater honour did he reflect upon God, and
+the greater was the display of his love to man. When we consider the
+character of him with whom it is no "robbery to be equal with God,"
+and contrast the true dignity of his person, with his appearance
+and reception on earth, we are overwhelmed at the extent of his
+zeal for his Father's honour, and his love for the fallen race of
+Adam, which prompted him to descend from the heights of glory and
+blessedness to take the lowest rank, and most humbled situation[84],
+in society, to raise and exalt his enemies to a participation and
+share in the glories of his Heavenly Kingdom. Surely "this was
+compassion like a God."
+
+  [77] Psalm cx. 1. Zech. xiii. 7.
+
+  [78] Heb. i. 6.
+
+  [79] John vii. 46.
+
+  [80] John xvii. 5.
+
+  [81] Gen. iii. 5.
+
+  [82] Phil. ii. 7.
+
+  [83] Matt. v. 18.
+
+  [84] Luke xxii. 27.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+     He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
+     mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
+     before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.--Isaiah
+     liii. 7.
+
+
+It is scarcely possible not to see that it is Jesus who is here
+held forth to our view. Who so oppressed and afflicted as he? Who
+so patient under insult and tyrannical cruelty? Who so silent
+under the voice of calumny? What lamb so patient under the hand of
+the destroyer? He did not resist, he did not oppose; yea, he did
+not even attempt to vindicate his conduct; but, with meekness,
+gentleness, and cheerfulness did he hear, bear, and suffer, all
+that malice could devise, or cruelty inflict. Although he bore
+their unjust treatment without murmuring, yet his was not the
+tame submission of one insensible of wrong, or incapable of
+resistance.[85]
+
+  [85] Matthew xxvi. 53.
+
+Under the law, the lamb intended as a sacrifice was first taken
+to the door of the tabernacle, that the priest might have any
+opportunity to discover if it was free from blemish;[86] and Jesus
+the Lamb of God was not offered as a sacrifice without being first
+brought bound before the High Priest. But he, blinded by prejudice
+and passion, neglected to perform this part of his office. Yet this
+spotless lamb was not led forth for slaughter, before his purity
+had been attested; and, though the Priest refused to do it, Herod
+and Pilate gave their testimony to the fact, that in him they could
+find no fault. He was perfectly free from spot or blemish. He alone
+is the Lamb whose sacrifice can benefit either Jew or Gentile. It
+would be easy to shew, that all other sacrifices were but typical of
+this Lamb, viewed as slain from the foundation of the world; but, as
+it is more connected with type than prophecy, it would be improper
+here.
+
+  [86] Leviticus ix. 3. 5.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+     He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall
+     declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land
+     of the living, for the transgression of my people was he
+     stricken.--Isaiah liii. 8.
+
+
+Here the Prophet presents us with another sketch, which so exactly
+corresponds with many features in the sufferings of Jesus, that we
+cannot well mistake, if we consider him as the person intended.
+What supinness do we behold in the cause of truth, how faint are
+the exertions to promote the Glory of God, to whom are we indebted
+for all spiritual and temporal blessings. Surely, the disciples of
+Christ, in every age, must blush to compare their want of zeal for
+their Master's Glory, with the ardour and unwearied perseverance
+displayed by the adversaries of the Lord. What exertion and
+determination of purpose, is discoverable in the persecutors of
+Jesus. If they cannot accomplish their object in one way, they
+attempt it in another. If Annas or Caiaphas have not the power
+(Judea being under the Roman yoke) to execute Jesus, his enemies,
+nothing daunted, try Pilate and Herod, from whose tribunal, the
+innocent sufferer is again conveyed back to the Judgment Hall of
+Pilate, and eventually to Calvary. Thus was the blessed Jesus
+led bound by his insulting persecutors, from place to place, and
+compelled to walk many a wearisome mile, surrounded by an incensed
+rabble, who thirsted for his blood. He was, indeed, taken from
+prison and from judgment, but, who shall declare his generation.
+We may trace his journeys and count the number of his years on
+earth; but, we cannot name the period of time, when he first
+began his existence; for he existed as God, from everlasting to
+everlasting.[87] We hear the Jews saying "As for this fellow, we
+know not whence he is." As man, we see him cut off out of the land
+of the living. And the Prophets and Apostles, all join in stating,
+that it was "for the transgressions of his people, he was stricken."
+They again and again repeat the same sentiment. We are not left
+with a solitary proof or two, on a subject of so much importance;
+but it is written as with a sunbeam, throughout the whole canon
+of scripture. We should never view the sufferings of Jesus,
+but in connexion with the precious truth, that it was "for the
+transgression of his people he was stricken."
+
+  [87] Romans xix. 5. Hebrews xiii. 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+     For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have
+     enclosed me; they have pierced my hands and my feet.--Psalm
+     xxii. 16.
+
+
+We cannot with any degree of consistency, apply these words to
+David. It is true he was often surrounded by foes, and encompassed
+by adversaries; but, never were his sorrows and sufferings of the
+kind here described. By the spirit of Prophecy, he spoke of the
+sufferings of Jesus, and to him alone can we with truth apply these
+words, or indeed, the whole Psalm.
+
+We see Jesus surrounded by men, who, for their ungovernable rage,
+are not unaptly compared to dogs; and the assemblies before whom he
+was brought, proved by their conduct towards him, that they were
+unjust Rulers. What they called the Hall of Judgment, was, in this
+case, the seat of injustice and oppression. On every side, did the
+assemblies of the wicked enclose him; yea, they crucified him, by
+which act they pierced his hands and his feet. Crucifixion was not a
+Jewish punishment, but one used by the Romans, and they considered
+it so disgraceful that it was not allowed to be executed on a
+Roman, however heinous his crimes. It was only slaves, and persons
+belonging to the conquered territories of the Roman Government,
+who were sentenced to a death alike ignominious,[88] painful, and
+lingering. It was shameful, as the condemned always suffered naked;
+it was extremely painful, for they placed the sufferer on the cross
+when on the ground, the feet and outstretched arms, were then nailed
+to the wood, which being upraised, and one end fixed in a hole in
+the ground, the sudden jirk occasioned the most excruciating pains
+to the whole body. And when we consider that the nails were driven
+through the palms of the hands, and the soles of the feet, the most
+nervous parts of the body, the mind sickens at the thought, and is
+unwilling to dwell longer on so distressing an object; humanity
+sends forth a wish that death may speedily relieve the sufferer.
+But, as no wound is inflicted on any part of the body absolutely
+necessary to existence, the unfortunate sufferer often lingers many
+an hour in this extreme agony, before the powers of nature are
+exhausted and death closes the scene.
+
+  [88] Hebrews xii. 2.
+
+This is but a faint outline of the sufferings of crucifixion, to
+which the Priests and Rulers sentenced the blessed Jesus, whom we
+see going forth to the place of execution, carrying his own cross,
+and fainting beneath the load. His unfeeling persecutors, fearing,
+lest he should expire by the road, and thus disappoint them in their
+cruel design, lay hold of a Cyrenian, named Simon, whom they compel
+to bear the cross to Calvary, a spot, rendered sacred to memory by
+the sufferings of Jesus, who humbled himself unto death, even the
+death of the cross. Yes, he who could command a legion of angels to
+his rescue, here submitted to a painful and ignominious death. Do we
+hear the Prophet inquire "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel,
+and thy garments like him that treadeth the wine-vat?" Jesus
+replies, I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people
+there was none with me; and "I looked and there was none to help;
+and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore, mine own
+arm brought salvation." Whenever we look to the cross of Jesus, we
+should eye him as "the surety of his people," as the "just suffering
+for the unjust, to bring sinners unto God." It was for them he
+wept, bled, groaned, agonized, and died. But while Christ crucified
+is to the "Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness,
+it is unto them that are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ the
+power of God, and the wisdom of God." Jesus, that he might sanctify
+the people with his own blood, "suffered without the gate." "Let us
+therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach."
+Jesus suffered a painful, shameful, and ignominious death, to
+deliver his people from the bitter pains of eternal death. His
+crucifixion is the procuring cause of their salvation; for he died
+that they might live. Ought we not to admire and adore the wisdom of
+our God, who could cause such invaluable good to spring out of what,
+distinctly considered, was an act of such injustice and cruelty. We
+see the persecutors of Jesus full of fury and indignation, executing
+their cruelties on the innocent object of their abhorrence. But,
+at the same time, we discover, that by their instrumentality, the
+designs of God are accomplished. Not that their crime is in the
+least degree lessened. No, the hatred, malice, envy, injustice,
+rage, and cruelty, was all their own act and deed, and the sin and
+guilt, consequent on the foul transgression, is with justice laid
+to their charge. The moral evil of the act, is in nowise diminished
+by the Lord's overruling it to accomplish his purposes and making it
+minister to his glory. He can make "the wrath of man praise him, but
+the remainder of that wrath he will restrain."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+     My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far
+     from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?--Psalm xxii.
+     1.
+
+
+If we would know whose language this is, we must by faith ascend the
+hill of Calvary; there, taking our stand at the foot of the cross
+of Jesus, we hear him utter the dolorous cry, "My God, my God, why
+hast thou forsaken me." We do not find a word of complaint of the
+pains and sufferings of his mangled body escape his lips. They are
+borne in patient silence, the cruelties inflicted by the puny arm
+of flesh, cannot extort a groan or a murmur from the holy sufferer.
+This mournful exclamation, was not occasioned by the agonies of his
+body. He was not incapable of feeling them in their highest extent,
+(for his human nature was left to its infirmities, that he might
+fully suffer) but he was so entirely swallowed up with the weight of
+his Father's wrath; that it overwhelmed the sense of bodily pain.
+Here again we are constrained to eye Jesus in the character of a
+surety. He had become a surety for rebel man, and he truly smarted
+for it. He felt the awful extent of the tremendous debt he had
+engaged to cancel, he found the wrath of God "as an overwhelming
+flood," as "deep waters in which there was no standing." At that
+soul-appalling season, the phials of divine vengeance were poured
+out, and he drank of the cup of trembling from the hand of the
+Lord; not a sip merely, but he drank of it to the very dregs. He
+felt by bitter experience that God's wrath is a consuming fire; for
+by it, his "heart was melted like wax, in the midst of his body."
+The sorrows of his soul, were occasioned by the sins of the world
+imputed to, and charged upon, him, and for which he then endured
+the wrath of God. Yes, in the six hours Jesus hung upon the cross,
+he had to struggle with the sorrows of death and with the fierce
+anger of God; he was forsaken by his Father, and suffered his
+divine wrath, which indeed constitutes the tremendous curse. If the
+thought should arise in the mind, how that Infinite Being who is
+emphatically described as a God of Love, could find in his heart
+to use such severity toward him, whom he styles "his only-begotten,
+well-beloved Son, he in whom the Father is always well pleased,"
+it should be remembered, that God sustains two relations towards
+Christ; the love of a Father to him as a Son, and the claim of a
+Judge toward him as a surety. Although God never expressed so much
+anger toward Christ,[89] as when he hung upon the cross, yet in
+fact, he was never so well pleased with him as then.[90] Yea, he
+was more pleased with him, than he had been displeased by all the
+sins that creatures have committed or can commit. It is true, mercy
+is God's delight, but justice is his sceptre, whereby he rules,
+governs, and judges the world. His attribute of wisdom, gives to
+both their fullest demonstration and accomplishment. The plan
+of reconciliation, the scheme of redemption, by Jesus; is God's
+masterpiece: in which all his attributes meet, and harmonise.[91]
+If we would know the abhorrence God bears toward sin, then we must
+look at the cross of Jesus. There it is God has exhibited the
+greatest manifestation of his hatred toward it, by his treatment of
+him who became the sinner's surety. The drowning of the old world,
+the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, together with the eternal
+punishment of the miserable inhabitants of the bottomless pit; never
+can display God's detestation of sin so forcibly, as the astonishing
+events which once transpired at Gethsemane and Calvary. If Jesus
+could not endure to be deprived of the light of God's countenance
+for a few short hours; then how wretched the state of those who are
+banished his presence for ever! Jesus well knew the blessedness of
+God's favour; he could bear with composure, the utmost torments that
+wanton cruelty could inflict; but he could not behold in silence,
+the angry countenance of his Father, or endure to be deprived of the
+refreshing presence of the Lord. Does not this display the love and
+compassion of our Jesus, in a most endearing point of view, when we
+behold him voluntarily submitting, not only to corporeal punishment,
+but also to the curse and wrath of God for us, and for our salvation?
+
+  [89] Zechariah xiii. 7.
+
+  [90] John x. 17.
+
+  [91] Psalm lxxxv. 10.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+     Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that
+     is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and
+     the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the
+     little ones.--Zechariah xiii. 7.
+
+
+This verse, at the first reading, may appear involved in difficulty,
+but a little attention will enable us to discover to whom it refers.
+We hear a solemn call for a sword to awake. What sword? Surely it
+can be none other than the sword of divine justice, which had so
+long delayed to execute the punishment due to the violators of God's
+righteous law. But against whom is it directed? Against fallen and
+rebellious man? No, but against "my shepherd, and against the man
+that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts." The next interesting
+question which arises, is, Who is this Shepherd? We answer, Jesus.
+In the Old Testament, the Messiah is often discovered to us, in the
+character of a shepherd, and in the New, we find every description
+fully realised in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the true
+Shepherd of Israel. But why is the sword called upon to awake
+against him? This may require a little history, but is easily
+answered from the records of divine truth. Mankind in the person of
+Adam their federal head, and since, each individual, distinctively,
+has broken God's righteous law, not only the decalogue delivered
+to Moses, but the law of nature; man owing all to his bountiful
+Creator and Preserver, was, in point of common justice, bound to
+render to his Lord the tribute of his love and gratitude. But who,
+amongst the human race, can venture to stand forth, and appealing
+to Omniscience itself, affirm, that he has "loved the Lord his God,
+with all his mind, with all his soul, and with all his strength;
+and his neighbour as himself?" No, it is in vain to endeavour to
+conceal a truth God has declared so publicly; that by "the deeds of
+the law, no flesh living shall be justified." Man having rendered
+himself amenable to God's holy law, stands exposed to all its
+awful consequences. But "be astonished, O heavens, and wonder, O
+earth," to behold this great, this good shepherd, stand forth as the
+voluntary surety of his flock, engaging to take all their guilt,
+and its punishment, upon himself. Thus becoming responsible, for
+all their mighty debt, having placed himself in their law room, the
+sword of divine justice was called upon to execute its tremendous
+punishment, (the punishment due to the whole flock) on the person of
+their surety shepherd.
+
+We would next direct our attention to the words, "The man that is
+my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts:" and trace their application
+to Jesus. For proofs of his humanity, see him a babe at Bethlehem;
+view him labouring in the occupation of a carpenter; trace the
+innumerable instances given in the records of the Evangelists, of
+his humanity; behold him exposed to all the infirmities of our
+nature; see him enduring hunger, thirst, weariness, reproach,
+privations, pain, sorrow, and suffering; yes, as man he wept,
+groaned, bled, agonised, and died. As God, behold him giving sight
+to the blind, making the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the
+lame to walk; cleansing the lepers, healing the sick, and all by
+a word or touch; yea, at his command, the dead again sprang into
+life, and devils themselves fled, or cried out for mercy at his
+approach. When he issued his mandate, be it observed, there was no
+exertion of physical power; and if he ever used outward means, they
+were such as carried conviction to the mind of every beholder, that
+the cure was not the effect of their application, but an exercise
+of his power, who is truly "fellow to the Lord of Hosts." All the
+essential attributes of God belong to Jesus: mark his omniscience in
+the instance of Nathaniel,[92] "when thou wast under the fig-tree,
+I saw thee." See him exercise his omnipotence at the lakes of
+Tiberias and Gennesaret, in the two miraculous draughts of fish;
+the one before, the other after his resurrection. In directing the
+fish to bring the piece of money; in walking on the sea: and the
+instances also, of his feeding five thousand persons from five
+loaves, and seven thousand from four loaves and a few small fishes,
+and it would appear that the fragments left, exceeded the slender
+stock at the commencement of the repast. Behold his omnipresence
+in the case of Lazarus, whom he declared to be dead although none
+brought the tidings. Indeed the instances are numberless, in which
+the unprejudiced mind may discover the deity of Jesus. It was
+often manifested in his declaring the thoughts and motives, not
+only of his immediate disciples, but of many who, under the guise
+of friendship, were secretly endeavouring to draw from his lips
+something which might give them a plea for seizing his person.
