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in himself. "The Spirit of the Lord "God is upon me, because he hath "anointed me to preach good tidings," or the Gospel, "to the "meek," or poor; "he hath fent "me to proclaim liberty to the cap"tives,-to comfort all that mourn, "to give them beauty for afhes, the "oil of joy for mourning," &c.' The meaning of all the figurative expreffions here used by the prophet, ' is this-that Meffiah fhould, at his appearance, confer upon fuch as were difpofed to receive them, the two great evangelical bleffings, namely, remiffion of fins, and a participation of the Spirit of joy and gladness, with which God had "anointed him "above his fellows." The inaugura

* Ifai. lxi. 1.

tion of Jefus to all the offices of the Meffiah, by this divine unction, John had beheld, when, after his baptifm, he faw the Holy Ghoft defcending upon him, and thereby knew him to be that " Rod," or "Branch of "Jeffe," on whom Ifaiah had elfewhere foretold, that "the Spirit of

the Lord fhould reft*." Nothing therefore could be more appofite, than this part of Chrift's answer, "The poor have the Gofpel preached "unto them;" the full import of which, confidered as referring to the LXI" chapter of Ifaiah, and addreffed to St. John, is as followeth-Go fhew John again, that the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wifdom and understanding, the Spirit of might and * Ifai. xi. 1, 2.

counfel,

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counfel, which Isaiah foretold should reft upon the Rod and Branch of Jeffe, and which John faw defcending and abiding upon me, in the likeness of a dove, at my baptifm, is not departed from me. The unction of the Spirit was not given me for mine own ufe; nor is it fpent, or confumed, although it hath powerfully diffused itself to all about me. By it the poor are made rich, being inftated in the kingdom of grace and of the Gospel, and anointed heirs unto the kingdom of glory. By it every contrite heart is healed; fuch as were shut up are fet at liberty; fuch as were bound are loofed; and by it the yoke of the oppreffor is broken *.

* See the Works of Dr. Jackfon, Vol, ii. p. 542.

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WE must not omit to mention the end for which, according to the prophet, all these changes were wrought in the converts to the Gospel; "That they may be called Trees of

Righteousness, the planting of the "Lord, that he might be glorified." The "Rod," the "Branch of Jeffe," the "Righteous Branch of David," were the known titles of the Messiah, or Son of David; and it was his glory, while he lived upon earth, to make others, like himfelf, "Trees," or "Plants of Righteoufnefs." This expreffion, as it ftandeth here joined with others plainly defcriptive of evangelical benefits and comforts, unfoldeth to us the true nature of those wonders which Ifaiah foretold fhould be wrought in the wilderness,

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and which he hath reprefented under fo rich a variety of poetical imagery; fuch as ftreams of water breaking forth in the defarts, caufing them to bloffom as the rofe; myrtles coming up, instead of briars; cedars, firs, and olive trees, instead of thorns, &c. The purport of these figurative predictions appears, by the paffage before us, to be this; that the dry and barren places of Judea, where John baptized, and preached repentance, fhould, in the days of the Meffiah, become a fruitful nursery of a new kind of plants, prepared for the celeftial paradife. These were men of humble, peaceable, contrite hearts; fuch as poverty and difeafe ́had rendered those who came to be healed by Chrift; fuch as the confideration

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