Gen. xxii. 16. his seed, should be blessed. "For by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because, thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."

Luke i. 31.

To fulfil, therefore, literally all these various promises, recorded in different ages of the world, and combining so many circumstances the angel of the Lord appeared unto the Virgin Mary, the descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, and said, "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus, which signifies Saviour. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered, and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called, the Son of God." Luke iii. 38. And like unto Adam, "which was the Son of God." "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the

Luke i. 58.

Lord; be it unto me according to thy word, and the angel departed from her."

"And she brought forth her first born son, and Luke ii. 6 his name was called Jesus. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night: and, lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to you and to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him." Thus was fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah. "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Isaiah xi. 2. him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord."

And this explains the important revelation in the Book of Wisdom, that the Holy Spirit is the breath of the Lord Almighty, proceeding from the glory of his Godhead, and pervading all things, and which is consistent with the inferences of natural knowledge."

"For" the Spirit of "wisdom is more moving than any motion, it passeth and goeth through all Wisd. vii. 21. things by reason of its pureness; for it is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence

flowing from the glory of the Almighty; therefore,

Eph. i. 17.

can

no defiled thing fall into it; for it is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness; and being but One, it can do all things; and remaining in itself, it maketh all things new; and in all ages entering into holy souls, it maketh them friends of God, and prophets."

St. Paul's words accord with it, as being the Holy Spirit given to regenerate the souls of mankind, through the merits of Jesus Christ. "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of him."

Having now before us the descent and incarnation of the Word of God, in Jesus the promised Christ he appeared to his disciples after his crucifixion, when" he breathed on them," as typical of the breath flowing from the Godhead of his glory, to regenerate and support the souls of the christian John xx. 22. World, "and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy

John i. 1.

Hence the record of St. John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God: and the Word was" the spirit " of God. The same was in the beginning with God."

Hence his words to the unbelieving Jews:John viii. 58. "Before Abraham was, I am :" and speaking by St. John, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, The Almighty." By

Rev. i. 8.

Isaiah, "I form the light, and create darkness: I Isaiah xlv.7. make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these

things."

"No man hath seen God at any time, the only John i. 18. begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,

He hath declared him :" "The heaven and heaven 1 Kings viii. 27 of heavens cannot contain Thee"-but, " In Him Acts xvii. 28. we live, and move, and have our being." Hence,

"If he gather unto himself his Spirit, and his Job xxxiv. 14. breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again into dust."

The recorded sufferings of our Saviour under temptations," yet without sin," were to that excess by the oppression of the spirit of evil, or those passions which beset all of us, "that his sweat was as Luke xxii. 44. it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and there appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening him." But, by his words, he came prepared for the great sufferings and indignities he bore; for after fulfilling the law, and before his death on the cross, he said, "Now is my soul troubled, and what John xii, 27. shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour! Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said, That it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered, and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your

sakes." For our sakes, inasmuch as having fulfilled the law, he willingly gave himself up as the sacrifice for our nonfulfilment of it; by which the tempter, or spirit of malignity was cast out as the witness against us-by the grace due to his merits. So that the whole might become one spiritual body John xii. 31. in his eternity, which his words do signify. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Matt.xxviii.18

"And Jesus," after his resurrection, "came and spake to the eleven disciples, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth: Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo! I am with you, even unto the end of the world."

Hence, the means adopted to cast out the spirit of malignity from our souls-called the serpentSatan-the Devil-the prince of this world-the beast, &c. to create mankind in his own spiritual image, and to elevate them to the dignity of sons of God, was, in the first place, to fulfil the Mosaic law, which none of us have fulfilled by works; by which he proved, that a greater trial was not required. of us, for our justification by that law, than he willingly fulfilled himself in our nature, and in the most rigorous manner: but, in afterwards giving himself up to every indignity, our natural desires endeavour