+Yes, Jesus discovered himself to be the omniscient, omnipotent,
+omnipresent, heart-searching God. Although his humanity and deity
+are so closely united, yet they are easily to be discovered. See
+the humanity sleeping, but behold the God arising and rebuking
+the tempestuous winds and sea, which knew his voice and instantly
+obeyed. Above all, behold his body carried from the cross to the
+sepulchre, after having paid a debt, which the whole human race,
+through the countless ages of eternity, were unable to discharge:
+but it was fully cancelled by the man who is "fellow to the Lord of
+Hosts," and as such see him bursting the bars of death asunder, and
+arising, the triumphant Conqueror of death, hell, and the grave.
+
+  [92] John i. 47-50.
+
+The latter clause of this prophecy was fulfilled, when Jesus was
+seized and hurried before his unjust judges; then the shepherd was
+smitten, and the sheep scattered, as those who have no keeper; for
+all his disciples forsook him, and fled.
+
+The mighty conflict is now past; for the sword of divine justice,
+which had long slumbered, awoke; and, guided by the arm of
+Omnipotence, was dipped in the heart's blood of Israel's chief
+Shepherd: the man who is "fellow to the Lord of Hosts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+     They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my
+     vesture.--Psalm xxii. 18.
+
+
+The circumstances attending the disposal of the garments of the
+crucified Jesus, are in themselves trifling and insignificant,
+but when viewed in connexion with this prophecy, it is no longer
+a matter of little importance. It is equally necessary that the
+small, as well as the great and conspicuous parts of prophecy
+should be fulfilled; and it is highly satisfactory to trace, amid
+the more minute events connected with the life and death of Jesus,
+so striking a correspondence with the Old Testament prophecies
+of the Messiah. In fact, if these were wanting, the whole, as an
+evidence, would be incomplete. How satisfactory is it to find, in
+this instance, the very raiment of Jesus become a witness for the
+truth that he is the Messiah. It was not the disciples, or friends
+of Jesus, who parted his garments among them, and cast lots upon his
+vesture: but it was the Roman soldiers, who, ignorant of the Jewish
+prophecies, could not be supposed to have divided the garments among
+them in that particular way, for the express purpose of fulfilling
+this prophecy; which might have been imagined, had it been the
+disciples instead of the soldiers. These men, alike ignorant and
+unconcerned about the fulfilment of prophecy, could not even be
+anxious to possess the garments of Jesus from their intrinsic worth;
+no, it was only the humble dress of a poor jew: nor were they led
+to attach any particular value to the clothes, from love to its
+late wearer, for whom they felt neither affection or respect. It is
+probable they were severally desirous to possess some part of the
+apparel, that they might exhibit it as a trophy that they shared in
+the destruction of the King of the Jews.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+     They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave
+     me vinegar to drink.--Psalm lxix. 21.
+
+
+It was not unfrequent that cordials or opiates were given the
+unhappy objects sentenced to crucifixion, to blunt the severity of
+their agonies, and shorten the period of their sufferings. But, at
+the crucifixion of Jesus, no friendly hand presented the soothing
+draught. When faint from loss of blood, and parched by burning
+fever occasioned by excessive pain, the dying sufferer exclaimed "I
+thirst;" a sponge is conveyed on a reed to his parched lips; but,
+alas! it is absorbed in a liquid too nauseous, even for one in his
+famished state, to drink. Unfeeling wretches! thus to sport with
+the sufferings of such a distressed object; thus to mock the wishes
+of one in the last agonies of death!
+
+When the son of Jesse, in the cave of Adullam, longed, and said,
+"O that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of
+Bethlehem, that is by the gate," three of the mightiest heroes in
+his valiant little band broke through the opposing ranks of the
+Philistine's army, to fetch the wished-for draught; but when the
+Son of God required the refreshment of a little water; when his
+tongue, from very thirst, clave to the roof of his mouth, and his
+strength was dried up as a potsherd, he was insulted with a mixture
+of vinegar and gall. But little did the thoughtless multitudes who
+surrounded the cross of Jesus imagine, that he was then drinking
+to the very dregs, the wormwood, and the gall, of Jehovah's wrath,
+which was far more bitter to his soul, than their offensive present
+to his taste. He was then redeeming his church from hell, that black
+abode of wo, whose wretched inhabitants are deprived of a drop of
+water, to assuage their tormenting thirst: and the horrors of the
+crucifixion were greatly augmented by the darkness that shrouded the
+scene, when the meridian sun was enveloped in the gloom of night.
+Blessed Jesus, though Lord of all, thou wast treated worse than
+earth's meanest slave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+     With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with
+     their teeth.--Psalm xxxv. 16.
+
+     All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip,
+     they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he
+     would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in
+     him.--Psalm xxii. 7, 8.
+
+
+This prophecy is so exactly in accordance with the event, that one
+could readily believe the royal psalmist had stood on Calvary's
+mount, and literally recorded the insulting taunts and ironical
+reproaches used by the despisers of the suffering Jesus. The men,
+their actions, and the time, are exactly described, and even their
+insulting language noticed, with a minuteness that precludes a
+possibility of mistake. This disgraceful scene occurred at the
+passover; at that feast, when Israel was commanded to remember
+her Lord's mercies, in delivering her from Egyptian bondage; when
+he slew the strength of Egypt's land, even from the first-born of
+Pharoah that sat on the throne, to the first-born of the captive
+in the dungeon. At that solemn festival, did those merciless
+hypocrites discover (beneath the cloak of pharisaical sanctity)
+the rancorous enmity they cherished in their hearts towards virtue
+in its purest, loveliest form. But how void of every spark of
+magnanimity must be the wretch who can sport with the feelings
+of one writhing in all the agonies of death. How lost to all the
+kindlier feelings of our nature, thus to exult over suffering
+humanity. Surely the Chief Priests and scribes strangely forgot
+their station and their pride, when they could stoop to join the
+railing throng, and mingle their voice of mockery and insult with
+the Jewish rabble. How little did they intend to honour Jesus when
+they insultingly exclaimed, "he saved others, himself he cannot
+save." But we admit the fact, and glory in the truth. He indeed had
+then cured many a dire disease, and released some from the very
+jaws of death: and in those very hours of sorrow, he was saving "a
+countless multitude, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
+and nation," who must inevitably have perished for ever, had he not
+been content to suffer for them. But though he saved others, himself
+he would not, yea, he could not, save. His honour was pledged in
+the council of peace; he must fulfil the covenants he had engaged
+to perform. God is not "a man, that he should lie; neither the son
+of man, that he should repent:" "hath he said, and shall he not do
+it?" or "hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" "Sing, O
+ye Heavens, for the Lord hath done it; and shout, ye lower parts of
+the earth, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in
+Israel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+     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.--Isaiah liii. 12.
+
+
+To whom but Jesus can we apply this. Do we not find him reckoned
+with Barabbas, a traitor and murderer, and were not two thieves
+crucified with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst?
+Thus we behold him numbered with the transgressors, and bearing the
+sin of many. All the Prophets, Evangelists, Apostles, Martyrs, with
+the Church Militant, and the Church Triumphant, proclaim, as with
+one voice, his death as the expiatory sacrifice, his blood as the
+propitiation for the sins of his Church, and that he suffered, the
+just for the unjust, to bring sinners unto God. He died to redeem
+a countless multitude of the children of earth, who, freed from
+sin and sorrow, will for ever shout victory, through the blood of
+the Lamb. This is the great leading doctrine of the everlasting
+Gospel. This is the sum and substance of the Old and New Testaments.
+Thanks be unto God, for having given us line upon line, and precept
+upon precept, on this momentous article of the Christian Faith. We
+hear the blessed Jesus interceding for transgressors. Even when on
+the cross he was not unmindful of his priestly office, but amid
+all his personal sorrows and agonies, he did, as with his dying
+breath, send in a petition to the Heavenly Court, for the pardon
+of his murderers: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what
+they do." This Great High Priest is now sitting at the right hand
+of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens, where "He is able to
+save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him; seeing he ever
+liveth to make intercession for them." The God-man Christ Jesus, is
+now exalted to high and distinguished honours, on account of his
+humiliation and sufferings, and his voluntarily pouring out his
+soul unto death.[93] He had power to lay down his life, and power
+to take it again, but no man had power to take it from him. He laid
+it down of himself. Therefore, God will "Divide him a portion with
+the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong." The Man
+Jesus, now sits on the throne of Deity, and humanity participates in
+all the honours paid to the second Person in the Glorious Trinity.
+As he was openly put to shame on earth, is it not right that he
+should here also be publicly rewarded? Satan, who so long had
+reigned prince of this world, is now a conquered tyrant, his empire
+is weakened, for Jesus has spoiled the principalities and powers of
+darkness; and he will for one thousand years confine this destroyer
+of our race, a captive in the bottomless pit.[94] In that bright day
+of millennial glory, all shall know the Lord, and every tongue shall
+call our Emmanuel blessed; and he shall reign a triumphant King over
+earth's remotest bounds.
+
+  [93] Ephesians i. 20-22.
+
+  [94] Revelations xx. 2, 3.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+     He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken.--Psalm
+     xxxiv. 20.
+
+
+The soldiers (at the request of the Jews, and the command of Pilate)
+go forth to execute their last act of cruelty on Jesus and his
+companions, having broken the legs of the two malefactors, they
+approach the body of Jesus, but here they pause, hesitate, retire,
+and leave his bones unbroken. Whence this mark of respect, toward
+the object of their scorn and abhorrence? Why did not those voices,
+which a few hours before rent the air with cries of "Crucify him,
+crucify him," now urge the soldiers to commit the same act of
+violence on the body of the dead, though despised Nazarene. To
+what cause must we attribute this act of forbearance, on the part
+of the by-standers as well as soldiers? Surely, to none other than
+the over-ruling Providence of God. He who has the hearts of all men
+at his disposal, watched over the body of Jesus, and preserved it
+from that act of violence, "He kept all his bones, not one of them
+was broken." How exactly was the prophecy fulfilled! How striking
+a resemblance does the original bear to the portrait! The Lamb
+slain at the Passover, was intended to exhibit to ancient Israel
+a crucified Saviour. Of that typical Lamb, Jehovah expressly
+commanded, "A bone should not be broken." Though the whole of the
+flesh was to be consumed, yet not a bone was to be injured.[95] Does
+not that solemn Jewish sacrifice, point us to Jesus, the "Lamb of
+God, whose blood is able to cleanse from all sin;"[96] and applied
+by the Spirit, will "purge the conscience from dead works, to serve
+the living and true God."
+
+  [95] Exodus xii. 46.
+
+  [96] John i. 29.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+     And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.--Zechariah
+     xii. 10.
+
+
+One of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced the side of Jesus, and
+forthwith came thereout blood and water. "He that saw it bare
+record, and his record is true".[97] And we know that he saith
+true, that ye might believe, that it is Jesus of whom the scripture
+saith, they "Shall look on him whom they have pierced." There is
+another and higher use to be made of this circumstance. Simple as
+the fact at first sight may appear, yet it is the strongest proof
+of the death of Jesus. If only blood had issued from the wound,
+it would prove comparatively little. But, water was also seen to
+flow from the side; which was either the small quantity of water
+inclosed in the pericardium, in which the heart swims, or else
+the cruor was almost coagulated and separated from the serum. If
+it is to be attributed to the latter cause, it confirms what the
+evangelist relates; that Jesus had been some time dead. But, if we
+place it to the former, it is utterly impossible Jesus could have
+survived the wound, even if given in perfect health. In either
+case, it effectually proves his death. Not a reasonable doubt can
+remain to suppose he was taken alive from the cross. May the act
+of the soldier, (wanton and cruel as it certainly was,) convince
+the infidel, that Jesus was not taken from the cross before life
+was quite extinct; and may he be led to look on him "whom he has
+pierced, and mourn." Blessed Jesus, may we often meditate on those
+awful scenes, when the rugged thorn pierced thy sacred temples,
+the nails thy hands and feet, the spear thy side, and the wrath of
+God thy soul. And, while we eye thee as the just suffering for the
+unjust, may we learn to abhor sin, which is so hateful in the sight
+of a pure and Holy God, that the blood of his own well-beloved Son
+was shed ere it could be pardoned. Is not the view of a suffering
+Redeemer calculated to raise the Christian's confidence, even in
+seasons of the deepest affliction?[98] May he not fearlessly resign
+his spiritual and temporal concerns, his fondest hopes and most
+anxious cares, to the guidance and wisdom of him, who so loved him
+as to die for him? For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
+to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
+shall be saved by his life."
+
+  [97] John xix. 34, 35. 1 John v. 8.
+
+  [98] Romans viii. 32.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+     I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their
+     covering.--Isaiah l. 3.
+
+
+Isaiah, or, as he is generally called, the Evangelical Prophet,
+(from his writings referring more frequently to the person and
+offices of Christ, than those of the other prophets,) when speaking
+of his sufferings declares, that "The heavens shall become black
+as sackcloth of hair." This figurative description was realised at
+the crucifixion of Jesus. The sun at mid-day was eclipsed, darkness
+covered the land, from the sixth to the ninth hour, which, by our
+mode of computing time, was from twelve to three o'clock in the
+afternoon. The Jews begin their day at six o'clock in the morning.
+Perhaps it may be thought superstitious weakness, to imagine an
+eclipse portended some great event? We reply, _this_ was not the
+result of natural causes. It took place on the day the Jews killed
+the Passover, which festival they were commanded, and always did
+observe at the full of the moon;[99] therefore, it is evident, the
+moon's shadow could not _then_ fall on the sun, for then they were
+in opposition, or one hundred and eighty degrees apart; besides, a
+total eclipse of the sun never lasts ten minutes, yet, this was a
+total eclipse from the sixth to the ninth hour, so that darkness
+covered, at least the whole land of Judea, for three hours, which
+is contrary to the laws given by heaven's great architect, to these
+his works. This extraordinary eclipse is noticed in profane history;
+Dionysius, at Heliopolis, in Egypt, said of this darkness, "Aut
+Deus naturæ patitur, aut mundi machina dissolvitur."--Either the
+God of nature is suffering, or the machine of the world tumbling
+into ruin. It was a supernatural event, and designed to show, that
+when Jesus stood forth as the surety of his people, he felt all the
+dread punishment due to them. Man, by his rebellion, has not only
+forfeited all spiritual blessings; but to temporal mercies also
+he has no claim. When Jesus, as our Head and Representative, bore
+the curse due to our sins, he was deprived of the cheering rays of
+heaven's great luminary, which was but a faint resemblance of the
+withdrawing of the light of God's countenance.[100] Behold the awful
+effects of sin, although it was only _sin imputed_ to the Son of
+God. Yet, the lamp of day withdraws his shining, as if sickening
+at the sight. Unable to behold the astonishing event, he hides his
+head, and shrinks back, as if unwilling to shed his beams over a
+scene so tremendously awful. The event might also be designed to
+show the darkness of the Mosaic dispensation, which was then for
+ever to be done away. It was but a shadow of good things to come;
+but light and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. Jesus,
+the Son of Righteousness is arisen, with healing in his wings; and
+darkness, and its attendant superstition, shall flee away as the
+shadows upon the mountain's brow, on the appearance of the majesty
+of day in the rosy east. As the sun in the natural world is the
+source of light and heat, such is Jesus to the spiritual world; he
+is the Light of Life, and there is not a ray of hope or light to
+cheer the rugged path of sorrow, but what must emanate from this
+Fountain of Light; even amidst seasons of health and prosperity, all
+is darkness and gloom within, unless the soul is enlightened by his
+all-gladdening beams.
+
+  [99] Exodus xii. 2. 6. 18.
+
+  [100] Mark xv. 34.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+     And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
+     death; because he hath done no violence, neither was any deceit
+     in his mouth.--Isaiah liii. 9.
+
+
+It is usual, amongst many nations, for the bodies of those who
+fall by the hand of the public executioner, not only to be denied
+the rites of burial, but to be exposed to marked contempt. Though
+Jesus made his grave with the wicked, yet it was also with the rich
+in his death. Crucified at Golgotha amidst two thieves, he shall
+receive an honourable burial. All the Evangelists have recorded the
+circumstances of his interment, and nobly distinguished the name of
+Joseph of Arimathea, for the marked respect with which he treated
+the body of the despised Nazarene. Timidity kept him from before
+publicly acknowledging his attachment to Jesus; yet it is remarked,
+though a member of the Sanhedrim he consented[101] not to the deed
+and counsel of those who condemned the Lord of life and glory.
