appointed to be read in the course of the week: and, from the simple majesty of these brief but faithful narratives, you may have formed a conception of the great event which they commemorate, infinitely more affecting, than the most laboured amplification could convey. Interested as we all must be, in every word and action of the great Preacher of righteousness, our chief interest lies in the close of his career ; when, as it is expressed in the sacred text now before us, "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death—even the death of the Cross." You have very recently heard the entire portion of Scripture, from which these words are extracted. I deem it expedient, however, to lay it again before you; because in this single passage is contained an unqualified assertion of the divine character of our blessed Lord ; of his purpose to forego—or rather, suspend —his claim to that character, during his abode upon earth; of the entire conformity of his human nature with that of other men, in all the casualties and sufferings of the body; of his actual submission to death by crucifixion ; and, lastly, of his high state of exaltation, after the perfect discharge of his beneficent mission. "Let this mind be in you," says the Apostle to the Christian proselytes at Philippi, "which was in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and hath given him a name, which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The first circumstance, which demands our attention, in this passage, is the plain and positive declaration of the divine as well as human nature of our blessed Saviour:—a point of infinite importance to our Christian faith and comfort, as it establishes the dignity and value of that sacrifice, on which alone we rely for the pardon of our sins.

That the temporal sufferings of a mere mortal, however blameless his life, however piercing his agonies, however heroic his fortitude and selfdevotion, should have been accepted in lieu of the eternal punishment due to accumulated sins, and to countless generations of sinners, would be a supposition contradictory to all the notions of divine justice, which either reason or revelation suggests: but, when thus exalted to a union with the divine nature, the victim acquires a worth beyond our judgment to estimate, and the atonement becomes adequate to the guilt.

The Apostle, therefore, opens his account of the incarnation by describing the Son, as he had existed from all eternity before his descent upon earth ;—in the form of God, clothed with the majesty of the Divine Essence; and, consequently, thinking it "no robbery"—no unwarrantable assumption—to be "equal with God." He then proceeds to represent him as voluntarily abasing himself; making himself "of no reputation;" divesting himself of all ensigns of his glorious preeminence; taking upon him "the form of a servant"—that is, of an inferior and subject-being—

and "made in the likeness of men that he might '* become obedient even unto death"—that he might afford a perfect example of that entire obedience, which every created being must owe to its Creator, until he should have undergone that dissolution of body and soul, which is the criterion of mortality.

St. Paul next goes on to slate, that the Saviour of the world, for the fulfilment of his gracious design, did actually suffer death; and that, by crucifixion—a mode of punishment exquisitely painful, and, amongst the Jews, accounted peculiarly ignominious; as being chiefly practised by the Romans, and, even by them, only inflicted upon incorrigible slaves.

Lastly, he assures his converts, that, in consequence of this voluntary condescension of the Son, "God hath highly exalted him ;"—hath exalted even the man Christ Jesus, thus for ever united with the glorious Godhead; and hath ordained, that, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow," not only on earth, but in heaven; and that "every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Now, that the Eternal Son, who had "thought it not robbery to be equal with God," should have been capable, as such, of any higher exaltation; or that, as a reward for the tortures and indignities which he had endured, he should then first have been entitled to the worship of his creatures; would be a supposition not only discordant with his divine nature, but incoherent in itself. But, that the man Christ Jesus, now united to the Godhead, and thus exalted infinitely above all other men, should consequently have become their Lord; and that the Son of God should then first, and through that medium, have been distinctly made known upon earth; is not only consistent and intelligible, but in perfect conformity with every expression of our blessed Lord himself, respecting his own character and mission, which the holy Scriptures have recorded. Thus, when we find him speaking as plainly, on some occasions, of his subjection to the Father, as, on others, of his entire union and equality with him, we cannot but consider the former expressions as referring exclusively to his human nature; the latter, to his divine essence.