+Fully aware of the contempt and scorn affixed to the followers of
+the crucified Jesus, his noble, disinterested spirit now led him
+resolutely to face it all; to rescue, if possible, the body from
+further abuse and dishonour. He went boldly unto Pilate, and begged
+the body. His request is granted, Pilate having ascertained from the
+centurion, that Jesus had been some time dead. Joseph is now joined
+by Nicodemus, (who at first came to Jesus by night,) and these two,
+high in rank and office, the one an honourable counsellor, the other
+a ruler of the Jews, are busily engaged in paying the last sad
+tribute of respect to the remains of their dear departed Lord. One
+having provided an hundred pounds weight of spices to embalm the
+body after the custom of the Jews, and the other supplying the fine
+linen, they proceed to deposit the body in the sacred chamber of the
+tomb. The receptacle of this mighty dead was not the royal mausoleum
+of Judah's kings, but a new sepulchre, hewn out of a rock, in Joseph
+of Arimathea's garden. There laid they Jesus, where never man before
+was laid. No funeral pomp or pageantry of state, that solemn mockery
+of wo, adorned his funeral procession. Though its attendants were
+few, yet the tears of affection and love bedewed his mangled body,
+and the voice of lamentation and sorrow reverberate through this
+solemn vault of death. How was the mighty fallen! That arm, then
+motionless in death, ne'er did a deed of violence; that tongue,
+whose universal law was kindness, was then silent as the grave;
+and that mouth, in which deceit ne'er found a place, was closed by
+the iron hand of death. Behold here "an Israelite indeed, in whose
+spirit was no guile." Surely the grave never before contained such
+a prisoner. Its triumphs were complete, when Jesus was brought into
+the dust of death.
+
+  [101] Luke xxiii. 50, 51.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+     The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him
+     with shame. Selah.--Psalm lxxxix. 45.
+
+
+Blessed Jesus! we behold thee cut off in the prime of thy days, in
+the meridian of thy strength, and in the vigour of manhood. Thy
+body was not worn by disease, nor decrepit by age; but thy bones
+were full of marrow, and thy bow abode in strength, when, little
+more than thirty-three years old, thou didst cheerfully resign thy
+body to the cold arms of death! The periods of the incarnation and
+crucifixion of Jesus, are very particularly marked by the sacred
+historians. His birth was in the year that Augustus Cæsar, Emperor
+of Rome, issued his decree for taxing the Jewish people; after
+which event, he reigned nearly fifteen years, and was succeeded
+by Tiberius, his adopted son. It was in the fifteenth year of his
+reign, that Jesus, who was then about thirty years of age, entered
+on his public ministry. By the Mosaic law, none were allowed to
+minister in the priest's office, until thirty, nor after fifty
+years old.[102] Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, but Judah; yet,
+as the priesthood centred in him, it became him, when fulfilling
+all righteousness, to submit to this Jewish command. From the
+writings of the Apostle John, we can pretty clearly determine the
+public ministry of Jesus to have been three years and a half, that
+Evangelist having marked in the period four Passovers (annual Jewish
+festivals); one was celebrated not long after the baptism of Jesus,
+and two others are also recorded before the one at which Jesus was
+crucified; that memorable one when "the days of his youth were
+shortened, and he was covered with shame." A noble mind is far more
+sensible of shame, and feels it more acutely, than the body can any
+corporeal punishment, however severe. Yet Jesus, who possessed true
+nobility of spirit, was exposed to shame in all its varied forms.
+His companions were unlearned fishermen, publicans, and sinners;
+his character was vilified--he was accused of vices and crimes of
+the most odious nature, and his very name was a stigma of reproach.
+At his trial, he endured shameful indignities. The Jewish nation
+even preferred having a traitor and murderer restored to liberty,
+rather than Jesus. He was publicly scourged, spit upon, buffeted,
+and crucified as a malefactor. The only type of his crucifixion was
+the brazen serpent, and amidst all the irrational creation of God,
+the serpent only is pronounced accursed.[103] The circumstances
+attending the crucifixion, were of the most degrading and
+humiliating nature. Jesus suffered naked--his companions were two
+thieves. The spot was Golgotha, a place strewed with the unburied
+sculls of criminals. Nor were these things done in a corner, but at
+Jerusalem, the chief city of Jewry. The time chosen was the feast
+of the Passover, when all the Israelitish males[104] were wont to
+repair to the royal city, and thus became spectators of the shame
+and dishonour cast upon this despised man of Nazareth, "who for the
+joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame,
+and is for ever set down at the right hand of the Majesty on High."
+
+  [102] Numbers iv. 3.
+
+  [103] Gen. iii. 14. John iii. 14.
+
+  [104] Exod. xxiii. 17. Deut. xvi. 16.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+     Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet
+     we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But
+     he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
+     iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with
+     his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;
+     we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid
+     on him the iniquity of us all.--Isaiah liii. 4, 5, 6.
+
+
+"I pray thee, of whom did the Prophet speak these words?" was the
+inquiry of an Eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the
+Ethiopians, when reading this chapter. Philip replied by beginning
+at the same scripture, and preaching unto him Jesus. To him alone
+can we apply the whole chapter. In every part it bears so striking
+a resemblance, that it appears more like a history written by a
+contemporary, than the prediction of a Prophet who lived at least
+seven hundred years before the character described. These verses are
+more valuable than fine gold--they are the key of knowledge--they
+open to our view a work of immense wisdom and benefit--they make
+us acquainted with the counsel and plans of Jehovah.--By them, a
+circumstance in the moral government of God, which was before dark
+and mysterious, is now bright and attractive.--They shed a glorious
+light on the person of Jesus.--By them we understand why he who was
+"holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners," was treated
+with such contempt and cruelty. We no longer see this part of God's
+moral government, as "through a glass darkly." The veil which is
+cast around his designs is withdrawn, and the glorious scheme of
+redemption bursts forth to our astonished senses, sparkling with
+wisdom, justice, mercy, and love. By them, we are taught that
+Jesus suffered, not for any sin of his own, but for the sins of
+his people. The prophet is particular on this point. The life and
+conduct of Jesus proved him exempt from all the corrupt principles
+and evil passions of the children of men. He alone is free from
+imperfection, and his character forms the most perfect model of all
+that is lovely, amiable, and exalted. In him was no sin, and even
+the unjust judge who delivered him for crucifixion, was compelled
+to declare he could find nothing worthy of death against him; no,
+nor yet Herod, for he had sent Jesus to him. No doubt both Herod
+and Pilate examined his conduct with eagle-eyes, and gladly would
+have discovered, if possible, something which might give them a plea
+for condemning a man who so publicly declared himself the Messiah.
+The Jews had looked forward to his coming with much pleasure, for
+they considered he would deliver them from the Roman yoke, under
+which they then groaned. The slightest shadow of guilt would have
+been sufficient for the purpose of these partial Governors, and
+it deserves observation, that Jesus was brought before them on a
+charge of perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to
+Cæsar, saying that he was Christ, a King. But they can prove nothing
+against him, for the more his character is examined, the brighter it
+shines; and they are compelled to confess, "they can find nothing
+worthy of death against him." Pilate, from a clear conviction that
+Jesus was innocent, proposes to release him; but finding that he
+would draw on himself the malice and hatred of the priests, like
+a time-serving judge, he gave sentence as they desired, and in
+the same moment in which he declared he could find no fault in
+Jesus, did he deliver him over for crucifixion. Yet Pilate could
+not conceal the horrors of an accusing conscience; sensible of the
+black injustice of his conduct he took water and washed his hands
+before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this
+just person, see ye to it." The people said, "his blood be on us,
+and on our children." In what court of judicature shall we find such
+another instance? We believe, in none. Never did any one suffer
+more unjustly than Jesus, if viewed as a private person; but these
+verses teach us to look upon him as the sinner's surety. Man, from
+his original corruption and actual transgression, is justly exposed
+to the condemnation of the law he has so much dishonoured. "All we
+like sheep have gone astray, we have forsaken the Lord's ways, and
+turned every one to his own ways." "We have all done that which we
+ought not to have done, and have left undone that which we ought
+to have done, and there is no health in us." We have no just plea
+why the sentence, "let the wicked be turned into hell, and all the
+nations who forget God," be not executed on us. We must lay our
+hand upon our mouth before the tribunal of God, who is an impartial
+and righteous Judge, for we justly deserve the curses of the broken
+law to fall on us. The Divine Being (be it spoken with reverence)
+cannot, without injustice to himself, and dishonour to his law,
+(which is holy, just, and good,) allow the guilty to go free. Man
+must suffer the punishment consequent on his offences, or God must
+lay aside his justice, which is impossible, for it is an attribute
+essential to his existence. The debtor must suffer, unless some one
+be found to discharge the debt for him.
+
+    Die he, or justice must; unless for him
+    Some other able, and as willing, pay
+    The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
+
+    PARADISE LOST, b. iii.
+
+But where shall we find the man who can, by any means, "redeem
+his brother, or give to God a ransom for his soul?" Nowhere; it
+is quite impossible for any mere man to deliver his own soul, and
+much more the soul of another. An angel, or all the mighty hosts of
+angels, cannot do it; they are the creatures of God's power, and
+consequently finite; and therefore cannot satisfy the justice of
+God, which is infinite. The mind of man could never have discovered
+a proper person. Human intellect is utterly unable to the task; it
+is incapable of soaring to such a height. But though man cannot find
+a surety, God has pointed one out, even Jesus, his own well-beloved
+son, who is the second person in the revealed order of the trinity;
+with him it is "no robbery to be equal with God;" for he is one with
+the Father, as touching his Godhead. Yet this great and glorious
+Personage voluntarily engaged to become the surety of his people;
+to expiate their guilt by suffering all the punishment due to
+them for sin.[105] In the fulness of time, this great head of his
+church left the joys of Heaven, and the praises of adoring saints
+and angels, to tabernacle on earth. Having veiled his glory beneath
+the human nature, which he took into union with his divine person,
+he came forth to accomplish the work he had, from the foundation of
+the world, covenanted to perform. As the surety, representative, and
+head of his people, he submitted to endure all the curses of the
+moral law they had broken. The Lord having accepted him in their
+place, and laid (by imputation) their iniquities on him, he also on
+him laid their punishment. Nor was it a mitigated punishment; he
+bore the whole weight of wo due to them. It is true, he did not go
+into hell, which was a part of the sentence denounced on guilty man;
+but he was not exempt from the buffeting of Satan. He was exposed to
+his malice in the garden; and when on the cross, he might be said
+to be in Satan's territories; for he is declared to be "the Prince
+of the power of the air," and having shot forth his most fiery
+darts, he appears to leave the scene of conflict like a triumphant
+conqueror, for his adversary is beheld breathless on the field of
+battle. Jesus needed not to descend into those abodes of wo to feel
+their sorrows, for he is heard to exclaim, that the pains of hell
+had got hold upon him. It is not the place, but the extent, and the
+kind of suffering, which constitutes misery; and Jesus felt it in
+a much greater degree, than even the miserable inhabitants of that
+wretched place, where hope never enters. They suffer for themselves
+as individuals, but he endured the weight of wo for a multitude so
+great, that no man can number them. Theirs are the sufferings of
+creatures, his was the sufferings of the infinite Creator; and this
+it is which gives such value, efficacy, and dignity, to all he did
+and suffered. His were the actions of one of Adam's race, for it was
+the children of earth who had rebelled, and whom he came to redeem;
+but what renders it beneficial to man, is that he is both God and
+man in one person. This union stamps a value upon his work: Jesus,
+by the dignity of his person, has made full satisfaction; yea, his
+sufferings have more than compensated for the indignity offered to
+God by sin. It has given a greater honour to God's holy law, than
+could have been done by the unsinning obedience of men and angels
+through time and eternity, for Jesus perfectly fulfilled all the
+commands of the moral law, and by that obedience he exalted, and
+made it honourable, and then suffered the penalty it denounced on
+the violators of its precepts. All his active and passive obedience
+was performed as the head of his people, and for their benefit.
+"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we
+did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was
+wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities:
+the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
+we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
+every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
+of us all." We must look beyond the Roman governors, soldiers, and
+the Jewish priests and people, to behold sin, as the great cause of
+all the buffetings, wounds, bruises, pains, and sorrows, of Jesus.
+This was the fruitful source of all his wo. Would you behold the
+justice of God? then look at the suffering Jesus, and remember that
+it was not _his own_, but _imputed_, guilt. Would you know the mercy
+of God, and see a display of his love to man? then look at Jesus.
+Let it sink deep into your heart, and may your soul be influenced
+by the truth, that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only
+begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
+but have everlasting life." "For God can be just, and yet the
+justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "He that believeth in him
+is not condemned; but he that believeth not, is condemned already;
+because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son
+of God." "For there is none other name under heaven given amongst
+men, whereby we must be saved." "He that believeth on the Son,
+hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall
+not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." In the work
+of redemption by Jesus, we behold "mercy and truth meet together;
+righteousness and peace kiss each other."
+
+  [105] John x. 18.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+     For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt thou
+     suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.--Psalm xvi. 9, 10.
+
+
+These words are not applicable to David, for after he had served
+his generation, he fell asleep, and his body, interred in the royal
+sepulchre of the kings of Judah, which was in the city of David,
+saw corruption. The sentence "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
+thou return," has, for many a generation, been accomplished on
+Jesse's Royal Son. The remains of this mighty monarch cannot now be
+distinguished from those of earth's meanest slave. They are alike
+mingled in the dust of death, and must remain hid from the eye of
+man until the archangel's trump shall sound, and the command be
+given, Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment. The hell (in Hebrew,
+scheol) here alluded to, cannot be that place of torment, prepared
+for the devil and his angels, from which a soul never did or
+will escape. When once consigned to that abode of wo, there is a
+great gulf fixed, even the unchangeable decree of Omnipotence; a
+barrier stronger than walls of brass, and cannot be surmounted, or
+destroyed.[106] The word here rendered hell, (in the Greek, hades,)
+is the same as the Jews, before the Babylonish captivity, used for
+the grave, and is the sense in which it must be here understood.
+This verse is prophetic of the resurrection of the Messiah; which
+doctrine is taught in many parts of the Old Testament, by type,
+figure, and prophecy; in the New, we behold it clearly confirmed
+by the resurrection of Jesus. The circumstances attending this
+great event are repeatedly described, and the evidence clear and
+conclusive. The witnesses to this important fact are not few; both
+enemies and friends unite in giving their testimony to his death
+and resurrection. The soldiers having taken the dead body of Jesus
+from the cross, his friends deposit it in the tomb. We cannot but
+stop here, and admire the overruling hand of Providence in the more
+minute circumstances connected with the interment of the body of the
+Redeemer. The sepulchre was hewn out of the solid rock. No access
+could be gained to it but by one opening, on which a ponderous stone
+was placed, a seal set thereon, and the entrance strictly guarded
+by Roman soldiers. But wherefore all this care and attention over
+the dead body of one crucified at Golgotha? It is by order of the
+High Priest and Pharisees, who had requested Pilate to allow them to
+make the grave sure, as Jesus had declared he would rise again after
+three days. They, fully convinced of his death, and disbelieving
+his divinity, fear that the disciples should steal the dead body of
+their Master, and declare that he had risen; and thus the last error
+would be worse than the first. But we have cause to rejoice that
+they used so much caution, for it tends to establish the truth, and
+confirm the testimony, of the disciples. It fully proves the death
+and burial of Jesus, and that the body did not remain in the grave.
+On the first day of the week, certain women of the company hasted
+early to the sepulchre, to embalm, after the custom of the east,
+the body of their beloved Master; but lo, to their astonishment and
+grief, it is gone! They indeed see the place where the Lord had
+lain; for an angel, by an earthquake, had rolled away the stone; at
+whose appearance the keepers became as dead men; but to the women,
+filled with sorrow and surprise on not finding the body of their
+Lord, this heavenly messenger proclaimed the resurrection of that
+Jesus whom they sought. And as they run to tell the disciples, Jesus
+himself met them, saying, All hail! and they held him by the feet,
+and worshipped him. Some of the watch, also, went into the city,
+and told the Chief Priests all that was done; who, having assembled
+a council, give large sums of money to the soldiers to say, that
+the disciples came by night, and stole him away, whilst they slept.
+This report, though commonly believed amongst the Jews until this
+day, will not bear examination. The more we consider this tale,
+the clearer will the fact of the resurrection of Jesus appear. If
+the body was _indeed_ stolen, why are the soldiers allowed to go
+unpunished for their neglect, as they say it was stolen whilst they
+slept. We should not expect to find a Roman sentinel asleep at his
+post of duty, for their military discipline was the most severe in
+the world. Even if the soldiers had fallen asleep whilst watching
+the entrance of the sepulchre, it appears impossible for a number
+of persons to remove so ponderous a stone without considerable
+noise and bustle, or to pass among the guards without awaking some
+of them. But even allowing the body to have been gone whilst they
+slept, how could they possibly know, that it was the disciples who
+had taken it? But is it at all probable, that a few timid disciples,
+who had fled from their Master on his first apprehension, should now
+dare to go, in the face of a guard of Roman soldiers, justly famed
+for their courage, and attempt to steal, and much more to carry off,
+the body! Let it be observed, that though the disciples had hoped
+Jesus "had been he who would have redeemed Israel;" yet, when they
+saw him laid in the grave, all their hopes that he was the Messiah
+fled, for the minds of the disciples were strongly tainted by the
+Jewish prejudice, that the Messiah's would be a temporal kingdom.
+Their dreams of earthly splendour now vanished, and they were about
+to return to their occupations in common life; in fact, some had
+done so. Is it reasonable to imagine that the others would engage
+in a plan fraught with danger, for the sake of obtaining the body
+of one, in whom they began to imagine themselves deceived? Besides,
+what advantage could they hope to gain by such a scheme? What end
+was it designed to answer? They could not expect to keep the act
+concealed; and if discovered, they were fully convinced it would
+bring upon them the severest punishment. But if, as the soldiers
+proclaimed, the disciples did steal him away, why are these handful
+of fishermen allowed to retain possession? Why did not the Chief
+Priest, at the head of the Jewish Sanhedrim, supported by the Roman
+authority, instantly compel them to surrender the body? Why are
+not these men of Galilee brought to a judicial tribunal, examined,
+and openly punished, that the truth of the soldiers' tale may
+bear even the _appearance of_ fact? Surely this neglect is most
+extraordinary in men who had shown such vigilant care over the body
+when in the tomb. The more we examine the conduct of the parties,
+the more inconsistent does the Jewish tale appear. It is evident,
+the disciples were as ignorant as the rest of the nation, as to what
+the resurrection from the dead should mean. Jesus had again and
+again preached the doctrine, yet they were at the first as backward
+as his enemies to believe the fact, and discovered much unbelief
+on the first tidings of the great event. The incredulity of all of
+them is a strong presumption, that as they did not expect Jesus to
+rise from the grave, so neither did they steal the body, and falsely
+proclaim their Master risen. We have a still further confirmation
+of the fact from the events that followed. In the interval of forty
+days, between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus appeared to
+many of his disciples, and showed himself alive by many infallible
+proofs; the women who went early to their Lord's sepulchre, were
+first honoured with the sight of the risen Redeemer. He afterwards
+appeared to the two sorrowing disciples as they walked to Emmaus,
+then to the eleven as they sat at meat with the doors closed, and,
+eight days after, he again appeared to them, when the incredulous
+Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" He also showed himself to
+the seven disciples who were fishing at the sea of Tiberius; after
+that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; and,
+though some had fallen asleep, yet, when the Apostle wrote, the
+greater part were then alive, and could testify to the truth of
+these things. How "vain the watch, the stone, the seal!" the grave
+could not contain the prisoner. Jesus burst the bands of death,
+and arose the triumphant victor. It was necessary that he, as the
+Head and Representative of his church, should conquer death and the
+grave for them. He died "that through death he might destroy him
+that had the power of death, that is, the devil." He laid in the
+grave that he might subdue the power of the grave. He, as a surety,
+became subject unto death as a part of the curse; but, having paid
+the full ransom, justice demanded his release. Having satisfied
+the demands of the law, it was right that he should be honourably
+acquitted. Though "delivered for our offences, he must be raised
+again for our justification." The resurrection proves his atonement
+was accepted by God as fully adequate to all the requirements of
+justice, and declares him to be the Son of God with power. It is
+by reason of the incapacity of the damned in hell, to take in the
+full measure of God's wrath due to them for their sins, that their
+punishment, though it be eternal, yet never satisfies; because they
+can never endure all as Christ could, and did; theirs is truly less
+than what Christ underwent; and, therefore, his punishment ought
+not in justice to be eternal, as theirs, because he could more
+fully satisfy God's wrath in a few hours than they could to all
+eternity. By his complete satisfaction, the costly, inestimable
+price of redemption is paid, and the sinner's surety released from
+all the claims of the Law and justice. "Christ is risen from the
+dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." Do we not
+hear him exclaim, "Thy dead men shall live together; with my dead
+body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust."
+"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them
+from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
+destruction." May we not join in happy chorus, "O death, where is
+thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin;
+and the strength of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God, which
+giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+  [106] Luke xvi. 26.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIX.
+
+     Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive;
+     thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also,
+     that the Lord God might dwell amongst them.--Psalm lxviii. 18.
+
+
+We find amid the records of the Old Testament, very distinguished
+honour was conferred by God on two illustrious personages, whom
+he was pleased to exempt from the common lot of humanity, and
+admit into the Celestial City, by a new, and, till then, untrodden
+path. Their way led not across the dark valley of the shadow of
+death; they entered Canaan without passing the banks of Jordan's
+stormy waters. God was pleased to translate the bodies of Enoch and
+Elijah to heaven, without an execution of the sentence "dust thou
+art, and unto dust shalt thou return." This was assuredly a high
+mark of favour; but we are in this verse presented with an event,
+in comparison with which, the cases of Enoch and Elijah sink into
+insignificance. It is a description of the return of a great and
+mighty conqueror, who, surrounded by the trophies of his victories,
+appears at court to receive the thanks and rewards his services so
+well deserve. And who is this mighty conqueror? It is Jesus! See
+him surrounded by the little band of faithful followers, on whom he
+bestows his parting blessing; having bidden them an affectionate
+farewell, he, with conscious majesty, mounts the air, and soars
+beyond the eagle's path, through the vast extent of space. Though he
+goes forth unattended, it is not long a secret that the victorious
+Saviour is on his way to the heavenly kingdom; for the myriads
+of spirits, who are anxiously watching his motions, no sooner
+observe that he bends his course toward the Celestial City, but they
+instantly proclaim the joyful news to its inhabitants; who, with
+holy impatience, are all anxious to fly on the wings of love and
+adoration to meet and welcome this illustrious Conqueror back to
+the realms of bliss. Wide are thrown the golden gates, and as they
+open, ten thousand voices are heard chaunting in chorus; "Lift up
+your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
+and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
+The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up
+your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
+and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
+The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of glory." Forth from heaven's
+portals there issued a goodly band, singing as they advance to meet
+and welcome their victorious King, whom they convey in celestial
+triumph to the presence of the eternal Father; seated on his throne
+of glory, he receives, with ineffable delight and joy, this, his
+only-begotten, always well-beloved, but now still more endeared Son,
+the Glorious Deliverer of the children of men. Great was the joy of
+that illustrious day, when the eternal Son of God, entered the city
+of the new Jerusalem, as the victorious Conqueror of sin, death, and
+hell, whom he led as captives to adorn his triumph, for, "having
+spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly,
+triumphing over them, and ascended on high, leading captivity
+captive." Then the eternal hills resounded to the melodious sound of
+ten thousand times ten thousand voices, who sing aloud, "Worthy is
+the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
+and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Then all in
+heaven said, "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto
+him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever,
+and ever." The spirits of the redeemed vie with elect angels, in
+testifying their love, reverence, and gratitude to the God of their
+salvation. They knew, if the eternal Son of God had not become their
+surety, not one of Adam's race could ever have entered the realms of
+bliss.[107] But in the eternal council of peace, he did covenant and
+promise, in the fulness of time, to become a sacrifice, and God who
+knew him to be faithful, did, on the credit of that promise, save
+all the Old Testament saints.[108] Jesus had now fulfilled that
+engagement; paid the full price of their redemption; "blotted out
+the hand-writing of ordinances that was against them, taking it away
+by nailing it to his cross." What wonder, if his return was hailed
+with rapturous delight; his presence could not fail of adding fresh
+joy to the happy spirits of the redeemed in glory. Yes! Jesus has
+"ascended on high, he has led captivity captive, and received gifts
+for men." It is as the God-Man, it is in his human nature, that he
+is said to receive gifts; for, as God, all is his in common with
+the Father. It is in the office of Mediator, that he has "all power
+given him in heaven and on earth." It is as God-Man, that the Father
+set him "at his right hand, in the heavenly places; far above all
+principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name
+that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
+come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
+head over all things to the church." He is made the great Almoner of
+heaven, and he disposes of his gifts to the children of earth. He
+has received freely, and he gives freely,--witness the showers of
+ascension gifts, on the day of Pentecost. He then, as the apostle
+quotes the words, "gave gifts to men, yea, to the rebellious also,
+that the Lord God might dwell among them." But while we view Christ
+as glorified, let us not fail to connect the scenes of Gethsemane
+and Calvary. The new song in heaven, to which their golden harps are
+ever tuned, is to the praise of him "who was slain, and has redeemed
+us to God by his blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and
+people, and nation; and has made us unto our God kings and priests
+for ever."
+
+  [107] John xiv. 6.
+
+  [108] Psalm xl. 7, 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LX.
+
+     And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
+     spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
+     prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men
+     shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the
+     handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.--Joel ii. 28,
+     29.
+
+
+That part of the prophet Joel from which this verse is selected,
+is highly interesting; and although not strictly prophetical of
+the person of the Messiah, yet it is so closely connected that it
+cannot be severed without injury to the whole. In fact, it serves
+as a test, whereby we may prove if Jesus be in truth that Messiah,
+of whom "Moses and the prophets did write." The "afterward" here
+noticed, alludes to the coming of the Messiah, after which great
+day of the Lord, the promise here made, of a glorious outpouring
+of the spirit, was to be fulfilled. It will be alike easy and
+delightful, to trace its accomplishment. The Holy Spirit, from the
+earliest ages of the world, has shed his sacred influences over the
+church; but no visible or open display of that divine person, God
+the Holy Ghost, had ever been made. That great event was reserved
+until after the Messiah's appearance; and, when that illustrious
+person had publicly manifested himself to the world, then was this
+promise to be fulfilled. Jesus declared himself to be the second
+person, in the revealed order of the Holy Trinity--the eternal Son
+of God--Christ the Messiah; and in such character he promised, when
+returned to glory, to send down the Holy Spirit. Again and again
+did Jesus direct his disciples to expect that event. On the last
+great day of the feast, he publicly proclaimed in the temple its
+near approach, and promised its fulfilment; "for the Holy Ghost
+was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." When
+the faithful disciples were overwhelmed with grief, on learning
+from their beloved Master that he was shortly to leave them,
+Jesus cheered their drooping spirits with the promise of another
+Comforter, even the Spirit of truth; whom he would send from the
+Father. To reconcile them still more to his departure, he told them
+"it was expedient for them that he should go away," for, "if he went
+not away the Comforter would not come; but if he departed, he would
+send him unto them." After his resurrection, Jesus again taught the
+disciples to expect this great event, and on the morning of his
+ascension he repeated his promise, adding, as it would not be many
+days hence, they should tarry at Jerusalem until its accomplishment.
+After the ascension of Jesus, the disciples were so fully persuaded
+that he was the Christ of God, that they continued daily assembled
+together, waiting for the fulfilment of the great promise made to
+them by their risen Lord.
+
+It will be remembered, that all the Israelitish males were commanded
+to appear, three times in the year, before the Lord at Jerusalem,
+at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The feast of
+Pentecost or weeks, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover.
+It was at the first great Jewish festival, the Passover, that Jesus
+was crucified. He arose from the dead on the third day, and as
+forty days intervened between his resurrection and return to glory,
+there could be only seven days from his ascension until the feast
+of Pentecost. It was on the morning of the ever-memorable day of
+Pentecost, the disciples being all of one accord, in one place; that
+"suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
+wind, and filled all the house, where they were assembled; and
+there appeared cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each
+of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
+speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Such
+a miraculous event was soon noised abroad, and multitudes crowd to
+learn the fact. As the Holy Spirit was graciously pleased to make
+this open display of his person and godhead, at one of the great
+Jewish festivals, the number of strangers who usually resorted to
+Jerusalem at that season, either for the purposes of worship or
+trade, became witnesses of the miraculous gifts bestowed on those
+hitherto unlearned, and many of them unlettered, Galilean fishermen.
+The inhabitants of Galilee were proverbial for their dulness and
+stupidity;[109] yet these men were taught, in an instant of time,
+to speak, with ease and fluency, languages whose very names, it is
+more than probable, they were an hour before unable to pronounce
+correctly. An opportunity was instantly offered for the apostles
+openly to display their extraordinary gifts. Amidst the assembled
+throng were men of sixteen different nations, to whom these poor
+fishermen publicly proclaimed, in their several languages, or
+dialects, the wonderful works of God. They needed no interpreter,
+in addressing this motley crowd. How preposterous to accuse the
+apostles of drunkenness! Truly, we should not imagine a state of
+inebriety the best calculated for acquiring a knowledge of any of
+the learned languages. We seldom know men, (however well their
+heads are furnished,) in a state of intoxication, speak any thing
+except it be the language of foolishness. Beside, it was only the
+third hour of the day, (nine o'clock) the time of offering the
+daily morning sacrifice in the temple, before which hour the Jews
+were forbidden to take any refreshment; and, as this was a solemn
+festival, no doubt the command was then more strictly observed. How
+mild, yet energetic, the reply of Peter, who declared the event to
+be a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, accomplished on the return
+of Jesus to glory; "when being by the right hand of God exalted,
+and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
+had shed forth that which they then saw and heard." The appearance
+of the Holy Spirit was sufficient to prove his personality. Might
+not the sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, be designed
+to show that the operations of God the Holy Spirit, are like the
+unknown and unexplored sources of the air. "The wind bloweth where
+it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof; but canst not tell
+whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: so is every one that is born
+of the Spirit." This was a lesson taught Nicodemus by Jesus, the
+wisdom and word of God.
+
+  [109] John vii. 52. Acts ii. 7.
+
+On Shinar's plains, the Lord, to testify his divine displeasure,
+confounded the language of mankind. It was a curse pronounced on
+Babel's tower; but at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was pleased to
+use the diversity of language as a witness of his almighty power
+and Godhead; when he publicly and solemnly ordained the apostles
+ministers of the everlasting Gospel, and endowed them with
+extraordinary gifts, as the first ambassadors of Christ, sent forth
+to publish unto all nations the glad tidings of great joy.
+
+Might we not be tempted, when viewing the immoral and profane
+amusements of Whitsuntide, to imagine it an annual feast holden
+to Venus or Bacchus; instead of (as at first designed) a solemn
+festival, intended to commemorate the visible descent of the
+Spirit of Purity? Certainly the general character of the public
+assemblies, at that season, bears a much nearer resemblance to the
+sports holden in honour of the deified heroes in heathen mythology,
+than to the pure and spiritual nature of the Divine Person, whose
+first public appearance in our world it was wished annually to
+celebrate. What would the early disciples of Christ feel, could they
+behold the sad perversion of this sacred festival!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXI.
+
+     And I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the
+     inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of
+     supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have
+     pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his
+     only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in
+     bitterness for his first born.--Zech. xii. 10.
+
+
+The Prophet Zechariah here presents to our view one of the richest
+jewels in the treasury of God's promises. It sparkles clear and
+bright amid the records of divine truth. All earth's richest
+treasures cannot offer an adequate remuneration for the withdrawment
+of this precious promise. The words deserve our most careful
+examination. We will therefore consider the person here promising;
+the persons to whom the promise is made; the thing promised; and
+search for proofs of its fulfilment.
+
+The person here promising is the God-Man, Christ Jesus, for the
+words are, "I will pour, &c. &c., and they shall look upon me, whom
+they have pierced, and mourn." We never find God the Father using
+such language as this when speaking of his disobedient creatures.
+God is justly displeased at man's apostasy. His law is dishonoured,
+his works defaced and injured by sin. Yet God, as God, cannot be
+the subject of pain and sorrow, he is beyond their reach. But if we
+look at the God-Man, Christ Jesus, we behold his sacred head pierced
+with a thorny crown, his hands and feet with nails of iron, his side
+with the soldier's spear, and his soul with the wrath of God. He who
+suffered thus on earth, did, as God, make this gracious promise.
+
+The persons to whom this promise literally applies, are the Jews,
+whose restoration as a nation to the divine favour, will form a
+prominent feature in the latter-day glories of the Church. The Lord
+has promised to gather together the dispersed in Judah, and the
+outcasts of Israel. "The deliverer shall arise out of Zion, and
+turn away ungodliness from Jacob." This nation, who once refused
+and crucified the Messiah, shall, when partakers of this promised
+blessing, "look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn." This
+promise is not confined to the Jews, but extends to the fallen race
+of Adam, whom our spiritual David will make inhabitants of the new
+Jerusalem, which is above, without regard to their being of Jewish
+or Gentile extraction.[110] He will not consider the trifling
+distinctions of colour, language, or nation, a barrier of such
+importance as to preclude their participating in his blessings.
+
+  [110] Matt. xxviii. 19. Acts xi. 18., xiii. 46, 47., xv. 3.
+
+The thing promised is an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
+Adam, by his apostasy, lost the image of God stamped upon his soul
+at his creation. The sentence, "in the day thou eatest thereof
+thou shalt surely die," was not suffered to go unexecuted. From
+that hapless hour, his soul, the most noble part, was dead to all
+spiritual life, and became the abode of corroding passions and
+depraved principles. He immediately shrank from holding intercourse
+with God, and tried to hide himself from the presence of his
+benefactor. As Adam begat a son in his own fallen likeness, all
+his race partake of the same corrupt nature. We are ignorant of
+God and his ways. We need divine teaching; we cannot naturally
+understand the things of God, which are spiritual, the eye of our
+understanding being darkened; God is not in all our thoughts; we
+are averse to communion with the Father of Spirits. We despise
+his offers of free grace--we prefer to be saved by our own rather
+than God's method--we see no beauty in Jesus that we should desire
+him--we dislike to renounce our own, and trust in his complete
+righteousness--we consider his commands grievous, and the language
+of our soul is, "we will not have this man to reign over us." But we
+are here told of a sovereign antidote for these deep-seated moral
+disorders of the soul. Here is a gracious promise of an abundant
+outpouring of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to "convince of
+sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." He convinces the soul,
+into which he enters, of the exceeding sinfulness of sin--that it
+is the evil thing which God hates; and shows the divine law is
+spiritual, extending to the thoughts and intents of the heart.[111]
+He puts a cry for mercy into the soul, destroys the natural enmity
+of the mind against God's plan of salvation, and makes the object of
+his divine teaching willing and anxious to partake of the Lord's
+bounty, and be a debtor to mercy alone. The Holy Spirit teaches of
+righteousness by convincing that a better righteousness than our
+own tattered rags is absolutely necessary, ere we can see the face
+of God with peace. He makes the soul willing to be clothed with the
+wedding garment of Jesus' righteousness, which is the fine linen
+of the saints. It is indispensable that we be clothed with this
+livery of the court of Heaven, or we shall be denied admission into
+the mansions of the King of Glory. Would we behold the fulfilment
+of this prophetic promise, then let us direct our minds back to a
+survey of the glorious scenes exhibited on the ever memorable day
+of Pentecost, when the Spirit was, in so free and copious a manner,
+poured out from on high. Attend to the sermon Peter preached on the
+day of his ordination; mark its effects on the three thousand of the
+House of David, inhabitants of Jerusalem's much-famed city. Listen
+to their cry, "Men and brethren, what must we do?" Surely these were
+none of the stout hearts who dared even to crucify the Lord of life
+and glory? The same! yet how different their tone--how altered their
+conduct! To what cause can we attribute this astonishing change in
+the minds of three thousand persons in the same instant of time?
+Surely it was none other than the almighty work of God the Holy
+Ghost. It was his influence on the minds of these men which produced
+the Spirit of grace and supplication, and taught them to direct the
+anxious cry and supplicating look unto him whom they had pierced.
+Was not the anguish of their souls, under a sense of their sins,
+equal to the exquisite sorrow of those who bitterly bewail the death
+of their first-born? However skilfully Peter might wield the sword
+of the Spirit, (the word of God,) it was none other than the God of
+all grace, who directed and sent it home with saving power to the
+hearts and consciences of these Jerusalem sinners. Are not the other
+triumphs of the Spirit worthy of regard, when five thousand are made
+willing cordially to embrace Christ crucified? May we not, by the
+way, observe, that the reception of the Gospel by such numbers so
+immediately after the ascension of Jesus, proved the truth of the
+facts recorded by the apostles, of the life, death, resurrection,
+and ascension of Christ? Many, no doubt, of these early converts
+of Christianity, had been eye-witnesses of several of the events,
+and _all_ had an opportunity of discovering the deception, if there
+had existed any, in the apostles' narrative. But no sooner are
+they persuaded to compare the Old Testament prophecies concerning
+the Messiah, with all the circumstances in the history of Jesus
+of Nazareth, than they anxiously desire to be enlisted under the
+banners of the cross. Unable to resist the force of truth, they join
+the persecuted adherents of the crucified Jesus, and cast in their
+lot with his despised followers, although "a sect every where spoken
+against." When were converts to Christianity most numerous? Was it
+not when there existed the best possible opportunity of detecting
+the least imposition or falsehood, on the part of the writers
+of the New Testament? Let it not be forgotten that those early
+converts were neither won by the arm of worldly power, nor bribed
+by proffered gold. On the contrary, no sooner did they embrace
+the Gospel, but they were met at the very threshold by ignominy
+and persecution in every varied and frightful form, sufficiently
+terrific to deter all but men really convinced of the truth, and
+swayed by its sacred influence.
+
+  [111] John xvi. 7-14.
+
+But we must not confine the accomplishment of this promise entirely
+to the days of Pentecost, although it then assumed a more splendid
+and attractive appearance, than it has done in these latter times.
+Yet through each succeeding age, the Lord the Spirit has not been
+unmindful of his covenant engagements. Could we draw aside the
+veil that separates between us and the holy of holies--could we
+obtain a glimpse of the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem which is
+above, and inquire of the goodly number that surround the throne
+of God and the Lamb, Who was the faithful instructor and guide,
+that taught them to walk in the way that led to everlasting life?
+they would direct us to the Lord the Spirit, as the almighty
+guide who pointed out the road, and taught their wandering feet
+to tread the strait, the narrow way, the only path, that leads
+to Zion's hill. In the Bible, that chart of life, the road is
+shown with clearness, and described with accuracy. It is called
+faith in the finished salvation of Christ, and obedience to his
+commands. The hand which drew this path to glory, is the very same
+that painted the splendid canopy of heaven. By this good old way,
+all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and reformers,
+entered the city of the Lord of Hosts. Their guide and comforter,
+through this waste howling wilderness, was the third person of the
+Triune-Jehovah. What countless myriads has this almighty guide led
+to the mount of God, from the antediluvian worthies, down to the
+happy spirit just entered into the joy of its Lord! Like them, led
+by the same unerring teacher, we shall not fail of arriving safely
+at the mansion of everlasting joy, for he is the only faithful
+conductor[112]to the heavenly Jerusalem; untaught by him, none
+can find the path of life, but will assuredly stumble on the dark
+mountains of sin and error, and run the downward road that leads to
+hell.
+
+  [112] Psalm cxliii. 10.
+
+Eternal life is the gift of God. Christ is "the way, the truth,
+and the life: none can come unto God, but by him." The office of
+the Holy Spirit is to instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourners
+in Zion, and make us meet to be "partakers of the inheritance of
+the saints in light." "If ye, being evil, know how to give good
+gifts unto your children, how much more will your heavenly Father
+give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." May we be partakers
+of that inestimable blessing, for without _his_ influence on our
+hearts, vain will be even the electing love of God the Father--vain
+the vicarious sacrifice and imputed righteousness of Christ the
+Son--vain to us the plan of salvation; and vain, all the promises
+of the Gospel. As well for us, if those glad tidings of great joy,
+"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward
+men," had not reached our ears. Unapplied, the most sovereign remedy
+is useless, for then not even Gilead's balm, can heal the dire
+disease.[113] Christ will prove no Saviour to us, unless applied to
+our individual case. It is the office of the Holy Spirit, to take
+of the things of Christ and show them unto us. Faith is the hand
+by which we grasp Christ crucified. That saving faith, by which we
+apprehend the finished salvation of Jesus, and make it our own,
+is a grace wrought in the heart by the operation of the Spirit of
+God. Far better would it be for the children of men, if the sun
+were turned into darkness, the moon into blood, and all the stars
+of heaven withdraw their shining; than that this glorious promise
+of the outpouring of the Spirit, should be blotted from the book of
+God's remembrance!
+
+  [113] Jeremiah viii. 22.
+
+May that blessed morning shortly dawn, "when all shall know the
+Lord!" Hasten, glorious Immanuel, that bright day, when "the whole
+earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters
+cover the sea."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXII.
+
+     The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest for
+     ever, after the order of Melchizedek.--Psalm cx. 4.
+
+
+In the Old Testament, we find but little recorded of Melchizedek,
+that venerable priest of the most High God, who met and blessed
+the patriarch Abraham as he returned victorious from the slaughter
+of Chedorlaomer and the confederate kings. But from that little, we
+are led to regard him as a person of distinction. To him, the great
+father of the faithful and friend of God presented the tithes or
+tenths of the spoil. It is from the prophetical word of the royal
+Psalmist, "the Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a
+Priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek," that we are taught
+to view this ancient priest of God as a type: and of whom, if not
+of Christ? Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews,[114] speaks largely
+on the subject; he proves the fulfilment of the prophecy, and
+declares, that Christ's priestly office was prefigured in the person
+of Melchizedek, to Abraham the father of the Israelitish race. In
+the same epistle, we find blended the priesthood of Aaron, in order
+to show the vast superiority of that of Christ over the other two,
+though both instituted by God himself. But as we find no prophecy
+respecting the Aaronic priesthood, we make no further reference to
+that subject, in order to attend more immediately to the words, "The
+Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever,
+after the order of Melchizedek." Was this priest of the most High
+God honoured with the title of King of Salem--by interpretation,
+King of Righteousness, and King of Peace? Is not Jesus proclaimed
+King of Zion; the Lord our Righteousness, and the Prince of Peace?
+Nor are these mere empty titles, but real characters, and offices,
+sustained by Him, who "abideth a priest upon his throne for ever."
+We have no historical account of the parentage or descendants of
+Melchizedek; he is presented to us as "without father, without
+mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor
+end of life;" but being made like unto the Son of God, abideth a
+priest continually.[115] And Christ's priesthood was not derived
+by genealogy, or succession, he had neither father or mother of
+the family of Aaron, from whom his priesthood could descend. It is
+evident our Lord sprang "out of Judah, of which tribe no man gave
+attendance at the altar;"[116] neither did Christ die and leave it
+to others, by way of descent, but was constituted a single priest,
+without predecessor or successor. "He abideth a priest for ever,
+after the order of Melchizedek." It is impossible for a finite mind
+to comprehend the eternal sonship of the Son of God, whom the
+Father, before the foundation of the world, constituted a priest for
+ever; and therefore, the priesthood of Melchizedek was instituted to
+prefigure to us the nature of Christ's eternal priesthood. "The Lord
+hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever, after
+the order of Melchizedek." These words deserve particular attention.
+It is God the Father who swears to Christ; no oath of allegiance is
+required from him who is constituted our Priest. Jehovah, whose eye
+pierces through futurity, knew he would be faithful in his office,
+and he freely and unreservedly trusted him to maintain his divine
+honour and justice, and accomplish the salvation of sinners. The
+high-priestly office, though honourable, could not add to Christ's
+dignity; but his glorious person did confer honour and dignity
+upon the sacred office, for he who is constituted our High Priest,
+"is fellow to the Lord of Hosts." "Every high priest is ordained,
+to offer both gifts and sacrifices," and great was the sacrifice
+offered by Christ: he offered up himself; he would borrow nothing,
+but was both priest, sacrifice, altar, and temple: and "by that
+offering, he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." "And
+because he continueth ever, he hath an unchangeable priesthood;"
+"wherefore he _is_ able to save them to the uttermost, that come
+unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
+them." Blessed Jesus! thou priest of Melchizedek's order, while
+we would not withhold from thee a portion of all that thou givest
+us, let us not rest satisfied, till we are enabled to present "our
+bodies and souls a reasonable sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto
+God."
+
+  [114] Hebrews v. 5-11., vii. 1-28.
+
+  [115] Hebrews vii. 3.
+
+  [116] Hebrews vi. 20.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXIII.
+
+     Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
+     holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of
+     sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring
+     in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
+     prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know, therefore, and
+     understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to
+     restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince,
+     shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the
+     street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous
+     times.--Daniel ix. 24, 25.
+
+
+The harps of Judah were silent--the disconsolate Israelites hung
+them on the willows of Babylon--no songs of Zion were heard in that
+land of captivity, where, for seventy long years, they wore the
+galling yoke of bondage, bereft of home and all its blessings--the
+land of their forefathers in the possession of strangers--Jerusalem
+in ruins--her palaces consumed--the Temple destroyed--the spot
+trodden down by the Heathen--themselves exposed to the taunts of
+their conquerors, and compelled to bow before the idolatrous image
+of Chaldean superstition.[117] Well might Judah's sons weep by the
+waters of Babylon, whose murmurings recalled to their recollection
+the stream which gushed from Horeb's mount.[118] The remembrance of
+past blessings increases the weight of present misery. How changed
+their state, and changed to punish their awful rebellions against
+the Lord of Sabaoth! Yet the God of Israel was not unmindful of
+his promise--he cheered their drooping spirits with the assurance
+of speedy deliverance from their captive state. The prayer of
+Daniel entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts--the command was
+given--swiftly the angel, even Gabriel, flew to reveal his Lord's
+decrees unto the mourning prophet--that "man greatly beloved" of
+his God. Daniel was commissioned to foretel the deliverance of
+the Jews from Babylon--the building of Jerusalem and its walls in
+troublous times; and to him, Jehovah was graciously pleased to
+renew the promise of the Prince, Messiah, whose appearance all
+the patriarchs and prophets had foretold. The nearer that glorious
+epoch approached, the more minutely was it described. The Lord
+gave Daniel to "know and understand, that from the going forth of
+the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah,
+the Prince, should be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks."
+The period here styled weeks, is generally allowed to be sabbaths
+of years. This appears to be the sense of the passage, for the
+Jews were accustomed to reckon their time and feasts by weeks or
+sabbaths. The week of days was from one seventh or sabbath day to
+another. The week of years was from one seventh or sabbatical year
+to another; in the seventh, or sabbatical year, they neither sowed
+their fields nor pruned their vineyards; it was a sabbath of rest
+unto the land.[119] In the regulation of the year of Jubilee, they
+were commanded to number "seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven
+years, and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to thee
+forty and nine years."[120] We therefore only follow the Mosaic
+rule, (to which Moses' disciples cannot object,) if we consider
+these seven weeks, and three score and two weeks, as seven times
+sixty-nine, or four hundred and eighty-three years, which should be
+between "the going forth of the commandment to restore and build
+Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince." There were four distinct
+decrees or commandments granted by the kings of Persia, in favour of
+the Jews, who came under the dominion of that empire by its conquest
+of Babylon. This was the epoch of Daniel's vision. No sooner had
+Cyrus obtained possession of Chaldea, than he issued a decree
+allowing the Jews to quit the land of their captivity, and repair to
+Judea to build the temple of the Lord. He also restored to them the
+vessels and treasures which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple
+built by Solomon. On the grant of this decree,[121] five hundred
+and thirty-six years before Christ, many of the Jews returned to
+their own land, and laid the foundation of the temple; but they
+were hindered in the building of it by their several enemies, who
+were supported in their opposition by Artaxerxes, the successor of
+Cyrus. But when Darius Hystaspes ascended the throne of Persia, he
+issued a decree[122] five hundred and nineteen years before Christ,
+forbidding the enemies of the Jews to interrupt the building of
+the temple, and further commanded that materials requisite for the
+work, and the animals, oil, and wine for the sacrifices, should be
+supplied at his (the king's) cost. The third decree was granted
+to Ezra, the scribe, four hundred and sixty-seven years before
+Christ, by Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the seventh year of his reign,
+by which he bestowed great favours upon the Jews,[123] appointing
+Ezra Governor of Judea. He permitted all the Jews to return to
+Jerusalem, and commanded his treasurers beyond the river, to supply
+Ezra with such things as he needed for the house of his God, even
+to an hundred talents of silver, an hundred measures of wheat, an
+hundred baths of wine, and an hundred baths of oil. The king and
+his princes presented much silver and gold, and many vessels, and
+ordered that what else might be required for the house of God,
+should be supplied from the king's treasury. This is not the same
+Artaxerxes who listened to the slanderous reports of the enemies of
+the Jews, and stopped the building of their temple; but Artaxerxes,
+surnamed Longimanus, supposed to be the person styled Ahasuerus, in
+the book of Esther, whose attachment to his Israelitish consort
+may account for the distinguished favours he conferred on the
+people of her nation. We find the queen was present when Nehemiah
+presented his petition, which was the second decree granted by this
+monarch, and was the fourth and last decree, being granted in the
+twentieth year of his reign, and four hundred and fifty-four years
+before Christ.[124] This was the most efficient decree, for by it
+Jerusalem and its walls were built. The high resolves of the court
+of Heaven were revealed; Daniel was made "to know and understand
+that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build
+Jerusalem, _unto_ the Messiah, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and
+three score and two weeks, being sixty nine weeks, or four hundred
+and eighty-three years. From the last, or fourth, decree to the
+birth of Christ, (vide Rollin, volume 8, page 265,) is four hundred
+and fifty-four years, to which we add twenty-nine years (the age
+at about which Christ entered on his public ministry);[125] these
+united, make the exact period of sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred
+and eighty-three years. Daniel also declares that "seventy weeks (or
+four hundred and ninety years) are determined upon thy people and
+upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end
+of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
+everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
+and to anoint the most Holy." We find between the seventy weeks, or
+four hundred and ninety years, and the sixty-nine weeks, or four
+hundred and eighty-three years, a difference of one week, or seven
+years, which is the week evidently alluded to in the twenty-seventh
+verse of this chapter, in which "he shall confirm the covenant
+with many for one week, &c." From the period of Christ's first
+entry into the ministry, and the calling of his apostles, until his
+crucifixion, were three and a half years, and, for three and a half
+years after that event, his apostles continued to minister amongst
+the Jews. This makes a period of seven years, (or one prophetic
+week,) in the midst of which the Messiah was cut off, and "the
+sacrifice and oblation" virtually ceased. The correspondence is
+exact: Jesus, the Messiah, not only entered on his public ministry
+at the very period pointed out ages before, but was actually cut
+off in the midst of the week, as was expressly foretold. These
+predictions of the Prince Messiah are peculiarly striking. The
+time for his appearance is marked, and the particular objects he
+should effect on his coming, are described with such minuteness,
+as scarcely to admit of the possibility of mistaking his person.
+The grand features of his mission were so strongly exhibited, that
+it was morally impossible the Messiah should appear and not be
+recognised. Prejudice must have blinded the eye of that mind which
+does not, on comparing the whole of the New Testament with this
+prophecy, acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah. It bears
+the stamp of divine prescience: none but the omniscient God could
+have given his features with such clearness so many ages before.
+This portrait of the Messiah, which bears so exact a resemblance
+to Jesus, was in the possession of the Jews, at least five hundred
+years before that glorious person was exhibited to the world, a God
+incarnate.
+
+  [117] Dan. iii. 4-15.
+
+  [118] Numbers xx. 11.
+
+  [119] Lev. xxiii. 3., xxv. 3, 4.
+
+  [120] Lev. xxv. 8. 10.
+
+  [121] 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23.
+
+  [122] Ezra vi. 7-12.
+
+  [123] Ezra vii. 11-23.
+
+  [124] Neh. ii. 1-8.
+
+  [125] Luke iii. 23.
+
+Jesus declares himself to be the long promised Messiah--his claim
+rests on no slight or doubtful evidence--he came at the very precise
+time it was foretold the Messiah should appear to the people and the
+holy city. Christ's ministry was among the people of the Jews--Judea
+was the land of his nativity--the scene of his labours--the witness
+of his miracles--he was born at Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, and
+crucified just "without the gate" of the holy city. On Calvary
+"he finished the transgressions, and made an end of sin, and make
+reconciliation for iniquity." There the God-man, Christ Jesus,
+offered up his life a ransom for the guilty--there the surety of
+the Church paid the full price for her redemption, and made peace
+by the blood of his cross--there "he suffered the just for the
+unjust to bring sinners unto God." He took away "the hand-writing
+of ordinances that was against us, taking them out of the way by
+nailing them to the cross"--there he removed the iniquity of the
+land in one day, and so completely "finished the transgression,"
+by suffering the punishment due for his people's sins, that when
+they are "sought for they shall not be found"--there he paid the
+full price of their redemption, he cancelled the bond, and made
+peace and reconciliation with offended justice. He "brought in an
+everlasting righteousness, and not only suffered the penalty due for
+their transgressions of God's law, 'which is holy, just, and good,'
+but, as the head of the Church, he obeyed all the precepts of the
+moral law; which he exalted and made honourable. Perfect was the
+obedience wrought out--complete was the righteousness brought in
+by the incarnate Deity, the Lord our righteousness, which is from
+everlasting to everlasting "unto all and upon all that believe,
+for there is no difference." Amidst the awful gloom on Calvary's
+mount, was heard the cry "it is finished!" It was the conqueror's
+shout--victory was achieved--Satan was vanquished--the sting of
+death was taken away--the power of the grave destroyed--the conflict
+was over--the ransom paid--the captives of the mighty delivered--the
+law was honoured--justice satisfied--God glorified--Heaven
+opened--man redeemed--and hell vanquished. That was the glorious
+event which types were intended to exhibit, and prophets were
+commissioned to proclaim. The appointed time of the vision was
+arrived--it had long tarried, but it was accomplished. The chain
+of prophecy was complete--the vision was sealed[126]--and the most
+holy anointed. The God-man, Christ Jesus, anointed by his Father
+king and priest of Zion, then exchanged his thorny crown for the
+royal diadem--then left the sorrows of earth for the glories of his
+mediatorial throne, which no enemy can touch--their opposition is
+vain--he that sitteth upon the circle of the heavens, will laugh
+them to scorn. Happy are they who have for their king and priest,
+_him_ whose kingdom is eternal, and priesthood unchangeable--who
+look to the Redeemer of Israel as the rock of their salvation, and
+crown the most holy, Lord of all. "Happy are the people that are in
+such a case, yea, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."
+
+  [126] Rev. xxii. 18, 19.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXIV.
+
+     And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
+     but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall
+     come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end
+     thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war
+     desolations are determined.--Daniel ix. 26.
+
+
+This vision of Daniel appears involved in considerable obscurity,
+by the diversity of time alluded to in the several parts of
+the prophecy, and renders it difficult to prove its exact
+accomplishment. But we hope we have shown in the preceding part,
+that it does not militate against "the truth as it is in Jesus,"
+it rather tends to strengthen the testimony, by affording an
+additional opportunity of proving, from sacred and profane history,
+the fulfilment of the great event. The proof of its accomplishment
+does not rest on the insulated fact, but is established by a chain
+of evidence, derived from the annals of nations. For, whichever of
+the decrees we take, it is clear from ancient chronology, that the
+period alluded to is passed, and the Messiah did appear not far
+from the time named by any decree. As we have attempted to prove the
+fulfilment of the first part of the prophetic vision, it may not be
+improper if we now endeavour to show that the remaining part of this
+interesting prophecy has also been accomplished.
+
+"After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not
+for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall
+destroy the city and the sanctuary." "Secret things belong unto God;
+but things that are revealed, to you and your children." We cannot
+ascertain to a certainty when the seventy-two weeks commence, but
+it is evident they terminate at the cutting off of the Messiah.
+From the words "And the end thereof shall be with a flood, and
+unto the end of the war desolations are determined," it appears,
+also, to allude to the destruction of the city, previous to which
+event the Messiah should be cut off. We hope we shall not offer
+any violence to the words, if we give them this interpretation.
+The destruction of Jerusalem is not the only event alluded to in
+this interesting prophecy; there is one of paramount importance
+to the ruin of Salem's palaces, though that involved the fate
+of Judah's sons. On the other momentous fact hang the highest
+interests of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, past, present, and
+future generations; not only the happiness of earth, but much of
+the glory of heaven, depends on its accomplishment. Without it no
+sweet song of "Salvation to God and the Lamb," would have echoed
+amidst the heavenly hills, none of the race of Adam would be seen
+worshipping before the presence of Jehovah with the angels of light;
+those melodious hymns of redemption, now chaunted by ten thousand
+times ten thousand glorified Saints, had not been heard but for the
+vicarious sacrifice of the Son of God,[127] who not only covenanted,
+but did actually lay down his life a ransom for sinners. When
+Jesus, the Christ of God, the Prince Messiah, appeared on earth,
+it was not simply to set the children of men an example of piety
+and virtue; we ardently admire his glorious example, and consider
+his followers bound to imitate the bright pattern he has left them;
+yet we dare not believe that _that_ was the only object he designed
+to accomplish when he visited our world.[128] No, he came as the
+federal Head, the Representative and Surety of his people.[129] He
+was "cut off from the land of the living," by a violent and cruel
+death; yet not for himself, not for any sin of his own,[130] nor
+purposely to set us a pattern of patience and resignation; but to
+discharge the debt of sin, he had covenanted to cancel on man's
+account. Jehovah executed towards him the severest justice, and
+permitted his crucifiers to exercise the blackest ingratitude, and
+most inhuman cruelty. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou who killest
+the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often
+would the Lord have gathered thee under his protecting care as a
+hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not." Thy
+awful doom was sealed when thou didst reject the authority, and
+persecute unto death Jesus the Messiah, thy prophet and benefactor,
+thy God and King. The thought of thy approaching misery drew tears
+from the eyes, and groans from the heart, of Incarnate Deity; yet
+thy children beheld, with feelings of triumphant scorn, the sorrows
+and sufferings their wanton cruelty inflicted on the Holy Jesus.
+But heaven marked the impious deed.[131] The blood of Jesus, of
+prophets, of apostles, and of martyrs, called for vengeance on
+thy guilty land; the cry was heard, justice remembered thy black
+catalogue of crimes, the King of heaven beheld the insult offered
+to his beloved Son, and Jehovah arose to punish thy rejection of
+Jesus the Messiah, whom "ye would not have to reign over you." The
+crimes of Jerusalem were of the blackest and most awful character,
+and her punishment was tremendously dreadful.[132] The Israelites,
+once the peculiar favourites of Heaven[133]--nursed in the lap of
+plenty, instructed in the oracles of God--blessed with the temple
+of Jehovah--taught to adore the God of truth whom their forefathers
+worshipped; this people, who once had the Lord for their Law-giver
+and King,[134] were compelled to bow beneath the oppressive power of
+arbitrary despots--the law of truth was exchanged for the tyrant's
+mandate--equity and justice were banished the walls of Salem, and
+despotism, oppression, blasphemy, and pride, reigned within that
+devoted, miserable, city. Anarchy and confusion ruled that senate
+and sanctuary, once as gloriously "distinguished from the rest of
+the world by the purity of its government, as by the richness and
+elegance of its buildings. Jerusalem was devoted to destruction,
+and she sunk beneath the accumulated horrors of war, famine, fire,
+and pestilence. Internal faction and a foreign foe reduced that
+beauteous city and magnificent sanctuary, to a heap of ruins. The
+temple fell--not all the commands, promises, or threats of Titus,
+could save that splendid edifice from destruction; the people of the
+prince, regardless of their general's orders, helped to complete
+the work of desolation;--but prophecy was fulfilled, Jerusalem was
+overwhelmed with the flood of divine vengeance, and desolation
+prevailed even unto the end of the war.
+
+  [127] John xiv. 6.
+
+  [128] John xii, 27.
+
+  [129] 1 Corinthians xv. 22. Romans v. 17-19.
+
+  [130] Luke xxiii. 4. Isaiah liii. 5, 10.
+
+  [131] Matthew xxiii. 35-37.
+
+  [132] Matthew xxiv. 21.
+
+  [133] Deuteronomy iv. 7.
+
+  [134] Deuteronomy iv. 5, 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXV.
+
+     And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and
+     in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the
+     oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he
+     shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that
+     determined shall be poured upon the desolate.--Daniel ix. 27.
+
+
+Some writers consider this verse prophetical of the desolate state
+of Jerusalem under Antiochus Epiphanes, that sacrilegious monarch
+who impiously profaned the sanctuary of the God of Israel. By him
+the temple was ransacked and despoiled of its holy vessels; its
+golden ornaments pulled off; its hidden treasures seized; and
+an unclean animal offered on the altar of burnt-offerings. Thus
+did this impious Syrian king dare profane the altar and temple
+dedicated to Jehovah. Neither was this all; Jerusalem again felt
+the force of his horrid cruelty and profaneness; men, women, and
+children, were either slain or taken captive; and the houses and
+city walls were destroyed. The Jews were not allowed to offer burnt
+offerings or sacrifices to the God of Israel--circumcision was
+forbidden--they were required to profane the Sabbath, and eat the
+flesh of swine, and other beasts forbidden by their law[135]--the
+sanctuary dedicated to Jehovah was called the temple of Jupiter
+Olympius, and his image set up on the altar--idol temples and altars
+were erected throughout all their cities--and the Holy Scriptures
+destroyed whenever they were met with--and death was the fate of
+those who read the word of the Lord. The most horrid and brutal
+cruelties were inflicted on such as chose to obey God, rather than
+this Syrian monster. Jerusalem was overspread by his abominations;
+desolation was indeed poured out "upon the desolate" when Antiochus
+Epiphanes held the blood stained sceptre, emblem of satanic power.
+Yet, closely as these circumstances resemble the description given
+by the prophet's vision, we cannot think it is the event alluded to
+in this prophecy. Daniel, in the three preceding verses, speaks of
+the Messiah, and the final destruction of the city and sanctuary: by
+Antiochus the temple certainly was _not_ destroyed. In the eleventh
+chapter there appears a striking prophecy of the events which
+happened in Jerusalem during the dominion of the Syrian tyrant, but
+we cannot think he is alluded to in any part of the ninth chapter.
+The first clause of this verse, "He shall confirm the covenant with
+many," cannot refer to Antiochus, but alludes to the same glorious
+person mentioned in the preceding verses. The latter part of this
+verse may with propriety be considered as a continuance of the
+prophecy of Jerusalem's final destruction, as it occurred under
+Titus. To Jesus the Messiah we direct our eyes. The one week, or the
+midst of the week, (seven years half expired,) alludes to the time
+of his Public Ministry, which was three years and a half; during
+which period he declared, the design of his mission was to confirm
+the well-ordered covenant of redemption and peace, which was drawn
+up in the counsels of eternity--sealed on earth with the blood of
+the Incarnate God--signed in the presence of Jehovah, angels,
+men, and devils--registered in the court of Heaven--and proclaimed
+good and valid by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the
+outpouring of the Holy Spirit.[136] It is true, the sacrifices and
+oblations of the temple service did not cease immediately on the
+death of Christ, they were continued some little time after that
+event; but they became unnecessary, they had lost their value,
+and were but idle ceremonies and useless rights, when the thing
+signified was accomplished. At best, they were only types of the
+Lamb of God, the blood of that one great sacrifice, which alone
+"cleanseth from all sin." "It is not possible for the blood of
+bulls or goats to take away sin." No, the sacrifices and ceremonies
+of the Mosaic economy were only efficacious so far as Christ, the
+substance, was viewed through the shadow.[137] In less than forty
+years after the death of Christ, the sacrifices and oblations
+ceased, for the temple was demolished. A spot so deeply stained
+with crime, needed the fire of divine vengeance to consume it from
+the face of the earth: it was erected for the worship of the God of
+Israel, but was turned into the seat of iniquity and profaneness.
+The horrid enormities observed in the temple of Juggernaut scarcely
+surpassed the impious practices exercised within the Jewish
+sanctuary. When Titus, the Roman general, approached the walls of
+the city, it more resembled the court of Mars and Bacchus, than the
+temple of Jehovah; the drunkard's voice--the clash of arms--the
+shouts of the victor--the cries of the vanquished--and the groans of
+the dying, echoed through that magnificent pile; human blood flowed
+in its courts, and sprinkled its altars and its walls. Jerusalem was
+a scene of slaughter; but it was not a war to support the glorious
+cause of freedom; nor were they fighting to repel the foreign foe,
+or shedding their blood to defend their beloved homes, and the still
+dearer objects of affection, around which the warm heart clings with
+fondest thought amidst the scene of danger and of death, and for
+whose preservation the weakest arm grows desperate, and the feeblest
+mind resolves to conquer or to die. But theirs was no such glorious
+contest; no--civil war had reared her hydra head; the horrid yell
+of intestine discord rang through Salem's courts, and echoed round
+her walls; that infernal power bursts the bands of brotherhood,
+severs the closest ties, dissolves the strongest link of union, and
+makes the man a monster. The sword of her own sons deluged Jerusalem
+with Jewish blood; the fire which destroyed her houses was kindled
+by her own children; death and destruction reigned through all her
+palaces; the city groaned beneath a three-fold faction, when the
+Roman legions approached her walls to complete the horrid scene
+of slaughter. The temple was the head-quarters of Eleazar and the
+Zealots; they had in their possession the stores of first fruits
+and offerings, and were frequently in a state of intoxication; but
+when not drunken with wine, they thirsted for the blood of their
+countrymen, and issued from their strong hold, to assault John and
+his party, who lay intrenched in the out-works of the temple. The
+ruin of Jerusalem is attributed to the horrid enormities of the
+Zealot faction: surely that was the summit of wickedness, when the
+priests sold themselves to work iniquity, and the temple of the
+Lord was the seat of their crimes. That was "the overspreading of
+abomination," and it continued until the sanctuary was consumed,
+and "ruin was poured upon the desolators." It was the iniquitous
+practices of the Jews, rather than the Roman eagle, which profaned
+the courts of the Lord's House: the conquerors did not plant their
+standard to insult, but with a wish to preserve, the temple from
+total ruin and destruction.
+
+  [135] Leviticus xi. 2, 7, 8.
+
+  [136] 1 Timothy iii. 16. Acts ii. 24, 33.
+
+  [137] Hebrews iv. 2. x. 1-10, 20.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXVI.
+
+     For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and
+     the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women
+     ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
+     and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the
+     city.--Zechariah xiv. 2.
+
+
+Imperial Rome, to whom the world once bowed, and whose power
+could command armies from "all nations," had conquered Judea, and
+received from her the yearly tribute of her subjection:[138] but,
+through the oppression of the Roman governors, and the madness
+of the people, the standard of revolt was planted, and the Jews
+attempted to break their yoke of bondage. The Roman legions, inured
+to war, and accustomed to the shout of victory, hastened to subdue
+the rebellious Israelites: they passed from city to city, and from
+province to province; slaughter and death marked their course; the
+strife was desperate; the conflict bloody; the Jews fought like
+men determined to conquer or to die: two hundred and forty-seven
+thousand seven hundred were slain before their provinces were
+subjugated, and an immense number made prisoners: amongst whom was
+Josephus, the historian of the war, who was governor of the two
+Galilees, and who defended them with skill and bravery. The Romans,
+having conquered the provinces, approached to assault Jerusalem,
+which was then a dreadful scene. The sound of war was heard through
+all her gates; regardless of the approaching foe, the Jews had
+turned their arms against each other; three several factions were
+busily engaged in the work of slaughter and destruction. Eleazar and
+the Zealots seized the temple; John of Gischala and his followers
+occupied its out-works; and Simon, the son of Gorias, possessed the
+whole of the lower, and a great part of the upper, town. Jerusalem
+was built on two hills; the highest, on which stood the temple, was
+called the upper town, and the other the lower: between these lay a
+valley covered with houses; the suburbs of the city were extensive,
+and encircled by a wall; two other walls also surrounded Jerusalem,
+the interior one of remarkable strength. Neither of the three
+factious parties had any just claim to supremacy or power, though
+all contended for dominion, and fought for plunder. The Zealots
+were the smallest party, but, from their situation, possessed the
+advantage: they sallied from their strong holds to attack John, who
+seized every opportunity of assaulting Simon; thus John maintained
+a double war, and was often obliged to divide his forces, being
+attacked by Eleazar and Simon at the same time. In these furious
+contests, no age or sex was spared; the slaughter was dreadful.
+When either party was repelled, the other set fire to the building,
+without any distinction. Regardless of their contents, they consumed
+granaries and store-houses, which contained a stock of corn and
+other necessaries of life, sufficient to maintain the inhabitants
+during a siege of many years; but nearly the whole was burnt, and
+this circumstance made way for a calamity more horrid than even war
+itself. Famine soon showed her meagre form, and all classes felt
+the dreadful effects of a scarcity of food. Such was the miserable
+state of Jerusalem when the Roman general Titus (son of the reigning
+emperor, Vespasian,) prepared to attack the city. The sight of a
+powerful foreign foe at their gates, with all the artillery of
+war, could not quell the factions within; it is true, when closely
+pressed by the Romans, the three parties joined to repel the common
+enemy, but no sooner had they breathing time, than the spirit of
+contention arose, and they resumed the slaughter of each other:
+thus they maintained a fierce contest with the besiegers, and, at
+the same time, seized every opportunity of destroying each other.
+The misery of the city was soon beyond precedent, from the dreadful
+effects of famine, the price of provisions became exorbitant,
+and, when no longer offered for sale, the houses were entered and
+searched, and the wretched owners tortured till they confessed where
+the slender pittance was concealed; at length the distress became
+so great, that persons parted with the whole of their property
+to obtain a bushel of wheat, which they eat before it could be
+baked, or even ground; and happy was he who could catch a morsel
+of meat, half roasted, half raw, from the fire. No kind of cruelty
+was omitted in search of food: at length their sufferings were so
+severe, that the wretched inhabitants were necessitated to search
+the vaults and sinks for sustenance, and even fed on articles
+too offensive to be named. The ties of nature and humanity were
+forgotten, the wife seized the food from her husband, the child
+from the parent, and even the mother from her infant.[139] The
+excruciating pain of famine so far overpowered the tenderest and
+finest affections in nature, that a woman, descended from a rich and
+respectable family, even killed, boiled, and ate, her own child, a
+son in all the artless and endearing simplicity of infancy! Well
+may the British mother tremble at the horrid sound, and pity the
+wretched Israelitish female, thus sunk below the brute. Pestilence
+now stalked abroad, for the air was tainted by the dead: though
+no less than six hundred thousand dead bodies were carried out
+of the city during the time Titus encamped before the walls, yet
+there was an incredible number who had no friends to bury them, and
+their bodies were enclosed in large buildings, or laid in heaps in
+the open air. "O Jerusalem, thou didst drink at the hand of the
+Lord the cup of his fury, thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup
+of trembling, and wrung them out" even desolation, destruction,
+famine and sword, "thy houses rifled, thy women ravished" by Jewish
+ruffians, and the city at length taken by the Roman general.
+Titus had again and again offered the Jews honourable terms of
+capitulation; but they rejected all his overtures with proud
+disdain, and when his soldiers took the city, exasperated at the
+hardships they had endured, they spared neither sex, age, or rank.
+Sword and fire destroyed Jerusalem and her children, and closed
+this horrid war, in which one million one hundred thousand Jews were
+slain, and ninety-seven thousand made prisoners.
+
+  [138] Luke ii. 1. Matthew xxii. 17.
+
+  [139] Deut. xxviii. 48-59.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXVII.
+
+     The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from
+     the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation
+     whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce
+     countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor
+     show favour to the young.--Deut. xxviii. 49, 50.
+
+     And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
+     saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy
+     day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are
+     hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that
+     thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee
+     round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even
+     with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall
+     not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest
+     not the time of thy visitation.--Luke xix. 41-44.
+
+
+Judea was not conquered by the neighbouring Asiatic states, but by
+the Roman, Europeans of a "fierce and warlike countenance," who knew
+not the Jewish language, and regarded not "the persons of the old,
+nor showed favour to the young." It will not be difficult to trace
+the Roman soldiers in this eloquently descriptive character. No
+nation excelled them in their military prowess, or in the rapidity
+of their conquests. In comparatively a very short period of time,
+they extended their empire over all the then civilised part of the
+globe. The insignia of their legions was not more descriptive of
+their valour, than of the unexampled rapidity of their movements.
+The celebrated motto of Cæsar, "I came, I saw, I conquered," was
+neither of a doubtful, or boasting, character. Their career was
+indeed "as swift as the eagle flieth." No nation or people did
+long withstand the fierceness of their attacks, or the persevering
+energy of their generals. In their triumphs over their enemies, they
+frequently displayed a ferocity happily unknown in modern warfare.
+The most distinguished of their captives, without regard to age or
+sex, were dragged in triumph, amidst the shouts of the conquerors,
+and the insults of the rabble. Often, when exasperated by the
+protracted defence of a brave people struggling for their existence,
+instead of respecting such patriotic efforts, they inflicted the
+most horrid barbarities upon the unresisting and unhappy objects of
+their vengeance; and a slaughter, indiscriminating in its fury, and
+dreadful in its results, marked the blood-stained progress of the
+licentious soldiery, who "regarded not the person of the old, nor
+showed favour to the young." History informs us, that the Romans,
+under Titus and Vespasian, after a protracted siege, unparalleled
+in horror, and sanguinary beyond example, at length became masters
+of this once-favoured spot; and if we compare the predictions of
+Christ with the events which occurred, and followed at the taking of
+this devoted city, we shall be struck with the coincidence of the
+declaration, and its awful fulfilment.
+
+His foreknowledge of the dreadful calamities which should precede
+and accompany the destruction of Jerusalem, caused our blessed
+Saviour, when he beheld the city, to weep over it: and, surely, if
+this once-favoured race had then known the day of its visitation,
+the Lord would have turned from his fierce anger: but these things
+"were hid from their eyes." Having rejected the Lord of Glory, they
+were given over to judicial blindness, and the Lord brought upon
+them "a nation from afar" to execute his vengeance. Jerusalem was
+"trodden down by the Gentiles," and there was "great distress upon
+the land, and wrath upon the people." The sword and the spear from
+without, and famine and pestilence and civil discord within, were
+indeed unto them "the beginning of sorrows." The predicted day
+was now come, when their "enemies should cast a trench about them,
+and compass them round, and keep them in on every side." Their
+walls of strength, their beautiful palaces, and their magnificent
+temple, were laid "even with the ground." Not "one stone was left
+upon another" that was not thrown down; and all the princes and the
+nobles, the ruler and the ruled, the priest and the people, and
+"the children within thee," either "fell by the edge of the sword,"
+or were "led away captive into all nations," for there was "great
+distress in the land, and wrath upon the people."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXVIII.
+
+     Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and
+     Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as
+     the high places of the forest.--Micah iii. 12.
+
+
+"Walk about Zion, and go round about her, tell the towers thereof,
+mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces," are they still
+"beautiful for situation?" Is Jerusalem yet the "joy of the whole
+earth?" Within "her walls peace once reigned, and prosperity within
+her palaces." But how changed the spot! desolation and dismay reign
+in undisturbed possession, where elegance and art displayed their
+richest and most curious productions. Jerusalem is fallen--war
+destroyed her palaces, and levelled her temple--the fire which
+consumed that magnificent city was kindled by the hand of civil
+discord--the desolating element that blazed with awful glare,
+amidst the splendid sanctuary, was first lit by Jewish hands--and
+the enfuriated Roman soldiers applied the torch, which ultimately
+destroyed the temple of Jehovah. The Jews having burnt the greater
+part of the galleries around the temple, and the Roman soldiers set
+fire to the remainder, Titus commanded his troops to extinguish
+the flames; but no sooner were his orders executed than a Roman
+soldier threw a fire-brand into the temple, and the interior was
+instantly in a blaze; the flames spread with rapidity, and not all
+the commands, threatenings, or entreaties, of the Roman general,
+and his officers, were effectual to preserve the building. Whilst
+some were endeavouring to check the furious element, others set
+fire to several of the door-posts; the scene was dreadful; the Jews
+were filled with astonishment and horror, and their conquerors with
+fury. Amidst the crackling of the fire were heard the shouts of
+the victors, and the cries of the vanquished; the shrieks of the
+wounded, and the groans of the dying. The ground on every side was
+strewed with dead; while the courts flowed with Jewish blood, the
+fire raged above; the conflagration was awful, and the massacre
+dreadful.[140] Jerusalem and its walls were destroyed, the temple
+levelled, and the Jews conquered, in the second year of the reign
+of Vespasian, on the same month and day as Nebuchadnezzar destroyed
+the former city and temple. The last temple, once celebrated for its
+magnificence, is now no more. That building which, by the solidity
+of its construction, seemed to defy the mouldering hand of time,
+soon became a heap of ruins, and "the mountain of the house as the
+high places of the forest."[141] Titus, before he withdrew his
+troops, commanded them to reduce the city and temple to a level
+with the ground, and they left not "one stone upon another," to
+mark the spot where the temple stood. So strictly was this order
+executed, that the demolished city scarcely appeared to have
+been the residence of human creatures. Only three strong towers
+remained of the once magnificent Jerusalem, and they were left to
+exhibit to future times the skill and power of the Roman troops, in
+becoming possessed of a place so strongly fortified by nature and
+art. Josephus and other Jews attribute the unparalleled calamities
+of their country-men, and the destruction of the temple, to the
+signal vengeance of heaven, inflicted to punish that deluded people
+for their cruelty and injustice to James the just, the brother of
+Jesus, who is called Christ: but a believer of the New Testament
+_must_ consider that _they_ were punished for their rejection and
+crucifixion of Jesus Christ himself, the Messiah of Israel, and
+Son of God; it was for _that_ cause "Zion was plowed as a field;
+Jerusalem became a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house as
+the high places of the forest."
+
+  [140] Matt. xxiv. 21, 22.
+
+  [141] The walls were composed of the most durable kind of white
+  stone, of massive size, each stone being twelve feet high, eighteen
+  broad, and thirty-seven and a half in length.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXIX.
+
+     And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling
+     and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a
+     gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.--Isaiah
+     viii. 14.
+
+
+These words are not prophetical of the person of the Messiah, yet
+they describe, in striking language, the effects that would follow
+his appearance and ministry upon earth. They foretel the opposition
+and enmity that would arise, in the minds of the Jewish nation,
+to the Christ of God. If the whole Israelitish race had gladly
+hailed Jesus as their Messiah, and if all, to whom the Gospel has
+been proclaimed, from its first promulgation down to the present
+hour; if all these countless multitudes, had cordially embraced
+the faith of Christ, it could not have proved a more decisive
+evidence of "the truth as it is in Jesus," than is afforded by
+the Jews in their rejection of Christ as the Messiah. Thereby the
+prophecies of God are fulfilled concerning _him_, who, though set
+for a sanctuary, became "a stumbling block, and rock of offence,"
+to the house of Israel, "and a gin and a snare to the inhabitants
+of Jerusalem." The Jews were not a little vain of the glorious
+pre-eminence their nation once sustained amidst the kingdoms of
+the world, on account of the wondrous works, which the Lord of
+Hosts had wrought for them, by "his mighty hand, and outstretched
+arm." Their religious distinctions and ceremonies had also tended
+to feed their pride, and nourish their haughty contempt, for the
+other nations of the earth. Their long promised Messiah was not
+forgotten by them. In his reign, their lively imaginations had
+blended all the splendid conquests and dazzling magnificence of
+regal power. Theirs was a tone of mind but ill-suited to bow before
+the despised Man of Nazareth; to embrace the commands, and follow
+as a master, one so poor, that "he had not where to lay his head."
+When we consider the natural pride of the human heart, as joined
+with the national pride of the Jewish people, we may cease to wonder
+at their rejection of Jesus. They could not stoop to acknowledge
+even the Son of God as their ruler, when offered to them void of
+the purple robe and golden sceptre. They could not swear allegiance
+to Zion's King, when they saw neither his royal pavilion, nor
+marshalled troops. They could not bow before one born in a stable,
+though Angels had descended to proclaim his glorious advent. What
+wonder, if the eye by gazing so long and frequently on the dazzling
+splendour they were wont to attach to the Messiah's reign, could
+not perceive the fainter rays of glory that glimmered around the
+retired path of the Man of Nazareth; they were offended at the
+absence of all temporal splendour in his person; the Cross of Christ
+proved a stumbling block and rock of offence. The Jews rejected,
+as unfit for their-building, "the precious corner stone, which
+the Lord God had lain in Zion, as a sure foundation." They could
+not admit the Carpenter's Son to be the head of God's Church, nor
+acknowledge the Man, untaught in the schools of worldly science,
+to be the prophet of God's people. Neither "has the offence of
+the cross yet ceased;" multitudes still despise and reject the
+Christ of God; they are ashamed to own allegiance to Jesus of
+Nazareth; they blush to acknowledge, as their Lord and Master, him
+who died upon the accursed tree; they dislike to be thought one
+of his real followers, and hate the humiliating and self-denying
+commands he enjoins on his disciples. They prefer building their
+hopes for eternity on the sandy foundation of human merit, rather
+than on the blood and righteousness of Jesus. But if we refuse to
+rest on Christ, that "sure foundation God has laid in Zion," all
+other grounds of hope will prove a treacherous rest, from which
+the floods of divine justice will sweep us to the dark abyss of
+wo. God has declared that "other foundation can no man lay, than
+is laid, which is Christ Jesus." Yet how little anxiety is evinced
+on a subject of such immense importance! How few are concerned to
+build their hopes for eternity, on Christ, the Rock of Ages, that
+precious corner stone; that tried stone; tried by countless myriads
+of happy saints, now in glory, who found him faithful to save from
+the overwhelming surge. Must not he, who paid the full price of a
+soul, know its worth? and has he not declared, that it will profit
+us little "to gain the whole world and lose our own soul?" One soul
+is of more real value than this world, with all its boasted riches
+and glories. The day is coming when "the heavens shall depart as a
+scroll, the elements melt with fervent heat," and this world, so
+loved and caressed by its votaries will be utterly consumed by the
+fire of divine vengeance. But the soul of every individual must
+exist for ever, either in eternal happiness or misery. Yet how is
+the method of man's reconciliation with God slighted? How is that
+glorious scheme of redemption, by the death of Christ, despised by
+the great majority of those to whom it is published. Do angels turn
+from the lofty pursuits and glories of the heavenly world, to pry
+into the mysteries of the cross; and shall man, for whose benefit
+it was contrived and accomplished, remain stupidly insensible to
+its excellence and glory, carelessly indifferent whether or not he
+partake of the blessing?
+
+Are we not taught in the case of our first parents, the absolute
+necessity there is for our knowing and receiving Christ? Was it
+not on the evening of the same day, in which they brake through the
+fence of God's command, that he was graciously pleased to discover
+to them his plan of reconciliation in the promised seed? And why so
+soon after their transgression? but that the knowledge of it was
+necessary to their salvation. Shall that scheme of Redemption, which
+required the depths of divine wisdom to contrive, and the extent of
+divine love to execute, be despised and rejected by man, as unworthy
+his acceptance? By man, that worm of the earth, that creature of a
+day, so insignificant amidst the stupendous works of God, that if
+he were annihilated, he would scarcely be missed amid the boundless
+immensity of space. Awful is the state of the Gentile or the Jew who
+"hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of
+the covenant an unholy thing."
+
+The Jews, where are they? or rather, where are they not? To what
+part of the world can we turn, without beholding some of the tribe
+of Israel. They dwell in every land, but have none they can call
+their own? They have lost their power, but preserved their national
+features and manners. Wanderers on the face of the globe for nearly
+eighteen hundred years, they are not assimilated with any people.
+What other nation has so long preserved a distinction? Where are
+the Britons, Romans, Saxons, Normans, ancient inhabitants of our
+Isle? They are all blended in the English. The Jews, though dwelling
+in every country, are still an unmixed people, yet that very
+distinction exposes them to persecution and scorn. The dispersion of
+the Jews is but a small part of their calamities. The Hebrews are a
+despised and persecuted race, compelled to endure, without the hope
+of redress, indignities the most revolting--barbarities the most
+cruel--insults the most degrading--losses the most severe. And this
+not merely from one nation, but nearly the whole world has wreaked
+its vengeance on this unhappy people. Even the most civilised and
+polished nations have stooped to load the Jews with obloquy and
+scorn; many and grievous are the disabilities to which they are
+subject. Yes, Jehovah has executed his threatened punishment upon
+this unhappy people, for their rejection of the Messiah. "He has
+scattered them among all people from one end of the earth even unto
+the other." "Their plagues have been wonderful, even great plagues,
+and of long continuance." They are become "an astonishment, a
+proverb, and by-word among all nations."
+
+All the prophecies of the Messiah which we possess, were handed
+down to us from the Jews. The Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old
+Testament were in their possession long before the gospel era. Its
+latest prophecy was at least four hundred and thirty years before
+the angel's shout was heard, "Glory to God in the highest, and on
+earth peace, good will toward men." Nor do the Jews attempt to
+deny that Jesus of Nazareth appeared at the time related by the
+Evangelists. Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his antiquities
+of that nation, (book the 18th,) relates:--"About this period,
+(referring to the reign of Tiberius Cæsar,) there arose to notice
+one Jesus, a man of consummate wisdom, _if, indeed, he may be
+deemed a man_. He was eminently celebrated for his power of working
+miracles; and they who were curious and desirous to learn the truth,
+flocked to him in abundance. He was followed by immense numbers of
+people, as well Jews as Gentiles. This was that Christ, whom the
+princes and great men of our nation accused. He was delivered up
+to the cross by Pontius Pilate; notwithstanding which, those who
+originally adhered to him, never forsook him. On the third day after
+his crucifixion he was seen alive, agreeably to the predictions of
+several prophets: he wrought a great number of marvellous acts;
+and there remain, even to this day, a sect of people who bear the
+name of Christians, who acknowledge this Christ for their head."
+This honourable testimony is from an enemy--a Jew, whose writings
+were held in high estimation by his nation. Christ "came into his
+own nation, but they received him not." No evidence, however bright
+or clear, was sufficient to convince men so blinded by prejudice.
+Warned, invited, and threatened, still they persisted in rejecting
+the Messiah, because he did not assume the warrior's sword, or
+mount the throne of Judah. Should we not feel more disposed to
+pity and reclaim, that insult and oppress, this deluded people?
+Have they no claim to our gratitude? To "them were committed the
+Oracles of God," which we now enjoy. The prophets and apostles were
+all Jews; and from them, "according to the flesh, Christ came,
+who is over all, God blessed for evermore." It is recorded, by
+ecclesiastical writers, that several of Christ's own disciples and
+apostles--Simon Peter, Simon Zelotes, James the son of Zebedee,
+Joseph of Arimathea, Aristobulus, and St. Paul himself, preached the
+gospel to this nation. If this, indeed, be correct, their nation has
+peculiar claims to our regard, for the services of their ancestors.
+Certainly, the Romans were instructed in Christianity by Paul and
+other Jews; and, in the first century, the Roman legions, and the
+standard of the gospel of Christ, were planted on Albion's coast.
+
+The Jews, though scattered and persecuted, are not destroyed; they
+are preserved monuments of the divine veracity. O, may we take
+warning from their awful fate! "Because of unbelief _they_ were
+broken off, and _we_ stand by faith." "Let us not be highminded,
+but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed,
+lest he spare not us. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity
+of God; on them which fell, severity; but, towards us, goodness, if
+we continue in his goodness: otherwise, we also shall be cut off."
+It will avail us little to confess Jesus as the Messiah, if we are
+unconcerned to know and practise the doctrines he has taught. But
+may we "serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."
+"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," for his word is fate; immutability seals, and
+eternity executes, whatever he decrees.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXX.
+
+     And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my
+     servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
+     preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the
+     Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the
+     earth.--Isaiah xlix. 6.
+
+
+The descendants of Abraham, the friend of God, were treated as
+the Lord's peculiar people; singled out from other nations as the
+favourites of heaven, the Lord was their lawgiver and king. No other
+nation had God "so nigh unto them in all things that they called
+upon him for," as the people of Israel. To benefit them, the laws
+of nature were reversed, and nations destroyed. They were employed
+by Jehovah to punish the idolatrous people for their crimes.[142]
+They were selected to maintain the knowledge and worship of the
+true God,[143] and to convey his pure and holy law to remote
+generations. Thus favoured and blessed, the Jews were accustomed
+contemptuously to regard all other nations, as common and unclean;
+they could not endure to have one stone thrown down of the partition
+wall, which had so long separated them from the Gentiles.[144]
+They proudly enough appropriated to themselves all the blessings
+connected with the appearance of the Messiah. But it would be a
+light thing that Christ should become Jehovah's servant, endure pain
+and scorn, merely to "raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore
+the preserved of Israel;" that nation which he knew would so long
+despise and reject him. But Messiah was given for "a light to the
+Gentiles," and Jehovah's "salvation unto the ends of the earth." He
+has asked, and received "the heathen for his inheritance, and the
+uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." "Yea, all nations
+shall be blessed in him;" for the root of Jesse shall stand for "an
+ensign of the people, and to him shall the Gentiles seek:" to his
+glorious rest shall all nations flow. He shall have "dominion from
+sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." "They
+that dwell in the wilderness, shall bow before him; and his enemies
+lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring
+presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba, shall offer gifts: yea, all
+kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him. For
+he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him
+that hath no helper. He shall redeem their soul from violence:
+and precious shall their blood be in his sight. He shall live,
+and to him shall be given of the gold of Seba: prayer also shall
+be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. His
+name shall endure for ever, his name shall be continued as long as
+the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call
+him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only
+doeth wondrous things." Yes, Christ is Jehovah's servant, in whom
+his soul delights; he has "put his spirit upon him, he shall bring
+forth judgment to the Gentiles;" "he has given him for a covenant
+of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." Numerous are the
+prophecies which refer to the call of the heathen world, and Jesus
+who declares himself the Messiah, is described in the New Testament
+as "a light to lighten the Gentiles," as well as "the glory of his
+people Israel." He preached himself in the borders of Zabulon and
+Nephthalim,[145] and Samaria:[146] the parting command he gave his
+disciples was, that they should "go forth into all the world, and
+preach the gospel to every creature." He endowed them with the
+gift of tongues, to enable them to preach the unsearchable riches
+of Christ to the Gentiles. And they went forth and preached every
+where, "the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with
+signs following." "The word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem;"
+it rapidly spread through Jewry, Samaria, and Galilee. Distant
+cities soon heard the glad tidings. Within thirty years after their
+Lord's ascension, the faithful disciples had preached the doctrines
+of the gospel at Cæsarea, Damascus, Joppa, Antioch, Phrygia,
+Galatia, Derbe, Corinth, Iconium, Ephesus, Macedonia, Cyprus, Syria,
+Cilicia, Athens, Alexandria, at Rome, and numerous other places.
+
+  [142] Deuteronomy xviii. 9, 12.
+
+  [143] Isaiah xliii. 20, 21.
+
+  [144] John iv. 9.
+
+  [145] Matthew iv. 12, 13, 15, 16.
+
+  [146] John iv. 4.
+
+The Christian faith was contrary to all existing opinions,
+religions, and habits; and decidedly opposed to the natural
+propensities of the human heart. Its teachers were Jewish fishermen,
+tent-makers, and tax-gatherers, poor and illiterate men,[147]
+unskilled in artifice. They preached not merely amongst men as
+simple as themselves, they taught at Athens and Rome, the very
+seats of learning and philosophy; they had to contend with men
+skilled in science, and were opposed by long-established customs
+and habits. The disciples had no eloquence to convince, no power to
+awe, no wealth to bribe; they were opposed by Jewish pride, Grecian
+philosophy, and worldly power; yet the gospel flourished rapidly
+over all opposition and persecution: ancient prejudice fell before
+the religion of Jesus; though it offered no worldly recompense to
+its followers, yet it spread, notwithstanding the kings and nobles
+of the earth set themselves in array against it. "The stone cut out
+without hands is become a great mountain, and shall fill the whole
+earth." The standard of the cross has been planted on every land.
+Nations, barbarous and learned, have bowed before it; may it go on
+"conquering and to conquer," till all nations and people call our
+Immanuel blessed.
+
+  [147] Acts iv, 13.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXXI.
+
+     The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I
+     make thine enemies thy footstool.--Psalm cx. 1.
+
+
+We here find Jehovah, _the_ LORD, in the person of God the Father,
+addressing the Adonai, my Lord, in the person of God the Son, Christ
+Jesus _our_ Lord.[148] It is he, and he only, who shares the throne
+of Deity.[149] He who tabernacled on earth, "a man of sorrows and
+acquainted with griefs," is now seated "on the right hand of the
+Majesty on high. Far above all principality, and power, and might,
+and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,
+but in that which is to come." "To which of the angels said he at
+any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
+footstool?" "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for
+ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness, is the sceptre of thy
+kingdom." "This is he that liveth, and was dead, and behold he is
+alive for evermore; and hath the keys of hell and of death. He is
+Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
+which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty;"
+"whom the heaven must receive, until the times of restitution of
+all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy
+prophets since the world began." "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit
+thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
+"For he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world
+in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he
+hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
+the dead." "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
+judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as
+they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth
+not the Father which hath sent him." "But who may abide the day
+of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?" Wo unto
+them who now dare to raise their puny arm in rebellion against the
+Majesty of heaven; who madly rush on the "thick bosses of Jehovah's
+buckler;" "trample under foot the blood of the Son of God;" and
+"heap unto themselves wrath, against the day of wrath." Christ
+will not always extend the golden sceptre of mercy, that sinners
+"may touch and live." The day is coming, when he will grasp the
+sword of justice, and arise to "judge the world in righteousness."
+"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and
+they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall
+wail because of him." O that men "did but know in this their day,
+the things that belong unto their peace, before they are for ever
+hid from their eyes;" for "some shall awake to everlasting life,
+and some to shame and everlasting contempt, but they that be wise
+shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that
+turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." Ye
+watchmen on Zion's walls, ye ministers of the everlasting gospel,
+O "heal not the wound of the daughter of God's people slightly;"
+say not, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." "Cry aloud, spare
+not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show the people their
+transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." Shrink not back,
+like Jonah of old, from delivering your Master's awful message.
+Be ye faithful to your God, to your conscience, and to souls. Let
+the sweet accents of mercy be heard, while ye boldly unfurl the
+blood-stained banners of the cross. Tell of the love and pity of
+him, who died that we might live: "Who suffered, the just for the
+unjust; to bring sinners unto God." "Pray them, in Christ's stead,
+to be reconciled unto God;" and accept of mercy while it may be
+found. Invite, exhort, entreat them to flee from the wrath to come,
+to lay down the weapons of their rebellion, and join your royal
+Master's cause; to quit the enemy's camp, those strong holds of sin
+and Satan, and rally round our Immanuel's standard. "Proclaim the
+unsearchable riches of Christ," tell them "his yoke is easy, and
+his burden light," that "his ways are ways of pleasantness, and that
+all his paths are peace?" Tell them "he now waits to be gracious,
+but that, ere long, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,
+with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
+that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
+Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
+presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall
+come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them
+that believe." "He will swallow up death in victory; the Lord God
+will wipe away tears from of all faces; and the rebuke of his people
+shall be taken away from off all the earth," for the Lord hath
+spoken it. "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we
+have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have
+waited for him; we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation."
+
+  [148] In whatever part of the Bible the name of the LORD is
+  written in capital letters, it means Jehovah; and the name of the
+  Lord in small letters, signifies Adonai. The translators intended
+  to show, by this method, that in the original there is a very
+  material difference in the word. By the glorious incommunicable
+  name of Jehovah (translated LORD in capital letters,) is meant the
+  Self-existent, Independent, and Eternal Being, the promising and
+  performing God. The word Adonai (translated Lord in small letters)
+  conveys the idea of Lord or Ruler, an Almighty Helper or Supporter,
+  and is particularly descriptive of the Mediatorial character of the
+  Lord Jesus.
+
+  [149] Zechariah xiii. 7.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+Mills, Jowett, and Mills, Bolt-court, Fleet-street.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Page 125: The transcriber has inserted a missing anchor for footnote
+71: Col. ii. 9.
+
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
+printed.
+
+Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
+the missing quote should be placed.
+
+The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
+transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jesus, The Messiah; or, the Old
+Testament Prophecies Fulfilled in the New Testament Scriptures, by (A Lady) Anonymous
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44119 ***